2008 College Football In-Season Thread!

[hifigator]

kc, I love Seinfeld, but I don't remember that episode.

On a vaguely related note, I was fortunate enough to see Seinfeld live when he was a relative unknown. He performed at "Gator Growl" -- the largest student produced pep-rally, that is always on the Friday night before our homecoming football game. He was actually the "undercard" for Stephen Wright. I enjoyed them both, but Jerry was better in my opinion.

[CTHoya08]

Nov 6, 2008 15:13:54 GMT -5 hifigator said:

CT, just curious ... where did your signature come from?

It's from the episode when Frank decides he needs to start cooking again after years of refusing to cook because of a bad experience as an Army cook during the Korean War.

[AustinHoya03]

Nov 6, 2008 15:15:17 GMT -5 kchoya said:

Incredible that possibly the best game of the week (at least up there with Bama-LSU and TTU-OSU) is relegated to the CBS college sports network. Go Utes. What the hell is a horned frog?

Wish I had seen your post earlier -- I assumed this game was on Versus and planned on watching it tonight. I am currently watching the seconds tick away on Gametracker. With 2:00 left in the 4th, Utah is driving and TCU has missed FGs on its last two drives.

ON EDIT: Utes score with under 1:00 remaining. If TCU can get into FG range, will Ross Evans make it 0 for 3?

ON RE-EDIT: Evans doesn't get the chance -- Utes pick off Andy Dalton with 0:11 remaining to win. Sounds like a repeat of the Oregon State game -- Utah didn't do squat on offense until the opposing team seriously f'ed up and gave the Utes an opportunity.
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Nov 6, 2008 14:52:55 GMT -5 CTHoya08 said:

Nov 6, 2008 12:58:18 GMT -5 hifigator said:

Austin, at the risk of additional ire from the board, I honestly do think that Florida-Vanderbilt should have made your list of "games that matter." If Florida wins, they clinch the SEC east and a spot in the Title game in Atlanta in addition to remaining a potential major player in the National Title game. And, of course, it is in Prime-Time on ESPN!

I have to agree with you here. Sure, Florida is probably going to whip the 'Dores, so the game won't really "matter," but any game involving a team that has national title aspirations should "matter" more than this year's edition of ND-BC.

Also, Go Commodores.

CT, I clearly don't subscribe to your logic; that's why Oklahoma-TAMU and Baylor-Texas are not on the list either. hifi, Florida is also in absolutely no danger of not winning the SEC East, so the fact they might clinch doesn't cut it either. You left out the fact that Vandy might get bowl-eligible, but that's been the case for many weeks. Throw in the fact the game will be played at Vanderbilt Stadium, where Commodore co-eds in pearls and cocktail dresses with daddy issues will be busy not watching the game, and it's clear this contest should not make the list.

____________________________________________________

Former, I think ND-BC will be close. I'm picking the Irish because Crane is a terrible QB and should have a tough time against the Irish secondary (which isn't great, but is >> the Eagles QB).

[vcjack]

Nov 6, 2008 23:11:55 GMT -5 AustinHoya03 said:

Nov 6, 2008 15:15:17 GMT -5 kchoya said:

Incredible that possibly the best game of the week (at least up there with Bama-LSU and TTU-OSU) is relegated to the CBS college sports network. Go Utes. What the hell is a horned frog?

Wish I had seen your post earlier -- I assumed this game was on Versus and planned on watching it tonight. I am currently watching the seconds tick away on Gametracker. With 2:00 left in the 4th, Utah is driving and TCU has missed FGs on its last two drives.

ON EDIT: Utes score with under 1:00 remaining. If TCU can get into FG range, will Ross Evans make it 0 for 3?

ON RE-EDIT: Evans doesn't get the chance -- Utes pick off Andy Dalton with 0:11 remaining to win. Sounds like a repeat of the Oregon State game -- Utah didn't do squat on offense until the opposing team seriously f'ed up and gave the Utes an opportunity.

I saw most of it, TCU really choked this one away but was that place electric. It was an atmosphere that could rival the TTech/Texas game.

