This Week in College Football 11/21 - 11/25

[Fökai 0]

42-35 Hawai'i. YEAH~!

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

While it's quite a drag to see Notre Dame lose to USC again, at least I can admire the testicles of Pete Carroll, and be rather glad that it will probably end up fucking Michigan out of a national title rematch.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Boise St. will probably be selected last, and go to the Fiesta.

Well the Boise St. players were eating Tostito's chips after the game.

No doubt because they're delicious

 

Indeed they are.

 

Colt Brennan would be in my Heisman Top 5. The numbers are amazing.

[CanadianChris 0]

Fox just announced their broadcast teams for the BCS games they'll be carrying:

 

Sugar Bowl:

Play-by-play: Kenny Albert

Analysts: Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long

Sideline: Jeannie Zelasko

 

Orange Bowl:

Play-by-play: Matt Vasgersian

Analysts: Terry Donahue, Pat Haden

Sideline: Laura Okmin

 

Fiesta Bowl/BCS Championship:

Play-by-play: Thom Brennaman

Analysts: Barry Alvarez, Charles Davis

Sideline: Chris Myers

 

That first group has the potential to be historically bad. Howie Long's never called a game before, and Terry Bradshaw is...well, Terry Bradshaw.

[Hawk 34 0]

You mean to tell me out of that entire pool of FSN announcers they have, they couldn't do better then Long and Bradshaw?

 

This is why it's stupid to host the title games despite not having any games on your network aside from regional coverage.

[cabbageboy 0]

Teke, the sad irony for U of L is that in 2004 we finished #10 in the BCS and got obviously passed on by the BCS....nowdays #10 would get a team from a non BCS league in (like C-USA). In other words, U of L could have stayed in C-USA and gone undefeated damn near every year, finished in the BCS top 12, and been in the BCS constantly.

 

I'll put it this way. If Rutgers beats WVU on Saturday and then U of L ends up screwed by the BCS, you guys get to see a meltdown in here that will make Dama look tame and friendly.

[teke184 0]

Teke, the sad irony for U of L is that in 2004 we finished #10 in the BCS and got obviously passed on by the BCS....nowdays #10 would get a team from a non BCS league in (like C-USA). In other words, U of L could have stayed in C-USA and gone undefeated damn near every year, finished in the BCS top 12, and been in the BCS constantly.

 

I'll put it this way. If Rutgers beats WVU on Saturday and then U of L ends up screwed by the BCS, you guys get to see a meltdown in here that will make Dama look tame and friendly.

 

1. If you want to go to the BCS, win your conference

 

2. If you want to get into the BCS as an At Large, improve your schedule or join a better conference (Good luck getting into the ACC, Big Ten, or SEC though)

 

3. The way the BCS contract is set up, only one non-coalition team is guaranteed a bid if they finish where Louisville and Boise are right now. That means that if Louisville stayed in CUSA and qualified, they could still get bumped by Boise if they were ranked higher and they'd have less chance of an At Large as a CUSA member than they would as a member of the Big East.

 

 

4. The big problem is that the Big East, despite looking good at the top this year, is seen as the worst conference out of the six BCS conferences.

 

Louisville knew that when they jumped, as the only powers left at the time were Boston College (who was about to jump to the ACC), Pittsburg (who was riding the Larry Fitzgerald wave), and West Virginia.

 

 

 

Considering that the Big East is seen as a weak conference, Louisville will want to pump up its OOC scheduling. They made a good effort this year on several of the games, but that backfired due to the opponents being of lesser quality than expected.

 

 

Miami is traditionally a good choice, so they're hurt by the Canes having a down year.

 

Kentucky is usually a shitty choice but, this year, they're miraculously bowl-eligible this year. (This is a rivalry game, so I won't fault them for it)

 

K-State is usually good but was middling this year.

 

Temple is pathetic year-in and year-out and this year was no different.

 

Middle Tennessee is above average this year but a 7-5 Sun Belt team is rarely respected.

 

 

 

If Louisville could dump the teams like Temple and Middle Tennessee in favor of a Notre Dame, a middle-to-top Big Ten team like Penn State or Purdue, or some middle-to-top ACC teams like Maryland, Virginia Tech, or Boston College, then they'd be taken more seriously.

