BCS Bowl Thread

[TruffleShuffle]

I'm not talking about the final polls. If you're going to look at rankings, you must do so when the teams were selected for BCS bowls. That means before Penn State's victory over Tennessee. Before the Tennessee game, Penn State hadn't beaten anybody.

 

And who did WVU, Rutgers and Louisville beat, except for each other once? Cincinnati, Navy and Miami? Hot damn!

[soccer10k]

Who did Wisconsin beat that made them a better team than Louisville? Who did Notre Dame beat to make them a better team than West Virginia?

 

Well, Louisville made the BCS because they won the conference, so nobody's arguing that they should've been in there. And most of us who aren't ND fans already agree that they didn't belong.

 

Well that's what Cuse's point was. You chose to single out his incorrect inclusion of LSU into the debate.

 

Fact is, it's unlikely a 2 loss Big East school would get picked over a 2 loss Big 10 or SEC school.

[soccer10k]

I'm not talking about the final polls. If you're going to look at rankings, you must do so when the teams were selected for BCS bowls. That means before Penn State's victory over Tennessee. Before the Tennessee game, Penn State hadn't beaten anybody.

 

And who did WVU, Rutgers and Louisville beat, except for each other once? Cincinnati, Navy and Miami? Hot damn!

 

You can't just discredit beating each other. At least Louisville, WVU, and Rutgers beat teams who were at least ranked at the end of the year.

[TruffleShuffle]

from a friend:

 

It was certainly nice of Michigan to honor the memory and legacy of Bo Schembechler by imitating his team's Rose Bowl performances.

[TruffleShuffle]

I'm not talking about the final polls. If you're going to look at rankings, you must do so when the teams were selected for BCS bowls. That means before Penn State's victory over Tennessee. Before the Tennessee game, Penn State hadn't beaten anybody.

 

And who did WVU, Rutgers and Louisville beat, except for each other once? Cincinnati, Navy and Miami? Hot damn!

 

You can't just discredit beating each other. At least Louisville, WVU, and Rutgers beat teams who were at least ranked at the end of the year.

 

Will WVU be ranked? Do they deserve to be?

[soccer10k]

I'm not talking about the final polls. If you're going to look at rankings, you must do so when the teams were selected for BCS bowls. That means before Penn State's victory over Tennessee. Before the Tennessee game, Penn State hadn't beaten anybody.

 

And who did WVU, Rutgers and Louisville beat, except for each other once? Cincinnati, Navy and Miami? Hot damn!

 

You can't just discredit beating each other. At least Louisville, WVU, and Rutgers beat teams who were at least ranked at the end of the year.

 

Will WVU be ranked? Do they deserve to be?

 

What do you mean will WVU be ranked? I'm talking about the end of the regular season (i.e. before the bowls). Do they deserve to be? Well, dropped 38 points on a team that was supposed to have a very good defense without their Heisman Trophy candidate running back. What do you think?

[TruffleShuffle]

What do you mean will WVU be ranked? I'm talking about the end of the regular season (i.e. before the bowls). Do they deserve to be? Well, dropped 38 points on a team that was supposed to have a very good defense without their Heisman Trophy candidate running back. What do you think?

 

my bad, I forgot that GT choked that game away

[Chocolate Milk]

What do you mean will WVU be ranked? I'm talking about the end of the regular season (i.e. before the bowls). Do they deserve to be? Well, dropped 38 points on a team that was supposed to have a very good defense without their Heisman Trophy candidate running back. What do you think?

 

my bad, I forgot that GT choked that game away

 

I think he's talking about Rutgers, who was coming off a 19 point loss to Cinncinati.

[NewUserName]

I still don't understand why a #4 team was even playing a #11 team in a BCS game. It's bad enough that there is no playoff but let's at least group the teams together better than this.

 

The #11 team really shouldn't have been there. They need to change the rule that prohibits a conference from only getting in two teams and we could have had a better match-up.

 

If they do that then the rich just get richer. You'd see just SEC, Big 10 and Big 12 teams fill all the slots.

 

Maybe - or maybe there'd be a deserving school from the Big East or one of the other conferences in there. Rutgers screwed themselves by losing to Cincy, and WVU screwed themselves by losing to USF. They had nobody to blame but themselves for not getting in the BCS this year.

 

Do you really think they would have taken them over ND, Michigan or Wisconsin if they (BE team) only had one loss? I don't.

 

Opps, I forgot LSU which somehow managed to lose 2 games too but I suppose that's ok.

