[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
Oh, definitely not saying that it won’t happen. But there isn’t really a game on that schedule where you look at it and go, they have a pretty good chance of beating them. With that said, Stanford, Arizona, or Oregon St are going to be their highest potential for upset, and at this point I hesitate to call Stanford over Oregon an upset anymore. [/quote]
We’re basically of the same mind here. I wouldn’t straight-up pick anyone on Oregon’s schedule to beat them, or even suggest that anyone looks ripe for a chance to beat them; but again, that Iowa State upset of Oklahoma State was not a game anyone would have looked at and thought “You know who could knock off Oklahoma State? Iowa State!”
Like you said, Stanford has given Oregon trouble the last few years, inconsistent or not. Heck, last year they beat an absolutely-rolling Oregon team two or three weeks after losing to Utah. They beat Oregon in 2012 after early-season losses to Washington and Notre Dame.
[quote]JMac31 wrote:
Going into bowl season that year LSU was the only undefeated even though multiple big conference schools took undefeated records into Nov. Would have been nice to have had a playoff that year.[/quote]
I thought LSU got screwed in 2011. The fact that Alabama beat LSU in the title game doesn’t “validate” Alabama’s inclusion in the title game, IMO. LSU ran the SEC gamut unbeaten, with a win over Alabama in the process, and then had to play in the SEC title game (while Alabama rested and waited to see where the chips would fall), and their reward for this was…another game against Alabama?
In retrospect: suppose that Georgia had upset LSU in the SEC title game that year. Can you imagine the outcry if Alabama had still played for the national title while LSU was left home?
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
Oklahoma State cost itself a shot at the national title a couple years ago with a late-season loss to Iowa State that no one could have seen coming. [/quote]
That was a crazy game. Then OK St. went on the beat Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl. The Cardinal lost there chance at the title LOSING TO OREGON, the Ducks of of course then lost the USC and we had the Bama/LSU rematch.
Going into bowl season that year LSU was the only undefeated even though multiple big conference schools took undefeated records into Nov. Would have been nice to have had a playoff that year.[/quote]
Yeah, an Oregon/LSU/OK state/Alabama final four would have been great. No other conference champion was in the top 10 so that has to go to an at large team (Bama) and the Pac-12 champ was actually ranked lower than Stanford. And then you had a Boise St in there but 1-loss should be enough to eliminate a mid major from consideration. Would have been interesting because some good teams that would have felt like they deserved a shot would have been left out.
[quote]JMac31 wrote:
Going into bowl season that year LSU was the only undefeated even though multiple big conference schools took undefeated records into Nov. Would have been nice to have had a playoff that year.[/quote]
I thought LSU got screwed in 2011. The fact that Alabama beat LSU in the title game doesn’t “validate” Alabama’s inclusion in the title game, IMO. LSU ran the SEC gamut unbeaten, with a win over Alabama in the process, and then had to play in the SEC title game (while Alabama rested and waited to see where the chips would fall), and their reward for this was…another game against Alabama?
In retrospect: suppose that Georgia had upset LSU in the SEC title game that year. Can you imagine the outcry if Alabama had still played for the national title while LSU was left home?[/quote]
I see your point, but I have always given some leeway to teams that never lost a game in regulation. OT losses are not as detrimental (OT wins not as impressive), when having to split hairs to pick a team with the way that year shook out. Also, not taking care of business against bad teams should hurt you a lot worse than losing to equally matched teams the way OK state did. Stanford had a much better case than OK state for the national title and before USC took down Oregon, a better case than Bama. Although, if Oregon runs the table and wins the Pac-12 you essiantially have the same problem as you did with Bama, LSU had already beaten them in the regular season.
I agree LSU got screwed. Tough to beat a team twice in a season. And like you said Bama just sat at home then went straight the the title game, didn’t even have to work their way back.
An interesting theme kind of coming up to early season wins/losses vs late season wins/losses. IMO late season games and how a team is trending is important, not what happen in week 1 or week 2. But the way CFB is with so few games every game matters. The thing is a team can look completely different in Nov. compared to Aug.
You see this is college basketball a lot when some team who is struggling down the stretch is claiming they should be in because of some Thanksgiving tournament win. The whole season is important, but if there is doubt or something to debate I tend to go with the team that is playing good NOW even if they lost a bad game early on.
[quote]JMac31 wrote:
I agree LSU got screwed. Tough to beat a team twice in a season. And like you said Bama just sat at home then went straight the the title game, didn’t even have to work their way back.
