CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: Kris60 on September 01, 2018, 10:09:51 PM
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Weekend isn’t over yet. I’m writing this from my hotel room in Charlotte seeing if Michigan can climb back in this game. Came down to watch WVU-UT. I’m no Gator, so don’t expect anything eloquent.
After dropping the kids off at school Friday morning and making arrangements for them to stay with my mom (thanks mom) my wife and I made the 3 1/2 hour drive down I-77 to Charlotte. We got into town around 1:30 and went straight to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch.
We then checked into our hotel room at the Marriott in downtown Charlotte and about 5 minutes in realized we were right beside a roomful of college kids who, like most college kids, like their music loud and conversations louder. We rolled our eyes and laughed at our luck.
After just kinda chilling out for a while in the room we headed out into town around 5 to see what we could get into. We first walked to a little wine bar with a WVU flag flying out front but after inspecting their food and drink menu we decided they had nothing we were terribly interested in. We then headed to a place called Ink and Ivy and hung there for a while on an outside deck listening to a live band and knocking back a few drinks.
We left there and went to Whiskey River which is apparently the official WVU game watch bar in Charlotte. We took two steps inside and realized this was true. There were wall to wall WVU fans and the line around the bar was 10 deep on every side. We went across the complex to a Wild Wings Cafe and ordered apps and beer and watched Utah St give Michigan St fits. From there we went back to the hotel bar, had a few more drinks, and called it a night. What we noticed Friday night was the crowd around town was overwhelmingly WVU fans. We both estimated it around 80/20.
This morning I was heading down to the hotel gym around 8:00 when I met WVU OC Jake Spavital on the elevator. Apparently, this is the team hotel and we weren’t aware. We both said how excited we were for the game, shook hands, and parted ways. In the gym I spotted WVU President Gordon Gee stretching on a mat on the floor. After lifting weights I got on the elliptical and in a few minutes WVU AD Shane Lyons got on the elliptical beside me. We talked for about 20 minutes. He told me his son is the long snapper for Akron and was playing his first collegiate game in Lincoln tonight against the Huskers. He told me this is the part of the job that’s tough, having to miss things like his son’s first game. Just made small talk. Seemed like a nice guy.
We left the hotel around noon to grab some lunch before heading to the stadium. We also noticed Vol Nation was out in greater numbers today compared to last night. We found a place called French Quarter and ordered wings and quesadillas while watching Texas and Texas Tech look like crap.
From there we headed to the stadium and watched WVU take UT down 40-14. After a “meh” first half Will Grier looked the part of a Heisman candidate picking apart the young Vols secondary in the second half on his way to 429 yards passing and 5 TD’s.
After the game we came back to the hotel, had a couple of much needed salads, and came back upstairs. Great weekend. Good food and drink, a WVU win, and some adult time with my wife. Good interaction between the fanbases too. Saw no real bad behavior from fans of either team. Although one group of WVU fans in my section apparently got kicked out for vaping of all things.
Heading back to tomorrow to WV and praying for a safe trip.
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I always appreciate the effort on these reports.
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Yeah, it is nice to get a flavor of how games are in different venues.
I sat on the couch all day.
Well, earlier I went and ran and did some pushups anyway and then to the local farmer's market, which is pretty cool.
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Texas is as bad as ever?
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So A Luke Fickell team beats a Chip Kelly team.....on the road.This guy is starting to look like Lane Kiffin F-UP,Move-UP.Ah Mensa Tom Herman hope he turns it around,I started to question his common sense when he hired Beck however.Maryland should have been ripe for the picking with the off field distractions.It was Hermans & the Longhorns chance to erase some doubts.Did both Kansas teams lose to Div II opponents?Good luck filling the stands there or filling out the roster or coaching staff for that matter.What the hell happened to the PAC 12-still a lot of football but back in the day you'd sort of cringe heading out west
Edit: K-St pulled it out,thought they did.Purple Wizard is strange cat.Lets the schleps hang around and surprises a blue blood
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It's not on purpose, but I will admit, every UCLA and Nebraska loss will feel good to me this year. Makes me think we got the right guy.
