College Football In Season Thread

[downtown]

I already mentioned the two ranked opponents in that list. None of the others are. It remains to be seen how tough they really are this year.

Miami (13), Iowa (10), Wisconsin (12) AND Penn State (14) were all ranked in the Coaches Poll, after after the next one, Michigan will probably be in the mid 30s. 4 top 15 teams is pretty impressive...certainly more so than Georgia Tech or Florida or something.

Public Universities face major political pressure to play a few revenue generating games with smaller, in-state schools. When Ohio State plays Ohio University, OU gets $500,000 towards their athletic department, and all that money stays in the state of Ohio. Everybody wins.

 

[RedFusion]

Oh, I think that goes without saying. The only way Boise gets left out is if we have two other undefeated from the Big 12, SEC, ACC or Big Ten.

I'm really impressed by Boise's physicality. I wonder if they jump up to #2 in the polls now.

Am I the only one that is not that impressed with Boise? They looked good, but not elite. Virginia Tech was very sloppy in that game last night, too many penalties, dropped passes, etc. They really have to roll everyone else on the schedule by 21 or more to be seriously in the discussion for the top 2.

 

[Azale]

yea, and then they should have to beat the Harlem Globetrotters on the Moon cuz we all know the WAC is weak LOL i could win by fifty against middle idaho state amirite?

 

[mrt144]

I already mentioned the two ranked opponents in that list. None of the others are. It remains to be seen how tough they really are this year.

As I've said before, I think the national rankings should take the difficulty of the schedule into far greater consideration. OSU shouldn't be playing teams like Marshall, Eastern Michigan, and Miami (O). Nor should Florida be playing Miami Univerity (not the famous one) or even Appalachian State despite a freak win against Michigan a few years ago. Texas shouldn't play teams like Rice and Florida Atlantic. And Boise State's schedule is a real joke. They shouldn't even be considered for a national championship.

Until their national rankings are suitably diminished for deliberately padding their schedules with powderpuffs, they will continue to do so.

UW should be ranked then?

 

[downtown]

The new AP poll just came out. Boise stays at #3 but gets 8 first place votes, and is just a hair from hitting #2. OSU's victory over Miami next weekend should solidify their grip on the #2 spot though.

Florida drops to #8, Oklahoma to #10 after looking like crap. Some idiot also gave Texas a first place vote.

Utah at #20, Stanford at #25, Michigan at #26, Pitt and Oregon State drop out, UNC drops all the way to parts unknown...

 

[RedFusion]

yea, and then they should have to beat the Harlem Globetrotters on the Moon cuz we all know the WAC is weak LOL i could win by fifty against middle idaho state amirite?

It's just the tradeoff of having a weak schedule. If no one else is undefeated, they'll get the nod, but if they are one of 3+ undefeated teams, the strength of schedule comes into play heavily. It's how a 2-loss LSU made it too the title game a couple years ago.

 

[Azale]

So what, Boise has to go undefeated THREE seasons in a row before this nonsense stops?

 

[RedFusion]

So what, Boise has to go undefeated THREE seasons in a row before this nonsense stops?

What nonsense? When things are even, how else should we break the tie. Strength of schedule is a pretty reasonable tiebreaker, unless I'm missing something.

 

[RedFusion]

On another note, Bush is getting stripped of his Heisman. But apparently the Heisman Trust chose to take it away...and not allow the Heisman voters to have a say. They at least should have had a vote on it.

 

[emzie]

RF, your dislike for Boise borders on irrational. Last year, they beat the Pac 10 champion and closed the season 14-0 with a victory over TCU. They returned basically the entire starting team intact. They are absolutely deserving of the title contender talk. Now if OSU and Alabama go undefeated, you're right, Boise will be bumped, but I'm not so sure they should be. Caveat here being I haven't seen OSU play Miami yet.

Stripping Bush of the Heisman is ridiculous. While the NCAA keeps up the illusion that it blends academics and sports (while raking in millions) the Heisman has nothing to do with the collegiate aspect of collegiate football. It's for the most outstanding player.

It's not as if his season was the result of abusing steroids.

