College Football 2014: Fulmer Cup Time!

enlightenedbum

Fearless Predictions 2013:

ACC

A5ehren (GT)

Predictions:

Georgia Tech (7-5)
We got a shitty schedule this year. 4 of our 5 division games will be done by the end of Week 6, including a Bye in Week 2 for some dumb reason. Includes 3 games in a row against the other contenders in our division leading in to that BYU road game.

vs Elon - W
at Duke - W
vs UNC - L
vs VT - W
at Miami - L
at BYU - L
vs Syracuse - W
at UVA - W
vs Pitt - W
at Clemson - L
vs Alabama A&M - W
vs UGA - L

Conference Champs:
ACC - Clemson over Miami (? Fuck if I know who wins the Coastal)
Big Ten - Ohio State over Nebraska (?)
Big 12 - Baylor
American Athletic - Louisville
Pac 12 - Stanford over USC
SEC - Alabama over Florida

Bowls:
Orange Bowl - Clemson over Notre Dame
Rose Bowl - Michigan over Stanford
Sugar Bowl - Oregon over UGA
Fiesta Bowl - Baylor over Louisville
National Championship - Alabama over Ohio State

DarkWhite (VT)

Fearless Predictions:

VT (9-3)
vs. Alabama (in Atlanta) - Lol
Western Carolina - Win
at East Carolina - Win
Marshall - Win
at Georgia Tech - Win
North Carolina - Loss
Pittsburgh - Win
Duke - Win
at Boston College - Win
at Miami - Loss
Maryland - Win
at UVA - Win

Conference Champs:
ACC - Clemson over VT
Big Ten - Michigan over Wisconsin
Big 12 - Oklahoma
American Athletic - Louisville
Pac 12 - Stanford over USC (that one)
SEC - Alabama over USC (not that one)

Bowls:
Orange Bowl - Florida State over Notre Dame
Rose Bowl - Michigan over Stanford
Sugar Bowl - LSU over Oregon
Fiesta Bowl - Louisvile over Oklahoma
National Championship - Clemson over Alabama

Someone needs to fill the understandably vacant ACC Homer role for this thread.

Zombie Hero (FSU)

Alright, ill join the party.

FSU:

at Pittsburgh: W. i know nothing about pittsburgh. these new members frighten and confuse me. I could see this going other direction.
Nevada: W. Nevada is actually not abysmal this year though. I think they keep it closer than a lot of folks think.
Bethune-Cookman: W. Part of the business.
at BC: W. New Coach for BC, should be interesting to watch
Maryland: W Not the best of times for the terps, but FSU has a habit of losing to ACC teams that they are heavily favored against.
at Clemson: L. Tough place to play and win.
NC State: L. Damn you NC state.
Miami: W.
at Wake Forest: W.
Syracuse: W. Maybe? I've never seen them play.
Idaho: W. Really nice to have this scheduled before Florida, instead of a real opponent.
at Florida: L.

So, that's 9-3, with 2 conference losses. ACC championship game pending on how Clemson plays.

Big Ten

Assuran (OSU)

Fearless Predicitions:

The Ohio State University:

Buffalo- W
San Diego State- W
@ Cal- W
Florida A&M- W
Wisconsin- W
@ Northwestern- W
Iowa- W
Penn State- W
@ Purdue- W
@ Illinois- W
Indiana- W
Michigan- W

I will not be surprised if tOSU loses one game to one of the following schools: Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana, or Michigan. The Indiana game has trap game written all over it.

Conference champions:

ACC: Clemson beats Miami (Fl.)
Big 10: Ohio State beats Nebraska; I will say if OSU rematches against Michigan, the winner of the previous game will lose this game.
Big 12: Texas
A.A.: Louisville
PAC 12: Oregon beats UCLA
SEC: 'Bama beats South Carolina

Bowls:

Orange Bowl - Clemson beats Boise State
Rose Bowl - Oregon beats Michigan
Sugar Bowl - South Carolina beats Louisville
Fiesta Bowl - Stanford beats Texas
National Championship - Alabama beats Ohio State

enlightenedbum (Michigan)

FEARLESS PREDICTION 2013

Central Michigan - W
Notre Dame - F it, W; Weird shit happens in these games, it's at night so there should be a fairly sizable home field advantage
Akron - W
@ UConn - W
Minnesota - W
@ PSU - W
Indiana - W
@ Sparty - W
Nebraska - W
@ Northwestern - L
@ Iowa - W
Ohio State - L

Big Ten West has a three way tie for first between Michigan, Northwestern, and Nebraska. Nebraska's two losses against the West, Michigan's got one, while Northwestern's losses are to Ohio State and Wisconsin. Which sends the Cats to the title game.

