College Football Discussion 09

<p>The Pittsburgh-Rutgers game tonight was pretty good. The ending especially was worthy of a nationally-televised game… really tight, with both teams blowing chances until Pitt managed to create the last turnover. Dion Lewis was a machine, picking up like 170 yards on the ground, and the announcers spent most of the time touting him as a Heisman candidate. I was happy because I had him on my fantasy team :)</p>

<p>PURDUE!!! Boiler up!</p>

<p>Sam Bradford should have gone pro after last season. What a letdown.</p>

<p>^^^well now he has another year to prove that he is worthy of a top pick</p>

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<p>Or drop out of the top ten, and lose millions.</p>

<p>Poor Notre Dame…one slip on the wet grass for that last-second play, and the receiver missed a chance to tie USC.</p>

<p>Jake. Locker. For. Heisman.</p>

<p>^LOL, maybe he’ll deserve it if they make a bowl</p>

<p>big if, big maybe</p>

<p>So sad to hear about Jasper Howard…</p>

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<p>Notre Dame got plenty of breaks in the 4th quarter off of USC penalties, if the USC defense had one less penalty the game would be over with USC taking a knee.</p>

<p>Did anyone see Taylor Mays save that TD on that fake field goal? He must have run twice the distance that the receiver did & still caught him. No one faster on defense in the country than Mays…</p>

<p>Speaking of fake field goal, anyone know what the rules are on nonconference games? That kind of fake field goal had been banned in the pac-10 ever since Pete Carroll started using it - but I guess since it was @ Notre Dame it doesn’t fall under pac-10 rules?</p>

<p>Meanwhile Texas caught a huge break with Sam Bradford out - otherwise they might not have won (1 fewer turnover by oklahoma, then texas loses) </p>

<p>I still think Texas drops a game, especially if Dez Bryant becomes eligible.</p>

<p>Florida doesn’t stand a chance against Alabama. I predict 'Bama, SEC champs goes to the national championship game.</p>

<p>As an Alabama student, I like our chances against Florida but Greg McElroy really needs to pull it together. In the last two games, he has played poorly by completing 25 of 54 passes, throwing for 239 yards and 2 interceptions. He attempts to throw to Julio Jones even when he is in triple coverage. His confidence is visibly gone and it worries me a lot because he has lost his beginning of the season form. </p>

<p>Still, Mark Ingram has played absolutely amazing football in the past few games. He is improving each week and ran for 246 yards and a touchdown last week against a very strong South Carolina defense. Luckily, he has been there to pick up the slack when McElroy has struggled.</p>

<p>Now, the main reason I like our chances against Florida in the SEC Championship game is how we played Arkansas. We beat them 35-7 while Florida beat them 23-20. Our win was dominant while Florida’s was a last second field goal. Florida is definitely missing their receivers from last year, and they’ve struggled on offense because of it.</p>

<p>Also, in our worst game of the year against South Carolina, we had 4 turnovers and tons of penalties, and we still won by two touchdowns against a ranked opponent. I’d say that’s pretty good.</p>

<p>I also think Alabama will lose a game before then, but still win the SEC west… A one-loss SEC champ Alabama won’t be left out of the title game.</p>

<p>Of all the teams in contention now, Alabama’s probably the one who would get hurt the least by a future loss (unless it is to florida)</p>

<p>USC vs. Oregon is going to be huge - USC, for one, desperately needs the boost in the computer rankings now that Ohio State has fallen also.</p>

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<p>That happens all the time. See last year, where Texas beats Oklahoma narrowly, Texas Tech narrowly beats Texas, and Oklahoma crushes Texas Tech.</p>

<p>I still think gators will repeat as champs.
I bet it’ll come down to florida and alabama.</p>

<p>SOMEONE BEAT IOWA FOR GOD’S SAKE</p>

<p>I think at least one of the top 3 teams (UF, Bama, and Texas) is going to have to drop a game. I really don’t see Texas going undefeated the way that Oklahoma game went. I think UF will slip somewhere (Georgia maybe?), but still will go the SEC Championship. I could definitely see Bama going undefeated, though they still play to play LSU. Either way, I still think UF and Bama will be in the SEC Championship with Bama winning, and thus going to the BCS NC. Then it’s the issue of the 1-loss’s vs unbeatens. If USC wins out, I think we could end up 2nd (assuming a Texas loss), but if Iowa blows out OSU, anything is possible.</p>

<p>If Texas loses, it’ll be crazy. Boise St, Cincinnati, and Iowa all have a decent chance to win out. I think (and hope) that one of them will play the SEC champion for the NC.</p>

<p>The chances of Boise St going to the NC, even undefeated, are extremely slim. Of the current undefeated teams (Florida, Alabama, Texas, Boise State, Cincinnati, Iowa, and TCU), Boise State would be ranked the lowest at the end of the season if all remained undefeated (though UF and Bama both couldn’t be undefeated before the NC).</p>

<p>It’s hard to see Boise State staying ahead of one-loss USC or Texas.</p>

<p>I don’t see even more than one of Texas, Alabama, Florida, Iowa, and Cincinnati going undefeated.</p>

<p>There’s simply too much parity in modern college football, more than even a few years ago. Gone are the days of #1 USC #2 Texas going undefeated wire-to-wire to set up the big clash. </p>

<p>College football has never been more popular. More quality players out of high school. Bigger athletic dept budgets. Louder venues for road teams. </p>

<p>Rule changes. Clock rules especially, meaning fewer plays per game, so more uncertainty. Increased penalties make the ref’s more of the game - incidental facemask - previously 5 yards, now 15. We’ve all seen “excessive” celebration called - the NCAA wants it called more each year.</p>

<p>And so on. It makes going undefeated hard, except for the best, luckiest, or weakly scheduled teams. The BCS champion went undefeated in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005. Since then, no BCS school has gone undefeated, and only one (2006 Ohio State) was undefeated before the BCS selection.</p>

<p>Boise State doesn’t play any more ranked opponents.
USC if it plays well at Oregon will move up a lot.</p>

<p>TCU is BSU’s biggest competition…If TCU wins out, it may beat out BSU on a BCS bowl due to strength of schedule. </p>

<p>Every year the BCS has a couple teams that get snubbed.</p>

<p>It’ll be Bama vs Texas. Iowa is so overrated, and this comes from a B10 fan. MSU has a 50/50 shot at winning on Saturday.</p>