College Football is almost back

[Damaramu 0]

Speaking of pre-season polls....the pre-season coaches poll has been released:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/rankingsindex

And guess who's #2 and actually recieved 2 first place votes? Wow.

 

1. USC (60) 0-0 1,547

2. Texas (2) 0-0 1,405

3. Tennessee 0-0 1,259

4. Michigan 0-0 1,242

5. Oklahoma 0-0 1,223

6. LSU 0-0 1,109

7. Virginia Tech 0-0 1,090

8. Miami 0-0 1,080

9. Ohio State 0-0 1,033

10. Iowa 0-0 1,014

11. Florida 0-0 910

12. Florida State 0-0 879

13. Georgia 0-0 838

14. Louisville 0-0 758

15. Auburn 0-0 723

16. Purdue 0-0 616

17. Texas A&M 0-0 366

18. Arizona State 0-0 304

19. Boise State 0-0 303

20. California 0-0 293

21. Texas Tech 0-0 247

22. Boston College 0-0 237

23. Virginia 0-0 210

24. Alabama 0-0 194

25. Pittsburgh 0-0 193

 

Just b/c I haven't been shown my rampant homerism that everyone seems to want me to I will mention that OU has only failed to be ranked in the Top 10 since Oct. 2000 1 week. Just 1 week. Oh yeah.

 

Anyways the pre-season rankings we know can screw certain teams(Auburn) and what have you and nobodies played football yet so we don't really know where everyone should be ranked but it's interesting to look at nonetheless.

[iggymcfly 0]

The fact is that through the formula that was contracted to determine a national champion, USC did not qualify for the championship. This was due to the fact that they played a weak schedule and had a bad loss to Cal who was nowhere near as good two years ago as they were last year.

 

The two teams that did qualify for the championship played and LSU won. End of story, LSU's the champion. The idea that USC "looked more impressive" against the #4 team than LSU did against the #2 team is totally immaterial to the discussion.

 

This is evident you have no fucking clue what you're talking about. LSU and Oklahoma also lost to an opponent in the season. What the fuck is your point? And LSU was #2, not facing #2 as you claim. I am not discrediting LSU, they deserve their HALF of the title. USC deserves theirs. End of discussion.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

If you could READ, you would have noticed that I said USC was different from the other teams in that it had a bad loss, not in that it lost a game. Cal went 6-5 despite missing Washington State in a weak Pac-Ten. Florida on the other hand, was a Top 20-caliber team, that was one or two bad breaks away from being in the heart of the BCS picture.

 

Big difference.

[CanadianChris 0]

Oh Lord, welcome to 19 months ago when we debated this when it was actually relevant.

 

To describe the losses that way is to gloss over some very important facts, such as:

 

- USC's loss was on the road; LSU's was at home.

- USC lost by 3; LSU lost by 12.

- USC lost in double overtime.

 

Plus, neither team was ranked, or even above .500 at the time of the game. Cal was 2-3, while Florida was 3-3.

[iggymcfly 0]

CanadianChris makes a good point. Not that the Florida loss was as bad as the Cal loss (it wasn't), not that USC was as good as LSU (they weren't), but that we debated it endlessly a year and a half ago.

 

Moving on to this year's new rankings which Dama was kind enough to post, I really don't like having Texas at #2 and Oklahoma at #5. Neither was overly impressive in their bowl games last year, and Oklahoma lost a ton of talent. It seems like what will happen is that the weak Big 12 schedule will pump both teams up to rankings they don't deserve, allowing a one-loss team to sneak into the Rose Bowl whether they deserve it or not.

 

Really, the way the rankings set up, the Texas/Ohio State game becomes even more important. Whereas USC already has a spot in Pasadena ready for the taking, the winner of the Texas/OSU game pretty much gives their conference first dibs on the other spot. Just the very high-profile nature of that matchup gives Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio State, and Michigan a big lead in the polls over the likes of Florida, LSU, and Virginia Tech.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Man, Iggy won't just admit it. Ok he's officially an idiot.

