The College Football Thread 11/11 - 11/15

[Bored 0]

Really nothing to see here this week as we have just one (barely) Top 25 match-up where the Ol' Ball Coach returns The Swamp again. But sometimes it's weeks like these where really bizarre things can happen like maybe Alabama gets Croom'd at home and throws the BCS into chaos.

 

And because I know you all were wondering about the ACC divisional races (or at least I was as the conference just fascinates me this year), here are your ACC divisional title scenarios aka The Clusterfuck to Tampa. Note there are other scenarios out there but I went with the path of least resistance for each team.

 

Atlantic Divison

 

Wake Forest 4-2 (at N.C. State, vs. Boston College)

-Needs to win out and Maryland to lose once.

 

Florida State 4-2 (vs. Boston College, at Maryland)

-Needs to win out and Wake Forest to lose once.

 

Maryland 3-2 (vs. North Carolina, vs. Florida State, at Boston College)

-Controls own destiny, would own tiebreak over Wake Forest.

 

Boston College 2-3 (at Florida State, at Wake Forest, vs. Maryland)

-Controls own destiny.

 

Coastal Division

 

Virginia Tech 3-2 (at Miami, vs. Duke, vs. Virginia)

-Controls own destiny.

 

North Carolina 3-2 (at Maryland, vs. N.C. State, at Duke)

-Needs to win out and Virginia Tech to lose once.

 

Miami 3-2 (vs. Virginia Tech, at Georgia Tech, at N.C. State)

-Needs to win out and North Carolina to lose once.

 

Georgia Tech 4-3 (vs. Miami)

-Needs to beat Miami, Virginia to lose once, and Virginia Tech & North Carolina to lose twice.

 

Virginia 3-3 (vs. Clemson, at Virginia Tech)

-Needs to win out, Miami to lose once, and North Carolina to lose twice.

 

 

Network/Basic Cable Schedule

 

TUESDAY

#14 Ball State at Miami of Ohio, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2

 

WEDNESDAY

Central Michigan at Northern Illinois, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2

 

THURSDAY

Virginia Tech at Miami, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN

 

FRIDAY

#22 Cincinnati at Louisville, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2

 

SATURDAY

Notre Dame vs. Navy, Noon/9:00 AM, CBS

#11 Ohio State at Illinois, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN

Northwestern at Michigan, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN2

Princeton at Yale, Noon/9:00 AM, Versus

#3 Texas at Kansas, 12:30 PM/9:03 AM, FSN

 

#25 South Carolina at #4 Florida, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBS

Minnesota at Wisconsin, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC/ESPN

#16 North Carolina at Maryland, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC/ESPN*

California at Oregon State, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC*

 

#12 Missouri at Iowa State, 6:30/3:30 PM, FSN

#6 USC at Stanford, 7:00/4:00 PM, Versus

Mississippi State at #1 Alabama, 7:45/4:45 PM, ESPN

Boston College at #19 Florida State, 8:00/5:00 PM, ABC*

#13 Oklahoma State at Colorado, 8:00/5:00 PM, ABC*

Vanderbilt at Kentucky, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2

 

UCLA at Washington, 10:15/7:15 PM, FSN

 

Digital Cable/Satellite/GamePlan Schedule

 

THURSDAY

Buffalo at Akron, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPNU

Wyoming at UNLV, 9:00/6:00 PM, CBSCS

 

SATURDAY

Indiana at #8 Penn State, Noon/9:00 AM, BTN*

Purdue at Iowa, Noon/9:00 AM, BTN*

Duke at Clemson, Noon/9:00 AM, Raycom*/GP

Rutgers at South Florida, Noon/9:00 AM, GP

#10 Georgia at Auburn, 12:30 PM/9:30 AM, Raycom*/GP

Middle Tennessee at Western Kentucky, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, GP

New Mexico at Colorado State, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, Mtn.

Toledo at Western Michigan, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, GP

McNeese State at Northwestern State, 3:00 PM/Noon, FCS Atlantic

#24 Wake Forest at N.C. State, 3:30/12:30 PM, ESPNU

#17 BYU at Air Force, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBSCS

#9 Boise State at Idaho, 5:00/2:00 PM, GP

New Mexico State at Fresno State, 5:00/2:00 PM, GP

Connecticut at Syracuse, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPNU

#23 Tulsa at Houston, 8:00/5:00 PM, CBSCS

#7 Utah at San Diego State, 8:00/5:00 PM, Mtn.

