NCAA Football 2007 Season (2 Viewers)

[John Alvarez]

As a Gator I don't think they could hang right now in a National Title game.
Sounds like a lot of good games this weekend unfortunatly I was at a freaking wedding.

 

[James St]

Agreed. The offense is struggling, injuries are starting to pile up and our best defensive player has been kicked off the team.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Now, since you felt WV was the third best team you must now think that third best team is Louisville, no?

As for a pathetic OOC schedule, this here is something that has always confused me. If Louisville plays Kansas State, Miami, Kentucky or someone in the dumps like Temple they get attacked for playing a weak OOC schedule.

However, just who exactly are Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Notre Dame, Florida and others playing? If Louisville had played Ball State would that make them look better? If they had played Florida Atlantic would that be good for them? Army, Navy or North Carolina? It seems these schools are playing a lighter schedule than Louisville.

The same complaints were made last year when West Virginia won the conference and got into one of the four big games. What happened? The handled a SEC darling pretty easily. I'm not a betting man but I'd say West Virginia and Louisville could handle any of the other teams non-conference games and I think they could handle the majority of the big guys (Florida, Notre Dame, USC).

I'm really not sure if Louisville could beat Ohio State or Michigan if those two teams were playing at the top of their game. Outside the Cincy game, Louisville has always come to play. It seems these bigger, more respected schools always take their competition light and that's why they usually get beat (USC/Oregon State comes to mind). If Ohio State or Michigan play Louisville then they had better bring their A game. If they play like they did this past weekend then that's what could cost them a Championship and their play this weekend almost cost them a chance at making it in anyways.

 

[Joseph S]

Yeah, that earns them respect for this year, but it doesn't earn you another bowl game in the same year. If they beat Georgia in the regular season they would have been higher ranked. You earn your ranking by winning against top competition, not by playing crap like Rutgers, Pitt, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Kansas State (another former king of pathetic scheduling).

Another thing that is different about OSU, Michigan, ND, and USC(sometimes) is that you don't see every player majoring in "Athletic Coaching Education" or "Sports Administration." Was there a single player on either team last week that didn't have either of the above displayed under their profile on ESPN during the game?

 

[Robert_Z]

Ohio State beat Texas 24-7. They then beat Illinois 17-10. So I guess if Illinois played Texas, Illinois would win by 10? That means whatever BCS game Texas plays in, Illinois should play in a better one.

 

[Robert_Z]

So everyone currently ranked from 4-15 sucks this year? Is that your viewpoint? When the Michigan-OSU loser drops to #4, will they suck too, or will the sucking range suddenly shift up to teams ranked 5-16?

 

[Robert_Z]

Maybe you should go watch the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game again. Brady for Heisman...What a joke.

 

[Robert_Z]

It's only guts if you convert on 4th down. A&M went for it on 4th down in a similar situation against Army a few weeks ago. A&M did not convert...and Franchione is slammed for his decision. Stoops was in a similar situation. The only difference is his team converted.

So either they both have guts, or they are both idiots.

Honestly, in that situation, without knowing the outcome of the play, do you think going for it on 4th and 1 on your own 29 with a minute left, up by one, is a smart decision or a stupid one?

 

[Robert_Z]

I was so eager for the Louisville-WVU game...what a let down. Neither team is very strong. I believe Louisville does not belong in the title game...not because they are from the Big East, but because they are not that good.

Michael, you seem like a Louisville fan. Was that an off night for them? I watched the game vs. Kansas St. earlier this season, and again, not impressed at all.

 

[Robert_Z]

Do a little fact checking. The Big East has the best record this season vs. BCS conference foes. A better record than the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, ACC and PAC-10.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I am not a Louisville fan by any stretch.

But they are legit on a national scale. I don't know squat about their defense, but they have one of the best offenses in the nation. And it's not based on any gimmicks or trends. They are very well-balanced. If, and that's a big if, they win out, Louisville will present the biggest problems to Ohio State's defense next to Michigan.

 

[Shane Martin]

A stupid one IMHO. I would have attempted to draw them offsides then punted. Then again I wasn't on the sidelines and don't know those players like he does. Their defense was playing at a very high level that half so forcing the other team to punt wouldn't have been an issue. The only thing would be that you'd be punting into the wind and the opposing team had the wind.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I cannot speak for Ohio State (didn't see the game), but in Michigan's case they definitely took Ball State too lightly and lost their focus. This would normally have been a bye week for UM, but with the NCAA adding a 12th game this season Michigan added Ball State (and another big payday) to its open slot. The team practiced lightly during the week instead of going through their normal routine, and it showed. The Wolverines dominated all the stats, but lack of focus gave Ball State 23 of their 26 points on four plays (fumble for a safety, interception return TD, two long bombs for TDs).

