College Football Again

[BLU-RAY]

So, who has a tougher schedule down the road? Auburn or LSU? I need to know who to root for next week (though honestly, IDK if I can really bring myself to root for LSU).

[davos]

Go Wisconsin!!!!!!!!!

though I can't help but think that if Bucky hadn't lost to MSU in a poor outing they would have just put themselves into the National Championship picture. Still feels good to take down #1.

The BCS is suddenly wide open.

[BLU-RAY]

What's the top-25 poll gonna look like tomorrow?

1. Oregon

2. Boise State

3. TCU

4. Auburn

5. Oklahoma

6. Michigan State

7. Alabama

8. LSU

9. Utah

10. Wisconsin

11. Ohio State

12. Nebraska

13. Iowa

14. Stanford

15. Arkansas

16. Florida State

17. Arizona

18. Missouri

19. Nevada

20. OK State

21. South Carolina

22. WVU

23. I don't even care anymore.

??

(Note: NOT the BCS rankings, where Boise will be no. 1 tomorrow).

[dalThor]

First time Mich St has been 7-0 since 1966. I have some friends going to Northwestern's homecoming game against them next week. Man I wish I could go with them.

Coupled with a The OSU loss. Things are looking pretty good for the Spartans right now. It'll be interesting to see if they can, indeed, run the table.

[Bronn Stone]

-Crushing loss for Oregon State. They went for 2 in double overtime down 35-34 @ Washington and didn't get it. I liked the move though. A questionable call gave them that opportunity. Locker had a pretty nice game. Katz had a number of nice throws, but three interceptions, one of which was a totally unnecessary gift to Washington in the red zone.

Didn't like it either. Not in that end of the field. Were they on the quieter side, I would have liked it. Huge difference for the visiting team and if you probably have to win with a 2pt conversion, might as well make it happen when you have less of a disadvantage.

I thought the PI merited, btw. Arm on the body twisting the receiver should bring out the flag.

[MercenaryChef]

interesting excerpt from a book describing how totally fucked up the bcs ranking is.

i am new to truly caring about college football. athletically and entertainment wise it trumps the nfl for me. the wankery of the bcs really kills it for me though.

[Mike]

not looking good so far for you so far. man...our defense, and theirs, too, was atrocious but i'll take it.

war eagle!!!

jordan jefferson and greg mcelroy are not mallett and unnamed arkansas 2nd string QB. our offense is unstoppable :) and we are top ten against the rush.

USC showed moxie today, as did the fighting mack browns. wisconsin is doing it as we speak. Michigan state is looking dangerous right now as well. helps that they don't play the buckeyes.

the evenness between top tier teams is the best that i've ever seen. that is exactly why, at the very least, the BCS formula needs to be tweeked. maybe there is a happy marriage somewhere between tradition and a playoff. :dunno:

shaping up to be an interesting second half

ETA: cam newton will be the front runner for the heisman after this week.

DP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

War Damn (or is it Cam?) Eagle, buddy!!!

Yeah, our defense was atrocious, but it was mostly our secondary getting picked on, and then only Neiko, really. It really hurt us when T Bell went down with an injury right before half time. He's a better cover corner than Neiko, and plays outside in our nickel package, letting Demond slide into the slot. They would have let Demond and Bell go man, and could have had Zach or Mike McNeil help Neiko with Childs. We didn't play any nickel or dime in the 2nd half b/c we didn't have the personnel ready to play it. Thusly, we get torched to the degree that we got torched. I think their backup played a hell of a game, but I think we come up with a couple more stops if we have Bell in the game.

Still though, we won, and that is all that matters. I don't think we're a great team, but we're a fun team that believes in themselves, and we have the best college football player in America lining up under center.

I don't know if you're old enough to remember Bo Jackson (I barely am), but Cam has that same swagger about him. You hold your breath every time he has the ball because you think you might see something amazing. I don't know if we're going undefeated, but this year is going to be a hell of a ride. War Eagle, my friend, and let's beat LSU!

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

Seriously, fuck the BCS.

How is it that TCU beats its spread against BYU (admittedly not a great squad without Unga), in the same week in which both Ohio State and Nebraska lose, and loses a spot in the rankings?

Oklahoma is a good team - but they're not even the best squad in the Big 12 this year, and in no way deserve the number 1 spot. Boise State, Oregon, TCU, and even Auburn all got ripped off by the rankings.

My top five:

1. Boise State

2. Oregon

3. TCU

4. Auburn

5. Toss-up - probably LSU

Here's hoping that Mizzou and/or Nebraska can stop this travesty before a luckluster Oklahoma squad gets on the plane to Arizona.

[Kalbear]

Oklahoma is a good team - but they're not even the best squad in the Big 12 this year, and in no way deserve the number 1 spot. Boise State, Oregon, TCU, and even Auburn all got ripped off by the rankings.

I disagree fundamentally. No other team has played a harder schedule and looked as good as Oklahoma has. With the Texas win they look even better.

Really, there isn't any great #1 and #2 this year. Boise, TCU, Oregon, Oklahoma, Alabama, Auburn, Nebraska, Ohio State, and maybe even Stanford are all really strong. No one is so amazing that they 'deserve' a big ranking, and TCU's best thing has been beating Oregon State - who lost to Washington.

[BLU-RAY]

LSU is not a top five squad. If we were ranking this according to "would I pick Team X to beat Team Y", LSU wouldn't even be a top-15 team. This is a smoke-and-mirrors season from them so far.