 

 

Moving on:

 

I can see why Texas would be ranked #2, they did just kill Michigan in the 2nd most important bowl last year, but they won't sustain it, naturally.

[teke184 0]

I think there will be some Mack-lash at the time of the final poll this year after Mack whined his way into the Rose Bowl last year through a PR campaign...

 

 

Not that Texas wasn't impressive in winning the Rose Bowl, but the method he used to get there was something I thought he wouldn't stoop to.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

Vols at number 3. I can live with that, although someone other than Texas should be number 2. I don't have them winning the Big XII South, let alone the National Title.

[Guest Ether]

ACC: Miami over Boston College

Big East: Pitt

Big Ten: Michigan

Big 12: Oklahoma v. Nebraska

Pac-10: USC

SEC: LSU over Tennessee

 

And since the smaller conferences deserve some love too:

 

C-USA: Southern Miss over UTEP

MAC: Toledo over Miami OH

Mt West: Utah

Sun Belt: North Texas

WAC: Boise State

[Guest Ether]

Moving on to this year's new rankings which Dama was kind enough to post, I really don't like having Texas at #2 and Oklahoma at #5. Neither was overly impressive in their bowl games last year, and Oklahoma lost a ton of talent.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

What a team does in its previous year's bowl game means absolutely squat when it comes to the following season. I think that has a lot to do with everybody picking Texas to win the Big 12. The last memory everyone has of Oklahoma wiping USC wiping the floor with them. But let's look at some examples:

 

1. 2003 Cotton Bowl: Texas passed all over LSU. The next year, LSU had one of the top pass defenses in the country en route to a national championship.

 

2. 2003 GMAC Bowl: Miami (OH) destroyed Louisville. The next year, Louisville was a dropped interception away from playing in one the BCS games.

 

3. 2002 Insight Bowl: In a reverse case, Pitt beats Oregon State 38-10 and hold future first round draft pick Steven Jackson to about 30 yards rushing. This game was supposed to be the springboard to a top-10 season for Pitt. The next year, the run defense couldn't stop anybody and Pitt finished out of the top 25.

 

I remember that Ohio State lost to South Carolina the year before OSU won its championship. There are numerous other examples if one wishes to look them up.

[teke184 0]

Moving on to this year's new rankings which Dama was kind enough to post, I really don't like having Texas at #2 and Oklahoma at #5. Neither was overly impressive in their bowl games last year, and Oklahoma lost a ton of talent.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

What a team does in its previous year's bowl game means absolutely squat when it comes to the following season. I think that has a lot to do with everybody picking Texas to win the Big 12. The last memory everyone has of Oklahoma wiping USC wiping the floor with them. But let's look at some examples:

 

1. 2003 Cotton Bowl: Texas passed all over LSU. The next year, LSU had one of the top pass defenses in the country en route to a national championship.

 

2. 2003 GMAC Bowl: Miami (OH) destroyed Louisville. The next year, Louisville was a dropped interception away from playing in one the BCS games.

 

3. 2002 Insight Bowl: In a reverse case, Pitt beats Oregon State 38-10 and hold future first round draft pick Steven Jackson to about 30 yards rushing. This game was supposed to be the springboard to a top-10 season for Pitt. The next year, the run defense couldn't stop anybody and Pitt finished out of the top 25.

 

I remember that Ohio State lost to South Carolina the year before OSU won its championship. There are numerous other examples if one wishes to look them up.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

The LSU loss to Texas doesn't quite represent the state of that team that year... The starting QB, Matt Mauck, had broken his leg against Florida and his backup, Marcus Randall, had to run the offense for the rest of the year.

 

To say that Randall's run was disappointing would be an understatement. While he had an ESPY-award winning throw to Devery Henderson called the Bluegrass Miracle, that WAS a last-second victory over a rather bad Kentucky team.

 

 

Mauck's leadership, which was severely underrated at the time, is what gave the offense cohesion and, without him, it was very hard to keep anything going.

 

When Mauck came back the next year, everything started clicking and they went on a great run to the title.

