Tracer Bullet

Because it helps eliminate the anchoring effect that is brought on by irrelevant factors like program history. hardly seems to be the case. which defeated opponents are "worthy" is still entirely subjective. I'd prefer to not have any rankings until the first BCS came out. It is to a point, but the alternative is unecessary bias, or something even crazier like the Iowa blog who ranks strictly on margin of victory in week 1. But the whole point is that the entire poll is re-evaluated each week. I'm not going to defend individual points like ISU ahead of Northwestern, but the concept behind it is pretty much the best unbiased way to rank teams short of the computer polls. I'd prefer no rankings until the BCS too, but there's too much to be gained by ranking teams before then and hyping matchups in the non-con, so it's a bit of a pipe dream. I guess, but it's not like the blogpoll is mainstream or even widely recognized. it's gimmicky.

Because it helps eliminate the anchoring effect that is brought on by irrelevant factors like program history. hardly seems to be the case. which defeated opponents are "worthy" is still entirely subjective. I'd prefer to not have any rankings until the first BCS came out.

oregon st played a very good tcu team tough and only lost by 9 on the road. there is no reason to rank notre dame (who beat a lousy purdue team) ahead of them. Yes there is, although I like the resume ballot personally. Like Doc Saturday's for example. I think those are pretty dumb at least at this point. If you want to do a resume ranking, I think you have to wait several weeks, maybe even until the half-way point. Why rank teams not based on how good they are, but how good their season has been after 1 or 2 games where unbalanced schedules are their most unbalanced? Oh, that's right, b/c Brian Cook likes to see Michigan ranked somewhere.

You may say it's just thinking outside the box. Others may think it's insane and unworkable. But you can't ask people not to criticize it for being "silly, stupid, or lame" and to focus on the positives. If you're going to post something like this, you should be prepared for some pretty harsh critics.

and the game's in Detroit, where they've sold like 15,000 seats (at $80 a pop). So it's not like the roar of the crowed with intimidate FAU or motivate MSU.

Reports seem to suggest his injury never fully healed and he'd thus lost the speed that was really the skill that made him a decent recruit. Looks like he only played in garbage time against UConn. Barring injury, it shouldn't be a HUGE loss (though obviously, you never want to lose any player on your 2-deep).

I guess I'm surprised it's that meaningful to you. It'll be fun to watch for me, but no more significant than most games. Check out his screen name. I get that he's a Michigan fan. But I'm an ND fan and I don't see this game as particularly important. Every loss yields a lower chance of a good bowl game. I don't see how it isn't important. Not exactly. UM could lose its 3 remaining OOC games and go 7-1 in conference play and finish 2nd in the Big Ten. But that's not the point. I wasn't saying it's less important than any other game. However, UMFan said it only the 5th game in the last 2 years that he found meaningful. Unless he finds every UM/ND game to be so meaningful, I'm not sure why this one is more important than other games. I'd think playing (and beating) a great Iowa or OSU team would be more meaningful than possibly beating what's likely a 7 or 8 win Irish team. Either way, not a huge deal. I didn't intend this to be some big tangent, more a personal Q for UMFan.

yeah ok

I guess I'm surprised it's that meaningful to you. It'll be fun to watch for me, but no more significant than most games. Check out his screen name. I get that he's a Michigan fan. But I'm an ND fan and I don't see this game as particularly important.

I'm looking forward to the game as well. But I'm not sure who is saying that the winner is on track for a good season. Neither of these teams is winning 10 games. The winner may end up having a worse record than the loser of this game (just like last season). Either team could lose and still go on to 7-8 wins and a mediocre bowl. I guess I'm surprised it's that meaningful to you. It'll be fun to watch for me, but no more significant than most games.

He was ineligible to play. OJ didn't kill people during his years at USC (that we know of). I'd take it from Bush and give it to no one. If the NCAA acted when this news broke, instead of 5 years later, this would be a much easier resolution.

It's amazing that many people picked Uconn to be near the top of the Big East and having a breakout season after returning 16 starters, but now they're just a mediocre team because they got beat my Michigan. I also fail to see how 138 yards given up means Michigan's D-line "got run over." I do agree that Michigan's season will come down to how badly the defense plays. I don't know who you're talking about, but I didn't say UConn would be near the top of the BE (and I'm not sure what that's really saying this year). But if someone thought they should be good and then watched the game, they could easily determine that their preseason thoughts on UConn were wrong. The QB play wasn't great (flustered easily and a couple of bad throws), but their receivers really killed them by dropping several open passes. Add in two FGs blocked (one partially and still squeaked in), a 5-yard punt, and a fumble inside UM's 5? Not a very good team. Michigan's D-Line got pushed off the line pretty regularly by UConn. A couple of hurries, but no sacks that I saw (Frazer ain't exactly mobile). And UConn converted several 3rd/4th and short. Several times Michigan players (including Martin and Roh) had hands on a guy in the backfield but couldn't make the tackle. Just not what I expected since I've heard a bit about how Michigan's D-Line is solid. Robinson looked really good running between the tackles 25 times, but I can't believe any writer that actually watched that game would say "I didn't think Michigan deserved a vote going into the season, but now I'm convinced that they're a top 25 team." I agree with you. I think Michigan is on the way back, but they don't deserve a top 25 ranking right now. It just gets old watching ND fans take every opportunity to trash Michigan. I think this weekend is going to be a good game with a lot of points scored. It should be interesting. agreed. I don't think we learned much about either team after week 1. not sure how much we'll know after week 2, but it should be a fun game to watch.

