The College Football thread

“3 ACC teams would have a shot at the NC”

“Under that scenario, I feel three SEC teams (FL, UGA, and LSU) would be in the final four.”

“LOL, just totally discount VT? I bet it would be Ohios St/LSU vs BC/VT”

“I agree with Chili.”

“If we had 3 SEC teams in a final four match up like that and 2 in the Championship game, i'm pretty sure the south would rise up again and try to kick somebodies @$$, just because.”

“I think an eight team playoff makes more sense. Football is a lot more physical than basketball. Nobody outside of the top 8 have any argument that they belong in the championship game. 2/3 of this year's top 8 do.”

“Hey Nigal - Keep your filthy mits off our coach!”

“Hey Michigan - John Cooper is still availible!”

“Aha! My heart is broken that the Vols lost the SEC title to LSU, but someone's got to win and someone's got to lose. Now on to the Outback bowl where we will whup on Wisconsin! I am headed down to Tampa after I git to Springer! wooooweeeeeeeee!”

“Congrats to Tim Tebow - seems like an good dude, and deserved to win the Heismann.”

“Buddha, I don't think anything I've ever seen in college football matches the class displayed by Troy Smith in his speech after last year's title game. What a display of character.

Back attchya. Jim Tressel is an exemplary coach. You can't buy advertising like that. He and Smith make Ohio State look great!


Whoa... I had a moment of weakness there.




Oh golly yes, violin. After all, those championship division players from Harvard, Yale, Brown, Penn.... You know, those players who are part of a sixteen team (considering expansion) playoff already?

Gosh we all know how much tougher they have it physically. The trade-off is that they have so much less academic pressure than the wimps who play in the BCS division.




Playoff between sixteen teams and lose the cupcakes. I love part of Florida’s scheduling. We start out with two cupcakes in order to warm up for Tennessee. That strategy has paid off. But I wouldn’t mind losing one of those cupcakes. And I sure wouldn’t mind losing our additional late-season cupcake right before we play Florida State. I’d rather have an off week.

It’s suicide for an SEC team to consistently schedule good non-conference games. Look at what happened to Tennessee. Although we had to listen to longlosthiker whine about it, obviously playing an out-of-state powerhouse like Cal effected their whole season. They finished second in the SEC and got a third-rate bowl…

…they don’t get no respect.




Next year we play Hawaii. We play a BCS bowl team that will be without its Heisman finalist quarterback.

Colt will be gone and Hawaii comes to Gainesville.

You won’t hear me WHINING about a tough non-conference game next year. And the reason won’t be because it’s not an out-of-state game.

You won’t hear the WHINING we heard this year about playing a team that ended up playing in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.

You won’t hear the WHINING we heard this year about playing a team didn’t even end up ranked in the top 25.

The world is full of winners and whiners. Where would obnoxious fan-dom be without WHINERS?




Where was all the WHINING about blow-out games this year? I guess people got tired of WHINING about that. Then again, Steve Spurrier hasn’t been able to create a potent offense yet. Maybe whiney-fans can pick on Nick Saban in a year or two.




Didn’t you love the Heisman show? Kirk Herbrstreit made a point of saying the SEC is the toughest conference. Mark May made a point of saying the SEC is the toughest conference. Lee Corso has said it before. And here are Chris Fowlers comments:

Are these the glory days for the SEC?
By KEVIN BROCKWAY

“…Nationally, the league made a statement when Florida pounded Big Ten champion Ohio State 41-14 in the BCS title game.

"I don't know how much of a jolt it was for the conference because I think year in and year out the SEC is recognized as the toughest league in the country," said ESPN College GameDay studio host Chris Fowler. "I think people just didn't realize how good Florida was until they stepped on the field…”

…"The SEC is always the benchmark," Fowler said. "I think when you look at the Pac 10, you've got an outstanding team at the top in USC, and some good second-tier teams with Cal, Oregon, UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State. But it's hard to compare to the depth of talent that the SEC has..."

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20070725/SUNFRONT/707250337&SearchID=73288328885285


It is so funny to here big-ten fans who still think theirs is a tough conference. Funny and sad I should say. Denial is a powerful dysfunction.




