2012 College Football

[jazzcyclist]

LSU dominated Alabama for 58 minutes and then went to that old reliable "prevent defense" and the rest is history. Even Saban admitted after the right after game that Alabama had been outplayed. Shame on you John Chavis. Shame, shame, shame!

[Pego]

Did anyone else see College Gameday? FYI, the guest picker was a track athlete who guru loves to hate.

Track athlete?

I didn't catch her name but they said she was a bobsledder.

Mrs Pego, who has little T&F interest quipped as we turned on ESPN, "she is everywhere."

[preston]

...anyone really want to compare SEC football to the facsimile thereofs played elsewhere? Yes, it was a conference game but LSU showed that but for that loss they could play for a national championship. Again, I don't see another defense outside of the SEC that impresses me (Sacriligious U is decent...but PITT!?).

If nd loses to USC (50/50, imo) they shouldn't play one of the top 4 games.

[jazzcyclist]

If nd loses to USC (50/50, imo) they shouldn't play one of the top 4 games.

An 11-1 Notre Dame team, which is the only FBS team in the nation that has neither any FCS team nor non-AQ teams on its schedule, will probably be an automatic qualifier.

[preston]

If nd loses to USC (50/50, imo) they shouldn't play one of the top 4 games.

An 11-1 Notre Dame team, which is the only FBS team in the nation that has neither any FCS team nor non-AQ teams on its schedule, will probably be an automatic qualifier.

True. But, with Alabama #1 in the BCS and Georgia, Florida, LSU and South Carolina holding down spots #5, 6, 7 and 8 it cheapens, to me, nd's claim to be the 4th best team. (and as a nd hater...top 10?) Kevin Sumlin was the right coach for A&M and I think the net positive of the aggies in the SEC is that QB play will get a lot better; because eventually A&M defense will mirror other SEC schools and their offense will be the difference, carrying them to the top of the SEC west.

I still hate nd, stop trying to convince me!

[Pego]

If nd loses to USC (50/50, imo) they shouldn't play one of the top 4 games.

An 11-1 Notre Dame team, which is the only FBS team in the nation that has neither any FCS team nor non-AQ teams on its schedule, will probably be an automatic qualifier.

True. But, with Alabama #1 in the BCS and Georgia, Florida, LSU and South Carolina holding down spots #5, 6, 7 and 8 it cheapens, to me, nd's claim to be the 4th best team. (and as a nd hater...top 10?) Kevin Sumlin was the right coach for A&M and I think the net positive of the aggies in the SEC is that QB play will get a lot better; because eventually A&M defense will mirror other SEC schools and their offense will be the difference, carrying them to the top of the SEC west.

I still hate nd, stop trying to convince me!

I'd love to see them paired with one of those SEC teams you mention above (or Florida St for that matter), but I suspect that the ND lovers will pair them with Louisville.

[preston]

Doomsday scenario: Alabama loses to Georgia! nd loses to USC

GA would have lost to S. Carolina
S. Carolina would have lost to Florida and LSU (assuming they also beat Clemson)
LSU would have lost to Florida and Alabama
and Florida would have lost to GA

How would a one-loss nd be able to claim any prominence over any of the SEC teams, even the 2 loss ones? In my mind nd would fall below Louisville and to no better than 9th.

Current Polls:
1 Alabama 9-0
2 Kansas State 9-0
3 Oregon 9-0
4 Notre Dame 9-0
5 Georgia 8-1
6 Florida 8-1
7 LSU 7-2
8 South Carolina 7-2
9 Louisville 9-0
10 Florida State 8-1

*Louisiana Tech's loss to A&M is gonna hurt; they could have argued that they deserve to be the 10th team...knocking nd out of the top 10. I would put a one loss LaTech over a one loss nd. USC ain't who they used to be. All that said, I will be rooting against all odds for BC and Wake Forest as well.

[jazzcyclist]

Kevin Sumlin was the right coach for A&M and I think the net positive of the aggies in the SEC is that QB play will get a lot better; because eventually A&M defense will mirror other SEC schools and their offense will be the difference, carrying them to the top of the SEC west.

So far Sumlin's offense has come up short against the better SEC defenses, namely LSU and Florida.

[jazzcyclist]

In my mind nd would fall below Louisville and to no better than 9th.

You just destroyed your college football credibility with this comment. Here are the facts:

1) No wins over ranked opponents.
2) 4-point win over winless Southern Miss.
3) 2-point win over South Florida
4) 7-point win over Florida International

Come on preston. You must be blinded by hatred to make absurd comments like this. You can do better than that.

[preston]

Come on preston. You must be blinded by hatred to make absurd comments like this. You can do better than that.

jazz, when it comes to nd...I just can't do it. I'm serious, I would rather see Louisville play than nd. You're a good catholic; pray for me.

[gh]

at this point, please not let's have another 25-part preston/jazz back and forth. If you guys wanna continue to piss on each other, take it offline plz.

[preston]

at this point, please not let's have another 25-part preston/jazz back and forth. If you guys wanna continue to piss on each other, take it offline plz.

