At the end of the day, there is no tangible difference between going 31st and 60th. Second round is second round. That being said, Morris probably wasn't going to elevate his stock that much with another year in college anyway. His draft ceiling was always gonna be late first round based on the way NBA teams draft, even in a draft as weak as this one. He has good, but not great or explosive, athleticism. He doesn't have elite court vision. His ceiling is likely solid to above average point guard or combo guard, which pretty much screams late first round/early second round.
There's no question Alabama is #1 and there's no question Oregon is #2, after that it starts to get fuzzy. You could make a lot of cases for a lot of teams, but two things are abundantly clear. As much as I hate to say it, and as ugly and lucky as their wins have been, on a purely resume basis, LSU has to be in the top 5. Utah needs to drop tremendously, it's hard to make a case for them being in the top 20 purely based on who they've played in beaten.
I never expected them to come for this game. There are bigger games this weekend nationally. Like others have said, this really isn't a big game outside of Michigan, mostly because no one cares about Sparty. Looking ahead to next week, assuming no losses for the teams involved this weekend, there are only three games that will feature two ranked teams, OSU-Wisky, Arkansas-Auburn (they've already been to Auburn this year), and Iowa-Michigan. The chances of Gameday being here next week would be pretty high.
This appears to be a case of paralysis by analysis. Yes, teams will always be up to play Michigan, and yes, our offense puts pressure on the opposing team to keep up. But more than anything, our defense stinks. Teams exceed their output against us because our defense stinks. Points are at a premium against Ohio State but teams are going for it on 4th down far less. Their opponents will be just as up for them (you could argue even more so given their recent dominance).
Glad you posted the actual rule. There's a misconception, partly due to the way the rule is interpreted but mostly due to announcer types who blindly parrot it, that faceguarding is illegal. In and of itself faceguarding is legal, but as other posters have stated, if there's contact and the defensive player is making no attempt to catch the ball, it's going to be called PI virtually 100% of the time. But there can be some level of contact when the defensive player is attempting to make a catch, as the defensive player has as much right to the ball or a spot on the field as the offensive player (see Jonas Mouton's pick against ND for example).
Not to belabor the point, because you're right, we don't truly know what teams are at this point, although we're getting close. Miami thrashed Pitt, but Pitt isn't good, their only victory is over New Hampshire. Marshall played over its head against WVU in a rivalry game, only to come back down to earth against Bowling Green (yes that Bowling Green) a week later. The argument wasn't ever about how many teams you could put at number 1, it was simply a comparison of Alabama's resume to this point vs. Ohio State's. Even if you argue that Miami is better than Arkansas, are they so much better that beating them is more impressing than beating both Penn State and Arkansas?
You're right, we don't know whether Penn State is better than Miami, but Penn State is the second best team Alabama has beat. On top of that, Miami has typically imploded on the road in big matchups in recent years. It was an impressive win for the Buckeyes no question, but it eerily similar to the thrashing Miami took in Blacksburg a year ago. With wins over Penn State and a good Arkansas team on the road, it would be pretty hard to make a case that the Miami win by itself would come close to trumping that.
Regardless of your view of Penn State, there's no question they're miles better than Marshall, Eastern, and Ohio. Mallet's 4th quarter implosion was no worse than Jacory Harris' game-long implosion. It's really hard to argue at this point that Ohio State has the better resume.
It looks like the poll reflects some overreaction on Nevada (who I like) and Oklahoma State. I agree that Nevada should be ranked (I said as much a week ago), but a 7-spot jump for beating BYU is a bit much. OK State's best win is a 3-point victory over a decent at best Troy. For perspective, Troy squeeked out a victory against the same Bowling Green team we just annihilated. I'm not sure what OK State done at this point to enter the poll at 18. Wazzu is currently in a tight battle with Minnesota and Duke as the worst team in a BCS conference, and Tulsa is down from where they've been in years past. I'm also trying to figure out what Utah did to drop out of the poll.