Troy at #20 LSU, 8:00/5:00 PM, GP

 

All Other Division I-A Games

 

WEDNESDAY

Temple at Kent State, ESPN360

 

SATURDAY

UL Monroe at Mississippi

Utah State at Louisiana Tech

East Carolina at Southern Miss

UAB at Tulane

Arizona at Oregon

Nebraska at Kansas State

UL Lafayette at Florida Atlantic

Texas A&M at Baylor

San Jose State at Nevada

UCF at Marshall

Washington State at Arizona State

SMU at UTEP

Edited November 13, 2008 by Bored

[iggymcfly 0]

The ACC tiebreakers fascinated me a lot more before the Jackets got destroyed by UNC last week and dropped their chances of winning to roughly 1%. In all seriousness though, it looks like UNC has the inside track. They've still got NC State and Duke on the schedule, they're only reasonably tough game is at Maryland who's easily the worst of the ACC contenders.

 

And I agree on this week's slate being super dull. We've got USCe trying to keep USCw alive for the national title, but other than that, there's nothing of national significance.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Week 12... lots of good FCS matchups! A lot of these games could go a long way in deciding who could get an automatic bid or at large bid for the playoffs.

 

Comcast Sportsnet - NE at 12 PM ET: UMass (6-4) @ New Hampshire (7-2)

CN8 at 12 PM ET: Harvard (7-1) @ Pennsylvania (5-3)

Holy Cross (6-3) @ Lafayette (7-2)

Central Connecticut State (6-4) @ Sacred Heart (8-2)

William & Mary (7-2) @ James Madison (8-1)

Tennessee State (8-2) @ Jacksonville State (7-3)

Wofford (7-2) @ Samford (5-4)

South Dakota State (6-4) @ Southern Illinois (7-2)

SportsSouth at 3:05 PM ET: Georgia Southern (5-5) @ Furman (7-3)

Elon (8-2) @ Appalachian State (8-2)

South Carolina State (8-2) @ Morgan State (6-4)

MASN, Family Net at 7:00 PM ET: Gardner-Webb (5-5) @ Liberty (8-2)

Southland TV at 7:00 PM ET: McNeese State (6-3) @ Northwestern State (6-4)

UC Davis (5-5) @ Cal Poly (7-1)

Butler (6-3) @ San Diego (7-2)

[cabbageboy 0]

Iggy, here's something I find truly baffling as to why it hasn't been more widely reported. Right now USC wouldn't even make the Rose Bowl, let alone play for the national title. Is everyone simply assuming Oregon St. will lose and that USC will easily win out? OR St. does have a fairly tough road to go (Cal, Arizona, Oregon) but if they can win those then the Beavers would in fact win the Pac 10.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

There aren't many people that expect Oregon State to run the table against those teams. Even here in Oregon where the Beavs are worshiped fans are willing to admit that's a brutal schedule. It's just not realistic to think that they win the conference.

 

I do think it's time that people stopped acting like USC's loss to Oregon State was especially brutal. It was an early season road loss to a good team. Not exactly like the stinker they threw up against Stanford last year.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yeah it's been funny to see Gators fans try to pimp their team as the best when they have a much worse loss on record than USC's. You guys wanna know why USC doesn't blow out teams like Florida does? Pete Carroll doesn't believe in that practice. He looked like he wanted to kill himself after USC scored the final TD in that rout over Washington State.

[2GOLD 0]

So wait a minute here. While not likely, it's possible the National Championship game could be the Big 12 South second or third place team facing the second place Pac 10 team or the one to two loss SEC champ?

 

It would take a LOT of improbable stuff to happen: Bama goes down to Florida (likely), Florida loses to FSU (highly doubtful) then they turn around and beat Bama again which would leave Florida a two loss SEC champ, Texas Tech goes down to Oklahoma (which alone causes mass CHAOS in the Big 12 and is possible), Oklahoma or Texas loses the Big 12 title game (not really likely considering the competition) and Oregon St wins out to capture the Pac 10 (the most highly unlikely of it all). Toss in Penn State falling to Michigan State.

