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New Year's Resolutions for College Football Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:50:06 -0500 How are you doing on those new year's resolutions you made? If you're smart, you don't announce any of them on Facebook or other social media. It makes failure a little bit more palatable. Now that we're in the first full week with no college football it seems as good a time as any to take an introspective glance into our sport and think about what we could do to improve it. Make no mistake. College football is booming, but there's always room to tweak this grand old game for the better. If CFB was able to make resolutions like a person does, here's a few I think it should seriously consider for the new year--some workable and others a flight of fancy, but a guy can dream, can't he? PLUS ONE There's no better time to discuss the first incarnation of a playoff than following the SEC's recent domination of the BCS CG. If there's one thing that's got even the curmudgeonly PAC 12 and Big 10 commissioners willing to consider the idea, it was having Alabama and LSU play for all the marbles. Officials are soon to sit down and discuss the topic and have assured us that nothing will be off the table. A plus one is simply a four-team playoff: One plays four, two plays three and they meet in one more game for the title. You better be prepared to take it or leave it because we're not getting more than four teams initially for years. It'll take at least two more years for us to get this far. Naturally, there would have to be some fine tuning to get the format in place: establish clear-cut conference champs as contenders (you too, Notre Dame--time to sign up somewhere), remove at least one game from the regular season, shorten the interval between the end of the season and the major bowls and decide whether or not to utilize any of the big bowls in the semi-finals--plus about a dozen other things I'm forgetting right now. CAPS ON CONFERENCE NUMBERS I really wish they would have inserted this one in after last season when we got the first whiffs of CFB blowing up. Now it's too late for the SEC's expansion plans but let's set a reasonable cap at 14-16 teams. Any more than that and you run the practical risk of having so many conference games that you can't play anybody else. Also, we still don't want a power-grab or bidding war to erupt that compromises existing regional conferences and morphs into inter-continental Pangaea-like athletic blobs in a vain attempt at securing power and market share. I'm copyrighting that term, BTW. BOWL GAME CURTAILMENT Guys, there's got to be a limit on this. It's growing out of control--fed by an apparent abundance of TV money that make Fannie and Freddie largess pale by comparison. Some of these bowls, acting as actual or quasi-charities, are starting to turn corrupt and sully the reputation of the sport--NOT TO MENTION all the empty seats you see in the stadiums. It's diluting our product and it cheapens teams that really are bowl-deserving. Maybe it's this everybody wins, yay mentality that we have in our society that instill the notion that virtually all teams that can fog a mirror and teeter on the edge of .500 get to go to a bowl game. Maybe it's that every po-dunk backwater in a mild clime wants their municipality-fiefdom to have the glitter of a game that nobody goes to since there's absolutely NO apparent barriers to entry. Most of the teams that go to these loser bowls don't really want to spend the money--they net a loss many times, but it's the spectre of turning it down that compels them. If they didn't have these bowls, it would solve a lot of problems and actually go a long way to restoring the honor and spectacle of being bowl eligible and bound. If they don't want to listen to me then do at least this: give unsold tickets away to charities so kids can go. Fill up the stadiums. Empty seats and Mondays always get me down. Issue licenses for the bowls for three years that they must bid on. Then check their stats: they must receive minimum local attendance and participant patronage. They must also achieve certain TV ratings. If they don't, then revoke the license and let someone else try.[...]
