bukie

I am officially rooting for chaos in the Big 12 next week: Kansas State beats Iowa State Houston beats BYU Arizona beats ASU Oklahoma State beats Colorado Baylor beats Kansas TCU beats Cincy Result: 8 way tie for Big 12 champion at 6-3 in conference.

Notre Dame definitely looked better against Army on the road than PSU looked against Minnesota. Granted, I think Army was significantly over-ranked based on not having lost yet (i.e. I think Minnesota is actually a better team than Army), but I'm mostly just trying to figure out why PSU doesn't deserve their spot over some of these other teams, or now that Indiana lost to Ohio State they don't deserve to be in the playoffs either, as if the SEC just is by default better than anyone else despite not really having shown much to support this other than their purchased support from ESPN. I'd definitely prefer to see, like, SMU and Miami both in the playoff over, say, 3-loss Alabama, even if they did beat up Wisconsin and squeaked by Georgia. Just for posterity, this would be my top 12 right now: 1. Ohio State - Yes, they lost to Oregon, in Oregon, by one point. I think the rest of their resume is more impressive overall, and I think they'd be favored right now in a neutral environment that we'll see in two weeks anyway. 2. Oregon - They'll get a chance at OSU again, most likely. Win again, and there's no doubt they're #1. 3. Notre Dame - Inexplicable loss to NIU. Just bonkers. Still have the best win among the 1 loss teams and continue looking impressive week in, week out. 4. Texas - Explain to me a second what Texas' best win is? Is it at 6-5 Vandy or at 6-5 Michigan? They have a shot at a good win next week, but that will just give a direct point of reference against ND. 5. Penn State - Lost a close one to Ohio State at home, like they do every year. Beat everyone else, sometimes impressively, sometimes not. Boring team, but consistently good and beat everyone but Ohio State. 6. Georgia - Two losses, one bad, one close. Three good wins, which IMO puts them ahead of Indiana, Miami or SMU. Probably would be favored against Texas on a neutral field and would climb up to the #2 seed if they win the SEC. 7. Miami - See Texas. Miami's best win is probably at Louisville, as there are 3 good ACC teams and none of them play each other in the regular season. 8. Indiana - Yes, they lost by 23 to Ohio State. They've also beat up almost everyone else they've played, and have earned their way into the playoff discussion. 9. SMU - Same as Miami, but their loss was to a better team, but haven't been as impressive in wins. Maybe a straight pick-em vs Miami in a potential ACC championship, winner gets a mostly undeserving 3 seed. 10. Tennessee - This was probably A&M until that last Auburn loss. Good win against Bama, but their record is buoyed by their forgiving schedule more than most SEC teams. 11. Boise State - Gets the nod over whoever is the best team left in the Big 12. Still won't be ranked higher than anyone they'd potentially play in the playoff. 12. Arizona State - I guess? What's happening in this conference this season?

You're lost on what Notre Dame has to do with this when they're the primary competition for that #6 spot? C'mon, don't be that obtuse.

So the 2-3 loss SEC teams are dangerous but the 1 loss B1G teams are weak because...reasons? And I'd probably give 50-50 that ND is #4 next week after this week's results despite playing a weaker schedule than any of the other top 10 teams not named Indiana (though after this week, maybe?) and having a worse loss than anyone else.

Can't wait until Alabama plays Illinois in the Citrus bowl to play for the claim of best 4 loss team in the country.

The Bulls are the worst run sports organization in Chicago, and there's a healthy competition for that spot.

McKenzie loses his man 3 times in like 5 minutes, the last time leads to a Jamaica goal.

Looking good tonight against maybe the 5th best team in CONCACAF (them or Costa Rica, take your pick)

The team looks to be playing much better on grass than they did last week in swamp terrain.

Both against Liechtenstein, effectively thanks to the Nations League.

I know conference expansion is out of control, but last I checked UConn, Fairleigh Dickison and Saint Peter's weren't in the conference.

This pitch in Kingston is terrible. Just unplayable since about the 30th minute.

Considering Milan is 2-2 against their thus far murderous schedule bodes well for them finishing top 8 at this point ( they have thus far played Liverpool, Leverkusen and Real Madrid)

Also, Illinois wins 112-67, Will Riley scored 31.

Real games start today. In Illinois news, Ty Rodgers, one of two holdovers from last year, is redshirting due to a perceived lack of minutes available. As to why there would not be minutes available for someone who started on an elite eight team last year, see tonight's shooting numbers, 42 3-pt attempts, 46 ft attempts. That's just not Ty's game, and that's the way they want to play this year.

This play looks bad for Stevenson: https://bsky.app/profile/oldtakesexposed.bsky.social/post/3l7jvton6za2i

Bears really dropped the ball on that draft pick.

That was the first time anyone in the NFC North lost to a team under .500.

Probably their worst game of the season so far last night. Dominated in every facet and Bedard was effectively invisible.

A bit amusing to go from 3 point underdogs at home against a 1-4 team to 3 point favorites on the road against a 5-2 game based on a single game's result.

Wasn't it Luol Deng that has such a bad surgery he almost died on the table?

NFL.com has the Bears 13th: https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-power-rankings-week-7-2024-nfl-season They note that the Bears would be at least tied for first in 5 of the other 7 divisions, but are last in theirs.

DVOA has the Bears 17th: https://ftnfantasy.com/dvoa/nfl/team-total-dvoa Offense 24th (up from 32nd 2 weeks ago), Defense 6th, ST 12th. Don't have access to DAVE (weighted for more recent production) but I'd imagine they'd be higher there. Typical suspects are ahead of them, along with New Orleans (those first 2 weeks are being stretched as hard as they can) and Cincinnati (...I don't know why).

The Athletic has the Bears 13th: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5843048/2024/10/15/nfl-power-rankings-week-7-ravens-lions/ NFC teams ahead of the Bears: Vikings, Lions, Commanders, Packers, Falcons, 49ers, Bucs The NFC is stacked, while the AFC has the Chiefs, Texans, Ravens and Bills, followed by...3 other teams that have to make the playoffs in some way. Chargers, Steelers and Colts have the edge, but the bottom half of the conference looks just really bad.

CBS has the Bears 9th: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-7-power-rankings-cowboys-are-americas-mess-right-now-caleb-williams-bears-join-the-top-10/ Still 5th in the NFC, behind the rest of the division and the Falcons.