NCAA Football

[OOO]

So i guess if Oklahoma wins next week at Oklahoma State, they'll be given credit for losing earlier and having better late season wins...and will be headed for the Big 12 championship, and presumably the BCS Title game vs. Florida. But maybe the voters will give the longhorn's credit...who knows.

 

And Oregon State is still hanging on and boxing USC out of the Rose Bowl and Ohio State out of getting an at-large bid. That Oregon - Oregon State game is going to be kind of a big deal.

 

I sort of want Oregon State to win, as we've been in the Rose Bowl too much lately, and plus...Oregon State winning out makes our loss look much better, should there be more chaos at the top of the charts...

[mpolak21]

I've got a feeling we're going to see a pretty chaotic ending to this ending. Something insane like Florida State knocking off Florida or Auburn upsetting Alabama or maybe even both seems almost destined to happen.

 

I'm the world's biggest Syracuse fan this week, as WVU needs them to knock off Cincinnati to re-take the lead in the Big East-- provided WVU takes care of business against the hated Pitt Panthers and South Florida. Still, if Cincinnati does pull it out, I'm not going to be too bent out of shape. They certainly deserve it, and Cincy fans are among the coolest I've met in my various travels as a Mountaineer fan.

 

Damn, Oklahoma is good. Provided Oklahoma doesn't get BCS-game butterflies, an Oklahoma-Florida BCS title game would be an epic on par with the 2005 Rose Bowl. Still, I think we're due for a late season upset or two to throw the entire thing into even further chaos. Don't be surprised if in two weeks we're talking about how Penn State jumped back into the title game, remember where Ohio State was last year, anything could happen.

 

--Mike

[explodo]

I'm hoping for a lot of chaos. Like OK State beating Oklahoma, Missouri beating Texas in the Big 12 Championship, etc. And while I don't want Alabama to lose, I think it would be interesting to see what happens if they lose to Auburn but upset Florida. And then whatever can happen to keep USC and Ohio State and Penn State from doing anything good would be alright, too.

[watch me fall]

Should be a crazy week! Looking forward to it greatly.

[cryptique]

The BCS rankings are interesting right now:

 

1. Alabama 11-0

2. Texas 10-1

3. Oklahoma 10-1

4. Florida 10-1

5. USC 9-1

6. Utah 12-0

7. Texas Tech 10-1

8. Penn State 11-1

 

If Texas and Oklahoma both win this weekend, who goes to the Big 12 championship? I'm guessing Texas, because they won head to head?

 

I'm expecting Florida to beat Alabama in the SEC title game. The winner of that game should be in the BCS championship game.

 

The only way I see anyone but Texas or Oklahoma as the other team in the BCS title game is if Oklahoma loses to Oklahoma State and Texas loses the Big 12 championship to Missouri, opening up a route for USC to make it -- or, if USC manages to lose to Notre Dame (not likely), maybe even Utah?

 

I'm seeing a Florida-Texas championship. Should be fun.

[PigSooie]

The BCS rankings are interesting right now:

 

1. Alabama 11-0

2. Texas 10-1

3. Oklahoma 10-1

4. Florida 10-1

5. USC 9-1

6. Utah 12-0

7. Texas Tech 10-1

8. Penn State 11-1

 

If Texas and Oklahoma both win this weekend, who goes to the Big 12 championship? I'm guessing Texas, because they won head to head?

 

 

The BCS rankings are the tie breaker in the Big XII.

[quarter23cd]

And then whatever can happen to keep USC and Ohio State and Penn State from doing anything good would be alright, too.

Penn State and Ohio State are already lined up for the holiday buffet line. I don't see anything too "good" happening to either one this year while sitting on the couch. PSU had a nice season, but part of what helped OSU shoot up the rankings last season is that they had spent the whole year at the top of the rankings, so there was kind of a sense of inevitability to it when everyone else started losing. I don't think PSU will shoot up quite that high, even if teams start falling.