Capital One Bowl vs. Georgia - homer W!

Conferences:
AA - Louisville
Big Ten - Fuck OSU, Northwestern over Ohio State
ACC - Fuck if I know, Clemson?
Big 12 - Baylor
Pac 12 - Stanford
SEC - Alabama

BCS Games:
Rose Bowl: Oregon 77 - Northwestern 63
Fiesta Bowl: Baylor - Florida State
Sugar Bowl: Ohio State - LSU
Orange Bowl: Clemson - Louisville
NCG: Alabama over Stanford

fortis (OSU)

I live in Columbus now so I guess I'm supposed to be an OSU honk now. Here it goes...

Buffalo- W
San Diego State- W
@ Cal- L
Florida A&M- W
(Miller suspended for the season for getting a henna tattoo)
Wisconsin- L
@ Northwestern- L
Iowa- W
Penn State- L
@ Purdue- W
@ Illinois- L
Indiana- L
Michigan- L

AAC: Temple
ACC: Duke
Big 12: Kansas
Big Ten: Purdue
Pac-12: Washington St
SEC: Kentucky

Championship: Duke over Temple.

Go big or go home.

Mulletude (Nebraska)

My picks for the Nebraska season:

8/31 Wyoming - (W) Lol
09/07 Southern Miss - (W) Lol
09/14 UCLA - (W) Is in Lincoln. Only reason I predict a W
09/21 South Dakota State - (W) Lol
10/05 Illinois - (W)
10/12 Purdue - (W) Could be a trap game
10/26 Minnesota - (W) Lol
11/02 Northwestern - (W) Coach Fitz is a good one. Tough and not decided til final minutes.
11/09 Michigan - (L) I think Nebraska got lucky last year when Shoelace went down.
11/16 Michigan State - (W) rough game but MSU aint got no O
11/23 Penn State - (W) Penn St will put up a hell of a fight but I think the Nebraska O will be too much
11/30 Iowa - (W) Lol

Big10 Champ game OSU vs Michigan - OSU champ

Big12 - My reckless pick - BAYLOR

ACC - Clemson

PAC12 - UCLA returns to power...Maybe Stanford...Fuck USC

SEC - Georgia

MAC - Ohio, go Fighting Frankies!

Big East - Lol (Cincinatti)

And whatever conference Boise St is in, they will win

National Champion - An SEC team.

Mvrck (PSU)

Penn State (9-3)

vs Syracuse [Neutral Site @ The Meadowlands] - W
vs Eastern Michigan - W
vs UCF - W
vs Kent State - W
vs BYE - W (hopefully, we managed to beat them last year, twice)
at Indiana - W
vs Michigan - W
vs BYE - W (Seriously? We have to play them AGAIN?!?!)
at Ohio State- L
vs Illinois - W
at Minnesota - W
vs Purdue - W
vs Nebraska - L
at Wisconsin - L

Conference Champs:
ACC - Georgia Tech over Syracuse
Big Ten - Northwestern over Ohio State (?)
Big 12 - Fuck if I know. Lets say West Virginia
American Athletic - Louisville
Pac 12 - Homer pick of UW over UCLA
SEC - Alabama over Georgia

Bowls:
Orange Bowl - Boise over Georgia Tech
Rose Bowl - Ohio State over UW
Sugar Bowl - Louisville over Georgia
Fiesta Bowl - Stanford over West Virginia
National Championship - Alabama over Northwestern

Oliver (OSU)

I just realized that I mistakenly indicated that Indiana University was in Evansville in my last post...At least there aren't any IU football fans here to point out how stupid that was.

Anyway, my fearless predictions for Ohio State:

08/31/13 vs. Buffalo (W), duh
09/07/13 vs. San Diego State (W), Entertaining game, tests the new linebackers out but we win going away
09/14/13 at California (W), Big guns come out, ends up a 4 touchdown game
09/21/13 vs. Florida A&M (W), duh again
09/28/13 vs. Wisconsin (W), Down to the wire but a win
10/05/13 at Northwestern (W), High scoring game
10/19/13 vs. Iowa (W), Boring boring game, smell from Kirks hot seat stinks out B deck on the visitors side
10/26/13 vs. Penn State (W), Two touchdown win, Bill O'Brien one step closer to going back to the NFL
11/02/13 at Purdue (W), Popular trap pick but not this year
11/16/13 at Illinois (W), Biggest conference blowout this year
11/23/13 vs. Indiana (W), Closer than it should be, but never in doubt
11/30/13 at UM (W), The fighting Hoke's show up with one loss, but are guaranteed a spot in the B1G CG either way, game goes down to the wire

