well <t>one of those Arkansas teams played in the SEC title game.<br/> <br/> Maybe some of you don't see it, but others do. This blanket statement that the SEC is the best every year and deserves the benefit of every doubt so that we get them into the title game is wearing thing. Auburn allegedly got hosed one season, and their claim would have some (any) merit, had they not had their ass handed to them in the previous 2 seasons by USC (one of the teams allegedly hosing them).<br/> <br/> The old bowl system and the "politickin'" that took place was a fraud, the new BCS version of college football is becoming much like another southern past time... "rasslin" and its found a way to be worse. The system was suppose to give us the best shot at an NC, but it appears to me that we have less tradition, and even more disputed NCs. The only thing we know for sure that is getting better are the TV and advertising dollars. That's all this is about anyway.. I can't wait for the action figures....<br/> <br/> Pre-determined story lines, plot twists, a hero and a goat.. This sucks.<br/> <br/> Living in this part of the country, I hear an immense amount of crap about the 'joke west coast football' only to have our funny boys whip or at least hang with the South's best... And the second you want to talk about those 'jokesters' whipping them good ole boys, you immediately become the one 'living in the past.'<br/> <br/> I won't even get into what is said about ND in these parts..</t>
breaking news <r>EsPN to announce their new lineup of announcers<br/> <br/> <IMG src="http://www.freehomepages.com/jweyand1/jerryjr2.jpg"><s></e></IMG></r>
And lost. So just who is making this so called blanket statement every year? So the year the SEC might have had a beef you just dismiss it because of games the previous two season? Isn't that some of what you are complaining about? The old bowl system and the "politickin'" that took place was a fraud, the new BCS version of college football is becoming much like another southern past time... "rasslin" and its found a way to be worse. The system was suppose to give us the best shot at an NC, but it appears to me that we have less tradition, and even more disputed NCs. The only thing we know for sure that is getting better are the TV and advertising dollars. That's all this is about anyway.. I can't wait for the action figures....[/quote] Southern passtime, rasslin? And it seems that I've heard a lot of west coast people diss southern football. Seems that goes on everywhere to me. These parts again being southerners I assume? Come on Corey, here's some of what I heard from the West Coast contingent last year just about Tim Tebow. He didn't deserve the Heisman He can't pass. He's a fullback And my favorite, he couldn't be the 5th string fullback for S. Cal Face it, the kind of put downs you are talking about coming from southerners is pretty much standard operating procedure from most parts of the country when talking about other parts of the country.
No doubt there is, esp amongst fans, regional bias. Our teams are great your teams are overated. I have no doubt that year in and year out the SEC is one of the best conferences in the country, some years the best. There really is only one SEC fan here that has a hard time admiting that other leagues might be as good as the SEC. We've had some very good years in the B12 and the future is bright with good coaches and programs more plentifull than ever in the B12. But it's pretty common to see fans of other leagues down grade us as not a good conference. OU's current losing streak in the bowls hasn't helped. Of course everybody likes to take shots at Mack Brown. The funny thing is that as a ND fan when I get to discussing football with fans of any conference frequently they down grade our schedule because the games aren't conference games there for they don't really mean anything. Like playing Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford, USC, etc every year isn't the exact same thing, rivalries are born and nutured those schools want to beat our asses really badly. So it seems odd to me that when MCG just dismisses the B10 schedule out of hand he ignores the very premise that he invokes for SEC games...that is that they are confernce foes and there for they really come to play. Bill, Aquilla, Tom and Cindy have no such disrespect for other conferences. Terry
I did assert that based on Florida's physical close loss performance vs. LSU in Baton Rouge and then the little matter of a head-to-head thrashing of the Vols 59-20 back in Sept. I would say I had pretty good reason to think UF could stay with LSU and maybe beat them more so than Tenn could. BT....the last 18 bowl game match-ups of SEC vs. Big Ten yielded a 9-9 standoff. Where do you get this 2-1 stat? And I am talking mostly about last year with OSU and their Big Ten slate and how that relates to the importance of doing something this year other than just winning the Big Ten in order to get into the NC game. I really don't think many college football fans want to see a repeat of Ohio State mowing down inferior Big Ten opponents but then losing to USC and going to the NC game anyway with a weak resume. This hasn't always been the case but it was last year and looks to be the case in the coming year as the Big Ten does not appear to be very strong. Even Michigan is projected out of the Top 25 altogether because they have a new system and no RB or Qb with any experience. Why should fans not expect Ohio State to earn it's way back to the title game by beating someone other than a Big Ten team when the Big Ten looks so down? On Florida....the Gators just played in the Cap One bowl...where they belonged last year. They put on an exhilirating performance in a see-saw battle vs. Michigan that many rated as the best bowl game of 2007. UF returns maybe the best offense in the nation and the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. The defense needs to improve but there are some talented new faces along with most of the defense returning that should make them a better unit in 2008. That is not to say UF will definitely be there in the NC game at the end but I do think Florida is headed for a better season in 2008. Last year UF had the #5 rated schedule vs. OSU's # 62 rated schedule and except for USC the disparity looks to be just as great this year. Should UF navigate their 2008 schedule with just one loss who do you really think will play in the NC game between the two if OSU only has the one loss vs. USC?
