I definitely think they'll be improved. Programs like Michigan don't tend to stay down long. Look at it this way - there's really only one direction to go. I kept having to tell myself that after our disaster of a season in 1997.
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2009/10 College Football Thread
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I definitely think they'll be improved. Programs like Michigan don't tend to stay down long. Look at it this way - there's really only one direction to go. I kept having to tell myself that after our disaster of a season in 1997.
Heck... a disaster last season. Ugh. I hope big blue comes back and comes back quick. Do you know how hard it is to crap from a ND fan. Ugghhhh The pain.
So here are the pre-season Bowl predictions from our friends over at ESPN.com
Florida and Texas in the NC game, eh? I could definitely see it happening.
Boise State back in the Fiesta Bowl with Oklahoma. That could be VERY interesting.
Feldman is obviously trying to be funny with BYU in the Sugar Bowl. Are you kidding me? They're not even going to win their conference.
Florida and Texas in the NC game, eh? I could definitely see it happening.
Boise State back in the Fiesta Bowl with Oklahoma. That could be VERY interesting.
Feldman is obviously trying to be funny with BYU in the Sugar Bowl. Are you kidding me? They're not even going to win their conference.
Texas will not be in the national championship game. By now, you'd have to think defenses will have figured out the "Colt McCoy can only throw the ball 5 yards downfield with any accuracy so let's just run screens and and slants all day" offense they run, they have no running game and their defense has a long, long way to go.
They lose at least 2 games this year.
They lose at least 2 games this year.
Feldman is obviously trying to be funny with BYU in the Sugar Bowl. Are you kidding me? They're not even going to win their conference.
Utah would be happy to go back to the Sugar Bowl.
P-Worm
Didn't they win 3 games last season? Where exactly else could they go but up?
Sadly, that's correct. I'm just ready for the team to be as good as they used to be. Maybe not this year, but next year for sure, they'll be awesome again. Like I said last year, Rich Rodriguez will be good for them... it will just take some time.
Well, we *did* beat those friggin' Sooners last season.
Dear Lord, eight months later and you crybabies are still going on about this?
</sarcasm>
Okay, now that that's off my chest:
Yeah, losing 4 starting linemen has me a bit concerned. Bradford is still a great quarterback, Gresham and Broyles are back, Moises Madu showed late last season he can handle being a featured back, so other than the line, the offense doesn't have me worried.
Every year, I have the same worries about the defense, and every year the defense still manages to have a guy or two step up and fill a void left by a departed player.
My opinion is that Texas lost more with their graduating class than Oklahoma did - but we'll see. The middle of October is always interesting at my house, my wife is a Texas ex-student and I'm an OU grad.
I wish I could go to the OU-BYU game across town, but only season ticket holders are getting a shot at tickets for that one.
I wish I could go to the OU-BYU game across town, but only season ticket holders are getting a shot at tickets for that one.
Pretty crazy, isn't it? The new stadium seats 80,000 and tickets disappeared like cockroaches when the lights are flipped on. Not that 80,000 is ginormous by football stadium standards, but it's not small either.
P-Worm
Dear Lord, eight months later and you crybabies are still going on about this?
</sarcasm>
Okay, now that that's off my chest:
Yeah, losing 4 starting linemen has me a bit concerned. Bradford is still a great quarterback, Gresham and Broyles are back, Moises Madu showed late last season he can handle being a featured back, so other than the line, the offense doesn't have me worried.
Every year, I have the same worries about the defense, and every year the defense still manages to have a guy or two step up and fill a void left by a departed player.
My opinion is that Texas lost more with their graduating class than Oklahoma did - but we'll see. The middle of October is always interesting at my house, my wife is a Texas ex-student and I'm an OU grad.
I wish I could go to the OU-BYU game across town, but only season ticket holders are getting a shot at tickets for that one.
I don't really care one way or another on who went to the title game. I don't really like UT that much. I'm an SEC fanboy. I just found the whole situation a bit odd. Of course, I suppose other conferences have odd tiebreakers as well. I remember several years ago, there was a tie in the Big 10. The winner was decided by the team that had been the longest without a Rose Bowl appearances.
I would be worried about that defense, as should most of the Big 12. It seemed like nobody in the Big 12 really played good defense last year. Then again, maybe you should be worried about that offense, too. I think we saw what happened last year when the two best offenses in the Big 12 played SEC defenses.
For Cowboys games they're even selling standing room only tickets for $29, and for the home opener they've already sold around 20,000 of those - so there could be 100,000 people there for a friggin' NFL game. That's what's crazy.
The reason the coaches voted to keep the tiebreaker is because it gives the conference's highest-ranked team a better shot at the BCS title game. That, and because it makes the most sense in a 3-way tie.
IIRC Mike Leach was the only coach who voted against it, and his solution was to use graduation rates as the tiebreaker.
For Cowboys games they're even selling standing room only tickets for $29, and for the home opener they've already sold around 20,000 of those - so there could be 100,000 people there for a friggin' NFL game. That's what's crazy.
The reason the coaches voted to keep the tiebreaker is because it gives the conference's highest-ranked team a better shot at the BCS title game. That, and because it makes the most sense in a 3-way tie.
IIRC Mike Leach was the only coach who voted against it, and his solution was to use graduation rates as the tiebreaker.
