College Football 2007

[S John]

Celt,

I think Herb has a point. 2/3's of the the BCS points are made from human polls.

Theoretically, LSU or Okie could leapfrog one of the 'weaker' unbeatens if the chips fall right. The only way this happens is if Okie or LSU blows everyone out, and BC and USF barely scrape by against unranked teams.

Yeah it could happen, but the chances are very low and I don't see why Herb felt the need to say it on national TV.

Give me a break, Herby.

Oklahoma and Texas get more slack than any other program in the country. One of the rare times that I've actually agreed with Colin Cowherd was when he was talking about how the Big 12 can ride name recognition. In other words the conference sounds big on paper...ooooooh its COLORADO, KANSAS, TEXAS, OKLAHOMA, NEBRASKA! I honestly think that contributes to how people perceive those teams.

I'm not saying the conference is total shit, I'm just saying that I don't think we should be talking about Oklahoma leap-frogging anybody when there are still several unbeatens (1 even in their conference). Hell LSU should do the leap-frogging if anyone... triple ot loss to a ranked team > loss to an unranked team. Maybe he said it cause game day was at Oklahoma.

ETA: Ah, missed the reference to LSU in Celt's OP. Suffice it to say, things will get interesting.

[maize]

John, I'm not sure the media regards the Big 12 that highly. No ones been talking about Colorado for years, or Kansas forever. Most people are skeptical of Nebraska ever running a decent west coast offense. Plus, until this year the Big 12 North was... negative. Texas Tech and AtM don't even enter serious discussions about the top 25.

Hell I even get the vibe that people reluctantly initially rank Texas high because of their recruiting, but can't wait to tear them down when Mack Brown wastes all that talent with weird coaching decisions.

I agree with you about the LSU leapfrogging.

I secretley hope for this result as a strong playoff proponent. Nothing would give lie to the "regular season is a playoff" myth than this occurring. For the record I doubt USF-BC would be matching the two best teams in college football, and I see where Herb has a point, but it just seems like it would be horribly unfair.

All I can say is, the season is only half done, and things should sort themselves out.

[dornish prince]

i agree that the polls will likely never go away, but i kinda like them and don't see them as an ultimate evil. in all reality, the polls are just tools, its the people that generate these polls that need a change. i think it was rece davis who first put this out there on espn but i totally agree with it: the problem is that everyone stays too true to their initial poll. leapfrogging should be commonplace. let me give you a scenario...

if #'s 3 and 4 barely squeak by crappy teams and #5 beats #9 then i think a strong case could be made for #5 jumping to #3; as was the case with the lsu/usc flip flop earlier this year. i truly believe that teams should be reevaluated based on their most recent performance EVERY week, and for their season as a cumulative whole. That way, the guys that skate by on rep and skin of their teeth inept wins are rightfully punished. using a schedule to manufacture guaranteed wins and squeaking by would suddenly become negatives in the eyes of the pollsters. i mean, let's face it. if #1 beats #59 20-17 then, IMO, they don't deserve to be #1; especially if #2 beats #45 38-3.

i'm not 'splainin it as well as he did and i'm still trying to wake up but hopefully you see what i mean.

[Bronn Stone]

Ugh. So shocking. So many parallels with the Dallas-Buffalo game from the other night.

Cal turned the ball over three times deep in its own territory, leading to three easy OSU scores (2 FG, 1 TD). Made a terrible decision at the end of the first half - 30 seconds left, opponent with two times out and chooses to squib kick. One of the up-men fell on it on the 40 and it was an easy drive to the other 30 for a 52 yard FG that really changed momentum (and ended up being the winning margin).

And in the end, it just wouldn't have mattered if a) the QB hadn't lost his mind and scrambled and hadn't combined that brain lapse with the even worse lapse of running off the field for the FG unit - HOLDING THE BALL - then tossing it toward the ref AND OVERTHROWING him by 20 yards. The image that will stay in my mind forever is of Riley's soaring lateral to the ref bouncing down the field. Had Riley's wits recovered instead, I still believe that there was a 50% chance he could have spiked the ball in time.

Even before, I didn't feel Cal was the best team in the country, but I think that the myth of LSU shatters as well. I didn't get to see much of the game (though I could peek into the press box from my seats and was able to watch a bit of the 4th quarter). LSU is nowhere near as well equipped for road games as home. Remember, Cal already survived a similar road test in Eugene agains the Ducks - the team I actually think is the best in the Pac 10 this year.

I don't think the Bears fall as far as suggested elsewhere in this thread. I see them still #8 or #9 when the polls come out. I think this is a year when the #1 and #2 teams will both have at least one loss. And I'm more concerned about Hawaii going undefeated than South Florida. I still think Cal should be as much in the mix for the title as several other one loss teams.

[Xray the Enforcer]

whoa -- hello. way past the 400-post limit.

(feel free to start another thread.)