dirtyrascal7

It's August, which means my favorite time of year is nearly upon us... college football season.


The USA Today Coaches' Poll Rankings were released today and are as follows --




I'm a Big Ten fan, so I'm happy to see 3 Big Ten teams in the top 10 and 4 in the top 25. Then there's the SEC which has 6 teams in the top 25... not really surprised to see that, it is an undoubtedly tough conference and I have no problem giving them their props.

Unfortunately, I don't really see anyone beating USC this year... and LSU has a pretty favorable schedule as well, so someone will have to pull a big upset to shake things up and give anyone else a chance at the title game. Oh well, at least Notre Dame isn't in the top 25.


The madness starts Thursday, August 30th at 7:00pm EST. Can't wait!!

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highthief

I like OSU schedule - not too demanding early on for a team that is in a bit of a rebuilding year.

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Bear Cub

BIT of a rebuilding year? We're rebuilding the ENTIRE offense. Even with all of the big losses of the previous year, they'd be pretty solid if they can come up with a solid QB, as the backfield and receivers are pretty decent. The defense should be a total menace, as long as they don't play like they did in the chumpionship.

dirtyrascal7

Hopefully they take advantage of that this year b/c in '08/'09 they play at USC for their third game and in '09/'10 they play USC at home in their second game.

I really do love those powerhouse matchups early in the season... the OSU/Texas games were great to watch and really upped the intensity. While there might not be a marquee game like that this year, it does seem like most top 25 teams are scheduling at least one decent non-conference game this season.

That said, I think Wisconsin is the team to beat in the Big Ten this year... they should be solid all-around, and if they can survive trips to Columbus and State College they might be in the mix for the title game.

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"Tie yourself to your limitless potential, rather than your limiting past."

"Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him."

Porky Pig

i can't wait either....

go hokies!!!

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That's all folks!

Infinite_Loser

I'm calling it now. Miami wins the NC.

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Walking Shadow

Miami is rebuilding and will take a few years to get back to the top.

I'm happy to see that some sense of sanity has come to the voters in the USAToday poll, and they have finally realized how overrated Notre Dame is and has been for the last 20 years.

Every season I hear talk about how tough Notre Dame's schedule is, but then you look at it and you say to yourself, "What the fuck??!!" For instance this year the Irish play 12 games and in those games, the Irish face these annual contenders for the national championship: Michigan State, Purdue, UCLA, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Navy, Air Force, Duke and Stanford.

The other four games are against, Michigan, Penn State* and USC.

I'm sure there is a lamer division I schedule somewhere, but come on.

Navy and MSU haven't been serious contenders for the national championship since the mid 1960's for MSU and the late 1940's for Navy.

Air Force has never been a contender.

but just watch.

Notre Dame will beat Georgia Tech and they be in the Top 5, which is disgraceful.

*While I don't think Penn State has much of a chance to be in the BCS championship game, they are good enough to be in one of the Big 4 bowl games, (Orange, Sugar, Rose, Fiesta) therefore I put them among the elite teams in the country.

The_Jazz

First of all, I hate Notre Dame, at least as much as anyone else on this board and quite possible more than anyone else.

Second, I am a diehard Tennessee fan, which partially explains the first part.

Those disclosures made, Walking Shadow is way underestimating most of Notre Dame's schedule. Let's see - Georgia Tech finished ranked 31/29 (AP/USA Today) and probably should have been higher. Boston College was 20 in both polls.

USC was the freaking runner up and contended for a national championship LAST YEAR.

UCLA is ranked 17 in the preseason. As it stands, Notre Dame has to play the preseason #27, #18, #5, #17, #26 and #1.

Air Force has been ranked in the recent past and almost beat Tennessee at Neyland last year.

Michigan State has been ranked recently.

If only playing perennial condenders is the way to make a tough schedule, then there are a lot of programs that are in real trouble.

That said, Notre Dame sucks and the SEC is the most dominant conferrence in college football. After the Big 10's bowl performances last year, it's not even debatable.

God, I need a shower for having to defend fucking Notre Dame now.