 

And I'm fine with OSU getting squeezed out of the BCS this year. It took a whole season for this team to shake off its demons and forge an identity again and it is great to see them finally gel, but at this point I would rather see them go to a bowl game they can win and go into next season with momentum than to go to a BCS game they're not quite ready for and have everybody shake their heads again and say "There goes Ohio State again..."

[IATTBYB]

Why is anyone talking about college football? Didn't the season end on Saturday? Michigan doesn't play until next fall, so what's the point?

 

Go Blue!!! in '09.

[quarter23cd]

Why is anyone talking about college football? Didn't the season end on Saturday? Michigan doesn't play until next fall, so what's the point?

Has Rich-Rod been scouting the intramural flag-football teams for a new QB? Seriously, something's gotta happen there. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the hell out of the score the other day, but there is something anticlimactic about the regular season being over now. Really? That was it??

[IATTBYB]

Has Rich-Rod been scouting the intramural flag-football teams for a new QB? Seriously, something's gotta happen there. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the hell out of the score the other day, but there is something anticlimactic about the regular season being over now. Really? That was it??

Two HS QB's that are better suited for RR's offense have verbally committed to Michigan for '09. While Threet may start early next year, I suspect that U of M may go to one of the freshman early on if Threet struggles. I seem to recall some other BigTen school had some success with a freshman QB this year. The only way Sheridan will ever see the field again as a QB will be if he is the lone survivor of a catastrophic accident involving all of the other QBs.

 

So how many couches were burned Saturday?

[quarter23cd]

So how many couches were burned Saturday?

Just at my house, or in Columbus overall? Actually, I hear that campus was relatively "quiet"--which means the couch-massacre total probably didn't hit triple-digits.

 

Good luck with the freshman QBs. Growing pains can be difficult to watch sometimes, but maybe not so much after the season you guys just endured. Our frosh QB has worked out pretty well for us, but it has definitely been a season-long process. Kind of a shame that there are no more games, because around here it feels like things were just starting to get good. Oh well.

 

BTW, speaking of QBs ever seeing playing time again, I do have to say that it was nice to see Boeckman get in there and throw a few strikes there at the end.

[Winston Legthigh]

Go Hawks!! 55-0 over the Gophers!

Golden Gophers got Golden Shower'd.

 

Oh well... Even though they lost their last 4 games, 7-5 is a vast improvement on 1-11 from last year...

[Moe_Syzlak]

So OU is ahead of UT in both human polls (that are used in the BCS calculations), but UT has the strength of schedule (i.e. quality wins) to be ahead in the BCS thanks to the computers, right? But OU plays OSU this week and UT plays A&M. A win over OSU is of higher quality than a win over A&M, right? So if OU wins, they will be ahead of UT in the BCS is my guess, regardless of the final scores of those games. IF OU beats Missouri in the Big 12 Championship game, they play the SEC Championship winner for the BCS title. If Missouri wins the Big 12 Championship game, who faces the SEC winner? USC? They might not even win the PAC 10!

[lamradio]

Should be a crazy week! Looking forward to it greatly.

 

Getting ready for THE game Saturday? Yeah, the game is pretty low on the totem poll of games this week (hence the noon kickoff) but it still means A LOT to the Clemson/Carolina fans in the south.

 

All season long I was picking USC to win it because of of Clemson's weak season, but now I'm not so sure. It's going to be two weak offenses competing against two strong defenses (USC's defense probably a little stronger). I predict it will be a low scoring, nail-biter... If USC's defense can stop Spiller and Davis, Clemson is screwed... And If they can't stop em, then Clemson's got it made... We shall see.. What are you doing for the game? I'm jealous, my whole family is going.. We'll probably have a party or something.. Definitely fry some Chicken..

[watch me fall]

Getting ready for THE game Saturday? Yeah, the game is pretty low on the totem poll of games this week (hence the noon kickoff) but it still means A LOT to the Clemson/Carolina fans in the south.