 

I know nearly zero chance of that is possible but that is definition of a mess if it goes down. Those are all easy enough bullets to dodge but damn, that could be a lot of fun seeing anyone sorting through that.

[Kinetic 0]

Yeah it's been funny to see Gators fans try to pimp their team as the best when they have a much worse loss on record than USC's. You guys wanna know why USC doesn't blow out teams like Florida does? Pete Carroll doesn't believe in that practice. He looked like he wanted to kill himself after USC scored the final TD in that rout over Washington State.

 

I can agree a bit with what you and Cheech are saying. In some ways, USC are victims of circumstance this year, as it's not really their fault that the rest of the Pac-10 is so awful. But considering the way that the two teams' respective schedules play out, there's no way that you could reasonably argue that a one-loss USC deserves to play in the NC game more than a one-loss Florida. USC's only win of any substance will have been against a not-very-good Ohio State team playing without their best offensive player.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Yeah it's been funny to see Gators fans try to pimp their team as the best when they have a much worse loss on record than USC's. You guys wanna know why USC doesn't blow out teams like Florida does? Pete Carroll doesn't believe in that practice. He looked like he wanted to kill himself after USC scored the final TD in that rout over Washington State.

 

I can agree a bit with what you and Cheech are saying. In some ways, USC are victims of circumstance this year, as it's not really their fault that the rest of the Pac-10 is so awful. But considering the way that the two teams' respective schedules play out, there's no way that you could reasonably argue that a one-loss USC deserves to play in the NC game more than a one-loss Florida. USC's only win of any substance will have been against a not-very-good Ohio State team playing without their best offensive player.

For the record, I'm not arguing that USC should go in over Florida. I just wanted to clear the air a bit about their "bad" loss that wasn't that bad.

 

Frankly, I don't subscribe the who's loss was better argument, nor do I do advocate the constant employment of the transitive property, but this is the system we are stuck with. It's why I hate college football.

 

I'll never understand a sport that crowns its champion via a popularity contest, but alas that is an argument for another day.

[Kinetic 0]

Even Colin Cowherd wants a playoff now. It's time, NCAA.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yeah it's been funny to see Gators fans try to pimp their team as the best when they have a much worse loss on record than USC's. You guys wanna know why USC doesn't blow out teams like Florida does? Pete Carroll doesn't believe in that practice. He looked like he wanted to kill himself after USC scored the final TD in that rout over Washington State.

 

I can agree a bit with what you and Cheech are saying. In some ways, USC are victims of circumstance this year, as it's not really their fault that the rest of the Pac-10 is so awful. But considering the way that the two teams' respective schedules play out, there's no way that you could reasonably argue that a one-loss USC deserves to play in the NC game more than a one-loss Florida. USC's only win of any substance will have been against a not-very-good Ohio State team playing without their best offensive player.

 

Sadly that's true.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

The ACC tiebreakers fascinated me a lot more before the Jackets got destroyed by UNC last week and dropped their chances of winning to roughly 1%. In all seriousness though, it looks like UNC has the inside track. They've still got NC State and Duke on the schedule, they're only reasonably tough game is at Maryland who's easily the worst of the ACC contenders.

 

And I agree on this week's slate being super dull. We've got USCe trying to keep USCw alive for the national title, but other than that, there's nothing of national significance.

 

 

Maryland beat Wake Forest 26-0 and Clemson 20-17. Both are ACC contenders.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

So wait a minute here. While not likely, it's possible the National Championship game could be the Big 12 South second or third place team facing the second place Pac 10 team or the one to two loss SEC champ?

 

It would take a LOT of improbable stuff to happen: Bama goes down to Florida (likely), Florida loses to FSU (highly doubtful) then they turn around and beat Bama again which would leave Florida a two loss SEC champ, Texas Tech goes down to Oklahoma (which alone causes mass CHAOS in the Big 12 and is possible), Oklahoma or Texas loses the Big 12 title game (not really likely considering the competition) and Oregon St wins out to capture the Pac 10 (the most highly unlikely of it all). Toss in Penn State falling to Michigan State.

 

I know nearly zero chance of that is possible but that is definition of a mess if it goes down. Those are all easy enough bullets to dodge but damn, that could be a lot of fun seeing anyone sorting through that.

Alabama and Florida won't play till the SEC championship, but otherwise, yeah, chaos is surely still possible.

