As a Maryland fan, I've finally figured it out! Just match them up against ranked opponents all the time. Put them through the freakin' gauntlet. Hell, rank NC State in the top ten next week, just so the team will come out and play their asses off like they did today against Wake Forest.
On the other side, UNC might not be ranked anymore by the time we play 'em. I know Brandon Tate is out, but damn! Or maybe UVA isn't completely terrible, who knows.
First comment this late in the day says how lackluster today has been so far today. At least we can count on some close SEC games. I figured Vandy was 5 - 1 because of the schedule but they actually looked pretty good against Georgia. Might have been a different story if Earl Bennett was still around.
Ole Miss has gotta be the best losing team in the nation. They came close to beating Georgia, Florida and Alabama. It will be interesting to see where Ole Miss goes the next few years. It's going to be tough to recruit with LSU and Alabama but Auburn could be in trouble. Unfortunately the voters will probably look at Ole Miss and think they stink because they are 3 - 4 and think Alabama stunk for playing a close game. Meanwhile USC will get plenty of bonus points for beating a nobody by 69.
Originally posted by eventhisAs a Maryland fan, I've finally figured it out! Just match them up against ranked opponents all the time. Put them through the freakin' gauntlet. Hell, rank NC State in the top ten next week, just so the team will come out and play their asses off like they did today against Wake Forest.
On the other side, UNC might not be ranked anymore by the time we play 'em. I know Brandon Tate is out, but damn! Or maybe UVA isn't completely terrible, who knows.
Yes, this is exactly what I said earlier. If MTSU and Virginia were ranked we'd be 7-0. EMU was a fluke. Dammit. Maryland pisses me off.
Washington State has had 60+ hung on them 4 times this season, so it is tough to say USC ran it up on them. Close game for Alabama has no impact on them versus USC, but it might move the Penn State vote versus Alabama. I'm trying to figure out which game I was more off on: Michigan State to knock off Ohio State or Missouri to rebound against a Texas team due for a letdown after the comeback against Oklahoma. Usually Michigan State screws up a game before they get blasted. It had no impact on the final result because Texas kept scoring, but one of my pet peeves occurred yet again: Missouri is down 35-3 in the second half when they get a touchdown to make it 35-9. Why not start going for 2 there when it would make it a hard 3 touchdown game rather than a 4 score game? There is a difference 24 versus 25, while 25 versus 26 is no major difference. Wisconsin might be thinking the Motor City Bowl looks good around now.
I'm still not a Rich Brooks fan, but man that was nice to see "my" UK Wildcats come back against Arkansas last night. I couldn't believe he was still sending Hartline out there the last few series because he had not done much up to that point, but for some reason they clicked the last two drives and the Defense stayed it's normal (this season) sturdy self and they pulled one out. So nice to see Petrino toss his headset in disgust and resignment after the interception. I realize he'll have the 'Hogs running up the score on us in no time, but this was nice.
Just one more win and bowl eligibility for the 3rd year in a row, which is quite an accomplishment . . . at UK anyway.
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Can't thank Maryland enough. Still need Wake to lose another one, but at least now I can keep my unrealistic hopes of a conference title alive for another week.
The ACC is the most confusing conference ever. They clearly aren't a bad conference, yet also clearly have no really outstanding team. Week to week I wouldn't bet a dime on these games right now. Just a tossup.
Missouri was stupid. In the first half at least. I was watching with UT fans and said before it started Missouri needs to run the football and do short quick passes. Not their typical drop back and throw it deep. Texas just gets too much pressure for that to work. So of course when Missouri actually changed to that type of style in the second half they had an easy time scoring. I still think Texas would have won had Missouri started with the right game plan, but it would have been close at least.
So does anyone NOT see Ohio State beating Penn State and winning the conference yet again?
Originally posted by wmatisticThey clearly aren't a bad conference, yet also clearly have no really outstanding team.
I think every sportscaster outside of the region would take exception to your first claim, and I take exception to your second. Although I was pleased with all 3 of our ranked teams losing their games this week because it helped MY team, everyone seems to agree that it hurts our conference's standing in the eyes of everyone else around the country. Oh well.