[jazzcyclist]

at this point, please not let's have another 25-part preston/jazz back and forth. If you guys wanna continue to piss on each other, take it offline plz.

I can only speak for myself, but I thought preston and I were just having fun. I certainly didn't take any of his posts personally, but you're the boss and I respect your decision.

[preston]

at this point, please not let's have another 25-part preston/jazz back and forth. If you guys wanna continue to piss on each other, take it offline plz.

I can only speak for myself, but I thought preston and I were just having fun. I certainly didn't take any of his posts personally, but you're the boss and I respect your decision.

you had it right, jazz. I have no idea where gh got it from but, whatever ...

[jhc68]

So much for the idea that Bama could beat some NFL teams.

[jazzcyclist]

During the middle of the week, Saban warned his team that they needed to hurry up and get over the LSU win and based on his comments in his post-game interview, he didn't seem surprised at the outcome today. Last week, Notre Dame had similar problems coming back down to earth after their win over Oklahoma and had to be saved at the last minute by the "luck of the Irish", but then Texas A&M is a lot better than Pitt also. In team sports, it's only in the game which immediately follows big emotional wins do coaches find out if their team can handle success. IMO, both Notre Dame and Alabama failed this test and if I were a voter, I might penalize the Irish more for their 3OT win over Pitt than I would penalize the Tide for their loss to Texas A&M.

[Pego]

Wouldn't a potential match-up of Alabama-ND delight a lot of folks here? I can think of a few, eh Preston ?

[Marlow]

Wouldn't a potential match-up of Alabama-ND delight a lot of folks here?

I wouldn't know whom to root more against.

[Pego]

Wouldn't a potential match-up of Alabama-ND delight a lot of folks here?

I wouldn't know whom to root more against.

It is simple for me, because I would pick Alabama in our prediction pool .

[Marlow]

Wouldn't a potential match-up of Alabama-ND delight a lot of folks here?

I wouldn't know whom to root more against.

It is simple for me, because I would pick Alabama in our prediction pool .

Nice! I used to hate lots of teams . . . USC, Cal, UCLA . . . but I've narrowed it down to just Bama and ND now. When Saban came on board, that was the last straw, and as for ND, it's just great fun to hate a school that believes it has a deity on its side.

[DrJay]

I'm kind of practical, and don't care too passionately about college football, so I understand a top 20 better when it contains the Alabamas, Notre Dames, USCs, Ohio Sts and Michigans, and not the Louisiana Techs, Boise Sts and Kansas Sts. Get rid of the formers and throw in the latters and I just get confused. Thus, I'm glad to see ND back in the fray.

[Daisy]

it's just great fun to hate a school that believes it has a deity on its side.

They don't?

[Bruce Kritzler]

Did we witness a paradigm shift shift in college football last night?
Where no-huddle, spread-the-field, quick teams can compete with traditional power football. Also have noticed that the smaller schools seem to be more competitive with the bigs. Sunbelt and WAC teams are upsetting Big 12, SEC teams.
These new offenses (50-60 passes/game) give the have-nots a chance.
Will the football powers legislate to limit their success?

[Marlow]

Will the football powers legislate to limit their success?

More offense and greater parity makes for better television, which we know is the only power that matters.

[jazzcyclist]

The biggest mistake that's been made by the BCS honchos in the history of the BCS, was the decision to completely remove the margin-of-victory (MOV) component from all of the computer rankings after one-loss Nebraska, which didn't win its conference, but had a lot of blowout wins, got into the BCS championship game over one-loss, PAC-10 champion Oregon, which won five of its games by a touchdown or less. After it was revealed that the MOV component caused the Ducks a chance to play for the Crystal Football, Oregon coach Mike Belotti led the lobbying effort to have MOV removed from the formula, which was done the following year. Ironically, it's the lack of a MOV component that's hurting Oregon and helping Notre Dame this year, and I think it would be poetic justice if somehow this caused the Ducks a chance to play for the Crystal Football. What's also ironic is that the SEC, which has been the strongest conference during the BCS era, benefits the most from not having MOV as part of the BCS formula.

[Dutra5]

The biggest mistake that's been made by the BCS honchos in the history of the BCS, was the decision to completely remove the margin-of-victory (MOV) component from all of the computer rankings after one-loss Nebraska, which didn't win its conference, but had a lot of blowout wins, got into the BCS championship game over one-loss, PAC-10 champion Oregon, which won five of its games by a touchdown or less. After it was revealed that the MOV component caused the Ducks a chance to play for the Crystal Football, Oregon coach Mike Belotti led the lobbying effort to have MOV removed from the formula, which was done the following year. Ironically, it's the lack of a MOV component that's hurting Oregon and helping Notre Dame this year, and I think it would be poetic justice if somehow this caused the Ducks a chance to play for the Crystal Football. What's also ironic is that the SEC, which has been the strongest conference during the BCS era, benefits the most from not having MOV as part of the BCS formula.

The only way Oregon gets to the BCS championship game is to win out and should they do so they cannot be passed by ND. So they won't be hurt by the lack of MOV.

