The College Football Thread 11/25 - 11/29

[CanadianChris 0]

To MFer: I think they changed the names to make them sound more professional and comparable rather than DI-AA being seen as second level and a couple notches below the competition at the I-A level.

Which...well, they are. At least the names make it clear that I-AA produces a national champion and I-A doesn't.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

This is why I love USC. They just don't give a fuck who you are. They'd play anybody. I don't know of many schools with such invested interest in succeeding who does that. Texas likes booking crap teams, LSU reneges on agreements when it's their turn to travel out after having a home game against those teams the previous seasons, Florida likes Citadel a bit too much, and so forth.

[Damaramu 0]

It bugs me that everybody (mostly media and fans of the big conferences) talk about how a team like Utah played in a poor conference and didn't face the quality of competition that a Florida did. Short of scheduling Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama as OOC opponents how is Utah supposed to help itself there? Utah and others (Boise State off the top of my head) schedule and beat mid major teams in conferences like the Pac 10 and Big 12 but there's always going to be the argument about SOS that essentially dooms any and all mid major teams.

 

Man, if they ran that gauntlet there wouldn't even be a need for a national title game. Just give it to them!

 

But, I think the more these non-BCS teams win and make it to BCS games and perform well the more credibility they'll get. I mean Utah and Boise are both proving they can consistently be good. If one or both get into a BCS game and win then it'll go further to proving they're credible threats. If Ball State has a few more seasons of doing this or close to this then they'll add that credibility, and TCU doesn't hurt matters either.

 

I think people that want to eventually see a non-BCS school taken ultra seriously and want to see them compete for a title someday need to root for Boise and Utah to continue to do what they do and win BCS games.

 

If it comes down to it someday where we end up with a situation like last season (a 1-loss team then a ton of 2-loss teams sitting around) and you have an undefeated Boise or Utah who has a couple of BCS wins and undefeated seasons under their belt, you could see them get the nod over the 2-loss teams finally.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Great game tonight. Slow 2nd quarter, but all's well that ends well. We got the MAC West title and are going to Detroit next weekend for the MAC Championship. I might end up going to that just to go to Ford Field.

 

Oh.... and rushing the field is fun.... Fuck what ya heard.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh. The only reason I care about Florida's BCS ranking is cause they fucked Florida over in the inital BCS rankings and have had to make up a shitload of space to get towards the top.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Dama, believe me, I'm rooting for all the mid major schools

 

I think part of the trouble for the mid major teams is the level of opponents that they face in their bowl games. They rarely get to schedule a mid level Big 10, Big 12, Pac 10, or SEC team to "prove" themselves against and instead have to settle for the Big East/ACC/Other mid major team.

 

Here are the respective bowl opponents for solid mid major programs since 2003. I bolded the 'notable' opponents.

Boise State: TCU (Win), Louisville (Loss), Boston College (Loss), Oklahoma (Win), East Carolina (Loss)

BYU: California (Loss), Oregon (Won), UCLA (Won)

TCU: Boise State (Loss), Iowa State (Won), Northern Illinois (Won), Houston (Won)

Utah: Southern Miss (Won), Pittsburgh (Won), Georgia Tech (Won), Tulsa (Won), Navy (Won)

Hawaii: Houston (Won), UAB (Won), San Diego State (Won), Arizona State (Won), Georgia (Loss)

Bowling Green: Northwestern (Won), Memphis (Won), Tulsa (Loss)

Central Michigan: Middle Tennessee State (Loss), Purdue (Loss)

 

The following bowl games are the opportunities for the mid majors: Excluding BCS At Large bowls since that's TBD

St. Petersburg Bowl: Big East vs. Conference USA

Las Vegas Bowl: MWC vs. Pac-10

Poinsettia Bowl: MWC vs. Pac-10

Hawaii Bowl: Pac-10 vs. WAC

Motor City Bowl: Big 10 vs. MAC

Humanitarian Bowl: ACC vs. WAC

Texas Bowl: Conference USA vs. Big 12

Liberty Bowl: Conference USA vs. SEC

International Bowl: Big East vs. MAC

 

Edit: Bolded Oklahoma

[Broward83 0]

I'm all for OU being looked down upon and all, but you wouldn't put them as a "notable" opponent for Boise? I'm pretty sure there were a lot of people seeing that game as an easy W for Stoops and for Boise to win that was pretty huge...

