1 Alabama .9841 2 Florida State .9348 3 Oregon .9320 4 Ohio State .8553 5 Missouri .8219 6 Stanford .7414 7 Miami (FL) .7200 8 Baylor .7120 9 Clemson .6249 10 Texas Tech .6220 11 Auburn .5058 12 UCLA .4807 13 LSU .4552 14 Virginia Tech .4408 15 Oklahoma .4204 16 Texas A&M .3666 17 Fresno State .3379 18 Northern Illinois .3032 19 Oklahoma State .2687 20 Louisville .2556 21 South Carolina .2161 22 Michigan .1637 23 UCF .1394 24 Nebraska .1354 25 Oregon State .1042
:idea: Arizona State is better than most of the teams on that list. Oregon State, on the other hand, has some convincing to do after their opening loss to Eastern Washington...
Ordinarily I'd scream bloody murder about the Irish not being in the top 25, while Oregon State which has lost to an FCS team as JO'Co pointed out and doesn't have a single impressive win is in the top 25. But bottom line is it really doesn't matter, we are a good not great team with a lot of flaws, at best we belong somewhere between 20-25 but that doesn't get you any place so it doesn't matter.
Coach Kelly said the goal for the rest of the season is of course to win all of our games and get to a BCS game. I am not sure that even if we run the table will we squeak into the top 14 of the BCS which is where you have to be inorder to qualify for an at large bid. Reason: This team is unlikely to go Baylor on Air Force, Navy and Pitt in fact I would not be surprised if all of those teams play us closer than they should, sort of like the Purdue game. I hope I'm wrong of course and that we lay 50 or more on all of them. But just winning those games isn't going to garner much attention from voters. By the time we get to BYU which if we were to beat soundly, and Stanford if we just win, we might be too far down the BCS poll to move up to the top 14.
the thing is to keep winning. Some of these teams who have been getting fat against lesser competition will now have to face the meat and potatoes of their conference schedule. Some of these teams who are still up there with 1 or 2 losses will lose games between now and November. All the Irish have to do is keep winning. It's a perception battle that ND has fought in recent years. We'll play a lot of 'big name' games early while others are touring the FCS circuit. We're playing the academies while teams are having 'blockbuster conference duels.' Still, BYU is a good team. Stanford is a very good team. There's some opportunity there.
Why should teams like Wisc. schedule tought games? They're ranked in the top 25 with a 5-2 record having beaten U Mass and Tennessee Tech. Well they did beat Northwestern after they lost their QB, but then Minn. beat them too.
Good question, gip. This is the magic of the BCS. Remaining undefeated is primo, not against whom that undefeated season was achieved. Beauty, ain't she?
btw - even though Missouri had non-cons against Murray St. and Arkansas St. in true SEC fashion, they also went out and played Toledo (a middling MAC team) and Indiana (a fellow AQ foe).
It's more about how badly you beat your opponents rather than the quality of the opponent. In ND's case, they rarely cover the spread. They win NFL style. Unfortunately, this is a beauty contest.
Missouri will jump all possible #2 candidates if they run the table on their schedule. SC, Tn, A&M and Ole Miss...... and then the real kicker.... Bama. Which just illustrates that the SEC formula for winning the BCS title is tried and true.
If Missouri wins out, which includes a win over Alabama (most likely) then I think most would agree they will be in the BSCG. However, it won't be two SEC teams in the CG if other conferences (B10, B12, ACC, P12) also have undefeated seasons. Right now, I guess there are only three teams that control their destiny in the BSCG: Alabama, Missouri, and Oregon. UCLA gave up that right this weekend. Stanford gave up that right last weekend. However, if Missouri loses before the SECCG and then wins the SECCG over Alabama, the door will be open for the other possible undefeateds, including FSU or Miami, OSU, and Baylor. The SEC formula of playing only eight games against conference foes, plus nobody out of conference that has a chance to beat you, has been proven to give the best chance of reaching the BSCG. You are correct in this one, too.
Geez I can think of one OOC foe from the ACC that is going to beat an SEC team up like a red-headed step child. It won't be pretty.
This year, again, Florida has a really good OOC schedule: Toledo, Miami, and FSU to go with their Georgia Southern cake, even if none were out of the state.
Playing at Miami, LSU, SC and Missouri now seems like a couple or four tough away games. Playing FSU anywhere in the universe seems pretty tough at present. Man.... whoever set up this schedule for Bama needs a pat on the back from all Tide fans: http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-13/sec/2013-alabama-crimson-tide-football-schedule.php Open dates before TexA&M and LSU and a cupcake before Auburn..... and those are the only three relatively tough games for the Tide ( ok... Ole Miss was decent ). Looks like Tenn. is coming on some too but it's at Alabama. Bama should roll Tide roll to Atlanta pretty much unscathed and ready to defend their NC.
You did NOT just add Missouri to your list of tough road games in the SEC. You guys were laughing at me last week for talking about CoMo being the road to the SEC East. No sir, you back that bus up right now and drive on.
Conveniently you left out that one of Alabama's OOC foes was #14 Va Tech. They were our first game so I guess you could say we had an open date before that one too. :roll:
Va Tech was indeed a good win. You have to admit Kp.... Bama has been fortunate with the SEC scheduling this year. Luck of the draw I guess..... in a year in which the Tide probably needed a little flex time in order for the new mix of starters to jell.
How quickly we forget. Last year when the roles were reversed and it was even mentioned that all of Alabama's ranked opponents had open dates before we played them, we were accused of whining. Oh it is so lonely at the top. :roll: