This Week in College Football 10/31 - 11/5

[Bored 0]

Shocking news....Hawaii has accepted an invite to the Hawaii Bowl. I can't believe they wouldn't wait to see if San Jose State became bowl eligible.

[Guest Princess Leena]

If Boise gets into a BCS bowl, the MPC Computers Bowl will be awesome with a 6-win WAC team vs. hopefully FSU/The U.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

All 300 or so of the Wake students storm the field! I can't believe Wake Forest is 8-1.

[iggymcfly 0]

The argument about a playoff diluting the field is only valid when the margin in the regular season is greater than the length of the playoffs. For instance, in baseball, the Cardinals finished 14 games behind the Mets, but still earned the World Series berth because they won one more game in the postseason. In this case, you can argue that the system is flawed and that the Mets were more deserving.

 

College football however is completely different. The margin between the teams in the championship and the teams that miss is often 0 games. Thus, a playoff doesn't water down the regular season, it just clarifies the results by separating teams that were bunched close together. You can't say, "oh, it would only take one fluke game for Ohio State to lose to USC and USC would advance" because if Ohio State lost "one fluke game" to USC in the regular season, USC would get in over them anyway.

 

Note that I'm advocating an 8-team playoff here and not a 16-team playoff, since that would dilute the meaning of the regular season somewhat. However, Ohio State is currently #1 in the BCS and USC is #8 so the scenario I mentioned there is completely plausible.

[cabbageboy 0]

If there is one trump card argument that the BCS can use over the NCAA basketball tourney it's that one of the best teams is always the champion. There might be someone screwed over like Auburn, but the team that is pronounced champion is usually one of the 2-3 best teams in the nation.

 

I can't believe I'm defending the BCS, especially considering the first few rounds of the NCAA tourney are my favorite sports days of the year. The NCAA tourney is much more thrilling and fun, but sometimes the winner isn't exactly a true top tier team (Zona in 97, Cuse in 03, even Florida this year). By that I mean a team roughly in the Elite 8 if they did it that way.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Plus, it would be very easy to create a playoff system that still makes the college football even more valid than it is now.

 

8 team playoff.

6 BCS conference winners in (as long as they finish in the Top 15).

2 at-large teams in (Non-BCS team guaranteed a spot if they finish Top 15 or undefeated).

 

There. And it's even better than the current system since every team in the nation has a shot at the national title.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Even though there are too many bowls, I love seeing endless bowl matchups. I care less about there being a playoff/whatever, probably because my team never sniffs the top anyway.

 

I was ready to believe in Arkansas a bit more tonight, but they got one fluke TD on a pre-halftime hail mary and still let South Carolina hang around almost exactly the same way that Auburn and Tennessee did. Still, they did look really good running the ball. I'm not sure how I feel about a team that's unsure of its QB, though, and the Casey Dick or Mitch Mustain question might give them trouble at some point. The field's thinning out though, and they're still winning, so they're certainly up there.

 

Speaking of South Carolina, they've played close against everybody lately and looked pretty good. Were they not in the unfortunate position of having to play four likely 10-win teams, they'd probably have a nice 8 or 9-win season going.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Im not buying into the MD getting into the ACC Title Game frenzy that has struck around here..they still have to play Miami (which admittedly is probably an easy game now), Boston College and Wake Forest, and realistically they have to go 3-0 to get in the Title Game.

 

I will totally stand by my prediction last week of now Louisville vs the Ohio St/Michigan winner for the BCS Championship game. Louisville will probably get another small bump by beating Rutgers this week (which they will do) and I have a feeling that Florida will get upset in the SEC title game vs whoever they play..

 

Also, for you Ron and Fez listeners..Mr. Perfect (Earl) hit his pick this week (6-0) going with Texas giving up 18 points and they won 36-10. Ron is gonna have a fit for the next week, but the bit lives for a 7th week!

[iggymcfly 0]

Got my rankings done.

 

(Previous week's ranking in parenthesis)

 

1. Ohio State 10-0 (1)

2. Michigan 10-0 (2)

3. Florida 8-1 (3)

4. Louisville 8-0 (7)

5. Texas 9-1 (5)

6. Auburn 9-1 (8)

7. LSU 7-2 (11)

8. California 8-1 (9)

9. Notre Dame 8-1 (10)

10. West Virginia 7-1 (6)

11. Tennessee 7-2 (4)

12. Rutgers 8-0 (12)

13. Boise State 9-0 (13)

14. USC 7-1 (14)

15. Arkansas 8-1 (15)

16. Oklahoma 7-2 (17)

17. Wisconsin 9-1 (18)

18. Georgia Tech 7-2 (21)

19. Wake Forest 8-1 (23)

20. Maryland 7-2 (25)

21. Oregon State 6-3 (NR)

22. Boston College 7-2 (16)

23. Oregon 7-2 (NR)

24. Virginia Tech 7-2 (NR)

25. Clemson 7-3 (20)

 

Close (in order): Hawaii, Texas A&M, Washington State, Penn State, BYU

[Fökai 0]

Shocking news....Hawaii has accepted an invite to the Hawaii Bowl. I can't believe they wouldn't wait to see if San Jose State became bowl eligible.

