We're a month (and change) into the college football season and since I stayed up for the end of the night games, I guess I'll put out an update before I go to sleep (time management, woohoo).
I've got the list divided into four tiers this month. Tier one is unbeaten Power 4 teams with three Power 4 wins. Tier two, unbeaten P4 teams with two P4 wins and three Group of 5 wins, and one-loss P4 teams with three P4 wins and two G5 wins/P4 losses.
Tier three features unbeaten P4 teams with two P4 wins and two G5 wins, and one-loss P4 teams with two P4 wins and three G5 wins/P4 losses or three P4 wins and one G5 win/P4 loss. Tier four is the rest of the one-loss P4 teams, one two-loss P4 team, and two unbeaten G5 teams. As always, within the tiers teams are ranked based on their performance against the spread.
Defensive end Tyler Batty and BYU had a signature 38-9 win over Kansas State in a ridiculously impressive September. (AP Photo / Tyler Tate)
There's a top-five matchup next week according to the national media, but neither team in it is in my top five. This once again just shows that you need to play quality teams for me to consider you as one of the best.
We'll see you again at some point. Make sure you're registered to vote and have a voting plan!
I think I tried to do this on Tik Tok last year, and after two or three weeks I gave up. May have shared it to Facebook a few times too? Who knows. It all blurs together.
There were precisely EIGHTEEN Power Four teams who took on the challenge of playing against similar competition coming out of the gate this year. They're all getting rewarded. If you put up 76 points on an FCS team, just shut up (looking at you, Ole Miss).
I tried to tweak my formula this year so losers of P4 v P4 games had a higher ranking than winners of P4 v Group of 5 (still throwing me off that there's only 4 major conferences now, but whatever). It didn't quite work out this week, but I still did get a couple losers in the top 25.
Boston College proved that Florida State was only a healthy quarterback away from being able to hold their own in the playoff last year. Oh wait, the Seminoles lost 9 other starters to the draft too? But that doesn't fit the narrative! (Colin Hackley // AP)
With 9 of these teams playing FCS opponents this week (including 7 of the top 9), and an additional 5 going just a step higher in difficulty with a Group of 5 foe, this list will be dramatically different next week. Such is the way my system works.
See you here then. Or not. Like I said, who even knows at this point.
(Disclaimer, I'm not having an existential crisis or anything. Work is just ridiculously busy in the best possible way, so I literally have no way of knowing what I'll be able to get done outside of that on a weekly or even daily basis. Stay blessed fam!)
Remember back when I didn't have three very awesome jobs, I was in a serious life depression, and I used to share music I was digging on this site that two people ever visit?
Well, life is good and I stay busy, but I thought I'd bring back an exclusive, once-in-a-decade Song Of The Day post to evoke those days. Also, this one is just SO GOOD.
Last night at dinner, the family sat down to watch the Netflix documentary on the recording of the smash 1985 single "We Are The World." Everyone who was anyone in the mid-80s (well, except for Madonna and Prince) was involved in this recording, which was marketed both to promote and provide funding for the hunger crisis in Africa.
The documentary is called "The Greatest Night In Pop" and it tells the story of how 40-plus musicians in their prime spent a whirlwind nine-hour recording session right after the 1984-85 American Music Awards creating what would eventually become one of the best-selling singles of all time.
There are many memorable moments in the 96-minute documentary, from encounters between Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson's numerous pets to Waylon Jennings walking out of the session after Stevie Wonder suggested including African phrases in the song to cater to a more global audience.
Without a doubt, however, my absolute favorite moment in the session came after the all-star chorus was finished recording, and producer Quincy Jones made sure to recognize then-living legend Harry Belafonte for his pioneering work in using music to advance social causes.
Al Jarreau, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and others then led the who's-who group of singers in an impromptu singing of Belafonte's signature single "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" as a tribute to the legendary singer and social justice advocate.
The following clip was surely used in the documentary, as it was recorded as part of the song's Grammy, VMA, People's Choice, and AMA-winning music video. The specific clip, however, seems to come from a newscast after the song's release. Before watching, know that the assembled artists take until around the 42 second mark to really get going, and around the 1:14 mark to really get in sync:
Among my favorite highlights: In a song that is described on its Wikipedia page as "a traditional Jamaican folk song," you may expect the less-pigmented superstars in the ensemble to not be as enthusiastic participants. Case in point Bob Dylan, who the documentary paints as someone who was having trouble finding his groove throughout the session until he was essentially isolated during his solo recording moment.
However, I have to shout out Kenny Rogers clapping along enthusiastically during Jarreau and Wonders' verses, and singing loudly and proudly at every repetition of "Daylight come and me wanna go home." Considering what happened with another country star involved in the recording (as previously mentioned), it's absolutely worth noting Rogers' apparently unbridled allyship in this moment.
As for Jarreau, the documentary notes that he was sufficiently inebriated during the session ("He was celebrating," said one of the interview subjects, I believe Lionel Richie), so it makes total sense that after an initial pseudo-power struggle with Motown legend Smokey Robinson, Jarreau took over as the lead verse-singer in the group, and enthusiastically so.
The undeniable highlight of the jam session, however, is when Stevie Wonder takes over singing of the verses. "If you have too much, y'all have to stay," one of my all-time musical icons sings, "because you'll have to be driven home by me or Ray [Charles]!".
If you know anything about Wonder or Charles, this line will make you roll on the floor in laughter. Also, note Robinson's reaction just a beat or two later.
I'm not 100 percent positive, but based on the documentary USA For Africa may still be using proceeds from this song to eradicate hunger in the third-world. So if you wouldn't mind streaming We Are The World a few million times on your favorite platform, you might be able to make a difference in the world!
That's it for this one. For my long-time Universe fans, I'm trying to get an NFL post up before the Super Bowl so stay tuned!
Peace and love to all.
-Clayton
Post-publication note 1: It is an all-time dream of mine to be included in something like this. Not with that caliber of music star, I am totally aware that will never happen. But with any certain group. I got close to it last year, but I still think it could have been better.
