College Football Bragging Rights Thread

[Gokul43201]

There, there ...

 

[ZapperZ]

Since UW is my alma mater, let me just say "GO BADGERS!" I just wish they don't get into anymore of the Minnesota-type game. My heart can't take it.

Zz.

 

[Moonbear]

I have to thank you guys for this thread. It filled me in with just enough information about yesterday's games to "fake it" with the guys I was hanging out with last night. One of my friends called and invited me to join her...she is friends with a bunch of engineering grad students...so I got to meet a bunch of new people last night, but they were all talking about football when I first got there, so I was able to throw in a few comments like, "yep, it seemed there were a lot of good games today."

 

[Physics_wiz]

Bleh. I could do without the games. I wouldn't mind doing the tailgate parties, but people here seem to take the games too seriously and I'm just starting to get irritated that I can't just get into the lab and get my work done without having to navigate around all the football traffic (on the up-side, the parking lot I'm usually assigned to park in is used for football parking, so I get a special permit for game days to park right up next to the building I work in...the door closest to my lab even ). It's the only day I don't have to hike up a mountain from the parking lot to my lab.
I don't even know how to get tickets here yet (I didn't look into it because I thought it would be cold by now and I'm not into the sitting in bleachers freezing thing so only usually go to the first few games of the season if I go to any). I just got information on basketball tickets yesterday, so I probably started too late to get information on football tickets.
I visited a friend (post-doc in our lab) downtown after work (tried to suggest I should fix her up with you but she found some MD in Syracuse this week...sorry Gokul, I tried. I thought you'd be her type, and Columbus is closer than Syracuse.)

No you can't do without the games! Yesterday's game was AWESOME! Everyone was leaving thinking the game was over when it was 7-24 and then when we had 8 mins left everyone was running back to see WVU's huge comeback. We had a min left when we got the score up to 24 to tie Louisville and then went in three OT's. No one believed what was going on and everyone was cheering like crazy. You've GOT to go to the next two games. BTW, www.wvugame.com to get tickets.

 

[Moonbear]

No you can't do without the games! Yesterday's game was AWESOME! Everyone was leaving thinking the game was over when it was 7-24 and then when we had 8 mins left everyone was running back to see WVU's huge comeback. We had a min left when we got the score up to 24 to tie Louisville and then went in three OT's. No one believed what was going on and everyone was cheering like crazy. You've GOT to go to the next two games. BTW, www.wvugame.com to get tickets.

Next two games? One is a Wednesday! I have experiments to do and can't just pick up and leave in the middle of them (Why oh why did they pick a weekday?! Geez, how are employees supposed to get work done?). The other one is Thanksgiving. Shouldn't people be home with their families, not hanging around for football? I never understood why there are games on a holiday that is supposed to be celebrated with family...the players should be allowed to go home and eat turkey like everyone else.

 

[Gokul43201]

I never understood why there are games on a holiday that is supposed to be celebrated with family...the players should be allowed to go home and eat turkey like everyone else.

Hello ? What'll the rest of us watch while we're eating turkey (with our families) ?

 

[Moonbear]

Hello ? What'll the rest of us watch while we're eating turkey (with our families) ?

We never turned on football on Thanksgiving in my family. It was considered rude to watch TV and ignore the guests (or to be a guest and help yourself to watching the host(ess)' TV).

 

[Gokul43201]

We never turned on football on Thanksgiving in my family. It was considered rude to watch TV and ignore the guests

Poor guests ! Did they ever come back ?

 

[Moonbear]

Poor guests ! Did they ever come back ?

Yep, every year. It didn't matter, even if we went to one of the other relative's houses, it was the same. I only have one cousin who is really into football, but even he understands that family gatherings are for family, not watching TV. They should play the games the Friday after Thanksgiving when everyone is sitting around overstuffed on leftover turkey from the day before with nothing better to do (I might even watch football that day...it's better than the other national past-time of going to overcrowded malls on that day. )

 

[Gokul43201]

Most of the games are on the Saturday after. A very select couple of games happen on Thursday nite.

 

[LeBrad]

There, there ...

The real loss was Derrick Williams breaking his arm on the final Penn State series of the game. Out for the season.

 

[Moonbear]

Most of the games are on the Saturday after.

That's more reasonable. Let them go be with their families then come back on the weekend for a game.

A very select couple of games happen on Thursday nite.

Shouldn't have to be college sports...let the kids go home for the holiday. They should leave that for the pro teams...for what they get paid, one should expect to have to work holidays.