Even though I am HIGHLY confident about LSU winning the MNC game, here’s where it could go wrong:

Most people didn’t think Ohio State belonged on the same field with Miami in 2002. I was one of those. I still believe that Miami was ripped off by a phantom pass interference call, but Ohio State played them toe-to-toe into overtime.

Ohio State had plenty of speed and desire that day. Few gave them a chance and they proved the critics wrong. It almost sounds like the 2006 game.

Ohio State will surely be an underdog. They’ll draw motivation from that. No chance they’ll develop the big head like last year.

I don’t expect LSU to develop a big head. They have two losses to SEC teams. They didn’t finish the year like they wanted. I think it will be a good one.

I expect a good game. But what do I know? In a friendly betting contest this year, I couldn’t pick a winner to save my life.

But Ohio State better bring their A-game if they expect to get one win, in NINE tries, against SEC opponents.

0-8. Wasn’t it sweet how the ESPN announcers brought that up the fact that Ohio State has never beaten a team from the SEC during their Bowl Preview show?




Nigal, you don’t have the stomach to make me cringe. BRING IT ON!

I think Michigan will use the underdog role as well. Mike Hart will be healthy and looking to improve his draft position. They’ll be playing for Lloyd Carr. They’ll be coming after the Heisman winner as happened last year. All the planets align for Michigan to play one of their best games of the year.

I hope so. Because, given a couple of weeks to prepare, Meyer’s team are almost unbeatable. Almost…

I think this will be a much better game than many expect.


It will be a game between two different programs. One program has the winningest tradition in college football. The other has a shorter record of national prominence but is breaking and setting new records every year.

It’s a great time to be a GATOR.

Maybe it’s nice to say, “My team used to be great back when granddaddy went to school there.”

I prefer, “My team has been nationally prominent since I attended school there. My team is in national contention often. We’re currently setting new standards by breaking records and statistics that have stood for years. We are not only adding to already accomplished feats, WE ARE CREATING HISTORY”


Florida is the only program in NCAA history to win football and basketball championships in the same year.

Florida Alum Emmitt Smith is the all-time NFL career rushing leader.

Florida has the only sophomore to EVER win the Davey O’Brian Award.

Florida has the only sophomore to EVER win the Heisman Award.

Florida is one of only a few schools to have a major college football award named after one of its players (The Wuerffel award is for character. It goes to, “…the college football player who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement”).

Florida is the only college football program to have a bowl game named after them.

Florida shares the record (with has-been Notre Dame) for most Heismans won by a quarterback.

The number one sports drink in the world was invented at The University of Florida. Thanks for the royalties.


I prefer to live in the present so, “I used to be a contenduh” just doesn’t cut it for me. But I feel great sympathy for those whose teams used to be great back when granddaddy was wearing his raccoon coat to the games. Some pathetic people need to grasp anything they can.




I wish everyone’s team could win their bowl game. That being impossible, I hope everyone but Ohio State loses.

‘CAUSE OHIO STATE SUCKS!”

“Nigal, you don�t have the stomach to make me cringe. BRING IT ON!

We need to hike together. LOL!”

““Congrats to Tim Tebow - seems like an good dude, and deserved to win the Heismann.”
Buddha Bear

I agree Tim Tebow is a deserving winner of the Heismann. I love to watch that guy play.”

“and he's got two more years eligibility too!

The man is a beast!”

“arclite - You neglected to mention that most of the Big Ten Teams in Bowl Games are favored to lose. So, if any of them should win, it will have to be attributed to luck.”

“No, it's just that upsets happen. Also, I wonder how the seeding works with the Big 11. For example, in the Peach Bowl it's usually the ACC #3 team versus the SEC #5 if memory serves. It may well be that the Big 11 is facing that type of seeding in their bowls as well.”

“Nigal, I’ve wanted to hike with you for years. Stop threatening and come to a footballapallooza. I’ll do the same when my personal life reaches a manageable level off sanity again.




Yessir slim, luck plays a very small part in bowl games. It plays a larger part during the season.