 

All season long I was picking USC to win it because of of Clemson's weak season, but now I'm not so sure. It's going to be two weak offenses competing against two strong defenses (USC's defense probably a little stronger). I predict it will be a low scoring, nail-biter... If USC's defense can stop Spiller and Davis, Clemson is screwed... And If they can't stop em, then Clemson's got it made... We shall see.. What are you doing for the game? I'm jealous, my whole family is going.. We'll probably have a party or something.. Definitely fry some Chicken..

 

:rolleyes

 

Is this the whole "our receivers/RB's are just as good as Florida's" defense?

 

I wouldn't go up to Clemson if you paid me. Especially for a noon game. Not sure what I'm doing for the game. May go over to my Dad's house and watch it since I'll be home for Thanksgiving. May go over to a friend's house. Who knows.

[CrushOfVeils80]

At this point I just want whatever keeps U$C out of the national title game

 

OU will jump Texa$ if they beat Okie State, that will not be an easy game whatsoever though, if OU doesnt jump them they will for sure if they beat Pissouri, winning the toughest conference in America will and should get OU into the national title game, lets be honest though nobody is going to beat Florida the rest of the way, Florida over OU in the NC game

[Moe_Syzlak]

At this point I just want whatever keeps U$C out of the national title game

 

OU will jump Texa$ if they beat Okie State, that will not be an easy game whatsoever though, if OU doesnt jump them they will for sure if they beat Pissouri, winning the toughest conference in America will and should get OU into the national title game, lets be honest though nobody is going to beat Florida the rest of the way, Florida over OU in the NC game

Well that's the trouble. With Texas ahead in the computers and OU ahead in the human polls, I think OU will jump UT in the overall BCS standings if both win next week. But if OU doesn't jump UT, it would be UT playing Mizzou, not OU, because the BCS standings are used as the tie-breaker in the Big 12.

[Gobias Industries]

BTW, speaking of QBs ever seeing playing time again, I do have to say that it was nice to see Boeckman get in there and throw a few strikes there at the end.

 

I'm tellin' ya, Boeckman was player of the fuckin' game on Saturday. Why did Tressel pull him out? It's Boeckman's last game, at least let him close it up.

[quarter23cd]

I'm tellin' ya, Boeckman was player of the fuckin' game on Saturday. Why did Tressel pull him out? It's Boeckman's last game, at least let him close it up.

Player of the game might be overstating it just because he didn't play enough to have that kind of impact, but he came in remarkably sharp for a guy who hasn't seen action in weeks. It was great to see him make the most of the opportunity, and for the first time this year he looked genuinely happy during the post-game interviews. I felt really good for him there. His demotion must have been a devastating thing to handle this year--and I'll admit I was among those who was calling for Pryor early this year--but I actually got a bit choked up for the guy when he came off the bench and fired that gorgeous TD strike on his first throw. Way to go, Boecks.

[CrushOfVeils80]

Well that's the trouble. With Texas ahead in the computers and OU ahead in the human polls, I think OU will jump UT in the overall BCS standings if both win next week. But if OU doesn't jump UT, it would be UT playing Mizzou, not OU, because the BCS standings are used as the tie-breaker in the Big 12.

 

 

thats right I forgot about that...you would think OU will win in Stillwater and jump Texa$, I think they will anyway but what do I know, Okie State is good but I dont think they matchup well upfront at all with OU...I will say OU 38 Okie State 28....OU and Texa$ it's basically flip a coin, OU proved a lot Saturday though with their win over Texas Tech, who didnt see that coming I mean really? Texa$ does have a charmin soft out of conference schedule though and OU at least beat TCU and Cincy..... two solid teams...if Cincy were to win the Big East that could really help OU

[bleedorange]

thats right I forgot about that...you would think OU will win in Stillwater and jump Texa$, I think they will anyway but what do I know, Okie State is good but I dont think they matchup well upfront at all with OU...I will say OU 38 Okie State 28....OU and Texa$ it's basically flip a coin, OU proved a lot Saturday though with their win over Texas Tech, who didnt see that coming I mean really? Texa$ does have a charmin soft out of conference schedule though and OU at least beat TCU and Cincy..... two solid teams...if Cincy were to win the Big East that could really help OU

 

I know you're a big anti-Texas guy, but if it really does come down to Oklahoma and Texas, shouldn't the outcome of a game played on a neutral field have the most significance?

