COLLEGE FOOTBALL THREAD

Rutgers lost , somehow UConn is #1 in the Big East.

 

Sorry about that, I was going on 2006 stats.

Btw, nearly all of those Miami players in the NFL played when Miami was in the Big East, not ACC. If anything, you should be defending the Big East in its prior form (Miami, VT, BC, etc).

 

I'm not defending any conference. I'm also not promoting any. My argument is that the statistics do not show that any of the main conferences are exceedingly more difficult than the others. Statistically, I think that there has not been any one conference that is 'easy' to win consistently recently. Miami used to rule the Big East, and Florida State used to rule the ACC. The fact that no one team really has dominated the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, or Pac 10 over a 10-15 year period means they are all equally difficult in my mind. The statistical likelihood of a player from the SEC or ACC making it into the current NFL is almost the same. To me that means they have almost the same (average) quality of players. SEC play is generally more exciting to watch than Big 10 or ACC because of the high scoring offensive nature of most of the teams in it. I enjoy watching the games since I am not emotionally attached to any of them. To me one of the greatest things about the college game is the inherent nature to change over fairly short intervals. A whole new team every three years or so and a new coaching staff about every 4-5 years (on average) make it more interesting than the NFL. At the end of the day, it is entertaining, exciting, and fun to watch as the unexpected can almost always happen. I do think the old Big East had a bad rep. for being weak. There were plenty of good, strong matchups. The game continues to evolve, so statistics from one era cannot be applied to another. Scholarship and recruiting guidelines have changed to make more even matchups than ever. If in the future a major college streak gets broken, that would be even more impressive in my mind, because it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep that momentum going. Look at last year UF vs. this year. Look at Miami from 5-6 years ago to today. Look at USC from 2-3 years ago to today. Your time in the spotlight is limited, so enjoy it while you got it!

BT

 

NCAA football and NFL football are two completely different games in my opinion. Many great college players never touched an NFL field. I don't care who leads that department; so many great players in the NFL come from schools you've never heard of, so it's moot either way.

 

True, and I rarely watch (and never really care) about any NFL game. College football is the only sport that I really follow regularly, and it never fails to make it worthwhile. I wish we would get a great QB that would normally end up at Mount Morganton regional college. It seems to be the one position we have not had much success with regulary in the past 15 years. Ken Dorsey was a GREAT college QB, but just did not have the skills for the pro game. I'm sure much of what developes a great pro athlete is a desire for recognition that they do not get while they are in college, as well as playing without getting beat down by 320 pound lineman from the biggest schools regularly.

BT

 

Well then, I guess we should just throw out those championships when Alabama wore leather helmets, because no one wears leather helmets anymore.

Like it or not, you can't change tradition. If you have it, it's always there. If you don't, the only thing you can do is to get started making some. Or, you can complain about those who have it as being thick-headed and stuck in the past.


Then again, I've never been to Miami's campus; something about knowing how many players are arrested for gun/assault charges every year at the U puts you on the back of your heels. The biggest guys on campus are the ones who need protection with firearms?


B

 

ROTFLMAO,

Then again, the Bangers beat us so I guess that I can't laugh too hard.

Dale

 

I'm not bashing Alabama's tradition. I truly wish we had it at Miami. We only started getting nationally competitive about 25 years ago. Leather helmets, kevlar pads, it doesn't matter. Every NC counts. I was really surprised by the list of champions, especially Princeton.

Funny how the thug thing sticks with Miami. If you check the stats, you will find Miami players have the least amount of arrests over the last 5 years compared to just about any school. The campus is pretty nice, really a tropical feel. It has pretty ugly buildings (mostly) that are hidden with lush landscaping. Just off campus (away from US1) the neighborhoods are really rough.

But if it makes you guys fell better to think we are the same team from 15 years ago, you are of course welcome to do that. No player on the team is allowed to carry a firearm, if they get caught with one, they are kicked off the team. That is one of the new policies that the new coach has implemented.

BT

 

I'd like to check the stats. Where can I find the number of arrests per team annually? If I could find them, I'd guess that Tennessee and Miami are right near the top. But my stat sites don't keep arrest records. Please link if you find something.

We know that. That's why the image has stuck! If the new head coach has to make a policy dismissing players that are caught carrying firearms, doesn't that represent a little less of a media slant and a little more of a real problem?