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I missed the UC win.
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It's not on purpose, but I will admit, every UCLA and Nebraska loss will feel good to me this year. Makes me think we got the right guy.
I felt both UF & UNL got the right guy.Frost probably has the taller order re-establishing recruiting,Mullen is in the middle of a home grown harvest field
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Texas is as bad as ever?
I’ll add to that, and single out the secondary. Attended the game yesterday and, man, do Texas fans have a lot to worry about. The secondary looked unfixable for most of the game; Maryland’s receivers blew right through the Longhorn’s back 7 coverage for most of the game. I say “unfixable” because the worry there is coaching. Unlike other parts of the roster which depend more so on talent and depth, a good coach can organize a decent secondary and hide it’s weaknesses of depth or talent until experience catches up with it. So it’s alarming that in year two of Herman the very same problems glaring from year one don’t look addressed.
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It's not on purpose, but I will admit, every UCLA and Nebraska loss will feel good to me this year. Makes me think we got the right guy.
don't you have more than 2 programs to root against?
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I won't be rooting against those 2, but their losses will please me. I hate, UGA, want Tennessee to lose every game, and hope for the FSU team busses to have a little accident...off a bridge.
Ooops, you can't say stuff like that anymore.
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Let this week's AP poll warn those of you wanting an 8-team playoff. You'd be a minor 7 vs 2 upset away from having 3 SEC teams among the 4 semi-finalists for the national championship. And this wouldn't be rare. Just sayin'....
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I don't want an 8-team playoff
hell, don't care for the 4-team version
but, I'm old enough to remember when it was encouraged to say those types of things about your enemies.
drinking celebratory toasts from the skulls of your enemies was a way of life
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Let this week's AP poll warn those of you wanting an 8-team playoff. You'd be a minor 7 vs 2 upset away from having 3 SEC teams among the 4 semi-finalists for the national championship. And this wouldn't be rare. Just sayin'....
Well, TBD... Remember that most of the folks talking about an 8-team playoff are suggesting this:
P5 conference champions
Best G5 team
2 at-large berths
Based on the AP top 25, assuming "chalk" i.e. top current team wins the CCG and the remaining teams somehow maintain their relative rankings:
Conference champions:
Alabama
Clemson
Ohio State
Oklahoma
Washington
Best G5:
UCF
Remaining At-large:
Georgia
Wisconsin
Auburn and Notre Dame from the current top 8 would be left out of the playoff.
Edit to reflect that the committee would probably find SOME way to put Notre Dame over Wisconsin. Because helmet.
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Looks like a system that doesn't believe 3 of the top 8 teams in the country could possibly reside in the same conference.
Cute.
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Looks like a system that doesn't believe 3 of the top 8 teams in the country could possibly reside in the same conference.
Cute.
No, it's a system that assigns value to a conference championship. Even the NFL puts all division champions to the playoffs.
Nobody is saying that the 2 at-large teams can't be from the same conference, in addition to their conference champion, for 3 total teams in the playoffs. It'll be rare, sure, but it can happen.
But it's not about the 8 best teams in the country. It's about the 8 teams that have earned their shot. 5 of those teams earned it by winning their conference.
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Looks like a system that doesn't believe 3 of the top 8 teams in the country could possibly reside in the same conference.
Cute.
We have had this debate before so I'll keep this short:
First:
Bwar's example, and what I think the eventual 8-team playoff will be, will have the P5 Champs, the highest ranked G5 Champ, and TWO at-large teams. Thus, one conference could get three berths (Champ and two at-large).
Second:
In theory I agree with your position that the playoff should at least strive to get the best two, four, six, eight, or sixteen teams regardless of conference. In practice, I think this is extraordinarily difficult because there is so little inter-league play.