Bowl Season Open Thread Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:05:00 -0500 Have at it! © fanblogs.comView the original post or comment on Bowl Season Open Thread... (image)
Oklahoma State/ Alabama/ Et Al BCS Argument Thread Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:15:36 -0500 State your case: © fanblogs.comView the original post or comment on Oklahoma State/ Alabama/ Et Al BCS Argument Thread... (image)
Fanblogs Pick Em Results--Final Edition Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:10:49 -0500
Standings Rank Pick Set Name Total Dropped W-L 1 kdad65 188 18 188-135 View the original post or comment on Fanblogs Pick Em Results--Final Edition... (image)
Rivalry Saturday Open Thread Sat, 26 Nov 2011 11:55:45 -0500 Who's got who today? Make your straight up predictions for the following games by copying and pasting this list: Alabama at Auburn Ohio State at Michigan Georgia at Georgia Tech Oregon State at Oregon Ole Miss at Miss State Clemson at South Carolina Florida State at Florida UCLA at USC Virginia Tech at Virginia © fanblogs.comView the original post or comment on Rivalry Saturday Open Thread... (image)
Joe Paterno To Retire at Season's End Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:12:06 -0500 UPDATE: Paterno and President Graham Spanier fired Wednesday night! With the massive tidal wave that is the Jerry Sandusky child sex criminal investigation, the rumors that Joe Paterno was to soon be out are true. Paterno will retire at the end of the season, his 46th. Never would one have imagined that Paterno would go out like this--his reputation sullied as many believe he didn't do enough to bring the charges leveled against his former defensive coordinator to light quicker and in a broader fashion. I believe Paterno should have retired right after Bobby Bowden did, his record and legacy in tact. Instead, he remained on for who knows what reasons and now it ends like this for him, which doesn't seem deserving. Like many figures in sports, he hung on too long, and now this scandal will forever hang over him. Now it looks like the president or chancellor at Penn State is out too. Him, the AD, and Paterno. All the chips are falling. We've never seen anything like this before in CFB. I hope we don't ever again. © fanblogs.comView the original post or comment on Joe Paterno To Retire at Season's End... (image)
SEC Product at Risk of Dilution Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:35:01 -0500 The so-called Game of the Century (hey, it's a young century) was actually a little bit of a yawner, even by supreme SEC over-defensively-schemed standards. Not much of the end zone did we see, unless it was an errant Tide kick landing short or astray like a winged AFLAC duck falling in the marsh. This game was more or less a Mexican standoff involving field goals, crazy-looking punts and uncharacteristic turnovers. Neither coach attempted a grasp for the other's jugular. It was like a chess match played entirely with pawns. If it were a poker match, Alabama had one of a kind--Trent Richardson. LSU had two of a kind--ineffectual quarterbacks. The only saving grace for either was the full house--Bryant-Denny Stadium--showcasing the best of the SEC to a national audience. Admittingly, I kept peeking over at USCe-Arky to get some oxygen because at least that game featured touchdowns. I really wanted either LSU or Alabama to score a safety to really liven things up with that one point differential but I guess the football gods (or CBS management) destined it for overtime. A 9-6 victory on penalty kicks is the football equivalent of paper covers rock--you're not really quite sure how that wins but it's accepted that it does. In a monumental defensive showdown like we saw, it really makes you feel homesick for the TIE game. We knew one of the two would be left as a one-time loser. If you thought that Oklahoma was a media darling ( I do) and was the top pick for a one-loss team in the country to be elevated into the BCS CG, you hadn't seen anything until Alabama plummeted one whole spot in the BCS standings Sunday night from second to third. Now before you nod or shake your head on that last statement, know that #4 Stanford, currently the most aggrieved party, fully controls it's ranking against a one-loss team with a victory over Oregon this weekend and presumably one in the PAC12 CG. Same with #2 Oklahoma State. They play Oklahoma in three weeks and winning out should be enough to stave off a one-loss team in the standings. The problem with Stanford and Okie State running the table is which team would then take the #2 spot in the BCS assuming LSU remains undefeated? If Stanford plays 13 games and survives their conference title game, then I think you have to give them the edge over the Pokes who no longer have that luxury enjoyed now by the rest of the BCS conferences (save the Big East). As we in the SEC have known for quite a while, the title game trial by fire is the extra oomph you need to vault over the pretenders and the anachronistic non-divisional players. Where the problem in the BCS scenario will come is if we have a large contingent of one-loss teams left at the end of the year. Then, when you lose is as important as who you lost to. I'm old school. I think losses later in the season should be death knells, but as we've seen in the BCS era as people have put more validity into the hands of both the polls and the computers, that's no longer the case. In 2003, Oklahoma lost the Big 12 CG to Kansas State but then went on to play LSU for the BCS crown (which resulted in a split champion that year with USC winning the AP title). In 2007, LSU lost their last regular game of the season to Arkansas, their second loss, but still advanced to and won the BCS title. I think it's entirely possible that LSU could lose to Arkansas this year. Petrino and Tyler Wilson will challenge the vaunted Tiger secondary and I think it'll be a close contest. But forget that for a second. Let's assume for simplicity that LSU wins out and is the #1 team in the BCS. The looming problem I have was revealed in all the talk this weekend about somehow elevating Alabama back to #2 and having the conference provide both national title game participants in a rematch from this past Saturday. I think it's a horrible idea but[...]