The image of the Canes brawling with FIU is still fresh in our heads, This was not 15 years ago, it was only last October that the bench-clearing brawl scarred the program again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNypDGoC_8M
The Nostradamus gene in me knows that you're gonna say that FIU started it, but no one who saw it cares who started it.

I like coach Shannon, but there were players in that fight that are still on the team now. One year and a new coach with an anti-weapon policy won't erase the thug image from the national collective brain.

 

If Miami did the team stomp in the end zone when we played FSU don't you think that would still be the topic of discussion. Instead it is a bold team move since Georgia did it. I just think it is funny. I'll also look for the stats, but I know Miami has had at the most only 1 arrest in the past 5 years.
BT

 

Well, it doesn't look good for my "Criminoles."

BC
VT
Maryland
Florida

Has any team ever had a "Head Coach Emeritus?"

Dale

 

I wrote just a post or two ago that I was disgusted by Georgia stomping in the endzone after their first score in the game formerly known as The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. But this was at a neutral site, not at someone's home stadium. Either way, that's a great way to get a fight started, and I hope the SEC commish hands UGA and Richt some discipline. To let that go unpunished will only allow for others to do more of the same, and eventually something will explode.

Only one arrest in the last 5 years? I think that would impress everyone in the country if it were true. Which is why it doesn't matter if it is true or not. The Thug U image is branded pretty deep at Miami, whether you think it's justified or not. Again, I like coach Shannon and I think he is a great answer to Miami's problems, but it's going to take a lot of elbow grease to erase the bad boy image from Miami.

 

Couldn't find a chart type statistical page for arrests, but the writer Stewart Mandel said it also in his blog last year:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/stewart_mandel/10/18/mandel.bag/index.html

About a third of the way down he also says that Miami has had one of the fewest arrests over the last ten years out of any college. He also said our academic index (for finishing school) is in the top 20-30 percent nationally.

BT

 

The bad image helps us, I think. A feeling of being disrespected and "Us against the world" has motivated the players pretty consistently. Maybe that is ONE of the reasons Shannon put the new policy there. To keep people thinking we have a problem. Again, no disrespect to the other programs, but we have only had one arrest in thepast five years. I am pretty active on the Rivals board so I got my info from there. I was at the brawl game last year. I know I should not say it, but it was pretty exciting. I was sitting in the FIU section at the beginning of the game, but moved after the first quarter. When the fight broke out, I told my kids to just hang tight with me and do what I say. You really did not know what was going to happen through the whole stadium, it could have been a 60,000 person brawl. I think it did not matter who started it, we were looking for a fight to vent the frustration at losing our standing over the past few seasons. Thug U is catchy, but I would not mind sitting down for some pizza with any of the players on our team.

BT

 

The SEC and the ACC lead the current BCS standings with 5 teams each.

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=732233

So I guess they are pretty even conferences at this point, based on rankings anyway....

If you are going to grasp at the BCS bowl record as your final straw, then you have got to count the current school lineup as part of the record. So while the ACC is pretty weak by that standard, we would be 4-11 instead of 1-8 (adding the 0-2 Hokies and the 3-1 Hurricanes to our 1-8 ACC record). That is your safest bet since it would take several years to change it.


BT

 

Wait a sec, didn't Florida beat FSU last year (and the 2 years before that), USC beat Clemson, and Georgia beat Georgia Tech how many times in a row? What about Kentucky beating Clemson in the bowl game? We see it happen every year. The SEC is just better than the ACC.

1-8 in BCS bowl games for the ACC and counting...

 

we did for 28 days

 

I agree that the SEC is better than the ACC right now. But only marginally. Again, will you own up that Florida (and the SEC by association) is weaker IF Miami beats Florida next year? Sounds like an easy one, since florida just won the national championship and Miami barely broke .500 last year. I'll post again that Florida is better and the SEC is stronger if Miami loses. Agree or I will assume you understand the weakness of the typical SEC defense.

BT

 

And didn't Miami beat Florida every time they played (including the 2000 Sugar bowl) since 1985??? SEC is similar to all the other major conferences.

BT

 

Why is it that every sports writer I know disagrees with you? ......