Oh, so an NFL stadium will finally start approaching the size of some of the college stadiums. I always found it amusing that the largest NFL stadium (pre-Cowboys new stadium) would only be 4th or 5th in capacity in the SEC or Big 10.
I wonder why Mike Leach voted against it?
With that system, he better hope nobody winds up in a tiebreaker with Baylor.
Size, no. These are going to be platforms for people to stand on, but the stadium itself isn't any bigger. That sounds borderline frightening to me.
I've always wondered why they say football is such a grand sport in Texas, but the two pro teams have smaller stadiums than some of the colleges.
I wonder why Mike Leach voted against it?
Some of the stuff that flows from his trap really makes me snicker. He's a character.
But he voted for the tiebreaker because it would have broken the three-way tie in favor of Tech.
Size, no. These are going to be platforms for people to stand on, but the stadium itself isn't any bigger. That sounds borderline frightening to me.
I've always wondered why they say football is such a grand sport in Texas, but the two pro teams have smaller stadiums than some of the colleges.
Some of the stuff that flows from his trap really makes me snicker. He's a character.
But he voted for the tiebreaker because it would have broken the three-way tie in favor of Tech.
Tennessee is known for doing that. They routinely add several thousand to the capacity of their stadium to give them bigger crowds. I don't know if it actually official with them, though.
As for Texas stadiums: well, pro football is just a business. College football is a religion.
(Though high school may be just as popular. Some TX high schools have stadiums bigger than college stadiums)I was joking about the Leach vote. I figured Tech would have beaten the other schools in graduation rates. I like Mike Leach, though. He's a unique guy in the world of coaches. He has a law degree, and never played college football. And you just never know what he will say next.
Aren't you an OU fan? Why don't you focus on not embarrassing the conference in your bowl game.
This is my favorite Oklahoma picture of all time.
The look on this guy's face makes me laugh every time I see it. It's like you can tell he's thinking, "are you kidding me??"
Hilarious.
The look on this guy's face makes me laugh every time I see it. It's like you can tell he's thinking, "are you kidding me??"
Hilarious.
Aren't you an OU fan? Why don't you focus on not embarrassing the conference in your bowl game.
Nope (in fact, I loathe OU). I just don't think Texas is going to be as good as everyone thinks they'll be. The Big 12 South is incredibly tougheven Baylor and A&M should be around .500 this yearand Texas has a lot more issues than people want to talk about.
As for the Big 12 tiebreaker, it sucks. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but there isn't a good tiebreaker out there when talking about 3-way ties when everyone beat everyone.
The biggest load of crap about the tiebreaker was the fact that the Longhorns are still pimping the idea that they got screwed over somehow, that head-to-head match-ups weren't taken into account somehow. How convenient for them to "throw out" the Tech game and only look at the OU game when determining a champion. Nevermind the fact that Tech, too, was 11-1 (7-1).
And no, I didn't go to Tech, either.
This was all said about us last season too, and the team managed to beat expectations. Our schedule is stupidly easy, with our hardest games in conference being played at home. We might not be world beaters, but if we get by OU, there's not a whole lot standing in the way of the title game (oSu, Missouri maybe?). You're right in that we have some pretty strong weaknesses (our defense sure, but Colt? He's the best passer in UT history, and you're trying to tell us he sucks?) and I do think the #2 rating is a stretch.
I never cared about the tiebreaker. Without a real playoff the idea of a genuine national champion is kind of a joke. I just want UT to play interesting games (and hopefully win them). I'm pretty pissed out our non-conference schedule.
So who here knows about Florida this year?
I honestly don't know too much, but deep down do we have another dominant Florida team to take it all?
They definitely have the schedule to go undefeated, although Charleston Southern might give them a run for their money in the season opener...
They do have three preseason ranked teams on their schedule (like preseason means anything), but it doesn't seem like they are games that will be that difficult for Florida of '08.
So what's the thought? Any Gator fans out there?
I honestly don't know too much, but deep down do we have another dominant Florida team to take it all?
They definitely have the schedule to go undefeated, although Charleston Southern might give them a run for their money in the season opener...
They do have three preseason ranked teams on their schedule (like preseason means anything), but it doesn't seem like they are games that will be that difficult for Florida of '08.
So what's the thought? Any Gator fans out there?
USC's tentative starting QB Aaron Corp is injured. He chipped a bone in his knee (not that serious) and will be out 1-2 weeks. Will USC start true freshman, number one overall high schooler, Matt Barkley in his place? We'll see opening day!
Either way it's good USC's opener is San Jose State. That game will give whoever it is a pancake game to get things going...
So who here knows about Florida this year?
I honestly don't know too much, but deep down do we have another dominant Florida team to take it all?
They definitely have the schedule to go undefeated, although Charleston Southern might give them a run for their money in the season opener...
They do have three preseason ranked teams on their schedule (like preseason means anything), but it doesn't seem like they are games that will be that difficult for Florida of '08.
So what's the thought? Any Gator fans out there?
I'm not a Gator fan, but I think there is a good chance they repeat. They return all 11 starters on defense, which was ranked in the top 10 in the country last year. I think Georgia will have a slightly down year (it's tough replacing two first round draft picks), and they don't play two of the top teams from the SEC West (Alabama and Ole Miss). Their toughest road games could be at LSU and Florida State.
Having said all of that, just keep in mind that only one team has gone undefeated in the SEC in the last 10 years.