 

[pacesplace]

Boise State should win just about every game they play from now on by at least 30 (except for maybe OSU, Fresno State, and Nevada) to justify a berth in the national championship game. I'm not sure why everyone keeps using the phrase "BCS buster" to describe Boise State still. It's pretty easy to make the championship when you have one of the easiest schedules in college football and return basically your entire team from the undefeated season the previous year against similar level cupcakes. Virginia Tech was the underdog last night, and I see no reason why anyone can say otherwise.

Stripping Bush of the Heisman is ridiculous. While the NCAA keeps up the illusion that it blends academics and sports (while raking in millions) the Heisman has nothing to do with the collegiate aspect of collegiate football. It's for the most outstanding player.

It's not as if his season was the result of abusing steroids.

Because USC was stripped of two seasons' worth of stats because Reggie Bush broke the rules, it makes even more sense to take the Heisman away. I like Reggie and I think punishing players and teams so harshly is over the line, but stripping the Heisman goes perfectly in line with the actions the NCAA has already taken.

 

[Kraznaya]

Seriously how does OJ still have his Heisman will Reggie is getting stripped of his. The disconnect is amazing.

 

[Azale]

Vince Young isn't getting it so I don't care.

 

[Zack]

Seriously how does OJ still have his Heisman will Reggie is getting stripped of his. The disconnect is amazing.

YOU'RE ONLY SAYING THAT BECAUSE OJ IS BLACK YOU RASIST!!!

Oh wait, that strong defense doesn't apply in this case.

 

[RedFusion]

RF, your dislike for Boise borders on irrational. Last year, they beat the Pac 10 champion and closed the season 14-0 with a victory over TCU. They returned basically the entire starting team intact. They are absolutely deserving of the title contender talk. Now if OSU and Alabama go undefeated, you're right, Boise will be bumped, but I'm not so sure they should be. Caveat here being I haven't seen OSU play Miami yet.

Stripping Bush of the Heisman is ridiculous. While the NCAA keeps up the illusion that it blends academics and sports (while raking in millions) the Heisman has nothing to do with the collegiate aspect of collegiate football. It's for the most outstanding player.

It's not as if his season was the result of abusing steroids.

I don't dislike Boise. I'm just saying what should be said, that they should be expected to beat crappy teams by a lot. How is this expectation irrational?

 

[emzie]

I don't dislike Boise. I'm just saying what should be said, that they should be expected to beat crappy teams by a lot. How is this expectation irrational?

Why should Boise be expected to beat mediocre teams by 30 when OSU constantly beats mediocre teams by single digits? I really don't know what more Boise State could do to prove they really are a top 3 team at the time of writing this. I really believe they could challenge for the title in 5 of the 6 BCS leagues, and outright win 2 of them with out much more difficulty than they will face this season.

 

[RedFusion]

Why should Boise be expected to beat mediocre teams by 30 when OSU constantly beats mediocre teams by single digits? I really don't know what more Boise State could do to prove they really are a top 3 team at the time of writing this. I really believe they could challenge for the title in 5 of the 6 BCS leagues, and outright win 2 of them with out much more difficulty than they will face this season.

But they aren't playing mediocre teams, they are playing downright bad teams! New Mexico St is not a mediocre team, nor is San Jose St, or Wyoming, or Toledo, or...you get the point.

Let's reverse the roles here, if Alabama or Ohio State or Texas had Boise States schedule, wouldn't you expect them to win every single game on that schedule and to win almost all of them by a lot? However, if Texas played that schedule and struggled weak after week to beat teams like Wyoming and Toledo, I'd question if they deserved to play in the title game. Of course, if they went undefeated, I'd be all for them getting a shot in a BCS game, maybe even the title game if there are no other undefeated teams. So again, I fail to see how my approach to Boise State is irrational.

 

[dgfred]

Seriously how does OJ still have his Heisman will Reggie is getting stripped of his. The disconnect is amazing.

It only has to do with being 'eligible' during that football season... not rest of one's life.

 

[emzie]

But they aren't playing mediocre teams, they are playing downright bad teams! New Mexico St is not a mediocre team, nor is San Jose St, or Wyoming, or Toledo, or...you get the point.

