2014 NCAA Football Thread

[Raysfan12]

The Big Ten needed a revival. Michigan being good will really help that conference.

Imagine a year in the near future where the best four teams are Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, and another SEC team- that would get the playoff expanded in a heartbeat.

I disagree with that statement and probably someone in the past said that Minnesota being good will help the BIG about 40-50 years ago (Minnesota was dominant in FB through the 1960's). Times change since then and the Big 10 will be fine even if Michigan struggles because some other programs could take their place (i.e Nebraska, Wisconsin, or even Rutgers and Maryland possibly). All I'm saying is that the BIG doesn't need Michigan to be good to help the conference and the best way for the conference to be successful is that all of the members win the bowl games and the OOC schedule.

[rainmaker17]

Even I think Texas in the Texas Bowl sounds stupid.

[BlackBolt3]

So I'm just coming back from the Russell Athletic Bowl, and that was one of the best bowl experiences I've had. Oklahoma looked unprepared, and Clemson took advantage of it. It was real nice to see Cole Stoudt end up as the MVP, and after the turnaround he performed from the GT game to today, he deserved it. These last two days have been two of the best sports days of my life.

[HedleyLamarr]

I just saw the score of that game. 40-6. Wow.

Not to take anything away from Clemson, but Oklahoma probably had a case of "Don't give a crap". Which is the same thing I think will happen to Georgia...both had playoff hopes for the season, only to lose some games that they shouldn't have lost and go to a bowl game that no one (team, coaches, or fans) cares about.

[hailstateunis]

Ironic that Oklahoma loses a "don't give a crap game" this year's after so gloriously winning one last year.

[PSUcelticsWON95]

I just saw the score of that game. 40-6. Wow.

Not to take anything away from Clemson, but Oklahoma probably had a case of "Don't give a crap". Which is the same thing I think will happen to Georgia...both had playoff hopes for the season, only to lose some games that they shouldn't have lost and go to a bowl game that no one (team, coaches, or fans) cares about.

I agree. Clemson did a great job, and their defense did really well, and I don't want to take that away from them even as big OU fan. But OU definitely was not prepared at all. They just had zero focus the entire game. Knight seemed to peak last year against Alabama, and even though he played decent this year, it was mistakes that were generally on his part that lost them the games against TCU and K-State. Hopefully OU can turn it around next year.

Side note: Penn State had one returning offensive lineman for this season, a redshirt junior Donovan Smith. He declared that he will forgo his fifth season to enter the NFL Draft. I wish him luck on his next endeavor, but damn, as if our line wasn't effective already.

[HedleyLamarr]

Ironic that Oklahoma loses a "don't give a crap game" this year's after so gloriously winning one last year.

It's a little easier to get up for a Sugar Bowl game vs. Alabama than the Russell Athletic Bowl against Clemson....

[hailstateunis]

True, but Alabama was foucsed on Pasadena all year and it was taken away from them in one play... They really didn't care about anything less than that. More extreme situation than Oklahoma this year, but still similar.

[BlackBolt3]

To be honest, it was a combination of Brent Venables, the defensive coordinator, throwing everything out at his former team with eight seniors, and Oklahoma just being lame all around. Team, fans, everything except the band. (They were decent.) Very unimpressed by them. Believe me when I say Clemson played out of their minds and deserved to win, but Oklahoma contributed.

[Island_Style]

If OU couldn't get up for this game, they won't be a playoff team anytime soon. Lame players who don't have a winners mentality.

[Kevin W.]

Yeah, today was an awful day overall for the Red River Shootout.

[rams80]

If Harbaugh coaches like he did with the 49ers and has Brady Hoke's recruiting ability, everybody in the Big Ten should be scared.

In each of his four 49ers seasons, his teams settled for FGs far too often and were bottom 25% in Red Zone efficiency. In college, he won't have the luxury of the accuracy of David Akers or Phil Dawson.

Yeah, but he will have the luxury of coaching in a conference where fellow coaches think punting inside the opponent's 40 is fine strategy.

[CLEstones]

The Big Ten needed a revival. Michigan being good will really help that conference.

Imagine a year in the near future where the best four teams are Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, and another SEC team- that would get the playoff expanded in a heartbeat.

