General Chat / College Football 2008

haha, got to watch some of the OU vs. Texas Tech game... got pretty nasty. Favorite moment was the two personal fouls that cancelled eachother out (horse collar and something else)


....aaannd in Division II news the North West Bearcats are doing well. Got to see them this Saturday get a narrow win over Pitt State in round two of the playoffs. They chipped away at a 31-13 lead (one of the most frustrating second halfs I've ever had to witness) and then scored in the final 5 mins to lead by 4. We had to put a drive together against a defense that had shut us down all half and managed to salvage a 4th and long at 2 mins with a great pass play and scored with 55 seconds left to lead by 3. After a costly penalty we held them to six or so plays and got the ball back to ensure a 38-35 win. One hell of a game and I'm glad it was the one I got to see live.

Now we face Abaline (sp?) Christian who put up 93 points against their round two opponent....

got to love the bcs!

It's a good day to be a Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket!

dammit Mizzou lost.

close game too.

NC State beats Miami to become bowl eligible! Sorry Kumba! Your quarterback play was just really poor, and Russell Wilson is a special player.

And the Bearcats have advanced! Managed to pull off a 45-36 win over Abilene Christian... only team that beat us this season and now we returned the favor.

Now on to the semi finals.

If Texas fans didn't hate Oklahoma enough already...

(On the serious side, I unbiasedly say it sucks for both teams. It was a lose-lose situation. If Texas was ahead of OU, Sooner Nation would have every bit as much of a right to moan as Longhorn fans do now. Of course, if the Big 12 Final could just be a rematch of the Red River Rivalry, that would have solved everything--and created a de facto playoffs with Alabama/Florida holding up the other equation.)

(Also, I think it would be hilarious if Oklahoma lost, and the voters, rather than give Texas the nod in the BCS game, got tired of Mack Brown's politicking, were afraid of picking a non-conference champ to go to the BCS Title Game, and gave the #2 spot to USC instead. I'd be the first one to admit that this would be incredibly unfair to Texas, but I'd certainly take it. )

The two best teams in college football are USC and Florida, and if I'm wrong I won't be ashamed to admit it, but only Florida will have the chance to prove it. And I think they will, too, on Saturday. USC blew it with the Oregon State loss but I'm telling you if we had an eight game playoff (which should be Florida/Boise St, Texas/Penn St OR Texas Tech, Oklahoma/Utah and USC/Bama), you would see Florida and USC in the title game. This isn't some BCS bullshit, this is from watching some goddamn football on Saturdays. Does anyone actually buy into this? Who actually supports the BCS?

I'm sorry... Big East what? Although at least you're not the ACC--the conference no one wants to win. You'd think that they'd be afraid of a stomping by a real BCS Conference Champion, but the ACC Champ is only going to play the Big East Champ in the Orange Bowl. The two weakest BCS Conference champs will neutralize each other.

Meanwhile, I'll be rooting for OU this Saturday against Texas Tech--only because of that tiny spark that still hopes USC can sneak its way into the BCS title game. Not that we've played well enough to deserve to be on the high level of the top 5, but I know we wouldn't lay an egg in the big Bowl game.

Ok Cork, well remember that when the Big East walks away with basketball this year..

The two best teams in college football are USC and Florida....this is from watching some goddamn football on Saturdays.

I agree..in fact, I said Saturday after watching yet another Big 12 game where they have no freakin idea how to play defense that a USC/Florida game would be the best bet for a title game. Of course, Florida needs to get by Bama and USC needs to beat UCLA...not a given I guess.

the Big East walks away with basketball this year..

The Big East will own basketball this year...

Milo...everytime you talk about the Bearcats, I think you are talking about Cincinnati...who by the way, are going to a BCS bowl game!!! how bout that?

So, anyhoo, did anyone see the Charlie Weis interview where some guy asked him if he thought he should be looking for another job...and Charlie Weis LAUGHED AT HIM! Arrogant ass....

So, it looks like the Buckeyes have a chance at an at large BCS bowl game...lord have mercy...let's hope we don't get slaughtered.

Ok Cork, well remember that when the Big East walks away with basketball this year..

