I read through this yesterday and for the most part feel it's almost right on. I think the guy knows SEC football.
cue the music <r><I><s></s>Dixie, Dixie uber alles<e></e></I><br/> <QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> 4?! really now... 4...<br/> <br/> Will this be the year we have a 3 loss champ?<br/> <br/> Maybe the rest of us just need to go join Div 1-aa.<br/> <br/> No other conference receives so much accolade while dismissing on-field results that do not fit their criteria for selecting an NC using their system.<br/> <br/> Thank fooken God we're under 60 days to kickoff. Bullsh*t like this makes me want to headbutt a Clydesdale.</r>
Dismissing "on the field results"? The SEC was 7-2 in bowls last year....more bowl wins in one season than any conference in history. And...the SEC won it's second National Title in a row over THE Ohio State University.....what more do you want on the field?
Corey, I understand your frustration and I understand the fact that you feel like the Pac-10 gets overlooked every year but I think you have to give credit where credit is due. On paper, the SEC does have at least 4 legitimate national title contenders. Georgia finished #2 last year although I think they were a bit overrated. Florida has the returning Heisman winner plus enough speed to win an Olympic track meet. LSU has just stockpiled talent for seemingly the last decade although I think they'll take a step back b/c of the loss of Perilloux. Throw in a talented and tough Auburn team and you've got four teams that can make it to the title game and that's not even mentioning a Tennessee team that I think is underrated going into this season considering they have a 1000 yd rusher, a 1000 yd WR, and an offensive line that gave up 4 sacks last year returning. Oh yeah, they also will have the top safety tandem in America. Now, name me four Pac-10 teams that have legitimate national title aspirations. I'm all ears.
Aquila <t>Give credit where its due?<br/> <br/> Who in the heck is touting Auburn as a national title contender outside of the media? Hell, they aren't even doing that here in Alabama... Both Tide and Tiger fans alike are more than a little unsure about this new offense and Auburn's skill people. This was a team that was beaten at home by South Florida and almost beaten at home by Kansas State. A sexed up bowl win doesn't erase the memory that Auburn was less than stellar all year long and showed no real momentum towards greatness. Just because they play other SEC teams well doesn't, or at least shouldn't, out-weigh the bigger picture.<br/> <br/> Georgia is a legit national title contender.<br/> <br/> Florida has the returning Heisman winner because the real best player in the nation (despite the ESPN media machine that started in HIGH SCHOOL for Tebow) blew up his knee on the field last season late in the year. Florida's defense was pourous at best... I love how, for example, a God awful ND offense can return everyone... so they must be bad again.. but a God awful Florida defense can return everyone, so they must be good. Surely you must see the flaw in that logic. The fact is.. we don't know. I think Florida's schedule is nowhere near as tough as people believe and they may well be positioned for an NC run. On the surface, I see a lot of 'brand' but not a lot of beef behind some of the names there.<br/> <br/> <br/> As for LSU, it took an act of god miracle and a gift from the BCS for them to get a shot at the NC with two losses last year. Do you really think they are better this year?? I don't. That LSU team could well have lost as many as 4 games last year and were damn lucky they didn't. I can't see the Tigers finishing with any fewer than 3 losses this year.<br/> <br/> So we're down to Florida and Georgia...and they play each other.</t>
.. <r>oh, I forgot.<br/> <br/> you said:<br/> <QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> Your statement is both symbolic and symptomatic of the cancer that is college football. Its the very reason why there are teams 'in the drivers seat for the national title' yet we haven't played a single game yet.<br/> <br/> Lets come back in week 4 or 5 and see where people stand. We don't know how this will play out. Last year, you didn't have a team in your conference, in my opinion, that could beat either Oregon or USC... but one injury to the starting QB at Oregon (well, actually injury to QB, 2 WRs and 2 RBs) totally undid them at the Arizona game and all points afterwards.<br/> <br/> How about we let this play out on the field? We don't know how someone is going to perform when they finally get their shot, or how someone will return for an injury, or even (in Auburn's case) how a new offensive scheme will stick... maybe they will be world beaters? We don't know..but to say anyone has '4 teams at a legit shot at the NC' before we even have legit depth charts is just high grade bullsh*t.</r>
I must have missed the memo that no one's allowed to discuss or speculate about college football until week 5. Sorry. My mistake.
