College Football - Bowl Games

[TruffleShuffle]

he is firing indiscriminantly into the crowd now

 

Says a gunman who enjoys hiding in the bushes and shooting wildly.

 

I get that you all hate ND but I don't much give a [expletive] and I'm happy to exchange barbs with the lot of you.

 

your repeated reponses to obvious trolling would suggest otherwise.

[Andy]

Does anyone else think Texas A&M is going to experience a major drop off and soon? The way Old Style talks, you'd think that they have been a national power for the last decade. They have been a middle of the road Big 12 team for years...they have a dynamic quarterback and a good coach, but I think this is the best season A&M will have. Will it really surprise anyone if they settle into being an 8-4 team every year? One ten win season with a semi-flukey win over Alabama doesn't convince me that they can really pull ahead of Alabama, LSU, Florida in the short or long term.

I'm not sure they will win 10 games again next year, but they do have a good recruiting class coming in (it helps when you have THIRTY-FIVE commitments, of course). If Sumlin is as good as he showed this year, there's no reason they can't settle in to a tier slightly below that of Bama, LSU and Florida with occasional years where they jump past them.

[Guest]

Does anyone else think Texas A&M is going to experience a major drop off and soon? The way Old Style talks, you'd think that they have been a national power for the last decade. They have been a middle of the road Big 12 team for years...they have a dynamic quarterback and a good coach, but I think this is the best season A&M will have. Will it really surprise anyone if they settle into being an 8-4 team every year? One ten win season with a semi-flukey win over Alabama doesn't convince me that they can really pull ahead of Alabama, LSU, Florida in the short or long term.

 

For the record, I'm not convinced ND can continue to be a 10-12 win team either...

 

I think there's going to be a drop off next year since their two best players this season will be in the NFL. If their other stud offensive tackle turns pro too, it'll be fun to see how much of a drop off Manziel will have.

[Old Style]

Does anyone else think Texas A&M is going to experience a major drop off and soon? The way Old Style talks, you'd think that they have been a national power for the last decade. They have been a middle of the road Big 12 team for years...they have a dynamic quarterback and a good coach, but I think this is the best season A&M will have. Will it really surprise anyone if they settle into being an 8-4 team every year? One ten win season with a semi-flukey win over Alabama doesn't convince me that they can really pull ahead of Alabama, LSU, Florida in the short or long term.

I'm not sure they will win 10 games again next year, but they do have a good recruiting class coming in (it helps when you have THIRTY-FIVE commitments, of course). If Sumlin is as good as he showed this year, there's no reason they can't settle in to a tier slightly below that of Bama, LSU and Florida with occasional years where they jump past them.

First of all, we won 11 games this year. The program was sliding backwards when RC Slocum was fired and Coach Fran ran it into the ground. Mike Sherman did a very good job rebuilding the talent level and had some success (see 2010) but was just not a good college coach. Sumlin walked into a great situation. We need to upgrade the depth on defense, but Sumlin is pulling in a ridiculously good class right now without showing any signs of slowing down. Obviously I'm biased, but our offense is only going to get better with more exerience and it was pretty hard to slow down in the first year with a freshman QB. Unless Manziel gets hurt, I don't see us winning only 8 games with him under center. I have no idea how anyone who actually watched the game could say our win in Tuscaloosa was "semi-flukey". No one is saying that we are going to "pull ahead" of Alabama, LSU, or Florida. But to think that we can't compete on or near their level is short sighted.

[Old Style]

I think there's going to be a drop off next year since their two best players this season will be in the NFL. If their other stud offensive tackle turns pro too, it'll be fun to see how much of a drop off Manziel will have.

Manziel isn't going pro just yet. Jake Matthews is coming back for his senior year. We'll be fine on the OLine. That was Sherman's specialty and we have plenty of talent there, including another of the Matthews clan expected to take over at center for departing senior Patrick Lewis.

 

Defense will be a bigger concern for us next year.

[Guest]

I think there's going to be a drop off next year since their two best players this season will be in the NFL. If their other stud offensive tackle turns pro too, it'll be fun to see how much of a drop off Manziel will have.

Manziel isn't going pro just yet. Jake Matthews is coming back for his senior year. We'll be fine on the OLine. That was Sherman's specialty and we have plenty of talent there, including another of the Matthews clan expected to take over at center for departing senior Patrick Lewis.

 

Defense will be a bigger concern for us next year.

 

I was referring to Luke Joeckel and Damontre Moore.