That's because in basketball, they're actually a conference. And actually big.

The two best teams in college football are USC and Florida,

Eh... even I would hesitate to say that. USC has ridden its defense all season, and our D is shaping up to be one of the best in history. I actually ended up a little peeved at Oregon State for losing, because if they had won and gone to the Rose Bowl, USC could have gone to the Fiesta Bowl and played Oklahoma or Texas and offered some relativity (i.e. how does our awesome defense shape up against the best offenses in the nation?). Imagine a USC/Texas rematch in Arizona. That would have been amazing. Or even USC/Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

No, based on season performance, the four best teams in the nation are Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, and Alabama (not necessarily in that order, but right now, I'd peg them there). Oklahoma's lack of defense is more than made up for by its offense, and while that's certainly happened before, I think Brandford would NOT suffer a Jason White game and bomb on the big stage. He's got poise beyond his years, and I don't think he'll lead a Choklahoma this season (and if Choklahoma happens, it won't be because of him).

I could be wrong, of course, but that's my opinion.

And although Oklahoma's been playing better than Texas, I think Texas would be better positioned in a Title game because it actually has a defense... and a pretty good one at that! Colt McCoy is ridiculous (seriously... his completion % this season was almost 80%... 80%!!!!), and the whole team plays great as a unit. Plus, history has Texas as the non-choker on the big stage.

Alabama is the quiet powerhouse no one still is ready to accept. They've gone undefeated in the SEC, which, though not as strong this year as it was in years past, is still tough, and not easy to navigate. They've had strong ROAD blowouts, are physical, tough, and grind things out. I don't expect Florida to walk all over them like most media pundits believe, though I think Alabama will lose. But I wouldn't be surprised if they validated their undefeated season with a SEC title.

Now, even though those top four have been "better than USC" this season, I have no doubt that in a playoff system, USC could very well win the Title, strictly because of their defense. Aside from the Oregon State anomaly (that game gets more and more confusing with every dominating performance our D puts on), the most we've given up to any team this season is 23... to Stanford... and six of those points came in the last play of the game when Harbaugh was fucking around with us. Weaker-than-usual conference or not... it's pretty damn hard to give up less than 8 pts a game! Even in blowouts, the opponent is bound to get a gimme TD against the second unit, or something, but that hasn't happened.

The one thing USC has struggled with is offensive consistency. Even against Notre Dame, we had two possessions that resulted in turnovers that otherwise probably would have been scores (an interception early in the game that I'm sure--but can't prove--would have been a TD cuz Notre Dame wasn't doing jack against us, and another one in the second half in the end zone after a TD was called back via a holding penalty). If our offense was more consistent, USC would definitely be getting more face time, and I'd feel more confident in arguing their merit with the Big 12 and SEC elites. Unfortunately, our loss to Oregon State negated any argumentative advantage we might have had. And as such, I must admit that right now, we do not deserve to go to Miami when you compare us to the teams ranked ahead of us in the BCS.

--

On the other hand, if we beat UCLA 84-0 and Oklahoma shockingly loses, maybe the voters get tired of Mack Brown's annoying politicking and decide that a true conference champion has to be in the BCS game and put us in to face the SEC champ... thereby screwing Texas over again. I would be the first to admit that would be unfair, but I'd take it!

--

Becky, nice to hear from you again. Was starting to wonder where you'd gone. Congrats to Cincinatti for winning the Big East. I've thought their coach has been severely underrated for a while, but after the job he did this year, I don't think people can ignore him any longer. Bearcats have a great team, and I'm picking them to beat the ACC Champ.

So, anyhoo, did anyone see the Charlie Weis interview where some guy asked him if he thought he should be looking for another job...and Charlie Weis LAUGHED AT HIM! Arrogant ass....

Oh Charlie Weis... you big fat overrated joke... I will never get tired of seeing you chop blocked by your own player (with help from the Michigan corner).
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=BP19J9lYRjE

Congrats to Cincinatti for winning the Big East. I've thought their coach has been severely underrated for a while, but after the job he did this year, I don't think people can ignore him any longer. Bearcats have a great team, and I'm picking them to beat the ACC Champ.