Dave, by your logic I guess Florida shouldn't have won the Championship for the 96 season. After all Nebraska had beat us badly the year before so we could have been discounted by the voters and Ohio State won instead of finishing second in the vote. I mean after all we were beaten so bad by Nebraska the year before how could we have even been considered? By your logic that is! 8) 8)
Bill you have to read and digest all that I am saying. I am not focusing just on what OSU did in the last two NC games but rather I am mostly focusing on how weak their schedule actually was in 2007. In 1995 Florida went 12-0 and beat some highly ranked teams along the way like #2 FSU at the end of the season for example. In 1996 I think UF's schedule was ranked #1 in the nation and the only loss was to #2 FSU in Tallahassee. Still UF needed some good fortune to get by Nebraska and play FSU in a rematch for the NC but the Gators showed up quite well vs. the #1 ranked Seminoles. Nebraska in 1995 was just sick...rated by many as the best National Champion of the last 30 years and certainly much higher ranked than LSU of last year.
I digest your thoughts very well Dave. Ohio State sucks. Their schedule is weak. The Big 10 sucks. The SEC is great from top to bottom. On and on and on.
Sucked last year...the Big Ten conference that is ...not Ohio State. Why is it when I question whether or not the Buckeyes were truly one of the top 2 teams in the country in 2007 all of a sudden I am saying they suck? They were a good team...just not a great team IMHO. This year will play out much the same except they have that one chance vs. USC to prove they are a great team no matter how mediocre the rest of the Big Ten is. By the way BT going back through the 2000 season the SEC owns a modest 16-12 record vs. the Big Ten. Oh...and I am not saying the Big Ten has sucked every year or that they will always collectively suck but they did last year and most likely will next year as well. Also BT I think I know why this whole argument gets to you. It's because you smugly (or maybe it was more an "in your face" style) held it over my head that the Gators didn't make it back to the NC game while the Buckeyes did. My memory is pretty solid on those things. Well I told you then the Buckeyes weren't as great as you made them out to be....LSU proved it and I am telling you now that if they are NC title game worthy in 2008 then they will beat USC and prove it because the rest of their schedule will not prove it...just like last year.
You're right George. I've made all the points I need to make on this topic. Time to sit back and watch it all play out. In any event USC-OSU will remain one of the top games of the 2008 season and I'm looking forward to it. Otherwise I wish we could get this thing going as 80 days seems like too long to me. I just booked my airline tickets this week for the weekend of Florida-LSU. I'm taking my 20 year old son who is a huge Gator fan even though he grew up in Michigan. Should also be a great game and one of 2008's best.
I realize that was a rhetorical question. However, it begged for a response. He is a huge Gator fan because he had no choice. Actually, that is incorrect. He had two choices. He obviously heard about the great Gators daily. Either he grew up totally despising what he had to endure on a daily basis or he took the same stance as dear ole dad. :roll: I am a Tennessee fan all the way. However, I have a god daughter that is a Gator by blood. If anything ever happened to her parents where we had to take over her upbringing, I would have a hard time with it but I like to believe that I could send my money to Florida. :shock: We have another that is now attending Texas A & M. Never once did we try to convince her to go anywhere else. Where am I going with this? Maybe if we concentrated on the attitude of the fan base of schools that likes to interact with others rather than focusing on exclusionary attitudes, the stress level will go down by two points. :idea:
I have always been careful Tom not to coerce my three sons into becoming who they don't really want to be. I let them be themselves whenever possible. My oldest son asks me about the Gators out of love and courtesy but he is an academic type who wants to be a college professor and is not that much of a sports fan. Great kid though. My middle son is the one who is a lot like me in his interests and he is also the terrific vocalist and musician. My third son is only 10 and still finding his way. He did attend the Fla-SouCar game with me in 2006 and enjoyed it immensely and wants to go back so there is hope he may turn out right as well. :wink:
I think it's pretty natural for kids to follow their parents interest in sports growing up, more so if Dad is a rabid fan of a team.
oh no <r><QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> <br/> how could i complain about games that were actually played on the field rather than in the print and tv media?<br/> <br/> I am the one who follows the conference that actually likes to get out and show people how good (or bad) they are. You are following the conference that expects you to believe they are so good, that a 2 loss team from their conference deserves the national title..meanwhile fans from said conference can piss all over teams like Ohio State (and their conference), despite the fact they were beaten in their own backyard by a team Ohio State handled on its way to the title game.<br/> <br/> How about we let the on field results speak for themselves and stop this EsPioNic nightmare of a football system that we have?</r>
I think what Gator Bill was referring to was the fact that you can't draw accurate conclusions about a team based on its performance in previous seasons. That would be like saying that this year's USC team still doesn't deserve an opportunity to play in the championship game because they lost to Stanford last season. While I think you can draw some conclusions about how good a team is based upon games played during the current season, you can't draw accurate conclusions about teams based upon games in previous seasons. I would even argue that it's hard to make assessments of teams based on games that occur a month or two prior. For example, while USC lost to Stanford last season, they were certainly better than Stanford and would have most likely beaten them handily at the end of the season. Games like that happen every year to many teams because of injuries or factors like lack of motivation.
As I stated earlier in my post, our perennial "inferior" conference opponents competing for the title during the BCS era are M, Wisky, PSU, and Iowa. What is their record -v- the SEC this decade? Their record is 11-6.....if our opponents - these would be our opponents -- are inferior, what does this say about the SEC? If our opponents are inferior, how is it that they beat their SEC counterparts with such regularity? What is Florida's record -v- the Big 10 during this decade? Your record is 2-4. If the Big 10 sucks, what does that say about Florida? Sir Knight, you've got to quit leading with your chin.......I know, I know, it's only a flesh wound.
I am a Notre Dame fan. I have two sons. To protect their privacy I will call them by ficticious names. My oldest son, we'll call him "Michael", became an Irish fan like dad. My younger son, we'll call him "Fredo", is a Michigan fan by some genetic mutation of the common sense chromosomes. I'm gonna have to make him an offer.... 8)