[Old Style]

I think there's going to be a drop off next year since their two best players this season will be in the NFL. If their other stud offensive tackle turns pro too, it'll be fun to see how much of a drop off Manziel will have.

Manziel isn't going pro just yet. Jake Matthews is coming back for his senior year. We'll be fine on the OLine. That was Sherman's specialty and we have plenty of talent there, including another of the Matthews clan expected to take over at center for departing senior Patrick Lewis.

 

Defense will be a bigger concern for us next year.

 

I was referring to Luke Joeckel and Damontre Moore.

I know. I don't agree with them being our two best players from this past season. Both were excellent, Joeckel especially, and I hate to see them go but anyone who says Manziel was not our best player this year is just doing so in an attempt to look like they have some super special football knowledge that the average fan does not possess.

[Tracer Bullet]

he is firing indiscriminantly into the crowd now

 

Says a gunman who enjoys hiding in the bushes and shooting wildly.

 

I get that you all hate ND but I don't much give a [expletive] and I'm happy to exchange barbs with the lot of you.

 

your repeated reponses to obvious trolling would suggest otherwise.

 

You should read the words immediately following the bold.

[Ryne Ween]

The Saban "more time to prepare" argument is ridiculous. Saban is not some game prep mastermind that you cant beat him given extra time. He had two weeks to prep for Cam Newton and lost, and pretty sure him and les both had two weeks to prep before the 2010 and 2011 games that LSU won, and Saban could have spent every day of the season prepping for LSU this year (they played trash between Mich and LSU) and they made Zach Mettenberger look like Tom Brady. If it weren’t for a 45 second drive vs LSU it wouldn’t have been bama, it’d have been LSU/Georgia/Oregon/Florida vs ND and ND would have probably gotten beaten by those teams as well.

 

Saban isn’t some mastermind and bama is not unbeatable. They got to the title game by playing 3 top teams, a home loss and two comeback wins. They just look great now because they played a weak national championship opponent.

[SouthSideRyan]

So Louisville > ND?

 

Clemson too

[Old Style]

Boston Celtics > ND

[Ryne Ween]

So Louisville > ND?

 

Clemson too

 

Florida and LSU getting wins against A&M make them better than Alabama using your transitive property. And I would still call LSU better than Clemson after having seen them play each other.

 

But I would imagine that LSU, Florida, Georgia, and Oregon would each lay a few points against ND. I pick those four because had lsu beaten bama they would have been the four most likely to be #2.

[SouthSideRyan]

Clemson pretty much dominated LSU in their game.

 

ETA: After the bowls were done, I think it was clear that Bama and Oregon were the 2 best teams in the country, and then there was a big mess of teams who could fight for #3.

[Tracer Bullet]

Clemson pretty much dominated LSU in their game.

 

ETA: After the bowls were done, I think it was clear that Bama and Oregon were the 2 best teams in the country, and then there was a big mess of teams who could fight for #3.

 

OU? I'd put them right in that second tier with a bunch of schools. They played several good teams but only 1 great defense, got shut down, and basically played to a stalemate (and ultimately lost).

 

Seems to me it's Bama and then a bunch of teams behind them that are harder to separate. I don't know that you can put any one of them definitively ahead of the pack.

[dew1679666265]

Does anyone else think Texas A&M is going to experience a major drop off and soon? The way Old Style talks, you'd think that they have been a national power for the last decade. They have been a middle of the road Big 12 team for years...they have a dynamic quarterback and a good coach, but I think this is the best season A&M will have. Will it really surprise anyone if they settle into being an 8-4 team every year? One ten win season with a semi-flukey win over Alabama doesn't convince me that they can really pull ahead of Alabama, LSU, Florida in the short or long term.

 

For the record, I'm not convinced ND can continue to be a 10-12 win team either...

 

Recruiting bases are critical in college football success and Texas A&M has its base in Texas. That coupled with the notoriety now of being in the SEC and out of Texas/Oklahoma's shadow, I think, will give them a great opportunity to be really good consistently. 11-12 wins every year and on the level of Alabama? Probably not, but I think an 8-win per season average is probably too low.

 

Assuming they either keep Sumlin or add another really good coach should he leave. If he goes to the NFL or something and they hire John L. Smith, then 8-4 is probably very optimistic.

[Old Style]

By the way, OU's recruiting is taking a big hit due to our move to the SEC (and this year's completely unexpected success there).

