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NCAA Football 2014 Thread


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Guys, don't forget about Marshall .... you know the other undefeated team :pervert:

In all seriousness though, things are really starting to look interesting.

The Big10 has a cluster of 1 loss teams (OhSU, MSU, MINN, NEB), and then IOWA, MD, RUT at two losses. OhSU has really gotten on track, but holy shit does that loss look bad. I don't see the committee doing any favors to history and depending on who all is in the 1 loss bucket I don't know they'd be in. 1 loss MSU is a much better proposition. I so wish MINN could relive the glory days but they've only played 1 team worth a shit and TCU ate their lunch (30-7). So it looks great for 1 loss NEB to sneak through and either take the whole thing or fall just short yet again. Of course, that's assuming 2 loss WISC doesn't literally run over the rest of the schedule.

The Big12 has KST, BAY, TCU at one loss but WVU, OkST and OK at two losses already are still in the conference race. KState can make things easy by running the table (as can TCU as either doing so would entail beating the other). They are easily 6 deep in the Big12 so either the champ and a 1 loss 2nd place team will look really good, or they'll end up SEC West'ng themselves out of the picture.

The SEC is once again fantastic at the top, but that may not matter because the rest of the conference really isn't that good. In the East ... UGA is sitting just like OhSU is in the Big10. Look great now, but holy shit does that loss smell really bad. I don't know that they can beat both AUB and GT anyway though so it probably doesn't matter. Bama, Auburn are the one loss teams and one of 'em is getting two. Very believable Bama can have 3 as they still go to LSU and play MsST (back to back). The two undefeated won't end that way thanks to the Egg Bowl. Ole Miss has the better road ahead as only 1 of their 3 remaining "hard" games is on the road. MsST still goes to Bama and is on the road for the Egg Bowl. Worst case scenario is the West champ has two losses and then beats a 1 loss UGA in the title game. Then what ? I don't care how "good" one half of your conference is .... 2 losses is 2 losses.

The Pac12 ... uh yeah, normally this would be great for ORG should they manage to finish out with the 1 loss. However, the North is looking like the ACC this year, and the South well, they all look good (save COL) but how good are any of them really ? Zona is scraping by in both wins and their loss regardless of the level of competition (ORG down to UTSA), ZonaST looked atrocious in losing to UCLA but turns around and beats USC, Utah is surprising but have a home loss to Wazzu, and then there's UCLA who can't make up their mind. So yeah. Honestly I don't think it'll be an issue because I can only see ORG making it out with 1 loss and they're going to send whomever in the title game to their 3rd loss.

The ACC has FSU ... and a few teams that LOOK good, but really are just that ... good but nothing more. If they avoid the Thursday night trap against Louisville there's no reason they shouldn't be undefeated. Even if they get trapped at Louisville they should still win the conference but it puts them in the "who else has 1 loss" brigade in my opinion. Best cast for them is to have Duke win out and have 1 loss in the ACC title game (which pretty much sums up the ACC).

Then we start getting into possible AAC 1 loss champion ECU, a possible undefeated CUSA champion Marshall, and a possible 1 loss MW champion ColST ... and how would a 1 loss ND fit into all of it ?

I'm not begging the debate on the merit of some of these teams. I'm merely putting out there that we can have one hell of a muddy picture outside of the first two spots. I can't wait to see the first rankings as they'll tell us quite a bit about how these teams are being viewed and just what the balance is in terms of making up the decisions.

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You'd think I'd be upset with Tennessee losing to Bama again, but nope. Only losing by 14 with the roster they have right now means the Turd might be in big trouble when they face the Vols next year.

Orange pants and jerseys for the first time since `88. Can't believe its been that long......

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I don't know if it's Kirk talking for me, but I'm surprised (but pleased) Bama aren't top 4. Go Ole Miss!

I think 'Bama is slightly overrated. I mean, I hate to use the term over rated only because people automatically believe that equates to be calling garbage... which I am not. However they are overrated at this point in my opinion. Alabama have struggled to beat winless (in conference) Tennessee and Arkansas. They looked ugly against West Virginia and lost to Ole Miss. They are a good team, just not a great team this year in my opinion.

