2010 College Football Thread

[HailtotheYo]

Stanford is a very good, complete team ... probably one of the most complete teams in the nation. That's why they look so damned good. There certainly are cracks here and there and they certainly don't have the athletes that most of the other teams in the Pac 10 do, but they [cliche warning] don't beat themselves. They do what hardly any team in the nation does. They force you to beat them. You can get away with slightly lesser athletes if you've got a top 5 QB and you execute flawlessly. That's what Stanford does. That's why they're dangerous. They aren't going to go on a hot streak or a cold streak. They're going to play very well every week.

UCLA has shown the last two weeks the danger of the word potential. This is what they potentially could be like. Yes, Texas is "down" in relative terms. Before, they've been able to rely on the skill and abilities of their athletes to get by and skate over their issues. Not anymore. They've turned over too many people. When you get a squad with the talent (like UCLA) that all of a sudden starts clicking (see: the Bruin run game) and you're in trouble. UCLA got their foot in the door and then bust it down. The lack of a run game from Texas was finally exposed for being as bad as it really is. This is an issue 3yrs in the making. The problem for UCLA is going to come in Pac 10 play (as already illustrated by Stanford). A more complete team is still going to beat them up a bit (Oregon/Stanford/Zona to a lesser extent). Sure they've got this game against Texas but they've already got the drubbing from Stanford as well. It is going to be a big mixed bag by the end of the year I think, but they are certainly finally turning corners. They're going to find that passing game though.

I was impressed with Arkansas actually. I fear for A&M when they play in Dallas. This could be just like last year unfortunately. Bama's one real flaw was exposed (secondary) but I don't know that anyone left on their schedule can really do anything about it.

Also, Boise St ... seriously ... people are having to pull shit out of other people's asses to continue to give reasons as to, why not. Also, Nevada's drubbing of Cal and 4-0 start certainly is only making the case for Boise St stronger (they're #25 now). Their strength of schedule as it stands now is actually in the 40's (exact number was mentioned by Holtz on Gameday Final) rather than the 100's that every thinks it is in. In summary, go die in a fire Mark May ... you're an idiot that borders on the line of making Kiper tolerable.

Penn St is lucky as all hell. If Pierce doesn't get hurt, Temple beats them.

[Lowerdeck]

On ESPN, there was some chart which was also showing that currently the WAC with Boise, Nevada, and Fresno is stronger than the ACC and the Big East.

And let's face it: Boise and Nevada could beat any team in either one of those conferences right now.

[Meacon Keaton]

I would argue that a healthy and eligible (lol butch and his criminals) North Carolina team could give Boise a workout, and beat Nevada, but yeah, one team out of twenty is still pretty impressive.

[HailtotheYo]

One more reason why we shit on the Big East (courtesy of Mr Forde with emphasis added by myself):

Conference we talked about too much: The Big East (9). What little preseason buzz the league generated was too much in retrospect, given the wreckage of a 1-11 record against opponents from other BCS conferences. (The ACC continues to run a competitive second in the race for Worst Big-Time League.) Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Connecticut have been the most disappointing to date, owning a combined one victory over FBS opponents -- and the skin on the wall is Buffalo's, which is a pretty shabby skin.

I will give some respect to the fact that Cincy and UConn have played two really tough games. Cincy played a hell of a game against Oklahoma, and UConn kind of had Mr Shoelace sprung on them and were a fumble inside the 10 away from really taking control of that game.

However, close -> horseshoes/hand grenades [/cliche]

=====

After the South Carolina/Auburn game I'm still sold on BOTH teams. SC's defense is just good, period. Despite that Cam Newton is just as good. I really like both of those squads.

Huge, Huge, HUGE freaking games this week:

Florida/Bama - while 'Bama had their secondary exposed, Florida's best weapons aren't in the passing game and that's going to be the difference - Bama by 9

Stanford/Oregon - Oregon is explosive BUT, Tennessee showed that a complete team will give them fits and AZST showed what a team with equal talent can do to them ... Stanford is the perfect mix of the two - Stanford by 5

Oklahoma/Texas - very interesting, especially after UCLA said hello ... focus will be on the LACK of a Longhorn offense but truth be told, Oklahoma's defense is the drizzling shits right now (97th) ... plus, this game now has the level of the 'old' Texas/ATM rivalry ... nothing is out of the question but I do feel that Oklahoma's offense will be the difference after a rough start to the game - Oklahoma by 11

VT/NCST - no, not a misprint ... NCST is Stanford with slightly less talent all around ... we all know what is there for VT, but the really important thing is that this game also impacts Boise St ... I love Tommy O'B as a coach, but VT has a few statements to make to save their season and they will in this game - VT by 10

[Meacon Keaton]

Robert Marve is out for the season with a Torn ACL, which means if Purdue's season wasn't already done, it is now.

I'm only putting this in here, to gloat a little, because the little prick did a flip in the endzone against Notre Dame, despite the fact we were beating them by two touchdowns. Let's see you do a flip now, bitch!

[Blaze09]

Marve being out means Michigan BETTER be bowl eligible this year...

unless Pudure remembers Justin Siller is still on the roster

[HailtotheYo]

wow A&M .... really ? ... fucking wow.