I seriously doubt that OSU or UM would take any team so lightly in a national title game. As a college football fan, I would personally rather see the SEC champ, Texas or USC play the OSU-UM winner. But, as a Michigan fan, I would rather see Louisville play should UM beat the Buckeyes, since I think the Cardinals would be an easier opponent.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

There was some discussion on the radio this evening about an interesting event that took place just before halftime of the Wisconsin - Penn State game last Saturday. The Badgers decided to exploit the new clock rules by intentionally running offsides on three straight kickoffs near the end of the half, thereby running out the clock and denying PSU any opportunity to have the ball.

Could you imagine a team doing this at the end of a critical game, such as a conference championship, the UM-OSU game, or even the BCS title game? I'll guarantee everyone that the NCAA will revise this rule next year to prevent teams from using this tactic.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

That's *very* interesting! I suppose every coach will be doing this late in the game now.

In any event, it's a foregone conclusion that next year the new clock rules will be suspended for the last 2 minutes of the first half and the last 5 minutes of the game.

 

[ThomasC]

University of Miami defensive lineman Bryan Pata killed

:frowning:

Rest in peace, Bryan.

 

[Joseph S]

No, Rutgers sucks and doesn't belong in the top 20. The rest are roughly equivalent to each other.

 

[Tim Glover]

I was there Shane. :frowning:....Talk about a tough loss. Perhaps one of the most painful ones in my 25 year history of going to A&M games. Fran showed his vagina by not going with the big back Javorski Lane when they had 3rd and goal on the 2 yd line. OU had stopped the pass all night and the way A&M fought back and held OU to only 60 yards in the second half....then to have Fran outsmart himself. Truly disappointing. In fact, it wasn't until about Monday afternoon before I quit thinking about it.

A&M is certainly not back to contender status by any means and to be fair, OU is not either compared to their teams from 2000 to 2004. That said, A&M had a chance to beat a solid team at home and didn't. The crowd was unreal and one of the loudest home games in about 3-4 years. Even during timeouts the crowd kept yelling.

I know this sounds painfully silly but the 12th Man did it's job and I felt that Coach Fran didn't do his.

Rant over...bring on the Cornhuskers to Kyle Field! I'll be there!

 

[Shane Martin]

I could tell. I turned down my 5.1 surround sound I was getting while watching the HD feed. It was LOUD.

 

[Michael Elliott]

It's hard to tell. Brohm isn't himself yet so I'm not sure how much better they can get or if what we saw against WV, warts and all, is their game. If they'd cut out the mistakes then I'd put them as one of the top 5 teams in the country. If they make the same mistakes then I think a Ohio State or Michigan would beat them by 20+ points (if OS or Mich is playing at the top of their game).

Louisville has never seen anything like this before so I'm sure fans are over hyping them but at the same time I think outsiders owe them a tad bit more respect. Again, I think they've done a great job considering they lost their star running back and lost their quarterback for several games and they did beat the #3 team with Brohm still not 100%. I read on ESPN that nine of Louisville's opponents this year are going to make a bowl game. I think this strikes off the weak schedule act. I don't think any other team in the country is going to have played nine teams that will have a winning record.

The media coverage has been all over the news since last Thursday and Louisville's coach made a few comments about certain other teams who are bashing them. Florida's coach made some comments saying they were better than Louisville but we could have found out this year. Louisville has been trying to get them for a home/home series for the past seven years. Florida only wants one game down there. Tom Jurich also stated that he's tried to get six other SEC teams to do home/home series but again, they don't want to travel to Louisville. He also stated that it's becoming very hard to get any series going since Louisville has gained popularity over the past couple years. I think there's a reason why these top notch teams don't want to play Louisville.

Louisville isn't the greatest team but they do have the talent to beat anyone on any given night. They can adjust to anyone at the drop of a coin and I think these bigger schools know that. When the Indianapolis Colts get their new stadium up, apparently Notre Dame and Louisville are close to striking a deal to play two games there.

All of the schools mentioned in this thread has a rich heritage. That's something Louisville doesn't have and it's something they're going to have to earn. I don't blame people for doubting them because they still have a lot to prove. The only way to possibly earn that is going to the big game. If they go undefeated and are overlooked then it will be another "what if" situation, which is the worst thing about this sport.

In the end, I guess we'll have to wait until the bowl games to see how Louisville, Rutgers and West Virginia fair against "bigger" schools. I'm not sure if the three will win but I think someone will have to play a perfect game to hold Louisville and WV's points down.