LSU sucks. The Tigers' best win is a six-point win over a crappy Auburn team, they've lost to every other good team they've played - including watching Georgia and Florida each hang 50 on them in Baton Rouge - and Saturday they trailed Troy 31-3 late in the third quarter before a huge comeback. This team has done absolutely nothing to merit its spot in the top 25, and its presence there is a joke.
I'm amazed Alabama keeps winning. Obviously beating Mississippi State at home isn't a huge deal, but I keep waiting for them to slip and they haven't. I hate Saban about as much as I hate any college football personality with the possible exception of Rich Rodriguez, so I don't like having to admit that what he's done this year is incredible. I still think Florida wins the SEC though.
Speaking of Rodriguez, Michigan losing eight games for the first time in school history under RichRod in his first year makes me happy.
I have no idea what to make of the ACC. The ACC title game, if it were tomorrow, would pit Miami(!) against Maryland.
If the season ended today, the BCS matchups would look something like this (this isn't a prediction, just an idea of the teams involved):
National Championship: Alabama vs Texas Tech
Rose Bowl: Oregon State vs Penn State
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs USC
Fiesta Bowl: Texas vs Utah
Orange Bowl: Cincinnati vs whatever team decides to win the ACC
So we could see Oregon State in the Rose Bowl and Cincinnati in a BCS game - in fact, the winner of the Pitt/Cincy game getting the BCS bid looks pretty likely at this point. That the Hurricanes control their own destiny too is surprising, as all year in that conference Maryland, FSU, Georgia Tech and UNC have been sneaking in and out of the rankings.
Miami has picked it up a bit. It does look like they'll win their division. As for the other, it's such a mess. I'm getting a little tired of WR's being idiots and would be fine if they just kicked them off the team at this point(Reed and Surrency specifically...that's three for Reed this year already)
Boston College wins if they win out over Maryland and Wake. Maryland wins if they win out over FSU and BC. Wake wins if they beat Boston College and Maryland loses to both FSU and Boston college. And even FSU can still win if Maryland beats BC and FSU beats Maryland(FSU would win a tie vs Maryland in that case and probably a three way tie vs maryland and Wake if that was the case).
If Miami loses to Georgia tech, that division will also have a ridiculous bunch of scenarios.
I'm thinking that of the Top 25 votes that BC and Florida State receive, they will somehow come mostly from folks affiliated with Maryland, hoping to keep each school ranked until the Terps play them. Hard to believe, after watching them struggle against Delaware, and get bombed on by Middle Tennessee, that they're two wins away from the ACC title game. And shame on me for not really paying attention to BC, because it looks like they have a pretty good squad.
That last statement could also apply to Oregon State. From what I saw of the highlights of their game, it would be no great sin to have them represent the Pac-10 in the Rose Bowl.
I haven't really cared about the "will they fire him or won't they" saga involving Charlie Weis and Notre Dame, but during that Navy comeback, I found myself cheering for them in the hopes that I'd see a coach get fired on live TV for the first time ever (at least, that I know of). I mean, seriously -- turning the ball over, letting them drive the field and score, and then two onside kick recoveries back-to-back (the the second one being the easier onside recovery that I've ever seen a team execute at any level of football)? WTF?
Other than that, it was a weekend of the usual suspects (Florida, USC, Texas) giving teams the beatdown.
Originally posted by wmatisticIf Miami loses to Georgia tech, that division will also have a ridiculous bunch of scenarios.
I wrote this up as a comment to a blog post earlier this morning about that specific scenario. As background, the blogger wrote that if GT beats Miami then its automatically in the ACC title game:
I don't think you got the Coastal Division right. I spent a few minutes working out the scenarios this morning looking at the three-or-more-team tiebreakers, and I think Georgia Tech is the longest shot to win the division. For GT to be in, they have to beat Miami, plus UNC, UVA, and Virginia Tech ALL have to lose at least one more game. And to make matters worse for GT, NC State is still on the schedule for one of those teams and Duke is on the schedule for two of them.
If Georgia Tech beats Miami but those other things don't happen, there's a chance for up to a 4-way tie for the division. The only tiebreaker GT can win is a 2-way tie between itself and Miami.
I think the way it actually works is this. Let's say GT beats Miami and the other teams at the top of the division win the rest of their conference games. UVA and Virginia Tech play each other at the end of the season so one of them will be out of the picture. This leaves us with potentially 4 teams with 4-3 records (GT, Miami, UNC, and the UVA-Virginia Tech winner). If that 4th team is UVA, then the division standings will end up UVA, UNC, GT, Miami. If that 4th team is Virginia Tech, then the division standings will end up Virginia Tech, UNC, GT, Miami.
