College Football Thread

[kelric]

Texas 34, Tech 24

But it was a little disconcerting to see how easily Tech was moving the ball in the second half...

 

[Jeffster]

That was a heartbreaking game but a very good one. Congrats to Texas, but I thought the Raiders played their butts off, especially on the depleted defense. This Tech team made me feel good about the rest of the season tonight.

 

[mattness]

since the Maryland Terrapins never get anywhere i'm going w/ Virginia.

 

[pure_mercury]

I am interested in seeing how Penn St. fares against the Big Ten this season. If they win out, I don't see how they wouldn't be in the BCS Championship Game.

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

Tennessee just did a good job on the road in a loss to Florida - they did better than I thought they would.

Wow, Lane Kiffin lost that game. If he so distrusts his QB that he runs on 3rd and 23, he needs a new QB. When you're a decided underdog you have to be aggressive. They lost that game in the first half with missed opportunities. What a bungled game.

I am interested in seeing how Penn St. fares against the Big Ten this season. If they win out, I don't see how they wouldn't be in the BCS Championship Game.

Well, they've beaten Syracuse and Temple...and the Big Ten mostly stinks. I think even if they ran the table, they're likely no more deserving than Utah was last year or Hawaii the year before that. Then again, deserving or not, they might wind up there considering how ridiculous the BCS is.

 

[kelric]

That was a heartbreaking game but a very good one. Congrats to Texas, but I thought the Raiders played their butts off, especially on the depleted defense. This Tech team made me feel good about the rest of the season tonight.

I thought TT played pretty well, too - like you say, especially on defense. Their offense in the second half was really clicking on all cylinders, even after losing Harrell and Crabtree from last year - Texas wasn't doing much to stop them (with the exception of some nice pass rushing). Texas' offfense picked up too, of course. In the end, I think it came down to Shipley's punt return in the first half and the turnover swap near Tech's goal line in the 4th quarter. Was a pretty good game, and I agree that it looks good for Tech for the rest of the season... but I'm still glad Texas won .

Wow, Lane Kiffin lost that game. If he so distrusts his QB that he runs on 3rd and 23, he needs a new QB. When you're a decided underdog you have to be aggressive. They lost that game in the first half with missed opportunities. What a bungled game.

Oh, I must have missed that 3rd and 23 play... I was pretty much expecting it to be a complete 60-10 style domination by Florida, but Tennessee did better than I thought they would. You're certainly right about the need to be aggressive in that situation though - perhaps Kiffin was "playing not to get crushed" in an effort to protect his reputation (a poor move, of course)?

Well, they've beaten Syracuse and Temple...and the Big Ten mostly stinks. I think even if they ran the table, they're likely no more deserving than Utah was last year or Hawaii the year before that. Then again, deserving or not, they might wind up there considering how ridiculous the BCS is.

If the go undefeated, and the Big 12/SEC champions both don't, the BCS will put them in. Pretty much a certainty, I think... a one-loss Florida or Alabama *might* beat undefeated Penn State out to the championship slot... but a one-loss Texas probably wouldn't. Which would likely result in another lackluster championship game. The Big 10 is pretty bad... Michigan is okay, Ohio State's good (but not great)... most of the rest of them are bad. There are a number of teams from "lesser" conferences (Miami, for instance) that I think are much better than anyone in the Big 10.

 

[pure_mercury]

If the go undefeated, and the Big 12/SEC champions both don't, the BCS will put them in. Pretty much a certainty, I think... a one-loss Florida or Alabama *might* beat undefeated Penn State out to the championship slot... but a one-loss Texas probably wouldn't. Which would likely result in another lackluster championship game. The Big 10 is pretty bad... Michigan is okay, Ohio State's good (but not great)... most of the rest of them are bad. There are a number of teams from "lesser" conferences (Miami, for instance) that I think are much better than anyone in the Big 10.

That is how it should be, though. It's not as if the Big Ten were the Mountain West. If a Big Ten team goes 12-0 and there is no/one undefeated Big 12 or SEC team, the 12-0 Big Ten team should be in there. Going undefeated is supposed to weigh extremely heavily in your favor. As great as the SEC and Big 12 are, the BCS Championship Game is not the playoff of the SEC and Big 12 champions, nor should it be. If Florida/Alabama and Texas are undefeated, they should absolutely be in the Championship (Mississippi, I don't know about them), but 11-1 Florida and 11-1 Texas over 12-0 Penn St. (or USC, had they not lost this weekend) would be a major injustice.

