Tiger Season!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 20, 2007, 8:14 pm

Fucking UCLA.

Now ASU has to play four ranked teams in the next four weeks.

Cal will probably cling to a top 25 spot, UCLA will probably creep into the top 25, and then there's USC and Oregon.

USU @ UCLA has turned into yet another big game with them being undefeated in the Pac-10, along with Cal, Oregon and USC.

Top five teams in the Pac-10 are tough capable of big things this year although Cal is history if they lose to ASU next week.

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » October 21, 2007, 12:22 am

Pac Ten hatred aside, I never thought Cal had a chance in this game. Not sure why, but it always seems to end up this way in that conference. Look for one of those two teams to knock off USC.

And with LSU about to go down (maybe), the cry for a playoff will be very loud since a 2 loss team won't play for the championship.

And fuck Boeckman for blowing our would be shutout. (yeah, im aware they also got a fg on our d).

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » October 21, 2007, 12:26 am

UCLA in the top 25 would make me sad considering they've provided Notre Dame their only victory. There are teams that deserve it more.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » October 21, 2007, 1:36 am

hahaha, what an ending to the LSU-Auburn game!

masteen · Post by **masteen** » October 21, 2007, 4:05 am

Les Miles is a lucky retard.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 21, 2007, 6:50 am

The mighty 2-loss LSU Tigers!

It's looking like no national champ out of the SEC.

Michigan is going to take out OSU, which should count like 100 losses since OSU plays such a cream puff schedule, so no Big Ten team.

That leaves ASU, or Oregon if ASU loses, and maybe USC with one loss if they take out the rest of the Pac-10 which appears to have the toughest top five for sure this year and best non bloated conference this year (conference with standard 10 teams or less...throw enough teams in a conference and one's bound to be good).

Anyone see the news today that Jack Elway (John's son) committed to Arizona State? He's only ranked 24th in the nation but he comes from good stock. A couple more wins and we'll start pulling away the USC and Michigan recruits!

I watched the Michigan game. UM's QB is no Tom Brady. He has fumbalitis.

Two teams control their destiny for the BCS, OhioSU, with it's hella weak schedule and Arizona State, which would need to bust serious ass to remain undefeated. OhioSU's toughest game of the season wouldn't break into the top five teams ASU has to play.

It's going to be a good bowl season this year for the Pac-10!

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » October 21, 2007, 10:42 am

i really pray we play you for the championship

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » October 21, 2007, 11:10 am

Winnow wrote:The mighty 2-loss LSU Tigers!

huh?

Ashur · Post by **Ashur** » October 21, 2007, 11:57 am

Boogahz wrote:
Winnow wrote:The mighty 2-loss LSU Tigers!
huh?

Methinks he skipped the game's freaktastic ending...

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » October 21, 2007, 12:02 pm

Ashur wrote:
Boogahz wrote:
Winnow wrote:The mighty 2-loss LSU Tigers!
huh?
Methinks he skipped the game's freaktastic ending...

Either that or he has created yet another rule where the games are only 57 minutes long to justify the failings of the Pac10.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » October 21, 2007, 2:10 pm

Sueven's CFB rankings:

1. Louisiana State
2. Ohio State
3. Oklahoma
4. Oregon
5. Boston College
6. Florida
7. South Florida
8. Kentucky
9. South Carolina
10. Arizona State
11. West Virginia
12. Virginia Tech
13. Auburn
14. Missouri
15. Kansas

LSU just looks like the best team in the country to me. I understand that Ohio State and Boston College are undefeated, but Boston College's best win is over Wake Forest. Ohio State's win is over... gosh, tough question. Purdue? Michigan State? Washington?

LSU has beat Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Florida and Auburn, but lost to Kentucky. Do I think that Ohio State or Boston College could go 5-0 through that schedule? No. Do I think that Ohio State or Boston College could go 4-1 through that schedule? Extremely doubtful. So LSU's my top team.

Boston College has the meat of it's schedule coming up: Virginia Tech, Florida State, Maryland, Clemson, Miami. Admittedly, the last four teams there are nothing special, but each one at least has the ability to beat Boston College. Winning all five would be a nice accomplishment. Ohio State also has the meat coming up: Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan.

I really hope that one of those two teams loses a game so I don't have to watch them face off in what would be the least anticipated championship game of the BCS era, but if they both won out, my respect for the sanctity of undefeated seasons would probably obligate me to support them for the matchup. But for now? LSU is staying at the top.

