College Football 2011 Discussion

[Dorian Thompson]

Well, Alabama will get in even though O-State's strength of schedule is better. The rest of the SEC after the top few teams is no great shakes, and Bama's OOC schedule is particularly atrocious, but no matter. They'll get in. That's the way it goes. Man, I thought the Sooner fans would be the worst after the game. They weren't. It's the Bama fans. Self entitled little mofos. We're in the SEC. We deserve it. ESPN gives our coach 2 hours to politick on air. O-State's fans got hurt storming the field, so they don't deserve to go. Their fans can't handle it. Several of the Bama fans were making a legitimate argument that this should be so. Perhaps they'll come poison some trees on the OSU campus later. We have several nice ones. No, no delusional Bama fans in existence.

 

[Skywalker]

Oklahoma State is currently killing Oklahoma (and, thusly, my dad, who is an OU fan ), but the national championship will probably still be Alabama/LSU because college football is stupid.

If you don't win your own conference, you shouldn't even be in the discussion, IMO.

Why isn't this the case in NCAA basketball? UConn didn't win their regular season championship last year. Baseball? In the pros, no one complains when a wild card team wins the Super Bowl or World Series even though by the "ought to win your conference/division" argument they shouldn't have been in contention in the first place. Why hold 1A football to a different standard?

The system, as it exists right now, is designed to match the two best teams and allows for the possibility those teams might come from the same conference. Arguably, that's the case this season. Should the rematch take place and Alabama win, it may prompt the BCS to revise its rules. If so, fine, but that's not what's in place now.

Fair enough, but to be honest, I'm not convinced that Alabama is better than Oklahoma State this year. Sure, OK State had that one loss to Iowa State, but I don't think that's really indicative of OK State's quality (or lack thereof).

Sometimes teams will lose games that they "shouldn't lose." It happens in the pros all the time. If you put this year's Oklahoma State team and this year's Alabama team on the field, I think OK State would actually be the one to come away with a win.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Unfortunately that won't matter, Hanukkah Solo. Much as I'd love to see my Cowboys in the title game, I dare not get my hopes up. Too much "name recognition" for Alabama. I'd hate to be the team who gets O-State in the Fiesta Bowl with the Cowboys looking to prove that the BCS made the wrong choice.

Yep, some of the Bama fans on rivals and elsewhere are still touting the "Oklahoma State's fan base couldn't handle it" argument as to why they shouldn't be selected. And they're serious. I hope they have a constant supply of tissue on hand. They must get one hell of a lot of nosebleeds from the altitude.

 

[tighr]

What happens when Oklahoma State loses the Fiesta Bowl?

Probably would justify what everyone's saying.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Anything's possible, of course, but I very much doubt O-State is going to lose the Fiesta Bowl. One thing is certain. Bama will lose to LSU, again.

 

[Skywalker]

It's like Gundy said, would you rather see a 9-6 game or a 39-36 game?

I know I'd rather see the latter. One LSU/Alabama borefest was enough for me.

 

[The Green Mushroom]

It's like Gundy said, would you rather see a 9-6 game or a 39-36 game?

I know I'd rather see the latter. One LSU/Alabama borefest was enough for me.

Maybe its the fact that I'm an NFL fan first, but they always say that while offense might win games, defenses win championships.

To me, a high scoring game means nobody's playing defense. A low scoring game means no one has an offense or both teams are playing defense.

I'll take a 9-6 war of attrition over a boring old shootout any day.

Since its now official that Bama and LSU are playing again, I'll also say this. I hate the BCS, its a horrible system. No one should be able to claim a "championship" without earning it on the field. Earning a place on someone's ballot or "earning" a place in someone's mathematical formula shouldn't count for earning anything in sports. Ballots are for electing politicians and math is math not sport.

That being said, it did fulfill its purpose this year and match the best two teams.

 

[Skywalker]

I'll take a 9-6 war of attrition over a boring old shootout any day.

I'll take a great offense vs. a great defense over two great defenses and two terrible offenses any day.

But it's a moot point, the BCS did what everyone knew it was going to do. I don't even know why I've been arguing so strongly for OK State to go, I'm not even a fan. I just think it would have been a better game and a better story, I guess.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

But that's the thing. O-State can play defense and force turnovers. They proved it last night. That's why the State fans were so excited; their defense won the game for a change. It would have been an interesting matchup with LSU and good ole Les. Pity there's no way in because of the BCS system, but what can you do? Nothing.

Outside of Arkansas and LSU, Bama didn't play anyone really, really strong. That's what chaps my behind. Is Bama that good? They played 2 good teams and lost to one of them. The bottom tier of the SEC is pretty subpar with the likes of Vandy and Kentucky, Ole Miss, etc. Also, they played Georgia Southern and Kent State OOC. Is Georgia Southern even division 1? Shouldn't SOS count for something? Maybe not. It's done. If there were a playoff they could decide on the field between Bama and O-State, no? But there isn't a playoff. Case closed. Big sigh and moving on.