 

Also, is losing to Ole Miss really much worse than losing @ Oregon State? If Oregon State does win out, okay, but right now they look like a decent mid-level team. I don't really care about those losses, but believe UF has had a tougher road so far--and will only get tougher the rest of the way, given that Alabama and FSU remain while USC only has decent Stanford, decent Notre Dame, and awful UCLA. In Sagarin, UF has the 9th toughest schedule right now while USC has the 26th, and the separation between the two should increase as the year goes on.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

USC probably won't make the national title game, unless Alabama loses to Auburn/Miss State and Florida, then Florida loses to FSU before that. I don't think the BCS will allow a Texas Tech/Texas or Texas/Oklahoma rematch, so they'll find a way to screw that over and get USC in there, but ONLY if USC is the only 1 loss team outside of the Big 12 South. (Oh, but they'd get in over Penn State, more than likely.)

[Bored 0]

So wait a minute here. While not likely, it's possible the National Championship game could be the Big 12 South second or third place team facing the second place Pac 10 team or the one to two loss SEC champ?

Not to split hairs but in the Oregon State winning out scenario, USC would be considered co-champions of the Pac-10. The tiebreak just comes up to determine who gets the Rose Bowl invite.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

His point is valid: We might be heading towards the first ever championship game between 2 non-conference champions. They're going to have to figure out a way to get every league a title game.

[2GOLD 0]

 

It's even more of a mess if USC blows one against Notre Dame. Then you don't even have a possible Pac 10 CO champion available anymore cause there is ZERO way a 2 loss USC gets into the title game. Zero.

 

Florida losing to FSU isn't likely but it's possible. Same goes with Bama facing Auburn (if they had an offense somewhere in there). Even if Bama goes undefeated, a Florida loss to the Noles would conceivably eliminate the SEC from title contention one would think if they take down Bama. Cause who could justify Alabama getting into the title game if they don't win the SEC title? Anyone?

 

And no one bring up Boise State or Utah, they have no chance of getting to the title game. I don't care if everyone in front of them has two losses, they aren't getting there. I mean, it would be hilarious if everyone else had two losses and they were the only undefeated teams left standing. But they still wouldn't get into the title game.

 

 

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Florida losing to FSU isn't likely but it's possible. Same goes with Bama facing Auburn (if they had an offense somewhere in there). Even if Bama goes undefeated, a Florida loss to the Noles would conceivably eliminate the SEC from title contention one would think if they take down Bama. Cause who could justify Alabama getting into the title game if they don't win the SEC title? Anyone?

It wouldn't be that dissimilar to what happened with Oklahoma in 2003, and that Kansas State team didn't have nearly the public stature of this year's Gators. In some apocalyptic title game scenario with crazy losses all over the place in the last weeks of the season, any 1-loss team would have a hell of a shot.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

Alabama has struggled against worse teams than Auburn, who is their rival. And has beaten them six times in a row. Not saying it's going to happen, but I'll put that game on HIGH "Not so fast, my friend.." alert

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Ball State 3rd and goal from the 1. They were stopped earlier on a goal line stand, but I think Davis should keep it and just run in.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Touchdown.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

17-13 BSU, but the best comment ever right before halftime, on that "interactive scrolling" nonsense:

 

"Ball State will lose spots in the rankings if they lose to MU."

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

HOLY SHIT.. He dropped it. This is very good.

[Damaramu 0]

A guy on an ESPN.com chat made a good point.

 

I hear a lot of Texas fans saying it would be unfair for OU to go to the BCS in a 3-way tie because they beat OU. That does make sense until you think, why would it be fair for Texas to go ahead of Tech when Texas lost to tech? But then why would it be fair for Tech to go ahead of OU when they lost to OU? And we end up with the whole 3-way tie and just taking whoever has the most impressive resume (or whoever the voters vote for) and putting them in the Big 12 title game.

 

I know I brought that up out of nowhere but I've heard a lot of Texas fans crowing about how OU will go ahead of them if there's a 3-way tie and how they think that's unfair. It really is unlucky scheduling for Texas though. They don't get to leave the voters on a happy note seeing them beat a top 5 and top 15 team like OU would if they win out.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

A guy on an ESPN.com chat made a good point.

