1. Again hard for me not to start with the Irish win over Michigan. That's the good news, and there is more good news our defense is the best it's been in a very long time. Not Alabama good but very good. Now the bad news we are struggling on offense. We can win a lot of games with a good defense, but it will be painful. Hopefully Kelly can get our QB settled and playing well, that will be the key. But 4-0, what's not to like about that. 2. LSU 12-10 over Auburn. Very surprising. Auburn had not looked like a very good team so far this season. I thought the new QB, transfer from UGA, was going to be their best QB in awhile. Might still be. 3. FSU over Clemson. Didn't see the game but must have been a wild one, quite the opposite of the ND/UM game. Everybody is saying that the only one who can stop FSU, is maybe UF. 4. UF/UK...but this streak is headed toward the same numbers as the ND vs Navy string which reached what 44 before they beat us. UF does look like a team that will have to be dealt with by UGA and So.Car. 5. UCLA/Oregon State. The Beavers are the surprise team of the year. 6. Oregon/Az...well I thought maybe Az would run with the Ducks for awhile, but but it was welcome to the Pac12 RichRod Rout. There are going to be some good games in the Pac12 this year. 7. Kansas St/OU. Is Bill Synder a great coach or what? I mean they were a regular top 10 team once he got them turned till he retired and then they fell back to the old KSU, then he comes back and now they look like he never left. Colin Klein is just one tough physical QB. 8. Colorado/WSU...I could not believe my eyes when I saw that Colorado had beaten WSU. 9. Neb and A&M.....beat up some old ladies and stole their purses...shame on them! 10. B12 ....alive and well. TCU/Texas/KSU/OU/Baylor/WVA all are ranked...60% of the league is in the top 25. 11. Stanford....everybody thought they'd come back to earth after the lost Oliver Luck. Apparently they didn't get the memo and are now ranked in the top10
:idea: 1. Oregon State is for real. I watched the game and I was so certain that UCLA would clobber them that I dropped 20 points on the Bruins in the Pick-Em. The Beavers are for real. There was nothing lucky about this win or their win over Wisconsin either. Their defense shut down both teams and their QB (Mannion) threw for over 400 yards against the locals in the Rose Bowl. 2. I was not as surprised as some by the LSU-Auburn game. LSU is good, but not that good on offense and Auburn isn't that bad...IMHO. 3. K-State is a good team, but they're also a one-player team. If anything happens to that stud-pony QB, their offense will go bye-bye... 3. FSU-Clemson was a track meet, but I still have questions about both teams, mainly their defenses, although both have a lot of weapons to score with... 4. Oregon-AZ was not the track meet that everyone expected and the difference was experience. Arizona drove right down the first four times they had the ball, then faded when they were turned away every time. The Ducks would make a good opponent for either Florida State or Clemson right now, but Arizona is a year away... 5. Stanford hasn't lost much. They replaced one NFL coach with another and they recruit those huge kid-monsters that Kelly loves. In fact, two of them were recruited by Notre Dame and USC, Kyle Murphy and Andrus Peat. What fooled people about Stanford this year, was their close win against San Jose State. Guess what? That was San Jose State's only loss. In fact, looking at SJSU's schedule, they have a great chance to run the table. Their toughest remaining games are BYU, Utah State and Louisiana Tech. They might end up 11-1. 6. Nobody believes that Colorado beat Wazzo...not even in Colorado. Mike Leach said after the game, "We don't quite have a tent over our circus yet." God am I glad that he's in the Pac now...
Hey a win is a win is a win. It wasn't beautiful but it is a big W This one surprised me a lot, I hope LSU is vulnerable when we play them in two weeks. Yeah, even with all the teams added the ACC doesn't have that many good teams. This was a very entertaining game. Clemson led 28-14 but it was all downhill from there. I thought FSU was supposed to be a very good defensive team, but didn't see that. Hope we beat the 44 games and hope you are right about UGA and S. Carolina, add LSU hopefully. Very surprised about Oregon State. Snyder is indeed an elite coach. We will see if Stanford holds up. I hope so. Nice write up Terry
2. I thought LSU was heading for an easy steamroller win. 3. The first half was a very fun game to watch. The second half not so much as it felt like Clemson had given their best shot at a knockout in the first half and was inevitably overmatched in the second half when it wasn't enough. 5. Oregon St. was notched on my board as a decent chance for a win. Not anymore. 7. Colin Klein is a beast. KSU is in trouble if he goes down. 8. Ugh. Welcome back to the cellar, Cougs. It feels like only yesterday. 10. Baylor beats ULM, great win! ahem, not. KSU looked good taking out OU, and OU stays ranked? TCU looked good against the bottom of the ACC. West Virginia looks for real. tu? 11. Stanford's hurdle(s) is(are) coming up, but they do look physical.
Kes at this time of the year when there are so many undefeated teams most of them are undefeated because they have at best played 1 real game. So sure Baylor and Texas Tech haven't played any really big games but that's par for the course....it'll start sorting it self out now that teams are going to start conference schedules and don't have 1AA teams like Savannah State or South Carolina State or Idaho... Oh btw...Texas Tech is ranked #1 in defense. Quite a change from the Pirate days!
