2011NCAA Football Thread

[Chicageaux]

Well, I think this bit should just about destroy the notion that Alabama wins schedule strength.

SOS Ratings:

OSU: #10

LSU: #17

Boise: #31

Alabama: #38

http://www.gberatings.com/sos/

Yes. Alabama plays a worse schedule than Boise. Case, closed.

I don't think anyone has said Alabama had a tougher schedule. That being said, I've noticed different sites have different SOS rankings. That one has Kansas and Ole Miss #1 and #2 which I'm assuming is just based on the fact they suck and every game is a challenge for them.

You'll noticed this one has teams ranked a little different: http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/current_congrove_rankings.html

You can note that the first 8 schools are from the Big XII and the last two, Missouri and Texas Tech, round out the Top 13.

[thespleenenator]

Well, I think this bit should just about destroy the notion that Alabama wins schedule strength.

SOS Ratings:

OSU: #10

LSU: #17

Boise: #31

Alabama: #38

http://www.gberatings.com/sos/

Yes. Alabama plays a worse schedule than Boise. Case, closed.

I don't think anyone has said Alabama had a tougher schedule. That being said, I've noticed different sites have different SOS rankings. That one has Kansas and Ole Miss #1 and #2 which I'm assuming is just based on the fact they suck and every game is a challenge for them.

You'll noticed this one has teams ranked a little different: http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/current_congrove_rankings.html

You can note that the first 8 schools are from the Big XII and the last two, Missouri and Texas Tech, round out the Top 13.

You didn't watch BCS countdown, did you?

Even on that poll:

OSU: 7

Alabama: 42

You would (or wouldn't) be surprised by the amount of "BUT DE PLAYED DA ESS EEE CCCC (to quote Lights Out) SCHDUL!!!!!111one" I've heard over the past few days. True, the espn boards are probably not the best place to go if you want to hear an objective opinion, but still, it's annoying me.

[Chicageaux]

And Alabama isn't ranked ahead of Oklahoma State right now because of their rank of schedule. They're ranked ahead of them based on the fact they lost to LSU and Oklahoma State lost to Iowa State. I believe the majority here understand all that.

Yes in that poll (and I believe it's one of the polls that are factored in the BCS) has Oklahoma State ahead of Alabama, but Alabama is also ranked way ahead of Boise State, so the point you were trying to make is null.

[rams80]

Just thought I'd throw this on the NCG fire. I'm not taking a side, I'm just throwing this out there.

From SI:

However, if this were the NCAA basketball tournament,

where the committee members speak of teams' "bodies of work," they'd be comparing the following two résumés (assuming an Oklahoma State victory this weekend):

? Wins over current BCS Top 25 teams: Oklahoma State: 5, Alabama: 2.

? Wins over current BCS Top 50 teams: Oklahoma State: 7, Alabama: 5.

? Wins over FBS teams with winning records: Oklahoma State: 6, Alabama: 3.

? Conference titles: Oklahoma State: 1, Alabama: 0.

? Losses to Iowa State: Oklahoma State: 1, Alabama: 0.

Read more:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stewart_mandel/11/27/bcs-sec-voters-rematch/index.html#ixzz1f70076AE

A-freaking-men. If OSU beats OU by more than 2 touchdowns, they should be in the championship game.

Like it or not, the Big 12 is the best conference in the nation, and OSU is about to win it. The bottom 7 SEC teams are horrible. Only Texas Tech is bad in the Big 12, and they beat OU.

You are forgetting Kansas and how bad they are.

Allow me to introduce you to the Fighting Nutts down at Ole Miss, last seen actually losing the party to Mississippi State.

[thespleenenator]

And Alabama isn't ranked ahead of Oklahoma State right now because of their rank of schedule. They're ranked ahead of them based on the fact they lost to LSU and Oklahoma State lost to Iowa State. I believe the majority here understand all that.

Yes in that poll (and I believe it's one of the polls that are factored in the BCS) has Oklahoma State ahead of Alabama, but Alabama is also ranked way ahead of Boise State, so the point you were trying to make is null.

