College Football -- 2007/2008 Season
 

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


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!! :D

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

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.

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.

i can't wait either....:thumbsup:

go hokies!!!:)

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

:rolleyes: 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.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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...

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

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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...:thumbsup:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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.

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.

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.

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

:thumbsup:

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

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!

Let me be the first to say:

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Thanks, Appalachian.

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.

hahahahahahahaha:hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

FUCK MICHIGAN

MICHIGAN SUCKS

that is all

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 >.>

quoted for veracity

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."

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.

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.

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?

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

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? :thumbsup:

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.

Do we have any ACC fans on here? I am an NC state fan and student and we are looking weak as hell... in fact the whole conference with the exception of BC looks pretty awful

I attend a Conference USA school, but realize we're a weak conference and boring to watch, so being from the southeast, I watch SEC football lol. I attended Ole Miss for awhile, and my father graduated from there, so naturally, I love watching their games. Ole Miss may rarely beat a big team, but they often make them nervous lol

-Will

Finally a bears fan! All I have to say, is be prepared for a USC upset from Cal come November. Home game, I might even sneak away to berkeley and watch on the hill with all the poor students who couldn't afford Stanford. Cal upset USC at Memorial Stadium a few years back-history is bound to repeat itself.

as a kentucky wildcat fan living in austin, tx... i've had to put up with A LOT of shit about college football. hell, being a wildcat fan.... you have to put up with a lot of shit during football season ANYWHERE.

...usually, we've got basketball to lean back on, but these past few years, the longhorns have been ranked ahead of the wildcats on the hardwood. don't get me wrong, i love me some horns, but i bleed blue.

sweet, sweet redemption when this week's polls came out.
how much money could you have made if you'd bet that the 'cats would be ranked higher than the 'horns?

now thursday night's game vs. the gamecocks... i hope the offense can keep clicking. woodson is fun to watch. for anyone who hasn't seen him play - tune in. he's a 1st round draft pick.

Who would've thought that South Carolina vs. Kentucky would me a marquee game? I'm hoping Kentucky pulls it out myself, they've been a surprise team, that you can't help but route for!!!!

And I'm not a Spurrier fan ;)

-Will

Blasphemy!

Miami crushed A&M, FSU beat Alabama and Maryland beat Rutgers. That's three wins over ranked opponents from the Big 12, the SEC and the Big East. Pretty good considering all three of those ACC teams were/are unranked going into those games.

LSU managed to hold it out over Florid tonight....if things keep going this way, Cal catches a loss, OSU takes a defeat, and the planets align right....we may actually get to see how USF holds up against LSU in the championship...

Long shot, but it'd be cool

-Will

I am a Florida State Alum, and a huge fan of FSU football.

I was lucky enough to go there in the early to mid 90's...and for the first time since Chris Weinke left, I finally have some hope they may have a good season. I am not convinced we are going to be 12-1 or anything like that, but 10-3 is a real possibility.

Hah i wouldn't hold your breath on that one....BC, VA Tech, Florida are definite losses and Miami and Wake Forest are likely losses...time for grandpa Bowden to retire for sure.

Somehow I suspect LSU won't go undefeated this season. This next game looks deceptive, but I think Kentucky has a good shot of the upset.

Anyhow, I'm still gunning for BCS Bears game. #2!-is a place I'd never thought we'd be.

Boomer Sooner here. LOL at the Miami predictions. :)

God, USC just sucks right now. They escape Arizona and get the win today.

But, I have to believe their suckage lately has mainly been just bad luck with regards to many injuries, including injuries to two of their top RB's, including their best RB and biggest gainer this year, Stefon Johnson. Offensive line is decimated. Maleuga got injured today too. JD Booty has not been good and now has a minor finger injury that gave Carroll an excuse to start Sanchez today at QB. Adding to all this is an inexperienced WR corps, and the Trojans are just not a top 10 team right now.

In the meantime, I'm watching a great LSU-Kentucky game which is tied with 1:30 to play. Maybe Cal at #1 by tomorrow?

Nice prediction... that game was intense!! I thought KU might be able to pull the upset if they didn't let it go to overtime... I never dreamed they'd be able to score enough and stop LSU's offense enough to outlast them in OT, let alone 3 OTs.

At this point you have to wonder if there will be any unbeaten teams left at the end of the season, which will likely cause the biggest, most controversial traffic-jam in the history of the BCS. If that happens, you'd think that it would unite enough people in favor of a playoff to finally inspire the demolition of the BCS system.

OUCH!!

That must hurt for all you Cal fans... could've pulled off the comeback, but then one bonehead mistake and it's all over. What a crazy season.

Go Cocks!!!!