As for your second claim, my Yellow Jackets are 3 points away from being undefeated (fucking VPI) and at least having a teeny tiny whiff of the national title picture (yeah yeah, I probably just jinxed them). We looked like garbage against Gardner Webb, but we were also playing without our first two QBs. Plus everyone has an off game at some point. The important thing is we still won.
We are undefeated with Demaryius Thomas in the lineup, and for good reason too. He's no Calvin Johnson but the boy can play! We're #18 in the first BCS rankings, and if we can run the table (jinx jinx jinx jinx) we have a shot at finishing in the top 10, if not the top 5. We might not be scoring 50 points a game like Texas, but I think I might call that an outstanding team just the same.
Run the table, beat Georgia and win the ACC, and I might consider calling Georgia Tech an outstanding team. Tough to call them that the week after going 10-7 against Gardner Webb. And, to be fair, I'm a fan of the option offense, so I have no problem with Georgia Tech. Surprised that Florida is at 10, but if they run the table they can leap the other 1 loss teams and get back in the mix, as a minimum 2 Big XII teams in front of them will have to lose, 1 Big 10 team in front of them must lose, and the other 2 SEC teams would lose if they won out. If Penn State was the Big 10 team in front of them that lost, it would be tough to have another 1 loss team in front of a Florida team that would knock off LSU, Georgia and Alabama. Now, if Penn State ever went into Columbus and manhandled Ohio State, would that cause them to jump an Alabama team that has struggled since halftime of the Georgia game?
Penn State has the fast track to the no. 2 spot in the BCS just because they have a much easier schedule than Alabama. I have a tough time seeing Alabama finishing unbeaten, though if they do, they should obviously be in the BCS title game (probably more deservingly so than Texas would be if the Longhorns ran the table).
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Originally posted by wmatisticThey clearly aren't a bad conference, yet also clearly have no really outstanding team.
I think every sportscaster outside of the region would take exception to your first claim, and I take exception to your second. Although I was pleased with all 3 of our ranked teams losing their games this week because it helped MY team, everyone seems to agree that it hurts our conference's standing in the eyes of everyone else around the country. Oh well.
As for your second claim, my Yellow Jackets are 3 points away from being undefeated (fucking VPI) and at least having a teeny tiny whiff of the national title picture (yeah yeah, I probably just jinxed them). We looked like garbage against Gardner Webb, but we were also playing without our first two QBs. Plus everyone has an off game at some point. The important thing is we still won.
We are undefeated with Demaryius Thomas in the lineup, and for good reason too. He's no Calvin Johnson but the boy can play! We're #18 in the first BCS rankings, and if we can run the table (jinx jinx jinx jinx) we have a shot at finishing in the top 10, if not the top 5. We might not be scoring 50 points a game like Texas, but I think I might call that an outstanding team just the same.
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I think the OOC wins the ACC has though help it not be looked at so negatively. In fact most conference rankings have them pretty high at this point. Very few writers are calling it a "bad" conference right now.
As for Tech, I'm sorry but they aren't a great team. Sure they're getting some solid wins but they'd get smashed by any of the top five in my view, no question.
So does anyone NOT see Ohio State beating Penn State and winning the conference yet again? All homer-ism aside, yes. Penn State and Ohio State have both been Jekyll and Hyde this season. Both teams struggled against Purdue, and the only other common opponent so far has been @ Wisconsin - Ohio State won by 3, Penn State won by 41. Pryor's more than got his feet wet now though, and Michigan did a great job in the first half of exposing the fact that our linebackers are deep but inexperienced, especially against the option. Throw in the fact that PSU tends to reel in the spread offense against other teams that use the spread, home field advantage, night game, and there are 101 reasons why I think Ohio State should win. But, this is why they play the games on the field and not on paper; miracles do happen; anyone can beat anyone at any time; potentially send Joe out with a Hollywood ending; whatever cheesy sports cliche exists...I'll cling to it 'til 11:30PM Saturday night.
Even if Penn State does win out, there's no national championship game for them unless the top of the SEC and Big 12 completely collapse. Strength of schedule rated at a tie for 100th? I figured it'd be low, but that having played Oregon State who beat USC (SOS 40th) who beat Ohio State (SOS 17th) would at least have us in double digits somewhere.