I was simply trying to dispell the myth of the "SEC schedule", and how that is someone automatically better than what OSU has faced. This is not a definitive argument as to why OSU should be in the title game if they beat OU, just one of them. Again, I saw a lot of bickering about schedule, and I thought we might as well throw some facts in there.

[Chicageaux]

Then I'll throw one more fact at you and this goes for all the kiddies over on the ESPN forums as well. The season isn't over. Alabama no longer controls their own destiny. Alabama went 11-1 and their lone loss was the toughest game on their schedule. Oklahoma State, at 10-1, has one game left and that's their toughest game on their schedule.

I can't wait until Sunday night when everything's final, this board might explode.

[rams80]

Hopefully Oklahoma State doesn't lose on Saturday, then what will you guys say?

I've always found the "my conference is better than your conference" debate asinine. Since most teams play the same amount of conference games, your best team should reflect your worst team in your conference and so on. The Big XII is a good conference, but what justifies them being better than the SEC. The same question can be asked to the SEC.

Performance in a Non-Conference setting against their peers. The Big XII is additionally boosted by the fact that unlike large chunks of the SEC (which need a nice diet of cupcakes and to maintain their pre-rivalry week challenge series with the SoCon) they actually kind of scheduled tough this year and when forced to drop a non-conference games, chose to drop one of the cupcakes.

Yes I know Arky beat A&M. Arky needed a massive second half comeback to eke out a 4 point win against the 6-6 Aggies. Clearly the sign of SEC dominance there.

[Chicageaux]

Performance in a Non-Conference setting against their peers. The Big XII is additionally boosted by the fact that unlike large chunks of the SEC (which need a nice diet of cupcakes and to maintain their pre-rivalry week challenge series with the SoCon) they actually kind of scheduled tough this year and when forced to drop a non-conference games, chose to drop one of the cupcakes.

I can't argue with that because it's true. I'd be more impressed if they weren't giving up as whole an average of 30 points a game, but as I said before, "best" conference doesn't really mean anything to me.

[thespleenenator]

Performance in a Non-Conference setting against their peers. The Big XII is additionally boosted by the fact that unlike large chunks of the SEC (which need a nice diet of cupcakes and to maintain their pre-rivalry week challenge series with the SoCon) they actually kind of scheduled tough this year and when forced to drop a non-conference games, chose to drop one of the cupcakes.

I can't argue with that because it's true. I'd be more impressed if they weren't giving up as whole an average of 30 points a game, but as I said before, "best" conference doesn't really mean anything to me.

Wait, a logical SEC fan? WHAT IS THIS WIZARDRY!?!?!

[WJMorris3]

Performance in a Non-Conference setting against their peers. The Big XII is additionally boosted by the fact that unlike large chunks of the SEC (which need a nice diet of cupcakes and to maintain their pre-rivalry week challenge series with the SoCon) they actually kind of scheduled tough this year and when forced to drop a non-conference games, chose to drop one of the cupcakes.

I can't argue with that because it's true. I'd be more impressed if they weren't giving up as whole an average of 30 points a game, but as I said before, "best" conference doesn't really mean anything to me.

Now wait a minute. What kind of SEC fan are you if you're not proclaiming the superiority of the SEC? You know full well that any team in the SEC would whup any other team in the country by double digits, at least. You are ruining the credibility of SEC fans everywhere by even suggesting that other conferences might come close to being as good as the SEC.

[Chicageaux]

Other years, I would have proclaimed the SEC's dominance, but this year, they're not the best conference.

When it comes down to it, there's only one SEC team who I'm going to proclaim as the top team. However, there's no need to be arrogant about it. If I'm with my friends and talking smack or just joking around on here, that's different, but I try to be respectful of everyone else on this board basically because I'm still new here. The way I see it, if your team is doing well, you really don't need to talk smack to justify it.

Now, if Rams80 was on here bashing LSU, then I'd stick up for them, but my allegiance lies only with them. There's been a few times when I've gone to post that I've almost said something about LSU's SOS, but that was never brought into question or even alluded to, so I've tried to keep myself from being a douche.

I'm worried about LSU-Georgia on Saturday, I'll worry about who they're playing the next day.

