iggymcfly

Cena's incredibly incredibly boring. I don't care the kiddies like him. All the intelligent fans can't stand him. A lot of Raw's been bad for quite a while, but he was the straw that broke the camel's back as far as causing me to tune out for good. If I heard that Cena was out of the main event picture completely, there were other people in the title feud, etc., etc., it might be enough for me to at least give the show a try again. Honestly though, that fucker's stupid goofy promos make me want to throw a rock through the television screen and his matches are even worse. A 15 minute Cena interview followed by a 15 minute Cena match is just behind a 30 minute Vince McMahon promo in terms of something I'd want to be in the main event. (Yes, all the shit with Vince got me to quit watching too, but he's still not quite as bad as Cena.)

But, then ND could finish 6-6 and most years would still better Army/Navy/couple random new I-A teams or teams booted out of a conference for sucking like Temple. I'm just saying think of them in the same light as someone like Boise State or BYU. If they're good enough that they'd get the bid if they're the Mountain West, WAC, or C-USA champion, then put them in. Don't compare them to a team that's in an auto-bid league, but blew their shot. Rutgers would have to get to at least get to #3 in the polls, and probably be quite close to #2 USC to pass them. USC is going to be beloved by the computers if they beat Cal and ND. Yeah, I meant to say #3 here. The reality that Michigan or Ohio State's going to be down below some one-loss teams after this weekend hasn't quite sunken in yet.

Also, Louisville has a chance at an automatic bid, just by winning their conference where they could theoretically be ranked much lower than #14. Thus, it's only fair that Notre Dame has a chance to get their "automatic" bid with a slightly less stringent regiment than an at-large team. All this "OMG, Notre Dame could get an at-large berth over a better team" hysteria would be tamped down if people just pretended that Notre Dame is in a conference called "I-A Independents" and they won it. And really, cabbageboy, Louisville beat WVU because they were at home, just like Rutgers beat Louisville because they were at home, and just like West Virginia will beat Rutgers when they're at home. Trying to pretend it's a massive conspiracy if the Mountaineers get in and the Cardinals don't is just silly. If anything, the tiebreaker should be non-conference schedule, and Maryland is much better than anyone that UL or RU faced. Also, the reason they changed the rules with regards to the BCS is that they added a game. It makes sense that it should be easier to get into one of 5 BCS games than it should be to get into one of 4. Sorry, but none of your points are valid and you're just coming off as a homer here.

Not exactly a "monster upset". They were only a 3 point underdog at tipoff. Still, it's a very good win to start the year for UVA. With 5 returning starters. they should be a real contender in the ACC this year.

A few things: 1. Honestly, West Virginia's better than Louisville. The Cardinals have the biggest home/road difference in the country in terms of how they play, (18 points better on average at home vs. on the road), West Virginia played as bad of a game as they possible could, and UL still only won by 10. On principle, I'm keeping WVU behind UL until they beat Rutgers, but at the end of the year, I'll probably give them the better spot too. 2. It does matter where Louisville and West Virginia are ranked in the BCS, since that's the tiebreaker that determines who wins the conference. Unless Rutgers loses to Cincinnatti this week, the voters and computers will determine the Orange Bowl berth. 3. If USC wins out, they're in. They're going to be getting more and more votes each week if they beat Cal and Notre Dame, and ESPN etc., continue sucking off the whole team. Yeah, Florida might make up a little ground with the computers when they beat Arkansas, but it won't be enough to make a difference. An undefeated Rutgers team might be able to jump them if Arkansas and Florida both loses, and they get to #4 in the polls, but it would be a tricky proposition. 4. Florida will still play the OSU/UM winner for the national championship. Seriously, the only real teams USC played are Arkansas with a gimpy McFadden two QBs ago, and a Nebraska team that was so scared of them, they wouldn't even throw the ball, and they still managed to pick up a loss (to shitty OSU). I really don't see them beating both Cal and Notre Dame. As for Rutgers, they're losing to the Mountaineers Dec. 2. Enough said.

Well, to be fair, if West Virginia and Rutgers played on a neutral field, WVU would probably be favored. Still though, as a mechanism that helps determine the national champion, and based on resume, it's completely unfair for West Virginia to be ahead of Rutgers. I was also kind of surprised that Arkansas didn't jump Notre Dame, as the Hogs are the hot team with most of the media, and they had a really convincing win last night whereas the Irish haven't played a decent team since losing to Michigan. Guess I shouldn't be though, with all the hype the Irish get. Also, with as far as USC jumped here (only 8 points behind Florida), they'll be the new #3 in the BCS barring a really unexpected result in the Harris poll. Looks like Glendale might be theirs to lose right now.