B1G CG -- OSU vs UM, We get caught looking ahead to the title game and lose
Big 12 -- Oklahoma over ... oh wait
ACC -- FSU over Miami
AAC -- Louisville
SEC -- Georgia over Bama
PAC 12 -- Stanford over UCLA

Rose Bowl -– Oregon over UM
Fiesta Bowl –- Ohio State over Oklahoma
Orange Bowl –- FSU over Notre Dame
Sugar Bowl –- Bama over Louisville

NC -- Stanford over Georgia

OSUJumpMan

Okay, I'm at work which means it's time for FEARLESS PREDICTIONS. Can I maintain my title of "most awful preseason prediction"? It'd be easy to pick something stupid like Cal vs. Duke in the championship game, but I'd like to think a truly awful prediction requires a certain finesse, a degree of possibility that results in absolute mediocrity. With that in mind, time to get fearless:

The Ohio State University Buckeyes

vs. Buffalo: (W) 42-0 at halftime, 52-10 final, Kenny Guiton gets 20+ snaps in the second half and at least one series from Cardale Jones.
vs. SDSU: (W) Close for a quarter, then OSU just slowly pulls further and further away.
at Cal: (W) To the contrary, OSU jumps way ahead early and allows Cal to close the gap. Still win by 10+ points.
vs. Fla A&M: (W) A boring game that will be relegated to the third-alternative BTN behind games like Kent-PSU and S.Dakota-Nebraska.
vs. Wiscy: (W) Could go either way, but OSU gets the edge because it's at home and Wiscy has a (very good) first-year coach.
at Northwestern: (W) One damn game from 2004 does not mean OSU can't win in Evanston. OSU wins by 2 TDs, practically a home game.
vs. Iowa: (W) If this were in Iowa City, I'd be concerned it'd be a letdown-game. It isn't, so I'm not.
vs. Penn St.: (W) This PSU team is not better than last year's PSU team and also has a more difficult schedule.
at Purdue: (W) Darrell Hazell is a good coach, but there is no talent on that roster.
at Illinois: (W) Possibly the least-talented team in the conference.
vs. Indiana: (W) As many ties in the last 60 years as losses. Two. The rich tradition of beating Indiana in football continues unabated.
at michigan: (L) I think this feels like a typical "michigan ruins our shit" year and takes us out of the MNC.

Conference Champions

'Murrican Athletic: Cincy, it comes down to the Louisville game which is in Cincinnati this year.
ACC: Clemson over Miami (?), basically I'm taking whoever comes out of the Atlantic over whoever comes out of the Coastal.
Big 12: Oklahoma wins the first-year-quarterback derby.
Big Ten: OSU over michigan, the rematch goes the other way.
Pac-12: Stanford over Arizona (?), I think the south is too cluttered for UCLA to pull away so it comes down to a shitty 3-way tie.
SEC: 'Bama over Georgia, Alabama loses to LSU but still wins the division and ultimately the conference.

Bowls

Rose: Ohio State over Oregon
Sugar: Alabama over Cincinnati
Fiesta: Florida State over Notre Dame
Orange: Georgia over Clemson
Championship: Oklahoma over Stanford

Veevee (Wisconsin)

University of Wisconsin predictions:

UMASS - W
Tennessee Tech - W
@ ASU - W
Purdue - W
@ OSU- W
Northwestern- W
@ Illinois - W
@ Iowa - W
BYU - W
Indiana - W
@ Minnesota - W
Penn State - W

Championship game will be Wisconsin over Northwestern

The only one I'm iffy about is the OSU prediction, but if they do manage to beat OSU and win the championship, then I see them, at best, at #3 or 4 and will lose out on the championship bid to an undefeated Alabama and a one loss Oregon or Stanford

Big 12

Cog (Iowa State)