Got this off another board... Strength of Schedule after week 4, Future Opponents included. B12 looking good. 30t Notre Dame 19-12 61.3% Big 12 183-64 74.1% 1 Oklahoma State 19-5 79.2% 2 Oklahoma 21-6 77.8% 3 Iowa State 19-6 76.0% 4t Kansas 18-6 75.0% 4t Texas Tech 18-6 75.0% 6 Kansas State 17-6 73.9% 7 West Virginia 18-7 72.0% 10t Baylor 17-7 70.8% 10t TCU 17-7 70.8% 13 Texas 19-8 70.4% ACC 193-160 54.7% 26 Florida State 18-10 64.3% 28t Miami 18-11 62.1% 30t Boston College 19-12 61.3% 30t Clemson 19-12 61.3% 36 Virginia 18-12 60.0% 50 Georgia Tech 16-14 53.3% 54t Duke 16-15 51.6% 61t North Carolina 15-16 48.4% 63t NC State 14-15 48.3% 63t Wake Forest 14-15 48.3% 66t Maryland 13-14 48.1% 66t Virginia Tech 13-14 48.1% Big East 108-118 47.8% 28t Syracuse 18-11 62.1% 34 South Florida 17-11 60.7% 43 Pittsburgh 15-11 57.7% 53 Cincinnati 15-14 51.7% 75t Temple 12-16 42.9% 86 Connecticut 11-18 37.9% 91t Louisville 11-19 36.7% 99t Rutgers 9-18 33.3% B1G 239-150 61.4% 8t Illinois 22-9 71.0% 12 Michigan State 24-10 70.6% 15 Iowa 20-9 69.0% 16t Michigan 24-11 68.6% 18t Wisconsin 21-10 67.7% 24 Nebraska 23-12 65.7% 39 Penn State 17-12 58.6% 46 Purdue 20-15 57.1% 48t Indiana 19-15 55.9% 51t Minnesota 17-15 53.1% 57 Ohio State 17-16 51.5% 61t Northwestern 15-16 48.4% Pac 12 227-156 59.3% 8t California 22-9 71.0% 14 Arizona 21-9 70.0% 16t Stanford 24-11 68.6% 30t Oregon State 19-12 61.3% 35 Washington 20-13 60.6% 37 Colorado 19-13 59.4% 44t USC 19-14 57.6% 47 Oregon 17-13 56.7% 51t Arizona State 17-15 53.1% 54t Utah 16-15 51.6% 54t Washington State 16-15 51.6% 58t UCLA 17-17 50.0% SEC 283-177 61.5% 18t Florida 21-10 67.7% 18t Kentucky 21-10 67.7% 18t Texas A&M 21-10 67.7% 22 Arkansas 23-11 67.6% 23 Tennessee 24-12 66.7% 25 Missouri 22-12 64.7% 27 LSU 20-12 62.5% 38 Ole Miss 20-14 58.8% 40 Vanderbilt 21-15 58.3% 41t Alabama 18-13 58.1% 41t Auburn 7-2 58.1% 44t South Carolina 19-14 57.6% 48t Mississippi State 19-15 55.9% 58t Georgia 16-16 50.0%
W-L is one thing...and that's quantitative to be sure. But you cannot take out the subjectivity of the poll rankings and what looks to be a pretty tough slate for Florida as Bill listed. Baylor, Texas Tech, Iowa State Alabama, LSU, Georgia All unbeaten but I dunno.....what looks tougher to you? :wink:
Interesting that an unbeaten B1G team, Northwestern, is not ranked. That's unusual for a unbeaten major conference team not to be ranked after going 4-0.
Those B12 venues are all death traps! Teams go in and are never heard from again. It's why Neb, A&M, and Missouri left for friendlier venues.
Dave, I'm not sure that this is the year to crow about the strength of the SEC. I'll certainly concede Alabama - duh! - but after Saturday, are you absolutely certain LSU and/or Georgia could beat the three B12 teams you cited? Absolutely certain?
Pretty certain Sid although I do hope that LSU did show some flaws and that Georgia can be beaten since UF plays them both. Put it this way.....I don't think there is a college coach in America who would not rather play the three Big 12 teams I mentioned over Bama, Ga and LSU..... and I think that's being realistic and no college football "experts" would disgree with that assertion. Now...Gator hatin or at least MCG hatin Skyboxers would line up to disagree with that assertion whether it made perfect sense or not. :wink: 8) I didn't even mention FSU and they do look tough for UF and the game is in Tallahassee and I think I would rather UF play any of those three Big 12 teams on the road instead of the Seminoles but who knows about that one.....not sold on the noles just yet.
Likem or not FSU has the talent to run the table this year, the vaunted defense everyone has talked about spit and sputtered early in the Clemson game. I attribute that more to Clemson mixing things up and using the Nole speed against itself with misdirection. Just as the Gators have done this season FSU made changes in the second half and it became no contest. Clemson is a great team and would give LSU and Georgia everything they wanted this year. I guess to comment on Dave's talent survey outside of Alabama who seems to be on par with some NFL teams I would say that FSU is just as powerful as both LSU or Georgia. The SEC is down this year not counting how Florida is surprising even the most steadfast Gator fans. Does this make the conference much weaker no, but it currently puts it on par with the better conferences. At least at this early time in the season. It's too early yet, talk to me in about 30 days..
Oh....and how do those three Big 12 teams compare with at TexA&M? Couldn't be tougher and let's face it.... one season removed from Big 12 play still has a lot of Big 12 feel to it when you go to their stadium. I do wonder how other SEC teams will fare in College Station. I have said before that no matter the records when I sat down to watch Texas at TexA&M I always thought the Aggies had a chance to win and it made the game compelling to watch on the day after Turkey Day.....and I was rarely disappointed.
Just great.....since the Gators play all three plus a powerful looking SouCar squad. On SEC strength.....the top 1/3 looks very tough with the top 1/14th looking like another BCS title repeat. The SEC bottom third I am sure can compete with any conference's bottom 1/3 in the country to see who's worse. :wink: The SEC middle third really can compete with anyone else's middle third.