 

 

 

As for the pass defense, I think that some injuries to the secondary had forced the Tigers to start playing true freshman at Cornerback and Safety, which is what allowed Texas to have a field day in the Cotton Bowl.

 

However, the experience those players got, combined with Saban's coaching throughout the next season when they became starters, helped them turn into one of the best defenses in the country.

[DangerousDamon 0]

I can see why Texas would be ranked #2, they did just kill Michigan in the 2nd most important bowl last year, but they won't sustain it, naturally.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Umm....they won on a last second field goal....not exactly killing a team.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

The score/outcome doesn't exactly reflect the game. Vincent Young was running over Michigan all game long. In my eyes, that was a kill. Michigan just hung on til the bitter end. And just so everyone is aware, I HATE THAT A FUCKING NON PAC-10/Big 10 TEAM WON THE ROSE BOWL IN A NON-TITLE YEAR!!! I will never forgive Michigan for that.

[DangerousDamon 0]

so I guess Michigan just was hanging on the whole game even though they were up by as much as ten points. Last time I checked, Henne, Breaston, and Edwards put on a show as well and Texas basically won only because they got the ball last. And please quit bitching about a non traditional team won the Rose Bowl in a NON-TITLE year. Did you bitch when Washington State was throttled by Oklahoma. Obviously, you don't know anything about football if you consider a team losing by one point against a talented squad like Texas a blowout

[Damaramu 0]

Couple of things:

 

-On the whole USC/LSU debate I finally admit that OU shouldn't have been in that game. I mean it would've been embarassing to be like "Hey look at my at-large national champs here"

 

-the reason OU is ranked high is b/c well they always are. I know it's crappy but this is what the pollsters do. I honestly thought they'd be ranked 7 or 8 or even as low as 10(but not lower). honestly.

 

-I doubt that if it comes down to a bunch of 1 loss teams that OU would get in if they were one of those teams and you all know that

 

-I'm hoping that USC doesn't make it to Pasadena and we get a couple of teams that are never in the mix. Once again it'd be nice to see a title game without USC, tOSU, Miami, OU, and FSU(even though it's been a while for them).

 

-Everyone is talking about these traditional powerhouses making it but there's a suprise every year that we aren't factoring in here. There could be a suprise team that jumps up and takes that spot and gets really good. Hell what about Louisville? They have a great shot to go undefeated. Especially in the Pac 10.

 

-The Big XII South is still murderous and I truly believe 3 teams have a chance to win it(OU, Texas, and A&M) And any game you play at home or at a South team(except Baylor) will be a tough game worthy of consideration. On the flipside however any game you play in the North with the exception of maybe ISU should be a cakewalk.

[Damaramu 0]

Oh and another funny thing. Ric Flair was at OU practice yesterday.

[therealworldschampion 0]

Everyone wants to give Texas a bunch of credit for that performance in the Rose Bowl, but also remember that Troy Smith had done the exact same thing to the Michigan defense a month and a half before the Rose Bowl in Columbus. I think it was more of Jim Herrman's defense getting torched repeatedly by mobile QBs (Drew Stanton at Michigan State, Troy Smith, and Vince Young), rather than Texas being super-impresssive in the Rose Bowl.

[Damaramu 0]

Everyone wants to give Texas a bunch of credit for that performance in the Rose Bowl, but also remember that Troy Smith had done the exact same thing to the Michigan defense a month and a half before the Rose Bowl in Columbus. I think it was more of Jim Herrman's defense getting torched repeatedly by mobile QBs (Drew Stanton at Michigan State, Troy Smith, and Vince Young), rather than Texas being super-impresssive in the Rose Bowl.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Then again nobody wants to give Texas ANY credit for the game at all.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

so I guess  Michigan just was hanging on the whole game even though they were up by as much as ten points.  Last time I checked, Henne, Breaston, and Edwards put on a show as well and Texas basically won only because they got the ball last.  And please quit bitching about a non traditional team won the Rose Bowl in a NON-TITLE year.  Did you bitch when Washington State was throttled by Oklahoma.  Obviously, you don't know anything about football if you consider a team losing by one point against a  talented squad like Texas a blowout