Originally posted by redsoxnation Surprised that Florida is at 10, but if they run the table they can leap the other 1 loss teams and get back in the mix, as a minimum 2 Big XII teams in front of them will have to lose, 1 Big 10 team in front of them must lose, and the other 2 SEC teams would lose if they won out. If Penn State was the Big 10 team in front of them that lost, it would be tough to have another 1 loss team in front of a Florida team that would knock off LSU, Georgia and Alabama.
I was surprised to see my Gators that low too. I guess to be fair LSU does not look like the #13 team in the nation. We've seen now that Auburn isn't that good so the close win was probably actually bad for a LSU team that was supposed to be in the top 5, then they get destroyed by Florida, then they barely beat South Carolina. I hate to say it but the SEC once had 5 of the top 10 teams and they are looking weaker and weaker every week. Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Ole Miss and even South Carolina might be better than people realize but everybody is beating each other too much for many teams to stand out. Still, why one computer has Florida 20th I don't know.
At least Vandy, Kentucky and South Carolina all have 5 wins each already. That part of the schedule might actually be a help in strength of schedule for once.
Originally posted by wmatisticMissouri was stupid. In the first half at least. I was watching with UT fans and said before it started Missouri needs to run the football and do short quick passes. Not their typical drop back and throw it deep. Texas just gets too much pressure for that to work. So of course when Missouri actually changed to that type of style in the second half they had an easy time scoring. I still think Texas would have won had Missouri started with the right game plan, but it would have been close at least.
Really!? Seriously!? You don't think MAYBE Missouri started to move the ball because they were down 35-3 at half and the Longhorns let up some on D? Of course, I didn't watch much of the second half seeing as I was completely disgusted with the first. Mizzou was dominated and we saw what happens when Chase Daniel gets pressured. I expected a loss, but I hoped for at least a good game. Unfortunately only one team showed up. On the bright side maybe now McCoy comes out and the Chiefs can draft him high.
Originally posted by wmatisticMissouri was stupid. In the first half at least. I was watching with UT fans and said before it started Missouri needs to run the football and do short quick passes. Not their typical drop back and throw it deep. Texas just gets too much pressure for that to work. So of course when Missouri actually changed to that type of style in the second half they had an easy time scoring. I still think Texas would have won had Missouri started with the right game plan, but it would have been close at least.
Really!? Seriously!? You don't think MAYBE Missouri started to move the ball because they were down 35-3 at half and the Longhorns let up some on D?
No. It was clear they changed the play calling and it helped a ton.
No. It was clear they changed the play calling and it helped a ton.
Yeah, all they were trying to do was throw deep. The team I've watched shred opponents in the short passing game and run game all year. Okay.
(edited by MUTigermask on 20.10.08 0949)
In the first half, which you actually watched, they were taking too long. Drop back and look around, get sacked. In the second half, which you didn't watch, it was quick back and throw.
But hey more important things happened this weekend that we haven't mentioned, like this:
No. It was clear they changed the play calling and it helped a ton.
Yeah, all they were trying to do was throw deep. The team I've watched shred opponents in the short passing game and run game all year. Okay.
(edited by MUTigermask on 20.10.08 0949)
In the first half, which you actually watched, they were taking too long. Drop back and look around, get sacked. In the second half, which you didn't watch, it was quick back and throw.
But hey more important things happened this weekend that we haven't mentioned, like this:
Originally posted by Big BadI have a tough time seeing Alabama finishing unbeaten, though if they do, they should obviously be in the BCS title game (probably more deservingly so than Texas would be if the Longhorns ran the table).
Maybe I'm not reading this correctly, but are you suggesting that if UT runs the table and goes undefeated in the Big 12, a conference that is, by all accounts, BETTER than the SEC this year, that Alabama would deserve a BCS title game shot OVER the Longhorns?
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And about damned time too. http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/SD/7608060 As far as I can tell from this and ESPN's coverage, the total moneys the same as that Rivers rejected earlier but the structuring of incentives is different.