The College Football Thread 11/4 - 11/8

[Damaramu 0]

Wow, seriously? Not even 3 seasons? That's kind of surprising, as I really expected him to at least get a 4th year. Half his recruits haven't even gotten into the system yet.

 

Half his recruits graduate next year.

[Bored 0]

ESABCPN Coverage Maps

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

NIU got brutalized tonight.

[Slayer 0]

Local sports radio show of course talking about the Ron Prince situation, and talk about his successor is less than optimistic. Because Kansas State is also in the midst of replacing their retiring university president, there's a question of how that change could affect the hiring process. As for possible replacements, I missed the early part of the show so I don't know if they brought up Venables only to quickly dismiss him as a possibility because I haven't heard his name as all in the time I've been listening. They say because of the timing of this, it may be difficult to pull in a good name, and so the only options (if you stay within those having prior affiliations to KSU) are either Dennis Franchione or Bill Snyder pulling a Bud Grant. There's also the long-shots (as in, probably no fuckin' way) of Gary Patterson or Jim Leavitt. If they were to go outside the "family", they might throw out a boatload of money to lure in Phil Fulmer.

[Damaramu 0]

I heard Dan McCarney was a possibility.

[Guest C*Z*E*C*H]

There has been major talk about getting Gruden to Tennessee in 09. Probably a pipe dream, but Chucky on the UT sideline would be legendary.

 

I actually think Gruden would be an excellent college coach--possibly better than he is a pro coach--but would rather him stay in Tampa. I'm just not sure who we could hire that would be any better. And with things going fairly well this year and him just signing an extension a few months ago, I doubt the guy is going anywhere.

Why would Jon Gruden stop coaching major league football for one of the league's best organizations, a perennial contender, to coach minor league football for the entertainment of fratboys, townies, and elderly hangers-on? That's a pretty retarded career move. Gruden is a winner, albeit kind of a goofy-ass winner, and only losers retreat to the loving breast of the college game.

[Bored 0]

With some of these jobs opening up I've been waiting for Jim Harbaugh's name to get attached to one of these positions. Then I see this today:

 

http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_10900864

Stanford Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby has met with Coach Jim Harbaugh and his agent about a contract extension that would "keep Jim at Stanford as long as possible," Bowlsby said Tuesday.

 

News of a potential extension came in the aftermath of a source telling the Mercury News' Tim Kawakami that the Raiders are very interested in talking with Harbaugh about becoming their next coach.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! They better give him whatever he wants. Forget the strides the program has made on the field, Rivals.com currently ranks Stanford's 2009 recruiting class #18 overall, and Scout.com has them ranked #13. If he bolts at the end of the season, expect a lot those recruits to do the same and it'll be back to square one for the program.

[Bored 0]

TCU shanks a short field goal, still 10-6.

[Damaramu 0]

Go Horny Toads! If they win that just makes the OU win look so much better.

[Bored 0]

And they miss another field goal. Just 2:48 to go though.

[Bored 0]

Touchdown Utah with 47 seconds left!

[Damaramu 0]

Well fuck

[Bored 0]

Game over, 13-10 Utah. After a bye next week, they play San Diego State (another bye week) and then their rivalry game against BYU which again most of the country will not be able to see.

[iggymcfly 0]

I'm kinda torn about seeing Utah still in the national title hunt. On the one hand, I think it's great for a mid-major team to be able to get their shot, and in principle, I think 12-0 Utah deserves to get in over say 11-1 Penn State, but the Utes really just aren't that good. They almost lost to Michigan, and then they need verifiable miracles against both Oregon State and TCU at home. They're not even as good as Boise State this year, let alone the Boise team that beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

[cabbageboy 0]

Is Utah a mid-major exactly? Or BYU for that matter? Either way I think Utah should definitely be in the title hunt unless they lose to BYU. Sure, they win ugly games but they are still 10-0 and have gotten the job done. I didn't think they would beat TCU, since TCU just seemed better going in. And for what it's worth, take a look at www.realtimerpi.com and see Utah is #6 there with a SOS of 33. Alabama has a SOS of 30, Penn State's SOS is 46. If they run the table they would have wins over TCU, BYU, the Oregon State team that beat USC, and a reasonably decent 7-2 Air Force team.

 

I'd be interested in seeing what would happen in the BCS if Alabama, Penn State, and TX Tech all went down and Utah won out. Utah would probably get the shaft anyway.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

I'm somewhat confused by the argument that Utah doesn't win games by blowouts since PF/PA was taken out of the ratings, right? Anyway, here's Utah's schedule as it stands now. I think if they run the table, they should be in consideration because they beat what was expected to be a good Michigan team on the road, beat a good Air Force team on the road, beat a solid Oregon State team, beat TCU at home, and could have a chance at beating BYU too. They shouldn't be faulted for the conference they play in and have beaten the great teams that they needed to beat so far (good or ugly). Even then, Colorado State and New Mexico both have a chance at finishing with .500 records.

 

Overall Record: 48-53 (48%)

 

beat Michigan on the road (2-7)

beat UNLV (3-6)

beat Utah State on the road (2-7)

beat Air Force on the road (7-2)

beat Weber State

beat Oregon State at home (5-3)

beat Wyoming (3-6)

beat Colorado State (4-5)

beat New Mexico (4-6)

beat TCU at home (9-2)

vs. San Diego State (1-8)

vs. BYU at home (8-1)

[Bored 0]

Coming into this week Utah strength of schedule was #66 in the country and when taking into account future opponents, which would have included TCU, it bumps them to #59 overall so basically they will have played an average overall schedule. By comparison Boise State is currently ranked #87 in SOS and when including future opponents they rank only #104 overall.