 

Show me where a two-loss Big East school played four games like @Auburn, @Tennessee, @Arkansas and @Florida, and I'll agree that they belong in the BCS. Really, if your defending of the Big East has blinded you to the fact that LSU is indeed one of the five best teams in the nation, and is in the very least better than Rutgers and West Virginia, then we're really not going to get anywhere in this debate.

 

 

At Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas and soon to be Florida is not looking so hot. I made this arguement before the bowl season but the SEC did very little non-conference for all these teams to be considered Top Ten teams.

I think the SEC is probably the best conference but its not dramatically better.

 

As to who are Top 5 teams. After OSU, who is going to clearly be #1. You can put a blanket on several other teams to see who is 2nd and beyond. Depending on the week and the circumstances of the games I think LSU, USC, Florida, Michigan, Louisville are all about even. Yes I think Michigan would hopefully decide that they cant run 2 TE sets against top flight teams all game and win. I thought it was a lesson that they learned from past mistakes but I guess it may take one more embarrassing lose for it to sink in. They didnt do it against OSU and had a successful offensive day. For some reason after a 6 week layoff they thought it would work against USC. Anyway I digress. Also I do include Louisville in this. They have a very potent offense that all these schools would struggle against. Accept for the lose at Rutgers they really dominated their schedule. I certainly think that they could run with these other big boys.

 

One last thing. I have decided that I am not going to put much stock in Bowl games anymore. Really there is only one that matters. There is no sense of "urgency" in any other game. There is no if we lose it ends our National title hopes in any other game. Also with the 4 to 6 week wait for most of these games it really takes a lot from them. Yes College Football easily has the best regular season of any sport. Sadly it is made that way by having the biggest joke in sports as their postseason. Over half of the bowl games have a team that has a serious home field advantage. It is just not very compelling.

[TruffleShuffle]

What do you mean will WVU be ranked? I'm talking about the end of the regular season (i.e. before the bowls). Do they deserve to be? Well, dropped 38 points on a team that was supposed to have a very good defense without their Heisman Trophy candidate running back. What do you think?

 

my bad, I forgot that GT choked that game away

 

I think he's talking about Rutgers, who was coming off a 19 point loss to Cinncinati.

 

They scored 41 on Rutgers, and Slaton played most of that game.

[soccer10k]

What do you mean will WVU be ranked? I'm talking about the end of the regular season (i.e. before the bowls). Do they deserve to be? Well, dropped 38 points on a team that was supposed to have a very good defense without their Heisman Trophy candidate running back. What do you think?

 

my bad, I forgot that GT choked that game away

 

I think he's talking about Rutgers, who was coming off a 19 point loss to Cinncinati.

 

Ah yes, Rutgers. Are you referring to the Rutgers who promptly beat the living daylights out of Kansas State 37-10? The Rutgers that had almost three times as many yards (479-162) and a huge advantage in first downs (21-6) and TOP (36:20-23:40)? That Rutgers?

 

EDIT: Oops, misinterpreted what you said. I was talking about the WVU-GT bowl game.

[soccer10k]

What do you mean will WVU be ranked? I'm talking about the end of the regular season (i.e. before the bowls). Do they deserve to be? Well, dropped 38 points on a team that was supposed to have a very good defense without their Heisman Trophy candidate running back. What do you think?

 

my bad, I forgot that GT choked that game away

 

I think he's talking about Rutgers, who was coming off a 19 point loss to Cinncinati.

 

They scored 41 on Rutgers, and Slaton played most of that game.

 

Pat White didn't play though against Rutgers though.

[TruffleShuffle]

At Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas and soon to be Florida is not looking so hot.

 

Well I'd beg to differ on that, but please, show me the four games that Rutgers or WVU played that rival the difficulty of playing four road games against nationally-ranked oppoents. I'll be happy to admit that I'm wrong.

[TruffleShuffle]

Ah yes, Rutgers. Are you referring to the Rutgers who promptly beat the living daylights out of Kansas State 37-10? The Rutgers that had almost three times as many yards (479-162) and a huge advantage in first downs (21-6) and TOP (36:20-23:40)? That Rutgers?

 

Yeah, and that Kansas State, the same one that barely beat Illinois State and lost to, among other teams, Baylor and Kansas. Rutgers blowing out Kansas State proves that they're better than a mediocre team. We already knew that.

[soccer10k]

Ah yes, Rutgers. Are you referring to the Rutgers who promptly beat the living daylights out of Kansas State 37-10? The Rutgers that had almost three times as many yards (479-162) and a huge advantage in first downs (21-6) and TOP (36:20-23:40)? That Rutgers?