Ohio State actually would have dropped this week in victory, but Oklahoma and Oregon didn't look too impressive and I couldn't justify jumping them over Ohio State.

I was all set to jump Arizona State into maybe the 7 or 8 spot, but I just couldn't do it. Look at the teams above them. Remember, Arizona State's best win is against Colorado. The best wins of the other teams in ASU's rankings class? Florida: Tennessee, Kentucky. South Florida: West Virginia, Auburn. Kentucky: LSU, Arkansas, Louisville. South Carolina: Kentucky, Georgia. I am not going to validate the undefeated records of Arizona State (or Kansas) until either team beats a legitimate top 25 program. Both teams will have a chance to do that in the coming weeks.

Thinking about it, Arizona State's schedule is so ridiculously backloaded that, if they were to win out, I'd probably support them for a spot in the national title game even if Ohio State and Boston College finished the season undefeated.

Wouldn't it be hilarious if Kansas, Arizona State, Ohio State and Boston College all finished the season undefeated? How the hell would the BCS manage that?

I originally had Arizona State at #11, until I realized that West Virginia hasn't beaten anyone in particular either. So those two got switched.

I was also about to jump Kansas over Arizona State, on the strength of each teams top two victories (Colorado + Oregon State for ASU, Colorado + Kansas State for Kansas), but I saw that Arizona State beat Colorado by a lot more than Kansas did, so I let them remain.

Auburn has got to be the best 5-3 team I can remember. So far this season, they've played Kansas State, South Florida, Florida, Arkansas, and LSU. They'd be looking much more impressive nationally if they haven't somehow bombed against Mississippi State.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 21, 2007, 2:42 pm

Sueven wrote: I was all set to jump Arizona State into maybe the 7 or 8 spot, but I just couldn't do it. Look at the teams above them. Remember, Arizona State's best win is against Colorado. The best wins of the other teams in ASU's rankings class? Florida: Tennessee, Kentucky. South Florida: West Virginia, Auburn. Kentucky: LSU, Arkansas, Louisville. South Carolina: Kentucky, Georgia. I am not going to validate the undefeated records of Arizona State (or Kansas) until either team beats a legitimate top 25 program. Both teams will have a chance to do that in the coming weeks.

I agree that Arizona State needs to win against Cal next Saturday to start getting serious consideration. I also agree that Arizona State has the toughest remaining schedule and would be a lock as a participant for the BCS championship with an undefeated season but they'll be in the mix even if they lose one of those remaining games (unless it's against Arizona the last game of the season). While I think Arizona State is capable of beating any of the teams remaining on its schedule without it being considered a miracle, it's a tall order to beat them all.

Re LSU: I did misread a headline and thought they lost. They're still in the hunt.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » October 21, 2007, 3:02 pm

Arizona State has no chance at the BCS championship game with one loss. Besides the other undefeated teams, a one-loss ASU team would be in line after LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon, West Virginia, South Florida, USC, Virginia Tech...

I also think that a 2-loss SEC team would make it over a 1-loss ASU. Could be Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina. And I'm totally in favor of this.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » October 21, 2007, 5:31 pm

Winnow wrote:Re LSU: I did misread a headline and thought they lost. They're still in the hunt.

they won

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 21, 2007, 6:44 pm

Sueven wrote: I also think that a 2-loss SEC team would make it over a 1-loss ASU. Could be Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina. And I'm totally in favor of this.

Why? ASU would have beaten 3 of four ranked teams. What would make a two loss team above so special over ASU? Thankfully, in this case, the computers would put an end to your bias and not allow a two loss team to go over a team that beat 3 ranked teams.

Arizona State is ranked #7 in both people polls so that should help with the BCS rankings as they were 5th there...somehow tied with OhioSU...which is a total joke and will change if ASU wins an upcoming game or two as they play much tougher teams than Ohio.

OhioSU must think they get an extra vote for each sticker on their helmets.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » October 21, 2007, 8:00 pm

Why?

Let's assume you lose to Oregon, currently ranked top among your remaining opponents. You would get wins over two teams that are currently ranked (I don't know where you're getting this mysterious 4th ranked team from, UCLA is not ranked in any poll). One of them would be California, an above-average team who plays zero defense and is coming off unsightly losses to Oregon State and UCLA. The second is USC, who has lots of talent but hasn't played well all season and lost to Stanford. Then you've got UCLA, who lost to Notre Dame and got thrashed by Utah. They're good wins, but it's not as impressive as you seem to believe.