Actually, WAC #2 got the Hawai'i Bowl this season regardless.

 

The Pac-10 standings say that it will definitely come down to the two Oregon schools or Wazzu for the #5 seed. I can't say who I'm hoping they play just yet.

[Bored 0]

Oregon State goes to Hawaii the last week of the season so we know it won't be them. My guess is it will probably end up being Wazzu.

[Fökai 0]

Wazzu's (4-3 in conference) remaining schedule:

at Arizona State

home against Washington

 

Oregon (4-2 in conference) remaining schedule:

at USC

home against Arizona

at Oregon State

 

Wazzu has the tiebreaker. I think they will send Oregon to the bowl unless there's a upset in the Coliseum next weekend against USC.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Who would the Rose Bowl take to replace the Ohio St/Michigan winner? The loser of that game, or Notre Dame?

 

By conference teams who have the needed 6 wins (gag) to be bowl eligible.

 

ACC-Six

Big East-Five

Big Ten-Six

Big Twelve-Seven

Conf. USA-Two

MAC-Three

Mt.West-Two

Pac 10-Five

SEC-Seven

Sun Belt-One

WAC-Four

Independent-Two

 

Number of Bowl affiliations

ACC-Eight

Big East-Up to six

Big Ten-Seven

Big Twelve-Eight

MAC-Three

Mt.West-Four

Pac 10-Five

SEC-Eight

Sun Belt-One

WAC-Four

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Hopefully the Gators move up to 2nd, but will probably just move to 3rd.

[Carnival 0]

My rankings still rollin'

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

So OU came through with a big win in College Station without AD. Of course it was close and ESPN doesn't care now that AD is out for the year so no one will notice, but OU is definitely a top 15 team now. They have wins over A&M and Missouri which is more than most teams can say.

 

I don't know if the poll voters are bias or anything but they really need to open their eyes and see good OU is this year since they've had so many injuries and gotten screwed. OU is a top 15, maybe top 10 team when you think about the Oregon screwjob.

Wouldn't it be hilarious of Texas last the last two games and OU ended up playing Nebraska for the title? Of course we still probably wouldn't hear anything about how OU really has one loss and should be in the title game hunt, but at least everyone who saw that game would know it.

 

Anyway I'm proud of the guys and think they can win out. Maybe we can start calling Allan Patrick AP since he's taking over so well for AD. OU is gonna be running back U!

[AboveAverage484 0]

Here's my kooky top 25 "points" rankings, for those who don't know, it's kind of an experiment of mine, each team started out with a certain amount of points based on pre-season rankings (119, 118, down to 1), and then have points added or subtracted based on the quality of their wins and losses:

 

1. Ohio State

2. Michigan

3. Florida

4. California

5. USC

6. Texas

7. Auburn

8. Notre Dame

9. Tennessee

10. Louisville

11. Oklahoma

12. LSU

13. Virginia Tech

14. Clemson

15. West Virginia

16. Georgia Tech

17. Wisconsin

18. Nebraska

19. Arkansas

20. Oregon

21. Maryland

22. Boston College

23. Missouri

24. Florida State

25. Miami, FL

[cabbageboy 0]

I just do not get this Florida hype. I know they are 8-1 and all, play in the big bad SEC, but when I see them they just don't WOW me in any particular way. If there was a game for instance between WVU and Florida, I'd take WVU over them by about 10.

 

I hate doing the old "These teams both played this team" bit, but U of L and Florida both have played UK. U of L stomped the bejesus out of UK 59-28, Florida beat UK 26-7.

 

Check this out as well. For all the talk of "Louisville has a weak schedule" most of the teams very well could make a bowl: UK may go 7-5 now, Kansas St. should go 7-5 or at least 6-6, Miami is disappointing but should still salvage a bowl of some sort, even Middle TN could win the Sun Belt and go to a bowl. Add that to USF maybe being about 7-5, Pitt being about 7-5, and Cincy maybe breaking .500 at 6-6 and that is 9 out of 12 teams on U of L's schedule that could be bowl eligible. The lesser teams being Syracuse, UConn, and the hideous Temple.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Florida's defense is top-notch. Only Tennessee's offense has put up 20 on them all season (half of Auburn's 27 came on a fumble return and a blocked punt). It's very fortunate that they have such a great defense, because their offense is a weird jumble of unmatched parts. Every game they seemed poised to explode, but it just doesn't line up right. They get huge moments out of Tebow, Leak, Caldwell, etc., but they're pretty sporadic and don't have a steady running game. Hence the awkward wins over inferior competition recently.

 

I still think they're one of the best teams playing right now, because they have wins over both Tennessee and LSU. As far as wins over top programs go, those are pretty much unmatched by almost every team out there but Auburn (who tagged UF and LSU). Still, you're absolutely right--many of Louisville's opponents (and opponents to be, namely Rutgers) have turned out to be much better than they looked initially. Similarly, some of Florida's ballyhooed opponents, like FSU, Georgia, and Alabama, are underperforming.

