Agreed. Or at least make them have an actual conference champion....hello Big 12.
I'm ready for some football.
- Thread starter Greg_L
- Start date
Agreed. Or at least make them have an actual conference champion....hello Big 12.
NotThatBright
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Isn't it weird? Every year before this one, no one ever said that there was a possibility that the 5th-ranked team could possibly be the best team in the country. At most, people would argue between the top 3. Now that we know we're going to get a 4-team playoff, we somehow think that there's a real chance that TCU, Baylor or OSU could be the best team in the country.
Give us an inch, and we lose our freaking minds. Alabama and Oregon are far and away the best. FSU deserves a shot for going undefeated, and to a lesser extent, for being the reigning champ.
Give us an inch, and we lose our freaking minds. Alabama and Oregon are far and away the best. FSU deserves a shot for going undefeated, and to a lesser extent, for being the reigning champ.
NotThatBright
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*and we'll see about FSU. Some teams can't handle the option since they never see it anymore. If FSU plays like shit in the first half like they've done all year, they ain't winning the ACC title game.
NotThatBright
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By the way, Greg, what is the problem with the Saints this year? I heard a theory weeks ago that since Jimmy Graham got paid, they didn't have the money to re-sign a bunch of smaller-name guys that were still really important to the team. I don't know if that meant guys on the O-line, or defense, or what. Any validity to that?
I kind of want the Saints to make the playoffs so Philly has a shot at vengeance for last year, but I also don't want them to get hot and beat us again. So I'm torn on that one.
I kind of want the Saints to make the playoffs so Philly has a shot at vengeance for last year, but I also don't want them to get hot and beat us again. So I'm torn on that one.
That's exactly what happened. Brees is gonna get his money, and deservedly so, he's Drew motherfucking Brees. Dude's going straight to the hall of fame and is the single greatest player the Saints have ever had. But all of his weapons need to get paid too. It came down to Graham vs Sproles, and Graham won. And I think that's the right call. I love Darren Sproles, but Jimmy is on the better side of 30 and he's a stud Tight End. As awesome as Sproles is, his role can be performed by someone else. But if you look at the numbers, the Saints' offensive stats are way up there like they always are. The running attack is around 8th in the league. Drew is on pace to throw for over 5000 yards. It's a good offense most of the time. Good enough to win a lot of games. The problem is the defense, and specifically, the players. The Saints 3rd down defense has got to be worst in the league. Maybe worst all time. 3rd and 12? No problem, you'll pick up the 1st on the Saints D. We get no turnovers. The pass rush is getting better, but fuck me, it's week fucking 13 already. The defense is a trainwreck and they keep the offense playing from behind. That makes you need to throw more, and Drew will throw picks when he's pressing to make something happen. Every QB throws picks, but this season Drew's picks have just come at really bad times.
NotThatBright
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Well, Graham over Sproles is a no-brainer. I love having Sproles as an Eagle, but even though we have a young TE in Zach Ertz who's about to become a top 5 TE in the league, gimme Graham in a heartbeat over Sproles.
I was surprised more than anything about how bad the Saints have been at home, where they used to kill everybody.
What's the local feeling on Rob Ryan? Are they blaming him, or blaming a lack of good players on D? That is, are they ALSO blaming Rob Ryan?
Being the defending champ means exactly nothing to me. Last year's FSU team was an awesome team. No question about it. But that was last year. Giving them some kind of credit for the past is foolish to me. I think they're overrated even at #4. I don't care that they're undefeated. They don't look good doing it. They lucked out too many times. They fall behind to bad teams, and those bad teams freak out and tighten up too much trying to conserve the win. You never win like that. A good team won't let their foot off the gas and they will put FSU away. Bama or Oregon won't get nervous playing FSU. TCU or Baylor will just outscore them. Ohio State would lose to FSU, but only because they're on their third string QB. I just don't see the greatness with FSU this season. I see luck and a weak-ish schedule.
The home struggles are very concerning. We had a 3 game home stand where every game was very winnable, and it would have gotten us in very good standings in the league. We went on to lose all three. Lol. Dumb.
I don't get the impression that anyone is blaming Rob Ryan yet. His defense was fantastic last year. It's the players. Bad angles, bad technique, bad gap discipline, poor tackling, and a lot of injuries. The Saints D is very banged up. If this was high school football, I'd say yeah, he needs to coach the guys better. But this is the NFL. These guys should tackle better and stay in their fucking lanes. Rob Ryan gives them a scheme and they're not executing. So for now, I think he gets a pass.
NotThatBright
New member
On its face I agree with the first part of that, but when you've got the Heisman winner coming back, and you're undefeated, that's got to count for something. I hate FSU, I hate how ND got fucked out of the win against them at home this year, I have hated Bobby Bowden since I was old enough to watch football... anyway, I agree that their product on the field this year has not been worthy of the playoff (ND basically beat them at home, and ND sucks). But honestly... if they played OSU, TCU or Baylor, I bet FSU wins. I think they'd find a way against those teams. Not against Bama or Oregon, though (or about three other SEC West teams).
