2011NCAA Football Thread

[Still MIGHTY]

And so it begins. LSU's website got hacked:

[Chicageaux]

Jeesh.. things just got personal now.

[dfwabel]

Fresno State is more :censored:ed than ever.

1- They fire Pat Hill who took at $300K pay cut before last season. They cost of coaches has increased since then

2- Pat Hill and former hoops coach Steve Cleveland each will get paid for two years for not working.

3-Their athletic department funding is consistently in flux and Savemart Center's PSL program failed miserably. They owe money and they cannot raise student fees to cover any losses.

4- The move to the MWC and have to pay a leaving fee only to get the same amount of $$$ in media contracts.

[DarkJourney]

Fresno State is more :censored:ed than ever.

1- They fire Pat Hill who took at $300K pay cut before last season. They cost of coaches has increased since then

2- Pat Hill and former hoops coach Steve Cleveland each will get paid for two years for not working.

3-Their athletic department funding is consistently in flux and Savemart Center's PSL program failed miserably. They owe money and they cannot raise student fees to cover any losses.

4- The move to the MWC and have to pay a leaving fee only to get the same amount of $$$ in media contracts.

Fresno State had a nice little thing going for itself down in the "Valley" but now: An also ran who probably won't be seeing better days. The Bulldogs were known for having a passionate fan base and selling out their football games all the time. Now there are empty seats all over the place.

[DarkJourney]

This would be my 16 team tournament. Some fun and exciting match-ups:

(1) LSU

(16) Baylor

(8) Wisconsin

(9) South Carolina

(5) Oregon

(12) Michigan

(4) Stanford

(13) Michigan State

(6) Boise State

(11) Virginia Tech

(3) Oklahoma State

(14) Clemson

(7) Arkansas

(10) Kansas State

(2) Alabama

(15) TCU

[dfwabel]

Fresno State is more :censored:ed than ever.

1- They fire Pat Hill who took at $300K pay cut before last season. They cost of coaches has increased since then

2- Pat Hill and former hoops coach Steve Cleveland each will get paid for two years for not working.

3-Their athletic department funding is consistently in flux and Savemart Center's PSL program failed miserably. They owe money and they cannot raise student fees to cover any losses.

4- The move to the MWC and have to pay a leaving fee only to get the same amount of $ in media contracts.

Fresno State had a nice little thing going for itself down in the "Valley" but now: An also ran who probably won't be seeing better days. The Bulldogs were known for having a passionate fan base and selling out their football games all the time. Now there are empty seats all over the place.

Fresno State is the West Coast version of Southern Miss and Pat Hill is West Coast Jeff Bower.

If they had easier schedules, they would have been a BCS team. Play and beat just one tough AQ team and they MAY have done better.

Nice to very good non-AQ teams who play better in September than they do in November. You can beat an AQ team many times, but you still have to win your conference. Outside of games with Hawai'i and Boise State, when was Fresno State's last big televised game? They had Wisconsin and K-State at home recently, but their 2005 game @USC (Reggie Bush punt return) was their last premier appearance and they still lost that game and the rest of their season to finish 8-5.

They lost too many consecutive home games against $hitty teams. Real $hitty teams. Look at past Fresno seasons.

[McCall]

I've got no problem with a LSU - Bama final... they're clearly the best two teams. If OSU wanted to get in, they should have beaten Iowa St.

Thank you!

/awaits not playing in conference championship rebuttle.

I understand this argument might not stand because other sports have a playoff or tournament, but there's plenty of times when a team that doesn't win their conference plays in a title game. Alabama didn't win their conference for a reason, LSU plays in their conference, they even play in their division, so there was no way they were going to have a chance to win the SEC Championship Game unless they beat LSU. As DC said, if Ok State wanted in the NCG, maybe they should have beat Iowa State.

As was expected, Oklahoma State did jump Alabama in the computer polls. However, it came down to the voters this time and the people chose Alabama. All along I've said I didn't think Alabama should play in the NCG, and I still believe that, however what's done is done. Alabama won just as many games as Oklahoma State. Just because they didn't win the SEC doesn't mean anything, especially that isn't a rule to play in the BCS NCG. The BCS is to determine the number 1 and number 2 teams in the country and that's what it did.

In other sports, however, there is a playoff to get to the championship game, so it's not like they were picked that way, as is the case here. And everyone for this system says the regular season IS a playoff. Well then Alabama not winning their conference (or even making the championship game) means they lossed in the playoffs. Therefore they should not be eligible for the NCG.