Let's reverse the roles here, if Alabama or Ohio State or Texas had Boise States schedule, wouldn't you expect them to win every single game on that schedule and to win almost all of them by a lot? However, if Texas played that schedule and struggled weak after week to beat teams like Wyoming and Toledo, I'd question if they deserved to play in the title game. Of course, if they went undefeated, I'd be all for them getting a shot in a BCS game, maybe even the title game if there are no other undefeated teams. So again, I fail to see how my approach to Boise State is irrational.

I expect teams to win by as much as possible without showing anything in the game that could prove to be a detriment in later contests.

And, I mean, just to be picky, Wyoming did beat Fresno State in a bowl game last year. They seem to be of the similar mid-level caliber as Marshall.

Boise has, of course, a rather weak schedule. That's a natural result of the league in which they play. But they have gone out to play the same type of high-profile games OSU tries to line up -- Oregon, V Tech ect ect and they win them. Sure, I'd rather not see the I-AA team on the schedule, but they've done everything possible that has been asked of them.

Sure, I'll not argue the reality that if there's 3 undefeated teams, SEC champion, Big 12 / Big 10 champion, and Boise, Boise will be bumped. Given the track record they have put together at that point (26 game win streak, with wins over the Pac 10 champion, a #3 TCU and V Tech) with a team that's more or less the same over that time, their being bumped has more to do with tradition (as justified by "eh, WAC is bad" comments) than to do with their performance.

I'd be rather nervous as an OSU fan to play Boise. I'm not saying I wouldn't, objectively, favour OSU, but Boise State is one of the best teams in the country.

 

[RedFusion]

I expect teams to win by as much as possible without showing anything in the game that could prove to be a detriment in later contests.

And, I mean, just to be picky, Wyoming did beat Fresno State in a bowl game last year. They seem to be of the similar mid-level caliber as Marshall.

Boise has, of course, a rather weak schedule. That's a natural result of the league in which they play. But they have gone out to play the same type of high-profile games OSU tries to line up -- Oregon, V Tech ect ect and they win them. Sure, I'd rather not see the I-AA team on the schedule, but they've done everything possible that has been asked of them.

Sure, I'll not argue the reality that if there's 3 undefeated teams, SEC champion, Big 12 / Big 10 champion, and Boise, Boise will be bumped. Given the track record they have put together at that point (26 game win streak, with wins over the Pac 10 champion, a #3 TCU and V Tech) with a team that's more or less the same over that time, their being bumped has more to do with tradition (as justified by "eh, WAC is bad" comments) than to do with their performance.

I'd be rather nervous as an OSU fan to play Boise. I'm not saying I wouldn't, objectively, favour OSU, but Boise State is one of the best teams in the country.

If Wyoming is mediocre, than what does that make Colorado last year? They shut out Wyoming last year 24-0. Oh, not to mention a real title contender last year, Texas, went to Laramie and pummeled the Cowboys 41-10. So no, Wyoming is not a mediocre team, despite going 7-6 last year, because you know & I know, that they would have been lucky to win 2 games in ANY BCS conference.

On your second point, I'm not saying they haven't done what they can. Their switch to the MWC is a prime example of that. So it comes down to the tie-breaker of SOS for me, which based on your 3rd point, you seem to agree with me.

However I do disagree with you and think you are being irrational when you say that it has more to do with tradition than performance. Just as easily as you can say that they beat Oregon, TCU, & Vtech in the past year. Teams like Ohio State can say they beat the pac10 champ (Oregon), the Orange Bowl champ (Iowa), & Penn State in their past 5 games. with an opportunity to beat a good Miami squad next week. Alabama has beaten Florida, Texas & Auburn in 3 of it's last 4 games, but they also beat Vtech, SCar, & LSU last year to go on top of that. So like I said, there getting bumped down has nothing to do with tradition, and everything to do with the fact that other teams have stronger schedules, and hence a better opportunity for us to get a gauge on them. Whereas, with the exception of a bowl game and the season opener, all we get from Boise St is Wyoming, New Mexico St, & Idaho throughout the schedule.

Is it fair, no. But it's not irrational to state the facts as they are.