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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

'cb'

Bleh, I just hate that USC is no. 1, no matter what. Just seems like the BCS was made for them. I'm not too much of a college football fan, just a USC hater.

Infinite_Loser

You just watch. I'm going to laugh at you when Miami wins the NC.

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warrrreagl

I'm in total mourning. With the arrival of Great God Almighty His Fucking Royal Fucking Godly Highness Nick Saban in the state, I'm pretty sure Auburn has just gone ahead and cancelled its entire season and perhaps its entire football program completely. And the rest of the SEC should do the same as well.

I mean why bother? According to Pravda, Alabama and Saban are about to begin their obligatory 130-game win streak (with the accompanying 10-straight national championships to go along with the 700-or so they already claim). So what's the point of the rest of us even taking the field?

And it doesn't stop with us, either. The rest of you (Miami, Ohio State, Notre Dame, etc.) should know that Alabama now refers to you as pesky cannon fodder.

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The_Jazz

In related news, Saban has his first recruiting violation before he even coaches a game.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2881961

I wonder if Fulmer turned him in...

__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

dirtyrascal7

It wouldn't be college football if there weren't a healthy supply of delusional fanatics.

__________________
"Tie yourself to your limitless potential, rather than your limiting past."

"Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him."

Walking Shadow

UCLA hasn't been a major power in college football in over 20 years and they haven't been legitimate contenders for the national championship in early 40 years.

Air Force has never been considered a major football power, ranking behind Navy and Army for decades and it is only recently when Army & Navy's football programs have sucked that Air Force has been seen as a powerful team, which is a false impression.

If you noticed I put USC together with the two legitimate powers in college football on Notre Dame's schedule, Michigan and Penn State with an asterisk by Penn State.

Michigan State: I already explained that situation.

The fact that a team is ranked or that Notre Dame plays so many ranked teams is irrelevant, especially before the season has even begun.

If you're going to be truly honest about this, you don't have rankings at all for the first few weeks of the season, or you start the season with defending national champion, Florida ranked #1 and they should stay at #1 until they lose.

Re: Georgia Tech. Their record last year was 9-5. They were 1-4 against teams in the AP poll and 1-3 against teams in the USAToday poll. They had the same record as Nebraska which isn't saying much. If anything they deservede to be ranked far lower then they were.

The_Jazz

I'm sorry, but which is it? Either polls matter or they don't. You've said that they matter - in re: GT - and that they don't - in re: UCLA. You can't have it both ways.

Air Force has been a ranked team and won their conference. If we're depending on record, they've had a great one some years. Clearly you don't know much about Air Force football. Perhaps you should take some time to educate yourself since they're seen as a much different program than either West Point or Annapolis.

You didn't explain anything about Michigan State that refutes what I said in any way other than to say that weekly rankings don't matter for UCLA then come back and say that they do in the case of Georgia Tech. Either they do or they don't. Not both. We're talking about strength of schedule here, so the only way to possibly quantify that before the end of the season is by rankings. If you want to argue that Notre Dame has a weak schedule, then come up with some sort of quantifiable way to make that arguement, but as it stands what you're saying doesn't make sense.

While we're at it, your arguement about the fact that rankings shouldn't matter ignores the little fact that players graduate or otherwise lose their eligibility. Florida has a quarterback who's never started a game, but USC doesn't. Hmmm, who's probably the better team?

__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

dirtyrascal7

Walking Shadow -- I used to be as bitter as you regarding Notre Dame, and I still love ripping on them whenever I can, but honestly it doesn't do any good. Their fans will whine if ND isn't ranked and the anti-ND people will whine if they are ranked... but it always works out in the end, with ND getting stomped in their bowl game (what's the streak now, 7 losses in a row?) and Fat Charlie crying about it.

Honestly, I don't care who Notre Dame plays... so long as they lose.

That said, we all know how tough it is to go undefeated in college football, regardless of strength of schedule. Less than 2% of all teams do it in nearly any given year, which proves my point.