Last year, Florida was lucky to get through the season without many major players lost to injuries or youthful idiocy. We only lost our best receiver and our best defensive tackle. The MNC game would have got really ugly had we had both of those guys. If Marcus Thomas had been playing defensive tackle, we wouldn’t have just stopped Ohio State twice with a yard to go; we would have pushed them back ten yards. He single-handedly collapsed entire offensive lines. It enabled our ends to run free. We had to play conservatively against Ohio State.

This year, during the Florida/LSU game, they carried five or six LSU players off the field. What saved LSU was their depth. They were unlucky to have all those injuries, but luck played no part in their depth.

In the SEC, you're lucky to get through the season healthy.




I seriously doubt that Tebow will leave early for the pros. So everyone should have the pleasure of watching him for two more years. They had to reign him in when he first came here because he was lifting weights with the linemen. I’ve stood next to the guy in person. He makes me look like a munchkin. 6-3, 235lbs my ass! His sister is bigger than that.

Hopefully Tebow can take two more years of SEC pounding and still remain reasonably healthy. We need to get Cameron Newton (our even bigger back-up) more playing time. If only we played in a cupcake conference, like the big-ten, we could afford to do so.


What's really special is that Tebow is one of the humblest and friendliest guys you’ll ever meet. Just like me! Well, maybe not so much.
last edited: 12/11/07 4:25:43 AM”

“I understand it now. Football is an "if" game, followed by "We would have ... ."”

“Hey, Arc, it was just a lame attempt at some light-hearted humor. However, you failed to mention one thing that Kansas has that Florida doesn't. A coach with his own area code, his own solar system, half of the map of the USA, shade for the entire state, and the awards for COACH OF THE YEAR! Rock Chalk!
And, let me agree that Tebow is a great choice for Heisman. Maybe the Gators and the Jayhawks can meet in the football playoffs next year.”

“So has Hawaii...actually played Football against anyone this year?”

“

There is no way USC takes Florida.”

“Nigal, I�ve wanted to hike with you for years. Stop threatening and come to a footballapallooza.

Now that I have a job with paid time off I'm planning on making a lot more trips that I couldn't before. Next year for sure.”

“W.K., that's pretty much how I see the final four if there were a playoff this year. Then, I see Oklahoma and Florida in the title game. Then, the Stoops' Troops pull it out for the Big 12!!!!
And... you can't tell me any different because no one will ever know for sure, because we have the Big Confused System.”

“The local Mississippi community college, Gulf Coast Community Colege, was just named as The National Co-Champion. Last time the title was shared was 1960 or so.
11-0”

“Congrats to Arkansas fans for landing a fine coach. All you have to do is compare Louisville of last year (under Petrino) to this year to see what kind of talent you're getting.”

“Dunadan, come on now, you're from the Midwest...


...you have no sense of humor.”

“Posted by Doug Lesmerises, Plain Dealer Reporter December 15, 2007 06:23AM

"I don't think either one of us has played as challenging of a conference schedule as we could or should," Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany is saying to me on the phone.
Finally, agreement. Delany is on board that both the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference can play more compelling early-season football games. Too bad the Big Ten leader spent the previous 15 minutes poking holes in my idea for the SEC-Big Ten Challenge, a unifying festival of football, a cultural extravaganza guaranteed to dominate the opening weekend of college football two years from now.

So my first version of the SEC-Big Ten Challenge went down in flames.

And I tried again.

This is version two, which differs in several ways from the proposal e-mailed last month to Delany and SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. First of all, it's nine years away. So no excuses about preseason schedules already being locked in. Second, the earlier plan with sites hosting up to three games in a weekend festival atmosphere gave way to regional doubleheaders, for the most part, at neutral sites.

The thrust of the idea remains the same: An 11-game, first-weekend showdown between the SEC and Big Ten aimed at settling, or better, inflaming the debate over which conference plays better ball.

It's a two-year proposal, with each team playing one game near home and one game in the other region. (Mississippi State and Ole Miss share a spot to solve the 12-team vs. 11-team conference problem.)