[jakobnicholas]

I think Texas should be ranked higher than Oklahoma.

 

 

 

BUT...

 

I might change that opinion based on this weekend. Texas needs to THROTTLE Texas A&M (30 points-plus) and Oklahoma/Oklahoma State need to play a fairly competitive game (7-10 points).

 

 

I'm amazed that Texas Tech was so poor on offense. And the gambling calls by Leach didn't help.

 

That score just snow-balled. I think if it was played in Lubbock, it would have been a nail-biter.

[OOO]

Texas pretty much has to blow out Texas A&M and Oklahoma has to barely scrape out a win at OK State for Texas to have a chance at making the Big 12 Conference game. Worst case for Texas is that Oklahoma loses and then Texas Tech goes to the Big 12 game. Then they beat Missouri and Texas doesn't have much of a case for being ranked above them. (besides the whole ridiculously terrible blowout thing)

[Moe_Syzlak]

I know you're a big anti-Texas guy, but if it really does come down to Oklahoma and Texas, shouldn't the outcome of a game played on a neutral field have the most significance?

I think there' s a lot to be said for that argument, but (and I noticed you specifically said "neutral field" ) Stoops also makes a good point that if Texas is ahead of OU based on head to head, then TT should be ahead of UT for same reason. Really it's a mess and despite Texas being #2 in the BCS rankings this week, I think they have the slimmest chance of representing the Big 12 South in the Big 12 Championship. Why? Well, as I said earlier, the human voters already have OU ahead of UT. The computers have UT with a slight edge, but that will be gone with OU playing a higher ranked opponent next week. The BCS standings are used in the event of a three way tie. So, it would seem the best chance UT has is for OU to lose vs. OSU. BUT, if that happens we are left with a two-way tie and two-way ties are decided by head-to-head match-ups when possible and TT beat UT. So if OU wins they go. If OU loses, TT goes. The only shot UT has is if the human voters have a change of heart after wins by both OU and UT next week.

 

ETA: OR we could have a situation where either TT or OU lose to Mizzou and you have the same situation as when NE played for the BCS Championship despite not even winner their Big 12 division. I don't think that will happen though.

[bleedorange]

I think there' s a lot to be said for that argument, but (and I noticed you specifically said "neutral field" ) Stoops also makes a good point that if Texas is ahead of OU based on head to head, then TT should be ahead of UT for same reason. Really it's a mess and despite Texas being #2 in the BCS rankings this week, I think they have the slimmest chance of representing the Big 12 South in the Big 12 Championship. Why? Well, as I said earlier, the human voters already have OU ahead of UT. The computers have UT with a slight edge, but that will be gone with OU playing a higher ranked opponent next week. The BCS standings are used in the event of a three way tie. So, it would seem the best chance UT has is for OU to lose vs. OSU. BUT, if that happens we are left with a two-way tie and two-way ties are decided by head-to-head match-ups when possible and TT beat UT. So if OU wins they go. If OU loses, TT goes. The only shot UT has is if the human voters have a change of heart after wins by both OU and UT next week.

 

 

I agree. It really all comes down to the human voters. The computer advantage will be reduced to where if everything remained the same, OU would jump us next week in the BCS rankings.

 

I understand Stoops's point. But the only problem with his argument is that if everyone wins next week, Tech is so far out of it, that it does only come down to an evaluation of Oklahoma or Texas. In that scenario, Texas wins. Or at least should win.

 

My only hope is that other human voters see this and either bump Texas up or move Oklahoma down.

 

Another possibility is that Florida State beats Florida, which would move Texas up to #3 in the rankings and hopefully gain enough to counter whatever bump Oklahoma gets from the computers after beating Oklahoma State.