Most teams have a schedule with 3 or 4 tough games, some mid-range or "trap" games, and then a few "gimmies". Some teams get better draws than others, but I'd say in general things are pretty equal. I think it's just easier for people to exaggerate (one way or the other) about ND's strength of schedule because they aren't part of a conference.

__________________
"Tie yourself to your limitless potential, rather than your limiting past."

"Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him."

Walking Shadow

Air Force has won their conference.

Whoop dee fucking doo. They play in the Mountain West Conference which contains such perenial contenders for the national championship as...hmm,....NOBODY.

I mean seriously, Wyoming? San Diego State? Colorado State? UNLV?

I guess I haven't been as clear as I should be. Every year Notre Dame is bleated about as having one of the toughest schedules in all of college football, but when you look at it, it's obvious to any even semi-objective person that this isn't even remotely true, as a glance at this years schedule will attest.

As for Georgia Tech, can you honestly say that an 8-5 record merits a place in the Top 25, when you don't even win your conference championship game, let alone a major bowl game?

The_Jazz

Again, you're making no sense. Does strength of schedule matter or not? Yes, all those teams are tier 2 in my book, but CSU has beaten Colorado 4 years in a row.

Yes I can. There are only 12 D-1 conferences, and for argument's sake, let's agree that there are 3 major bowls that these 12 champions AREN'T in. That's 15 teams, which leaves 10 slots left in the top 25. So yes, an 8-5 record could merit a top 25 preseason rank, especially if there is a good recruiting class from the prior years rising. So using your theory, we should only have a top 15. Or a maximum of a top 18.

Walking Shadow, please meet logic. Logic, Walking Shadow. Obviously, you two aren't aquainted and perhaps you'd like to spend some time together.

__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

Porky Pig

i don't know about this one. did you look at their schedule?? oklahoma, fsu, and vt on the road with shaky qbs and average linebacking corps who seem to be falling like flies??? on top of facing those three heavyweights on the road, throw in home games against georgia tech, a team with the defense that blitzes almost every play, and texas a&m. plus, there is also a trip to chestnut hill to face the eagles of boston college. this doesn't look like nataional championship formula.....well, at least not to me. let's face it, miami today is not the miami of old.

btw, i HATE notre dame too...woo hoo...

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That's all folks!

Borgs

I realize that no one follows Div. I-AA, but all I'm gonna say is..Appalachian for the 3-peat baby!

Also, we do play Michigan for the first game of the year so look for an upset. We have done fairly well the past two years against Div. I-A teams. We only lost 24-0 against LSU two years ago, which isn't bad considering they were ranked 3rd in the nation and we are a division lower.

goddfather40

I really have no interest in the Notre Dame debate, but as a PAC-10 guy I have to call you out on this. UCLA was a national title contender in 1988 with Troy Aikman. They were a top 5 team in 1997 and they were one game away from playing for the national title only 9 years ago against Tennessee but were beat by Miami in the last regular season game.

It's not going to matter, the Irish are not a good team, plain and simple.

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Walking Shadow

And you need to get aquainted with the various ties between the Big 4 bowl games and the various conferences, as you are ignorant beyond all doubt.

The Rose Bowl gets the top team from the Big 10 and the Pac 10, unless one or both of those teams is playing in the BCS game.

The Sugar Bowl gets the SEC champion, unless that team is in the BCS game.

The Orange Bowl gets the Big 12 champ unless that team is in the BCS game.

goddfather40 As far as UCLA goes, the only reason they were in contention for the national championship that far into the season was because the game against Miami had been postponed due to a hurricane. And UCLA got their asses kicked in that game which proved how unworthy they were of national championship consideration.

The_Jazz

I'm not ignorant of that at all. Let me explain it to you like you were a 6-year old.

There are 12 Division 1-A conferrences.

There are 4 BCS games.

There are 3 other major bowls (Peach, Gator, Cotton). A major bowl is one that hosts 2 ranked teams and is played on or after January 1.

Put on your pretending hat and make believe that of the 7 bowls, 3 of them do not have a champion from one of the 12 conferrences in it. So that means that the Peach or Gator or Cotton bowls doesn't have a conferrence champion in it. Since they all have deals with the various conferrences to take the runner-up, that should be easy to understand. Can you do that? Good, I knew you could.