They could and probably would. It wouldn't be fair, but the pollsters would artificially inflate the Irish's ranking just to avoid a repeat in the championship and since the computers can't see margin of victory, they'd probably be pretty split. In order for an OSU/Michigan rematch to happen, we'd probably need all of the following: 1. West Virginia beats Rutgers 2. LSU beats Arkansas 3. Arkansas beats Florida 4. Cal beats USC 5. USC beats Notre Dame If Michigan loses on a last-second FG or something, they could make the title game over a one-loss ND team, but they still aren't getting in over a 1-loss Florida, Arkansas, or USC.

Is Cena/K-Fed really the main event feud on Raw right now? Wow, this show just gets worse and worse. I'm glad I quit watching.

Ranked today. It's not like Iowa was good early in the season; they were just overrated as shit.

Wow, talk about a waste of half an hour. I just read this whole thread. Anyway, my opinion of the first six pages is that it's stupid to try to throw out every poster that's remotely interesting. WP and Damaramu were funny for a while, but they made every thread about themselves, so they got boring and needed to be gotten rid of. I really can't understand what everyone's problem with Leena is though. 90% of her posts are on-topic and relevant, and if occasionally, she goes off on a rant on someone, big deal. It's an internet forum, it's not like she's living in your house or something. If you don't like what she says, don't read it, and if you really can't stand her, put her on ignore. If we ban everyone that offends someone's fragile little ego, there's really no point even having a forum any more.

I'd agree that a one-loss Notre Dame, WVU, Louisville, or Wisconsin team should be left out in favor of the UM/OSU loser. If Rutgers ends up undefeated though, or if USC, Arkansas, or Florida gets through the season with one loss, they deserve a shot. As dominant as OSU and Michigan have been this year, they really haven't faced the toughest competition. Texas is the only ranked team that Ohio State's faced all season, and they looked very vulnerable against Kansas State last night. Michigan's resume is a little better with the two big wins over ND and Wisconsin, but I still wouldn't put them ahead of a Florida squad that beat Tenn, LSU, UGA, and Arkansas or a USC team that beat Arkansas, Oregon, Cal, and Notre Dame.

Can't really argue much here. Everything is close enough to where I have it, that I can see where you're coming from. One thing though, I really think Florida's overall resume is much better than USC's at this point. Even using your rankings, Florida beat #11 LSU by 13, #18 Tennessee on the road when they had Ainge and were much better, and #30 Georgia. The only loss on the year was to a still very good #10 Auburn team on the road. USC does have the one big win over Arkansas, but McFadden was injured that game and only had 9 carries, and the Razorbacks weren't the same team at all. It's like comparing the Rutgers that barely beat UNC in the opener to the team that beat Louisville last week. Outside of that, the only ranked team the Trojans have beaten is #25 Nebraska, and that would have been a lot closer if Callahan had a decent gameplan. Add in the loss to unranked Oregon State, and I think their overall resume's significantly weaker than that of the Gators. Sure, USC looked better than UF last night, but over the course of the season, Florida's accomplished a lot more. Still though, the rankings were pretty good overall. You got Nebraska and Clemson back in there, and dropped Cal, Tennessee, and Texas about as far as they deserved. Auburn should be down a little further and LSU should be up a little further, but it's probably better than what the AP and coaches will come out with this week.