The ACC will always have issues because it just doesn't have many schools with large football fanbases. Once you get past those three teams you named it drops off a cliff. Georgia Tech isn't even the most popular team in its own city. I agree as far as being central goes Vegas is about as good as it gets, and they are in a tough spot geographically being so spread out and not having a plethora of appealing options. That being said, something about a BCS conference playing its title game in a stadium that needs temporary seating to fit 40K is inherently bush-league, and the Pac-10 with its delusions of grandeur will ultimately go in a different direction, which to me should point them to Glendale, which would be better than playing in a half-filled Rose Bowl.
That's true, and I'd argue that across the board, the Pac-10 football fanbases are larger than those of ACC schools. UOP Stadium isn't massive, its base seating is about 63K. I'd say they could get close to capacity most years.
Having been in Sam Boyd, I'd say 40k might even be a bit on the high side, even if they brought in temporary seating. They shouldn't have the attendance issues that the ACC has, seems to me Glendale would be the obvious choice.
I personally wouldn't have bumped Florida over Wisconsin, but I could see the logic in it. There's no way I would rate LSU ahead of South Carolina right now. LSU may be the only team with 3 victories against BCS conference schools (to my knowledge), but none of their victories have been impressive. South Carolina physically manhandled Georgia and destroyed a better than you think Southern Miss team. Ga Tech shouldn't be ranked, they still lost on the road to an awful Kansas team, and Arizona State doesn't deserve credit for almost beating Wisconsin. I'd have Nevada and Air Force in the poll over those two schools.
I'd say it's unlikely as things currently stand. In addition to Bama-South Carolina, Florida-LSU is that weekend, as is Florida State-Miami, both of which are bigger games nationally. The chances would increase (in addition to both teams remaining undefeated) if they go to the Alabama-Florida game next weekend instead of Texas-Oklahoma (as they don't typically feature the same team two weeks in a row, regardless of location) and if one or both teams in the Florida State-Miami matchup aren't ranked. That being said, my guess is that they're going to Dallas on the 2nd and Baton Rouge or Columbia on the 9th.
Because there would never be an extra point or FG attempt because the play would be over as soon as the holder caught the ball with his knee on the ground.
The best comparison is also the easiest, as it involves a contemporary: Navy's Ricky Dobbs. He ran 315 times last year and has run 54 times this year out of the triple option, in which the QB takes a much bigger pounding that one in the spread option for a number of reasons. They're roughly the same size, yet no one seems to be worried that Dobbs is going to disintegrate as the season goes along.
This is exactly why I giggled when USC "sent" back Reggie's trophy. They sent back Reggie's, but somehow kept OJ's. Hypocrisy is quite amusing. USC is pretending Bush never existed, but somehow I don't think it's going to return all the money it made from him playing there.
Actually they do. They change the rule back a few years ago to where one FCS win per year can count towards bowl eligibility, provided that FCS school offers at least 90% of its 63 scholarships over a 2 year period.
That being said, nothing will ever replace losing to App. State, and UConn's performance didn't prove much. Texas Southern is an FCS team, and not a good one at that. Virtually any BCS conference team would beat them by 50+.
UMass won't be a complete pushover. We'll win comfortably, but not by half a hundred. It's clear after two weeks that Devin is ahead of Tate on the depth chart, although I suspect both will play. Any team with decent linemen and wideouts can beat MSU, Notre Dame fits the bill, provided Crist doesn't get knocked out.
Recent Comments
At the end of the day, there is no tangible difference between going 31st and 60th. Second round is second round. That being said, Morris probably wasn't going to elevate his stock that much with another year in college anyway. His draft ceiling was always gonna be late first round based on the way NBA teams draft, even in a draft as weak as this one. He has good, but not great or explosive, athleticism. He doesn't have elite court vision. His ceiling is likely solid to above average point guard or combo guard, which pretty much screams late first round/early second round.