I disagree with that statement and probably someone in the past said that Minnesota being good will help the BIG about 40-50 years ago (Minnesota was dominant in FB through the 1960's). Times change since then and the Big 10 will be fine even if Michigan struggles because some other programs could take their place (i.e Nebraska, Wisconsin, or even Rutgers and Maryland possibly). All I'm saying is that the BIG doesn't need Michigan to be good to help the conference and the best way for the conference to be successful is that all of the members win the bowl games and the OOC schedule.

The B1G is better when Michigan is good.

College football is better when Michigan is good.

End of discussion.

[nuordr]

The Big Ten needed a revival. Michigan being good will really help that conference.

Imagine a year in the near future where the best four teams are Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, and another SEC team- that would get the playoff expanded in a heartbeat.

I disagree with that statement and probably someone in the past said that Minnesota being good will help the BIG about 40-50 years ago (Minnesota was dominant in FB through the 1960's). Times change since then and the Big 10 will be fine even if Michigan struggles because some other programs could take their place (i.e Nebraska, Wisconsin, or even Rutgers and Maryland possibly). All I'm saying is that the BIG doesn't need Michigan to be good to help the conference and the best way for the conference to be successful is that all of the members win the bowl games and the OOC schedule.

The B1G is better when Michigan is good.

College football is better when Michigan is good.

End of discussion.

Even though I despise the B1G I would have to agree that the conference and college football is better when Michigan is good, even as it pains me to admit, college football is even better when Michigan and Notre Dame are both good.

[Sport]

The Big Ten needed a revival. Michigan being good will really help that conference.

Imagine a year in the near future where the best four teams are Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, and another SEC team- that would get the playoff expanded in a heartbeat.

I disagree with that statement and probably someone in the past said that Minnesota being good will help the BIG about 40-50 years ago (Minnesota was dominant in FB through the 1960's). Times change since then and the Big 10 will be fine even if Michigan struggles because some other programs could take their place (i.e Nebraska, Wisconsin, or even Rutgers and Maryland possibly). All I'm saying is that the BIG doesn't need Michigan to be good to help the conference and the best way for the conference to be successful is that all of the members win the bowl games and the OOC schedule.

The B1G is better when Michigan is good.

College football is better when Michigan is good.

End of discussion.

Michigan raises the bar for everyone in the conference. It's not a coincidence that as Michigan has gone into the crapper so has the rest of the conference.

I guarantee if Harbaugh turns Michigan around then Penn State will get better and so will a couple of the teams in the west division. If Harbaugh can make Michigan a viable recruiting destination then other big ten schools get the spillover. Right now only Ohio State is on the lists of blue chip high school recruits as far as the Big Ten schools go. Michigan could easily rise back to that level.

The Big Ten absolutely needs Michigan to return to prominence. I say all this as an Ohio State fan.

[BlackBolt3]

The Big Ten desperately needs Michigan to be good just like the ACC needs Miami to be good, and the Big 12 needs Texas to be good. When a team that has fallen from grace returns to prominence, it makes others around them look good. The Harbaugh hire certainly doesn't get them into the CFP automatically, but it will help with recruiting to get there.

[pianoknight]

The Big Ten needed a revival. Michigan being good will really help that conference.

Imagine a year in the near future where the best four teams are Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, and another SEC team- that would get the playoff expanded in a heartbeat.

I disagree with that statement and probably someone in the past said that Minnesota being good will help the BIG about 40-50 years ago (Minnesota was dominant in FB through the 1960's). Times change since then and the Big 10 will be fine even if Michigan struggles because some other programs could take their place (i.e Nebraska, Wisconsin, or even Rutgers and Maryland possibly). All I'm saying is that the BIG doesn't need Michigan to be good to help the conference and the best way for the conference to be successful is that all of the members win the bowl games and the OOC schedule.

The B1G is better when Michigan is good.

College football is better when Michigan is good.

End of discussion.

Michigan raises the bar for everyone in the conference. It's not a coincidence that as Michigan has gone into the crapper so has the rest of the conference.

I guarantee if Harbaugh turns Michigan around then Penn State will get better and so will a couple of the teams in the west division. If Harbaugh can make Michigan a viable recruiting destination then other big ten schools get the spillover. Right now only Ohio State is on the lists of blue chip high school recruits as far as the Big Ten schools go. Michigan could easily rise back to that level.

The Big Ten absolutely needs Michigan to return to prominence. I say all this as an Ohio State fan.