Contrast with, say, a two-loss Florida.

Florida has losses to Auburn and LSU. Both games were nailbiters, both opponents were good, and neither loss should hurt Florida's title hopes as much as losses like those suffered by USC (Stanford) and Michigan (App State). If Florida ran the table, they would have beaten Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida State, and probably LSU.

So the question is: What's more impressive? Going 3-1 against California, UCLA, USC, Oregon? Or going 6-2 against Auburn, LSU (x2), Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida State?

I think the second accomplishment is more impressive. Florida plays exactly twice as many heavyweight games as ASU. I think it's fair to allow them to suffer exactly twice as many losses and be considered comparable. I think that Auburn, LSU, Kentucky and South Carolina are better than anyone but Oregon on ASU's schedule.

Ashur · Post by **Ashur** » October 21, 2007, 10:55 pm

Gee, maybe we should just have the BCS Championship game played by the winners of the PAC-10 and SEC and forget about all these other loser conferences...

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » October 21, 2007, 11:16 pm

Sueven wrote:if they both won out, my respect for the sanctity of undefeated seasons would probably obligate me to support them for the matchup.

I might not be excited about it, but I think my position is pretty clear

Spang · Post by **Spang** » October 21, 2007, 11:23 pm

Hawaii is undefeated, it would be wack if they weren't considered!

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » October 21, 2007, 11:30 pm

Boise State last year was much better than Hawaii this year

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 21, 2007, 11:37 pm

Arizona State at #4 is probably as high as they're going to get unless one of the teams loses above them. They may move by LSU with a win next week but then they run into an undefeated team road block.

I was surprised to see ASU jump that much on a bye week. Maybe it was the visibility we got over Jack Elway committing to ASU. They seemed to spam that all day long during a couple games I was watching.

You have nowhere to hide Zamtuk! ASU is like King Kong climbing the Empire State Building. A couple more bye weeks and the Sun Devils would be #1!

noel · Post by **noel** » October 21, 2007, 11:44 pm

I'm disappointed that Cal is still ranked as highly as they are.

On the subject of UCLA... I'm not suggesting that they should be ranked at all, but I do think it's a damn shame that Patrick Cowan wasn't their starting quarterback when the year started instead of that fucking albatross Ben Olson. I think if he had been their starting quarterback they would have been able to get something going on offense against Utah (horrible stupid deserved loss) and if he hadn't been injured vs. ND, I think they would have won that game as well. Injuries are of course, no excuse, but that's my opinion.

Then again, if Longshore wasn't as injured as he was, Cal might not have lost yesterday.

Post by **Sylvus** » October 22, 2007, 12:09 am

Winnow wrote:I watched the Michigan game. UM's QB is no Tom Brady. He has fumbalitis.

Just FYI, that was our true freshman backup QB that you saw fumbling the ball. Chad Henne was in and out of the game yesterday with an injured shoulder.

Hopefully Mike Hart will be better soon, it's rough playing with the nation's leading rusher (going into this week) sidelined with an ankle injury.

Sabek · Post by **Sabek** » October 22, 2007, 1:38 am

How can "people" still be going on about how much better the Pac 10 is than the Big Ten?

Pac 10 records:
7-0
5-2
6-1
6-1
5-2
4-3
3-4
2-6
2-5
2-5
Total of 4 of 10 below .500 on the season and a total of 3 teams currently bowl eligible

Big Ten records:
8-0
6-2
6-2
5-3
6-2
6-2
5-3
5-3
5-3
3-5
1-7
Total of 2 teams below .500 on the season and 5 of 11 already bowl eligible.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 22, 2007, 2:32 am

Those Big (11)Ten records might have something to do with the cream puff schedules.

The Pac-10 looks pretty well distributed for a tough conference that doesn't play 1-AA teams. The Pac-10 cannibalizes itself, with no team playing out of conference games as late in the season as OhioSU was playing Kent State, er, "taking are of business" and adding a few stickers to their helmets for beating up on lightweights. "This one's for when I sacked that 98 pound Kent State QB honey!", "oh, you're such a brute! Lets go make out in the corn field!"..."no, the other corn field"..."no the other corn field on the other side of that corn field"

Tyek · Post by **Tyek** » October 22, 2007, 2:41 am

Washington schedule
Date Opponent
Aug. 31 at Syracuse
Sept. 8 Boise State
Sept. 15 Ohio State
Dec. 1 at Hawaii

