November 30th, 2016 at 12:35 PM ^
Don't have a cake schedule and complain about being left out. This bit Baylor a few years ago and is currently biting Washington because their non-conference is awful (if their non-con was better I doubt the margin between us and them is 'razor thin')
If any P5 team vying for a playoff spot right now had Western's SOS and resume they would be laughed out of the room
If a Group of 5 teams wants to seriously compete for a playoff spot, they need to start loading up their non-conference schedule with Power 5 schools
November 30th, 2016 at 12:57 PM ^
MSU, OSU, NW, ILL... four B1G teams. To say they're not scheduling tough opponents isn't the case. Besides that, you're scheduling years in advance... last year WMU played MSU and ended up with a B1G champion on their resume... this year it would've been a lousy 3-9 team bringing down their SOS. When you're scheduling games 3+ years out, you just don't know. But they've played 4 B1G teams in the last two seasons, I wouldn't say they're avoiding tough competition.
November 30th, 2016 at 2:02 PM ^
but they haven't beat Michigan State and Ohio State. If Western would have had this season after beating "good" Michigan State and Ohio State they probably would be in the Playoff, just like we would probably be sitting at #2 in the standings if we beat USC and Florida State pre-conference along with Colorado. But we didn't so were not. This seems pretty simple.
November 30th, 2016 at 11:07 AM ^
November 30th, 2016 at 11:07 AM ^
Undefeated and high scoring Hawaii meets, at the time of the game, #5 ranked and two loss Georga. Hawaii was the last undefeated team in the country and the national narrative was they were going to show the world that a team from outside the established conferences (more than five back then) could play with the big boys if just given a chance. Georgia, by the way, was in the same basic situation we're in this year in that they strongly felt they should be playing in the Championship game and thought they got boned out of it.
Score was 41-10 and it wasnt that close. Georgia basically felt sorry for them and stopped pummelling the Rainbow Warriors and I fear the exact same thing would happen to Western if they get matched up against somebody in the top 10.
http://www.espn.com/ncf/recap?gameId=280010061
November 30th, 2016 at 11:43 AM ^
Yet, roughly in the same scenario, Boise State beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl only the year before.
I too think anyone in the top 5-10 would have a clear advantage going up against Western, but I don't think the gap is quite as large as some in this thread want to believe it is.
November 30th, 2016 at 11:08 AM ^
Every time someone makes this argument they neglect to mention how many times G5 teams lose to complete schmucks. New Mexico: 6-2 in the MWC, lost to shitty Rutgers. CMU, standard-bearer for the troll's argument, lost to shitty UVA. You win a conference that went 4-10 against P5 teams - not good P5 teams, we're talking like Boston College and UVA and Indiana - that's not an argument in favor of being included with the big boys.
November 30th, 2016 at 2:00 PM ^
And lets not forget WMU scraped by a couple of middling B1G teams. Good win for them, no doubt. But let's not pretend they are suddenly ready to battle any of the teams competing for a playoff spot.
November 30th, 2016 at 11:19 AM ^
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November 30th, 2016 at 11:21 AM ^
My guess is you would do well matched up against the Dallas Cowboys if you could bring that same officiating crew to the game.
November 30th, 2016 at 11:34 AM ^
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November 30th, 2016 at 11:36 AM ^
Careful with all those sour grapes my guy, your face will freeze like that
November 30th, 2016 at 12:00 PM ^
I probably will regret this, but that's not "sour grapes."
Sour Grapes refers to the Aesop fable of the fox--he accidentally dropped a bunch of grapes into the river, losing them, and concluded that he didn't want them anyway because they were probably sour.
"Sour Grapes" is when you claim you never wanted something that was obviously very desirable. Sour Grapes would be to say "I didn't want Michigan to win anyway, the Rose and Orange Bowls are the best bowls."
To say "Wow, that officiating really helped you guys a look like a great team" is probably more a backhanded compliment, and absolutely not "sour grapes."
November 30th, 2016 at 12:04 PM ^
Semantic logic says that once everyone misuses a word or idiomatic expression enough, it generally adopts the misused meaning, but my mistake. Same with "begs the question"; no one uses it as it was originally intended.
November 30th, 2016 at 12:07 PM ^
Is "everyone" one of those words that has adopted a misused meaning?
November 30th, 2016 at 12:10 PM ^
Yes, people use "everyone" to hyperbolize a majority. The majority of people that use the phrase "sour grapes" use it incorrectly.
November 30th, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^
BTW - if you really a "Rational Buckeye" you would agree that your team, through no fault of theirs by the way, benefited greatly from an officiating crew that probably worked on the O-H/I-O thing during commericial breaks.
For the record, I dont hold the Buckeyes responsible for the officiating gift, you guys had no control over who was selected. What drives me nuts is when I show my OSU friends here clip after clip after clip of us getting hosed and show them the background (they never know) of the two guys responsible, the reaction is always one of three things:
1. The spot was good - he made the first down (no mention of the other 372 bad calls)
2. Calls went both ways. You got the benefit of some and we got the benefit of some (but they can never show me any clips or reference any plays where we got the benefit)
3. HAR, HAR HAR. GO BUCKS! YOU LOST. GO BUCKS!
November 30th, 2016 at 12:50 PM ^
I never said we didn't recieve some favorable calls. The spot was the right call, thats in the past.