Games
University of Northern Iowa - W (In state rivals are unpredictable and UNI is actually really fucking good. I am afraid of this game)
Iowa - W (See: UNI game, minus the really fucking good part)
at Tulsa - L (We squeaked it out against them at home last year, and they put it in us pretty raw in our bowl game. Come on, NCAA, 3 games against them in 1 year?)
Texas - L
at Texas Tech - W
at Baylor - L
Oklahoma State - L (It will be many moons before OSU forgets about 2011, and they will NEVAR FORGIVE)
at Kansas State - L (Bill Snyder shits in our collective mouth again)
TCU - W (Paul Rhodes is good for at least one game per season we have no business winning)
at Oklahoma - LoLoss
Kansas - W (It's Kansas. Its the one team I wouldn't trade places with in this goddamn conference)
at West Virgina - L

Record:5-7

As an ISU fan, I refuse to be shocked if we go 2-10, hope for about 4-8, would be pleasantly happy with 5-7 and elated with a bowl game. I literally do not know what it is like to achieve, much less expect, peaking at anything above mediocrity. I must simply sponge up that which runs down the chins of the alpha schools as they feast on victory.

If I expect the worst, anything else is a win.

Conference Champs
B12: OU
B1G: OSU
PacWhatever: Stanford
SEC: Tide roll. Again. Goddammit. Without the schadenfreude of Gene Chizick continuing to turn Auburn into a dumpster fire, I attempt to avoid all things SEC this year. Fuck you, Gene Chizick.
ACC: FSU
BigLeast: I could not possibly care less. Louisville? They're in that conference, right? I'll go with them.

Evil_Reaver (Oklahoma)

Oklahoma 2013

Louisiana-Monroe, Norman (W)
West Virginia, Norman (W)
Tulsa, Norman (W)
Notre Dame, at South Bend, Ind. (L)
TCU, Norman (W)
Texas, at Dallas, Texas (W)
Kansas, at Lawrence, Kan. (W)
Texas Tech, Norman (W)
Baylor, at Waco, Texas (W)
Iowa State, Norman (W)
Kansas State, at Manhattan, Kan. (L)
Oklahoma State, at Stillwater, Okla. (L)

Record: 9-3

Big 12 Champs: Oklahoma State

National Championship: Everyone wins because God will finally throw a meteor at the stadium where Alabama is likely playing and smite every last one of those people.

PAC-12

Jebus314 (Oregon State)

Oregon State

E Washington (W)
Hawaii (W)
@ Utah (W)
@ San Diego St (W)
Colorado (W)
@ Washington St (W)
@ California (L)
Stanford (L)
USC (W)
@ Arizona St (W)
Washington (W)
@ Oregon (L)

Holy shit is our schedule back loaded this year. Just don't have the talent to run it out this year though and I'm betting we crap the bed at a decent cal team because we are looking ahead to the stanford game. Realistically one of the USC/ASU/UW games is also probably a loss since we will have stoped caring by then, but damned if I couldn't let myself pick one.

Rose Bowl - Stanford over ohio state
NC - Oregon over Florida

First SEC loss! PAC-12 homerism! FTW! I just couldn't put alabama in there again, and I even though ohio state is probably the better not alabama pick I just really really really want to see the SEC lose.

JihadJesus (UW)

Alright, here we go for UW. I figure that we will:

* Drop one game we absolutely have no business losing against a random shit team team (because we always do)
* Win at home and lose on the road against teams at about our level (because we always do)
* Pull off one upset against a vastly superior team (because we always do)

Looking at our schedule that gets me to a truly shocking final record of 7-6. Note that we could also follow my pattern to the letter and start 5-0 going into the Oregon game. The only way I can see Sark getting fired is starting 5-0 and having an absolute Oregon demolition lead off a slide to 7-6.

My BOLD PREDICTION: Sark isn't fired, the defense is the relative strength of the team, Wilcox gets a job somewhere as a HC, the D collapses, and Sark finally gets canned after next season (where he will also go a predictable 7-6).

Jubal77 (UW)

Fearless Prediction!

University of Washington

BSU W *this one makes me cringe of course )
Illinois W
Idaho St W
Arizona L
Stanford L
Oregon L
Arizona St W
Cal W
Col W
UCLA W
Oregon St L
WSU W

Hunger Bowll Birth vs BYU

SEC

Gorelab (South Carolina)

Fearless Predictions for South Carolina

North Carolina W
Georgia An ugly win but a win
Vanderbilt W
UCF W
Kentucky W
Arkansas W
Tennessee W
Miss State W
Florida W
Coastal Carolina W
Clemson W

SECCG South Carolina vs. Alabama L. Alabama will cream us in the annual sacrifice.

Salvation122 (Mississippi State)

Mississippi State goes 8-4, losses to Alabama, South Carolina, LSU, Oklahoma State.