[OleMissCub]

Being in the SEC West blows

 

If Ole Miss and Miss St. were one school we'd probably compete for a Western title now and again, but as of now it's unlikely with our in-state talent being split between two SEC schools and having Bama and LSU as our neighbors stealing some of that talent as well.

[Ryne Ween]

Clemson pretty much dominated LSU in their game.

 

ETA: After the bowls were done, I think it was clear that Bama and Oregon were the 2 best teams in the country, and then there was a big mess of teams who could fight for #3.

 

OU? I'd put them right in that second tier with a bunch of schools. They played several good teams but only 1 great defense, got shut down, and basically played to a stalemate (and ultimately lost).

 

Seems to me it's Bama and then a bunch of teams behind them that are harder to separate. I don't know that you can put any one of them definitively ahead of the pack.

 

I dont know. Clemson moved it better and dominated the 4rth quarter but it took massive coaching blunders from les, a 4th and 25 conversion and a fg at th buzzer to win.

 

I agree on the second tier mess but put Oregon in it and have 4 sec teams in it and a few other teams probably not Ohio state or nd. I also think that second tier could all beat Nama if they played a great game or bama laid a steamer.

[SouthSideRyan]

I assume those few other teams include a Stanford team that notre dame beat

[Tracer Bullet]

Clemson pretty much dominated LSU in their game.

 

ETA: After the bowls were done, I think it was clear that Bama and Oregon were the 2 best teams in the country, and then there was a big mess of teams who could fight for #3.

 

OU? I'd put them right in that second tier with a bunch of schools. They played several good teams but only 1 great defense, got shut down, and basically played to a stalemate (and ultimately lost).

 

Seems to me it's Bama and then a bunch of teams behind them that are harder to separate. I don't know that you can put any one of them definitively ahead of the pack.

 

I dont know. Clemson moved it better and dominated the 4rth quarter but it took massive coaching blunders from les, a 4th and 25 conversion and a fg at th buzzer to win.

 

I agree on the second tier mess but put Oregon in it and have 4 sec teams in it and a few other teams probably not Ohio state or nd. I also think that second tier could all beat Nama if they played a great game or bama laid a steamer.

 

So ND is a borderline top 10 team? Genius

[Ryne Ween]

I would say in no order bama, Oregon, a&m, USC, Georgia, fsu, lsu, Clemson, florida and ksu would all be favored in a neutral field game against nd or osu. Based on the way rankings are made, of course nd and osu both deserve to be top 5 teams but in actual terms there are 8 or 9 teams I'd take over both. Possibly Stanford as well despite nd's heads up home ot win.

 

Nd had great year and obviously did a lot to help current and future hauls. I'm not saying they aren't a good team I'm just saying there are a lot of teams who could either beat bama or give them a game and it's obvious nd was never going to do either.

 

If osu was eligible they would have played nd for the national championship.

Edited January 10, 2013 by Ryne Ween

[SouthSideRyan]

Lol ok

[Ryne Ween]

Which of those teams would you take even money odds nd would be beat on a neutral field?

[Andy]

Which of those teams would you take even money odds nd would be beat on a neutral field?

Well, UGA got blasted by S. Carolina, K-State got crushed by BAYLOR, Florida St lost to NC State, Clemson didn't beat anyone worth a crap in the regular season and Florida just got pantsed by Louisville. So you can start with them.

 

Oh, and Oregon lost to the only team they played with a defense - a team ND beat.

[Guest]

Clemson pretty much dominated LSU in their game.

 

ETA: After the bowls were done, I think it was clear that Bama and Oregon were the 2 best teams in the country, and then there was a big mess of teams who could fight for #3.

 

OU? I'd put them right in that second tier with a bunch of schools. They played several good teams but only 1 great defense, got shut down, and basically played to a stalemate (and ultimately lost).

 

Seems to me it's Bama and then a bunch of teams behind them that are harder to separate. I don't know that you can put any one of them definitively ahead of the pack.

 

I dont know. Clemson moved it better and dominated the 4rth quarter but it took massive coaching blunders from les, a 4th and 25 conversion and a fg at th buzzer to win.

 

I agree on the second tier mess but put Oregon in it and have 4 sec teams in it and a few other teams probably not Ohio state or nd. I also think that second tier could all beat Nama if they played a great game or bama laid a steamer.

 

I definitely agree Clemson didn't dominate. They came back in the 2nd half when Barkevious Mingo went out with an abdominal injury and Sam Montgomery also got hurt in the 4th quarter. Even then, Clemson only won one.