College Football 2011

[ernierocker]

No matter how much Cowboys fans complain it is not going to change the fact that their team lost a game they had no business losing. They beat a 6-6 Iowa State and there is no controversy and no being forced to leave it up in the hands of a broken system.

 

And yes, Saban is a tool. Makes it even worse that he happens to be a great football coach

Edited December 7, 2011 by ernierocker

[DiSab]

^^^I stand corrected. Regardless, the BCS is still a complete cluster, and the NCG matchup this year just proves it. Hopefully the NCAA comes to its senses and starts to figure out a way a playoff system will work.

 

In other news, the Big East is rumored to add a number of teams to its conference, including some from the west coast. I wonder if that means they'll change the conference name? Might I suggest, the "Still Crummy at Football Conference?"

[larrygator]

I'm not happy about a rematch. If LSU loses by one, does that mean Alabama is the better team, even though they lost by 3 at home the last time. Granted the Superdome will be very LSU friendly. If Alabama had lost on the road to LSU, I'd feel better about a rematch, but they lost at home.

 

However, the ultimate role of the BCS is to get #1 versus #2 and I believe LSU and Alabama are the two best teams. That doesn't mean I agree with a rematch deciding the National Championship. I found the first game and be very exciting and riveting. I don't need a high scoring game to find the game exciting.

[ParkTrips]

However, the ultimate role of the BCS is to get #1 versus #2 and I believe LSU and Alabama are the two best teams. That doesn't mean I agree with a rematch deciding the National Championship. I found the first game and be very exciting and riveting. I don't need a high scoring game to find the game exciting.

As usual, Larry's analysis is spot-on!

 

No matter how much Cowboys fans complain it is not going to change the fact that their team lost a game they had no business losing. They beat a 6-6 Iowa State and there is no controversy and no being forced to leave it up in the hands of a broken system

another good post!

[CoasterGuy06]

I'm not happy about a rematch. If LSU loses by one, does that mean Alabama is the better team, even though they lost by 3 at home the last time. Granted the Superdome will be very LSU friendly. If Alabama had lost on the road to LSU, I'd feel better about a rematch, but they lost at home.

 

The Patriots beat the Giants at NY 38-35 to cap their perfect 16-0 season and drop the Giants to 10-6. yet the Giants beat them in the Super Bowl 17-14. Is this really any different?

 

Speaking of the Superdome....I'm really excited to be there and actually see a game from the stands. The last time I was there was when I was in Alabama's band for the 2009 Sugar Bowl and they had us in folding chairs on the sideline, although I guess that made the beatdown to Utah easier to swallow.

[Hilltopper39]

As much as I dislike the BCS, they really haven't gotten it wrong for the past 10 years or so. Every year the best team in the country has won the National Title, they may not have always played who I thought was the second best team, but the best team always has ultimately won.

 

I'm a little bitter towards the Bowl system this year because my alma mater, Western Kentucky, out of 72 teams bowl eligible for 70 bowl bids we were one of 2 bowl eligible teams (the other being Ball State) that got left out of a bowl game. We went 7-5 and finished 2nd outright overall in our conference but were left out, when the 1st 3rd and 4th place teams in our conference all received bowl bids. On top of that twelve teams that went 6-6, one team that went 6-7, and three teams that have already fired their coaching staff all received bowl bids. The bowl system isn't about the players, or the schools, or rewarding success, it's all about making money and who can sell the most tickets and hotel rooms.

[Jew]

The Patriots beat the Giants at NY 38-35 to cap their perfect 16-0 season and drop the Giants to 10-6. yet the Giants beat them in the Super Bowl 17-14. Is this really any different?

 

If we had a playoff system in place, and Alabama made it back to the title game through that process, no one would complain because it would be clear that they earned it. The way the system is now leaves whether or not they earned it up for debate.

 

As much as I dislike the BCS, they really haven't gotten it wrong for the past 10 years or so. Every year the best team in the country has won the National Title, they may not have always played who I thought was the second best team, but the best team always has ultimately won.

 

How can they be the best team if there is debate as to who was their most worthy oppenent? Most notably, we're all still waiting for a USC vs. LSU matchup...among all the other questionable #2 teams that made it through.

[Hilltopper39]

I'd love to see LSU/USC but USC isn't eligible this year... besides with 2 losses this season they probably wouldn't have been in contention for the title game anyways. USC is about to be really good again very soon I think, they still have better athletes than everyone in the Pac-12.

[Real]

The Patriots beat the Giants at NY 38-35 to cap their perfect 16-0 season and drop the Giants to 10-6. yet the Giants beat them in the Super Bowl 17-14. Is this really any different?

 

If we had a playoff system in place, and Alabama made it back to the title game through that process, no one would complain because it would be clear that they earned it. The way the system is now leaves whether or not they earned it up for debate.

