The 2013 College Football Thread.

[stealthee]

Or listening to CJ2K talk. He's not in college any more, but damn is he dumb.

[IPD]

certainly explains why they have to play with such intensity--prospects outside of the NFL are non-existent for someone with no skills, intelligence or reading comprehension.

the system is utterly broken. colleges care more about the almighty dollar than they do about academic integrity. the NCAA isn't helping, by allowing ridiculously low ACT/SAT scores to qualify (and to be fair, the SATs have been watered down considerably in the last 20 years).

it also impacts me personally. when so many completely bullshit degree papers are handed out to unqualified invididuals...it hurts the employment pool. BA/BS degrees are now treated as HS diplomas from 60 years ago, so you practically need a degree in something to even be considered for a good job. of course, i actually paid for mine out of pocket, and i actually learned something. my gpa wasn't fantastic, but i maintained a 3.19. i had to work for that.

i might be "the bad guy" to point it out, but ultimately the problem comes down to everyone who is a college sports fan. everyone who is an NCAA fan is complicit in the problem. that's one reason why i don't follow college sports very much at all. i used to think that HS kids were too young to get drafted into the "big leagues". fact is, i'd rather that happen than them being force-fed through college as a sacrilege to higher education.

academically, the USA isn't even in the top 20 countries worldwide any longer. which means that when a company is looking for bright, intelligent, college graduates to hire, they start looking elsewhere--because the caliber coming from the USA is sorely lacking. and while it's not entirely athletics' fault, athletics' is certainly where the dregs in the pool are--dregs which drag everything else down. so (at least in part) you can thank the NCAA for helping to destroy the US economy via a product that's unmarketable.

[AdamVR4]

SC/Texas was that "best game" I was making room for in my post. If you liked that game you would have found this one nearly as enjoyable.

Indeed, this was an amazing game. It sure looked like Auburn was going to run away with it... glad the crystal ball finally left your state!

[BigTyla]

Hit the long ball down the middle on our first possession for a sure TD, take one less false step on the punt fake, or score a touchdown instead of settling for a field goal late and we pull it out. Margin of error against a great football team is slim.

[Vantage]

[HilbillyHomeboy]

All other schools best look out. Someone's about to lose a good OC.

Jeremy

[sergechronos]

Hit the long ball down the middle on our first possession for a sure TD, take one less false step on the punt fake, or score a touchdown instead of settling for a field goal late and we pull it out. Margin of error against a great football team is slim.

Indeed. Further proof of how balanced the top of college football really is. I'd say the top ten to fifteen teams (at the end of the season) could likely take down any one of the others, can't say the same for at the beginning of the season because those rankings are a joke and should be done away with IMO.

FSU had a ton of talent this year and it showed. Same with Oklahoma, UCF, Baylor, Auburn, etc. Would've been a good year for a playoff, but I thought that the BCS games were all pretty good.

In truth, for all the complaints people had about the BCS, the biggest was always that it was A) subjective and B) could exclude a team who otherwise merited a shot. People will bitch about the playoff too, and even if they expand it they'll continue complaining. Whether it's done with computers or humans, 4 teams or 40 teams, you will never be able to satisfy everyone. The BCS has produced SOME stinkers, but they've also produced a lot of good games. Some of my favorites were some of the most contentious and controversial choices.


Look at 2009-2010 as an example: Bama vs Texas. Colt McCoy gets injured at the very beginning of the game and Texas still keeps it close for 3 1/2 quarters (score was 24-21 Bama until Bama scored 2 more TDs with less than 2 minutes left.)

Bama, Texas and Boise went undefeated overall, TCU and Cincinnati were both undefeated before their bowl game (Playing Boise and Florida respectively). Florida had was undefeated before the SEC championship game. Which unbeaten do you snub? Does Florida's tougher schedule and undefeated regular season before losing to #1 Bama trump TCU and Boise for the 4th spot? What about with Brian Kelly going to Notre Dame, do you still let Cincy play for the title because they're undefeated, or do you take someone else thinking Cincy is going to have a let down game?

No matter how you sliced it up, there was going to be at least 1 angry fan base, likely 2, possibly more, even with a play off system and regardless of whether the decisions was human or computer.