Same can be said though for Ole Miss, I think. Their claim to fame is getting Katie Perry to do their gameday spot and defeating Alabama (who I just explained their road struggles). They still have games against Auburn and Miss State left on their schedule. The Rebs have time to prove their worth... my belief is that they will finish with three losses.

Miss State, Florida State, and Auburn should finish the year in the top four though.

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That's my issue with polls so early in the season. Everyone thought Texas A&M was going to be hot-shit this year because they beat a Top-15 South Carolina team that has shown are sub-par.

Just like now with these playoff rankings. There is absolutely no reason for them to be released now other than to be a talking point.

I'm still not sold on Mississippi State. I don't think their defense is all that, and I want to see Dak against a good defense, which we'll get against Bama (kinda) and Ole Miss. That and I don't trust Dan Mullen.

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The only thing that sucks about the "Who you beat" angle is that sometimes your schedule just doesn't play out the way it was anticipated. Notre Dame went into this year with one of the toughest schedules on paper, and people said at the beginning of the year that even if we went 10-2 with this schedule we'd be looked at for the playoffs. But that was before Michigan and Stanford shit the bed. All you can do is win the games that are on the schedule.

Look at Florida State's schedule. Five years ago this schedule (roughly when it was made) looked a lot more impressive than it does now. But Clemson and Florida are neither one themselves. Of course Florida State has won all of their games, so that's helped. But imagine if they had lost to Notre Dame. Then they'd be sitting around #10, and I don't think they're any worse than the fifth best team in the country.

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I'm not the biggest fan of the eyeball test, too many variables. TCU running up the score against Tech is proof that teams are going to more and more embrace it though and keep bringing out flashy plays all the way until the end. No win is more stylish than another in my eyes, you call the plays you need to win. You don't call the plays you need to make some Pat Haden go "well they look good." That's why I think placing importance on head to head is the best way to do it. How good are the teams you beat, and how good are the teams they beat? A hard schedule on paper is all great, but if all those teams you beat wind up not being very good or if your conference winds up completely shitting it up against non-conference opponents it's hard for me to put them ahead of a team that started the season with an easy schedule on paper that winds up being filled with 9 and 10-win teams.

Also home/road wins and losses should count differently.

As for why we have this poll now. 1) Talking points and 2) To show throughout the home stretch of the season how the committee will be voting. Makes it more transparent.

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I think putting emphasis on who you beat will stop teams from putting a couple FCS teams on their schedules as pseudo bye weeks.

Sure, what happened to ND will happen from time to time - and especially considering these can be scheduled up to a decade in advance, but i'd rather that happen to a team if it means eradicating what is going to happen to a team like (for instance) Ohio State where sure their loss is to Va Tech, but nobody will be talking about Bama's win over West Carolina as reducing the impact of their record.

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The only thing that sucks about the "Who you beat" angle is that sometimes your schedule just doesn't play out the way it was anticipated. Notre Dame went into this year with one of the toughest schedules on paper, and people said at the beginning of the year that even if we went 10-2 with this schedule we'd be looked at for the playoffs. But that was before Michigan and Stanford shit the bed. All you can do is win the games that are on the schedule.

Look at Florida State's schedule. Five years ago this schedule (roughly when it was made) looked a lot more impressive than it does now. But Clemson and Florida are neither one themselves. Of course Florida State has won all of their games, so that's helped. But imagine if they had lost to Notre Dame. Then they'd be sitting around #10, and I don't think they're any worse than the fifth best team in the country.

We'll see what reflects on the next two weeks of games. As it stands, right now ... these standings do a pretty damn good job of reflecting this season. For what you're talking about, go check the AP poll. There's quite a bit of "old thinking" in those rankings. With what has been on the schedule, and how the teams have performed you'd be hard pressed to come up with a legitimately better top 10 than what they produced.

I think where a team like ND will be caught out, is that they absolutely HAVE to win their 1/2 key match ups each season because otherwise there is zero context for them. We have that for the SEC teams and everyone else. I mean take an objective look. The early part of their schedule shit the bed (Stanford/Mich) BUT they were in a position to beat the undefeated defending national champion on the road .... so they're right there in the mix. There's three solid games left for them and they have the chance to gain a slot. It's hard to put them ahead of any 1 loss SEC team because we have a better idea about those teams due to common opponents/environments/etc.