Syphyre (Texas A&M)

Texas A&M! Yes, the land of far too many stupid offseason stories due to Johnny <InsertLastname>.

But in truth, although Manziel is indeed a part of A&M's success, there cannot be enough said about A&M's now tested coach, Kevin Sumlin. I believe he would create a 9-10 win team yearly with his players, and his style.

So with that, here are my predictions for the season for Texas A&M:

Manziel plays. I doubt he gets hit by the NCAA, and if he does, A&M will get no penalties.

Games
Rice - W
Sam Houston State - W
Alabama - W
SMU - W
at Arkansas - W
at Ole Miss - W
Auburn - W
Vanderbilt - W
UTEP - W
Mississippi State - W
at LSU - L
at Missouri - W

One of Alabama or LSU will be a loss. Not both. The rest of the slate will be wins. Alabama will still make the SEC championship somehow, and A&M goes on to a 11-1 regular season record, and a win in whatever bowl game they get to.

And yes, these are soooo homer predictions.

VishNub (UGA)

Predictions! For UGA!

08/31/13 at Clemson (W, because lol ACC)
09/07/13 vs. South Carolina * (L, because our defense graduated and the new guys won't be ready yet)
09/21/13 vs. North Texas (W)
09/28/13 vs. LSU * (W, because their QB is the one we kicked off the team, their RB is going back to jail, and I don't think they're good this year)
10/05/13 at Tennessee * (W, because they're still nowhere)
10/12/13 vs. Missouri * (W, for the same reason)
10/19/13 at Vanderbilt * (W, because they're still Vandy)
11/02/13 vs. Florida * (W, because fuck those guys)
11/09/13 vs. Appalachian State (W)
11/16/13 at Auburn * (W, Malzahn or no, they had nothing last year)
11/23/13 vs. Kentucky * (W)
11/30/13 at Georgia Tech (W)

Like the last two years, SC has the lead in the east, then blows it, handing us a third trip to the SECCG, wherein we lose yet again to 'bama.


Conferences -
SEC - Bama
B1G - OSU
PACXX - Oregon?
Big12 - Oklahoma
Big Least - Who cares? Does this conference still exist? Who is in it?
ACC - Crapshoot, plus who cares

Apparently I'm just picking perennial contenders today

NCG - Bama over OSU and the state of Alabama secedes (again) and elects Saban God-Emperor. This is another one of those games where you hope for the meteor.

Other predictions - Clowney murders Manziel, despite them not playing this year, and Manziel fails to repeat.

Independents

iTunesIsEvil (ND)

This is about as bold as I think I'll go for the Irish this season...
vs Temple Owls - W
at Michigan Wolverines - L (The Big House under the lights turns out to be too much)
at Purdue Boilermakers - W
vs Michigan State Spartans - W
vs Oklahoma Sooners - W
vs Arizona State Sun Devils (at Jerryworld) - W (ND uni's for this one is kinda cool IMO)
vs USC Trojans - W (I still don't think Lane's got his shit ironed out just yet).
at Air Force Falcons - W
vs Navy Midshipmen - W
at Pittsburgh Panthers - W
vs BYU Cougars - W
at Stanford Cardinal - L

Finish at 10-2, but I can really hem and haw about most of those "W" games. I fear Temple going like USF did a couple years back. Purdue's a relatively minor rivalry game, but they can put their big-boy pants on sometimes (ask tOSU). I'm 99% sure that MSU would commit an on-field murder to get another win at ND Stadium. The Sooners are always dangerous, IMO. The Trojans are another rivalry, so they're always coming to play. I'm still pissy about Navy using a fullback out of the triple-option to whip the shit out of us 2 out of a 3-year stretch (I think) back when Weis was in town.

Conference Champs (forgive me if I fuck something up and make up an impossible matchup re: divisions)
AAC: Louisville
ACC: Clemson over Miami.
Big 12: Texas (I can hear Mack Brown crying/laughing about this pick from here)
Big Ten: Michigan over tOSU.
Pac-12: Stanford over UCLA.
SEC: 'Bama over UGA.

Da Bowls (again, if I get the tie-ins wrong, apologies)
Orange: Notre Dame over Clemson
Rose: Michigan over Oregon
Fiesta: Texas over Louisville
Sugar: UGA over tOSU
Championship: 'Bama over Stanford

Random asides...
The Indiana University Hoosiers play in Bloomington, IN.
The University of Evansville (yep, there's one of those) Purple Aces (yep, "Purple Aces") play in Evansville, IN.
If you have any other Indiana-related trivia for me to jump on, I'll be around.