[CTHoya08]

Nov 6, 2008 23:11:55 GMT -5 AustinHoya03 said:

Nov 6, 2008 15:15:17 GMT -5 kchoya said:

Incredible that possibly the best game of the week (at least up there with Bama-LSU and TTU-OSU) is relegated to the CBS college sports network. Go Utes. What the hell is a horned frog?

Wish I had seen your post earlier -- I assumed this game was on Versus and planned on watching it tonight. I am currently watching the seconds tick away on Gametracker. With 2:00 left in the 4th, Utah is driving and TCU has missed FGs on its last two drives.

ON EDIT: Utes score with under 1:00 remaining. If TCU can get into FG range, will Ross Evans make it 0 for 3?

ON RE-EDIT: Evans doesn't get the chance -- Utes pick off Andy Dalton with 0:11 remaining to win. Sounds like a repeat of the Oregon State game -- Utah didn't do squat on offense until the opposing team seriously f'ed up and gave the Utes an opportunity.
_________________________________________________

Nov 6, 2008 14:52:55 GMT -5 CTHoya08 said:

I have to agree with you here. Sure, Florida is probably going to whip the 'Dores, so the game won't really "matter," but any game involving a team that has national title aspirations should "matter" more than this year's edition of ND-BC.

Also, Go Commodores.

CT, I clearly don't subscribe to your logic; that's why Oklahoma-TAMU and Baylor-Texas are not on the list either. hifi, Florida is also in absolutely no danger of not winning the SEC East, so the fact they might clinch doesn't cut it either. You left out the fact that Vandy might get bowl-eligible, but that's been the case for many weeks. Throw in the fact the game will be played at Vanderbilt Stadium, where Commodore co-eds in pearls and cocktail dresses with daddy issues will be busy not watching the game, and it's clear this contest should not make the list.

____________________________________________________

Former, I think ND-BC will be close. I'm picking the Irish because Crane is a terrible QB and should have a tough time against the Irish secondary (which isn't great, but is >> the Eagles QB).

Fair enough. I didn't check every single game on the list; I was just surprised that the VU-UF game was not on it. I wouldn't worry about Vandy getting bowl eligible though. The way the team has looked in the past two weeks, 5-7 seems very possible.

[kchoya]

Nov 6, 2008 23:38:55 GMT -5 vcjack said:

Nov 6, 2008 23:11:55 GMT -5 AustinHoya03 said:

Wish I had seen your post earlier -- I assumed this game was on Versus and planned on watching it tonight. I am currently watching the seconds tick away on Gametracker. With 2:00 left in the 4th, Utah is driving and TCU has missed FGs on its last two drives.

ON EDIT: Utes score with under 1:00 remaining. If TCU can get into FG range, will Ross Evans make it 0 for 3?

ON RE-EDIT: Evans doesn't get the chance -- Utes pick off Andy Dalton with 0:11 remaining to win. Sounds like a repeat of the Oregon State game -- Utah didn't do squat on offense until the opposing team seriously f'ed up and gave the Utes an opportunity.

I saw most of it, TCU really choked this one away but was that place electric. It was an atmosphere that could rival the TTech/Texas game.

You're right about the atmosphere being electric - second biggest crowd in stadium history and a "blackout" game too. (At least it turned out better than Georgia's attempt at a blackout). The one thing I missed out on at Georgetown was a big college football game atmosphere. The only other big time college game I've been to was a game at Husky Stadium against OSU when my wife was in med school at UW.

This was definitely a defensive struggle. TCU was/is the #1 or #2 defense in the country. Utah could move the ball for a couple of first downs, but then would stall out. I think the last drive was a result of just letting the QB do his thing and not over-thinking the play calling. One of those gut-check games you have to win if you want to go undefeated. I hope people realize how good TCU is and don't penalize Utah for winning a close game versus a top-15 team.

[ichirohoya]

With the very real possibility of Boise St going undefeated and, thanks to Utah having a higher ranking, not gaining an automatic invite to a BCS game-- I'm curious what the payday is for conferences which send teams to BCS bowls. In other words, are all of the schools in the WAC going to miss out on a handsome check if Boise doesn't get a BCS invite? Or would it only be Boise that misses out on the payday?