 

Really, the team that has the chance to be the most impressive 1-loss SEC squad is unquestionably Arkansas. If they win out, they'll have demolished Auburn and beaten LSU, Tennessee, and UF, with their only loss coming to USC in the first game of the year. I don't think a 12-1 team with that kind of a resume could be denied. That's a ton of ifs, though, so I don't think they're really going to get there.

[Guest Felonies!]

So OU came through with a big win in College Station without AD. Of course it was close and ESPN doesn't care now that AD is out for the year so no one will notice, but OU is definitely a top 15 team now. They have wins over A&M and Missouri which is more than most teams can say.

 

I don't know if the poll voters are bias or anything but they really need to open their eyes and see good OU is this year since they've had so many injuries and gotten screwed. OU is a top 15, maybe top 10 team when you think about the Oregon screwjob.

Wouldn't it be hilarious of Texas last the last two games and OU ended up playing Nebraska for the title? Of course we still probably wouldn't hear anything about how OU really has one loss and should be in the title game hunt, but at least everyone who saw that game would know it.

 

Anyway I'm proud of the guys and think they can win out. Maybe we can start calling Allan Patrick AP since he's taking over so well for AD. OU is gonna be running back U!

This was awesome. I'm glad I accidentally opened the college football thread.

[Bored 0]

Who would the Rose Bowl take to replace the Ohio St/Michigan winner? The loser of that game, or Notre Dame?

Guarentee it will be the loser of the game. The Rose Bowl always wants a Pac-10/Big Ten match-up when it's possible.

 

Annnnd we have CONTROVERSY~! The Coaches did NOT vote Louisville ahead of Texas, although there is only a 15 point difference.

 

Poll

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

Hopefully the Gators move up to 2nd, but will probably just move to 3rd.

 

You don't honestly think Florida will move ahead of an undefeated Michigan team just because UM struggled to put away a crappy team after they had pulled all their starters? Especially since Florida didn't exactly put the screws to Vanderbilt.

[2GOLD 0]

Who would the Rose Bowl take to replace the Ohio St/Michigan winner? The loser of that game, or Notre Dame?

Guarentee it will be the loser of the game. The Rose Bowl always wants a Pac-10/Big Ten match-up when it's possible.

 

Annnnd we have CONTROVERSY~! The Coaches did NOT vote Louisville ahead of Texas, although there is only a 15 point difference.

 

Poll

 

Mack Brown and his buddies trying to turn the poll in the favor of Texas over an undefeated team? SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!

 

And I'm sure someone will say, "well Texas only lost to Ohio State and Louisville is in the easy Big East" and blah blah blah. The Big 12 has had some cupcake seasons that didn't hurt their teams shots. The Big East is a BCS conference and if one of their teams is undefeated, they should be ahead of a 1 loss team. Losses gotta count for more damage than this, I don't care who you lost too. If they both had one loss, sure Texas ahead of L'ville makes sense. This does not.

[CanadianChris 0]

An Ohio State/Texas rematch in the plus-one game would be almost as bad as an Ohio State/Michigan rematch.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Hopefully the Gators move up to 2nd, but will probably just move to 3rd.

 

You don't honestly think Florida will move ahead of an undefeated Michigan team just because UM struggled to put away a crappy team after they had pulled all their starters? Especially since Florida didn't exactly put the screws to Vanderbilt.

 

 

 

That's why I said "hopefully" and then i said they would probably just move to 3rd.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

I just do not get this Florida hype. I know they are 8-1 and all, play in the big bad SEC, but when I see them they just don't WOW me in any particular way. If there was a game for instance between WVU and Florida, I'd take WVU over them by about 10.

 

I hate doing the old "These teams both played this team" bit, but U of L and Florida both have played UK. U of L stomped the bejesus out of UK 59-28, Florida beat UK 26-7.

 

Check this out as well. For all the talk of "Louisville has a weak schedule" most of the teams very well could make a bowl: UK may go 7-5 now, Kansas St. should go 7-5 or at least 6-6, Miami is disappointing but should still salvage a bowl of some sort, even Middle TN could win the Sun Belt and go to a bowl. Add that to USF maybe being about 7-5, Pitt being about 7-5, and Cincy maybe breaking .500 at 6-6 and that is 9 out of 12 teams on U of L's schedule that could be bowl eligible. The lesser teams being Syracuse, UConn, and the hideous Temple.

 

 

 

You should just be happy with your win over georgia.

[Bored 0]

The mysterious Harris poll, which still no one pays attention to, did vote Louisville #3 by six points over Texas.

 

Poll

[CanadianChris 0]

If it's that close in both polls, the computers should still like Florida enough to push them to 3 and Louisville to 4. But, we'll find out in a few minutes.

[Bored 0]

Louisville was already liked by the computer rankings so it's pretty much a lock they'll hop Florida in the BCS.

 

FOX has the late games today so it'll still be a few hours before they are released.

[CanadianChris 0]

No, CBS has the late games.