College Gridiron Heating Up
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I'm trying to get back into it, so we'll see how it goes.
As you all know, it's a pretty happy time for me, as my Buckeyes sit atop the polls as the (nearly) undisputed #1 team, and deservedly so. No offense in the country holds a candle to the collective firepower of Smith, Ginn, Gonzalez, Pittman, et al. Plus, the defense is playing every bit as well as last year. They may not have experience, but to my eye, the only thing they're missing is entrance music for James Laurinaitis.
But, no matter how much I want it to be, college football isn't all about the Scarlet and Gray. There was a lot going on last weekend, so it's time to examine how things shake out behind The Best Damn Team in the Land...
My #2 team is Florida. As much as I think SEC backers overestimate the strength of their league, I can't ignore Saturday's dismantling of a pretty solid LSU team. It pains me to say so, but that team up North is next, and it's pretty close for second. The Wolverines are beating everyone in their path rather handily on both sides of the ball (clearly, they just want to be like the Buckeyes).
USC is behind those two teams because they've relied on late miscues by their unranked opponents to get their last two wins. I looked the other way after their interception to seal their win against Washington State, since at least the Trojans had something to do about the play. However, after watching Washington move the ball at will on their last drive, coming up short only because of the new "ready-to-play" clock rules, I had to drop USC in my estimation. Washington's a much improved team, but USC still let a demonstrably weaker squad hang around for all 60 minutes. I can't drop the Trojans any further than 4th because they are still officially undefeated, but I'm decidedly unimpressed with the Men of Troy.
Most people I've read put West Virginia next, but the only opponent they've beaten with a winning record is an utterly forgettable Maryland squad that was last seen rolling over for Georgia Tech. I know the Jackets have a good team, but when you're in the position the Terps were in the second half, you've got to close the deal. Since the Mountaineers haven't played any quality opponents, I think #5 is the spot for the first one-loss team, the Texas Longhorns. They played the Buckeyes closer than the score indicated, and just last week did the world a favor by beating down those whining Sooners.
I'm going to continue to favor one-loss teams that have played somebody by going with Tennessee at #6. The Volunteers put 51 points on the previously stout Georgia defense last Saturday, in Athens. That's far more impressive than anything either of the unbeaten Big Least contenders have done. I rank Louisville ahead of West Virginia, because while each team has been equally impressive in their victories, the Cardinals can count the Miami Hurricanes among their victims. At least we thought that win meant something at the time...
In my mind, Cal jumped ahead of Notre Dame with their resounding Saturday victory over previously unbeaten Oregon. I do, however, have the Irish rounding out the Top 10 due in large part to their hard-fought opening win over the aforementioned Yellow Jackets. Also, the Irish have had only one patsy on their schedule thus far (winless Stanford), which is far less than most of the top teams out there.
As you all know, it's a pretty happy time for me, as my Buckeyes sit atop the polls as the (nearly) undisputed #1 team, and deservedly so. No offense in the country holds a candle to the collective firepower of Smith, Ginn, Gonzalez, Pittman, et al. Plus, the defense is playing every bit as well as last year. They may not have experience, but to my eye, the only thing they're missing is entrance music for James Laurinaitis.
But, no matter how much I want it to be, college football isn't all about the Scarlet and Gray. There was a lot going on last weekend, so it's time to examine how things shake out behind The Best Damn Team in the Land...
My #2 team is Florida. As much as I think SEC backers overestimate the strength of their league, I can't ignore Saturday's dismantling of a pretty solid LSU team. It pains me to say so, but that team up North is next, and it's pretty close for second. The Wolverines are beating everyone in their path rather handily on both sides of the ball (clearly, they just want to be like the Buckeyes).
USC is behind those two teams because they've relied on late miscues by their unranked opponents to get their last two wins. I looked the other way after their interception to seal their win against Washington State, since at least the Trojans had something to do about the play. However, after watching Washington move the ball at will on their last drive, coming up short only because of the new "ready-to-play" clock rules, I had to drop USC in my estimation. Washington's a much improved team, but USC still let a demonstrably weaker squad hang around for all 60 minutes. I can't drop the Trojans any further than 4th because they are still officially undefeated, but I'm decidedly unimpressed with the Men of Troy.
