RUN IT UP, BABY!!!

I want Arizona state to be ranked as high as possible for the pac 12 game. That way whoever wins should get a playoff spot.

Auburn better hurry up or they are going to fall to Texas a&m

As I feared, Ohio State jumped over ASU in the coaches' poll. Ohio State has played one top 25 team. ASU has played five. I know the poll that comes out on Tuesday is the one that matters and ASU will be ranked higher, but to think Ohio State is better than ASU in 2014 because Woody Hayes won the Buckears a couple of national championships around 50 years ago is ignorant.

The coaches' poll is insignificant.  The coaches clearly don't have time to watch any games other than their own and their upcoming opponent.  Most of those votes are cast by student assistants in the Sports Information Department at their respective school.

forsberg_us wrote:

The coaches' poll is insignificant.  The coaches clearly don't have time to watch any games other than their own and their upcoming opponent.  Most of those votes are cast by student assistants in the Sports Information Department at their respective school.

All polls are insignificant except for one. The final pre-playoff CFB standings. Nothing else matters at all. I enjoy the CFB week to week update, because that lets me know how that group of people feels things shake out, and since they have the final say, that matters to me. I also appreciate the AP/Coaches polls until the CFB poll starts coming out, because it gives me a sense of where everyone else is early in the year. Once the CFB poll hits though, I don't care if the Coaches and the AP rank Oregon #115 in the standings. They don't matter at all.

Yeah I didn't really count on Oregon jumping anyone there, but I had the teams figured out right.

Alabama with a tight win over Mississippi State would be a bit difficult for ASU to beat, even if you do beat Oregon. You'll need to jump TCU or Alabama to get in, so you'd like them to be as weak as possible. Might have a better case for TCU (Although I keep hearing if Baylor wins out, they might jump TCU since they beat them head to head, but they have an ugly 14 point loss to unranked West Virginia).

"I still think the lack of a championship game is going to bite the Big XII in the ass, and that's going to make me laugh."

Especially since they've taken the "We don't need no stinkin' championship game; We determine our champion during regular season" tack.
The Big 12 doesn't have a title game because Nebraska, Missouri, Texas A&M and Colorado all bolted for better leagues and there aren't enough good teams left to support having two divisions to play a legitimate conference championship game.

"I came out of that game thinking we might actually get thumped by ASU in the championship game."

It's my pessimistic nature to believe that Oregon would be a heavy favorite.
And ASU still has to get there. The weather in Corvallis is supposed to be around 45 degrees, though the rain that was supposed to come on Saturday is now supposed to come on Friday, which is good news. Still, that's a cold temperature for a bunch of kids who are used to Tempe weather.
Wazoo without Halliday at home should be a layup, but then they have to get by UofA in Tucson. 
The presumptive Pac 12 championship game will likely be a home game for Oregon, at least in terms of crowd ratio. ASU couldn't even sell out for Notre Dame. Forget about more than a couple thousand diehards traveling to Santa Clara.

alz wrote:

Another note about the SEC. I know they have a lot of good schools, but I gotta be honest here. I don't believe they are all THAT good. I think they just get elevated because they are SEC teams. The only thing that's really clear to me is Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Miss, Miss St are all relatively close to each other in skill. Whether that means they should all crowd the top 10, or maybe they deserve to be around the 15-25 mark... I don't know. It's hard to compare outside of the conference when there aren't many quality games on anyone's schedule (out of conference).

The Out of Conference records suggest otherwise Alz

1) SEC (43-3)
vs Power5 (5-2), (4 remaining - ACC)
Wins over ranked (3) Kansas St, Wisconsin, Clemson
Losses to Oklahoma, Temple, Indiana.