I really, really hate the ND UM games going away. I hate ND's preference to keep service academies or west-coast recruiting abilities over a great series with another great school. Sigh.

Karrde1842 (ND)

Fearless Predicitions:

University of Notre Dame:

Temple - W
@ Michigan - W
@ Purdue - W
Michigan St - W
Oklahoma - W
ASU - W
USC - L
@ Air Force - W
Navy - W
@ Pitt - W
BYU- W
@ Stanford - L

Overall: 10-2

Our schedule is pretty soft this year, overall. I debated flipping USC and Michigan or Michigan State, but I'm not sure. I (obviously) don't think we can run the table again, and I wouldn't be surprised to end up 8-4. State usually gives us trouble, Michigan's offense (I think) is an unknown with Denard gone. Our D-line is really solid, and Tommy did ok last year when he had to come in for relief. Here's hoping he learned from all the mistakes he made 2 years ago.

Conference champions:

ACC: Florida State
Big 10: OSU
Big 12: Oklahoma
A.A.: Houston
PAC 12: Rematch of last year, but Stanford def. Oregon this time
SEC: S. Carolina def Alabama

Bowls:

Orange Bowl - ND def FSU (this is the year)
Rose Bowl - Alabama def OSU
Sugar Bowl - Oregon def Houston
Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma def Georgia
National Championship - Stanford def S. Carolina

The tie-ins probably aren't right for the bowl games. I kind of threw this together pretty quick.

RED HOT MACTION

JaysonFour (Western Michigan)

Aug. 30th @ Michigan State: L. Sparty gets served up a great big brown and gold cupcake.

Sept. 7th Nicholls: W. This would be our cupcake, I suppose.

Sept. 14th @ Northwestern: L. Yeah, pretty much the same as Week 1.

Sept. 21 @ Iowa: L. Oh, for crying out loud... whose bright idea was it to front-load us with this much Big Ten?

Sept. 28th Kent State: W. Only because going 1-4 into October without having played Northern Illinois would end up making me follow Michigan or Iowa instead.

Oct. 5 @ Toledo: W. I think we'll clean up in the MAC this year, provided we don't get any goddamn quarterback shenanigans like we had last year.

Oct. 12 Buffalo: W. it's just LOLBuffalo this week, nothing to worry about.

Oct. 19 Ball State: W. This one might be close, but I think we'll come out on top.

Oct. 26 @ UMass: W. We've been having a lot of luck against Massachusetts, this year is no different.

Nov. 9 @ Eastern Michigan: W. Eastern's not exactly worrying me, actually.

Nov. 11 Central Michigan: W. Yeah, because they're Central.

Nov. 26 @ Northern Illinois: L.
Huskies manage to fuck up our schedule, of course.

mrt144

HAHA, AND YOU CALLED ME MAD WHEN I PREDICTED 11-1! WHO'S MAD NOW?



Oh, Les is mad. Please, continue Les.

Bobble

enlightenedbum wrote: »

Bobble (Nebraska): Predicted 9-3 and a steamroll loss to Wisconsin, so that's not so bad!

times 100

Zombie Nirvana

You know this Beliema guy has a pretty nice looking young wife. I guess they can be assured of no Petrino situation at least.

enlightenedbum

He picked her up at a blackjack table. Also, 14 years younger than him.

Zombie Nirvana

I'm on board. Arkansas to get their first SEC championship within 3 years - man at least understands what money can buy!

enlightenedbum

In other LOLBIGTEN news! Nobody wants to coach Purdue. Kent State's coach turned them down yesterday, Butch Jones today.

Late breaking edit: Darrell Hazell changed his mind, is the new coach of Purdue.

VishNub

Man I was fucking money this year. Called every game except the USC game, and I got that half right anyways.

Got the bowl game win against B1G too.

Zombie Nirvana wrote: »

I'm on board. Arkansas to get their first SEC championship within 3 years - man at least understands what money can buy!

No way. That road goes through Tuscaloosa.

Zombie Nirvana

I was just joking. Arkansas will need a once in a generation player to win the SEC. Or a very significant change in demographics in Arkansas over the next 30 years. I suspect that is trending towards Texas schools more than anywhere though.