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I'm all for OU being looked down upon and all, but you wouldn't put them as a "notable" opponent for Boise? I'm pretty sure there were a lot of people seeing that game as an easy W for Stoops and for Boise to win that was pretty huge...

 

I don't think so. Dama can attest to me telling people here Boise would beat OU.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

I'm all for OU being looked down upon and all, but you wouldn't put them as a "notable" opponent for Boise? I'm pretty sure there were a lot of people seeing that game as an easy W for Stoops and for Boise to win that was pretty huge...

 

Whoops, meant to bold them and just forgot but it's telling that Oklahoma/Georgia are the cream of the crop with a bunch of mid level conference teams comprising the rest.

[Damaramu 0]

So apparently the Texas students are going to pay for a plane to fly over Bedlam saying "45-35". We'll see if that comes to fruition. I still think OU is going to the Big XII title game if they win. Brad Edwards is acting like they're pretty much tied and all OU has to do is win, not even impressively to jump past Texas due to them beating a top 12 team.

[iggymcfly 0]

Some of the computer formulas actually release projections based on hypotheticals, and the ones that don't are relatively easy to approximate. Basically, if Oklahoma and Texas both win this week, Oklahoma is likely going to be ahead of Texas in either 4 or 5 of the computer rankings, and at the very, very least will be ahead in 3.

 

That means the only way that Texas could keep their spot, even if the computer rankings treat them better than expected is to pass Oklahoma in the polls. Considering their respective opponents, there's almost no way that could happen. Basically, Oklahoma would have to win a one-possession game on a terrible call or something for it to even come into play. In fact, even if Texas Tech loses to Baylor and Texas wins the division outright, it's still probably better than 50/50 that Oklahoma would go to the national championship.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

I knew Boise would win too, but I make a lot of crazy predictions and I never put any money on it.

 

I believe in Ball State now and I think they deserve a better bowl than the Motor City. I'd love to see them play Nebraska again, since they almost won at Nebraska last year and they weren't as good then.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

It wasn't that crazy. I remember thinking Boise State had better speed than Oklahoma, and I figured they'd want the game more than Oklahoma. Too bad it was a closer game than I predicted.

[Damaramu 0]

I don't know about the speed thing, but they did want it more. The Boise coach admitted once OU started going hard he didn't think they had much chance and that's why he went for the win in OT because he felt Adrian Peterson was going to just run over his team. I remember him saying he didn't think he could stop Adrian Peterson anymore, so they had to go for the win or else they would lose if the game continued.

OU across the board had better athletes, but I think BSU was better coached and wanted it more. Plus their athletes made plays whereas OU's didn't. Plus BSU had a QB that kept his head and played well (aside from the INT) as opposed to OU's QB (Paul Thompson) who played like a retard.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

Don't forget Boise dominated OU, Anti Hero, and it was "worse than the score indicated". I remember Boise being up like 21-3 in the 3rd quarter and then almost losing because of a dumbass INT for TD towards the end. That was a fun game. Boise/Ball State in the Liberty Bowl would be VERY intriguing this year.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

No Boise State did have better speed. The only advantage OU had over BSU was RB, and Ian Johnson wasn't a pushover anyways.

 

And Psycho Penguin, you're right. BSU dominated the early portion, but OU dominated the latter portion.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

It was definitely one of those games where the emotion and wanting it more carried BSU, then the talent took over. If BSU had OU's talent and the same desire.. it would have been bad.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

That game is why I think they, not the 2004 Utah team, was the best mid major team in recent history. That team probably could have beaten Ohio State too. Not sure about Florida though.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

That game is why I think they, not the 2004 Utah team, was the best mid major team in recent history. That team probably could have beaten Ohio State too. Not sure about Florida though.

 

2004 Utah vs 2006 Boise would have been quite a game. Utah had more NFL talent and a coach you may have heard of, but Boise had a better overall team, so it would have been a battle for sure.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Phil Fulmer is a coach I've heard of, and I certainly don't care about him. Same goes for Urban Meyer. That said, you'd be right. It'd be a hell of a game, and certainly more of a stiffer challenge to Utah than Pittsburgh was.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

Phil Fulmer is a coach I've heard of, and I certainly don't care about him. Same goes for Urban Meyer. That said, you'd be right. It'd be a hell of a game, and certainly more of a stiffer challenge to Utah than Pittsburgh was.

