NCAA Football 2012 Season Catch-All

Wow, Cal's season comes to an abrupt thud. Losing the game is one thing.. losing it with no heart, no desire is a complete embarassment and a reflection on the coach. Mathematically we are still in a bowl game hunt, but we'd have to win out against Washington, Oregon, and Oregon State... I think i'll take the under.

Assuming Tedford gets fired, it will be very interesting to see the direction Cal goes. Angry alumni think that Cal is ready to compete with the big boys and snag either a high profile college HC or someone from the pros.. (Cal msg boards think Pete Carroll would actually come coach Cal). Personally, I think that's absurd. We simply don't have the money. Anyone who comes to a Cal home game will see that at least 1/3'd of the "expensive" alumni seats are empty.. and by expensive I mean $80K-$250K PSL type seats. There aren't enough interested Cal alum with that kind of scratch who are on the fence because we have a bad coach. We could bring in Nick Saban or Chip Kelly and I'd doubt we'd get 100 more of those seats sold. The people who buy those seats stand behind Cal win or lose, and they've already been tapped out.

Our best chance is to snag someone and get lucky. Harbaugh was coaching stanfurd for under $1MM a year... Tedford came in as the OC at Oregon when Belotti was still there. The problem is if we do get lucky is retention. Say what you want about Tedford, but when he was producing Aaron Rodgers and Marshawn Lynch and winning 8+ games a season, he turned down huge offers to stay at Cal, and that is rare. Does anyone remember that Steve Mariucci was HC at Cal? After turning the team around (and by turnaround I mean he took us to an amazing 6-6), he took a job at the 49ers. Tosh Lupoi.. backstabber and recruiter extrordinaire? Poached by Washington for money. We may be able to find a great coach, but will that person stay to actually see the turnaround all the way through?

Oh well.. we still have a chance to punch Washington in the face and shock the world against Oregon, and I'll still be heading to watch the sad bears, but its been a very deflating season. I thought a 6-win season would be on the low side of the prediction curve.. now it'll be a miracle to get there.

Prederick wrote:

Best comment I saw today:

JESUS CHRIST STOP OREGON COLORADO'S ALREADY DEAD

That's cute, but it ignores the reality of the BCS. Any PAC-12 team not named USC has to go undefeated, win every game by as much as possible and be one of only two undefeated FBS teams to be given a serious chance at the title game.

Oh boy.

Louisville moves into top 10 in BCS Standings.

Still a lot of football left. Got to keep focused.

Still a lot of separation between the top 4 and the rest, but there's a lot of football left to be played for them too.

Speaking of the new BCS standings - most of the top 8 teams are from the SEC (5).

Also, much b.s. was shared during the offseason about how the Big 12 had "upgraded" with Texas A&M leaving, and although I could have mentioned this in previous weeks, please note that we are ranked higher than WVU, and TCU isn't ranked at all.

I mentioned this article Saturday. The particulars are about the Georgia - Florida rivalry, but really it is about the love of college football and you can apply to any rivalry game.

I particulary liked this excerpt:

The lesson you learn, if you pay attention long enough, is that your enemies aren’t that different from you. I still hate the Gators, but it’s sports hate, not real hate. If my folks had lived on the other side of the line, down in Ocala or Yulee, I’d be a Florida fan. I wouldn’t enjoy wearing jean shorts and worshipping Danny Wuerffel and doing that stupid “two bits” cheer, but that’s how it goes.

Too bad about Lattimore that was a horrific injury.

Only 26 more days until John L isn't coach! Hogs played what was another embarrassingly bad game against one of the thinnest teams in all of FBS football. The offense was completely out of sync, and the defense couldn't make a stop when it was needed. I don't even care about winning at this point (which is good since we probably won't win another game), I just wish tar and feathering was acceptable.

I'm not a Notre Dame fan, but I think they can win out. Alabama, K-State and Louisville will win out. I think if Texas can manage to stay ranked until they play K-State they'll stay ahead of Notre Dame in the BCS. If Oregon wins out they should jump Notre Dame and K-State, but I don't know if they will win out.