I agree that I was stunned to see OU in ahead of TCU and Auburn, my rankings would look like what I posted above; I could see either Auburn or TCU at 3 with the other at 4.

Gah, what are the exceptions to the Rose Bowl taking a non-AQ team when the Big-10 or Pac-10 champ is in the NCG? If the NCG is Boise-UO, can the 2nd PAC-10 team still get into the Rose?

[Bronn Stone]

Gah, what are the exceptions to the Rose Bowl taking a non-AQ team when the Big-10 or Pac-10 champ is in the NCG? If the NCG is Boise-UO, can the 2nd PAC-10 team still get into the Rose?

I believe there is a new requirement that the Rose Bowl takes a BCS eligible non-big-6 team. But I suspect that requirement is waived if the NCG includes such a team. Stanford's only hope of backing into Pasadena is if the NCG is UO-BSU/TCU/Utah or UO-MSU.

[Rhom]

I was watching a replay of Friday night's Big Blue Madness basketball scrimmage on Saturday... did someone say we won a football game or something? :lol:

In all seriousness, I did contemplate turning off the game at halftime because of the sheer ineptitude of Kentucky's team in the first half. Fortunately, I didn't have anything better to do; so I stuck around and watched as the Cats came back to beat The Visored One.

Its amazing how much perspective/delusion a win can give you. Now I look back at the Ole Miss and Auburn games in a totally different light; they were both losses that easily could have been wins. With SEC games coming up with Vandy and Tennessee, the Cats could stand a real chance of picking up a couple more conference wins. Even the Georgia game looks like it could be winnable. Crazy stuff.

[Original Ned's Bones]

Seriously, fuck the BCS.

Don't get yourself in a bind, Wrath. This week's BCS is a snapshot in time. If Oklahoma runs the table, then I think their ranking is deserved. If they don't, you don't have to worry about them. I'm happy that Mizzou is 11 in the poll right now, but it won't mean shit unless they can finally beat Oklahoma, and get a very tough win in Lincoln. The Big 12 is still wide open for at least 3 teams in the North, and 3 or 4 in the South.

I'm excited College Game Day is coming to Columbia (MO) on Saturday. It's probably the biggest regular season game that Mizzou has had in decades. Mizzou's defense has been the story, and that's what makes them have a glimmer of hope this year. In the past, they've been pushed around by the power-houses. This is the first year they have a strong front 4 with at least 1 potential All-American and a lot of speed. Special teams have been outstanding as well. They're not just relying on being able to put a lot of points on the board. Interested to see how this is going to play out, and Nebraska has a huge game in Stillwater Saturday. I despise I'm-a-man-Gundy and the oil-funded Cowboys, but I guess I'll have to pull for them for standings sake.

[Ken Stone]

I'm excited College Game Day is coming to Columbia (MO) on Saturday. It's probably the biggest regular season game that Mizzou has had in decades. Mizzou's defense has been the story, and that's what makes them have a glimmer of hope this year. In the past, they've been pushed around by the power-houses. This is the first year they have a strong front 4 with at least 1 potential All-American and a lot of speed. Special teams have been outstanding as well. They're not just relying on being able to put a lot of points on the board. Interested to see how this is going to play out, and Nebraska has a huge game in Stillwater Saturday. I despise I'm-a-man-Gundy and the oil-funded Cowboys, but I guess I'll have to pull for them for standings sake.

I'm nervous having the Mizzu game in Lincoln this year. For some reason history has shown that Pelini's teams play really great on the road, and struggle at home.

[Andriy Czarchenko]

That´s what you get when using actual math is out.

[Original Ned's Bones]

heard today that one of the polls being factored into the BCS has Missouri #2 in the nation while another has them unranked. Sweet.

Which polls were those? I don't agree with either one. I think 11 is probably high with their opponents being Illinois (3-3), McNeese State (2-4 Southland Conf), San Diego State (4-2 took down #24 Airforce), Miami of Ohio (4-3),Colorado (3-3), and Texas A&M (3-3). Like I said before it doesn't really matter unless they win the majority of their remaining games. If they beat Oklahoma, I think they deserve to be in the top 10.

[Andriy Czarchenko]

There are a number of people's polls which get factored into the BCS formula. It was two of those. I have no idea how the people who get to do these polls achieved this position.

Did you check the excerpt Mercenary Chef linked to?

[lokisnow]

Christ Dufresne has a fairly reasonable review of that book

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-1014-dufresne-20101014,0,1808520,full.column

[Original Ned's Bones]

The book has gotten a lot of press and a lot of discussion on the radio. I have mixed feelings about it. I love college football so much more than the NFL. Would taking the BCS away take away from it being unique? Would "every game counts" go away? Would the discussion be as big and as fun?

Usually I've been a big proponent of playoffs, and I like their proposed system. It makes winning your conference important, which it should be, but still allows "at large" teams to be in the playoffs so you could have a few teams from a dominant conference. I think this would also help get rid of the cream-puff pre-conference schedules. You could have some awesome early matchups without jeapordizing a shot at the national championship.

The money factor is what will drive any decision, and I think they make a compelling argument that a playoff system would benefit the schools and conferences more than the current bowl system, which mostly benefits the bowl employee pockets.

[Bronn Stone]

The 'must play USC and UCLA' feature makes this just fine by me.

More detail in the Pac 10 Conference press release.