USC schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 Idaho
Sept. 15 at Nebraska
Oct. 20 at Notre Dame

Stanford schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 15 San Jose State
Oct. 13 TCU
Nov. 24 Notre Dame

Washington State schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 at Wisconsin
Sept. 8 San Diego State
Sept. 15 Idaho

Arizona schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 at BYU
Sept. 8 Northern Arizona
Sept. 15 New Mexico

Oregon schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 Houston
Sept. 8 at Michigan
Sept. 15 Fresno State

UCLA schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 8 Brigham Young
Sept. 15 at Utah
Oct. 6 Notre Dame

Oregon State schedule
Date Opponent
Aug. 30 Utah
Sept. 6 at Cincinnati
Sept. 15 Idaho State

Cal schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 Tennessee
Sept. 8 at Colorado State
Sept. 15 La. Tech

Arizona State schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 San Jose State
Sept. 8 Colorado
Sept. 15 San Diego State

Michigan State schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 UAB
Sept. 8 Bowling Green
Sept. 15 Pittsburgh
Sept. 22 at Notre Dame

Michigan schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 Appalachian State
Sept. 15 Notre Dame
Oct. 6 Eastern Michigan

Purdue schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 at Toledo
Sept. 8 Eastern Illinois
Sept. 15 Central Michigan
Sept. 29 Notre Dame

Illinois schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 vs. Missouri (in St. Louis)
Sept. 8 Western Illinois
Sept. 15 at Syracuse
Oct. 27 Ball State

Wisconsin schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 8 at UNLV
Sept. 15 The Citadel
Oct. 20 Northern Illinois

Ohio State schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 Youngstown State
Sept. 8 Akron
Sept. 15 at Washington
Oct. 13 Kent State

Penn State schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 Florida International
Sept. 8 Notre Dame
Sept. 15 Buffalo
Nov. 10 at Temple

Minnesota schedule
Date Opponent
Aug. 30 Bowling Green
Sept. 8 Miami (Ohio)
Sept. 15 at Florida Atlantic
Oct. 20 North Dakota State

Iowa schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 vs. NIU (in Chicago)
Sept. 8 Syracuse
Nov. 17 Western Michigan

Northwestern schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 1 Northeastern
Sept. 8 Nevada
Sept. 15 Duke
Oct. 19 vs. Eastern Michigan (at Detroit)

I think it has something to do with the schedules. Northern Illinois has had some good years, but there are lots of directional schools on that list. I understand every team wants a sure win or two on the schedule, look at the Pac 10 schedules, LA Tech, North Arizona, but there are significantly more in the Big Ten, and unfortunately you have embarrassing losses to App State and N Dakota St.

The Notre Dame games on both schedules should be discounted since most of those games are traditional rivalries, they could not help that my poor Irish suck so badly.

I do not care what the so called experts say, it is harder to beat a conference foe then a non-conference one, so I think the USC loss, while embarrassing, is still not as bad as the Michigan loss.. I personally think that the conference debate is not that big of a deal. Each conference has a team or two that are better then the rest. As I said before, depending on graduation and other issues, conferences tend to have up and down years, but overall I would guess there is little difference in the overall quality of most conferences over the long haul.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » October 22, 2007, 8:00 am

I was surprised to see ASU jump that much on a bye week. Maybe it was the visibility we got over Jack Elway committing to ASU. They seemed to spam that all day long during a couple games I was watching.

This has fuckall to do with season rankings. If it ever affects a ranking, it will be those nonsensical pre-season rankings. It only had to do with those teams ranked above them playing poorly or stumbling.

Oh, I wouldn't get too excited about Jack Elway before he starts to actually play there either. We had a "QB's son" come here a few years ago, and nobody could wait for him to leave. He sucked here, and he sucks in the NFL. It was obvious that the ego of his father is all that allowed him to have any success at all on the field.

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » October 22, 2007, 8:46 am

Winnow wrote:Those Big (11)Ten records might have something to do with the cream puff schedules.

The Pac-10 looks pretty well distributed for a tough conference that doesn't play 1-AA teams. The Pac-10 cannibalizes itself, with no team playing out of conference games as late in the season as OhioSU was playing Kent State, er, "taking are of business" and adding a few stickers to their helmets for beating up on lightweights. "This one's for when I sacked that 98 pound Kent State QB honey!", "oh, you're such a brute! Lets go make out in the corn field!"..."no, the other corn field"..."no the other corn field on the other side of that corn field"

Once again, you can't seem to grasp simple mathematics. THERE ARE AN ODD NUMBER OF TEAMS DOUCHEBAG, EVERY WEEK ONE TEAM PLAYS OUT OF CONFERENCE.