You'll see LSU hosting at New Orleans' Superdome, Tennessee at Nashville's LP Field, Ohio State at Cleveland Browns Stadium and Penn State at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field. During the doubleheader at Detroit's Ford Field, Michigan and Michigan State fans will unite to fight the SEC. At Birmingham's Legion field, former home of the Iron Bowl, Alabama and Auburn fans will root for each other against Midwest invaders. And with a game going on in each region at the same time, the highlight of an Indiana touchdown against Ole Miss in New Orleans would be met by cheers from the Iowa fans in Minneapolis watching the Hawkeyes take on Tennessee.

Yes, even Buckeyes and Wolverines would be bonded for the weekend.

The games would be played at regional neutral sites to allow for a major corporate sponsorship to bring in several million dollars, something that couldn't happen with on-campus games. Doubleheaders would drive ticket sales and facilitate conference camaraderie. And if you wonder, like Delany, whether anyone would really be interested in, say, a Northwestern-Vanderbilt game . . . wouldn't a game counting as a point in the Challenge create a lot more interest than a typical Northwestern-Duke nonconference game?

Why wouldn't it work? Stubbornness. And even with the corporate sponsor, schools like Michigan, Ohio State and Tennessee, with monster stadiums, might lose a little bit from the lost ticket revenue of playing in smaller NFL stadiums.

But that shouldn't be enough to hold it up. The Big Ten already plays the ACC in a basketball challenge. This would dwarf that. Since it's on the opening weekend of the season, the buildup would last a month. For those two days, no one in college football would talk about anything else.

Commissioners Slive and Delany, if we do not hear any further objections, we will see you in nine years.

Match-ups:
2016 CHALLENGE

Saturday

at Atlanta
South Carolina vs. Minnesota, noon.
Georgia vs. Iowa, 8 p.m.

at Detroit
Michigan State vs. Mississippi State, noon.
Michigan vs. LSU, 8 p.m.

at Jacksonville
Florida vs. Illinois, 3:30 p.m.

at Milwaukee
Wisconsin vs. Auburn, noon.

Sunday

at Indianapolis
Indiana vs. Kentucky, noon.
Purdue vs. Arkansas, 8 p.m.

at Nashville
Vanderbilt vs. Northwestern, noon.
Tennessee vs. Ohio State, 8 p.m.

at Philadelphia
Penn State vs. Alabama, 3:30 p.m.

2017 CHALLENGE

Saturday


at Cleveland
Ohio State vs. Florida, 3:30 p.m.

at Louisville
Kentucky vs. Purdue, 3:30 p.m.

at Minneapolis
Iowa vs. Tennessee, noon.
Minnesota vs. Vanderbilt, 8 p.m.

at New Orleans
Ole Miss vs. Indiana, noon.
LSU vs. Penn State, 8 p.m.

Sunday

at Birmingham, Ala.
Alabama vs. Michigan State, noon.
Auburn vs. Michigan, 8 p.m.

at Chicago
Northwestern vs. South Carolina, noon.
Illinois vs. Georgia, 8 p.m.

at New Orleans
Arkansas vs. Wisconsin, 3:30 p.m.



SEC and Big Ten people - copy and email to your buddies - this would be a pretty cool event!
last edited: 12/15/07 4:45:52 AM”

“At Birmingham's Legion field, former home of the Iron Bowl, Alabama and Auburn fans will root for each other against Midwest invaders.



He hasn't been to Legion Field in a while. It no longer has an upper deck and is a dump. The games involving Alabama/Auburn would either have to be played on campus or in Atlanta.”

“The concept is pretty neat though.”

“You'd have to think that a big ten or sec team would be guaranteed a spot in the NC game if they run the table, or with 1 maybe 2 losses with a preseason schedule like that. i think that we could do 12 teams, by bringing in Notre Dame as well.”

“The Penn State/Bama game would be great. I think both schools either are or have negotiated a home and home. We tried to set one up with ND but it fell through.

I think it was in 75 that PSU was on the edge of getting into a really good bowl. Bryant made a few calls and made it happen. Bryant and Paterno were good friends.

The rule now where a guy who went to a school can't officiate one of there games came as a result of a Bama/PSU game. We were playing up there in the early 80's and making a big comeback. We threw a TD at the back of the endzone. The guy was in by about 2 yards but was called out. There was an outrage. Turns out the ref was a PSU grad and his nephew was on the team. I'm probably messing some of that up, but will look it up and post.