[Kramerica Industries]

Not all SEC fans are total pricks.

God I hate generalizations, whether made tongue-in-cheek or not.

[Gary]

Mike Martz linked to the Arizona State job

Well Gary, at least you still have Michigan.

That rumor is false especially talking to people close to the situation.

[HedleyLamarr]

Then I'll throw one more fact at you and this goes for all the kiddies over on the ESPN forums as well. The season isn't over. Alabama no longer controls their own destiny. Alabama went 11-1 and their lone loss was the toughest game on their schedule. Oklahoma State, at 10-1, has one game left and that's their toughest game on their schedule.

I can't wait until Sunday night when everything's final, this board might explode.

Even though Alabama's regular season is over, they can still get a little boost from the computers by their strength-of-schedule if LSU beats Georgia and North Texas beats Middle Tennessee State. (How many of you thought that the North Texas vs. Middle Tennessee State game might come up for BCS discussions?)

And if any of the computers use both strength-of-schedule and opponent's strength-of-schedule, Oregon (which played and lost to LSU) winning the Pac-12 Championship could even give Alabama an ever-so-slightly bump up, too.

Oklahoma State won't get that much of a boost in the computers this weekend. Not only will a win over Oklahoma knock down OU in the rankings and computers, but the only teams on OSU's schedule playing this weekend are intraconference games. (In other words, one team on OSU's schedule will win, but another team on OSU's schedule will lose, so they'll almost neutralize each other.) But if they are able to get any sort of boost in the computers, OSU needs to beat OU, and also have Baylor beat Texas and also Kansas State to beat Iowa State so that KSU and Baylor stay ranked higher in the human polls.

[DarkJourney]

Everyone is assuming Oklahoma State is going to beat the tar out of Oklahoma. I'm going with Oklahoma ruining the OSU party. If i'm wrong I'm wrong.

[thespleenenator]

Everyone is assuming Oklahoma State is going to beat the tar out of Oklahoma. I'm going with Oklahoma ruining the OSU party. If i'm wrong I'm wrong.

Oklahoma lost to Texas Tech... at home. I'm guessing 59-38 OSU. Whole lotta passing.

[infrared41]

Everyone is assuming Oklahoma State is going to beat the tar out of Oklahoma. I'm going with Oklahoma ruining the OSU party. If i'm wrong I'm wrong.

Not me. I'm with you on this. I think the Sooners win. It's going to be a "video game" game with a final score somewhere in the neighborhood of 52-48. So we'll both be wrong I guess.

[HedleyLamarr]

I think it's more like folks are wanting Oklahoma State to win instead of thinking they'll win, since folks are arguing between OSU and Alabama about being the #2 team in the country.

Rational folks know that Stanford and Virginia Tech won't be in the debate, so they want OSU to be 11-1 so they don't have a rematch in the BCS title game.

[infrared41]

Also, is it just me, or is the SEC this year's Boise State in this thread? Last year everyone turned on Boise State. This year it seems like the SEC hate has reached a new level. Who will it be next season?

It's kind of like how if you were to eat a chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A because it is the best thing ever and nothing compares. However, if you were to eat it every day you would get a tad tired of it. Then, when it is rammed down your throat over and over...you really start to hate it. You find any and all reasons to eat something else.

But damn...you know it sure is good and there is no chicken sandwich like it.

I have no idea what any of that is supposed to mean.

And I'll say it again, I'm a big fan of SEC football. My point all along has been that I find "SEC homerism advocacy" amusing. No other conference seems to produce "conference superfans." My interest in the Big Ten is pretty much Ohio State winning and Michigan losing. After that, I don't really care how good or bad the conference is overall. All the "the Big Ten sucks and has no business playing the same game as SEC teams" talk was tiring but my Buckeyes took care of their end of that last season. I guess it's nice to see the Big Ten do well in bowl games but I just can't see myself on here pimping the conference. But that's just me.

[DarkJourney]

I don't mind an LSU-Alabama rematch. At least it should be competitive like their earlier encounter. Watching LSU squash Oklahoma State, Stanford or Virginia Tech is not my cup o'tea.