The Big Ten desperately needs Michigan to be good just like the ACC needs Miami to be good, and the Big 12 needs Texas to be good. When a team that has fallen from grace returns to prominence, it makes others around them look good. The Harbaugh hire certainly doesn't get them into the CFP automatically, but it will help with recruiting to get there.

Bingo.

Taking nothing away from schools like Minnesota or Northwestern, but when the Gophers win a divisional title (or conference title), the collective response of the nation is to wonder why the Big Ten is so weak. Indiana might have a Heisman caliber team, but the knee-jerk reaction is that teams like Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska and Wisconsin have all folded over and died to allow the Hoosiers to win the conference.

Conferences need their star power to shine. The Dueling Mississippi's was fun to watch, but something felt off in the SEC until Alabama clenched it. They want LSU, Florida or Georgia leading the charge. The Pac-12 needs USC, Oregon and Stanford to perform well.

Another great example is the Big 12 right now, with both Texas and Oklahoma laying eggs in their bowls. Baylor and TCU are very, very good teams. But it just feels wrong when the Sooners and Horns aren't dominant.

[Tigers6884]

Today is a great day in the history of Michigan football.

[pianoknight]

Today is a great day in the history of Michigan football.

Made even better by the fact that the Detroit Free Press published a picture of the wrong Harbaugh in the papers.

http://blacksportsonline.com/home/2014/12/detroit-free-press-has-wrong-harbaugh-heading-to-michigan-photo/

[CubsFanBudMan]

The Big Ten needed a revival. Michigan being good will really help that conference.

Imagine a year in the near future where the best four teams are Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, and another SEC team- that would get the playoff expanded in a heartbeat.

I disagree with that statement and probably someone in the past said that Minnesota being good will help the BIG about 40-50 years ago (Minnesota was dominant in FB through the 1960's). Times change since then and the Big 10 will be fine even if Michigan struggles because some other programs could take their place (i.e Nebraska, Wisconsin, or even Rutgers and Maryland possibly). All I'm saying is that the BIG doesn't need Michigan to be good to help the conference and the best way for the conference to be successful is that all of the members win the bowl games and the OOC schedule.

The B1G is better when Michigan is good.

College football is better when Michigan is good.

End of discussion.

Michigan raises the bar for everyone in the conference. It's not a coincidence that as Michigan has gone into the crapper so has the rest of the conference.

I guarantee if Harbaugh turns Michigan around then Penn State will get better and so will a couple of the teams in the west division. If Harbaugh can make Michigan a viable recruiting destination then other big ten schools get the spillover. Right now only Ohio State is on the lists of blue chip high school recruits as far as the Big Ten schools go. Michigan could easily rise back to that level.

The Big Ten absolutely needs Michigan to return to prominence. I say all this as an Ohio State fan.

The Big Ten desperately needs Michigan to be good just like the ACC needs Miami to be good, and the Big 12 needs Texas to be good. When a team that has fallen from grace returns to prominence, it makes others around them look good. The Harbaugh hire certainly doesn't get them into the CFP automatically, but it will help with recruiting to get there.

Bingo.

Taking nothing away from schools like Minnesota or Northwestern, but when the Gophers win a divisional title (or conference title), the collective response of the nation is to wonder why the Big Ten is so weak. Indiana might have a Heisman caliber team, but the knee-jerk reaction is that teams like Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska and Wisconsin have all folded over and died to allow the Hoosiers to win the conference.

Conferences need their star power to shine. The Dueling Mississippi's was fun to watch, but something felt off in the SEC until Alabama clenched it. They want LSU, Florida or Georgia leading the charge. The Pac-12 needs USC, Oregon and Stanford to perform well.

Another great example is the Big 12 right now, with both Texas and Oklahoma laying eggs in their bowls. Baylor and TCU are very, very good teams. But it just feels wrong when the Sooners and Horns aren't dominant.

I blame ESPN for this mentality.

I disagree, just as I disagree with the concept that Big XII co-champion Texas and Oklahoma wouldn't have been treated like TCU and Baylor if resumes were the same. As someone said above, Minnesota used to be a power. Duke basketball wasn't Duke basketball before Coach K. Things change.

If all else is equal, the program's "star power" shouldn't matter. Otherwise it will never allow for new stars.