 

I hear a lot of Texas fans saying it would be unfair for OU to go to the BCS in a 3-way tie because they beat OU. That does make sense until you think, why would it be fair for Texas to go ahead of Tech when Texas lost to tech? But then why would it be fair for Tech to go ahead of OU when they lost to OU? And we end up with the whole 3-way tie and just taking whoever has the most impressive resume (or whoever the voters vote for) and putting them in the Big 12 title game.

 

I know I brought that up out of nowhere but I've heard a lot of Texas fans crowing about how OU will go ahead of them if there's a 3-way tie and how they think that's unfair. It really is unlucky scheduling for Texas though. They don't get to leave the voters on a happy note seeing them beat a top 5 and top 15 team like OU would if they win out.

 

Just a way for Texas fans to feel better. It's only "fair" if TTU doesn't lose (to OU), and then the argument is not valid. The argument is dumb.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

BSU gets the W over Miami. 31-16. BSU is now 10-0.

[MFer 0]

I'm sure it's been thrown out before, but I heard Brent Musburger talk about a possible playoff format last week. It would be an 8-team playoff made up of the 6 BCS conference champions, the best non-BCS team and the best at-large team. This year, it could look something like this:

 

Quarterfinals:

 

Fiesta Bowl: Texas Tech (Big 12) vs. Utah (Mid-major)

 

Rose Bowl: USC (Pac-10) vs. Penn St. (Big Ten)

 

Orange Bowl: North Carolina (ACC) vs. Texas (At-large)

 

Sugar Bowl: Alabama (SEC) vs. Pittsburgh (Big East)

 

Semifinals:

 

Fiesta winner vs. Rose winner @ neutral site

 

Orange winner vs. Sugar winner @ neutral site

 

Finals:

 

Semifinal winners @ correction-Dolphin Stadium (which is the site for this year's title game)

 

The quarterfinal games could be duds for the most part, but you would get some real intriguing games the rest of the way (such as a possible Texas Tech vs. USC matchup) Sure, that does leave a Florida or a Oklahoma out, but you can't please everyone. It wouldn't be any worse than other sports, where weaker teams make the playoffs all the time. This format would still allow the regular season to mean something. You also get to keep those bowl traditions (sort of). Of course you could just as easily have the 8 highest ranked teams play it out, but I think this way (or something similar) might be the closest to satisfying most everyone. It's not completely fair, but I believe it would be better than the current system.

[Bored 0]

The MNC Game is in Miami this year, it was New Orleans last season.

 

As long there is a t.v. deal in place for the BCS, you can forget about a playoff. Speaking of which...

 

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=485052

The BCS is considering a proposal from ESPN that would see all BCS bowl games, including the championship game, wind up on ESPN, sources familiar with the negotiations are saying.

 

If the BCS ultimately accepts the bid, it would mark the first time all games in a major championship were not available on an over-the-air broadcast network. If the BCS opts to move to ESPN, it would continue a trend that has seen other leagues migrate playoff series exclusively from broadcast to cable. MLB, the NBA and the NHL all have placed playoff games on cable over the past few years.

 

If ABC/ESPN ultimately wins the bid and moves even one BCS game to ESPN, it would trigger a clause in its Rose Bowl contract that would allow it to immediately take the annual game in Pasadena from its home of 21 years on ABC to the cable channel.

 

Sources say Fox still has another five days to accept the BCS' proposal, which is seeking about a 50% annual increase over the current deal's $82.5 million annual fee. The BCS is looking for a four-year, $500 million deal, which would put the average annual payout at around $125 million.

 

Fox has proposed a 25% increase, which would average a little more than $102 million per year. Though Fox still has several days to match, insiders say it is not likely to increase its bid by enough.

Getting college football away from Fox: Good

The WWL's ever tightening grip on the sports world: Bad

[Broward83 0]

Oh that's just fucking bullshit.

 

The fucking Rose Bowl on ESPN?! Really guys... really?! God fucking dammit would that suck more ass than a German porno..

 

I'd rather have Fox keep all the BCS bowls in that case..

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

What I don't understand is why Disney/ABCESPN would want to deliberately reduce their potential audience by having the Rose Bowl (or any other BCS games) on ESPN instead of ABC. Do they get better advertising rates for ESPN or something? Surely the most profitable thing to do would be to put the games on ABC, they can still do their stupid "ESPN on ABC" crap. What am I missing here?