 

[kelric]

That is how it should be, though. It's not as if the Big Ten were the Mountain West. If a Big Ten team goes 12-0 and there is no/one undefeated Big 12 or SEC team, the 12-0 Big Ten team should be in there. Going undefeated is supposed to weigh extremely heavily in your favor. As great as the SEC and Big 12 are, the BCS Championship Game is not the playoff of the SEC and Big 12 champions, nor should it be.

I don't entirely disagree with you, Merc - going undefeated should absolutely mean something, and I'd not disparage any undefeated team getting their chance at the championship game (ie, Utah last year - you can say that Florida/Oklahoma were better - and they probably were - but Utah *did* have an argument). But I'm not so sure that the Big Ten's all *that* much different from the Mountain West (other than tradition and history -- although that argument took a bit hit after BYU's stomping at home at the hands of FSU last night). If PSU were the only (or one of only two) undefeated teams I'd have no problem with them being in the championship game, but I may not believe that they were really the best or next-best team in the country (say USC crushes everyone they play from here on out, for example, for a non-SEC/Big12 team). But, an undefeated PSU would have earned the slot, and I'd be happy to see them there (yay Paterno!).

I guess it's really that the BCS is no guarantee to identify the best two teams of the season - and that teams don't always get a chance to prove themselves against their competitors in the standings on the field. Probably an unavoidable consequence of the number of teams in college football and the lack of a playoff. Fun to argue about, though .

 

[pure_mercury]

I don't entirely disagree with you, Merc - going undefeated should absolutely mean something, and I'd not disparage any undefeated team getting their chance at the championship game (ie, Utah last year - you can say that Florida/Oklahoma were better - and they probably were - but Utah *did* have an argument). But I'm not so sure that the Big Ten's all *that* much different from the Mountain West (although that argument took a bit hit after BYU's stomping at home at the hands of FSU last night). If PSU were the only (or one of only two) undefeated teams I'd have no problem with them being in the championship game, but I may not believe that they were really the best or next-best team in the country (say USC crushes everyone they play from here on out, for example, for a non-SEC/Big12 team). But, an undefeated PSU would have earned the slot, and I'd be happy to see them there (yay Paterno!).

I guess it's really that the BCS is no guarantee to identify the best two teams of the season - and that teams don't always get a chance to prove themselves against their competitors in the standings on the field. Probably an unavoidable consequence of the number of teams in college football and the lack of a playoff. Fun to argue about, though .

The BCS Championship Game is not supposed to be the #1 vs. #2 Yahoo! Power Ranking Game. The formula is in place to determine which two teams HAVE HAD THE BEST SEASON. That's why college football is so much fun. You have to win out or lose one game at most to have a chance. Let's look at Florida. If they lost a close one to #9 LSU, and Texas and Penn St. run the table, how could someone justifiably put them ahead of the undefeated team? I don't think that should even be a consideration, because winning every game should be worth a ton. It would be one thing if it were LSU with two triple-OT losses. It would be quite another if Florida loses 21-17 to LSU. It would be quite unfair if Florida loses to LSU, who lose to Georgia, who lose to Mississippi, who lose to Alabama, who lose to Florida, and the one-loss SEC Champion (whichever it ends up being) gets in over an undefeated Big Ten team.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

We looked like ass against Tenn.

I only recognized our team for about 6 minutes in the third qtr.

That being said a W's a W.

We need to work on defending the pass rush. And Steve Adazzio (O coordinator) needs to return from Narnia or wherever he is that those play calls make sense.

We have arguably the fastest receiving corps in the country and we didn't throw a ball more than 15 yrds down the field all game.

 

[d@v3]

SU football actually beat someone on Saturday! (I wonder if it will happen again? )
Syracuse vs. Northwestern
Recap: Syracuse vs. Northwestern | The News Tribune - Colleges | Seattle-Tacoma News, Weather, Sports, Jobs, Homes and Cars | South Puget Sound's Destination

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

SU football actually beat someone on Saturday! (I wonder if it will happen again? )

Stranger things have happened! (I think.) We SHOULD be 2-1. The Minnesota game was a classic choke job.