[raysox]

But I like playoffs, much much better. 8 of the best teams, or 16 with every conference and at larges. First round are on a home site for the 16 team field, then pick the 7 biggest bowls and have the rest play it out on the field. Have other bowls as an NIT type deal or w/e but it seems like D2 does it good enough. Merge the two, who cares at this point. Everyone just wants to be fair.

There is no good reason for someone like Arkansas State to get curb stomped by the #1 team every year. If LSU and Arkansas State played 100 games, LSU would win all 100 of them. This ain't basketball. There will never be the football equivalent of Butler making the title game.

Yeah, i get that. If they went that route, then it should be based on record/rankings. So the Arkansas States, and Northern Illinois wouldn't get bids, but teams like TCU and Southern Miss who won their conference, and ranked in the top 25 would get in. That'd mean they'd have a floating system, where the at larges varies, which could be exciting and cause some underdogs to get in. Arkansas State would get throttled by LSU, but a 1-16 match up against Southern Miss after the game they just had might be cool.

[Chicageaux]

In other sports, however, there is a playoff to get to the championship game, so it's not like they were picked that way, as is the case here. And everyone for this system says the regular season IS a playoff. Well then Alabama not winning their conference (or even making the championship game) means they lossed in the playoffs. Therefore they should not be eligible for the NCG.

Except there's no rule that if you didn't win your conference, you can't play in the National Championship Game. I understand the reasoning why Alabama shouldn't be in the NCG, but there's nothing that's going to change that. We knew for about a week before that it was looking like it'd be LSU-Alabama in the NCG, like most people here, I was hoping that if OK State had a great performance, they'd jump Alabama. That was only true in the computer rankings.

Oklahoma State, along with a few other schools held onto their own destiny after LSU and Alabama's first meeting, I don't think anyone saw the three of them losing with just three weeks left. Alabama got lucky and they benefitted from a system. If they had lost in regulation to LSU by atleast two touchdowns, I don't think they'd be in the title game, however, they only lost 9-6 to the best team in the country. Oklahoma blew a 17 (?) point lead against Iowa State. It is what it is.

[RyanMcD29]

And so it begins. LSU's website got hacked:

"WE TOOK OVER LSU'S WEBSITE!! ROOOLLLLL TIIIIIDE, PAWWWWWWLLL!"

[Jigga]

And so it begins. LSU's website got hacked:

"WE TOOK OVER LSU'S WEBSITE!! ROOOLLLLL TIIIIIDE, PAWWWWWWLLL!"

Dammnit...I wanted to do a Harvey Updike spoof on this! Oh well...

Roll damn Tide!

[Cola]

Hypothetical for the ones against the NCG rematch:

Had Bama blown it but Oregon won out and we were faced with a LSU/Oregon rematch, would you have the same opinions of the game? LSU already smacked Oregon, so I am assuming the same group of people would be against both matchups- correct?

Also another thing to ponder- fans, the media, people on here, seem to all think LSU is leaps and bound better than Alabama. The score difference of a FG seems to be ignored, at least to me- I even tend to think that in my head and will say "Well, Bama lost so give Oklahoma State a shot." Is that the right thing to do, though? No one seems to doubt for a second that LSU is the best team in the nation and deserves to play in the game- especially with how they have played since. What if LSU had lost against Bama and THEY were one of the 1-loss teams with Oklahoma State? How could we alter our opinion of this great LSU team based off of 3 points? Would it be different because LSU had played a tougher schedule than Bama?

I see people against this NCG in one of two groups (can't support both):

- You either don't want to see a rematch.

or

- You don't believe the National Championship game should have to feature the 2 best teams in America.

[Drew22]

Good Gus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDT9yFhhmYU

[WJMorris3]

Hypothetical for the ones against the NCG rematch:

Had Bama blown it but Oregon won out and we were faced with a LSU/Oregon rematch, would you have the same opinions of the game? LSU already smacked Oregon, so I am assuming the same group of people would be against both matchups- correct?

Also another thing to ponder- fans, the media, people on here, seem to all think LSU is leaps and bound better than Alabama. The score difference of a FG seems to be ignored, at least to me- I even tend to think that in my head and will say "Well, Bama lost so give Oklahoma State a shot." Is that the right thing to do, though? No one seems to doubt for a second that LSU is the best team in the nation and deserves to play in the game- especially with how they have played since. What if LSU had lost against Bama and THEY were one of the 1-loss teams with Oklahoma State? How could we alter our opinion of this great LSU team based off of 3 points? Would it be different because LSU had played a tougher schedule than Bama?