To put it in sports lingo, Miami controls its own destiny. Win its last two games and win the division. If Miami loses to GT though, then UVA and Virginia Tech control their own destiny, with the winner of the UVA-Virginia Tech rivalry game going to the ACC Championship game.
Of course, as complicated as this all is there's a non-zero chance that I screwed something up. =)
Next job open? Syracuse. Greg Robinson's out (blog.syracuse.com) effective at the end of the season, meaning that he'll run out the string at Notre Dame, and at Cincinnati to end the season. The Orange are 2-8 so far this season, 1-5 in the Big East, and Robinson in almost 4 seasons is 9-36 overall, and 3-24 in conference.
Early favorites for the job are Randy Edsall from UConn, Skip Holtz, and Lane Kiffin.
Originally posted by Big BadWhere do we send the petition to get Ball State, Boise State or Utah into the BCS games instead of the Big East and ACC champs?
Ball State? Really? Beating up on the MAC may impress some people, but I think I'd take the best out of the group of FSU, Miami, Virginia Tech, UNC, Georgia Tech, and Maryland over Ball State every day of the week and twice on Sunday. If not for sheer ability then at least for watchability. Ditto for Cinci, Pitt, and West Virginia.
Originally posted by Big BadWhere do we send the petition to get Ball State, Boise State or Utah into the BCS games instead of the Big East and ACC champs?
The same place where you send the petition to force those schools to play eight, nine or 10 games against BCS conference teams like the ACC and Big East champs will have done.
Welcome home, men of the 2nd Bn, 127th Inf, 32d "Red Arrow" Brigade, WI Army Nat'l Guard! Good luck to those down south.
Originally posted by geemoneyI'm just happy Paul Bunyan's Axe is staying in Madison. Great game, too.
Indeed it was. The Badgers damn near threw the game away early with all those turnovers, plus they lose Jefferson, and still pull out the win.
As for all the BCS worries...could they be a thing of the past soon? Obama laid out his plan for a college football playoff on "60 Minutes" last night:
* 8 teams. * 3 weeks of playoff action. * Shorten the regular season 3 weeks to compensate.
Holy crap, the new Prez-to-be just said something I agree with. WORLD ENDING...
Considering that the bowl season is basically Thanksgiving to Jan 1st, they could just start the playoffs right after the last game of the season.
The kids won't miss anymore school than they do during March Madness.
-- 2006 Time magazine Person of the Year --
"...Oh, the band is out on the field!! He's gonna go into the end zone! He's gone into the end zone!! -- Joe Starkey -- November 20, 1982 -- The Play --
Originally posted by geemoneyI'm just happy Paul Bunyan's Axe is staying in Madison. Great game, too.
Indeed it was. The Badgers damn near threw the game away early with all those turnovers, plus they lose Jefferson, and still pull out the win.
As for all the BCS worries...could they be a thing of the past soon? Obama laid out his plan for a college football playoff on "60 Minutes" last night:
* 8 teams. * 3 weeks of playoff action. * Shorten the regular season 3 weeks to compensate.
Holy crap, the new Prez-to-be just said something I agree with. WORLD ENDING...
That's neat, but he's not in charge of the BCS and the people that are already responded with a HUGE "no thanks."
Originally posted by wmatisticThat's neat, but he's not in charge of the BCS and the people that are already responded with a HUGE "no thanks."
The latest statement by John Swofford doesn't sound quite as cut-and-dry as that. It's true that the conference heads declined a "Plus 1" addition to the current bowl structure, but I think with Obama throwing his weight around (as he put it) you never know if people might start listening. It at least sounds like Swofford would be open to talking about it.
Originally posted by wmatisticThat's neat, but he's not in charge of the BCS and the people that are already responded with a HUGE "no thanks."
The latest statement by John Swofford doesn't sound quite as cut-and-dry as that. It's true that the conference heads declined a "Plus 1" addition to the current bowl structure, but I think with Obama throwing his weight around (as he put it) you never know if people might start listening. It at least sounds like Swofford would be open to talking about it.
- StingArmy
Doesn't matter if you're being realistic about it. They're more popular than ever, making more money than ever and they're not going to risk a huge change. Too many in charge are dead set against it. They may pretend to look at it again to appease Obama, but they'll never do it. Not a chance.