 

 

 

 

It probably seems as ironic as anything than an SEC fan is saying "pump up your OOC scheduling", but it's true given that the Big East has a poor *perception* since their three top teams bolted to the ACC.

 

(I say "perception" because, according to Sagarin, the Big East is the #3 conference this year behind the Pac Ten and SEC, although the average fan doesn't see it that way.)

[CanadianChris 0]

1. If you want to go to the BCS, win your conference

 

Exactly. Louisville screwed themselves by blowing the huge lead to Rutgers. They should still be in the national title picture if not for that.

[iggymcfly 0]

Here's my current Top 25. I did it in bed last night right before I went to sleep, but I didn't get around to posting it until now.

 

(Previous week's ranking in parenthesis)

 

1. Ohio State 12-0 (1)

2. Michigan 11-1 (2)

3. Florida 11-1 (3)

4. USC 11-1 (4)

5. LSU 10-2 (9)

6. Louisville 10-1 (7)

7. Boise State 12-0 (10)

8. Arkansas 10-2 (5)

9. Auburn 10-2 (13)

10. Notre Dame 10-2 (6)

11. Oklahoma 10-2 (12)

12. Wisconsin 11-1 (14)

13. Rutgers 10-1 (15)

14. Tennessee 9-3 (18)

15. West Virginia 9-2 (8)

16. Virginia Tech 10-2 (19)

17. Texas 9-3 (11)

18. Wake Forest 10-2 (24)

19. Nebraska 9-3 (20)

20. California 8-3 (21)

21. Georgia Tech 9-3 (16)

22. Texas A&M 9-3 (NR)

23. Georgia 8-4 (NR)

24. Boston College 9-3 (17)

25. BYU 10-2 (25)

 

Close: Hawaii, Penn State, Oregon State, Maryland, South Florida

[CanadianChris 0]

AP poll

 

USC and Michigan switched spots, so it looks like there there's no possibility of a split national championship.

[iggymcfly 0]

BTW, CanadianChris, your sig is awesome. It's funny how it only took a couple months for a whole new group of people to be completely unable to stand Dama.

[Bored 0]

New BCS Top 25

 

1. Ohio State

2. USC

3. Michigan

4. Florida

5. LSU

6. Louisville

7. Wisconsin

8. Boise State

9. Arkansas

10. Notre Dame

11. Auburn

12. Oklahoma

13. Rutgers

14. Virginia Tech

15. West Virginia

16. Tennessee

17. Wake Forest

18. California

19. Texas

20. Nebraska

21. BYU

22. Georgia Tech

23. Texas A&M

24. Oregon State

25. Hawaii

[CanadianChris 0]

They sure did a good job embargoing that.

[CanadianChris 0]

Louisville had better root hard for West Virginia next week, because I don't see them getting picked otherwise. LSU being above Louisville will give the bowl committee an easy reason to pass up the Cardinals. The only way I see them getting picked is if the Sugar Bowl decides Louisville will be a better draw than Notre Dame, which is a possibility.

 

My bowl predictions as of right now:

 

BCS - Ohio State vs. USC

Rose - Michigan vs. LSU

Sugar - Florida vs. Notre Dame

Orange - Georgia Tech vs. Louisville

Fiesta - Nebraska vs. Boise State

[Hawk 34 0]

I don't see how Louisville is even remotely close to being a bigger draw then ND (ratings or travel crowd, each).

 

In fact, I can probably count all the teams that can match with ND on that level with one hand.

[iggymcfly 0]

Louisville's got around a 1% chance of getting a BCS berth if Rutgers wins the conference and that will only happen if USC and Florida both lose next week, allowing the Cardinals to got #4 in the BCS and get an automatic berth.

 

As for the title game, looks like it will take an outright win by UCLA or else Michigan's screwed. Florida would probably have to beat Arkansas by at least 40 to even have a chance now, and even then, they'd need USC to lose or look absolutely terrible in a win.

[teke184 0]

Louisville's got around a 1% chance of getting a BCS berth if Rutgers wins the conference and that will only happen if USC and Florida both lose next week, allowing the Cardinals to got #4 in the BCS and get an automatic berth.