Fanblogs Open Thread Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:35:01 -0500
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Poll Results--Week Seven Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:16:48 -0500 BCS Standings RK TEAM RECORD 1 LSU 7-0 2 Alabama 7-0 3 Oklahoma 6-0 4 Oklahoma State 6-0 5 Boise State 6-0 6 Wisconsin 6-0 7 Clemson 7-0 8 Stanford 6-0 9 Arkansas 5-1 10 Oregon 5-1 11 Kansas State 6-0 12 Virginia Tech 6-1 13 Nebraska 5-1 14 South Carolina 6-1 15 West Virginia 5-1 16 Michigan State 5-1 17 Texas A&M 4-2 18 Michigan 6-1 19 Houston 6-0 20 Auburn 5-2 21 Penn State 6-1 22 Georgia Tech 6-1 23 Illinois 6-1 24 Texas 4-2 25 Washington 5-1 Complete Standings » AP Top 25 RK TEAM RECORD PTS 1 LSU (41) 7-0 1452 2 Alabama (11) 7-0 1411 3 Oklahoma (6) 6-0 1372 4 Wisconsin 6-0 1252 5 Boise State (1) 6-0 1218 6 Oklahoma State 6-0 1186 7 Stanford 6-0 1164 8 Clemson 7-0 1064 9 Oregon 5-1 1020 10 Arkansas 5-1 946 11 West Virginia 5-1 778 12 Kansas State 6-0 762 13 Nebraska 5-1 748 14 South Carolina 6-1 690 15 Michigan State 5-1 610 16 Virginia Tech 6-1 597 17 Texas A&M 4-2 467 18 Michigan 6-1 442 19 Auburn 5-2 374 20 Georgia Tech 6-1 281 21 Houston 6-0 238 22 Washington 5-1 221 23 Illinois 6-1 207 24 Georgia 5-2 144 24 Arizona State 5-2 144 Dropped from rankings: Baylor 20, Texas 22 Others receiving votes: Penn State 130, Notre Dame 107, USC 87, Southern Methodist 19, Baylor 19, Texas 12, Southern Miss 4, Cincinnati 4, Wake Forest 3, Rutgers 2 Complete Rankings » USA Today Poll RK TEAM RECORD PTS 1 Oklahoma (31) 6-0 1426 2 LSU (15) 7-0 1410 3 Alabama (12) 7-0 1403 4 Wisconsin (1) 6-0 1262 5 Stanford 6-0 1222 6 Oklahoma State 6-0 1173 7 Boise State 6-0 1172 8 Clemson 7-0 1028 8 Oregon 5-1 1028 10 Arkansas 5-1 931 11 Nebraska 5-1 775 12 South Carolina 6-1 765 13 Michigan State 5-1 690 14 West Virginia 5-1 688 14 Virginia Tech 6-1 688 16 Kansas State 6-0 678 17 Michigan 6-1 458 18 Texas A&M 4-2 415 19 Georgia Tech 6-1 396 20 Houston 6-0 359 21 Illinois 6-1 260 22 Penn State 6-1 253 23 Auburn 5-2 202 24 Washington 5-1 174 25 Arizona State 5-2 86 Dropped from rankings: Texas 21, Baylor 24 Others receiving votes: Georgia 60, Notre Dame 36, Rutgers 31, Southern Methodist 27, Texas 26, Southern Miss 14, Cincinnati 14, Baylor 9, North Carolina 9, Virginia 3, Temple 3, TCU 1 © fanblogs.comView the original post or comment on Poll Results--Week Seven... [...]