2003-2004: 3 teams finish with 1 loss from major conferences, 3 mid-majors did as well. USC lost to unranked Cal in triple overtime. LSU lost to #17 Florida. Oklahoma lost to K-State in the Big 12 title game.
Even with a four team play off, at a minimum 3 teams will be pissed (whether 3 mid-majors with 1 loss who got passed by a 2 loss major, or 2 loss majors upset a 1 loss mid-major got in instead.) Humans picked USC as #1 after OU got drubbed, computers said Trojans were #3. USC beat Michigan 28-14 in the Rose Bowl. K-State lost 28-35 to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, and LSU beat Oklahoma 21-14 in the title game which matched the country's best defense against its best offense. 3 great games came out of it, even though people were unhappy and USC got a split national title (which they may or may not have gotten if they played LSU in the BCS title game.)

2008-2009: #2 Florida versus #1 Oklahoma was won by Florida 24-14. Whole game was pretty close, and the fourth quarter was fantastic IMO. OU scores a touchdown with about 12 minutes left to tie it up at 14. Florida hits a big play with Percy Harvin and gets all the way down to the OU 10 before being stopped and settling for a FG. Sam Bradford throws a pick at around Florida's 20 with roughly 10 minutes left. Tebow marches the Gators on a spirit breaking drive (and gets a 3rd and 6 and a 3rd and 12 conversion) that takes 7-8 minutes off the clock and puts them up 24-14. Bradford goes incompletion, 6 yard pass, incomplete, incomplete to give the ball back to Florida who runs it 5 straight times with Tebow, picks up 31 yards and ends the game. With Florida up by just a field goal, that drive to go up 7 was huge and OU was pretty close to having them stopped twice.


Fun fact, after the USC Texas game in '05, the 6 out of 8 NCGs had a margin of victory of 10 or more (Auburn FSU this season, and Auburn Oregon in 2010-2011.) This includes 2 years where there was significant controversy about the teams selected for the NCG and after the AP disallowed the usage of their poll to factor into the BCS formulas (was replaced with the Harris Interactive Poll.) Prior to that 4 out of 7 NCGs had margins of victory of 10 or more. The AP Poll consisting of 65 writers and broadcasters from across the nation, Harris Interactive is 100 individuals selected from a group of 300 nominees put forth by schools and conferences in the FBS (comprised of former players, coaches, administrators, current and former media members). Since the switch to the Harris, there has been a SEC representative every year. Prior: Auburn was snubbed in 04-05 NCG, and Tennessee represented in 99 as undefeated. Since then, from 06-12 the SEC representative has gone ahead of another team with the same or better record than them. Curious as to how the nominees are actually selected and who comprises the committee. Statistically, each school should end up with around 3 nominees, realistically the mid-majors likely get shafted and the big schools get 4-5. Given the distribution, you would've expected other schools would've leap frogged ahead of the SEC at least once. Idle wondering though, not insinuating anything and with the SEC winning those championships, it does prove that at least to some extent that they deserved to be there. Given that the rate for wins of 10+ points was fairly close between AP and Harris polls, and that only twice did an SEC school make it through with a record equal to or better than the others before the Harris replaced the AP, might we just be seeing the effect of a weaker conference within the SEC that makes it easier to go undefeated or one loss in conference? While the SEC has gone to the NCG yearly, prior to 06 the SEC winner generally was a 2 or 3 loss team. Would love to do some more research into this, curious if it's due to top talent primarily concentrating at the top 3-4 schools in the SEC and the rest going out of conference to big programs, or if it's just coaching, or coincidence, or whatever.

[Mikes2nd]

FWIW there is only one "memorable" NCG and that was when Texas beat USC. I really have no memory of any other one.

Actually I do sort of remember when OU beat FSU and FSU's only score was because of a bad snap on a punt that resulted in a safety.

so you don't remember Ohio State vs Miami? and the double overtime? Seriously?

[sergechronos]

FWIW, I barely remember the game, I just remember that penalty on Miami at the end of the first overtime. and that the Canes were loaded with players who would go on to become NFL stars, and the Buckeyes had Clarett who would go on to become a lesson to others.

[Mikes2nd]

FWIW, I barely remember the game, I just remember that penalty on Miami at the end of the first overtime. and that the Canes were loaded with players who would go on to become NFL stars, and the Buckeyes had Clarett who would go on to become a lesson to others.

Your joking again right? these are the ones STILL playing... the other half are out of the league. it wasn't a bad class either.

Michael Jenkins WR Minnesota Vikings

Chris Gamble DB Carolina Panthers

Ben Hartsock TE Carolina Panthers

A.J. Hawk LB Green Bay Packers

Will Allen DB Pittsburgh Steelers

Will Smith DE New Orleans Saints

Mike Nugent K Cincinnati Bengals

Rob Sims OL Detroit Lions

Santonio Holmes WR New York Jets

Nick Mangold C New York Jets