I do wish the Bama fans would get off that yahoo thread about the 13 people hurt after the O-state game in the rush on the field. All of the posters saying, "Charge them with assault and murder" and comparing this to the man who was beaten at the Dodger's game--a suspiciously large portion of them have the name of Alabama towns linked to their posts. T.Boone definitely needs to put up plexiglass so it doesn't happen again, of course, (and I suspect he'll shell out the dough to avoid getting sued) but no one intentionally hurt anyone. The comparison to someone being deliberately beaten by gang thugs is ridiculous. The "critical injuries" were two people who hit their heads falling off the wall. They're going to recover, thank the maker. The rest were broken ankles and a sprained back. All the injuries were related to falls. Nobody "trampled" anyone. Too much beer, yes. Dumb, yes. Malice, no. Not that anyone posting their outrage in the thread really cares. The vitriol has magically dried up since the title game announcement. What a coinky-dink. I know I'm carrying on, but coming from a fanbase with that terrible tree incident in its recent past, it rankles.

 

[tomalak301]

Well at least Stanford doesn't have to travel far for it's bowl game, unlike last year where they went cross country. I hope it's a good game, or at least better than what I think the National Championship game is going to be.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

I'm sure it will be better. Stanford and O-State are both great teams. It should be a great game. I'm an O-State fan, but my nephew is in graduate school at Stanford. A house divided.

 

[Skywalker]

Yeah, Stanford vs. OK State is going to be crazy entertaining.

So what happens if Alabama beats LSU in the rematch? How can you say one team is better than the other if they go 1-1 against each other?

 

[tighr]

I know a lot of people don't want to see a 9-6 OT final score again, but I can almost guarantee that won't be the case in the rematch. It was just a matter of circumstances (amongst two bitter rivals, no less) that kept the score low last time, but both teams have shown they CAN and DO score against other teams.

And Georgia Southern, for the record, is currently in the semi-final of the FCS championship tournament, so they are one of the best teams in FCS. Georgia Southern would beat A LOT of BCS schools.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Maybe they would, but you've got to understand that it's frustrating to an Oklahoma State fan that Bama gets to count a win over an FCS school. Why does Bama's one "good loss" trump all of Oklahoma State's good wins? All that does is encourage schools to schedule nothing but cupcakes. East and West Handkerchief state and what have you. Iowa State wasn't a horrible team by any means. They were better than advertised. It's frustrating.

So what happens if Alabama beats LSU in the rematch? How can you say one team is better than the other if they go 1-1 against each other?

You can't. Therein lies the problem.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Dorian--You may want to watch that tree comment around Lieut. Arex. Even as an Auburn fan, I can say that I would never believe Arex would support what happened at Toomer's Corner. Many Bama fans did not, and unlike certain other scandals I could name, their fans actually spoke out against the poisoning.

 

[Lieut. Arex]

Thank you. Of course I didn't and despite the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, Roll Tide/War Eagle, which did its damnedest to make Updike the face of Alabama, neither did any reasonable Alabama fan.

As for who's best: The 2007 Giants lost to the Patriots then later beat them in the Super Bowl. Who's best? Probably the Patriots, but the Giants won the game to decide the championship and that's what matters. January 9th, the answer to that question will be either LSU or Alabama.

 

[Starbreaker]

Is Georgia Southern even division 1?

Yes. They have multiple FCS championships.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

I'm sure you didn't support the poisoning, Arex. Such was not my intention to imply. You've always been more than polite. However, I'm also fairly certain you weren't online stating that the Oklahoma State fans should be
1.)arrested for assault, attempted murder, and charge with destruction of private property (for tearing down the goal posts)
2.)have the football program suspended for a year
3.)were tantamount to the thugs who beat up that poor man outside the Dodgers game
4.)were completely lacking in character
5.)unworthy of getting the championship game because someone might get killed if they lost.

I'm not making that shit up and many of the posts had Tuscaloosa, Gulf Shores, et al as the location of the poster. All of a sudden the O-State fans were a menace to society and were inbreds, as if no one in southern Alabama ever got drunk. It was all because they were pissed off that they might get left out of the title game. Nasty business and then some. Made the Sooner fans seem tame by comparison. The fans only hurt themselves. No one went after any of the OU players. Far from it. The hostility on that thread really threw me. It was so far beyond normal banter and arguing about sports.

Is FCS 1-AA? Just as a matter of curiosity. I know that James Madison is FCS.

 

[Starbreaker]

I'm not sure Rivals is indicative of most normal football fans.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

It wasn't on the Rivals football board. It was in a yahoo thread (which is part of Rivals, I know). Actually, the Tide fans on the rivals board itself, though a bit arrogant, didn't harp on the post game celebration. I give them that much. They kept it about football itself, which is as it should be.

Well, if you're an Alabama fan who didn't want to be likened to Harvey Updike, you understand. I was like, "Damn. It's not like they came on to the field swinging baseball bats and chasing the OU players. They were celebrating and tore down the goal posts. Unwise, maybe, but hardly criminal."