 

[ZapperZ]

That's more reasonable. Let them go be with their families then come back on the weekend for a game.
Shouldn't have to be college sports...let the kids go home for the holiday. They should leave that for the pro teams...for what they get paid, one should expect to have to work holidays.

No one tells Moonbie about the college bowl games, where most of the BIG ones occur over the X-mas/New Year holidays!

:)

Zz.

 

[loseyourname]

Moonbear, your alma mater is bowl eligible for the first time since 1978! Go Scarlet Knights! Greg Schiano is turning things around in America's worst conference outside of the Big-12 North.

So how about those Bruins? Four consecutive 4th quarter comebacks; it's almost not even suspenseful anymore. The annual end of the year showdown with USC is shaping up to be huge, in what could be a meeting between two undefeated teams.

In other news, D.J. Shockley goes down and the Georgia Bulldogs follow suit. Alabama, USC, Texas, Virginia Tech, and UCLA stand alone as the only unbeatens now. Texas and UCLA both survived scares this week. Looking ahead, there aren't too many big matchups next week. Tennessee heads to Notre Dame, looking to avenge last year's home loss to the Irish. Given the way the Vols looked against South Carolina tonight in Knoxville, chances are they get destroyed in South Bend. The Cal-Berkeley Golden Bears head up to Eugene to face the Oregon Ducks. Oregon looked to be on schedule for a 10-1 year before the loss of Kellen Clemens. Can they pull it together and get a win against the only ranked opponent left on their schedule?
Two games, however, stand above the rest. Penn State hosts the Wisconsin Badgers with first place in the Big-10 on the line. If the Nittany Lions win, the conference title and a BSC berth are within sight, with nothing left but a road game against the Michigan State Spartans. Wisconsin, on the other hand, would still have to face a tough Iowa team that has a penchant for finishing strong.

The game of the week, however, takes place in the ACC. The Miami Hurricanes head up to Blacksburg to face the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Hurricanes stand as the best remaining threat to the Hokies short of whoever they may face in their bowl game this year. A resounding win might move them into 2nd place, ahead of a Texas team that stands to take some serious hits in the computer rankings over the next month, with nothing but cream puffs left on their schedule. Whoever wins this game also controls their own destiny in the ACC Coastal division.

My picks:

California 28
Oregon 21

I like the Ducks. They've played tough in every game this year, and I'd love to see them get a BSC at-large bid, but it's hard to see them winning without Clemens against a tough Bears team.

Notre Dame 27
Tennessee 13

The Vols still have a very tough defense, but they have yet to face an opponent with the kind of complete offense that the Irish boast. On the other side of the ball, it's hard to see how they're going to move it. Notre Dame is vulnerable in the secondary, but the Vols have no passing game whatsoever.

Penn State 41
Wisconsin 28

The Badgers will get a wake-up call next week. They haven't been able to stop people all year, and Penn State's superior speed and playmaking ability is going to show. Brian Calhoun will suffer the fate of Lawrence Maroney against the Nittany Lions if Wisconsin can't muster something out of John Stocco.

Virginia Tech 21
Miami 6

This game will be hard fought, but the Hokies defense will stifle a Miami team that is still finding itself offensively. I look for the Hurricanes to largely hold Tech in check as well, but at least one defensive/special teams touchdown will enlarge the margin of victory. This could be the week that Virginia Tech passes Texas in the standings, with a solid win over a top ten opponent (a legit top ten opponent, not Texas Tech). These guys gave USC a run for the their money in last year's season opener and I think they'd be the best matchup. Texas might have to settle for either Alabama or LSU, depending on who makes it out of the SEC.

My early BSC predictions:

USC v. Virginia Tech in the Rose Bowl
Texas v. LSU in the Sugar Bowl
Penn State v. Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl
West Virginia v. Alabama in the Orange Bowl

Other Big Bowls:

Ohio State v. Florida in the Capitol One Bowl
Iowa v. Georgia in the Outback Bowl
Colorado v. Auburn in the Cotton Bowl
Louisville v. Florida State in the Gator Bowl
UCLA v. Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl
California v. Michigan in the Sun Bowl
Wisconsin v. Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl

 

[LeBrad]

I would love to see us play Notre Dame. And after the Big 10 sweeps its bowl games, we will finally get some respect!

 

[Entropy]

Oh, man you should have been at Florida state when we beat Maimi. Holy crap it was crazy!

 

[GCT]

currently at GA tech but for now I think I'll let the bulldogs represent my team...go uga dogs! oh yeah!

 

[Moonbear]

Moonbear, your alma mater is bowl eligible for the first time since 1978! Go Scarlet Knights! Greg Schiano is turning things

Holy crap! I mean, yay!