I think most of us *think* that Alabama is the best team but their toughest OOC opponent is a Louisville team that went 8-5 last year.
Most of us *think* that Clemson is a really good team but their best OOC opponent is a USCe team that went 5-3 in the SEC-E last year.
Most of us *think* that Georgia is a really good team but their best OOC opponent is a GaTech team that went .500 in the ACC last year.
Most of us *think* that Wisconsin is a really good team but their best OOC opponent is a BYU team that went 4-9 last year.
There isn't very much high-end inter-league play which means that we are always left to guess how good the best teams in the various conferences are relative to each other.
Finally:
A system like what Bwar listed would allow up to three teams from one conference. I frankly think that is more than enough. A lot of people here make the case that you can't be the best in the Nation if you aren't first the best in your conference. That line of argument would have excluded Bama in 2017 and Ohio State in 2016. I take a middle road between that position and yours. I think that with tiebreakers being what they are and the absolute advantage of playing at home, sometimes the best team doesn't win their division. Bama in 2017 and Ohio State in 2016 both lost a road game then tied for their Division Championship and missed their respective CG's because of their road loss. I think that HFA is real and that both Bama 2017 and tOSU 2016 were the best teams in their conference. However, if you aren't in the top-3 then I don't think you have much to complain about if you are left out of the playoffs. I have trouble imagining a situation in which a fourth team from one conference would have a sympathetic case for inclusion.
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In retrospect I didn't do a very good job of keeping that short, sorry.
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Whatever, it's good stuff.
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Looks like a system that doesn't believe 3 of the top 8 teams in the country could possibly reside in the same conference.
Cute.
I always found this logic interesting.
Are you looking for the best team? Or are you looking for the best field and letting the chips fall where they may? You’re a purist for he field, some want/see a different structure.
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Auburn and Notre Dame from the current top 8 would be left out of the playoff.
the committee would probably find SOME way to put Notre Dame over UCF. Because helmet.
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I've said before that I'm in favor of a system that has clear criteria upon which to qualify for the playoff.
In the NFL, we've got that. Win your division, you're in. Don't win your division but have one of the two best records in your conference, you get in via wild card. You control your own destiny.
MLB? Win your division, you're in. Don't win your division? You can still qualify via wild card. You control your own destiny.
NBA? Top 8 record in your conference, you're in. This is too many teams IMHO, but you know based on looking at the standings sheet whether you qualify. You control your own destiny.
These sports all have a clear path to eligibility for the championship.
Then let's look at CFB:
Pre-1998: Who knows? If you won the beauty contest of voters at the end of the year, BOOM! you're the champion! Note that during this time there could be multiple undefeated teams, but only one of them would be champion. So you don't control your own destiny.
1998-2013: Same, except you have to finish top 2 in the beauty contest after regular season / CCG, and then you get a chance to play for the playoffs. Note that during this time there could be >2 undefeated teams at the end of the regular season / CCG, so you don't control your own destiny to get into the BCSCG.
2014-present: Same, except you have to finish top 4 in the beauty contest after regular season / CCG. While it's astronomically unlikely an undefeated team from P5 conference will be excluded from the CFP, there is no way absent going undefeated that you control your own destiny. And obviously winning your conference means nothing, as teams who haven't won conferences or even played in their CCG have gotten in over P5 conference winners. So you don't control your own destiny.
It's one thing to say you want to have the "best" teams, but with so little interleague play, determining who the "best" teams are is a very tricky proposition. In 2014, OSU nearly missed the playoff, and only got in because the B12 didn't have a "true" champion. Then they won the whole thing.
So that's why I want P5 conference champions included. Even if they're from a P5 conference that's incredibly weak. Even if it's some year that Purdue sneaks into the CCG at 8-4 with 2 OOC losses and somehow wins a 2-loss in conference tiebreaker in the B1G West and then barely squeaks by the undefeated B1G East champion [we'll say OSU] who took them too lightly. Yeah, they'll probably get smoked in the first round of the playoff when the committee gives them the 8 seed and they face Alabama. And OSU will probably still be in there as a 3 seed in the playoff anyway.