[hifigator]

Nov 8, 2008 5:10:24 GMT -5 ichirohoya said:

With the very real possibility of Boise St going undefeated and, thanks to Utah having a higher ranking, not gaining an automatic invite to a BCS game-- I'm curious what the payday is for conferences which send teams to BCS bowls. In other words, are all of the schools in the WAC going to miss out on a handsome check if Boise doesn't get a BCS invite? Or would it only be Boise that misses out on the payday?

In general, it depends on conference rules. The SEC divides all revenues "equally." It isn't really equal, but close to it. But not all conferences do that. I don't know about the perennial Humanitarian Bowl Host's conference.

[HoyaFanNY]

great effort by iowa. i said on the top of page 15 that i thought psu would have a tough time winning in that place. hopefully, lsu can beat bama (tied at 21 now) and turn this into a complete mess for the bcs folks.

[vcjack]

Great game from the Hawkeys. In a year of failure for the Big Ten, Iowa is probably one of the most quietly fundamentally sound teams in the conference. Penn State will be fine for the Rose Bowl but clearly they are not title calibur.


And now watching Alabama-LSU, the Tigers would be so scary if they had a reliable QB.

EDIT: Is it usual to see so many Alabama fans at Death Valley?

[TBird41]

Yeah, it turned out talking about the Gophers and the Rose Bowl was just crazy talk. Heck, I'd be surprised if they ended up with the Ax or Floyd after their effort today. They were just dominated by Michigan.

At least, however, that means I don't have to worry about Tim Brewster going to Tennessee (not that I really was)

[JimmyHoya]

<--- offered and accepted tickets to the Iron Bowl on Friday evening.

[RDF]

I've just got to throw this out for debate. Upon reading today's Star Tribune and watching the recap of the Iowa-PSU game on Big10 Network--BOTH said with no hint of homerism "Ohio State will be the 2nd Big 10 team in BCS going to Fiesta Bowl".

Okay--now WTF is going on with this? How does this team deserve any appearance in the BCS? They have played 2 BCS worthy teams--USC and Penn State. In 8 quarters of FB against those teams the score total:

USC and Penn State---48

THE Ohio State--9--yep 9 EXPLETIVE POINTS and this team is "deserving" of a BCS bid?

For the love of all things football--do NOT let this happen.

[HoyaFanNY]

it's all about who will travel well. if there are 10 bcs spots....

crap acc winner
crap big east winner
penn state
usc
alabama
florida
2 of 3 - texas tech, oklahoma, texas


that leaves 2 spots. i think only 2 teams max per league can make it. so that leaves ohio state, boise state and utah basically for 2 spots. assuming osu wins out, they will take one of the spots. the carnies from cbus travel too well.

[RDF]

Nov 9, 2008 10:58:34 GMT -5 HoyaFanNY said:

it's all about who will travel well. if there are 10 bcs spots....

crap acc winner
crap big east winner
penn state
usc
alabama
florida
2 of 3 - texas tech, oklahoma, texas


that leaves 2 spots. i think only 2 teams max per league can make it. so that leaves ohio state, boise state and utah basically for 2 spots. assuming osu wins out, they will take one of the spots. the carnies from cbus travel too well.

You are also forgetting--if Oregon State wins out--they go to the Rose Bowl as Pac 10 champ. They have Arizona, Cal, and Oregon left--so that isn't out of question--although if they play at Arizona--that could be the Stoops "late year win".

The BCS is awful. Title game is better then past--but what sucks is the lack of true matchups, i.e. 1 vs 2, 3 vs 4, etc....which would be too much sense and fun to watch.

[HoyaFanNY]

i was assuming oregon state loses, but if they don't then that is one less spot.

it's a sham and it always has been. the worst thing is that it isn't changing anytime soon.

[JimmyHoya]

So what if Oklahoma beats Tech in another tight matchup and there's a disturbing triumvirate at the top of the Big 12 and Florida takes out 'bama at the Georgia Dome, and Utah wins out? WHAT THEN?