Now you just let me if you need to know which conferrences line up with which bowl, and I'll be more than happy to fill you in. Ignorance is a state easily fixed with the application of information, and clearly you're lacking in that.

Here is where it will get tricky for you, so you need to pay close attention and don't doodle on your page or look out the window. If a team wins one of these other 3 bowls, they could be a good team the next year. Even if they don't win, they could be a good team next year. If you play in a major bowl, like, oh, say, the Gator Bowl, and win that could still qualify you for being in the top 25 the next year.

Now, just to restate things so that you don't have to use your scroll wheel and try to remember what you've said in the past, you said that an 8-5 record with no conferrence championship and no major bowl win means that a team should not be in the preseason top-25. So we have 12 conferrence champions that immediately meet your requirement. There are 7 major bowls, of which 4 already have at least one conferrence champion in them and was pointed out by you, star pupil that you are. That means that 3 don't necessarily have a conferrence champion in them, which means that there are 8 champions unaccounted for (do you need me to show you the math? 12 minus 4 equals 8).

Keep your pretending hat on and journey with me to the land of make-believe and think about how the 3 other bowls don't have champions in them. Pretend that no champions make it into those bowls. Can you do that? Good, I knew you could. That means that the winners of those games all won major bowls but weren't conferrence champions. So what is 12 plus 3? Very good! It's 15! You get a gold star next to your name, Walking Shadow. That means that there are 15 teams that qualify to be in the top 25, using your method.

So what does that mean? Well I'm glad you asked. That means that there are how many spots left in the top 25? No fair taking your shoes off to count that way. You're a big boy, so you should know how to count to 25 by now. That's right! It's 10!

So, is it possible that a team could not win a major bowl and not win their conferrence and still be a preseason top-25 team? Yes, there are 10 slots left! That's right! And if one of those teams was 8-5, beat some big teams last year and had a good recruiting class they might actually get that rank.

So is that simple enough for you, tough guy, or do you need me to explain it like you were 3? I can do that, but it would probably have to be in boardbook format and you'd probably need a nap and a bottle midway through.

__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

Porky Pig

actually, unless the champs go to the bcs title game, the affiliations are as follows:

orange - acc champ
fiesta - big 12 champ
sugar - sec champ
rose - big 10 and pac 10 champs
big east - doesn't seem to have any affiliation with four bcs bowl, but has automatic bid

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That's all folks!

goddfather40

I don't know how leading for most of the game, only to lose on an Edgerrin James run with under a minute left, means getting their asses kicked, but I'll take your word for it

As for this season, I really want to see a USC vs. LSU title game. That would be exciting. We haven't got to see it yet. It would be a sweet victory for USC since LSU fans are still pre-occupied with the fact that they can't comprehend why most of the country, the media, and the record books believe they shared the national title with USC in 2003.

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dirtyrascal7

Don't forget about the Capital One bowl... Big Ten #2 vs. SEC #2. It also has the highest payout of any bowl that isn't a BCS bowl.

__________________
"Tie yourself to your limitless potential, rather than your limiting past."

"Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him."

Porky Pig

the verdict is in and it's pretty good for you guys......oh boy, this reminds me of that time when temple came into lane stadium and upset us in 1998. i was so shock that i nearly fell from the stand.

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That's all folks!

Borgs

Alright, I wasn't going to point it out, but since you started it,



It's crazy here in Boone. We tore town our goalpost here and brought it up to the chancellors house. Crazy drunken fans.

The amount of coverage is crazy. I can't even imagine what our recruiting pool will be next year. I mean, back to back reigning champs is one thing, but neither of those had the coverage of this. EVERY college sports fan knows who we are now.

GO APP!

highthief

Let me be the first to say:

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Thanks, Appalachian.

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sgn43

I don't think I'll ever see an upset that big for the rest of my life. That was absolutely insane. Granted, if a 1AA team was going to be a tough opponent, App State was it. But it's NUMBER FIVE Michigan. Yikes. Goes to show how useless preseason rankings really are.