 

As much as I dislike the BCS, they really haven't gotten it wrong for the past 10 years or so. Every year the best team in the country has won the National Title, they may not have always played who I thought was the second best team, but the best team always has ultimately won.

 

How can they be the best team if there is debate as to who was their most worthy oppenent? Most notably, we're all still waiting for a USC vs. LSU matchup...among all the other questionable #2 teams that made it through.

 

Bingo.

[Jew]

P.S.: Funny how now it's OK to have a rematch when it's two SEC teams, but not OK when it should have been OSU vs. Michigan back in 2007 (which incidentally was also an extremely close loss to the #1 team in the country on the road)...

Edited December 8, 2011 by Jew

[Hilltopper39]

Wasn't 2007 the year Michigan lost to App. State in week 1 and ended up going 8-4 in the regular season? Yeah....

[ernierocker]

^He is talking about the year both Michigan and OSU were undefeated going into their matchup at the end of the year and Florida went instead of Michigan. I believe that was actually 2006.

[CoasterGuy06]

If we had a playoff system in place, and Alabama made it back to the title game through that process, no one would complain because it would be clear that they earned it. The way the system is now leaves whether or not they earned it up for debate.

It IS a playoff....just a one game playoff. I really wish we would go to a plus one though.

 

P.S.: Funny how now it's OK to have a rematch when it's two SEC teams, but not OK when it should have been OSU vs. Michigan back in 2007 (which incidentally was also an extremely close loss to the #1 team in the country on the road)...

 

Different circumstances back then too. That was before the SEC had won 5 straight titles, and that was when the Big 10 ended their season 2 weeks before everybody else. Going into the final week you had one loss USC and one loss Florida. This year you have three quality one loss teams (sorry Boise). One was blew a 24-7 lead to a team they were favored to beat on the road by 27, One lost at home to their conference champion by 3 in OT, and the last lost at home to their conference champion by three TDs. It is not that hard to argue why Alabama got in over Oklahoma State and Stanford (not that I might be biased ).

 

USC is about to be really good again very soon I think, they still have better athletes than everyone in the Pac-12.

Depending on who all comes back next year they can make a good run, but their scholarship reductions haven't started yet. They will still get good players, but they won't have the depth a team like Oregon will have. A couple of injuries once those reductions kick in will really show on the field. I do have to say, I am impressed with what Kiffin has done in his 2 years. Never thought I would say that.

[Hilltopper39]

Ah, okay 2006, yeah that is a much better example for a one loss team that deserved to play for the championship but I think that this year Alabama is far and away the most qualified of the 1 loss teams to play for the title. I mean, is there any doubt in anyone's mind out there that Alabama isn't the 2nd best team in the country this year right now? I dislike the BCS as much as everyone else and think that a playoff system of some sorts would be incredible to watch as a fan, but I still think that for the most part the best team has won the title every year for the past 10 years.

[Hilltopper39]

It IS a playoff....just a one game playoff. I really wish we would go to a plus one though.

 

If there was a plus one this year I think Alabama would beat Oklahoma State and LSU would beat Stanford and we would still be seeing LSU/Alabam for the national title.

 

I would also like to point out that the past 2 national title LSU has won have all come in games in the Louisiana Superdome in 2002, 2006, and now in 2012 they are once again playing for the title in the Superdome.

 

I also believe that Les Miles has at in fact sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for unprecedented football success.

[CoasterGuy06]

It IS a playoff....just a one game playoff. I really wish we would go to a plus one though.

I also believe that Les Miles has at in fact sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for unprecedented football success.

THIS! LSU fans were really upset with him blowing their season in 2007, then EVERY body loses and they make it to the title game. 2008 was obviously disappointing for them and 2009 was decent, but man did he get lucky in 2010. 13 men on the field to beat Tennessee, the bounce fake field goal to beat Florida, etc. If those two plays go the other way does his team still play strong to end the year? Or do they lose those two plus their other close game to Alabama? Maybe an upset against Ole Miss?

 

Just think....they lose those two games in 2010....is Les Miles still the coach at LSU this year?

[Jew]

Ah, okay 2006, yeah that is a much better example for a one loss team that deserved to play for the championship but I think that this year Alabama is far and away the most qualified of the 1 loss teams to play for the title. I mean, is there any doubt in anyone's mind out there that Alabama isn't the 2nd best team in the country this year right now? I dislike the BCS as much as everyone else and think that a playoff system of some sorts would be incredible to watch as a fan, but I still think that for the most part the best team has won the title every year for the past 10 years.

 

We wouldn't be having this discussion if there wasn't doubt about who is the second best team in the country right now.

 

Also, interesting tidbit from the LA Times:

 

Alabama Coach Nick Saban voted Stanford No. 3 ahead of Oklahoma State, helping to create a wedge between his team and the team trying to catch his team in the BCS standings.

 

Boise State Coach Chris Petersen should not feel good about voting his team No. 5 and TCU — which beat his team — No. 18. That 13-position gap ranked the widest among the 59 voting coaches.