TheBlackWind

Except Saban has revealed his fatal weakness: the mere thought of the hurry-up makes him curl up in a ball and fume. Why would someone WANT to score all of those points? Just makes him sick that other teams don't want to play SMASHMOUFFOOTBALLS

Zombie Nirvana

Isn't Wisconsin set up basically like Bama only with inferior athletes?

enlightenedbum

Bielema hates the hurry up too, yes.

mrt144

Zombie Nirvana wrote: »

I was just joking. Arkansas will need a once in a generation player to win the SEC. Or a very significant change in demographics in Arkansas over the next 30 years. I suspect that is trending towards Texas schools more than anywhere though.

Yeah, Cam Newton has given the rest of the SEC fever dreams.

TheBlackWind

I haven't really watched the badgers, but yeah, he's fucked if he's just gonna be Diet Alabama. It's why I actually think it was smarter for auburn to get Malzahn over Smart.

Veevee

Zombie Nirvana wrote: »

Isn't Wisconsin set up basically like Bama only with inferior athletes?

No, Wisconsin has a silimar talent level as Alabama but they're coached horribly. Bielema leaving is the best christmas present I could have gotten from the Badgers this year

enlightenedbum

Wisconsin does not have similar talent level to Alabama. They're the staple program for people who think recruiting rankings are bullshit.

mrt144

Have we seen a deep statistical study done of recruit rankings?

enlightenedbum

Yeah, they matter. 5 stars pan out more frequently than 4, etc.

Veevee

Shut up, I need to be delusional here

enlightenedbum

Granted, coaching also matters. I mean, Iowa has had a ton of NFL offensive line talent and usually sucks at running the ball.

mrt144

enlightenedbum wrote: »

Yeah, they matter. 5 stars pan out more frequently than 4, etc.

I just remember notre dame fans pointing living and dying over their recruiting and it not mattering one goddamn thanks to weiss. Is it possible that a coach interferes with talent to the extent that he and willingham did?

enlightenedbum

mrt144 wrote: »

enlightenedbum wrote: »

Yeah, they matter. 5 stars pan out more frequently than 4, etc.

I just remember notre dame fans pointing living and dying over their recruiting and it not mattering one goddamn thanks to weiss. Is it possible that a coach interferes with talent to the extent that he and willingham did?

Absolutely. See also Lloyd Carr and offensive talent, as much as I'm loathe to admit it.

Also, ND is a special case because committing to Notre Dame is worth like a third of a star.

mrt144

Well i wonder how much of a feedback loop there is. Like, if a kid commits to Alabama or LSU are they inflated because they committed there?

enlightenedbum

mrt144 wrote: »

Well i wonder how much of a feedback loop there is. Like, if a kid commits to Alabama or LSU are they inflated because they committed there?

From what I recall, Notre Dame is the only that works like that. If a who dat 3* commits to a Michigan or Ohio State or an Alabama they get a second look from the services, but it's a pretty much universal thing with ND.

Zombie Nirvana

I think there definitely exists a feedback loop, especially in this world of early commits. But in general it seems the rankings (average stars) trend along with the strong and elite programs. Coaching, of course, matters. But I suspect Nick Saban couldn't beat Alabama this year given NIU's athletes.

mrt144

Zombie Nirvana wrote: »

I think there definitely exists a feedback loop, especially in this world of early commits. But in general it seems the rankings (average stars) trend along with the strong and elite programs. Coaching, of course, matters. But I suspect Nick Saban couldn't beat Alabama this year given NIU's athletes.

Les Miles on the other hand would somehow find a way, despite himself.

Zombie Nirvana

That is probably true.

mrt144

Calling all 3 time outs on one drive. Scoring a touchdown on a bobbled punt. You know how he rolls.

Zombie Nirvana

Then again, consider Auburn. They've got serious talent on campus and look like a benny hill skit on defense.

Zombie Nirvana

mrt144 wrote: »

Calling all 3 time outs on one drive. Scoring a touchdown on a bobbled punt. You know how he rolls.

You know, a lot of folks made fun of him while he coached Oklahoma State too (because it is an easy thing to do), but he made them into something of a spoiler at the very least. Gundy has built on it but it started with Miles. I think his greatest trick was getting people to believe he is a madman. He's like the devil only he eats more grass.

enlightenedbum

This was SMQB's pretty long thing about it from '09.

mrt144

Great Article!

Zombie Nirvana

That article is great, especially considering the Rivals rankings for the Top 10 or so schools this year and last.

Jibba

enlightenedbum wrote: »

mrt144 wrote: »

enlightenedbum wrote: »

Yeah, they matter. 5 stars pan out more frequently than 4, etc.