Most people I've read put West Virginia next, but the only opponent they've beaten with a winning record is an utterly forgettable Maryland squad that was last seen rolling over for Georgia Tech. I know the Jackets have a good team, but when you're in the position the Terps were in the second half, you've got to close the deal. Since the Mountaineers haven't played any quality opponents, I think #5 is the spot for the first one-loss team, the Texas Longhorns. They played the Buckeyes closer than the score indicated, and just last week did the world a favor by beating down those whining Sooners.
I'm going to continue to favor one-loss teams that have played somebody by going with Tennessee at #6. The Volunteers put 51 points on the previously stout Georgia defense last Saturday, in Athens. That's far more impressive than anything either of the unbeaten Big Least contenders have done. I rank Louisville ahead of West Virginia, because while each team has been equally impressive in their victories, the Cardinals can count the Miami Hurricanes among their victims. At least we thought that win meant something at the time...
In my mind, Cal jumped ahead of Notre Dame with their resounding Saturday victory over previously unbeaten Oregon. I do, however, have the Irish rounding out the Top 10 due in large part to their hard-fought opening win over the aforementioned Yellow Jackets. Also, the Irish have had only one patsy on their schedule thus far (winless Stanford), which is far less than most of the top teams out there.
posted by Lock Ness Monster at 7:02 PM
3 Comments:
Go Bucks
-Gauri
Vern, you know I have to answer this one. I'll agree that there is major seperation between OSU and Michigan. As for the Wolverines being #1 over my Buckeyes, I guess we'll find out on November 18.
I will also say that I do respect the SEC. You may think you know who the best teams are, but every really is decided on the field and on any given Saturday, no one's really sure what will happen.
Here's where we part ways in our analysis: I don't necessarily think that the fact that there are two unbeaten teams in the Big 10 means that if you put either one in the SEC they're going to struggle. The only impirical evidence we have on this season is that the Big 10 is 1-0 over the SEC by virtue of Michigan's season-opening drubbing of Vanderbilt. This doesn't prove much either way, although I should mention that one of your SEC powerhouses (Georgia) did just fall at home to Vandy.
I have more to say about the SEC vs. the Big 10, but I'm going to save that for a full post later today. Bottom line is, though, we'll have to wait until the bowl season before we have a complete picture of the relative strengths of each conference.
However, I will not wait on my thoughts re: the ACC. It's better than the Big 10? OK, Homer. They don't have anyone out there who's a true National Title contender, which is pretty sad for a BCS conference. Georgia Tech and Clemson are on that next tier, but you have to put Wake Forest, BC and Florida State a step below that and on par with Wisconsin, Iowa and Purdue (quality records, but they haven't really beaten anyone). The rest of both conferences have either had major upsets but dropped the ball elsewhere (such as Indiana and NC State), been studies in mediocrity (see Miami or Penn State), or been outright miserable (let's not name names here, these guys have mothers...). So, everything's pretty much level with these two conferences, except that the tiebreaker is strength at the top. I don't blame you for sticking up for your guys, though...
...except as it regards conference title games. I'm almost completely on the opposite end of the spectrum on this one. Don't kid yourself: those games were not invented for competitive purposes; they are money-making devices for greedy college presidents. Sure, it adds an extra tough game to the schedule, but in most cases, the teams have already played each other. The only real use for a conference title game is when that hasn't happened.
Also, in case you haven't noticed, it's somewhat likely that we will have a Big 10 conference title game this year. It just won't be in December or have official corporate sponsorship. But, I guess the fact that we're not taking advantage of a cash-grabbing opportunity just means we have weak teams...
oops...first paragraph, I meant to say "major seperation between OSU and Michigan, and the rest of the conference."
Post a Comment
<< Home