Besides, you pussies from the Pac Ten have bye weeks, so I don't want to hear it.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 22, 2007, 1:15 pm

Zamtuk wrote:
Once again, you can't seem to grasp simple mathematics. THERE ARE AN ODD NUMBER OF TEAMS DOUCHEBAG, EVERY WEEK ONE TEAM PLAYS OUT OF CONFERENCE.

That doesn't mean you have to go beat up on little kids or play such a weak schedule at the beginning of the season.

Any team that has National Title aspirations should not be playing 1-AA teams either IMO.

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » October 22, 2007, 3:10 pm

Yeah, you're right, we should really stop scheduling Pac Ten schools for our non con games. It really makes us look bad when we beat their pathetic asses. Too bad we don't learn from our mistakes, we have USC the next two years.

Post by **Sylvus** » October 22, 2007, 3:59 pm

Winnow wrote:
Zamtuk wrote:
Once again, you can't seem to grasp simple mathematics. THERE ARE AN ODD NUMBER OF TEAMS DOUCHEBAG, EVERY WEEK ONE TEAM PLAYS OUT OF CONFERENCE.
That doesn't mean you have to go beat up on little kids or play such a weak schedule at the beginning of the season.

Any team that has National Title aspirations should not be playing 1-AA teams either IMO.

Do you really know so little, or are you trying to be annoying? This is a serious question.

Do you even have any idea why 1-AA schools are scheduled? The only reason that Michigan or Ohio State played 1-AA teams this year is because of the recent change to a 12 game season, and the inability of those schools to find quality opponents who will agree to play them. I know Michigan searched long and hard for a 1-A opponent and only took Appalachian State when no one else would agree to playing them, rather than forfeiting the $4M+ that Michigan makes from every home game. Appalachian State was the first 1-AA school Michigan had ever played. They were added when none of the other schools that Michigan tries to schedule as non-conference opponents were available, because they were all adding 1-AA competition so that they could get an easy 6 wins and make one of the million bowls that now exist. (in this case, I'm specifically referencing Vanderbilt, an SEC team that Michigan had played last year who wouldn't agree to play us again and instead scheduled 1-AA Richmond. Before someone speaks to the strength of Vandy, they did beat South Carolina this weekend). Unfortunately the problem will get worse before it gets better, and that may never happen as the more bowls that occur, the more money the NCAA makes, so they'll continue to count victories over 1-AA opponents as valid wins for being bowl eligible. If those wins didn't count for bowl eligibility, no one in the country would play 1-AA schools. And if you think that Michigan or Ohio State is scheduling 1-AA schools in a hope for bowl eligibility, you're a bigger retard than I even thought possible.

The only reason your school hasn't had to schedule 1-AA teams is because they are traditionally shitty enough that the dregs of the Mountain West or WAC conferences aren't chalking it up as an auto-loss when scheduling the Sun Devils. You can harp on the 1-AA stuff until you're blue in the face, that won't change the fact that in February when Michigan vs. App. State was scheduled, they were a a better team than a couple of Arizona State's (or most of the PAC 10's) out-of-conference foes. I realize it might not look as attractive after the Irish performance to date, but scheduling Notre Dame and Oregon as 2 of your 4 non-conference games is pretty respectable, imo.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 22, 2007, 5:19 pm

That's cute and all but lets look at the Pac-10 as a whole scheduling 1-AA teams vs the rest of the cream puff scheduling conferences:

Breaking down the I-A vs. I-AA games

By Tom Dienhart, Sporting News
Posted June 5, 2007

I don't like 'em, but ADs at fat boy schools with rabid fan bases love 'em: non-league games pitting I-A teams vs. I-AA teams. Heck, BCS heavies could schedule your Granny's Sewing Circle to visit and still sell out. Hey, if you wanna show up with your wallet in your mouth to watch a glorified scrimmage, that's your problem.

I give credit to the Pac-10 for not taking the easy way out and scheduling a bunch of I-AA pylons. Check it out: The Pac-10 has just two games vs. I-AA foes, the fewest of any BCS conference. If any league deserves to schedule a few easy "Ws," it's the Pac-10, given the fact league schools are forced to fill nine of their 12 scheduling slots with conference tilts. A breather would have been appreciated.