*head explodes*

[RDF]

I know the Big XII is the media "darling" this year-but nobody who doesn't win their own division (tough as it is--because the top 4 teams in Conference are all in Big XII South) doesn't have any right to a National Title game--which you will see some heavy arguments in favor of--should Oklahoma beat Tech.

I'll say this--it's setting up as an EASY appearance for SEC (again) but it's rare to have a team from same league continue to avoid slipping up and get into the Title game. Something weird could very well happen this year--especially since this is weakest SEC has been in a longtime. Maybe it'll be the annual SEC appearance in the game--but still think we've got about 3/4 more upsets in the top teams--and we'll see if it unfolds. I think Oklahoma will win over Tech, but I think they could lose to OSU and if not--I could see Tech losing to Missouri in an upset in Big XII Title game. Texas is starting to look very worn down--McCoy took a beating yesterday like he did last year.

How Texas A&M continues to put out such pathetic defensive units is gross and Francione should be embarrassed by his failure of recruiting. I hope Sherman can at least get them competitive. Too much respect for their program and love that stadium to see such disgusting football played in College Station.

Steve Sarkisian could be the man who costs USC a shot--and loss to Stanford or UCLA. RB's dominate and he ignores it. He has no feel for play calling and it'll eventually cost them--no matter how great their defense is/has been this year.

Charlie Weis should be fired if this team loses 6 games with the schedule he had this year. He's got 4 losses and what I expect to be a loss against USC coming up a few weeks. That means Navy and another game--not sure which cupcake Irish have to end year--are left. If Navy beats him--he's gotta go. No way should that ND team have lost or been shutout by Boston College who is down.

[HoyaFanNY]

nd has navy, syracuse, and usc left. i pray they lose to navy again, but i doubt it. weis is a complete fraud, and is way too arrogant for his own good. the combined record of their opponents so far is 41-46. the combined records of the teams they beat, 12-37....and they were lucky to beat san diego state. they have some good players, but jimmy the ostrich is playing like a 19 year old sophomore instead of what he is....a 21 year old...um....sophomore. ;D

[hifigator]

The Irish extended their record against teams with a winning record to 1-16 in their last 17 chances. Who said Notre Dame isn't "back?"


As for the Big 10, I know that Michigan St. has the toughest road to Pasadena, given that they need both Ohio St. and Penn. State to lose again. But I could see the Spartans winning at Happy Valley and if so, giving them the 2nd spot in the Big 10, presuming the Buckeyes don't lose again. I also see Oregon St. dropping at least one of their remaining games. If so, then wouldn't the Rose Bowl be stuck with exactly what they don't want -- a USC-Ohio St rematch? Obviously, that presumes that the Trojans don't end up in the title game somehow, but if it does finish like that, then there aren't any options for the Rose Bowl are there? And if it works out that way, do you think the Fiesta Bowl might take a Michigan St. team over the Nittany Lions, given that for that to happen, the Spartans will have just beaten them to end the season? It seems unlikely that the Fiesta would take a Penn St team with the same 10-2 record as Michigan St. when the Spartans just won head to head.

Also, the ESPN show said it was like this:

For the Rose Bowl:

Penn St controls their own destiny.
Ohio St needs to win out and have Penn St lose
Michigan St needs to win out and have both Penn St and Ohio St lose

Since Michigan St will have given the Nittany Lions their necessary loss, in that scenarion, then they will only need the Buckeyes to lose again. Presuming that doesn't happen, then why aren't we looking at the SPartans in Arizona?


As for the SEC, I think that the SEC champion is in really good shape to play in Miami for all the marbles. And all biases aside, Florida is looking like that team. I doubt most of you watched the game, but the Gators are absolutely on a roll right now. Since the 1 point loss to Ole Miss on a blocked extra point, they have put together 4 complete games, and more importantly, have gotten better each week. Last week's final score didn't tell the story. Florida had 6 touchdowns and nearly 400 yards in its first 6 possessions, while limiting an admittedly weak Vandy offense to 3 first downs. Vandy had never even crossed midfield. After that 42-0 lead, the starters rested and the backups showed why they aren't starting. Stilll, the 42-14 margin wasn't indicative of just how much of a blowout the game really was.