An interesting theme kind of coming up to early season wins/losses vs late season wins/losses. IMO late season games and how a team is trending is important, not what happen in week 1 or week 2. But the way CFB is with so few games every game matters. The thing is a team can look completely different in Nov. compared to Aug. You see this is college basketball a lot when some team who is struggling down the stretch is claiming they should be in because of some Thanksgiving tournament win. The whole season is important, but if there is doubt or something to debate I tend to go with the team that is playing good NOW even if they lost a bad game early on.[/quote]
Yeah, South Carolina could be a prime example of what you are saying this year. The ugly game against A&M where they were a defensive wreck but if they win out and win the SEC championship, would have a very solid case for the BCS final under the old system. Whereas, if they were undefeated and lost a late season game to Clemson and still won the SEC, they would probably be eliminated from consideration.
With that said, a 4 team playoff is a step in the right direction but a 16 team playoff would be more ideal. (My personal preference would be a 24 but that’s just me)
[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
With that said, a 4 team playoff is a step in the right direction but a 16 team playoff would be more ideal. (My personal preference would be a 24 but that’s just me)[/quote]
I tossed out my ideas earlier in this thread, I’ll toss’em out again in case anyone didn’t see them.
Option #1: 8 teams
Automatic bids (5): SEC, Pac-12, ACC, Big 12, B1G champions
Semi-automatic (1): highest-ranked league champion from outside Power Five
At-larges (2): highest ranked teams not yet in field
Option #2: 16 teams
Automatic bids (11): every conference champion
At-larges (5): highest ranked teams not yet in field
I’m sorry, but I think 24 is too many; at this point it would require five full weeks, which I think is too much time (it would either spill into the NFL playoffs, or the regular season would have to end earlier). I don’t want to get into too much debate about devaluing the regular season, either, but at that point we’ll have some 9-3 and 8-4 teams in the playoff (for a rough guess, last year’s final BCS standings would have sent three 9-3 and two 8-4 teams to the playoffs, and that looks fairly typical for most seasons). Capping it at 16 will usually mean everyone in the playoff is going to be 10-2 or better.
[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
With that said, a 4 team playoff is a step in the right direction but a 16 team playoff would be more ideal. (My personal preference would be a 24 but that’s just me)[/quote]
I tossed out my ideas earlier in this thread, I’ll toss’em out again in case anyone didn’t see them.
Option #1: 8 teams
Automatic bids (5): SEC, Pac-12, ACC, Big 12, B1G champions
Semi-automatic (1): highest-ranked league champion from outside Power Five
At-larges (2): highest ranked teams not yet in field
Option #2: 16 teams
Automatic bids (11): every conference champion
At-larges (5): highest ranked teams not yet in field
I’m sorry, but I think 24 is too many; at this point it would require five full weeks, which I think is too much time (it would either spill into the NFL playoffs, or the regular season would have to end earlier). I don’t want to get into too much debate about devaluing the regular season, either, but at that point we’ll have some 9-3 and 8-4 teams in the playoff (for a rough guess, last year’s final BCS standings would have sent three 9-3 and two 8-4 teams to the playoffs, and that looks fairly typical for most seasons). Capping it at 16 will usually mean everyone in the playoff is going to be 10-2 or better.[/quote]
Main reason I said 24 was because it matches the college basketball percentage of teams taken almost exactly, each being 19% of the total schools that participate, plus you could totally replace the bowl structure with the 23 playoff games. With that said, a 16 or even a 12 team playoff would almost assuredly include the best teams in the country.
I wasn’t terribly excited about many games today, but it turned out to be to pretty entertaining day.
Decent bounce back day for the Big Ten so far. Michigan is about to restart after delay, but it looks like they are going down. Funny it looks like the Wolverines might be the bottom feeders in the Big Ten East. Indiana got a win @ Mizzou (SEC) and new comers Maryland won @ Syracuse (ACC) while Rutgers won over Navy and already have a win @ Wash St. (Pac-12). Hurts the conference that the top teams have lost, but some of these other teams are preforming better than expected. And Activities completely jinxed Pitt lol and Iowa gets in win. Still need to keep an eye on Nebraska-Miami tonight. MSU used every quarterback on the roster in their win lol . And Gordon had 5 TDs against a Bowling Green teams who just beat Indiana, then Indiana beats Mizzou. Got to love the unpredictability.
Maybe everyone is getting sick of the Big Ten talk, but it is my conference. So be prepared I’ll be talking about it all season. Outside the Big Ten…
Amari Cooper is very exciting.
Georgia has plenty of running backs.
I want to see this A&M team play other good team.
BYU stays undefeated.
VT loses again.
UNC give up 70 to East Carolina. East Carolina has wins over VT and UNC and a close game with South Carolina.
[quote]MaximusB wrote:
Florida State got lucky last night, REAL lucky. [/quote]
Seriously how could Clemson make so many mistakes? That late fumble was killer, but at least the FSU defender forced the turnover. When you have 1st and goal from the 1 and fail to score because you snap the ball over the QBs head and lose 30 yards that is ridiculously.