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pan6467

hahahahahahahaha

FUCK MICHIGAN

MICHIGAN SUCKS

that is all

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Infinite_Loser

Michigan was/is expected to win the Big Ten title this year. If Michigan beats OSU, then what would that say about your program? Something to think about >.>

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Sion

quoted for veracity

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dirtyrascal7

If there's one thing I've learned about college football since last November, it's that no team is unbeatable. USC's upset by UCLA, OSU's disaster of a championship game, and the biggest upset ever last Saturday... those huge upsets and epic struggles on the field are what make college football great... even if you're on the losing side once in a while. They all remind me of my favorite Chris Berman quote... "That's why they play the game."

__________________
"Tie yourself to your limitless potential, rather than your limiting past."

"Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him."

dirtyrascal7

Wow, there are some incredibly stacked teams this year. USC, LSU, Florida, and Oklahoma all look insanely well-rounded and talented. It will be interesting to see how things play out... I would like to see a USC/Florida championship game, but I have a feeling it will be USC/Oklahoma. OU's schedule is just way too easy... the only top 20 team they play is Texas, and Texas is way overranked at #6.

The Big Ten is definitely down this year, and it looks like the conference race is wide open... no one has thoroughly shown they are the team to beat yet. Ohio State had a good win this weekend at U-Dub, it seems their offense is finally starting to click.

And I have to say... I can't help but smile when I think about Notre Dame this year. I never dreamed they could be this terrible.

__________________
"Tie yourself to your limitless potential, rather than your limiting past."

"Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him."

aceventura3

Glad I am not the only one. I was beginning to feel guilty, tuning into Notre Dame games hoping that they lose and actually being happy when they do, laughing when the favorable ref calls that in the past changed the momentum of games now all of a sudden doesn't make a difference. I think they may struggle to win three games this year, even with Duke on their schedule.

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sapiens

I root for:
1. MI
2. IA
3. The Big Ten
4. Any team against Notre Dame

Last weekend was nice for me - two of my desires were fulfilled - MI won and Notre Dame lost.

That said, Iowa versus IA state? How did they lose to a team that couldn't score a touchdown?

dirtyrascal7

Good question... I didn't watch the game, but I was absolutely shocked to see that outcome. Iowa and Northwestern didn't do the Big Ten any favors by losing last weekend.


Big games this weekend include:

Texas A&M at Miami (FL) -- Thursday @ 7:45pm
South Carolina at LSU -- 3:30pm
Penn State at Michigan -- 3:30pm
Kentucky at Arkansas -- 6:00pm
Georgia at Alabama -- 7:45pm

__________________
"Tie yourself to your limitless potential, rather than your limiting past."

"Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him."

dirtyrascal7

Wow. What a crazy weekend.

5 of the top 10 teams losing, 4 to unranked teams. It always blows my mind that, year after year, teams look past weaker opponents when they have big games coming up. And then they're shocked when they're upset... like it has never happened before. Oh well, I guess that's what makes college football so great.

Seems like the championship is pretty wide open now. USC and LSU don't look unbeatable, and they both have some really tough games coming up.


Big games next weekend:

#8 Kentucky @ #11 South Carolina -- Thursday, 7:30pm
#10 Oklahoma vs #19 Texas -- 3:30pm
#15 Virginia Tech @ #22 Clemson -- 6:00pm
#20 Cincinnati @ #21 Rutgers -- 7:00pm
#9 Florida @ #1 LSU -- 8:00pm
#4 Ohio State @ #23 Purdue -- 8:00pm [I am going to this game... very excited!!]
#25 Nebraska @ #17 Missouri -- 9:15pm

By the way... who would've guessed that at some point in the season, USF would be the highest ranked team from the state of Florida?

__________________
"Tie yourself to your limitless potential, rather than your limiting past."

"Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him."

nonplussed

All I have to say is Go Bears!... Cal is ranked #3 for the first time since Harry Truman was president.

I want to see a Rose Bowl before I die.