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2009/10 College Football Thread

evilgEEk said:
Ignatius, is this good or bad?
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As far as losing Cromwell as OC, I don't think that will matter much because Mike Sherman has always called the plays, anyway. Plus, Cromwell was not known as a good recruiter (he's always been an NFL guy; this is the only college job he's ever had) so it's not like we'll be missing him there, either.

The only thing that concerns me about losing Cromwell (who was also WR coach) is that our wide receivers as a group have been playing at a higher level the past two years than at pretty much any other time in our history. Granted we've probably got the most talented group we've ever had, but one of our leading WRs has been Ryan Tannehill, who is also the backup QB and never played WR until his freshman year at A&M. Cromwell certainly had a hand in teaching him.

Supposedly Steve Kragthorpe is interviewing for the OC/WR coach job (or possibly just the WR coach job). The latest speculation I've heard is that there may not be an OC at all, but instead QB coach Tom Rossley will be the passing game coordinator and RB coach Randy Jordan will be the running game coordinator.
 
Texas to the Big 10?

I, personally, don't think Texas would agree to go to the Big 10 unless they get to control everything (like they do in the Big 12). I don't think Michigan and Ohio State would be willing to take a back seat to anyone, let along the new guy on the block. But if it did happen, it would be very interesting to see the dominoes fall all over the country.
 
I agree, I don't see Texas heading to the Big 10.

I think if anyone goes it will be a Big 12 North team, like Missouri. Then who would the Big 12 choose to replace them? The team the makes the most sense to me would be TCU, although they're not exactly "North". Heh.

Call me crazy, but I see TCU joining a BCS conference before Boise State, Utah or BYU.

On an unrelated note, check out ESPN's Mark Schlabach's "Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2010"

I have to admit, I like what I see. ;)
 
evilgEEk said:
I think if anyone goes it will be a Big 12 North team, like Missouri. Then who would the Big 12 choose to replace them? The team the makes the most sense to me would be TCU, although they're not exactly "North". Heh.
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The buzz I'm hearing is BYU to the Big 12 North, although that's in conjunction with Colorado to the PAC-10.
 
evilgEEk said:
Call me crazy, but I see TCU joining a BCS conference before Boise State, Utah or BYU.
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The problem with TCU moving to a BCS conference is that it would be difficult for them to compete across the board. Even though football (and to a lesser extent, men's basketball) is the money sport, and even though TCU has been very good in football for about a decade, they don't fill up their stadium (which is very small), they don't recruit particularly well despite being in the middle of THE most fertile recruiting area in the nation and their athletic budget would go from being near the top of the MWC to at the bottom of the Big 12.

Add it all up and you have a recipe for sending the Frogs back to the abyss they were in when the old SWC died.
 
Tomorrow said:
The buzz I'm hearing is BYU to the Big 12 North, although that's in conjunction with Colorado to the PAC-10.
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Regardless of what happens to BYU and Utah singularly, I would hate to see them go to different conferences. That rivalry is so fun to watch because of the deep bitterness towards each school, but also because the conference title is nearly always decided by the "Holy War". Take them out of the same conference and the rivalry would be somewhat diminished.

IgnatiusTheKing said:
Add it all up ...
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All very good points, and you're probably right.

As good as TCU has been over the last decade I always forget that they have such a small fan base. It's sad, really. The Fiesta Bowl is a great example. Boise and Fort Worth are almost exactly the same distance from Glendale (Boise is about 100 miles closer) and that stadium was filled with about 70% Orange.

I realize it's a small school, but TCU's football program deserves a larger fan base.
 
evilgEEk said:
I realize it's a small school, but TCU's football program deserves a larger fan base.
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Well, it's an expensive private school with a small alumni base, and it sits about equal distance from UT, A&M, TT and OU, so the local populace is fragmented by alumni of other, larger schools. And to top it off, the only thing the local media ever talks about during the fall is the Dallas Cowboys.
 
This is freaking awesome.

DatNguyen2.jpg
 
Those look like some great hires! The future of A&M football is looking bright. :) It's always all about the coaching.

