The College Football Thread 10/25 - 10/29

[Slayer 0]

The funny thing to me is that Millsaps College, who was on the losing end of that 14 lateral game, is coached by none other than former 'Bama coach Mike Dubose

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

If USC is still a longshot, shouldn't Michigan also be listed as one at this point? They obviously wouldn't get in over most 1-loss teams, and would need several teams to lose twice, but they are already reasonably high in the BCS and they do have a showcase game left against Ohio State. Now, I'd bet everything I own that neither of those teams makes the title game, but I don't really see one having a major advantage over the other.

[Bored 0]

I haven't found official confirmation of this but I've read in a couple of places that ESPN has worked out a deal to televise the ASU/Oregon nationally after all. It will be blacked out locally since both markets already have local deals in place to televise the game but this is very good news.

 

Weekly thread will be up tonight.

[Maztinho 0]

If USC is still a longshot, shouldn't Michigan also be listed as one at this point? They obviously wouldn't get in over most 1-loss teams, and would need several teams to lose twice, but they are already reasonably high in the BCS and they do have a showcase game left against Ohio State. Now, I'd bet everything I own that neither of those teams makes the title game, but I don't really see one having a major advantage over the other.

 

Despite Standford being not good... Michigan lost to App. St. No BCS team should be in contention for a national championship after losing to a Playoff Series Team. Which is prolly why they aren't listed as a longshot.

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

If USC is still a longshot, shouldn't Michigan also be listed as one at this point? They obviously wouldn't get in over most 1-loss teams, and would need several teams to lose twice, but they are already reasonably high in the BCS and they do have a showcase game left against Ohio State. Now, I'd bet everything I own that neither of those teams makes the title game, but I don't really see one having a major advantage over the other.

 

Despite Standford being not good... Michigan lost to App. St. No BCS team should be in contention for a national championship after losing to a Playoff Series Team. Which is prolly why they aren't listed as a longshot.

 

The computers don't seem to make a distinction between them though, and the voters seem to be forgetting about it. Now, what could happen is that if it looks like Michigan has a shot at the title game, the voters will drop them on purpose just to prevent that from happening.

 

And while this whole discussion about Michigan is pretty much pointless, it does raise an interesting general question: are there any teams out there who the voters might possibly lower strategically at some point, to prevent them from making it to the title game if that seems likely?

[Maztinho 0]

Your question was to Iggy's list, and I was pointing out the logic that I believe he is using (he said something to the effect in a previous weeks addition, or I might be making that up).

 

The voters consciously going, "Fuck BC" and voting them lower just to get ASU in the title game against Ohio State seems unlikely, but I could see a situation that arises of a team just squeaking by teams and another team around the same level getting solid wins and a team dropping naturally lower a few points keeping them out of the game.

[iggymcfly 0]

If USC is still a longshot, shouldn't Michigan also be listed as one at this point? They obviously wouldn't get in over most 1-loss teams, and would need several teams to lose twice, but they are already reasonably high in the BCS and they do have a showcase game left against Ohio State. Now, I'd bet everything I own that neither of those teams makes the title game, but I don't really see one having a major advantage over the other.

 

No. Michigan got blown out by Oregon at home. That means that if it comes down to the Wolverines vs. any two-loss Pac-10 team, the media will be screaming bloody murder if the Wolverines have the higher ranking. Definitely to the point that the voters would likely switch the teams during the conference championship games. Michigan has a 0.0000% chance of reaching the title game.

 

USC on the other hand has plenty of room on the schedule. They've got Oregon State and Cal to get back on the national radar and then the ASU game on the road as their potential proving ground. If they blow out ASU there, all their past ills can be forgotten. The fact that Booty was injured in the losses is huge too, as the media will be saying things like "this isn't the same team that lost to Oregon and Stanford". "If Booty was healthy, they'd probably be 12-0." If Oregon beats ASU this weekend (which I expect them to), USC might just be screwed though. They need a splashy win to get back in the thick of the race, and I'm not sure if a one-loss borderline Top Ten Arizona State squad would cut it. To really have a decent chance, USC needs ASU to be undefeated and then they need to win big. At the very least, they still have a better shot than Hawaii.

[iggymcfly 0]

Your question was to Iggy's list, and I was pointing out the logic that I believe he is using (he said something to the effect in a previous weeks addition, or I might be making that up).

 

The voters consciously going, "Fuck BC" and voting them lower just to get ASU in the title game against Ohio State seems unlikely, but I could see a situation that arises of a team just squeaking by teams and another team around the same level getting solid wins and a team dropping naturally lower a few points keeping them out of the game.

 

It's not about the voters saying "Fuck BC" and it's not about BC winning squeakers and ASU winning blowouts either. It's all about the remaining schedules. Arizona State has Oregon on the road (the "it" team in the national media at the moment), UCLA on the road, and then USC at home. If the Sun Devlis win all those games, the voters will have no choice but to be impressed. I'm guessing that just a win over Oregon this weekend would be enough to get ASU up to #3 and by the time they beat the other two teams, the voters would warm to putting them at #2. Even if they didn't, the schedule would be tough enough that ASU would almost certainly pass both BC and Ohio State to become a unanimous #1 in the computer ratings by the end of the season and by virtue of that, would get the #2 spot in the BCS anyway.

[Celtic Guardian 0]

I haven't found official confirmation of this but I've read in a couple of places that ESPN has worked out a deal to televise the ASU/Oregon nationally after all. It will be blacked out locally since both markets already have local deals in place to televise the game but this is very good news.

 

Weekly thread will be up tonight.

 

Press release link now up in new thread.

 

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Well Booty was the QB when they lost to Stanford. Really, I don't see how Sanchez is the worse QB. He lost to a top 5 team in Oregon, but otherwise he's done a lot of things right. Booty lost to Oregon State and UCLA last season and Stanford this season.

[iggymcfly 0]

Oops, somehow I thought that Booty went out in the 2nd half and Sanchez finished the game. Must have imagined that. I still think they can get in, but they need BC to lose twice, LSU to lose their finale, the Big XII champion picking up another loss, and Oregon to lose again.