 

As for the title game, looks like it will take an outright win by UCLA or else Michigan's screwed. Florida would probably have to beat Arkansas by at least 40 to even have a chance now, and even then, they'd need USC to lose or look absolutely terrible in a win.

 

Actually, they can't get in that way...

 

Michigan gets an automatic pick for being #2 if that happens, which means that no longer applies to any other teams.

 

 

Even if it DID apply, the portion giving Boise a bid also applies, LSU would get in as #3 in the rankings, and Notre Dame would likely be in the Top 8 and get an automatic bid.

[iggymcfly 0]

Notre Dame won't be in the Top 8. They're currently ranked #10 and won't pass USC no matter what. The only way they get an automatic berth now is if Louisville loses to UConn and drops below them along with Arkansas.

 

I didn't know that the automatic berth for the Top 4 could only be applied to one team though. If so, yeah Louisville's got no shot at an at-large. Luckily, there's still that 80% chance that West Virginia beats Rutgers.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Hey, look at that. Dirk Koetter got fired, despite ASU rebounding back to 7-5 and a mid-level bowl game. Bye, average coach.

[Guest Princess Leena]

My bowl predictions as of right now:

 

BCS - Ohio State vs. USC

Rose - Michigan vs. LSU

Sugar - Florida vs. Notre Dame

Orange - Georgia Tech vs. Louisville

Fiesta - Nebraska vs. Boise State

I thought the Rose gets the first selection of who they want if a Big 10/Pac 10 team goes to the title game. Which means they're taking Notre Dame in the rematch that us Irish haters would love to see.

 

Then, that leaves the mess of what happens with LSU. As I'm not even sure there's a set rule that they can't play the SEC champion in New Orleans.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Poor Irish are going to get killed in another bowl game.

 

Frank Solich to Arizona St. That's just speculation on my part.

[iggymcfly 0]

I'm pretty sure that if Notre Dame goes to the Rose Bowl, then the Sugar Bowl will take Louisville to play the SEC Champion and LSU will end up going to the Orange Bowl.

 

However, Michigan/Notre Dame was such a blowout the first time, that I wouldn't be surprised if the Rose Bowl committee takes LSU. LSU will travel just about as well as Notre Dame would, and I'd think the interest from football fans in the matchup would be enough to counteract the national interest of 'OMG, Notre Dame's playing'.

[CanadianChris 0]

That was my thinking too. Michigan is a lock, and I don't think the Rose Bowl would want to stage a rematch of a game that was so uncompetitive the first time around. Plus, they'd probably have an implicit agreement with the other bowls as to who should go where -- especially the Sugar Bowl, who probably wouldn't want LSU when they already have the SEC champ.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Add Chuck Amato to the dead list, after a 3-9 season. Chuck, the ACC will miss your high-pitched squeal, your man-breasts, and your stylish red kicks.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

And this one too.

 

Report: Shula out at Alabama

 

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama has fired coach Mike Shula a year after the Crimson Tide had a 10-2 season, a newspaper reported.

 

Shula told his assistant coaches late Sunday night that Alabama athletic director Mal Moore had dismissed him, The Tuscaloosa News reported on its Web site.

 

The big, big rumor going around right now: Spurrier steps in for 3 years, $10 million. Yowza. I don't know if I believe that--Spurrier comes up for every single job opening--but we'll see. What I find hilarious about so many of these firings, especially Shula and Koetter, is that they come almost immediately after the coaches have signed really, really long extensions. Miserable planning, athletic departments.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

Groh's gotta go.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I'm a Groh guy from the start (my first year at school was his coaching), but he's basically got next year to get a couple decent road wins and get Virginia back to stability (I'd be satisfied with 8-4). The rash of recent firings leaves him as the worst coach in the ACC. I don't really count Ted Roof, cause Duke is just perpetually hopeless.

[Guest Princess Leena]

That sucks about Tits Amato. I always enjoyed watching him strut on the sidelines.

 

Has Spurrier been rumored for every position in the Southeast area? Why doesn't he try for the Arizona State job? Better golfing weather!

[Hawk 34 0]

Mark Dantonio, of Cincinnati just took the Michigan State job.

[CanadianChris 0]

That's a great hire for Michigan State. Dantonio got Cincinnati to a respectable position in the Big East very quickly.