 

Yeah, and that Kansas State, the same one that barely beat Illinois State and lost to, among other teams, Baylor and Kansas. Rutgers blowing out Kansas State proves that they're better than a mediocre team. We already knew that.

 

I can play that game too. Kansas State beat Texas.

[TruffleShuffle]

Ah yes, Rutgers. Are you referring to the Rutgers who promptly beat the living daylights out of Kansas State 37-10? The Rutgers that had almost three times as many yards (479-162) and a huge advantage in first downs (21-6) and TOP (36:20-23:40)? That Rutgers?

 

Yeah, and that Kansas State, the same one that barely beat Illinois State and lost to, among other teams, Baylor and Kansas. Rutgers blowing out Kansas State proves that they're better than a mediocre team. We already knew that.

 

I can play that game too. Kansas State beat Texas.

 

Texas wasn't that good, they also lost at home to aTm.

[soccer10k]

At Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas and soon to be Florida is not looking so hot.

 

Well I'd beg to differ on that, but please, show me the four games that Rutgers or WVU played that rival the difficulty of playing four road games against nationally-ranked oppoents. I'll be happy to admit that I'm wrong.

 

Yeah, that SEC gauntlet may not be looking as hot as it used to but those four combined are still better than the top 4 teams Rutgers or WVU played.

[SouthSideRyan]

On ESPN Robert Smith brought up a great point. ND hasn't won a bowl game in over a decade.

 

It's because they are always playing someone they shouldn't. They are habitually overrated and only get into the bigger bowl games b/c they bring in a bigger audience.

 

The bowls are about how much money can be generated, not about getting the best teams matched up.

 

The entire BCS and all the bowls are a sham.

 

---------------

 

ND hasn't beaten a top ten team since Lou Holtz coached them. Forget joining The Big Ten, maybe they'd have a better shot in the MAC.

 

9th ranked Michigan in '02.

[Andy]

On ESPN Robert Smith brought up a great point. ND hasn't won a bowl game in over a decade.

 

It's because they are always playing someone they shouldn't. They are habitually overrated and only get into the bigger bowl games b/c they bring in a bigger audience.

 

The bowls are about how much money can be generated, not about getting the best teams matched up.

 

The entire BCS and all the bowls are a sham.

 

---------------

 

ND hasn't beaten a top ten team since Lou Holtz coached them. Forget joining The Big Ten, maybe they'd have a better shot in the MAC.

 

9th ranked Michigan in '02.

Actually, they were 6th. And they were 8th when we beat them in '04. They must be referring to end-of-season rankings because we also beat them in '05 when they were 3rd.

[Andy]

I dunno how loud Tiger Stadium is, but it can't be much louder than the Superdome. LSU fans at least 9 to 1 and probably closer to 12.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I dunno how loud Tiger Stadium is, but it can't be much louder than the Superdome. LSU fans at least 9 to 1 and probably closer to 12.

 

Great game, wasn't it? ;)

[Andy]

I dunno how loud Tiger Stadium is, but it can't be much louder than the Superdome. LSU fans at least 9 to 1 and probably closer to 12.

 

Great game, wasn't it? ;)

*looks at sig*

 

Not so much.

 

I'll credit your fans for being classy though. One thanked us for coming to New Orleans, and right after it was over, a few wished us a safe trip back to South Bend. When someone said "One day ND will win a bowl", I responded with "I'd settle for being in the game in the 4th quarter".

 

JMR is good (very good), but the Instant History crowd saying he'll suddenly be better than Quinn are crazy. The offensive line, the whole defense, and Rhema McKnight (who has to have dropped more passes in the last two games than any ND receiver in history) totally let him down. Again.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Quinn is more polished. Russell has the better physical tools.

[Andy]

Cowherd: That was supposed to happen. LSU is far more talented than ND. Look at the ESPN.com frontpage and look at the athletes around Charlie. Do they look like five-star athletes? He's still doing a great job. Before him, they were getting blown out by Syracuse...at least now they're getting blown out by the right people.

 

Boers and Bernstein re: the refs: If there's a pro-ND officiating conspiracy, it's the worst-executed conspiracy in the history of sports.

 

Oh, and the fake punt was a stupid idea (on the 2nd drive there was a much better situation under which to attempt one), it should've been obvious when LSU sent a kicker out who hadn't attempted a FG all year that they were faking it, and I love Charlie, but he needs to learn how to coach a bowl game.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I think it was called ok...except when they overturned the int that never touched the ground. That didn't bother me so much since LSU picked another shortly thereafter.