Fanblogs Pick Em Results--Week Five Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:19:47 -0500 Standings Rank Pick Set Name Total Dropped W-L 1 The Chippendale Mabrys 59 25 59-33 View the original post or comment on Fanblogs Pick Em Results--Week Five... (image)
Week Five Polls Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:06:55 -0500 AP Top 25 RK TEAM RECORD PTS 1 LSU (40) 5-0 1473 2 Alabama (12) 5-0 1435 3 Oklahoma (7) 4-0 1397 4 Wisconsin 5-0 1266 5 Boise State (1) 4-0 1248 6 Oklahoma State 4-0 1191 7 Stanford 4-0 1185 8 Clemson 5-0 1093 9 Oregon 3-1 1028 10 Arkansas 4-1 860 11 Texas 4-0 833 12 Michigan 5-0 812 13 Georgia Tech 5-0 667 14 Nebraska 4-1 555 15 Auburn 4-1 550 16 West Virginia 4-1 544 17 Florida 4-1 498 18 South Carolina 4-1 487 19 Illinois 5-0 428 20 Kansas State 4-0 349 21 Virginia Tech 4-1 341 22 Arizona State 4-1 256 23 Florida State 2-2 237 24 Texas A&M 2-2 216 25 Baylor 3-1 186 Dropped from rankings: South Florida 16, TCU 20 Others receiving votes: Michigan State 154, Houston 68, Washington 37, Texas Tech 25, Notre Dame 24, South Florida 22, Georgia 11, Penn State 9, USC 7, Southern Methodist 5, Cincinnati 1, Pittsburgh 1, Tennessee 1, USA Today Poll RK TEAM RECORD PTS 1 Oklahoma (27) 4-0 1421 2 LSU (21) 5-0 1410 3 Alabama (10) 5-0 1408 4 Stanford 4-0 1237 5 Wisconsin (1) 5-0 1236 6 Boise State 4-0 1186 7 Oklahoma State 4-0 1162 8 Clemson 5-0 1028 9 Oregon 3-1 1017 10 Texas 4-0 879 11 Michigan 5-0 808 12 Arkansas 4-1 788 13 Georgia Tech 5-0 728 14 South Carolina 4-1 559 15 Nebraska 4-1 557 16 Illinois 5-0 541 17 Virginia Tech 4-1 470 18 Florida 4-1 456 19 West Virginia 4-1 436 20 Michigan State 4-1 366 21 Kansas State 4-0 264 22 Florida State 2-2 229 23 Auburn 4-1 217 24 Arizona State 4-1 177 25 Texas A&M 2-2 160 Dropped from rankings: South Florida 14, Baylor 16, TCU 20 Others receiving votes: Houston 97, Baylor 90, Texas Tech 68, South Florida 49, Penn State 37, Washington 30, Notre Dame 13, Pittsburgh 11, Southern Methodist 10, North Carolina 10, Tennessee 6, Iowa 5, Air Force 3, Southern Miss 3, Ohio State 1, Cincinnati 1, Duke 1, © fanblogs.comView the original post or comment on Week Five Polls... [...]
Fanblogs Open Thread Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:56:24 -0500
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Fanblogs Pick Em Results--Week Two Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:48:21 -0500 A few folks missed picking the Friday night game last week. There's one this week, too. Remember that you are able to make or change your picks up to 5 minutes before the start of EACH game. The Chippendale Mabrys was the winner last week with 22 of 31 correct picks. Remember, we throw out the lowest two weeks picks so it's not too late to get in. And since we have exactly 25 folks in our pool, here are the Top 25: Standings Rank Pick Set Name Total Dropped W-L 1 The Chippendale Mabrys 22 18 22-8
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Big Holiday Weekend for College Football Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:39:39 -0500 I'm sure that most of you in addition to being college football fans are also major NFL followers. I'm bandwagon at best and I admit to more than a passing fancy to have seen the lockout continue until next year. Yes, I know--no hate mail, please, and whatever you do, don't leave this thread with almost four minutes paragraphs left on the clock. With NFL preseason contestswinding down, that left the rare weekend of having college games played ad naseum Thursday through Sunday. And if that ain't a triumphant return, I don't know what is. With all the hype of the Chick Fil A Kickoff Game and the Cowboys Classic showcasing nationally ranked SEC teams, I'm not so sure that the two games actually leading off the season Thursday night, Wisconsin-UNLV and Miss State-Memphis, weren't the ones that didn't grab the largest audience share. Yes, they were top-20 ranked teams playing nobodies, but both put on quite the show. I tuned into the State game for some scouting for Auburn this week and they looked like a finely-oiled machine, drumming the Tigers thoroughly. State did what they could to earn points for SEC-west TV game of the week for this Saturday, but the Tigers did not, hence the 11:20 AM kickoff this weekend down on the Plains. And memo to Memphis: I know you play in C-USA, but if you open the season on a Thursday night with a national audience against a ranked team from the strongest conference in the nation agreeing to open on the road and you can't fill but two-thirds of your stadium, maybe it's time to focus on basketball. Either that or import other fans from the conference to give you all the asses in seats you can get. That was embarrassing. And what about that game Friday night with Baylor and TCU? Already a BCS-buster has been busted. Thank you Bears, since Georgia didn't take care of business with the perennial other one. Do they play no defense in Texas or the Big 12 10-9? That was a pretty exciting game, I must admit. Maybe I need to take in Arena Football next? All and all the SEC did well this weekend with their cupcakes (not you, LSU or Auburn) with only Georgia and Ole Miss losing to teams that play or played in conferences with the word west in them. Auburn's last minute miracle placed the spotlight firmly on the Dogs and Rebel-Bears--the former with a beat-down at the hands of Boise and the latter with a late 4th quarter face-plant against BYU. And memo to Georgia: time to bury the gimmick uniforms once and for all. I know the Blackout worked for you once against Auburn, but by my reckoning, you're 1-3 in fashion statement contests and the last time I looked, this wasn't Paris or Milan. That was awful--Georgia with their futurama outfits and Boise with their throw-backs. You can't go to the future and back in time simultaneously--it could cause a college football black hole--one outside Miami, that is. Stick to the silver britches and leave the CFB haberdashery to Oregon. You see how well it works for them. Oh, and Oregon. How close you are to disproving the whole notion of west-coast football superiority. You're the best from there of late but you're 0-2 against SEC teams your last two games, so the streak remains alive. I thought for sure you had revenge on your minds from January, but you were clobbered at the hands of another SEC defense. While I'm pretty sure you'll run through the PAC this year and still challenge for the BCS, you have to think that RB Lamichael James, the Heisman runner-up from last season, is out already this year. Forty-nine yards against Auburn in the BCS title game and fifty-four Saturday night against LSU? Meh, just as well. I think they've already crowned Andrew Luck of Stanford an[...]