Bowl Projections:

Notre Dame or K-State/Alabama BCS NCG
Oregon or Oregon State/Nebraska Rose Bowl
Mississippi State/Louisville Sugar Bowl
Notre Dame or K-State/Florida State or Clemson Orange Bowl
Oregon State or Stanford/K-State or Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl

Speaking of the longhorns - there's something in the BCS formula that props those jokers up. Does anyone really think that a win over them should be affecting K State's title hopes right now? They are terrible, and nearly lost to Kansas this weekend!

That was a lame call.

So, De'Anthony Thomas's punt return...

You shouldn't pick this ball up. Unless, I suppose, you know you're the fastest football player on Earth and you see the defense all heading to one side of the field.

boogle wrote:

That was a lame call.

Ha. I didn't notice that until you commented. I didn't listen to the audio. Fixed with at least the broadcast version.

Yeah that is the stupidest great play I've ever seen.

That's some video game thinking there: F*** it, let's see what happens.

Utah's Reggie Dunn had two 100-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns on Saturday. It's like we saved up all our offense for the year for this last game.

Looks like I neglected to celebrate here that the Aggies are bowl eligible waaaaaaaaay earlier in the season than anyone would have predicted.

Of course, we expected Arkansas and Auburn to be good.

We can win 9 games in the regular season if we beat Mississippi State this weekend! Or if we beat Alabama the following weekend, and though I expect we'll compete, I don't expect to win. Both of those are road games.

After that, Sam Houston (FCS) and Mizzou (turrible) at home.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Looks like I neglected to celebrate here that the Aggies are bowl eligible waaaaaaaaay earlier in the season than anyone would have predicted.

Of course, we expected Arkansas and Auburn to be good.

We can win 9 games in the regular season if we beat Mississippi State this weekend! Or if we beat Alabama the following weekend, and though I expect we'll compete, I don't expect to win. Both of those are road games.

After that, Sam Houston (FCS) and Mizzou (turrible) at home.

Aggies have looked pretty good, but I'm not sold until I see them beat good teams. Beating Mississippi State would be a good win for them, but I would be surprised if the Alabama game is even close. At this point I really don't see any team giving Alabama trouble, including Oregon. Their defense is probably better than several NFL teams.

Louisiana Tech is a good team, regardless of conference, and they're correctly ranked as a top 25 team.

That said, with Arky and Auburn blowing up this year, we've had no "middle" except for LA Tech and Ole Miss.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Louisiana Tech is a good team, regardless of conference, and they're correctly ranked as a top 25 team.

That said, with Arky and Auburn blowing up this year, we've had no "middle" except for LA Tech and Ole Miss.

Louisiana Tech a good team? Look at the opponents they've beat's win-loss records.

Houston: 4-4
Rice: 3-6
Illinois: 2-6
Virginia: 2-6
UNLV: 1-8
Idaho: 1-7
New Mexico State: 1-7

The fact that Louisiana Tech is ranked in the top 25 is a joke. Apparently all you have to do is beat a bunch of cupcake teams to get ranked these days.

Gumbie wrote:

The fact that Louisiana Tech is ranked in the top 25 is a joke. Apparently all you have to do is beat a bunch of cupcake teams to get ranked these days.

Not any bigger a joke than Miss St being there. Except that MSU is way overanked because the terrible SEC teams they beat are magically somehow better than the non-SEC cupcakes out there.

Jackson St 4-4
Auburn 1-7
Troy 4-5
S. Alabama 2-6
UK 1-8
Tenn 3-5
MTSU 5-3

You're both right!

Stele wrote:
Gumbie wrote:

The fact that Louisiana Tech is ranked in the top 25 is a joke. Apparently all you have to do is beat a bunch of cupcake teams to get ranked these days.

Not any bigger a joke than Miss St being there. Except that MSU is way overanked because the terrible SEC teams they beat are magically somehow better than the non-SEC cupcakes out there.

Jackson St 4-4
Auburn 1-7
Troy 4-5
S. Alabama 2-6
UK 1-8
Tenn 3-5
MTSU 5-3

I'll give you Auburn and UK being pretty terrible. Tenn is not good but I wouldn't say they are terrible. Look at the teams who they've lost to.

Florida
Alabama
Georgia
South Carolina
Miss. State

Everyone of them except for MSU is ranked in the top 10.