How many of you were screaming at your TV, "Throw the ball away!!!!!"

I know I was.

I don't see how Hawaii (being undefeated) and USF being undefeated are ranked this far apart...

And I hated to see LSU fall, but it was a great game!!

-Will

Strength of schedule.

Boise State 69 Nevada 67, no it's not a basketball score. One of the best games I've ever attended was BSU's Fiesta Bowl win over OU, and now I can add this one to my list. Ya gotta love the WAC! They do play exciting football.

I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

Interesting about Cal
 

Here is a blurb from collegefootballadvisor.com about Cal

RANT- I have to put the entire California loss on head coach Jeff Tedford. I know QB Kevin Riley freaked out and cost his team the game, but for all intents and purposes he should not have been put in that situation. For anybody that doesn't know what happened, Cal had the ball on the Oregon State 12 yard line with about 14 seconds left to go in the game. Cal's starting QB Nate Longshore was injured and had not played in the game. Riley, a redshirt freshman, was playing a good game, but on this particular play really made a bonehead decision. With 14 seconds left he took the snap and was flushed out of the pocket by the Beaver pass rush. Instead of throwing the ball out of bounds the young QB decided to scramble and was tackled in the middle of the field with about 6 seconds left on the clock. He got up and ran to the sideline with the ball as time expired. Tedford needed to really look at the total situation. First off, Riley had never been in this situation and probably had very little practice on what to do. Second, did Tedford really think he was going to get a TD in this situation? More things could have gone wrong than right and he should have realized that. Finally, when you're at home there is nothing wrong with going into overtime. My philosophy is that you never force things when you're at home that have a chance at costing you the game. Overtime is a risk, but not as big a risk as trying to throw a pass with 14 seconds left without any time outs and with a green QB.

Adios USF. They called it right when they predicted they'd fall to Rutgers. My Buckeyes and BC now seemingly hold their own fates.

GO BUCKEYES!

The future looks pretty scary for the Bucks. I would be shocked if they win out.

There goes my ultimate fantasy game of a National Championship game of USF vs. Kentucky. It might have killed the BCS, but nooooo! USF has to go and fucking lose to Rutgers.

In other news, one of the most exciting rivalries in college football is this weekend - Tennessee vs. Alabama. Should be a good one!

All of these upsets make me nervous. OU has Iowa State in Aimes. Wouldn't that be an upset. I wouldn't come out of my house.

I think the trick is to lose early. The voters tend to forget. If you start losing now, you are screwed.

PSU is their big test, and even a moderate scoring effort in Happy Valley by the Bucks will be enough to seal the deal in that game. They have a MORE than capable defense, its a matter of Wells staying healthy and whether or not Boeckman matures enough. Tressel is definitely opening this offense up as of late, showing that they aren't afraid to pass the ball, even without the likes of Holmes, Ginn, and Gonzalez.

Well, I have to give BC credit for pulling out the win last night... I thought the game was over well before the 4th quarter. Ryan did not look good all night except when it really mattered.

#1 OSU at #25 Penn State tomorrow... at night... in the rain most likely... should be intense. I have no doubt that both teams will be ready to play, so I think it will come down to who makes fewer mistakes. Hopefully Boeckman stops trying to throw deep to Robiskie in double coverage... you'd think after 3-4 interceptions from the same scenario, he would learn his lesson.

Other big games this weekend include:

#7 West Virginia @ Rutgers -- 12:00pm
#12 USC @ #5 Oregon -- 3:00pm
#10 South Florida @ #23 Connecticut -- 3:30pm
#11 Florida vs #18 Georgia -- 3:30pm
#9 Kansas @ Texas A&M -- 7:00pm
#16 South Carolina @ Tennessee -- 7:45pm
#21 California @ #4 Arizona State -- 10:15pm

My fearless predictions (Winners underlined):
#7 West Virginia @ Rutgers -- 12:00pm
#12 USC @ #5 Oregon -- 3:00pm
#10 South Florida @ #23 Connecticut -- 3:30pm
#11 Florida vs #18 Georgia -- 3:30pm
#9 Kansas @ Texas A&M -- 7:00pm
#16 South Carolina @ Tennessee -- 7:45pm
#21 California @ #4 Arizona State -- 10:15pm

Bonus: Penn State over Ohio State.

While I want Tennessee to beat South Carolina, I doubt it will happen. We can't play the fourth quarter this year. At all. Against anyone.

jazz: have you been unfortunate enough to see the bullshit from south carolina these past two games? maybe they mentioned it on sportscenter in a sentence that also contained 'suck,' 'pussies,' 'refusal to score points,' 'makes my blood pressure go through the fucking roof,' and 'assholes,'...and 'pussies' again for good measure. if you missed it, we took our pom-poms out against vandy and they whipped our candy asses. i'd say the vols look ok for tomorrow night. now, i really hope not. i hope we whip your worthless assess all over the place.

first the braves go ass up, then the cocks follow right afterwards. fuck these people.