 

[mcmartinez84]

In response to the original post...

Geaux Tigers! *waits for the hate*

I'm happy with our 3 wins so far, but our offense seems to be slacking on the scoreboard a bit. 31 to 3 against ULL? I expected a good 40+ points for us. Our win against the Huskies was a bit on the pathetic side...but I'll take a pathetic win any day over USCs loss to them (that made my week, btw). And the win against Vandy was nothing to brag about either. But hey, wins are wins and not losses. I hope we get our sh!t together for when we play better teams!

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

In response to the original post...

Geaux Tigers! *waits for the hate*

I'm happy with our 3 wins so far, but our offense seems to be slacking on the scoreboard a bit. 31 to 3 against ULL? I expected a good 40+ points for us. Our win against the Huskies was a bit on the pathetic side...but I'll take a pathetic win any day over USCs loss to them (that made my week, btw). And the win against Vandy was nothing to brag about either. But hey, wins are wins and not losses. I hope we get our sh!t together for when we play better teams!

I got nothing but love for SEC teams!

That is until we travel over to death valley and play yeaux guys!

 

[mcmartinez84]

I got nothing but love for SEC teams!

That is until we travel over to death valley and play yeaux guys!

Awwwww, that's sweet of you

I've got a little love for the rest of the conference when we can't be there. At the moment I hate on Florida a lot because I think Tim Tebow is a bit of a tool and a d-bag (sorry, you actually sound like a cool fan). Yeah, he's good. We get it. (Maybe that's a sign of jealousy on my part D: ) Anyway, once he's off the team making 500 bajillion dollars a year in the NFL, I'll stop hatin' some Oh, and Nick Saban is a jerk, so I hate on Bama too.

I'm all for wins when it's SEC vs. SomeOtherConf, so I don't hate *that* much.

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

At the moment I hate on Florida a lot because I think Tim Tebow is a bit of a tool and a d-bag (sorry, you actually sound like a cool fan). Yeah, he's good. We get it.

Can I get an amen? I'm so tired of hearing about this guy. And it's making me dislike him even though he seems like a perfectly good guy and an excellent player. I watched the Tennessee/Florida game and if I had been playing a drinking game where I drank every time I heard "Tebow", I would have been in the hospital by the end of the first quarter. Still, it wasn't nearly as bad as it was in the BCS championship game last year. I thought the announcers were going to take turns washing his feet.

 

[ygolo]

I realize this post is rather late and off time....

Amen. I'm not sure if I should be super happy, or upset that a win manages to once again mask the major offensive problems the team perpetually has.

Still, what an exciting ending.

I have been out of school for a long time. But still a Hokie fan. I hate it that I don't get all the games on the West Coast.

I too have concerns about our offence. But still...

Go Hokies!

I always love it when we beat Miami. Hopefully, it'll happen again this weekend.

 

[Udog]

I have been out of school for a long time. But still a Hokie fan. I hate it that I don't get all the games on the West Coast.

I too have concerns about our offence. But still...

I always love it when we beat Miami. Hopefully, it'll happen again this weekend.

Welcome, fellow Hokie fan!

You know their offense is bad when the announcer of the game is saying things like, "This team has had offense ranked 90th or below for the last 5 years" and "How in the world did this team win so many championships with an offense like this?"

I'll probably miss the Miami game because of the D.C. Meetup, but I'll be rooting for them in spirit.

 

[pure_mercury]

Mississippi St. giving LSU some problems early on. We'll see how this goes.

 

[nomadic]

Go Bears

By one measure, the answer is no. Since the 2000 season, the Pac-10 has the best record in games against the other Bowl Championship Series conferences (81-62, a .566 winning percentage). The Pac-10 also has a .500-or-better record during this period against each of the other five major conferences. The SEC ranks second among the six BCS conferences with a .528 mark, while the other four conferences are all under .500. Bringing up the rear is the Big Ten with a .475 winning percentage.

What SEC Dominance? The Pac-10 Has Them Beat - WSJ.com