I was about to bring up Miss. State, but Stele beat me to it.

Gumbie's list of losses reminds me that the SEC East is arguably better than the West this year, on the whole. Alabama is still best, but Florida beat LSU, and you can make arguments about SCar and UGA as well.

Tenn has a brutal schedule, absolutely, but that doesn't prove they aren't terrible. They may or may not be. Let's see how they finish.

If you lose in the SEC the competition was just really good. If you lose in any other conference you're a bad team.

DSGamer wrote:

If you lose in the SEC the competition was just really good. If you lose in any other conference you're a bad team.

I don't make the rankings. Also look at bowl results from the last say 10 years. You can hate on the SEC all you want but the numbers don't lie and the bowl records against other conferences are unbiased. Even though Tenn lost those games the only one they really got stomped in was Alabama. I would love to see a team like Oregon State play a schedule that included 4 top 10 ranked opponents and 1 top 25 ranked.

Oregon has 5 ranked (or ranked at the time they played them) teams on their schedule. Including Stanford and OSU, who play each other the week before Stan-Ore or 2 weeks before Ore-OSU. So one of those two teams will be a top 10 team for the final game against Oregon.

Gumbie wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

If you lose in the SEC the competition was just really good. If you lose in any other conference you're a bad team.

I don't make the rankings. Also look at bowl results from the last say 10 years. You can hate on the SEC all you want but the numbers don't lie and the bowl records against other conferences are unbiased. Even though Tenn lost those games the only one they really got stomped in was Alabama. I would love to see a team like Oregon State play a schedule that included 4 top 10 ranked opponents and 1 top 25 ranked.

Once again, I don't hate on the SEC. I hate on the system.

We've been down this road before. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Rank teams highly in the SEC and every team has a tougher schedule by virtue of being in the SEC. All strength of schedule means is that the subjective polls have been allowed to decide who is "better" based on the entire top 25.

If the Pac 12 suddenly had 5 or 6 teams in the top 25 based on polls then they'd have a higher strength of schedule and thus be ranked higher. On and on.

Gumbie wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

If you lose in the SEC the competition was just really good. If you lose in any other conference you're a bad team.

I don't make the rankings. Also look at bowl results from the last say 10 years. You can hate on the SEC all you want but the numbers don't lie and the bowl records against other conferences are unbiased. I would love to see a team like Oregon State play a schedule that included 4 top 10 ranked opponents and 1 top 25 ranked.

Cal plays or played Ohio State, Oregon, USC, stanfurd, Oregon State, UCLA. When the season started we had the #2 hardest SOS behind Norte dame. I'd rather take an SEC schedule... I'd argue our record would actually be better and certainly no worse, because we'd play a pansy non conf schedule instead of Ohio State and Nevada. Arguing Bama and Florida are better than the rest isn't hard. Arguing Auburn, Tennesee or Ole Miss are better simply because they play bama and Florida doesn't mean anything. SECs bad teams are just as bad as any other power conferences bad teams... Ok maybe not as bad as Colorado.

DSGamer wrote:
Gumbie wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

If you lose in the SEC the competition was just really good. If you lose in any other conference you're a bad team.

I don't make the rankings. Also look at bowl results from the last say 10 years. You can hate on the SEC all you want but the numbers don't lie and the bowl records against other conferences are unbiased. Even though Tenn lost those games the only one they really got stomped in was Alabama. I would love to see a team like Oregon State play a schedule that included 4 top 10 ranked opponents and 1 top 25 ranked.

Once again, I don't hate on the SEC. I hate on the system.

We've been down this road before. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Rank teams highly in the SEC and every team has a tougher schedule by virtue of being in the SEC. All strength of schedule means is that the subjective polls have been allowed to decide who is "better" based on the entire top 25.

If the Pac 12 suddenly had 5 or 6 teams in the top 25 based on polls then they'd have a higher strength of schedule and thus be ranked higher. On and on.

The way those teams get ranked higher is to win big in your conference go to a bowl game and kick an SEC team's ass. If these teams want to prove they belong at the top they have to do it with big wins not beating the sh*t out of cupcake teams all year and then getting smacked back to reality in a bowl.