RU Rah Rah! RU Rah Rah!
Hoorah hoorah, Rutgers Rah!
Upstream red team, red team upstream,
Rah, rah, Rutgers Rah!

 

[SpaceTiger]

Mmmmm...the sweet smell of rancid cheese. Michael Robinson and Tony Hunt are really impressive, I'm glad the latter is only junior.

 

[loseyourname]

Well, I'm probably going to have to take back that pick of Virginia Tech overtaking Texas. With Florida St. and Boston College both losing today, their computer rankings will take a hit. Even if they beat the crap out of Miami and Florida State, it probably won't be enough. Especially if Texas keeps winning games by 60 points.

I really hope the dumb-ass Big-12 doesn't throw another cupcake into the BCS title game by virtue of beating up on a crappy conference. First, Nebraska over Oregon, then Oklahoma twice, first over a more deserving USC, then over a more deserving Auburn. If Texas gets there and lays an egg, there needs to be a new rule put in place forbidding the Big-12 champion from playing for the title. I can't say the Longhorns won't deserve it, though. Even though Virginia Tech will have played a tougher schedule, Texas looks as good as anyone out there. I think the argument for Alabama is all but moot even if they win out. The SEC offenses are just pathetic this year, aside from Auburn and Georgia (when Shockley plays). Watching them go out and put up anywhere from 3-14 points against each other, then watching Arizona State put up 31 on LSU, Notre Dame put up 41 on Tennessee, and USC put up 70 on Arkansas, it really makes you wonder why they can't score on each other, but actual good offenses don't seem to have any trouble. If FSU can run the score high on Florida, that'll really make the conference look bad.

 

[Gokul43201]

Hey LYN, you must be watching UCLA vs Arizona. Well...what do you think ? Another fourth quarter miracle ?

EDIT : I think I'm now ready to put down money against UCLA.

 

[Gokul43201]

Speaking of bowl games, if WVU gets walloped by whoever, I think the Big East ought to lose its bowl eligibility.

 

[loseyourname]

Hey LYN, you must be watching UCLA vs Arizona. Well...what do you think ? Another fourth quarter miracle ?

EDIT : I think I'm now ready to put down money against UCLA.

Actually, it's not being televised here. I'm watching the Virginia Tech v. Miami game right now. UCLA looks done, though, from the coverage on yahoo. The Pac-10 is going to get a lot stronger next year if Arizona can keep up the level of play they've had since Tuitama has taken over at QB. They already had a strong defense.

 

[SpaceTiger]

Hey LYN, you must be watching UCLA vs Arizona.

Whoa, not a pretty way to go down...

We may have lost to Michigan in the last second, but it looks like this was decided in the first.

 

[Gokul43201]

Az 45, UCLA 7 - Arizona looks like their going to rack up over 700 yards of offense in this game, if things go anything like they have so far.

VT - UM is showing all the signs of being a defensive slugfest. I wonder if both teams together will get half of Arizona's total offensive yards...

 

[russ_watters]

How did I not venture into this thread before? Perhaps I was too hung up on the Eagles. That's over...

Penn State.
Navy.

 

[russ_watters]

Army 27, Air Force 24.

The Army-Navy game matters this year (sorta).

 

[dduardo]

Looks like VT isn't doing to well

Go Canes!

 

[BobG]

Arrggh!

Kansas beats the Bugeaters for the first time since man has walked on the moon. Army beats Air Force in the Springs for the first time since Ted Koppel brought us Nightline.

I think it's time to give up on this thread and go make fun of the Eagles.

 

[loseyourname]

So much for the USC/UCLA showdown of unbeatens at the end of the year. And so much for Virginia Tech. It looks like the rest of the season is a countdown to USC v. Texas. Let's hope both teams stay healthy and the Longhorns put up more of a fight than the Sooners did last year.

By the way, that was a great decision Nebraska made letting go of Solich. All he did was win 9 or 10 games every year.

 

[loseyourname]

So, the BCS is officially letting out a huge sigh of relief. Alabama's undefeated season is over, leaving only Texas and USC, neither of which is likely to slip up in their final two games (both rolled to easy wins today). The Big-12 is showing its incompetence again this year, with Texas Tech falling to Ok State and north power Colorado down early to Iowa State. Meanwhile, another 80+ point Pac-10 shootout is shaping up early between UCLA and Arizona State.

So, there could be a lot of movement around the bottom of the rankings this week, with Florida State, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and possibly Colorado all losing and falling out of the top 25. Florida and Texas Tech will likely take big falls, and Louisville, Fresno State, South Carolina, and Michigan should all take a nice jump up the rankings.