And a special mention to the ACC for scheduling only six I-AA fall guys.

Which BCS league stands to get the fattest on I-AA teams? The SEC, with 10 games vs. I-AA meatballs. Sorta takes luster off of all of those "the SEC is best" arguments. Oh, yeah, I forgot: SEC teams beat up each other so they have to "take it easy" in non-league games. Uh, yeah ... I guess.

No school plays two I-AA foes, but it's worth noting that 24 BCS schools don't have a I-AA opponent on their to-do list this season. Good for them. Maybe they noticed last year that I-AA teams toppled I-A teams on several occasions. Remember these stunners?

Montana State over Colorado
Southern Illinois over Indiana
Richmond over Duke
New Hampshire over Northwestern

That's just downright embarrassing. (Quickie sider: my all-time fav I-AA over I-A game is The Citadel over Arkansas in 1992.) And even a few non-BCS teams got pantsed by I-AA teams last fall: Cal Poly over San Diego State; Portland State over New Mexico; North Dakota State over Ball State.

Shameful. But I love it. I like to think of it as I-A big boys getting taught a lesson by blowing a breakaway slam dunk.

Oh, most I-AA teams will take their whipping (and mega-guarantee check) and slink home. But some won't. Nope, several I-A teams will suffer the ignominy of being whipped by I-AA runts this fall. You can bank on that. Here's a look at all 38 I-A vs. I-AA matchups this fall. Which I-A teams do you think are in the most peril of being punked?

Caveat emptor, BCS Big Boys!

ACC (6)

James Madison at North Carolina, Sept. 1
Villanova at Maryland, Sept. 1
Samford at Georgia Tech, Sept. 8
Furman at Clemson, Sept. 15
William & Mary at Virginia Tech, Sept. 22
UMass at Boston College, Sept. 29

BIG EAST (6)

Murray State at Louisville, Sept. Aug. 30
Southeast Missouri at Cincinnati, Aug. 30
Elon at South Florida, Sept. 1
Maine at UConn, Sept. 8
Grambling at Pitt, Sept. 8
Norfolk State at Rutgers, Sept. 15

BIG TEN (8)

Appalachian State at Michigan, Sept. 1
Youngstown State at Ohio State, Sept. 1
Northeastern at Northwestern, Sept. 1
Indiana State at Indiana, Sept. 1
Eastern Illinois at Purdue, Sept. 8
Western Illinois at Illinois, Sept. 8
The Citadel at Wisconsin, Sept. 15
North Dakota State at Minnesota, Oct. 20

BIG 12 (8)

Northern Iowa at Iowa State, Sept. 8
Southeastern Louisiana at Kansas, Sept. 8
Missouri State at Kansas State, Sept. 15
Texas State at Baylor, Sept. 15
Illinois State at Missouri, Sept. 22
Sam Houston State at Oklahoma State, Sept. 29
Montana State at Texas A&M, Sept. 1
Northwestern State at Texas Tech, September 29

PAC-10 (2)

Northern Arizona at Arizona, Sept. 8
Idaho State at Oregon State, Sept. 15

SEC (10)

Western Carolina at Alabama, Sept. 1
Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky, Sept. 1
Richmond at Vanderbilt, Sept.1
Western Kentucky at Florida, Sept. 1
Western Carolina at Georgia, Sept. 15
South Carolina State at South Carolina, Sept. 15
Jacksonville State at Mississippi State, Sept. 22
UT-Chattanooga at Arkansas, Oct. 6
Northwestern State at Ole Miss, Nov. 3
Tennessee Tech at Auburn, Nov. 3

I-A TEAMS WITH NO I-AA FOES (24 schools)

Arizona State
Cal
Colorado
Duke
Florida State
Miami
Michigan State
Iowa
LSU
Nebraska
Notre Dame
Oklahoma
Oregon
Penn State
Stanford
Syracuse
Tennessee
Texas
UCLA
USC
Virginia
Wake Forest
Washington
Washington State
West Virginia

Somehow, the Pac-10 manages to play the fewest 1-AA teams while playing the most games in conference, thus canibalizing their own conference making it much more difficult to come up with those pretty win records that Sabek seems so proud of.

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » October 22, 2007, 5:34 pm

Teams schedule ASU for their easy win.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 22, 2007, 5:38 pm

Zamtuk wrote:Teams schedule ASU for their easy win.