 

There is the nightmare scenario out there where USC finishes #2 and Utah finishes #3 which would obviously create the conflict of having a one loss team make the MNC game over an undefeated team who beat the only team that beat USC (other side of that coin would be of course that USC played the Beavers in Corvallis while Utah played them at home). But a lot would have to happen for that to play out and I seriously doubt it will. If you stuck this year's Utah team into 2007, I think they would have made the MNC game over the glut of two loss teams last year.

[iggymcfly 0]

If you stuck this year's Utah team into 2007, I think they would have had to play BYU, Oregon State, and Louisville on the road and picked up at least two losses.

 

FYP. Is no one getting my point here? The point is that regardless of their resume, the Utes aren't very good. Put them up against Florida in the MNC, and they'll be a 21-point underdog. Is that what we really want to see? 2004 Utah, 2006 Boise State, even 2008 Boise State to an extent. Those are all teams that are capable of playing with the big boys. Utah's a team that got their tougher games at home and managed to luckbox through, much like Hawaii last year.

 

Also, if Utah does get their shot and get destroyed, it's going to make it that much harder for another mid-major to get recognition any time soon.

[Bored 0]

My point was if you stuck this year's Utah team, with their current resume, into the 2007 scenario of having no other unbeatens and only one BCS conference team with fewer than two loses, they likely make into the MNC game, not if you stuck this year's Utah team and had them play last year's schedule. Wasn't really arguing if Utah deserved to play in the MNC game this year anyways as they need way too many things to go their way for them to have a legit argument.

 

But I do think it's ridiculous to compare Utah's resume to Hawaii's last year. Hawaii played the weakest schedule in the country last season while Utah, as I already pointed out, has played a middle of the road schedule. In fact their schedule is right on par with Penn State's (currently 61st overall).

[CanadianChris 0]

I'm somewhat confused by the argument that Utah doesn't win games by blowouts since PF/PA was taken out of the ratings, right?

It doesn't matter for the computer polls, but many of the poll voters are such simpletons that they take margin of victory as one of their main criteria for voting.

[Maztinho 0]

I'm conflicted... I want Utah to succeed because the MWC needs more respect, but I grew up three miles from LaVell Edwards Stadium, and it pains me to see Utah succeed.

 

Ideally Utah manages to hang around and screw with people's minds for awhile and BYU knocks them off in the Holy War.

[iggymcfly 0]

FWIW, not allowing computers to consider margin of victory is probably the single dumbest thing that the BCS has done in their existence. You only have 12 to 13 data points to compare the teams anyway, and now you're asking the computers to throw most of that data out the window and only look at it in the simplest manner possible?

 

Saying the voters shouldn't consider it is even dumber. I mean if that was the case, people should probably have voted Virginia Tech over LSU last year. After all, they had better losses than the Tigers did. The computers voted them #1 after the regular season without looking at margin of victory. Just think, then we would have had a thrilling LSU/Hawaii Sugar Bowl, and Ohio State could have been the national champions after they beat the Hokies.

 

And yes, Utah's got a tougher schedule than Hawaii did last year, but the number of fluky wins where they just barely snuck by against mediocre teams is so similar that it's downright eerie.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Random bold statement: The ACC is the best conference in football.

 

They're not exactly top heavy like the Big 12 or the SEC, but there is really only one school in the conference you can safely call bad (N.C. State), and they've at least been competitive since regularly starting Russell Wilson.

[cabbageboy 0]

The ACC doesn't have many outright awful teams, but at the end of the day a conf. is judged by its top tier teams. As in who can really make noise in the BCS. The ACC doesn't really have anybody good in it. It's about like the Big East in that regard: A bunch of mediocre top 50 teams with 1 that is outside the top 100 (Syracuse, NC State). Though to be honest WVU has at least turned it up a notch after a bad start, so I would take them over anyone in the ACC.

 

If we're talking about Utah, I 100% agree that this team would get squashed by the truly excellent 2004 team. That team was probably the single best non BCS conf. team ever. I would have been highly interested in a USC/Utah game in 2004. I doubt the Utes would have won, but I do know they would have done better than getting squashed 55-14 like OU did.

[Bored 0]

I guess the Tennessee players aren't all inspired to have Fulmer leave on a high note as they are down 13-0 at halftime to Wyoming.

[MFer 0]

So Michigan finally plays like a real football team AFTER they clinched a losing season...*sigh*

 

Good win though, and they get to keep the Little Brown Jug. Sheridan actually looked like a guy that can play QB at Michigan for once.

[the pinjockey 0]

I hope Terrelle Pryor blows out his fucking knee after watching Tressel run it up on Northwestern. Letting the guys play and whatever happens happens is one thing, but a fake punt up by 21 with 7 minutes left and running the ball instead of kneeling it with 9 seconds left is some bullshit.

[Bored 0]

Illinois loses to Western Michigan 23-17. A year after making the Rose Bowl they are in jeopardy of failing to become bowl eligible as their last two games are home against Ohio State and then at Northwestern.

[the pinjockey 0]

Was Fullmer going for it on 4th and 8, in easy FG range, the all time "Fuck youse guys, I'm gone anyway" call?

[RepoMan 0]

Iowa's "Greenout" is incredibly stupid.