 

They've both won national titles, though.

 

I do wish that Utah team got a better game than Pittsburgh so we'd know for sure. Boise lucked out playing OU in a way.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I'd agree that they "lucked out" in the sense that because they won, they instantly got credibility. But look at Hawaii, they got the fortune of facing Georgia. And they got creamed. That killed whatever mystique Hawaii had. So I think there's a high risk/high reward situation with that.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

I'd agree that they "lucked out" in the sense that because they won, they instantly got credibility. But look at Hawaii, they got the fortune of facing Georgia. And they got creamed. That killed whatever mystique Hawaii had. So I think there's a high risk/high reward situation with that.

 

Yeah, that's what I meant by "in a way". They at least had their chance. 2007 Hawaii did not luck out because everyone knew they were frauds. Just like Ball State this year would probably get killed in s BCS game this year (although they're better than that Hawaii team). It comes down to talent more than scheduling. Good mid majors are good, Great ones are great. It's easy to tell the difference sometimes.

 

Speaking of Hawaii, does anyone know why a team playing there gets to count it as a 13th game and it's non exempt by the NCAA or something? How does this work? If Cincy loses, they won't count it in the record books? I don't understand it. And how come Hawaii doesn't play 13 games?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I assume it's a way to entice teams to play there. After all, everyone has historically been slow to want to schedule games against Hawaii, especially on the road.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

So, I was right, the game won't count for Cincy if they lose? (They won't, of course, just hypothetical..)

 

I just had a funny thought. Everyone said California lost to Maryland because they were on "California time". Was Hawaii on "Hawaii time" when they lost to Georgia?!?

[Damaramu 0]

Yeah Ian Johnson wasn't a pushover, but I mean c'mon.....he's not Adrian Peterson.

 

 

Anyway Texas gets their last chance to impress voters tonight. I'm wondering if playing on Thanksgiving is a hindrance though because whatever they do won't be as fresh in the minds of the voters as OU beating OSU if it happens. (and that's still a big if)

[Psycho Penguin 0]

Yeah Ian Johnson wasn't a pushover, but I mean c'mon.....he's not Adrian Peterson.

 

 

Anyway Texas gets their last chance to impress voters tonight. I'm wondering if playing on Thanksgiving is a hindrance though because whatever they do won't be as fresh in the minds of the voters as OU beating OSU if it happens. (and that's still a big if)

 

It won't matter if they beat A+M on Thursday, Saturday, or one second before they vote.

[Damaramu 0]

I think reading the way the two coaches react tells the story.

 

Bob Stoops said what he had to say after the game Saturday then didn't politic. Mainly because after the BCS rankings came out he knew if he won his team would be in the Big XII title game.

Meanwhile Mack Brown saw what happened and has been politicking all week, because he knows the scores of the A&M and OSU games don't matter if both Texas and OU win, his team isn't going to the Big XII title game.

 

I'm glad that my team is the one turning out on top for this, but they still need to take care of business on Saturday. A third straight Big XII title and 6th overall would rock though. The next closest team is Texas with 2. I'd like to continue the domination of the Big XII. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

 

Your right, it doesn't matter when the Texas vs. Texas A&M game is played, if OU wins the computer ranking alone will be enough to put them over without a HUGE swing by voters which is unlikely.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

I'm surprised KSU only has one Big 12 title.

[Damaramu 0]

I'm surprised KSU only has one Big 12 title.

 

They should probably have two.......but Texas A&M kind of ruined that.

 

The Texas fans with the 45-35 signs are cracking me up. It just seems kind of desperate. It's pretty obvious the voters really don't care about the result of that game at this point, they're going with who they think is the hot team and who they think is the better team now (not in October). I really want to see how all these people react if OU beats OSU and goes to the Big XII title game.

They can hold up all the 45-35 signs they want, that's not going to get them to the Big XII title game or sway any voters. They need to all become OSU fans, or else they can enjoy the Fiesta Bowl against USC.

 

Besides, wouldn't it take like a giant swing by voters to put Texas ahead in the BCS rankings? I mean the only thing holding OU back right now is the computer rankings. A win over #12 will easily fix that in a big way meaning that OU would have to lose a lot of votes to not go forward.

[Broward83 0]

Ugh, don't act like OU fans wouldn't do the same fucking shit if it was the other way around and they had to see Texas get the nod over them for the chance to walk into the National Title Game.