Since your OhioSU team is so into stickers, we'll have to pick a nice one out for you to use an avatar for the next avatar bet you lose.

Sabek · Post by **Sabek** » October 22, 2007, 6:34 pm

Still harping the lame sticker shtick.

Yes your vagina still bleeds because OSU beat ASU in a game over a decade ago, and denied them their destiny.

Haven't your precious Sundevils done anything in the last ten years to be proud about instead?
It's sad that the only relevant thing you have to be concerned about with ASU in the last decade is a loss, to OSU no less.

ASU lost, even though they should have been national champions I understand, but get the fuck over it.

You whine for ASU, you whine for the Suns, you whine for the Cardinals, and I assume any other lame ass Arizona sports team.
Don't you have some Second life, furry, rough prison man sex to get to?

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » October 22, 2007, 10:15 pm

japanese hentai rape movies i think are his thing.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 22, 2007, 10:39 pm

so mean!

I'm under attack by moralistic religious whack jobs from the Midwest! It's the "devil" on Arizona State's helmet that really gets you isn't it? You fantasize about covering it with little Buckeye stickers to cover up the evil symbol.

Why not live a little? Slap a sticker on your GF's ass after a good shag to let her know you approve.

Can't wait for bowl season.

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » October 22, 2007, 11:07 pm

good news for you is after your soon to be 3 losses (i would advise you to stop posting after the first one) you will be playing your bowl game in the year of 2007!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 22, 2007, 11:28 pm

Zamtuk wrote:good news for you is after your soon to be 3 losses (i would advise you to stop posting after the first one) you will be playing your bowl game in the year of 2007!

Says the fan of the team that might lose 3 of their next four to:

Penn State (OhioSU's only a -3.5 point favorite in this one)
Wisconsin
Illinois
Michigan

Arizona is -3 vs Cal

I wouldn't talk too much smack as OhioSU is basically in as much jeopardy of losing as ASU.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » October 23, 2007, 12:31 pm

From Sports Illustrated:

Stewart Mandel wrote:2) That reports of the Pac-10's ascendancy were premature. I wrote it, as did so many others. Through the first month of the season, no conference had done more to distinguish itself than the Pac-10, with rousing non-conference wins by Cal (over Tennessee), Oregon (over Michigan), Washington (over Boise State) and USC (over Nebraska). In the weeks since, however, we learned that shredding Tennessee's defense, as Cal did, isn't particularly difficult (ask Alabama) and that Nebraska is closer to No. 120 than No. 20. The Trojans wound up losing to Stanford, the 2-5 Huskies haven't won since that Boise State game, and the Bears have now lost consecutive games to Oregon State (itself a 34-3 loser to Cincinnati) and UCLA (44-6 loss to Utah, only team this season to lose to Notre Dame).

Obviously, it doesn't speak particularly well of our West Coast friends that, at the near-halfway point of the conference season, those same Bruins are tied for first at 4-0 in the Pac-10. Its co-leader, 7-0 Arizona State, had been looking toward Saturday's home date with Cal as chance to finally prove its worthiness, but suddenly everybody's beating Cal. Still, this coming weekend will be a very interesting one for the conference. In addition to Cal-ASU, No. 9 USC visits No. 5 Oregon in a game with serious BCS implications. The Ducks, despite losing that home game to Cal, remain the league's most viable national title contender. That Michigan beatdown looks better and better with each subsequent Wolverines victory. But Oregon finds itself having to reinvent the nation's No. 2 offense on the fly after losing a bevy of key personnel (three receivers, plus No. 2 tailback Jeremiah Johnson). They did more than fine against Washington, riding RB Jonathan Stewart to 55 points, but USC brings a far more challenging defense.

The previously struggling Trojans, meanwhile, turned in their crispest offensive performance of the season at Notre Dame, with QB Mark Sanchez shining in his second career start, but how much can we really read into performances against the Irish this season? (Other than the fact USC obviously fared far better than its cross-town rival ... you know, the one leading the conference). Right now, Oregon and ASU seem like the league's teams to beat; by this time next week, however, it could be back to USC and UCLA. Think about how crazy that would have sounded just two weeks ago.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_blo ... ml?eref=T1

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 23, 2007, 1:12 pm

It's going to be a great weekend for college football. We'll know a lot more about the Pac-10 after this. If ASU gets blown out by Cal (which I highly doubt) I promise not to mention Appalachian State or stickers for a full week.

ASU vs Cal and USC @ Oregon should reveal a lot.