 

They all live in Alabama??? Just kidding. I don't think they would disagree that the SEC is the best conference right now. I said it also. I just don't think there is as great of a disparity as many here are promoting. I think many sportswriters vote in the polls which are a big part of the BCS rankings. If they all thought the SEC was great AND the ACC stinks I don't think they would have 5 teams each in the current BCS top 25. If the writres have say 5 SEC teams and 3 ACC teams then the (impartial) computers have put the ACC teams there. Emotion plays a big part in the rankings by humans. How else can you explain FSU getting 2 points int he coaches poll? I would bet both Bowden coaches have FSU as #25. I like Miami and could blather on about how we have a record that matches some of the top 25 teams, but I do not feel we are a top 25 team at this point. If we win out the regular season I would say we should be somewhere between #15 and #20. To be in favor of your alma mater is natural, but it should not blind you to the realities. I check those with statistics and other evidence. Nobody here is saying the SEC is not very good. What I am saying is that it has been promoted as though the conference itself is the sole reason for the losses of its top teams, and that if the conference did not have to play in conference they would all be virtually undefeated. To say that Vanderbilt is a good match for BC would be a good example of that kind of talk.... I am not sure of what other way to put it.
BT

 

I was hoping the media would pass over this one, but they sure are giving this game a hefty dose of hype.

I do actually feel good about Alabama's chances against LSU this weekend. With Perriloux and Odom sitting for violation of team rules, the offense is all on the shoulders of Matt Flynn and is a bit less dynamic.

The winner will be atop the SEC West. I can't say I thought such would be the case for this game at the beginning of the season, but here we are, and Saban has done better than any Alabama fans would have imagined in his first year.

I still think that the LSU fans need to realize that they were in the dump before Coach Saban made them a power. I heard one student say today, "You don't just leave LSU, who ever would?" Well, before Saban, anyone who got a better opportunity would have left. Afterwards, and LSU is now definately a great place to coach. Like it or not, it's true; LSU had losing records in 8 of it's last 11 seasons before Saban, and was certainly more on par with Ol' Miss than Florida in the eyes of the media and fans.

Not any more, to be sure.

You won't see LSU fans cheering Saban, or anything anywhere near that polite, but to take a mediocre program and make it a national title holder and contender warrants a little better than to act as if LSU would have won without his coaching, discipline, and recruiting. Does anyone at LSU really want to say that the program would be where it is right now without Saban? Many do, and they are wrong. You don't have to like him, but don't forget what he did for LSU: he put the Tigers on the map.

I do give a lot of credit to the fans though. I can't name a fanbase as rabid as that for the purple and gold Tigers. Doesn't seem that LSU has many "so-so" fans either; if you're a Tiger lover, you're in it big time. That plays a big part not only in Baton Rouge but on the road too, as they also travel well.

Frank, I know you're just salivating right now lol! I think it would be a riot of fun if we could see the game together, but we'll be in the same frame of mind anyway. I'll take some pics.

Right now, the spread is -7 to LSU.

 

So Boston College, Wake Forest, and Virginia are on the same level of LSU, Alabama, and Georgia? These are the ACC and SEC teams atop their respected divisions. How do you think Las Vegas would rate any of BC/WF/VA vs LSU/ALA/UGA? I can tell you how most of the country would bet.

And for the record, I don't think BC will escape without a loss. And that right quick.

 

Bama's best bet is if Perriloux is playing. Then you know every time he is in there he is running left.

 

How would most of the country bet on FSU / Bama? I'm sure 'Bama would get favored. How would people bet on Auburn / USF? I'm sure most owuld take Auburn. Just because a team is in the SEC does not mean that they would automatically dominate teams from another conference.

According to the polls (which someone listed as prima fascia evidence of SEC strength) BC is slightly better than LSU, while GA is slightly better than VT, and Auburn, Bama, and Florida are a few steps above UVA, Wake, and Clemson. I take offense to people saying "ACC sucks", when the difference is not that great between the conferences discussed. Anyone willing to take the bet on next year Miami / Florida??? While we are obviously way lower than UF I think we will win. It's not like I'm asking for points or anything. Come one BMWSauber.... What do I have to do, put a piece of chicken on a string to get you to bite? Nobody wants to acknowledge the Thug U thing either? Jeez, a little evidence and the subject just changes instead of saying "Oh, I did not know that". I said it when someone posted the SEC has the most players in the NFL, it isn't that difficult.
BT