Unfortunately, the best teams in the ACC won't be represented in the championship game. Georgia Tech is the hot team right now, and this is maybe a little biased but you have to look at NC State too. Don't be fooled because we finished last in our division, it just took too much time for the team to solidify.

NC State has been playing great football, but frankly, if it takes your team this long to get good, you don't deserve to be in the title game anyway. Georgia Tech you could make the case for, but I guess the state of Georgia likes getting hot too late (read: UGa last year).

Oh no doubt, and we're hoping Tom O'Brien can build on this late-season run next year. They could have beat any team in the ACC the last two weeks, which I never thought I would see after struggling in the first quarter against William & Mary. We lost some close games and we could easily go 8-4 or better now that Russell Wilson is our number one quarterback. Right now we're just hoping we go bowling somewhere decent, ie the DC bowl v. Navy or the Motor City Bowl v. Ball State.

I'm picking NC State over Rutgers. Better not let me down! (interesting that it's two of the hottest teams at the end of the season playing each other..)

Yeah it's funny how things worked out, and I'll be down in Birmingham cheering them on...it should be a really good game. But of course you should pick NC State, since Pete Carroll is a former assistant. The Rose Bowl is actually an interesting game this year, so good luck to your Trojans. Penn State will put up a much better fight than Illinois.

OK...I'm going waaaaayyy out on a limb and posting my bowl predictions..Let's see how many I get wrong. Just for the record, I based 'most' of the predictions on defense because as the saying goes...and its true - offense wins games, but DEFENSE wins championships and so here goes:

Wake Forest over Navy
Fresno St over Colorado St
South Florida over Memphis
Arizona over BYU
Troy over Southern Miss
TCU over Boise St
Notre Dame over Hawaii
Florida Atlantic over Central Mich
West VA over NC
Fla St over Wisconsin
Cal over Miami Fla
N. Ill over Louisiana Tech
Rutgers over NC State
Northwestern over Mizzou
Maryland over Nevada
Oregon over OK St
W. Mich over Rice
Air Force over Houston
Pitt over Oregon St
BC over Vandy
Minnesota over Kansas
Georgia Tech over LSU
SC over Iowa
Georgia over Mich St
Clemson over Nebraska
USC over Penn St
Cinci over Va Tech - could be close one though
Miss over TT
Kentucky over E. Carolina
Alabama over Utah - talk about a team that got screwed this year
UConn over Buffalo
Ohio State over Texas - we cannot possibly lose yet another bowl game and besides we always do fairly well vs. Texas
Ball State over Tulsa
FLORIDA big time over OK...OK has no idea that football teams have defenses...they are finally going to meet up with one and we will just see how sweet Mr. Bradford is then...

So, who else is brave enough to post them all BEFORE they are played?

I'm sure Cork will anyhoo...but his picks will be completely different than mine

I'll give it my best shot...

Fresno State over Colorado State
South Florida over Memphis
BYU over Arizona
Navy over Wake Forest
Troy over Southern Miss
Boise State over TCU
Notre Dame over Hawaii
CMU over Florida Atlantic
UNC over West Virginia
Wisconsin over FSU
California over Miami
LA Tech over Northern Illinois
NC State over Rutgers
Missouri over Northwestern
Maryland over Nevada
Rice over Western Michigan
Oklahoma State over Oregon
Houston over Air Force
Oregon State over Pittsburgh
Boston College over Vanderbilt
Kansas over Minnesota
Georgia Tech over LSU
South Carolina over Iowa
Georgia over Michigan State
Nebraska over Clemson
Ole Miss over Texas Tech
Kentucky over ECU
Connecticut over Buffalo
Ball State over Tulsa

Virginia Tech over Cincinnati
USC over Penn State
Alabama over Utah
Texas over Ohio State
Florida over Oklahoma

Who's playing the Yahoo Bowl Pick'em? If there's enough interst, I can create a group to track everyone.

I have no idea if this link will work, but these are my picks:
http://football.fant....com/bowl/84182

Notre Dame over Hawaii

So you're banking on the bowl losing streak NOT reaching 10?