ABC has a contract to show the NASCAR race that night which is why there is no prime time game. Why would you enter into that contract if you're ABC? It's not like it's a surprise that there's college football going on the 2nd weekend in September Really weird on this particular weekend. Is it just me, or has the 2nd weekend of the season usually been a pretty good week for pre-conference matchups? Seems like if there is a big game out of conference (OSU and its run at USC, Texas, or Miami, etc) it's been this week.

It's amazing that many people picked Uconn to be near the top of the Big East and having a breakout season after returning 16 starters, but now they're just a mediocre team because they got beat my Michigan. I also fail to see how 138 yards given up means Michigan's D-line "got run over." I do agree that Michigan's season will come down to how badly the defense plays. I don't know who you're talking about, but I didn't say UConn would be near the top of the BE (and I'm not sure what that's really saying this year). But if someone thought they should be good and then watched the game, they could easily determine that their preseason thoughts on UConn were wrong. The QB play wasn't great (flustered easily and a couple of bad throws), but their receivers really killed them by dropping several open passes. Add in two FGs blocked (one partially and still squeaked in), a 5-yard punt, and a fumble inside UM's 5? Not a very good team. Michigan's D-Line got pushed off the line pretty regularly by UConn. A couple of hurries, but no sacks that I saw (Frazer ain't exactly mobile). And UConn converted several 3rd/4th and short. Several times Michigan players (including Martin and Roh) had hands on a guy in the backfield but couldn't make the tackle. Just not what I expected since I've heard a bit about how Michigan's D-Line is solid. Robinson looked really good running between the tackles 25 times, but I can't believe any writer that actually watched that game would say "I didn't think Michigan deserved a vote going into the season, but now I'm convinced that they're a top 25 team."

they went from 0 to 71 votes after beating a mediocre UConn team? Denard Robinson looked really good against a team that couldn't figure out a system to stop his running of the exact same play 20 times. But their entire defense was terrible. If UConn had even 2 guys that could catch a ball, they could have won that game. Michigan's D-line got run over.

Michigan is the top "Also Receiving Votes" team in the AP? Wow.

Can Va Tech's backup QB throw it 30 yards in the air?

no. he can probably run that far in a few seconds though.

not sure how easy that is to hear, esp with the runner clearly still running. And the guy let up when he saw the receiver step out right before contact. it's a bs call that late in the game.

how can 2 DBs not stop a BSU receiver?

such BS. Wish you could do something about the sideline issue at the end of a half/game. Are you supposed to just let him dance the whole way down until he feels like stepping OOB b/c if you touch him after he's crossed out, you get a flag?

Then just give him a break. Don't come out in public and say that you're giving him a break to punish him for his lapses or whatever. That's dumb. yeah, a day off raises no flags. The public dressing down doesn't seem that helpful here. If it's lack of hustle or something that you think needs punished, maybe that would make sense. But he forgets how many outs there are 1 time? ugh.

Maybe. Really good young hitter that you want to get as much experience as possible and your manager has him bunt? I understand Quade is more worried about campaigning for next year than anything else, so he probably thinks he needs to show Hendry his in-game managing skills. But I want a manager that very, very rarely uses the sac bunt. I certainly don't want a manager that has 1 of his 2 or 3 really good hitters bunting with guys on base, esp when the guy has been hitting well lately. If he wants to sac bunt with a pitcher or one of the many scrubs in the Cubs lineup on most days, I can live with that. But I almost never want to see Castro sac bunting. I especially don't want to see it in a meaningless game in a meaningless season.

Exactly. Pat Hill and Fresno wanted respect so they would basically play anyone, anywhere with no return game. Now it hasn't worked out for them but they were never quite on Boise's recent level. If Boise wants to be in the discussion, they need to play a legit team on the road every year given their cakewalk in the last 8 weeks. I think they need 2 legit games. If they can play 2 BCS auto-bid teams on the road and maybe one at home (not all have to be top 25, just quality schools), that adds credibility to their program. They can't be like some of the auto-bid teams that schedule 1 quality OOC opponent and 3 patsies b/c their entire conference is full of patsies.

does anyone like Mark May? I hate Lou Holtz on that show, but Mark May will say anything for a buck.