I just remember notre dame fans pointing living and dying over their recruiting and it not mattering one goddamn thanks to weiss. Is it possible that a coach interferes with talent to the extent that he and willingham did?

Absolutely. See also Lloyd Carr and offensive talent, as much as I'm loathe to admit it.

Fucking seriously. That four years with Henne at QB and Braylon Edwards, Jason Avant, Steve Breaston, Mario Manningham. Plus Hart wasn't a great NFL player but he was incredible in college. And that O-line.

How did we not just smoke people?

mrt144

Jibba wrote: »

enlightenedbum wrote: »

mrt144 wrote: »

enlightenedbum wrote: »

Yeah, they matter. 5 stars pan out more frequently than 4, etc.

I just remember notre dame fans pointing living and dying over their recruiting and it not mattering one goddamn thanks to weiss. Is it possible that a coach interferes with talent to the extent that he and willingham did?

Absolutely. See also Lloyd Carr and offensive talent, as much as I'm loathe to admit it.

Fucking seriously. That four years with Henne at QB and Braylon Edwards, Jason Avant, Steve Breaston, Mario Manningham. Plus Hart wasn't a great NFL player but he was incredible in college. And that O-line.

How did we not just smoke people?

enlightenedbum

Jibba wrote: »

enlightenedbum wrote: »

mrt144 wrote: »

enlightenedbum wrote: »

Yeah, they matter. 5 stars pan out more frequently than 4, etc.

I just remember notre dame fans pointing living and dying over their recruiting and it not mattering one goddamn thanks to weiss. Is it possible that a coach interferes with talent to the extent that he and willingham did?

Absolutely. See also Lloyd Carr and offensive talent, as much as I'm loathe to admit it.

Fucking seriously. That four years with Henne at QB and Braylon Edwards, Jason Avant, Steve Breaston, Mario Manningham. Plus Hart wasn't a great NFL player but he was incredible in college. And that O-line.

How did we not just smoke people?

Pat Massey starting over Alan Branch is a pretty good hint!

Also predictable playcalling.

The very most frustrating is the '99 offense if you go back and look at it. 5 NFL starting linemen, Tom Brady, Anthony Thomas, Aaron Shea, David Terrell, Marquise Walker, and I forget who the slot guy was. Naturally we couldn't run the ball and continuously fell behind only to break out the scoring (no huddle, shotgun) offense and putting up 21 point fourth quarters to win.

ALSO: in the 21st century part of Lloyd's career, we were more likely to win a game if we entered the fourth quarter behind a score than ahead a score. The most amazing stat of all time.

Santa Claustrophobia

Zombie Nirvana wrote: »

mrt144 wrote: »

Calling all 3 time outs on one drive. Scoring a touchdown on a bobbled punt. You know how he rolls.

You know, a lot of folks made fun of him while he coached Oklahoma State too (because it is an easy thing to do), but he made them into something of a spoiler at the very least. Gundy has built on it but it started with Miles. I think his greatest trick was getting people to believe he is a madman. He's like the devil only he eats more grass.

And yet, he left Jordan Jefferson in the game.



Not much of a trick, really.

Munkus Beaver

fuck man, every goddamn year you ignore my predictions and shit. Jeebus.

OSUJumpMan

I had a pretty good idea that my national title prediction was shit by the time October started. I had no idea it would have a chance to be among the worst of all time. I had a few other bold predictions that panned out nicely, but USC and Oregon both being out of the MNC isn't as flashy as having my title games teams both go 6-6.

I can't believe Kevin from The Office will be coaching at Arkansas. I'm sure he'll do reasonably well, but he'll never win the division let alone the conference and will lose bowl games as regularly as he did at Wisconsin, but people will finally notice.

As far as NIU craziness goes, they are literally giving tickets away for free. Still, very few takers. I contemplated a scheme getting other students to sell me their free tickets for a few sheckles and then turning them around to eager FSU fans for a tidy profit. But alas, you only physically get your ticket at the Orange Bowl will call window, so that's not really worth it.

Cog

enlightenedbum wrote: »

Granted, coaching also matters. I mean, Iowa has had a ton of NFL offensive line talent and usually sucks at running the ball.

To be fair, this is usually because the AIRBHG is snapping their running backs' legs like toothpicks and they're kidnapping anyone with a year of eiligibility left from campus and handing them the ball.

enlightenedbum

Oh, fun thought experiment: what if Northwestern hadn't blown all those fourth quarter leads in improbable fashion and then beat Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game. Would 13-0 Northwestern in this Big Ten have made the MNC?