We'll see if they can stop GTECH's option this weekend.
I'm not saying FSU is bad, they're definitely not. I just don't like that they're being given the benefit of the doubt for things that don't actually show up on the field. Winning is all that matters, but if you don't look good winning against mediocre and bad teams, then IMO you don't deserve any special treatment. College isn't the NFL. Style points do matter. In the NFL you can win every game by one point and a win is a win. In college you have to dominate the teams you're supposed to dominate. FSU isn't dominating anyone.
NotThatBright
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Would you take them out of the top 4? I haven't checked the AP or Coaches Polls in weeks, but if there were no playoff this year, I bet they'd be #1 or #2. Holy hell would be raised if they kept an undefeated team from a major conference out of the championship game. Not that that means anything... I agree with you that based on what they've done this year their ranking should probably be around #6.
NotThatBright
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And I hate to give them any credit for digging out of holes that they dug for themselves, but I watched the Louisville and Miami games, and they looked pretty good in the 2nd halves of those games.
well, auburn got shafted pretty hard in 04. They were undefeated, won the SEC, and didn't play for the national championship. That was a black eye for the BCS. So it can happen. But no, I'd have FSU #3 or #4. The real problem this year is that none of the teams look invincible, and even with that no one thinks this year's undefeated FSU team is a unanimous #1. That's how unconvincing they are.
They do look good in the second half of games. Some people think that's the mark of a true champion. I think that's the mark of an unmotivated team that believes their own hype playing a bunch of average teams that don't know how to finish a game. Louisville, Miami, Notre Dame....all mediocre teams that had FSU beaten and let them off the hook.
NotThatBright
New member
I remember Auburn getting fucked. Poor Jason Campbell, even in college he couldn't catch a break!
Remember a couple years before that, when Ohio State squeaked by undefeated and ended up beating Miami in the championship game? I guess I'm sort of comparing FSU to that team in my mind. Though that was back when they played defense in football, and I remember a lot of OSU's wins being along the lines of 17-14 and they didn't require big comebacks in the 2nd half.
Greg_L said:
I agree with the unmotivated team assessment. In a traditional BCS setting, I'd want to see ALA-ORE, though I bet they'd have given us ALA-FSU. In a 4-team tournament, since I'm not that impressed with any other team, I'd like to see them in it, even if just so we can all see how bad they do suck.
I remember Auburn getting fucked. Poor Jason Campbell, even in college he couldn't catch a break!
Remember a couple years before that, when Ohio State squeaked by undefeated and ended up beating Miami in the championship game? I guess I'm sort of comparing FSU to that team in my mind. Though that was back when they played defense in football, and I remember a lot of OSU's wins being along the lines of 17-14 and they didn't require big comebacks in the 2nd half.
I agree with the unmotivated team assessment. In a traditional BCS setting, I'd want to see ALA-ORE, though I bet they'd have given us ALA-FSU. In a 4-team tournament, since I'm not that impressed with any other team, I'd like to see them in it, even if just so we can all see how bad they do suck.
I've been trying to guesstimate what the BCS computers would have thought of this years best teams. The BCS did a great job of factoring in a team's opponent's win/loss records into a team's rank. The problem with the BCS is that only 1 and 2 mattered. That same system picking the top 8 would be spectacular. Leave humans out of it.
NotThatBright
New member
I can't remember specifically and I know they tweaked it between some years (if I'm not mistaken, by increasing the weight on the human vote), but I think as of last year, the human polls (AP and Coaches) counted for something like 70% of the BCS. I just checked the AP and coaches and see that they have FSU #2. Though we all know they ain't #2.
Humans have to be in it to a big degree, I think. Otherwise, you could have an outlier, say a team as good as Alabama a couple years ago, playing in a shitty, but major, conference (ACC, Big Ten, etc), winning every game 70-3, and not making it in if they haven't played enough top 25 teams. The eye test has to rule sometimes.
But hey, if we can get this fucking thing out to 8 teams, that has to be enough. And it's got to be going there within the next couple years.
ibleedburgundy
The Anti-Lambo
No doubt Georgia Tech is a good team. This game is not a gimme. But FSU has played GT many times and the option or triple option in their case (do they still run that) is not new to Jimbo Fisher's staff.
ibleedburgundy
The Anti-Lambo
Meh, still better than the old system IMO. Leaving out #5 is better than leaving out #3 - even if you are more likely to be splitting hairs between 4 and 5 vs 2 and 3.
ibleedburgundy
The Anti-Lambo
Meh, Florida State could beat anyone if they put a full 60 minutes together. They haven't done that yet though. They lost 13 starters to the NFL.
I like the top 4 right now. I fucking love the playoff concept. I'd like 8 too. This is going to be awesome for college football - which is becoming better than the NFL IMO.