Also I did not like that 4th and 1 play call. I agree with going for it (rough night kicking), but that was a slow developing play out of the shot gun. FSU defensive front dominated Clemson O-line so it probably didn’t matter what was call though.
BUMP! BUMP!
Had to revive this after Oregon lost to Arizona. Playoff predictions are moving faster than Michigan’s AD and coaching staff trying to cover their asses.
Could be 2 teams(cough SEC cough)from the same conference AND division might have a shot.
Good looking college weekend Oct4
SEC West lineup #6 Tex A&M at #12 Miss St #3(#2?) Bama at #11 Miss #15 LSU at #5 Auburn
Oregon loss definitely shakes things up. I am course excited for NEB @ MSU, but I am paying special attention to ND this week (and every week while they are undefeated). Since this summer we have been talking about how one conference champion will be left out, but if ND gets in there will be at least two out. Also ND 2 x SEC will leave three “power five” conferences out. I don’t think that senario is probable, but possible. I am hoping for an ND @ FSU match-up of undefeateds. ND win over FSU could put ACC’s playoff hopes in jeopardy.
Also Gophers get the Little Brown Jug! Now we just need Paul Bunyan’s Axe…
[quote]JMac31 wrote:
Oregon loss definitely shakes things up. I am course excited for NEB @ MSU, but I am paying special attention to ND this week (and every week while they are undefeated). Since this summer we have been talking about how one conference champion will be left out, but if ND gets in there will be at least two out. Also ND 2 x SEC will leave three “power five” conferences out. I don’t think that senario is probable, but possible. I am hoping for an ND @ FSU match-up of undefeateds. ND win over FSU could put ACC’s playoff hopes in jeopardy.
Also Gophers get the Little Brown Jug! Now we just need Paul Bunyan’s Axe…[/quote]
How many games do you guys have that have trophies involved?
[quote]JMac31 wrote:
Oregon loss definitely shakes things up. I am course excited for NEB @ MSU, but I am paying special attention to ND this week (and every week while they are undefeated). Since this summer we have been talking about how one conference champion will be left out, but if ND gets in there will be at least two out. Also ND 2 x SEC will leave three “power five” conferences out. I don’t think that senario is probable, but possible. I am hoping for an ND @ FSU match-up of undefeateds. ND win over FSU could put ACC’s playoff hopes in jeopardy.
Also Gophers get the Little Brown Jug! Now we just need Paul Bunyan’s Axe…[/quote]
How many games do you guys have that have trophies involved?[/quote]
All the random ass trophies and titles are the best part of college football.
I thought Oregon would lose to a Pac 12 team sometime this season, i just didn’t think it would be at home to Arizona. I would have thought either UCLA or Stanford would. Props to Arizona though. They will be ranked next week.
[quote]silverblood wrote:
How many games do you guys have that have trophies involved?[/quote]
Four. Only three that we really care about (Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin) and a fourth with Penn State. Penn State’s first Big Ten game was against the Gophers in 1993 and it was decided that was worth a trophy. The other three have good stories and history.
[quote]red04 wrote:
All the random ass trophies and titles are the best part of college football.[/quote]
Agreed. Even if your team has a disappointing season overall a win in a rivalry/trophy game still means something. Compared to the NFL where once your team it our of playoff contention nothing really matters.
Texas A &M slow starts may cost them. They are talented w. Monster O line and I had them in the playoff…but eventually you can’t just keep comin back…
As stated my Team is Michigan- at this point I dont know what to think. It really seems like Brady Hoke recruits well and does everything right. It seems like hes built the culture the right way w. Good kids, academic s and very little off the field issues. But it hasn’t translated to wins for whatever reasons… mostly unknown.
Id say that we are still quite young. Beating a dead horse or not. Its fact. Hokes first set of seniors would be next year. What I see missingis the superstar athlete- outside of peppers and Jake ryan…theres very little of that. We need a stud wideout and stud defensive end. Quarter back play is not up to par by any means, either. And overall just speed…speed on offense everywhere. Weve gotten some size back…butnnow we need to add the speed .
I guess at this point im more in support of letting Hoke build his program than starting over…again…
Mark Dantonio was given the time to build his program at State. At Michigan theres never that time given. Win now or die. Dantonio just won his first out right Big ten title… in his 7th year…
Weve passed up the likes of Bryan Kelly an d Kevin Sumlin… fired offensive g enious Rich Rod…whos beat Oregon back to back years now…
Mind boggling and has to end somewhere…given time it coulda been rich rod. … it could be Hoke.
Crazy day of football and it’s not over. Lot of weeks left for the remaining unbeatens(a bunch of whom have to play each other) to fall as well, going to be a mosh pile of 1-loss teams fighting for spots in the end.