Dennis Dixon was a great college player and he was exciting to watch, but I don't think it's a no brainer that he's better than Tebow. I think Oregon got a lot of mileage out of beating a UM team that had already lost to 1AA App State. Seeing as Oregon ran that same sort of offense with an even better athletic QB, it wasn't suprising that UM looked so bad and Oregon so good. I'm sorry he got injured, we'll never really know what kind of season he would have had and how Oregon would have finished. It's really a shame, maybe he would have won the Heisman, he was worthy of being in the mix except for the injury that cut his season short. In the end though the PAC10 had USC and AzState and we all know what finally exposed ASU, when a medicore Texas team takes you to the cleaners and Mack Brown out coaches you ...you know you aren't very good.
hahaha <t>WOW a tad sensitive.<br/> <br/> You can speculate all you want. That guy wasn't speculating, he was stating that the SEC had 4 legit NC teams.. bullsh*t. absolute bulls*t.<br/> <br/> I like how Terry pins the entire Pac10 on "USC and ASU" but totally ignores Oregon.<br/> <br/> Remember, Oregon only lost to Pac10 teams.. They have become aflicted with 'the Cal curse'..<br/> <br/> No one wants to talk about Oregon finally got to go back to playing non-Pac10 teams and beat South Florida 56-21. Yes, the same USF that beat Auburn on the Plains and topped West Virginia for the 2nd year in a row.</t>
OK, OK, I'll give you Oregon, but come on USF? We can't hang our greatness on a team that peaked midseason and fell all the way from#2 to where?
great? <r>did you say great?<br/> <br/> they were nothing to you 10 seconds ago. your like Superman leaping tall buildings here <E></E><br/> <br/> It was a rather 'blah' year for the Pac10 and they still showed well. Oregon State beating Maryland, Cal won, UCLA lost.. USC won.. jeez, will this never end?<br/> <br/> (sidenote, I wish the Pac10 would add Fresno State since it appears we are all going to be forced into the Super Conference format. They beat the piss outta Georgia Tech).<br/> <br/> In recent years, (at least since we've been doing this board) head to head matchups between the Pac10 and SEC are rare...and ANYTHING but a clear indicator that the SEC is 'year in and year out' deeper, stronger better. <br/> <br/> At least this year, ASU will get 'exposed' for whatever they are early in the year.</r>
Corey has a valid point. USF was the darling of the college FB world until they came crashing back to earth. The fact that Oregon pasted USF and USF beat Auburn cannot be ignored. Come clean, Terry. Methinks you might be inflicted with NDNation-itis, that illness that makes one whine about the teams on future ND schedules that don't meet the standards set by the WLGC (Whiny Little Girls' Club) chapter of NDN..