2 ) PAC (29-5)
vs Power5 (6-2), 0 remaining
Wins over ranked (2) Michigan St, Note Dame
Losses to Notre Dame, Rutgers, Nevada, Boston College, Colorado St

3) B12 (22-8)
vs Power5 (4-6), 0 remaining
Wins over ranked (1) Minnesota
Losses to Florida St, Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, UCLA, BYU, Duke, North Dakota St

4) ACC (36-14)
vs Power5 (4-5), (4 remaining - SEC)
Wins over ranked (2) Ohio St, Notre Dame
Losses to Georgia, Notre Dame (x2), UCLA, ECU (x2), BYU, Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado St, Maryland, Utah St, La Monroe, Akron

5) B1G (40-14)
vs Power5 (5-9), 0 remaining
Wins over ranked (0)
Losses to Oregon, Notre Dame (x2), TCU, LSU, Virginia Tech, West Va, Utah, Washington, Iowa St, Cal, No Illisnois, Bowling Green, Cent Michigan


One other thing to consider.  The SEC West is 35-1 against teams outside of the division.  The only loss in that mix is Arkansas' loss to Georgia
 

forsberg_us wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

"I still think the lack of a championship game is going to bite the Big XII in the ass, and that's going to make me laugh."

Especially since they've taken the "We don't need no stinkin' championship game; We determine our champion during regular season" tack.
The Big 12 doesn't have a title game because Nebraska, Missouri, Texas A&M and Colorado all bolted for better leagues and there aren't enough good teams left to support having two divisions to play a legitimate conference championship game.

Allowing Texas to run the conference has led the Big XII down this path.  Texas wanted the biggest piece of pie under the old system and after launching the Longhorn Network (rather than working toward a Big XII network) wanted to increase the size of its piece and only its piece.  That led to the defections.  Now the main TV deals are divided equally, and the Big XII members are enjoying the size of their piece.  That left them with a problem.  Per NCAA rules, they can't have a conference championship game unless their at 12 teams.  In order to get to 12 teams, they have to cut the pie into 12 pieces instead of 10, thus shrinking the size of each piece.  They've resisted expanding the conference because there aren't really any teams that make sense (i.e., that bring a significant increase in television viewership) looking to jump conferences.  That leaves them pretty much stuck with their present situation.

 

FWIW, I was against the Gang of Four defecting from the Big 12 to what was at the time the Pac 10 (one Stoops per conference was enough) and I wasn't too thrilled about gaining Utah and Colorado, for that matter.
Losing A&M to the SEC was the real blow to the Big 12 because it took away the biggest intrastate rivalry in Texas. I know Oklahoma/Texas is a big deal, but A&M and Texas not playing each other every year is like, USC and UCLA not playing each other.

Fors I hear you, but I think you misunderstood me.

Going conference for conference like that doesn't tell me these guys are super elite. They could just be decent.

I don't really care about the conference as a whole, that includes teams like Tennessee, and Washington state that have no business being in the discussion. I just find it amusing that if teams in the SEC have great records, they are clearly the best. Yet Missouri had a dominant year there and they weren't super elite. If every team has a loss or 2 it is never even suggested that they aren't as good. It is because they all must be elite. That nonsense wouldn't fly anywhere else, and from what I see, I'm questioning the truth of it there this season.  It seems like every year A&M thrashes one of the towers without ever being that amazing themselves. That really shouldn't happen to title contenders. Arizona beat Oregon and i pretty much considered the season over. That's normal for me.

I just haven't seen a Cam Newton Auburn team here or a AJ Alabama tide team to scare me. Just a lot of teams that appear to be evenly matched but I'm not sold they should make up a third+ of the top 10. There are about 6 teams who can beat each other, all are top 25. Nobody is a clear killer though. And that cam newton auburn team only beat my ducks by a field goal, so I do give them respect.

I'm saying from watching them, and watching the pac 12. There's not much between them on the field. Nobody in that conference would house Oregon or Arizona state i don't think. Maybe they win but not by more then 7 in my opinion.

No I believe you're right with recruiting rankings, and they aren't 100% biased. 

I just with there was a better measure of how the teams really stack up to each other.

Trying to draw an accurate picture by watching Alabama/LSU or Notre Dame/FSU etc is a really terrible method with a lot of holes. 

I'm basically just saying there doesn't seem to be an elite team in the SEC, there hasn't been one in football outside of the SEC for close to 10 years now. It's news however that one may not exist inside the SEC. This could be the second straight title they don't win. There might be riots.