The SEC Forum at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

The biggest head scratcher is Tulane-Ole Miss.  Ole Miss stomped them earlier this season.  I almost think the committe is throwing OM a bone.  

I'm happy ND got left out.  I may go to the Miami/A&M contest, I haven't decided.  

I don't get the dislike of Notre Dame.

A lot of old (and I mean old) OU fans seem think that Notre Dame should have lost on purpose on 16 November 1957, when the Irish stopped OU's 47-game winning streak. And a goodly number of redneck OU fans hate Notre Dame because it's a Catholic school.

Obviously, not everybody who dislikes Notre Dame is motivated by those two factors. Heck, the B1G board is full of Notre Dame-haters, and they don't mention those reasons.

I'm not a Catholic, but I've always liked Notre Dame, despite their 9-2 all-time record against us. I start every countdown to bowl season hoping that OU will play the Irish in a big bowl game. We need to work on that W-L record.

I was really looking forward to OU hosting ND in the 8/9 1st-round CFP game.

Here's a good place to start:


[img width=500 height=296.989]https://i.imgur.com/QLCOLgb.png[/img]

They started at #6, as the defending NCG-runners-up.

They lost to #10 Miami by 3 points and fell to #9.

They beat Open Date and rose to #8 because #8 Alabama got beaten by unranked Florida State.

Then they lost to #16 Texas A&M by 1 point and fell to #24.

That retrograde progression seems normal.

Auburn, Missouri, and USC started the season unranked. They each had played 2 patsies and a middling P4 team at the time of that poll. Maybe they didn't get enough credit for that. But Purdue, Baylor, and Kansas--the 3 middling teams--didn't impress anyone.

I don't get the dislike of Notre Dame.

Different people have different reasons, I assume.

In Louisiana, you have a lot of Catholics, particularly in Acadiana.  I always got the feeling that they were irked by what they perceived as pressure for Notre Dame to be their fandom since they were Catholic.  They're very into Louisiana, being Louisianan, and supporting the state and what they see as "their" people.  They don't see why they're obligated to root for some school in the north end of nowhere just because of their denomination.  

At least that's the vibe I felt coming off quite a few people I know.  Many LSU fans tend to be belligerently anti-Domer, and I think that's a big reason why.  

The final ranking bore out that Notre Dame was ranked appropriately in the Top 25 even after an 0-2 start.  No debate there.

It's that they got that benefit of the doubt when if NC State started with the exact same results, they'd be nuked from orbit.  Along with a 125 other schools.

I get your point, except that I think that half-a-dozen blue-blood programs--when they are going well--would get similar, if not quite equal, treatment. Bama, OU, Texas, tOSU, USC, more recently UGA, et. al.

In some ways, Notre Dame has the biggest helmet in CFB. And sometimes the praise is undeserved. I remember Beano Cook proclaiming that Irish QB Ron Pawlus would win the Heisman twice.

So I go and defend Notre Dame, and then I read this:

That is pathetic.  

Beware of the Hurricanes. I think they have the best combination of oline and dline in the country which makes them a handful by itself but then you must add in the wildcard of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Beck.

Good Beck is stunningly good- accurate, experienced and completely fearless and that team can beat everybody in the field. Bad Beck can throw 5 picks and lose to Tulane. What makes it even trickier is they can both show up in the same game. If the Aggies can keep it close enough to make Cristobal make some decisions Aggies win and that is my pick, Aggies 27-24 but nothing would surprise me in this one.

They don't have anywhere close to the best OL/DL combo. Indiana told OSU who is top 3 DL and top 2 defense, where going to run and control the ball. They did to the tune of nearly 2/3 of the 1st half. They also said we are going to pressure one of the best QBs out there against probably at top 3 OL. They did.
The argument of best OL/DL is OSU, Georgia (who probably has the #1 DL) and OSU. Everyone else is fighting for 4th place.

In total defense the rankings of those 4 are:
OSU #1
Indiana #6
Georgia #13
Miami #31

Passing D:
OSU #1
Indiana #19
Georgia #47
Miami #31

Rushing D
Indiana #3
Georgia #4
OSU #6
Miami #7

Hey!!! I Texas finally came up at #10 pass D, we won't be discussing the rest of the numbers.

Of note Oregon ranks #4 total D #3 pass D, #20 rush D.

In total offense
Indiana at #8
Miami #29
OSU #26
Georgia #45
Interestingly Oregon comes in at #13

Rushing O
Indiana #11
Oregon #14
Georgia #35
OSU #64
Miami #77

Passing O
Miami #19
OSU #26
Indiana #45 (with their weaker schedule IU was running a LOT late)
Georgia #77
Oregon # 49

Most SOS (which are non-scientific) puts Miami around 45, Georgia around 4, Indiana around between 30-50, OSU around 43.

Georgia played 2 CFP teams, Bama 2x for 3.
Miami played 0
OSU played 1 Indiana in the B1G championship game
Indiana played 2

Of note, Texas, to my knowledge, is the only team that played 4 with a bubble team win over Vandy. OSU, OU, Georgia and Aggie and went 2-2 with pretty decisive wins and a 7 point loss against OSu. We won't talk about Georgia nor Florida.

All that is to say, I've watch all of these teams multiple times. I've seen Beck get pressured WAY too often for any claims of a top OL. Good OL, yes. Good DL, yes. Best of both, numbers and my experience watching don't support that claim. Beck is also very on or VERY off which is due part to OL issues. After crunching the numbers and some reflection, Oregon can make a good case for top 4. Strange, isn’t it that they are 1, 2, 3 and 5 in the cfp. Its like magic!

As for the game, I see two very good offenses and two not as good defenses. Miami will score on aggie, for sure. Aggie will do the same but like Beck, at a lower skill level Reed has some real issues. He folds when forced to be a pocket QB. If Elko calls drop backs or Miami contains his run, they win. If not, its a 70-80 point game, last team with the ball.