Speaking of coaching. Bob Gregory, the DC at Cal has left to join the Boise State staff as a Defensive Assistant. Very interesting. Gregory was at Boise State before going to Cal eight years ago, but coming back to be a defensive assistant seems a little odd. Perhaps he was pressured to leave? Cal's defense hasn't exactly been stellar as of late...

And Oregon is in more trouble. The team seems to be making the news right and left lately. This time it's LaMichael James apparently strangling his girlfriend. It would seem Oregon will have a lot of work to do in this offseason, off the field.
 
evilgEEk said:
Speaking of coaching. Bob Gregory, the DC at Cal has left to join the Boise State staff as a Defensive Assistant. Very interesting. Gregory was at Boise State before going to Cal eight years ago, but coming back to be a defensive assistant seems a little odd. Perhaps he was pressured to leave? Cal's defense hasn't exactly been stellar as of late...
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Yeah I saw that. A little odd that he would leave a DC job at a BCS school to take a lesser job at a non-BCS school, but maybe it just speaks to the strength of the Boise program right now. After all, if Gregory was going to be fired, wouldn't they have done it right after the bowls? I guess it's possible that he was going to be demoted.
 
SLC Flyfishing said:
Ha Ha, jealous? Why would I be jealous? :p

Anyway, did you read the article, I was serious when I recommended it to anyone needing a laugh.

SLC
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:D

...as a matter of fact I had already seen that article before you posted it. I'm not going to argue that Boise State is a better school than UofU, because I would lose. :) I completely agree that UofU is a better school, but Boise State is improving. It will just take time.

But we have the better football program, hands down. :D

Still, I seriously doubt Boise State will get an invitation to the PAC-10. We compete very well in the PAC-10 in wrestling (and only missed defending our PAC-10 title by a few points this year), but we have a horrible basketball program (time for the coach to move on, I think) and we don't even have a baseball program.

Obviously being in a "Big 6" conference would be immensely beneficial in terms of PAC-10 money, but I'm not going to complain very loudly about the BCS unless we go undefeated this next season and get snubbed out of the Title Game. If that happens then I will become a little more vocal. :)
 
evilgEEk said:
:D
But we have the better football program, hands down. :D
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I disagree. You have a great program, but you also have a conference which makes you look so much better than you really are. Utah has to play through TCU, BYU, and Air Force every season, along with some pretty tough out of conference opponents. The bulk of rest of the MWC is probably on par with the toughest WAC opponents BSU has to face. SDSU and New Mexico are bad, but still better than the bottom of the WAC.

Boise's only tough games are the out of conference games, if they win those they can generally put it on cruise control for an undefeated season. They got into the BCS this year by virtue of consecutive undefeated regular seasons in 2008 and 2009, and a defeat of the Pac 10 champ this season. If they didn't go undefeated in the 2008 season, or played Cal or Oregon State rather than Oregon this past season, they get left out of the BCS for a second straight year.

Switch Utah for Boise State in the WAC and we'd go undefeated year in and year out too. I'm not saying BSU doesn't have a great program, but their weak conference makes them look a lot better than they really are.
 
SLC Flyfishing said:
I disagree. You have a great program, but you also have a conference which makes you look so much better than you really are. Utah has to play through TCU, BYU, and Air Force every season, along with some pretty tough out of conference opponents. The bulk of rest of the MWC is probably on par with the toughest WAC opponents BSU has to face. SDSU and New Mexico are bad, but still better than the bottom of the WAC.

Boise's only tough games are the out of conference games, if they win those they can generally put it on cruise control for an undefeated season. They got into the BCS this year by virtue of consecutive undefeated regular seasons in 2008 and 2009, and a defeat of the Pac 10 champ this season. If they didn't go undefeated in the 2008 season, or played Cal or Oregon State rather than Oregon this past season, they get left out of the BCS for a second straight year.

Switch Utah for Boise State in the WAC and we'd go undefeated year in and year out too. I'm not saying BSU doesn't have a great program, but their weak conference makes them look a lot better than they really are.
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Arguing the scheduling merits of Boise vs. Utah is pointless. Yes, the MWC was very good this past year but both conferences lack the thing that makes playing in the SEC, Big 12, etc. so tough: depth. While Utah might've gone undefeated against a WAC schedule, both teams would be a 4-5 loss squads in the Big 12 or SEC most years because there aren't any breaks in the schedule. You can't focus all your energy on one or two games a year because anyone is good enough to beat you, even the dregs of the league.