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I will only address this with one line, "Shut the fuck up'. I made it clear that it was non-title. I will bitch if I want to about it, because I'm a traditionalist and in my opinion the game should have been Michigan/Cal anyways. Texas had no reason to want to sniff the Rose Bowl. It was just Mack crying "We wanna be in that game cuz we're being discriminated against!!!" and the stupid polls listening to him. Before you bring up that Cal lost the Holiday Bowl, they HAD NO MOTIVATION as they wanted in the Rose Bowl more than anything (well with the exception of Orange Bowl which all teams wanted to be in last year due to it being the TITLE game) and then when they found they were shafted to the 3rd best Pac-10 bowl, they just lost the will to play. Maybe I was wrong, maybe Michigan gave Texas a run of their money, but the fact remains, they were embarrassed by Texas because everyone and their mother thought Michigan was going to squash Texas, so in my opinion, yes Texas killed Michigan even if it took a last minute FG to do it.

[lomasmoney 0]

So wait, everyone expected Michigan, a team with an even greater history of choking than Texas, to "squash " a team that had a legitimate gripe about not getting an at large bid no matter how annoying Mack Brown's campaigning was. Actually most people in Ann Arbor were scared shitless of Vincent Young and his talents and pretty much knew he would run around all day, it was just a matter of could our offensive balance counteract the one man show. Going back to the subject of Cal not having motivation, they pretty much just were not ready to play. Did Miami go out and get smashed by Florida, the year the the team they beat played OU for the title. No. Frankly, Cal showed that they might not have been a "Top 4" team like I thought they might have been all year. They lost to a mediocre team while Texas beat the Big 10 co-champions. And...the Holiday Bowl is Pac 10#2 vs Big XII #3, so since they didn't win the conference they went to the game that TRADITIONALLY, they would have went to

[Damaramu 0]

And Mack Brown didn't really campaign. He said in one interview after his game against Texas A&M something along the lines of "Well this team has played hard all year. You've seen what we can do and it'd be a crying shame to leave them out of the BCS." He didn't whine and he said it after that game.

Everyone acts like he launched a month long campaign complete with TV ads that involved him breaking down into tears and talking about how great his team was.

He didn't whine....if he whined then Cal's coach and Aaaron Rodgers are the biggest fucking babies ever.

 

And all this stuff about Cal not being motivated. They're a fucking football team that's supposed to go out and try to win every game. They got embarassed by a team that shouldn't have been able to hold their jock. And don't tell me they weren't trying. Everyone predicted they'd come out angry and they'd crush Tech. They're a football team and they should act like it.

[Guest Ether]

Everyone is talking about these traditional powerhouses making it but there's a suprise every year that we aren't factoring in here. There could be a suprise team that jumps up and takes that spot and gets really good. Hell what about Louisville? They have a great shot to go undefeated. Especially in the Pac 10.

 

I'm assuming you mean the Big East.

 

Louisville's problem is that their defense is average at best. And that was last year; they lost 5 or 6 starters. The three teams they played last year that had any type of offense - Memphis, Miami, and Boise State - all put up 40+ points on them. Kentucky, North Carolina, and all the C-USA bottom feeders they faced weren't exactly offensive powerhouses. The Big East, as much as everybody wants to laugh and ridicule it, is a major upgrade from C-USA. Pitt has an offense that can keep up with them and a defense that could keep Louisville's offense in check. WVU is never easy in Morgantown, even in a rebuilding year. Rutgers - don't laugh - has potentially a good offense to keep up (it's now or never for that team - if they don't go to a bowl this year they never will). Syracuse and UConn are both decent teams that can pull off an upset. Louisville is probably going to get caught in some shootouts and it's hard to win them all. Not saying that they can't, but they are not going to roll thorough everybody by 30+ points a game like a lot people think.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Fine whatever, I'm not going to say anymore. Go USC.