Hey I'm just not willing to argue anything about Oregon. With Dennis Dixon they were a top team in the race for the BCS Champ game, but without him IMHO they were a good team, not a great team. It's the breaks, it sucks, but it's the breaks. In the end PAC10 had one great team USC. Phoenix Community College had a good record, but as I said they blew a tire in the bowl game and that sort of hurt their credibility. Orgeon without Dennis Dixon, good not great. Plus as I said they really got a lot of mileage out of that whupping they put on the Wolverines, mainly because they were Mich...a bad Mich but still Mich. Who else was really good in the PAC10 last year. UCLA..lost to ND nuff said. Wash..come on Ty is the coach. Wazzu...coach got fired didn't he? Az...not a good team. Oregon State...I don't know maybe they were good. Stanford..had the big upset, but ND beat them...so they are bad. CAL...I don't remember much about them they were probably a good team. Terry
ahem <t>for the record<br/> <br/> Dennis Dixon didn't play against South Florida. Does that mean they would have topped 100?<br/> <br/> Both of those teams finished the year 9-4. I will give you that Oregon accomplished much more in their 9 wins if you are willing to concede that.<br/> <br/> Cal is Cal. They do well in noncons recently, but then lose a bunch of Pac10 games so they automatically fall into the 'sucks' category to you folks east of las vegas...Cal did beat Tennessee this past year though.</t>
Me sensitive? OK. Yeah, it's all speculation at this point. The Pac-10 has 10 national title contenders at this point and the SEC has 12. Everyone's record is 0-0. If any team gets through a major conference slate undefeated, they're legit national title contenders. It's legitimate to think that one of the four teams mentioned may be able to do that. It's also legit to think that if they lose a game and everyone else does too, one of those teams may get to the NC game. It's even legit to think that if one of those teams loses 2 games and all the major players do too, they might still get there. I don't understand why it infuriates you so much that the SEC just might win another national title. You're right UF and UGa do play each other so it's unlikely that both will be playing for the NC (but one of them certainly could). Auburn gets UT, LSU, and Georgia at home, win those and they could certainly be a legit contender. I think LSU has as much talent as anyone in America but they're schedule is probably too tough to get through the season without a loss or two or maybe three. They have stockpiles of talent though. You're right, these teams play each other so they're not all 4 going to be in line at the end. It's reasonable though for 1 of them to be in the chase come November. What's so infuriating about that?? Oregon was a nice little team last year. Dixon may have won the Heisman if he stayed healthy. Oregon is a national player once every 4 or 5 years. USC is a behemoth in the college football world. Arizona St. is an up and coming team. Cal. is a year in and year out underachiever. Stanford is Stanford. Arizona needs to get off the Stoops wagon. Oregon St. isn't exactly a perennial powerhouse. Washington and Washington State have a day in the sun oh, every 10 years. UCLA will, IMO, have a renaissance under Neuheisel. What more do you want? The Pac-10 DOES not have more than one perennial powerhouse in the conference. The SEC has won 4 NCs since the inception of the BCS by 3 different teams. Those are just facts. I don't see what the problem is. By the way, I, for one, expect ND's offense and team to be much better next year.
sigh <r><QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> that shows a real lack of understanding about Washington football. That was a once great program that has been 'PC'ed' into destruction. One of the real sad sights in college football. Still, you're right. They suck.<br/> <br/> We've gone round and round in other threads about the SEC using artificial numbers from a system created by their commissioner to justify their own position as just being mind numbing. Whether or not you agree, that's up to you. If you replace the names SEC, Florida, LSU, Roy Kramer, Tennessee... with Big 10, Ohio State, Michigan, James Delaney and Wisconsin... you guys would view this system VERY differently..<br/> <br/> As for Cal.. Their problem is that they keep losing to Pac10 teams that you guys all view as 'nothing.'<br/> <br/> In the past 4 years.. Cal is 13-1 outside of Pac10 during the regular season and that one loss was on the road AT Tennessee. If you toss in Cal's bowl games they are 16-2 in the past 4 years outside of conference..<br/> <br/> Cal is a great microcosm for what I am saying.. SEC teams lose conference games and its 'well what do you expect with all those great teams?' Pac10 teams lose conference games and they are 'iconsistant, overrated or even my favorite... real national championship caliber teams don't lose to Stanford.'<br/> <br/> My contention isn't with you, so much as it is the writer of that article. That article was speaking with a lot of definitive authority and its nothing more than speculative BS imho.<br/> <br/> On a personal note, I think UT is poised to make things interesting this year. You gotta wonder in a year in which no one is talking about UT..</r>
I almost hate to ask, but will anyway. Other than Tenn, who were CAL non-Conference opponnents in the 13-1 run? I won't even bring up CAL getting run over by Texas Tech the year they claimed to have been hosed out of the Rose Bowl game by Mack Brown crying on TV....OK I'll give you Mack is a crybaby!!