I see people against this NCG in one of two groups (can't support both):

- You either don't want to see a rematch.

or

- You don't believe the National Championship game should have to feature the 2 best teams in America.

But hypothetically, even if Oklahoma State beats Iowa State, Alabama is still better. Oklahoma State didn't beat any SEC teams this year, and Alabama beat seven of them.

[bosrs1]

I see people against this NCG in one of two groups (can't support both):

- You either don't want to see a rematch.

or

- You don't believe the National Championship game should have to feature the 2 best teams in America.

You forgot group 3...

-You don't believe the NCG is featuring the two best teams in America.

[Cola]

Al Golden's voting privileges should be revoked.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/story/2011-final-coaches-ballots/51647436/1

Look at his ACC voting, in regards to Clemson and Virginia Tech especially...along with a few other questionable rankings.

[infrared41]

Hypothetical for the ones against the NCG rematch:

1. Had Bama blown it but Oregon won out and we were faced with a LSU/Oregon rematch, would you have the same opinions of the game? LSU already smacked Oregon, so I am assuming the same group of people would be against both matchups- correct?

2. I see people against this NCG in one of two groups (can't support both):

- You either don't want to see a rematch.

or

- You don't believe the National Championship game should have to feature the 2 best teams in America.

1. Yes. I would have been against a rematch for all the same reasons.

2. You're taking this as some sort of anti-SEC thing. It has nothing to do with that. (I'll say it again, I love SEC football.) First off, you cannot prove that Alabama is the second best team in college football. Until you can come up with definitive proof, how about you stop acting like it's a proven fact? If the same voters who decided Alabama was number two had at the 11th hour decided that Oklahoma State should be number two, you'd be screaming bloody murder. Second, even SEC fans (rational ones anyway) can see the absurdity of a team that not only didn't win it's conference, but finished second in it's division in that conference, playing in the NCG. Oklahoma State played a tougher schedule and won their conference. The computers and voters may have decided otherwise, but all reason seems to dictate that a championship game should include participants who are...you know...champions.

Finally, I'd just like to reiterate this...

You forgot group 3...

-You don't believe the NCG is featuring the two best teams in America.

[Cola]

I already stated that I preferred an Oklahoma State/LSU NCG. Trust me, I have nothing against those guys and believe they did more than enough last weekend to deserve a shot at the title OVER Alabama. Besides, I have always liked Mike Gundy because there are two things I know about him:

1. He's a man.

2. He's forty.

However, going on everything we have in front of us, how close the computers are, how the coaches have voted, how the AP (even though it doesn't count) ranked them, and when you take into consideration that Alabama only lost to the definitive #1 team by 3 points- there is at least some concrete evidence in their favor.

The case agaisnt OSU differs because there isn't much concrete evidence to propel them over Alabama except to bring in the conference strength of SEC vs Big 12 and for all intents and purposes, it is hard to measure when so few games are played outside of each conference. I hate it for them, honestly- but it is what appears to have happened.

Don't you think, at least a little, that a reason for people wanting to see Oklahoma State over Alabama is simply because they are sick of the SEC? Not the only reason...but when it comes down to the two and you had to write a list of pro's and con's, I think some people would reason with that.

[Chicageaux]

I already stated that I preferred an Oklahoma State/LSU NCG. Trust me, I have nothing against those guys and believe they did more than enough last weekend to deserve a shot at the title OVER Alabama. Besides, I have always liked Mike Gundy because there are two things I know about him:

1. He's a man.

2. He's forty.

However, going on everything we have in front of us, how close the computers are, how the coaches have voted, how the AP (even though it doesn't count) ranked them, and when you take into consideration that Alabama only lost to the definitive #1 team by 3 points- there is at least some concrete evidence in their favor.

The case agaisnt OSU differs because there isn't much concrete evidence to propel them over Alabama except to bring in the conference strength of SEC vs Big 12 and for all intensive purposes, it is hard to measure when so few games are played outside of each conference. I hate it for them, honestly- but it is what appears to have happened.

Don't you think, at least a little, that a reason for people wanting to see Oklahoma State over Alabama is simply because they are sick of the SEC? Not the only reason...but when it comes down to the two and you had to write a list of pro's and con's, I think some people would reason with that.

Your reasons bolded make for a good case why there should be a playoff.

[dfwabel]

So today is when Dan Wetzel tries to tout his book for another year, other writers demand a playoff and all in the name of more money yet most think that the players are not professional and should get paid.