Week One College Football Polls Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:27:32 -0500 AP Top 25 RK TEAM RECORD PTS 1 Oklahoma (32) 1-0 1448 2 LSU (17) 1-0 1415 3 Alabama (9) 1-0 1409 4 Boise State (2) 1-0 1310 5 Florida State 1-0 1196 6 Stanford 1-0 1154 7 Texas A&M 1-0 1033 8 Wisconsin 1-0 1031 9 Oklahoma State 1-0 981 10 Nebraska 1-0 947 11 Virginia Tech 1-0 906 12 South Carolina 1-0 843 13 Oregon 0-1 828 14 Arkansas 1-0 752 15 Ohio State 1-0 606 16 Mississippi State 1-0 594 17 Michigan State 1-0 530 18 Florida 1-0 382 19 West Virginia 1-0 357 20 Baylor 1-0 284 21 Missouri 1-0 242 22 South Florida 1-0 221 23 Penn State 1-0 147 24 Texas 1-0 135 25 TCU 0-1 130 Dropped from rankings: Notre Dame 16, Georgia 19, Auburn 23, USC 25 Others receiving votes: Arizona State 119, Auburn 85, USC 69, Georgia 52, Northwestern 40, Maryland 34, Brigham Young 33, Iowa 29, Houston 27, Utah 24, Notre Dame 22, Michigan 17, Pittsburgh 11, Air Force 11, UCF 10, North Carolina State 8, Tennessee 6, Hawaii 6, NORIL 5, Arizona 5, Southern Miss 4, Georgia Tech 1, Clemson 1 USA Today Poll RK TEAM RECORD PTS 1 Oklahoma (43) 1-0 1454 2 Alabama (9) 1-0 1412 3 LSU (7) 1-0 1366 4 Florida State 1-0 1198 5 Boise State 1-0 1197 6 Stanford 1-0 1180 7 Oklahoma State 1-0 1038 8 Texas A&M 1-0 997 9 Wisconsin 1-0 988 10 Nebraska 1-0 910 11 Virginia Tech 1-0 863 12 South Carolina 1-0 827 13 Arkansas 1-0 786 14 Oregon 0-1 752 15 Ohio State 1-0 686 16 Michigan State 1-0 584 17 Mississippi State 1-0 497 18 Florida 1-0 375 19 Missouri 1-0 309 20 Penn State 1-0 247 21 Texas 1-0 231 22 Auburn 1-0 197 23 Arizona State 1-0 189 24 West Virginia 1-0 185 25 TCU 0-1 140 Dropped from rankings: Notre Dame 18, Georgia 22 Others receiving votes: Baylor 117, South Florida 97, Iowa 44, Utah 42, Georgia 35, Houston 31, Northwestern 30, Arizona 28, UCF 18, Hawaii 17, North Carolina 15, Michigan 15, NORIL 13, Clemson 13, Southern Miss 12, Air Force 10, Notre Dame 8, Tennessee 5, Brigham Young 4, Maryland 4, Georgia Tech 3, Washington 3, Texas Tech 1, California 1, Cincinnati 1 © fanblogs.comView the original post or comment on Week One College Football Polls... [...] |
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