[HailtotheYo]

double post meh:

More FBS Schools ?

App St is looking into it and Montana/Georgia Southern are still toying with it.

Holy shit yes please. These three programs (in my opinion) are the exact type of programs that I think could be successful in the move up.

EDIT -

also:

New athletic director Greg McGarity canceled a home-and-home with Oregon this week.

Just one more thing to fuel my (while still true but to a lesser extent the SEC is the top league, however they'd better get off their ass and actually play people out of the region like everyone else or they'll quickly find themselves looking up at someone) SEC opinion.

The SEC this year will play exactly ONE game outside of the region (Arkansas VS A&M @ JerryWorld and even that's stretching the limit for Arkansas as being outside the region) .... also, the only SEC schools that don't play a bottom feeding or worse rated FBS, or FCS school IN NOVEMBER .... Ole Miss/Miss St/Vandy (although the Vols get a break because Vandy is always backloaded on the schedule). Consequently they are three of the lower schools in recent years in the conference. HHHmmmmm.

Only 'Bama, Tennessee, and Auburn have played anyone of real stature (Penn St, Oregon, Clemson) but all of the games were at home .... and the Florida/FSU game doesn't count in this debate as neither does South Carolina/Clemson because backyard rivalries are always in a seperate bucket of mess.

The Pac gets off its ass and plays people, the Big 12 does it, the ACC does it, even the Big East freaking does it (although they should try the in house route) ..... but not the "kingpin" conference of CFB. Go figure.

[Lowerdeck]

I believe Villanova is rumored to be considering a jump to the Big East in football. Temple might want to consider following them, especially after they slapped UConn stupid and should have beat Penn State.

[Hajjhowe]

Temple got booted not long ago though, no? Although if they left it would give Youngstown State a chance to get into the MAC which is long overdue.

[HailtotheYo]

Temple indeed got the boot (it was just the football program, as they are A-10 members in all other sports) ... but they kept Rutgers around despite Rutgers being just as bad at the time.

If things continued to move forward as they have with the conference shuffle, I think the Big East grabbing Temple/a moving up Villanova would be smart.

[Blaze09]

I feel the sudden urge to break into Denard's dorm room and cover it in bubble wrap and/or packing peanuts. He's gonna get hurt every week it seems.

Can we please put this team away.

[Powerhart]

WTF IS GOING ON WITH THE TENNESSEE/LSU GAME!? The Vols players were gone already.

[Powerhart]

LSU SCORES!? WHAT THE FUCK!?

[darkrayne]

Holy Cow!! Tenn blew it!! they had 13 players on the field when the ball was snapped.

[naiwf]

This Stanford/Oregon game is living up to the hype. Quick strike TDs, an onside kick in the first half, and no signs of the defenses being able to hold either team under 40.

[HailtotheYo]

Florida/Bama - while 'Bama had their secondary exposed, Florida's best weapons aren't in the passing game and that's going to be the difference - Bama by 9

Stanford/Oregon - Oregon is explosive BUT, Tennessee showed that a complete team will give them fits and AZST showed what a team with equal talent can do to them ... Stanford is the perfect mix of the two - Stanford by 5

Oklahoma/Texas - very interesting, especially after UCLA said hello ... focus will be on the LACK of a Longhorn offense but truth be told, Oklahoma's defense is the drizzling shits right now (97th) ... plus, this game now has the level of the 'old' Texas/ATM rivalry ... nothing is out of the question but I do feel that Oklahoma's offense will be the difference after a rough start to the game - Oklahoma by 11

VT/NCST - no, not a misprint ... NCST is Stanford with slightly less talent all around ... we all know what is there for VT, but the really important thing is that this game also impacts Boise St ... I love Tommy O'B as a coach, but VT has a few statements to make to save their season and they will in this game - VT by 10

So uh, VT won by 11 and Oklahoma won by 8

... as it stands, the other two predictions look pretty good as well.

Wazzu damn near brought UCLA back to earth, Michigan State has a shot at winning the Big 10, and LOL Big East again - Tulane > Rutgers ....

[naiwf]

The Oregon defense HOLDS!

It's 28-24 Stanford w/3:59 left in the first half. Oregon has turned it over twice (Stanford scored 14 as a result) and they still have a chance to take the lead before the break after making ONE defensive stand thanks to the onside kick they recovered. Crazy game.

[Meacon Keaton]

I'm glad Florida is showing everyone in the nation how crap their team is this year. They could easily have two losses so far. I'm beyond aggravated that NBC didn't have the Notre Dame game this afternoon. Turning back and forth between the Irish, Alabama/Florida, USC/Washington, and Oregon/Stanford is bogus.

[naiwf]

Stanford led this game 21-3 early on . . . since then Oregon has outscored them 42-10, and made it look rather easy.

If the Ducks don't blow this in the last 14+ minutes, I'd be stunned if they don't leapfrog at least Boise State. It's likely that they could climb to # 2, since 'Bama is probably going to collect a lot more 1st place votes from OSU after dismembering "#7" Florida while the Fuckeyes struggled today.

Edited October 3, 2010 by naiwf