The things we do for traffic?
The following activity is usually depicted at least visually by a cartoon of some person wearing an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. I guess the intent of expression is the head (presumably containing a brain?) in between those two is attempting to reconcile the argument. This isn’t one of those circumstances. This one will result with those two joining forces in attempt to undermine that head’s authority. It’s likely, that once this has concluded in January, I will be wishing I’d have listened to one or the other. Sometimes, though, it’s a lot more fun just to cut loose and pour forth.
As it is, this venue enjoys a readership list of precisely zero. So how much damage can be done?
The AP has released their Pre-Season Poll as the real savants on the forum have well documented. Arguments over the poll have ensued and opinions, some that carry substantial weight, have been shared. Yet they’re all ‘safe’- every one of them. They’re reasoned and rational opinions using some sort of scientific method that not only lost on me but is wholly ignored here and replaced with pure and unadulterated bias and want. Now that you know that, I’m not going to waste any more time in explanation. I’m just going to bash the crap out of it instead and present you with the final four standing teams who will tourney to the goal line.
#1 Pre-Season Al-Ah-Bam-Ah Crimson Tide
Breaking records this season, it’s said, by doing this too many times in a row. They’re good, there is little doubt, but they are also vulnerable. They aren’t vulnerable for what they ‘can’ or ‘can’t’ do on the field, they’re gonna be vulnerable, beginning week one, due to the weight dangling over their heads their fans call dynasty, and detractors call arrogance. This isn’t a new phenomenon, either. Look back over the years and collect your own examples, and compare the trajectories of teams that became bloated with pride to the point of arrogance, and how decisively they fall. Some call Bama a ‘process’ and a machine. They’re that, to be sure- but the thing about a machine is it requires moving parts to operate in unison. Saban is pretty good at managing that, but he’s also managing new ventures such as television shows depicting his camps and processes, and while such attention has cost others of less stature (snicker snicker) where it really matters. He’s sitting with celebrity athletes and comparing notes on philosophy. The son of a bitch wears fancy loafers without socks. Oh, yeah, he’s lost it. He’s going down. “Nick Saban, YOU, are NOT a god”… Nick Saban: “Why don’t you pull the trigger and find out?”
Who is going to end here?
#1 POST Season wReckless Prediction:Georgia Bulldogs.
#2 Pre-Season Clemson Tigers
A pain streaks through my conscious when I offer recognition for achieving greatness to a team I just don’t like. That isn’t the case here though- this program, though twenty years ago was nothing but a once a year novelty when ‘father coached against son’, has done everything right. They’ve come a very long way. Their OLine is not only hefty but nasty. Their DLine has escaped ‘comparable’ and is firmly ‘envied’ by many teams deeper in the south than even they. They have blazing receivers and shifty backfields, DB’s with an exoskeleton of glue and LB’s who read O’s like your browser reads code. These rascals have perfected the run-throw-option and can play whatever game they want to play to the ends of winning. Except. They like to fall on their faces and lose when they aren’t expected to have any issue. It’s actually comical in a sadistic kind of way. If they remain focused and vigilant they absolutely have the ponies to be playing in the last bowl of the year that matters, and seeing as how they’re fun to watch I’d like to see it- but… They’ve got demon’s, yo. They also have a competent NCState, a late out of conference date with Gamecocks who absolutely may be contending this year, and an early contest with aTm that may be more interesting than expected… But none of those will be Clemson’s Waterloo… You want to know who’s gonna take them down this year? Duke. Next to last on the regular schedule. The question then will be “does this cost the ACC a seat at the table of four?”, and I think ‘yeah, it will’, as nobody else in the ACC, save the possibility of Miami and outside chance of VT, will be even moderately close (also impacting SoS in the minds of voters).
#2 POST Season wReckless Prediction:Washington Huskies or Wisky Badgers.