As for FSU, they're getting a lucky break this season with the schedule panning out as it is. If they get past the trap game tomorrow night I don't see them shitting the bed against anyone else on the schedule. However ... if Clemson were anywhere near what they'd been the last 4 years they'd have mopped the floor with this FSU team. We'll see just how good of a win the ND game is over the next couple of weeks. I'm all for not removing a defending national title winner until they've lost, but this FSU team IS NOT one of the 5 best teams in the country right now in my opinion. Their saving grace is that they haven't lost. For my money though, I'd put roughly 7/8 teams at or better than their level right now.

No win is more stylish than another in my eyes, you call the plays you need to win. You don't call the plays you need to make some Pat Haden go "well they look good." That's why I think placing importance on head to head is the best way to do it. How good are the teams you beat, and how good are the teams they beat? A hard schedule on paper is all great, but if all those teams you beat wind up not being very good or if your conference winds up completely shitting it up against non-conference opponents it's hard for me to put them ahead of a team that started the season with an easy schedule on paper that winds up being filled with 9 and 10-win teams.

I disagree on the win thing. Not all wins are equal. Now, I'm not saying that TCU beating Tech 82-27 is more impressive than WVU beating them 45-13 ... but putting that in context over their entire season and their results .... and you see a clear difference in the "shown so far" ability of them vs WVU. The good thing about the Big12 is that we'll find out for sure because they play this week.

We all know that just winning, simply isn't enough unless you're already a Top 5ish team. Again, I DO NOT drink the kool-aid of the "tilt" score board ... but wins aren't wins aren't wins either.

YES, home/road wins should count differently .... and that's exactly why Ole Miss is #4.

I think putting emphasis on who you beat will stop teams from putting a couple FCS teams on their schedules as pseudo bye weeks.

Sure, what happened to ND will happen from time to time - and especially considering these can be scheduled up to a decade in advance, but i'd rather that happen to a team if it means eradicating what is going to happen to a team like (for instance) Ohio State where sure their loss is to Va Tech, but nobody will be talking about Bama's win over West Carolina as reducing the impact of their record.

We're already starting to see this being addressed. Yes, FCS schools or "shit" FBS schools will always be on the schedule for "power" teams .... BUT they're also adding bigger schools too.

Clemson has ND, A&M, Auburn at least twice over the next 8 seasons.

TCU has successive home/away with Arkansas, OhSt, Cal starting in 2016.

Ohio State is gunning for it all ... they have successive home/away with Oklahoma, TCU, Oregon starting in 2016 and then will play ND/Texas home/away in 2022/2023.

A&M plays AzSt next season and then has successive home/away with UCLA and Clemson

The FCS school issue (especially with SEC teams) has always been a point of contention. Unfortunately, at least for now, much of the SEC thinking is bearing out as truth (or at least enough truth it doesn't matter yet).

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I think putting emphasis on who you beat will stop teams from putting a couple FCS teams on their schedules as pseudo bye weeks.

Sure, what happened to ND will happen from time to time - and especially considering these can be scheduled up to a decade in advance, but i'd rather that happen to a team if it means eradicating what is going to happen to a team like (for instance) Ohio State where sure their loss is to Va Tech, but nobody will be talking about Bama's win over West Carolina as reducing the impact of their record.

We're already starting to see this being addressed. Yes, FCS schools or "shit" FBS schools will always be on the schedule for "power" teams .... BUT they're also adding bigger schools too.

Clemson has ND, A&M, Auburn at least twice over the next 8 seasons.

TCU has successive home/away with Arkansas, OhSt, Cal starting in 2016.

Ohio State is gunning for it all ... they have successive home/away with Oklahoma, TCU, Oregon starting in 2016 and then will play ND/Texas home/away in 2022/2023.

A&M plays AzSt next season and then has successive home/away with UCLA and Clemson

The FCS school issue (especially with SEC teams) has always been a point of contention. Unfortunately, at least for now, much of the SEC thinking is bearing out as truth (or at least enough truth it doesn't matter yet).

That's my point - I'm glad this is happening, and if it means that you schedule a series with a team that happens to not be very good on that particular year, unlucky. But i'd rather that than the FCS scheduling.

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