Edited December 8, 2011 by Jew

[DiSab]

^Which is why I think having the coaches' poll influence the BCS rankings is a major problem in an already problematic system.

[BeemerBoy]

Nick Saban has never been known as a laugh-a-minute fellow — the current head man at Alabama is wound about as tightly as any coach in recent history, and this was especially true when he coached the Miami Dolphins in 2005 and 2006.

 

Assembling a 15-17 record wasn't good enough for the Nicktator, who headed back to the collegiate ranks and found an environment in which his particular brand of human interaction actually seems to work.

 

According to former NFL fullback and current NFL Network analyst Heath Evans, the worst example of Saban's impersonal approach happened in 2005, when he actually stepped over a convulsing player after a practice. Evans relayed the story on Miami's 790 The Ticket on Tuesday.

 

Well, the first day of two-a-days. We had about a three-hour-plus practice in the morning in that south Florida sun. You guys know what it's like down there in late July, early August. And then that night we had another practice under the lights, if I recall I think it was about from 6 to 9.

 

Jeno James, our best offensive lineman at the time, comes in and collapses after practice, uh, vomiting all kinds of stuff that would make a billygoat puke, eyes rolled in the back of his head. Myself, about four other lineman are trying to carry him from the locker room, to the training room.

 

Obviously it's a moment of panic, everyone, you know, we don't know if this guy's, you know, gonna die, I mean, the whole deal. But he's so big and sweaty and heavy that we actually have to set him down in the hallway between the locker room and the training room.

 

Nick Saban literally just starts walking in, steps over Jeno James convulsing, doesn't say a word, doesn't try to help, goes upstairs, I don't know what he does. But then obviously they get Jeno 'trauma-offed' to the hospital.

 

Saban calls a team meeting about 10:30 that night, comes down and says, 'You know, the captain of the ship can never show fear or indecision, we've always gotta have an answer, and so I had to go upstairs, that's why I walked over Geno like that, I had to collect my thoughts and decide what's best for our team.'

 

And I'm thinking to myself, I think along with Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas and Yeremiah Bell and all these other guys going, 'Did he, does he really believe what he's just saying?' He showed no human emotion for one of his best players.

 

Evans played a handful of games for the Dolphins in 2005, and was eventually cut by Saban, an event that he called "the best thing that ever happened to my career, because obviously A) they had to pay me, and B) Bill Belichick picked me up and I learned more football than I ever thought I'd know — but that deciding moment kind of right there of how Nick Saban handled that, I think it always showed the team that ultimately he doesn't really care about any of us players.

 

"The guy's an amazing football coach at the college level," Evans concluded. "How he gets it done isn't my style of coaching or teaching. But ultimately, the guy's got some ways about him that I'm just like, 'Are you human?' I think he might be a robot.'"

 

To our knowledge, Saban has not commented on the allegations since they were made. We'll certainly keep you posted when and if he does.

 

The impression seems to be that Saban's another of the Bill Belichick disciples who got it wrong. As Evans said himself, the difference between the supposedly autocratic Belichick and the guys who worked under him and failed to get the full message is that Belichick is also a teacher who knows how to lead an organization to consistent success. Saban has found that at the college level, but the Jeno James story is just one example of the nightmarish Saban administration in Miami, and how everything went wrong.

 

Some folks just aren't built for the pros.

 

Source

 

I'll take the lesser of two evils. Go LSU.

[larrygator]

I'm not happy about a rematch. If LSU loses by one, does that mean Alabama is the better team, even though they lost by 3 at home the last time. Granted the Superdome will be very LSU friendly. If Alabama had lost on the road to LSU, I'd feel better about a rematch, but they lost at home.

 

The Patriots beat the Giants at NY 38-35 to cap their perfect 16-0 season and drop the Giants to 10-6. yet the Giants beat them in the Super Bowl 17-14. Is this really any different?

 

Hell yeah, it's different. Come on, do you really not see it?

[BeemerBoy]

^ Well, the Giants were voted into the SuperBowl that year by the league's coaches, press, and super computers. Oh, wait.

[shivtim]

Boise State trounced ASU last night. They didn't look perfect, but they didn't need to be. Remind me again why they're not in a BCS bowl, but Michigan and VA Tech are?

[Hilltopper39]

^ $$$$$$$$$$$$$

[shivtim]

Exactly. Except you left off a few $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Hilltopper39]

^yeah, it's kind of disgusting how bad the system has become. I mean I am NOT a fan of Boise State and am usually the first one to throw them under a bus in any kind of contender argument but they definitely had more business in a BCS game this year than Michigan or Virginia Tech. I thought that any school from a non AQ conference ranked in the top 12 automatically got a BCS bid anyways? And among teams with 2 losses Arkansas might have had a better resume than Michigan or Va Tech, but bowls don't matter for anything other than selling tickets and hotel rooms.