NCAA Football 2014 Thread

[Meacon Keaton]

...I hate you, Auburn.

[Maxx]

If TCU gets jumped and stays out of the Top 4, then someone is very deliberately screwing them over. Give that school a fair shot at winning a national title for once, fuck.

[Meacon Keaton]

They just crushed Texas and Ohio State struggled against an awful Michigan team. I think TCU has to be #4. Plus they're in a real conference now.

[gunnar hendershow]

Plus Ohio State has lost Barrett and still needs to win the Big 10 title. I think TCU is fine.

[HailtotheYo]

ACC swept their SEC rivals yesterday .... Just saying.

[The Buscher]

So unless something unforeseen happens, it'll be:

1. Alabama (Oregon should be #1 after a much more dominate win but, you know, SEC)

2. Oregon

3. Florida State

4. TCU

The only way I see TCU being left out is if Ohio State goes on to win its conference title game even with a third string QB. The committee has said that they will weigh conference title game wins into consideration so the Big 12 could get screwed in that regard. Another possibility: OSU wins and FSU loses to Georgia Tech in the ACC Title game. FSU may very well get left out in favor of both TCU and OSU, as everybody on the committee knows that FSU have struggled in damn near every game this year despite their record.

Bama/TCU would be a pretty fun playoff game. I'm sure Bama/Oregon is what the media would want to see in the finals so that they can hype up the Bama defense vs. the Oregon offense. We all know how that game will end.

Edited November 30, 2014 by Bad News Busch

[gunnar hendershow]

ACC swept their SEC rivals yesterday .... Just saying.

The only one of those that feels significant is Tech over Georgia. Kentucky, Florida, and South Carolina were all a step below their opponents. But it still definitely would have affected Miss State had the won a tight game over Ole Miss I think, now that's irrelevant.

I expect Bama, Oregon, FSU, and TCU in the final four. Possibly mixing up the order a little depending on how they play their conference championship games. Ohio State might lose the Big 10 championship and Tech is a very tough out for FSU. Of course Arizona already beat Oregon so it could feasibly happen again.

End of the day it's hard for me to look past Bama and TCU as the two likeliest champions, they're very well-balanced teams. Oregon has been playing great football but we've seen it so many times before where they come up against a top-tier defense and get crushed.

[DMN in the House]

You guys do know Baylor defeated TCU head to head and is lined up to win the conference, yes?

[Meacon Keaton]

Yup

[DMN in the House]

So, while I agree that TCU is probably the better team at this point, it's really hard to put them in if Baylor is out.

I think Tech could beat FSU, though, so it may not matter.

[Meacon Keaton]

Well the playoff committee said in the beginning that it's about getting the four best teams, not necessarily the four best records or anything like that.

Yes, Baylor beat TCU (by one or two?) and it was at Baylor. I think you'll be hard pressed to find anyone that thinks Baylor is the better team though. Plus if I'm not mistaken, TCU has been ranked higher than Baylor in every poll the Committee has released. I don't think Baylor made any kind of point of moving up after barely hanging on to beat friggin' Texas Tech.

I know where you're coming from though. Usually yeah, I would agree that a conference championship team gets in over the team in second. But if the committee is going to play the "best teams get in" card, then it has to be TCU over Baylor.

[gunnar hendershow]

Only Ohio State can leapfrog TCU, for Baylor to get in they need some helpful losses.

[Plubby]

TCU has collectively beaten their common schedule by more than Baylor has, who has a narrow win at home over TCU in their favour. I would argue that a season's worth of better performances is a better indicator than a single head-to-head game, as it's a greater sample size to show which is the better team.

[gunnar hendershow]

UAB clinched a spot in their 3rd bowl ever yesterday. Today it is rumored that a power play from the trustees is leading to the football program being shut down at season's end.

A power play spearheaded by Bear Bryant's son.

[Meacon Keaton]

The missing football player from Ohio State has been found dead, allegedly with what is being described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

[gunnar hendershow]

The missing football player from Ohio State has been found dead, allegedly with what is being described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Some of the stories coming out about him were really sad, and this confirms my worst fears.

[Meacon Keaton]

Yeah, apparently the night he disappeared he text his mother an apology for being an embarrassment or something to that effect. The whole thing is a damn shame.

[HailtotheYo]

ACC swept their SEC rivals yesterday .... Just saying.

The only one of those that feels significant is Tech over Georgia. Kentucky, Florida, and South Carolina were all a step below their opponents.

Yeah, but it's the bigger story surrounding the "SEC Bias" and this year's "yeah but FSU struggles and are only up there because they haven't lost" syndrome.

The ACC is 10 - 7 against the Power 5 and ND with wins over Ohio State, USC, Georgia, South Carolina, Oklahoma State, Florida, Kentucky, Kansas, and ND twice. The losses were to Georgia, Maryland, Iowa, Nebraska, UCLA, and ND twice.

I don't see the "weak" schedule to the extent that the Playoff group, media, and most 'other' fans do. The worst teams on that losses list are all 7-5 (maryland, iowa, ND) while Nebraska and UGA are good teams. If you take another couple of minutes and see what the breakdown of who won/lost to who and what the game was like (which I've done) and the picture gets even better.

You guys do know Baylor defeated TCU head to head and is lined up to win the conference, yes?

Kansas State has a record of going into people's homes and ruining things. They are a very good team and I wouldn't be surprised to see them yank the carpet out. That said:

Yes, Baylor beat TCU (by one or two?) and it was at Baylor. I think you'll be hard pressed to find anyone that thinks Baylor is the better team though. Plus if I'm not mistaken, TCU has been ranked higher than Baylor in every poll the Committee has released. I don't think Baylor made any kind of point of moving up after barely hanging on to beat friggin' Texas Tech.

I know where you're coming from though. Usually yeah, I would agree that a conference championship team gets in over the team in second. But if the committee is going to play the "best teams get in" card, then it has to be TCU over Baylor.

IF Baylor does beat KState, then you have BOTH conference title AND head to head in Baylor's favor. I feel that TCU is better .... but I just don't see how they can but TCU ahead of them IF Baylor beats KState and has the conference title to go along with the head to head win. That's almost impossible to justify with "Baylor only beat Tech by 2 and TCU put up 82 on them" ... SO ?

Baylor DEMOLISHED Oklahoma in Norman by 34 .... TCU won by 4 at home.

Baylor DEMOLISHED Kansas in Lawrence by 46 ... TCU won by 4 in Lawrence

So after the KState game (if Baylor wins) we'll have a third comparison. One that combined with the two above will give a pretty damn good picture.

===============

.... despite winning 9 games every season (67-27 overall) Bo Pelini has been fired at Nebraska. Granted, he fell short in big games but only Oregon has a better streak of winning seasons than Nebraska under Pelini and he even hit 10 wins three times. He was a hell of an improvement over Callahan for sure and at least got them back on their feet to say the least. Fine line though, and he hadn't been able to push through.

Maybe with both Pelini and Muschamp available .... A&M can get a decent D Coordinator

[gunnar hendershow]

I bet Pelini winds up at a "Group of Five" school, but Muschamp might actually go to College Station and stick around to boot.

[Meacon Keaton]

I wish we'd fire Van Gorder and pick up Muschamp.