The first half missed PI call where the corner tackled Darboh was blatant. I even agreed with Harbaugh that Mason Cole's facemask penalty was after the runner had reached the line to gain and it should've been a first down, backed up for the penalty. The PI discrepancy in the 4th quarter was questionable, I agree that there should've been a flag on the second play but to say the plays were identical is ludicrous. From the angles I've seen, Stribling basically tackled Samuel before the ball reached them and I don't believe it was truly uncatchable. I believe the uncatchable rule means theres absolutely no way that the reciever couldve even touched the ball if unimpeded.
Yes, Ohio State benefitted from missed calls. Yes, there were missed holding calls on both teams because there is, technically "holding" on the majority of all snaps in football. But Michigan had ample chances to run away with the game and blew it multiple times on stupid mistakes. Hell, we even handed you 6 extra points and you couldn't do anything with them. I'm not arguing that the calls were fair or even or that this argument will ever actually be settled because, for Chrissakes, we're still arguing about a PI call in the 2003 National Championship game. I'm just having a little fun at your expense.
OSU fans are insecure about winning in that manner; that's why many of us react that way. But it's not like the referees completely stole the game from Michigan; UM had ample chances to run up the score and simply didn't. Errors like the running into the kicker penalty, the blatant facemask, the poor choices from the QB and poor execution by the offensive line played a role.
November 30th, 2016 at 1:01 PM ^
User name checks out!
November 30th, 2016 at 1:11 PM ^
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November 30th, 2016 at 1:57 PM ^
Can you check Mgrow out to see if he is really old?
November 30th, 2016 at 2:11 PM ^
He knows more Cleveland sports history than anyone would willingly subject themselves to, so I'm gonna take his word on it.
November 30th, 2016 at 1:12 PM ^
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November 30th, 2016 at 4:15 PM ^
Some? what game were you watching? certainly not the one the rest of the country saw..I just fi nd it odd that OHIO always seems to be on the good side of these controversies...hmm?
November 30th, 2016 at 1:26 PM ^
How exactly is a ref who was excused from a previous UM/tOSU game for conduct and TWO other refs with strong allegiances to tOSU sour grapes?
Disclaimer: Michigan lost. I get it. The refs didn't throw 2 INTs which led to TDs.
But to say we're crying about officiating is absurd. ESPN, SI, USA Today have all run multiple takes on this and universally have said there were serious problems with how that game was officiated.
November 30th, 2016 at 7:30 PM ^
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November 30th, 2016 at 11:31 AM ^
Sorry, but there is no plausible reason to believe Western is one of the four best teams in the country. It's as simple as that.
November 30th, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^
Western's offense could keep them in the game for a bit but they wouldn't be able to hold any of the teams in the top 10 under 40 points.
Great season, historic for the University, but not worthy of a CFB playoff bid.
November 30th, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^
I forget which game it was, maybe Ball State, where WMU gave up nearly 200 yards of rushing...in the first half. If you're allowing a shitty MAC school to run up and down on you like that, you have zero chance of stopping a top-tier P5 team.
November 30th, 2016 at 11:37 AM ^
November 30th, 2016 at 11:53 AM ^
that people would be bitching that a MAC team playing in the Cotton Bowl would be "getting the shaft."
This is like a guy who's had a nice career playing lovable oddballs in Purple Rose Theater productions complaining that Jessica Alba won't return his phone calls.
November 30th, 2016 at 12:11 PM ^
Western had a great season, and PJ Fleck is a great coach. But there is no way on this planet they would survive in the playoffs against Alabama. That would be who they were matched up against. That game would probably turn into something equivalent to the Georgia-Hawaii Sugar Bowl where they get blown out by 6-7 TDs, and even then the game wouldn't have been that close. It would be over in the first 10 minutes. And what is Western's marquee win this year? Northwestern?
I thought Houston might have a chance this year, because everyone thought Tom Herman's shit didn't stink. Apparently it does. Boise is a decent to good team but has clearly lost whatever mojo it had when Petersen was there.
I think a Group of 5 is going to need at least two major upsets over P5 teams to be a serious contender for a playoff spot. At least while the field is for four teams. Even when Houston knocked off Oklahoma, they were teetering around the 6-8 spots for weeks until they finally lost. Had they stayed undefeated and beaten Louisville, that might've put them over the hump. Especially in a year as chaotic as this one.
November 30th, 2016 at 12:46 PM ^
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November 30th, 2016 at 1:22 PM ^
Fleck would row that boat with authority.
Right into Saban's nuclear-powered turbine engine. And dear lord would that be a massacre of epic proportions.
Giving Saban a month to prepare for a MAC team is like giving Tyson a month to prepare for fighting a 10 year old.
November 30th, 2016 at 2:39 PM ^
They should create a separate playoff for G5 teams.