#3 Pre-Season Georgia Bulldogs
There has always been an inkling of concern within Bulldog opponents in regards to the potential, somehow restricted, in the state of Bulldog football. We watched Richt, who is a great man and a good coach, reach ‘almost’ more times than logical as his recipe gained red ribbon after red ribbon. It was too good to throw out, but not good enough to win championships without exterior assistance (which didn’t happen). We collectively blew our stacks when it was announced Richt had been released, and sat in bewilderment when an assistant coach with no prior HC experience was crowned. As it turns out, Smart destroyed the dam of whatever intangible restriction the state suffered from, and has brought them to the cusp of greatness. This is his and this team’s year, and it’s Georgia’s time. They go all the way this season. Well, except for the gamecocks, who lay in wait like some absurd ambush of poultry on an animal farm that may seem comical, but I bet you’ve just never seen it happen or you wouldn’t be smirking. Truth: UGA is capable of winning every game by a large margin until they reach the SECCG, where they’ll meet with a bruised Bama or a jovial Auburn. They should likely hope for Bama. A rematch with Auburn could pose a problem due to algorythm discovering and destroying skills of one Gus Malzahn while armed with a physically healthy team (maybe?). Whatever motivation is being fed to these dawgs has clearly observable dividends- and if they were stock traded on the free market they are a no-brainer. Hoewever, the SEC- if they were traded on the open market, may be given cause to track their activities a little more closely than they have… I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’. All those stars on one roster draw attention. Smart better accomplish what he seeks NOW, as there are gonna be a lot of rivals sniffin’ doggy butt by 2019.
#3 POST Season wReckless Prediction:Wiscy Badgers or Washington Huskies.
#4 Pre-Season Wisconsin Badgers
Football is alive; it “ain’t no static”. It evolves and the dynamics are clearly evident in the terms we employ. RPO and Spread, for instance, released West Coast and PlayAction as definitive explanations of sets. Something I really like about Wiscy every single season is that they are predictable. They come to the line and simply execute while never venturing far from fundamentals used in era’s bygone. You’d think this a bore, but… it’s simply- not at all. While you can observe the mechanisms all teams strive for you can also expect they can break it off on you while attacking any inch of the field from any yard line whenever they like. It seems they just aren’t stupid about it, traditionally, and only let loose those tools when prompted by complacent DC’s. For reason’s unknown, this makes it immensely satisfying to watch them play the game offensively, while playing equally competent and smart on the other side of the ball (bend when needed, don’t break). I expect more of this from them this season, but this time I expect they’ll demonstrate a hunger that supersedes confidence, and renders their opponents swagger neutral. This is offered not by observing schedule or components, timing of contests and locations, but backing away further from the trees comprising the forest and figuring “they’ve come close enough to sniff it and be familiar though they’ve never tasted it” which makes them sound like a ‘perpetual almost’, but… It also has an effect on players who are trained to quietly improve themselves for their next contest rather than make excuses and re-apply, like so-called ‘dynasty’s’ do when they meet troublesome times. It’s this almost blue collar approach and fire on this particular team that draws admiration. Wiscy is the anti-bama. They play the same game and rely on tried and true fundamentals, but they approach the field with intent and desire to execute to perfection, not expectation to execute to perfection. It’s all in how they carry themselves. Nobody will be pissed or holding animosity toward them when they square off with Washington then Georgia, and like Rocky, they will win support from those who watch this game closely… that said, they’ve got to get past Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Penn State, Purdue and Minnesota before they can lay claim… and they best watch the sandwiched trap of Illinois and Northwestern, too. It’s a helluva row coming at them. They’re up for it.
#4 POST Season wReckless Prediction:TCU, OU, VT, Clemson, Miami, ND, a rudderless tOSU, or (believe it or not) Texas. It really doesn’t matter here, by my reckoning, as the only one of these that can pull off a disruption of this prediction is Clemson…
And there you have it… the four that matter, coming at you before the first whistle of the 2018 season.
original article found here