The MWC was hands-down better than the WAC this year from 1-4, but after that it's a wash. New Mexico was probably worse than any team in the WAC and Boise was better than any team in the MWC.

But 19 years out of 20, I'll take the top 5 in the SEC, Big 12 or Pac 10 over the top 5 combined in the MWC and WAC.
 
SLC Flyfishing said:
I'm not saying BSU doesn't have a great program, but their weak conference makes them look a lot better than they really are.
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I would rather say the WAC doesn't allow for a clear gauge for how good Boise State truly is.

But of course I don't expect you to agree (hence the ":D"). What kind of fan would you be if you accept someone else is better than you?! (even when it's clear as day that it's true....) ;)

IgnatiusTheKing said:
While Utah might've gone undefeated against a WAC schedule, both teams would be a 4-5 loss squads in the Big 12 or SEC most years because there aren't any breaks in the schedule.
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Now this I definitely disagree with. :)

It goes back to the same argument. It's impossible to judge how either Utah or Boise State would do in a BCS conference, but to flat out say they would have losing records "most years" is ridiculous.

It's all about perception. All we (Boise State and Utah) can do is just continue to win and quiet the critics.
 
Hey MacDawg,

Do you agree with Tom Dienhart that Mark Richt is on the "warm" seat?

evilgEEk said:
It goes back to the same argument. It's impossible to judge how either Utah or Boise State would do in a BCS conference, but to flat out say they would have losing records "most years" is ridiculous.
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I was talking about 4-5 losses overall (as in 9-4 or 8-5 after bowls) because I wouldn't expect either school to go undefeated in noncon/bowls every year.

I think the best Utah, BYU, TCU could expect to be is Texas Tech (71-32 the last 8 years with one "great" 11-2 season) or Missouri (63-39 with one "great" 12-2 season). They've both been solid and had some very good years, but they are consistently a notch below the Texases and Oklahomas of the world.
 
IgnatiusTheKing said:
Hey MacDawg,

Do you agree with Tom Dienhart that Mark Richt is on the "warm" seat?
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I think he is in pretty good shape
Dumping Willie Martinez and hiring Grantham was a good move
Last year was messy...
A bad loss to Kentucky when we were way up at the half
A really bad call against LSU at the end of the game
Win those two and we have 10 wins again
The win over Ga Tech helped

We were rocked by turnovers and penalties last year
As well as a lackluster defense
And a very inconsistent QB starting for the first time
Cox was a huge disappointment as a 5th year senior

The argument about Florida has been there through Goff and Donnan as well
And besides, who else is gaining on Florida? Alabama?
Saban has worked wonders in Tuscaloosa, but that was not a surprise

The SEC is so competitive, you will have your ups and downs
Richt's record has been really good and he is a quality guy
So the question would be... who could replace him?

USC was down this past year
So was Oklahoma
As well as others

It isn't like we were 6-5
I think his seat doesn't really get warm till next year
 
IgnatiusTheKing said:
I was talking about 4-5 losses overall (as in 9-4 or 8-5 after bowls) ...
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Heh. My bad. If I would have been thinking I would have realized 4-5 is only nine games.. :)

I will say that as a fan I would be more than willing to go 8-4/9-3 for a few years if that meant more money to build the program and better recruits. Our coaching staff does such a tremendous job of finding "average" players with something to prove to fit in to our system that I always wonder what would happen if we had the kind of raw talent that a lot of the larger schools get...
 
Notre Dame says that conference realignment/expansion could cause them to rethink their independent status in football. I wonder if they are feeling a little uneasy after their latest rejection of the Big 10. After all, they've always considered themselves to be the marquee program in the nation, but this time the Big 10 seems perfectly willing to let them go once and for all and focus their attentions on other targets (Missouri, Pitt, etc.), some of whom could be even more attractive than the Irish (Texas).
 
I think the Irish waited too long thinking they were bigger than the conferences
At one time they bargained from a position of strength
Not so any more

How the mighty have fallen
 
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