Gumbie wrote:

The way those teams get ranked higher is to win big in your conference go to a bowl game and kick an SEC team's ass. If these teams want to prove they belong at the top they have to do it with big wins not beating the sh*t out of cupcake teams all year and then getting smacked back to reality in a bowl.

That sounds somewhat logical. Which is why it was such bullsh*t when the BCS bowls put Boise St and TCU against each other in 2009. Let the little guy into the party and then point to "well they only beat another non-AQ school, they must not be that good." And even more bullsh*t last year with an SEC-SEC final, so the SEC is guaranteed to win. Especially when all the computers had OkSt at #2, the voter bias is what screwed things up last year.

Then again... in 2008, BCS#6 Utah beat BCS#4 Alabama. But in the 2009 pre-season rankings, Alabama was #5 and Utah was #19. So... respect earned?

Yep, the argument holds water if OSU plays in the NCG last year. But the SEC gets to duck being smacked to reality.

Gumbie wrote:
DSGamer wrote:
Gumbie wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

If you lose in the SEC the competition was just really good. If you lose in any other conference you're a bad team.

I don't make the rankings. Also look at bowl results from the last say 10 years. You can hate on the SEC all you want but the numbers don't lie and the bowl records against other conferences are unbiased. Even though Tenn lost those games the only one they really got stomped in was Alabama. I would love to see a team like Oregon State play a schedule that included 4 top 10 ranked opponents and 1 top 25 ranked.

Once again, I don't hate on the SEC. I hate on the system.

We've been down this road before. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Rank teams highly in the SEC and every team has a tougher schedule by virtue of being in the SEC. All strength of schedule means is that the subjective polls have been allowed to decide who is "better" based on the entire top 25.

If the Pac 12 suddenly had 5 or 6 teams in the top 25 based on polls then they'd have a higher strength of schedule and thus be ranked higher. On and on.

The way those teams get ranked higher is to win big in your conference go to a bowl game and kick an SEC team's ass. If these teams want to prove they belong at the top they have to do it with big wins not beating the sh*t out of cupcake teams all year and then getting smacked back to reality in a bowl.

?

SEC schools are notorious for scheduling FCS schools. Many teams like Oregon have had scheduled games canceled by SEC teams. It's hard to beat the SEC if the only time you can play them is in the national title game. Also, there's a fallacy in that idea that what you just laid out is the path to success. Boise State has been doing just this for years. Starting with 2009 they're an interesting case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Boise_State_Broncos_football_team

They did exactly what you said. They scheduled Oregon and they beat Oregon. They won the conference and then beat #3 TCU in their bowl game, finishing undefeated. They were rewarded for that with a #5 ranking. They scheduled #6 Virginia Tech and beat them in their opening game. They destroyed their conference before getting beat by Nevada. Of course, in the SEC that would be proof of a tough conference. In any other conference that means they're a bad team. Because they lost 1 game they were relegated to playing #19 Utah in a crap bowl. They began the next season #7 and they scheduled and beat Georgia. They destroyed their conference again, but lost to ranked TCU. They were relegated to a crap bowl again.

Boise State did everything asked of them outside of paying their way into a conference like the SEC. They went undefeated in numerous seasons and won almost every non-conference game they scheduled. And yet they're in the bottom half of the top 25 now.

In order for Boise State to climb out of their station they need to either join a super-conference or they need to go undefeated for decades. That's the system.

Stele wrote:

That sounds somewhat logical. Which is why it was such bullsh*t when the BCS bowls put Boise St and TCU against each other in 2009. Let the little guy into the party and then point to "well they only beat another non-AQ school, they must not be that good." And even more bullsh*t last year with an SEC-SEC final, so the SEC is guaranteed to win. Especially when all the computers had OkSt at #2, the voter bias is what screwed things up last year.

Then again... in 2008, BCS#6 Utah beat BCS#4 Alabama. But in the 2009 pre-season rankings, Alabama was #5 and Utah was #19. So... respect earned? :?

YES! I'm shocked Cal is not BCS ranked! We lost to Utah last week but that's like losing to Bama and we kicked the crap out of Utah last year which is one year less removed from Utahs win over bama, so I'm not sure how our awesome 3-5 record doesn't get the respect of tennesee or auburn.