My first Bama game was a PSU/Bama game. We were ranked #2 and they were #3. They won 23-3. Ouch.”

“Here's an article on it. No, I'm not implying Paterno cheats, which seems to be the tone from just scanning the article:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05EFD6103DF93AA25753C1A9649C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/P/Paterno,%20Joe


Then there are the Guman affairs -- as in Referee Don Guman.

He is the father of the former Nittany Lion Mike Guman and the grandfather of the current Penn State defensive back Andrew Guman, and he twice came under fire for officiating Penn State games in which the calls, well, went Paterno's way.

More memorable perhaps was the presence of Guman the next season on the crew that officiated Penn State's 34-28 defeat of Alabama at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa. On the next-to-last play of the game, Crimson Tide tight end Preston Gothard appeared to catch a touchdown pass, potentially the game-winner, before falling out of the end zone.

But officials ruled that Gothard did not have possession. Guman did not make that call, but Alabama fans have forever felt robbed, especially because in the week before the game, Ray Perkins, then the coach of the Crimson Tide, had asked that Guman be replaced because his son played for the Nittany Lions.





I read another report talking about the actual guy that made the call, but can't find it.”

“Oh yessir, Dunadan. Let's set the record straight:


You're right, Florida doesn't have a coach with the coach of the year award...

...Florida has a coach with TWO NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR AWARDS.


Only having one is pretty wimpy.
last edited: 12/15/07 6:20:44 PM”

“Anyone remember the name of that trophy?”

“somehow I sense some sort of trap??”

“to continue dayhiker's post..... and how many of those awards did Urban Meyer win?








A. - 0”

“OK, I've been out of pocket, are we doing the football picking thing?”

“Item 1; Tebow should kiss Mcfadden's A$S! D-mac is clearly the better player and more deserving. RUN DMC!

Item 2; LSU in the Championship game is absurd, since we(HOGS)whooped them, handily....in the 3rd OT...WE NEED PLAYOFFS!

Item 3;Houston Nutt was pretty good, but Petrino is better and will bring us into National relevancy

Item 4;D-Mac and Felix Jones will ensure that the Hogs smear Mizzu in the Cotton Bowl and we'll finish in the top 10

Item 5; Our new AD, Jeff Long has already outperformed outgoing legend, Frank Broils....

Item 6;........ok, I forgot what 6 was....”

“

DJ suspended for playing Michigan fight song returns to work

A morning radio host who was suspended for playing the Michigan fight song over and over has returned to work, and he let upset West Virginia University fans pelt him with eggs as penance.

Coach Kidd braces to have an egg thrown at him -- part of his penance for playing "The Victors" too many times. .. Electric 102 morning show co-host Coach Kidd said he was sorry.

He said his enthusiasm got a little out of hand after Michigan, his alma mater, hired away WVU head football Coach Rich Rodriguez.

"I never meant to put any WVU fan down," Kidd said on the air. "I took it a little too far."

http://dailymail.com/News/200712200152”

“Hey! One of the videos I took at the Big Game (the Stanford-Cal version) was picked as the "featured video" on Webshots. It's a video of "the walk," where the players walk from the main locker room down to the stadium.

http://video.webshots.com/”

“Congratulations, Bowlder. I thought I heard that one player figuring out quadratic equations as he walked by. Or, was he saying, "Not another ass-kicking today?!".”

“Must have been the latter, since Stanford was the team doing the ass-kicking that day!”

“Don't be so sensitive. Go Trees!”

“Were you provoking me, Dun?


;-)”

“http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls07/news/story?id=3165186

Won't matter. Projected score...

Tennessee - 56
Wisconsin - 3”

“Tennessee is incapable of scoring 56 points.

The defense might give that many up, however.”

“yea, but they are playing a big (pansy) 10 team”

“Yep, Bowlder, you caught me provokin' again.”

“I can't understand this TN - Wisc. match. Seems to me TN - MN would be a better match.”

“So, its their own bowl game. Bright sunny day in ABQ for New Mexico vs Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl. Lobos TD on third play!! Go Lobos!”