OhioSU/Penn State as well.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » October 23, 2007, 3:02 pm

They are big games.

That said, I'm going to pre-emptively tell you that beating Cal (should it happen) doesn't give you that much credibility. You'll have beaten a 5-3 team on a 3 game losing streak. At that point, beating Cal is about as credible as beating Miami, Georgia Tech, or Oklahoma State.

noel · Post by **noel** » October 23, 2007, 3:06 pm

I agree. Cal is real beat up right now.

That said, they still have to beat them.

Looks like I'm going to the ASU/UCLA game at the Rose Bowl on (I think) the 10th!

Sabek · Post by **Sabek** » October 23, 2007, 3:42 pm

Winnow wrote:OhioSU/Penn State as well.

This game is a demon that OSU needs to exercise. They have done historically bad in Beaver Stadium at night.
Also Tressel has never beaten PSU and Michigan on the road in the same year.

Post by **Sylvus** » October 23, 2007, 3:48 pm

Sabek wrote:
Winnow wrote:OhioSU/Penn State as well.
This game is a demon that OSU needs to exercise. They have done historically bad in Beaver Stadium at night.
Also Tressel has never beaten PSU and Michigan on the road in the same year.

Well then, go Buckeyes! (this weekend)

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 23, 2007, 5:56 pm

Beating Cal won't give ASU a lot of street cred but losing to them would hurt a bunch so it's an important game. It's almost a can't win situation for the Sun Devils. I don't expect ASU to go anywhere in the polls for the rest of the season unless one of the top three teams loses and ASU keeps winning so a win is a win at this point. They were #2 in the nation though so can't be all that bad.

ASU @ UCLA should be a meaningful game no matter what in two weeks Noel so it should be a good one. At worst, the teams would have two losses and still inthe hunt for the Pac-10 title with all other teams having at least one loss currently, or they could still both be undefeated!

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » October 23, 2007, 6:35 pm

Winnow wrote:They were #2 in the nation though so can't be all that bad.

Any other season, I might say that this point is valid. All it proves this year is that they were one of many highly ranked teams to fall.

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » October 23, 2007, 7:36 pm

Definitely a cool game to go see Noel.

And beating Cal would certainly help ASU's resume; it would be by far their best win to date, regardless of California's recent fall. Cal is a pretty good team and it shouldn't be an easy win. It just won't do nearly as much as it would have two weeks ago, or as much as beating someone who's playing like a top-ten team now would.

Auburn is 5-3 right now, and beating them would be a huge statement, because Auburn is playing like a powerhouse and Cal is playing like crap.

Definitely a catch-22 sort of situation for ASU... if ASU wins, then it doesn't mean much because Cal sucks. The only way Cal can not suck is to beat ASU, but that sure wouldn't help ASU any.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 23, 2007, 8:10 pm

Top 14 Defenses in the country:

1. Ohio St.
2. LSU
3. Southern California
4. West Virginia
5. Kansas
6. Connecticut
7. Penn St.
8. Wyoming
9. Georgia Tech
10. Clemson
11. Oklahoma
12. South Fla.
13. Virginia Tech
14. Arizona St.

At least two Pac-10 teams can play defense!

OhioSU @ Penn State = #1 vs #7 defenses. Should be a good test for both teams.

ASU's offense is #27 in in the country so not too bad but I'm encouraged to see them ranked in the top 20 in defense.

Interestingly, OhioSU is only 40th in Offense with Cal just above them:

Top Offenses

1. Texas Tech
2. Oregon
3. Tulsa
4. Hawaii
5. Louisville
6. Houston
7. Missouri
8. Nevada
9. Boise St.
10. Kansas
11. Oklahoma St.
12. West Virginia
13. Rutgers
14. Kentucky
15. Troy
16. Boston College
17. Arkansas
18. Ball St.
19. Northwestern
20. BYU
21. Oklahoma
22. UTEP
23. Florida
24. Navy
25. Minnesota
26. Texas
27. Arizona St.
28. Cincinnati
29. LSU
30. Clemson
31. Southern California
32. Purdue
33. Michigan St.
34. Nebraska
35. Wisconsin
36. Tennessee
37. Memphis
37. Kansas St.
39. California
40. Ohio St.

All sorts of things play into them like quality of opponent, etc so you can't read much into them but it's fun to check them out.

More stats:

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.as ... stats2.htm

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » October 23, 2007, 8:16 pm

Are those lists yds/game?