Isn't that a Robert E. Lee quote? :D

In all seriousness, this is two pigs fighting over a turnip. Neither of us has a chance to go to the Chick-Fil-A/Peach Bowl. Perhaps one will get the Hawaii Bowl or the opportunity to lose to a WAC team.

Which is more powerful, your refusal to score or our refusal to play defense? We'll find out Sunday I suppose.

As much as I hate your fucking coach (sorry, I'm contractually obligated to phrase it that way) and that smartass smirk (again, the contract) underneath that goddamn visor (ok, that one was all me), I think that we can both agree to hate Florida with every fiber of our beings and hope for lots of ambulances leaving the Cocktail Party on Saturday. And that's what makes the SEC such a great conference.

well, our problem is that you can't run a hook and fucking ladder 8 times in a row on third down and think that you're not going to get your ass nailed. or try the old throw it to the receiver, let him throw it down field move.

honestly, i don't give a shit about steve spurrier just yet, but i do think that if he can get things going here i'll be his #1 fan. i'll certainly take him over phil 'back your bags baldy' fulmer, but then again i find that orange shit to be nauseating. tennessee...clemson...icky.

i wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments regarding the upcoming florida/ga game. fuck them all. i still get mildly irritated when thinking that the school in the land of relocated yankees has both football and national championships. they need an asswhipping. i was hoping we might give to them. it looks unlikely at this point. hopefully we can pay some romanian kid enough money, or maybe hold his family ransom, to force him to come here and play quarterback for us. our senior qb is dumber than dogshit, and our redshirt freshman either is ineffective or doesn't recognize double and triple coverage.

so we're pretty fucked. it's not like vandy is some sort of powerhouse. neither is unc. we haven't scored a godfuckingdamn touchdown in 6 quarters. against those two teams.

so we're kind of pretty much fucked.

Ok, so I was a bit premature on my praise of FSU...looks like another 6-6 year. And no, grampa Bowden doesn't need to retire...yet. They just need to get a QB that can keep his head out of his ass. An offensive line wouldn't hurt either. The Defense is still great, but when the offense has more three and outs than anything else. They are going to get tired, and holes will open up.

I am interested to see if the return of Chuck Amato as a recruiter will fix the recruiting situation over the next two years. If so, watch out!

37-17.

STATEMENT!

Hellz yea!

All the people around here (the school I'm at currently is a PSU affiliate) are giving me the death stare today, but they have to admit, I called it on the button friday afternoon. I called for a quick opening set of drives, both slow down a bit, Robiske catching some bombs, and ultimately Morelli panicking on a blitz and turning it over. Sure as shit, voila! The fumble recovery was just an added bonus :thumbsup:


Another plus is that some of the newscasters are finally giving them some credit, saying they're a better team than they thought. They took everything PSU was capable of in the first half, and still went into halftime with the lead.

I was pretty shocked to read Pat Forde's article today where he was actually saying positive things about OSU. Usually all he mentions is 41-14 in one form or another, though of course he still had to add that into the article at some point.

Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, it is TOUGH going undefeated for an entire season, regardless of what your schedule looks like... and no season has proven that more than this one with all of the unranked teams winning against top-10 teams. It's good to see Kansas and Arizona State finally getting some props as well.

As much as I enjoyed the OSU/Penn State game, the game of the week had to be the Florida/Georgia showdown. The outcome of that game had all to do with the fact that Georgia flat-out wanted it more. Pretty impressive win... and I really dislike Georgia.

Okay, has anyone ever seen anything like this before?

^Yes. All day on ESPN lol

I absolutely LOATHE Florida (you can imagine why), and I LOVED seeing Urban Meyer flip a shit when Georgia's coach told EVERY player to go out and celebrate after that touchdown. The guy's got balls, and it was the spark they needed.

The SEC is killing itself, BC has a nasty schedule ahead of em, and tOSU looks like they've god a *good* chance at winning out....damn, I was hoping for some interesting teams in the big game this year

-Will

Well, we won the turnip I guess. That was a godawful game to watch.

Yeah, the SEC is devouring it's top contenders... but on the flip side of that, there's a chance that 11 SEC teams will be bowl eligible by the end of the season, which is just insane.

I'm not sure ASU or BC can run the table with the schedules they have left... but this season has been so crazy, they'd never be this close to the top otherwise, so maybe it's fate?