Since ESPN is close to finalizing a deal to broadcast the BCS from the time the FOX deal expires through 2014 makes the playoff option at least 6 years away. Of course, I'm in the rare anti-playoff/anti-BCS bring back the pre-Bowl Championship Alliance anarchy and cut the bowl season back to under 15 games school of thought. If Oregon State/Penn State is the Rose Bowl match-up, that would probably leave Georgia vs. Ohio State in the Citrus Bowl, which would be one of the most intriguing games of the bowl season. I'm guessing the Cotton Bowl would be a match-up of LSU vs. Missouri/left out team of the Big XII South triumverate, which would at least pack the Cotton Bowl. Don't know if LSU would be able to be competitive in that game though. And if I'm a Missouri fan I'd rather stay away from a 2nd straight trip to the Cotton Bowl and take the journey out to San Diego to face a Pac-10 team in the Holiday Bowl. It can be an ice storm in Dallas on New Year's, it can be 75 and sunny the week before New Years in San Diego. I'd take the earlier bowl date with the weather. Congratulations to Vandy on finally becoming bowl eligible, because I don't know if the head coach survives if you start a season 5-0 and don't get to the 6th win, even at Vandy.
Originally posted by wmatisticThat's neat, but he's not in charge of the BCS and the people that are already responded with a HUGE "no thanks."
The latest statement by John Swofford doesn't sound quite as cut-and-dry as that. It's true that the conference heads declined a "Plus 1" addition to the current bowl structure, but I think with Obama throwing his weight around (as he put it) you never know if people might start listening. It at least sounds like Swofford would be open to talking about it.
- StingArmy
Doesn't matter if you're being realistic about it. They're more popular than ever, making more money than ever and they're not going to risk a huge change. Too many in charge are dead set against it. They may pretend to look at it again to appease Obama, but they'll never do it. Not a chance.
Eh, the only consistent anti-playoff talk that I ever see is from the heads of the Big 10 & Pac 10, because of their dire need to preserve the classic Rose Bowl match-up. Maybe it's a bt of East Coast Bias in me, but I could give a rat's ass about "tradition" in this case -- some traditions aren't worth maintaining. If it were up to me, they'd go ahead with the 8 team playoff, and if those conferences don't want to participate, then give me the conference champs from the Big East, ACC, Big 12, SEC, and four at-large bids.
Unfortunately, this is where the power of the networks comes in -- they probably wouldn't care if the Big Ten took itself out of the picture, but there's no chance they'll go for a tournament if there's no chance of USC (aka Team Hollywood) being involved.
I'd feel better -- sort-of -- if they (the ADs, college presidents, etc.) would just say the decision was about money, and stop with the whole "we've got to preserve tradition/protect the students/the season would be too long" BS.
Ladies and gentlemen, the following public service message is brought to you by your friends from D-Generation X, who would like to remind each and every one of you that if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you... Bucs Fan: The NCAA finally gave a definitive answer to the other "doomsday scenario" you posited a few threads ago.
Originally posted by TheBucsFanOne I brought up before, and I don't think a definitive answer was ever offered. Basically, the scenario is this: the teams ranked No 1 and No 2 in the BCS are from the same conference, and neither is the conference champion. Thus you have three "automatic" spots going to one conference, while rules say no conference can have more than two teams. This scenrio is incredibly unlikely, obviously; I think it's only really possible in the Big 10, where teams don't play every other team in the conference each year.
Originally posted by Los Angeles TimesThere is a remote chance this year that Missouri could win the Big 12 title and two one-loss schools from the Big 12 South could end up No. 1 and No. 2 in the BCS standings. So what gives? "There would be three [Big 12] teams in that case," BCS spokesman Bill Hancock confirmed Wednesday.
Looks like this is the only exception to the 2-teams-per-conference rule possible.
smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated (Holds; June 18, 2006) While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.
21 15 North Carolina 7-3 1275.1316 22 27 Central Michigan 8-2 1272.9146 23 32 Oregon State 7-3 1271.2077 24 35 Maryland 7-3 1269.4064 25 28 Oregon 8-3 1269.1296
Notes:
There are 5 Big 12; 3 ACC & Big Ten & MWC & Pac 10 & SEC; & 2 Big East & MAC schools in the top 25.
Click here for the full 120 team rankings. Click here to see how this system compares to other ones.
-- 2006 Time magazine Person of the Year --
"...Oh, the band is out on the field!! He's gonna go into the end zone! He's gone into the end zone!! -- Joe Starkey -- November 20, 1982 -- The Play --