The national championship picture is all but settled now. Barring a huge upset of Texas, or possibly UCLA seriously stepping up in the last week of the season, the Trojans and Longhorns will be facing each other in the Rose Bowl. It should be a really good matchup. As bad as the Big-12 has been, I do think that Texas will put to rest the memories of Nebraska and Oklahoma failing to show up over the last several years.

Penn State has probably won the Big-10. It's hard to see them losing to Michigan State in their final game. Michigan/Ohio State should be another really good game this year; Michigan stepping up and ensuring that the Buckeyes do not sneak into a BCS bowl is certainly not out of the question.

The Big East is still up in the air and might come down to the final week's matchup between South Florida and West Virginia. The conference has to be praying that the Mountaineers step up so that the Big East is able to put a legitimate team into their BCS bowl.

The SEC is really the only interesting race left. LSU controls its own destiny in the west now, and Georgia has won the east, barring a huge collapse. The championship game matchup should be a dandy.

I can only surmise that Miami will avenge their season-opening loss and take Florida State to the woodshed when the ACC championship game comes around. The 'Noles have not looked good the last couple of weeks.

Anyway, my picks at this point for the conference champs:

ACC: Miami
SEC: LSU
Big-10: Penn State
Big-12: Texas
Pac-10: USC
Big East: West Virginia

BCS at large: Notre Dame, Alabama (Virginia Tech, Oregon, and Ohio State all have a shot here)

Rose Bowl: USC v. Texas
Fiesta Bowl: Penn State v. Notre Dame
Orange Bowl: Miami v. Alabama
Sugar Bowl: LSU v. West Virginia

Capitol One Bowl: Ohio State v. Georgia
Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma v. Florida
Outback Bowl: Michigan v. South Carolina
Peach Bowl: Florida State v. Auburn
Sun Bowl: Minnesota v. UCLA
Holiday Bowl: Oregon v. Texas Tech
Alamo Bowl: Colorado v. Wisconsin

Game of the week: The epic battle of great defenses between Alabama and LSU did not disappoint. JaMarcus Russell stepped up big. An honorable mention has to go to Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks, stepping up and taking care of the Gators. That's two wins against the SEC east's 'big three,' and the 'Cocks were not far from beating Georgia, either.

 

[BobG]

As bad as the Big-12 has been, I do think that Texas will put to rest the memories of Nebraska and Oklahoma failing to show up over the last several years.

In 2001, was there any team that would have looked better against Miami than Nebraska did? If you judge by the NFL draft, that Miami team has to go down as the greatest ever in NCAA history and they nearly pulled off a repeat the next year. Considering how all of the challengers played the final few weekends of the season, either there was no respectable number 2 team in the nation or else they were so intimidated by Miami that they were all trying to get out of the number 2 slot.

 

[tribdog]

Go Mesa Comm College
go weber State U.
go Southern Oregon State
go University of Nevada, Reno
go Boise State U.

 

[loseyourname]

Big-12 Championship:

Colorado - 62
Nebraska - 36

Fiesta Bowl

Oregon - 38
Colorado - 16

Who do you think deserved to go? I'm not saying Oregon would have beat Miami, but given the evidence, it seems they would have made a better showing than Nebraska. USC probably would have beaten LSU two years ago, and there is no way Auburn allows 55 last year. For whatever reason, the BCS just favors the Big-12.* Thankfully, if there are indeed only two unbeatens this year, there won't be any questions regarding who deserves to go to the Rose Bowl.

*Note Colorado's and Texas Tech's high computer rankings this year. Tech plays the easiest schedule in the land, gets destroyed by the one legitimate team they play, and now lose to a terrible Ok State team. Colorado lost once again, and even before, what were they doing ranked 11th in the computers? Just one case in comparison: Colorado v. Notre Dame. Both have two losses. Notre Dame loses one game, by 3 points, in double overtime, and another, by 3 points, on the last play of the game to the #1 team in the country. Granted, Colorado's two losses had come to the #2 and #3 ranked teams out there, but they were by 20 and 25 points each. Clearly, one team belongs on the same field with the top teams and one doesn't. I guess the computers don't have any way of factoring that in.

 

[Gokul43201]

Go Mesa Comm College
go weber State U.
go Southern Oregon State
go University of Nevada, Reno

Yeah, go...them !

go Boise State U.

Bad day for Boise State...your timing's off Tribby.

LYN : Are you calling for an Ohio State win over Michigan, then ?