It will be very interesting to see not only who ends up in the championship game, but the other BCS bowls as well. USC might end up in the Holiday bowl, while Hawaii and/or Connecticut may get an automatic berth to a BCS game. How backwards is that?

I'm going to the USC game this time against Oregon State. I hope they don't have another upset like when I went to the Stanford game.

yet ANOTHER statement game by my alma mater...THE Ohio State Buckeyes

USC won 24-3. It was overall a good game including an interception and something like 10 sacks. There was no scoring in the second half but the most important thing is that we won. Hopefully we will shoot up at least a couple of spots due to Boston College's loss.

Give me two good reasons why KU jumped Oklahoma. (One is they are undefeated) But come on.

And, Ohio State has not played anyone in the top 20 yet. They are good, but not number 1 good.

IMO, the top 4 should look as such:

Oregon
Ohio State
Oklahoma
LSU

Ohio State finally lost 28-21 against Illinois =D

USC has yet to play today against Cal.

Go Trojans!

ok, now that my Buckeyes lost, who wants to bet on how much they drop? I'm guessing at least 4 spots, maybe as many as 8 or 9.

this despite the fact that they have at least 1 (and as many as 3) more wins than other one loss teams that they will drop below.

and yeah, I know...this loss "validates" the criticism that they "haven't played anyone". now, I'm not gonna try to make the argument that they still deserve the #1 spot, but this loss is no where near as bad as Michigans loss to Apalachian State, which IMHO, should have dropped them out of the top 25 not to return. And yet, going into this weekend, they sat at #12 with two season opening losses to unranked teams (Oregon was unranked at the time).

meh...this whole ranking system stinks to high heaven. we need a playoff system, JUST LIKE THE OTHER DIVISIONS in college ball.

I believe that they will sit somewhere around 7.

USC won against Cal 24-17. It seemed at one point that the game could have gone into OT. Good game. The Trojan's needed that one.

Football is now dead to me.

1-9 duke @ 1-9 notre dame......this will be the least attractive televised game of the weekend and possibly in the history of televised sports. i wonder how nbc execs feel about this. anyway, i got duke over notre dame, in an upset. :lol::lol:

Oh come on... everyone enjoys a pillow-fight. ;)

http://www.dukesuperbowl.com

The funniest part on that website has to be that ND has the same number of bowl wins the last 10 years as Duke... ZERO. haha

Well... Fat Charlie managed to avoid Notre Dame's first ever 10-loss season. Good for him. More good news for ND fans... they won't get pummeled in a bowl game for the 7th (or is it 8th) year in a row.

Now, on to more pressing matters... this Saturday is the last in the regular season and both the top 2 teams (Mizzou and WVU) are playing. If either of them lose, Ohio State goes to the championship game again. :)

The fact that Ohio State could make it into the national championship just demonstrates the fact that the Big Ten is a pussy conference. Yes, I said it, the Big 10 is the most overrated conference and on top of that they're deathly afraid that someone will reveal the fact that they are, in fact, a complete sham of a conference.

Play a damn championship game like everyone else and get on with it. Put Ohio State and Michigan in the same division and make it actually mean something to win the Big 10. In the past 5 years, the SEC, Big 12 and the ACC have all consistently had better teams at the top and, more importantly, at the bottom.

And I fully expect my Vols to get stomped by LSU now that the Tigers are over the Michigan distraction. That was my only hope for a win.

and South Carolina stinks it up...again. as our state motto says:

"Maybe Next Year"

to think that fucking vanderbuilt broke our spirit...well, that's just sad. i am so hoping we don't go to a bowl game...i mean, maybe we could use the money to bribe better players to come here...but really...why go get our asses handed to us in shreveport?

Why single out the Big Ten? The Big East and Pac-10 don't have conference championship games either.

And yes, the SEC may be the toughest conference right now... but you cannot seriously say that about the Big 12 and ACC... let alone make the argument that they are tougher conferences simply for having a championship game.

I'm sure we could pull up stats and numbers all night to support either side of the argument, but it's still all very subjective because you will put different weight on certain stats than I will... so what's the point?

I said it and I stand by it. The Big East needs a title game, especially given how big it is and how good some of the schools have gotten.

The Pac-10 goes in spurts. We're in a competitive one now. Otherwise, not so much the last 20 years.

Given how big it is... you mean how it's tied with the Sun Belt for having the fewest number of members?

Everything is cyclical. No one team or conference stays on top forever... and that includes your precious SEC.

Appalachian State is going for the 3-peat baby! You 1-A'ers better be glad that we aren't competing in your division. It wouldn't even be a contest. :thumbsup:

I know. We'd be congratulating you on your third-straight Sun Belt championship and trip to the New Orleans Bowl ;)

Penalty for Giving the Business