[jazzcyclist]

The only way Oregon gets to the BCS championship game is to win out and should they do so they cannot be passed by ND. So they won't be hurt by the lack of MOV.

Don't bet any money on it. Kansas State is a strong #1 but Oregon is a weak #2, barely ahead of Notre Dame, mainly because of their weak computer ranking. They're actually ranked behind Florida in the computers, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that they could drop further in the computers due to the top-10 games left to be played by SEC and ACC teams. Also, don't forget that voters can be fickle as evidenced by Oregon losong some points after giving up 51 points to USC, and another unimpressive win or an Irish woodshedding USC would be all it would take to affect the polls a little. As for the Ducks overall rankiong, all it would take would be for them to drop a spot in one or two of the computers or for a handful of voters to move Kansas State to #1 and/or move Notre Dame to #2, and the Ducks would be the team left out in the cold on December 1. If you don't believe me, do the math.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/bcs

[preston]

Thankfully, nd was pushed to 3rd. 6 SEC schools in the top-10 and not a single Big-10 school in the entire top-10, though one school, Michigan, made the top-25. Is it time to consider removing the Big-10 from AQ status? Dropping them below the Big East? Clearly the brand and quality of football being played in that conference is below the SEC, Big 12 and Pac 12; I might also include the ACC in the above Big-10 group

And, Bruce's point is real. New offenses and diluted teams (85 scholarships) -and the fact that everyone plays on TV every week now- has brought about parity. In this environment it might not be considered an upset for nonAQ schools to win over auto AQ schools.

One last thing: if nd loses to USC, how far would they drop?

[26mi235]

1 Oregon (45) 10-0 1,485 2
2 Kansas State (14) 10-0 1,451 3
3 Notre Dame (1) 10-0 1,382 4
4 Alabama 9-1 1,259 1
5 Georgia 9-1 1,223 5
6 Ohio State 10-0 1,212 5[In Big Ten last time I looked]

[jazzcyclist]

Dropping them below the Big East?

You can't be serious.

[preston]

Dropping them below the Big East?

You can't be serious.

of course, jazz, you should know that by now...

6 Ohio State 10-0 1,212 5[In Big Ten last time I looked]

1. Conversation was focused on BCS.

1 Kansas State .9674
2 Oregon .9497
3 Notre Dame .9396
4 Alabama .8534
5 Georgia .8328
6 Florida .7955
7 LSU .7331
8 Texas A&M .6621
9 South Carolina .6349
10 Florida State .6071

2. OSU is on time-out for previous transgressions (Which are Bull****. I don't see any reason why an athlete couldn't trade a signature or jersey for a tattoo, car, sex, drugs or anything else...but I digress)

3. I wouldn't be surprised if they were drubbed at seasons end by MI; big 10 is overrated.

[Pego]

3. I wouldn't be surprised if they were drubbed at seasons end by MI

They don't have to survive the trip to Madison on Saturday.

[j-a-m]

As for the Ducks overall rankiong,

Ducks are gonna improve in the computer rankings if they win out, they have a significantly tougher remaining schedule than ND. Stanford and Oregon State are ranked 11 and 12 in the computers right now, beating them would improve Oregon's position a lot; plus the Pac championship game is most likely against a ranked opponent.

[Dutra5]

The only way Oregon gets to the BCS championship game is to win out and should they do so they cannot be passed by ND. So they won't be hurt by the lack of MOV.

Don't bet any money on it. Kansas State is a strong #1 but Oregon is a weak #2, barely ahead of Notre Dame, mainly because of their weak computer ranking. They're actually ranked behind Florida in the computers, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that they could drop further in the computers due to the top-10 games left to be played by SEC and ACC teams. Also, don't forget that voters can be fickle as evidenced by Oregon losong some points after giving up 51 points to USC, and another unimpressive win or an Irish woodshedding USC would be all it would take to affect the polls a little. As for the Ducks overall rankiong, all it would take would be for them to drop a spot in one or two of the computers or for a handful of voters to move Kansas State to #1 and/or move Notre Dame to #2, and the Ducks would be the team left out in the cold on December 1. If you don't believe me, do the math.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/bcs

Oregon has to play two ranked teams in the next two weeks which will solidify their computer rankings plus the PAC 12 championship game as well. How does ND possibly pass them playing USC who Oregon already played and beat?

The guy who does the BCS analysis for ESPN....the site you posted...has stated that if all three teams win out that it is Kstate that can be passed by ND but only in the longest of long shots. If all three win out it will almost assuredly be Kstate vs. Oregon.

[jazzcyclist]

The guy who does the BCS analysis for ESPN....the site you posted...has stated that if all three teams win out that it is Kstate that can be passed by ND but only in the longest of long shots. If all three win out it will almost assuredly be Kstate vs. Oregon.

If you're talking about Brad Edwards, he's been wrong in prognostications before, so don't take his word as the gospel. However, I will concede that things look pretty good for the Ducks if they win their remaining games convincingly, but if they struggle, or if Notre Dame beats USC more impressively than they did, all bets are off.