OK, here's my new Top 25: (Previous week's ranking in parenthesis) 1. Ohio State 11-0 (1) 2. Michigan 11-0 (2) 3. Florida 9-1 (3) 4. Rutgers 9-0 (12) 5. USC 8-1 (14) 6. Arkansas 9-1 (15) 7. LSU 8-2 (7) 8. Notre Dame 9-1 (9) 9. Louisville 8-1 (4) 10. West Virginia 8-1 (10) 11. Boise State 10-0 (13) 12. Texas 9-2 (5) 13. Oklahoma 8-2 (16) 14. Auburn 9-2 (6) 15. Wake Forest 9-1 (19) 16. Wisconsin 10-1 (17) 17. California 8-2 (8) 18. Georgia Tech 8-2 (18) 19. Maryland 8-2 (20) 20. Tennessee 7-3 (11) 21. Boston College 8-2 (22) 22. Nebraska 8-3 (NR) 23. Virginia Tech 8-2 (24) 24. Clemson 8-3 (25) 25. Brigham Young 8-2 (NR) Close: Hawaii, Penn State, Georgia, Oregon Couldn't bear to put Texas A&M or Oregon State in the last close spot this week, so there's only 29 teams with any kind of official ranking, although they'd be kinda close, along with Oklahoma State. As for all the "OMG, the BCS has gone crazy!" stuff, I think everyone needs to chill out. If Auburn, Texas, and Cal had all won, then Florida would probably still be #3 in the BCS this week. They're the challenger for the OSU/Michigan winner until anyone proves different. The only really tough game left on their schedule now is the SEC championship which looks like it will almost certainly be against Arkansas. Also, Rutgers will be ranked no lower than #4 in the BCS rankings next week since the computers love them, and the pollsters will put them ahead of all the one-loss teams that just got dropped this week. I didn't look at all the computer rankings, but the official Sagarin ratings taken by the BCS just moved them ahead of Ohio State at #2. If they win out, they will almost certainly face the Ohio State/Michigan winner in the championship. Basically, here's how it breaks down for the championship right now with my convenient tier format: Tier 1: (win out and you're in, lose and you've got a shot) Ohio State, Michigan Tier 2: (win out and you're almost certainly in, lose and you've got no shot) Rutgers Tier 3: (win out and you're probably in) Florida, Arkansas Tier 4: (you've still got a shot, but you need lots of help) USC, Notre Dame

It figures that I'd have a big week in the contest and move into the Top 2 the week I had my worst gambling week of the year. The inverse correlation is so strong it's scary.

That's totally something Dama would do; try to start an argument about a post someone made a month ago. I can totally see the comparison now that I think about it. Just make about 100 more posts like that each week and you'll be there.

I kinda had a feeling that Auburn was overrated most of the year. I certainly didn't expect this big of a flameout, but I knew they wouldn't be winning the SEC or anything. I can't believe Cox's numbers though. Four completions and four interceptions? 35 total yards passing? WTF! The best part is that watching College Gameday this morning, they were totally ripping Georgia's pass defense, and saying how Auburn would completely exploit it. Corso was predicting it would be a huge blowout to the point that even Fowler and Herbstreit started telling him it was a stupid prediction. I don't think he even follows college football anymore, he just enjoys dressing up and yelling at the camera.

Dropped pass = turnover on downs #3 in the first quarter. This game's worth watching just for comedic value.

The thought of Drew Stanton in the NFL makes me giggle. I'm watching the MSU/Minnesota game right now, and I just watched him get 11 seconds to throw in the pocket before finally taking a 13 yard sack. This whole game's awful as we're about ten minutes in, and we've already had two turnovers on downs, a blocked punt for a TD, multiple major penalties, and a safety. If it wasn't for gambling concerns, I can't imagine I'd be watching it.

It's not about the name on the jersey. It's about overall resume. Tell me which one of these would be more impressive: Team A Key wins: Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Penn State, Iowa, Indiana? Losses: Ohio State Team B Key wins: Louisville, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnatti, USF? Losses: none Wouldn't you have to go with Team B there? Honestly, the wins would be almost exactly the same. Notre Dame's about as good as Louisville. Cincinnatti and USF are about as good as Iowa and Indiana. West Virginia's better than Wisconsin and Penn State's better than Pitt. When you have two teams with almost the exact same level wins, and one of them's 12-0 and the other one's just lost their last game, you have to take the undefeated. Again, it's very unlikely that Rutgers will beat West Virginia, but if they do, they deserve to get in.

If I were going to rate the quality of the show on a scale of one to ten, the first episode gets a ten. The next episodes up until last week averaged a 7. Last week was about a 5. This week's (with Goodman) was maybe a 3. Seriously, this spiral usually takes years, but they're managing to do it in a manner of weeks. They do the same trite little things every week. They get into a wacky situation that leads to the opening song, whathisname tricks Matt into figuring something out, they rehearse some skit that's supposed to be courageously hilarious that's actually really stupid, and then a guest actor makes some preachy speech. I've gone from loving the show to kinda liking it, to not liking it very much, but still finding it watchable to actively disliking it in about a month and a half.