[Damaramu 0]

Yeah Big East. I must have Pac 10 on the brain.

The only thing I really heard about Louisville is that they have a tough non-conference game. I think that's what I heard...I don't know what the schedule looks like for them exactly.

 

Ok so who are our national title contenders going into this year? Who all has a legit shot at the title?

 

USC

Tennessee

LSU

Florida maybe?

Michigan

tOSU

Iowa

Virginia Tech?(i think they could win the ACC)

Miami?(i'm just thinking of ACC teams here)

Louisville

Texas

OU

 

Anyone else really a contender?

[Guest Ether]

Yeah Big East. I must have Pac 10 on the brain.

The only thing I really heard about Louisville is that they have a tough non-conference game. I think that's what I heard...I don't know what the schedule looks like for them exactly.

 

Ok so who are our national title contenders going into this year? Who all has a legit shot at the title?

 

USC

Tennessee

LSU

Florida maybe?

Michigan

tOSU

Iowa

Virginia Tech?(i think they could win the ACC)

Miami?(i'm just thinking of ACC teams here)

Louisville

Texas

OU

 

Anyone else really a contender?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Louisville's non-conference schedule is at Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon State (I'm guessing that is what you are referreing to as the tough game), and some I-AA team. I don't remember the exact Big East schedule, but they host Pitt and Syracuse, while they have to travel to WVU. For them to contend, they will definitely have to go 11-0 (10-1 won't cut it) and have to hope there is only one other undefeated team. I'm also afraid a 10-1 Texas or 10-1 Ohio State team - because of that matchup - could overtake them also. It would also help for the other top Big East teams to do well out-of-conference. Dream scenario for Lousiville, Pitt, and the Big East as a whole is for the Pitt and Loiusville be undefeated for their game November 3.

 

I would include Georgia on that list.

 

Edit: A team that I forgot is Purdue. They do not face both Michigan and Ohio State this year.

[CanadianChris 0]

Arizona State could be another contender. They return all of their offensive starters but one. If they can get through the first six weeks unscathed (at LSU, home to USC), they should have a real chance.

[Secret Agent 0]

It is way too early to pick a national champ or look at who would even been in the running. I never would have picked Auburn to do so well this time last year.

[Damaramu 0]

I wonder who the 2 coaches to vote for Texas were? Mack Brown and ????

[Guest Ether]

I wonder who the 2 coaches to vote for Texas were? Mack Brown and ????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Truth be told, probably either Stoops or Jim Tressell, both of whom have teams that would benefit greatly by beating a highly ranked Texas team.

 

I'd like to know who voted for Duke in the top 25.

 

Arizona State could be another contender. They return all of their offensive starters but one. If they can get through the first six weeks unscathed (at LSU, home to USC), they should have a real chance.

 

I thought about mentioning them, but at this point I have a hard time believing that they could beat both LSU and USC.

[Damaramu 0]

I wonder who the 2 coaches to vote for Texas were? Mack Brown and ????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Truth be told, probably either Stoops or Jim Tressell, both of whom have teams that would benefit greatly by beating a highly ranked Texas team.

 

I'd like to know who voted for Duke in the top 25.

 

Arizona State could be another contender. They return all of their offensive starters but one. If they can get through the first six weeks unscathed (at LSU, home to USC), they should have a real chance.

 

I thought about mentioning them, but at this point I have a hard time believing that they could beat both LSU and USC.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yeah I was thinking Stoops but Tressell didn't cross my mind. Does Stoops even have a vote? Which coaches have a vote? I remember Pete Caroll mentioning during the 2003 controversy something along the lines of "I'm glad that I don't have a vote b/c I'd hate to be forced to vote against my team in the end."

 

Oh and I just realized that ASU has to play the last 2 national champions. Man that sucks. Didn't USC blow them out last year?

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Spurrier votes Duke #25 in every year's preseason poll. Gives love to the guys that got him his start and says that he won't vote them out of the top 25 until they lose...which, of course, they generally take care of very quickly.