But if you don't have a clear path, what happens if Purdue goes 12-1, winning their CCG, against what is perceived as a weak schedule, and winning several games by the skin of their teeth, and gets edged out by the 1-loss champions from ACC/B12/P12 and 2-loss SEC champ Alabama? Am I just supposed to say "OK" because Purdue isn't a helmet like Alabama is?
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I don't disagree, but I think "helmet" gets tossed around too often and often it's in the place of "all available evidence".
Take 2011, where many thought Oklahoma State should get a shot because Alabama already had theirs. But in every single possible metric, from schedule to recruiting stars to waterboy salaries to potential draft picks to the Dunkel Index to the eye test to blah blah blah, Alabama was the better team. But someone merely not wanting to watch a rematch could just claim "helmet" and go on about their business.
I would absolutely, positively love a uniform infrastructure for college football, where we had realignment in which teams played everyone else in their conference, conference champs got into the playoff, and that's that. But in 2018, where everything is so varied, I don't see how we do that. And no, I do not want the 7th or 8th-best team in the country crowned the national champion.
Say what you want about the historic 'mythical' national champion...they were never 8th-best in the country.
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I like controversy.
We're headed out of the country tomorrow, not that it matters, but I won't be posting whatever happens.
Maybe tomorrow, we're staying one night in Miami.
Got upgraded to FC, yay, because of the wife.
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This thread got a little messed up. K60 did a nice job and then
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First time for everything.
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:sign0144:
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I don't disagree, but I think "helmet" gets tossed around too often and often it's in the place of "all available evidence".
Take 2011, where many thought Oklahoma State should get a shot because Alabama already had theirs. But in every single possible metric, from schedule to recruiting stars to waterboy salaries to potential draft picks to the Dunkel Index to the eye test to blah blah blah, Alabama was the better team. But someone merely not wanting to watch a rematch could just claim "helmet" and go on about their business.
It's about access.
That year, OkSU beat 4 ranked teams. Alabama beat 4 ranked teams. Well, 5 if you count that Georgia Southern was ranked 3 in FCS in week 11...
OkSU played 9 conference games. Alabama played 8.
OkSU played 1 P5 OOC. Alabama played 1 P5 OOC and 1 FCS OOC.
Alabama lost to #1 LSU. OkSU lost to unranked Iowa State.
Now, it's very likely Alabama was the "best team in the country". But it's not like their resume was overwhelmingly better than OkSU's. And yeah, OkSU had a letdown game in week 11 against Iowa State. But Alabama was playing an FCS team that week, so it's not like they were "challenging" themselves. It's not like people thought Iowa State was actually better than OkSU.
The argument there wasn't helmet. The argument was that Alabama already had their chance. They'd had their chance to prove they were better than LSU, on the field, and came up short. Seems like it would be better to let another team--a team that LSU hadn't already beaten--get a crack.
And no, I do not want the 7th or 8th-best team in the country crowned the national champion.
Say what you want about the historic 'mythical' national champion...they were never 8th-best in the country.
I'm not worried if the champion is the "best" team in the country. I want it to be the team that earned the championship.
If in the NCAA tournament, a 16-seed goes on a tear through the field and wins it all, I'm not going to call them the "best team in the country". I'll still call them the national champions though.
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I think we'd all like a rational compromise between leaving someone out worthy and including someone who happens to win out undeservedly. It happens in Bball IMHO.
I like the group of four personally, but respect other opinions. You get a playoff champion, not necessarily the best team.
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This thread got a little messed up. K60 did a nice job and then
yeah, Gator is shaking his head/fist at this thread. What part of Weekend Reflections don't you fellas understand?