Those teams all had chances that they blew except for Michigan, and they'll get their chance on November 18th. If Cal wanted to be in the championship, they shouldn't have built up a 35-0 deficit in a blowout have lost at home to a barely Top 15 team in Arkansas.defeat at Tennessee. USC shouldn't have lost to a mid-level team in Oregon State. Notre Dame shouldn't have lost by 26 points to a team that Ohio State (if they're in the championship) will have already beaten. Arkansas shouldn't have lost by 36 to USC and put themselves in positions to be beaten by a FG against Vanderbilt and Alabama. Auburn shouldn't have lost at home to a barely Top 15 team in Arkansas. The only team I could see an argument for getting in over an undefeated Rutgers team is Florida. If they avenged their loss to Auburn at a neutral site, you could at least say they're better than everyone on their schedule. Still though, you'd have a Rutgers with two marquee wins, two decent wins, and no losses versus a Florida team with three marquee wins, three decent wins and one loss. I think being 2-0 against the elite and 4-0 in all real contests is better than being 3-1 against the elite and 6-1 in all real contests. I also think that a win at West Virginia (Rutgers' potentially most impressive win) would be just as good as a win at Tennessee (Florida's best win). Comparing the overall resumes, I don't think you could honestly say that Florida's is better.

Thinking back now, I think the character arc would work much better for Charlie if he had just died when he'd been strung up. Jack could still pound on his chest, deciding "not to give up", but he just wouldn't come back to life. It seems like his character's been completely worthless since that episode. Oh, and at least one character should have died in the hatch in last season's finale. I mean Eko died two episodes later anyway, why not just finish him in the hatch. It apparently "exploded" now (according to Locke this week), even though they said it imploded before. Either way, that seems like something that should kill a man. They should have said Locke escaped just before it imploded, Desmond was in the inner sanctum and managed to survive, but was horribly disfigured and has new powers, and Eko died in the implosion. Not a kind of die, and then drag it out for three episodes before dying of something completely stupid that has nothing to do with what was killing him before. I mean I thought being held captive by a polar bear was stupid, but being slammed around by a smoke monster? Give me a break.

SpicyMcHaggis, your point would be perfectly valid if teams didn't play non-conference schedules, but they do. West Virginia had a dominating 45-24 win over Maryland who's currently 7-2, ranked #23, and in a great spot to pick up a BCS berth themselves. Louisville stomped Miami 31-7 and Rutgers beat down Navy 34-0. Now sure, the Big East powers didn't get scheduled against any Top 10 teams this year, but when they did play good teams, they blew them out consistently. By looking at margin of victory, we can get a good idea that these teams are solid, not that they're worthy to win a national championship, but that they're solid. Luckily, we're not stuck with the old system where you just award the championship at the end of the season. If we were, an undefeated Rutgers team would have no claim, as the Ohio State/Michigan winner would have a much better resume. However, under our system if a solid undefeated team beats two other Top 15 teams, they get a chance to really prove themselves at the end of the season. That way, if Rutgers wasn't quite that good, they'll lose to Ohio State and the national championship will stay with the old guard. If they beat the Buckeyes, I don't think anyone can say they're not worthy. Note: This is all a hypothetical scenario. I don't really think Rutgers will beat West Virginia. If you'll take note of the projections I made two weeks ago (before the WVU/UL game), you'll see that I said Ohio State would likely play Florida in the championship after UL beat WVU, RU beat UL, and WVU beat RU. I still believe that will happen, but if Rutgers does somehow beat West Virginia, they belong in Glendale.

Tremendous game between Rutgers and Louisville there. Great to see the Scarlet Knights pull off the big upset on their home field. I think they're quite unlikely to beat WVU, but if they do, I agree that Rutgers should play for the national championship. That D-line was absolutely smothering against a UL O-line that's been one of the best in the country all year long. I'm not 100% convinced they couldn't hang with Ohio State or Michigan.

This is absolutely ridiculous, and makes the charges of "Dama-level blind obstinance" have some merit. The best win by any team in the country this season was Ohio State's 17 point road win at otherwise undefeated Texas. The second best win by any team in the country was Michigan's 26 point road win over otherwise undefeated Notre Dame. Michigan has beaten not one, but two otherwise undefeated teams this year, as they also beat 9-1 Wisconsin 27-13. Saying that Ohio State and Michigan have played nothing but subpar competition is absolutely ridiculous. Also, it seems pretty ridiculous to take Ohio State to task for playing Illinois close when they led 17-0 at the half, and it was the first game all year that they won by less than 17.