The Lakers don't have a first round pick in this year's draft.
There's no question Alabama is #1 and there's no question Oregon is #2, after that it starts to get fuzzy. You could make a lot of cases for a lot of teams, but two things are abundantly clear. As much as I hate to say it, and as ugly and lucky as their wins have been, on a purely resume basis, LSU has to be in the top 5. Utah needs to drop tremendously, it's hard to make a case for them being in the top 20 purely based on who they've played in beaten.
I never expected them to come for this game. There are bigger games this weekend nationally. Like others have said, this really isn't a big game outside of Michigan, mostly because no one cares about Sparty. Looking ahead to next week, assuming no losses for the teams involved this weekend, there are only three games that will feature two ranked teams, OSU-Wisky, Arkansas-Auburn (they've already been to Auburn this year), and Iowa-Michigan. The chances of Gameday being here next week would be pretty high.
This appears to be a case of paralysis by analysis. Yes, teams will always be up to play Michigan, and yes, our offense puts pressure on the opposing team to keep up. But more than anything, our defense stinks. Teams exceed their output against us because our defense stinks. Points are at a premium against Ohio State but teams are going for it on 4th down far less. Their opponents will be just as up for them (you could argue even more so given their recent dominance).
Glad you posted the actual rule. There's a misconception, partly due to the way the rule is interpreted but mostly due to announcer types who blindly parrot it, that faceguarding is illegal. In and of itself faceguarding is legal, but as other posters have stated, if there's contact and the defensive player is making no attempt to catch the ball, it's going to be called PI virtually 100% of the time. But there can be some level of contact when the defensive player is attempting to make a catch, as the defensive player has as much right to the ball or a spot on the field as the offensive player (see Jonas Mouton's pick against ND for example).
Not to belabor the point, because you're right, we don't truly know what teams are at this point, although we're getting close. Miami thrashed Pitt, but Pitt isn't good, their only victory is over New Hampshire. Marshall played over its head against WVU in a rivalry game, only to come back down to earth against Bowling Green (yes that Bowling Green) a week later. The argument wasn't ever about how many teams you could put at number 1, it was simply a comparison of Alabama's resume to this point vs. Ohio State's. Even if you argue that Miami is better than Arkansas, are they so much better that beating them is more impressing than beating both Penn State and Arkansas?
You're right, we don't know whether Penn State is better than Miami, but Penn State is the second best team Alabama has beat. On top of that, Miami has typically imploded on the road in big matchups in recent years. It was an impressive win for the Buckeyes no question, but it eerily similar to the thrashing Miami took in Blacksburg a year ago. With wins over Penn State and a good Arkansas team on the road, it would be pretty hard to make a case that the Miami win by itself would come close to trumping that.
Regardless of your view of Penn State, there's no question they're miles better than Marshall, Eastern, and Ohio. Mallet's 4th quarter implosion was no worse than Jacory Harris' game-long implosion. It's really hard to argue at this point that Ohio State has the better resume.
It looks like the poll reflects some overreaction on Nevada (who I like) and Oklahoma State. I agree that Nevada should be ranked (I said as much a week ago), but a 7-spot jump for beating BYU is a bit much. OK State's best win is a 3-point victory over a decent at best Troy. For perspective, Troy squeeked out a victory against the same Bowling Green team we just annihilated. I'm not sure what OK State done at this point to enter the poll at 18. Wazzu is currently in a tight battle with Minnesota and Duke as the worst team in a BCS conference, and Tulsa is down from where they've been in years past. I'm also trying to figure out what Utah did to drop out of the poll.
The ACC will always have issues because it just doesn't have many schools with large football fanbases. Once you get past those three teams you named it drops off a cliff. Georgia Tech isn't even the most popular team in its own city. I agree as far as being central goes Vegas is about as good as it gets, and they are in a tough spot geographically being so spread out and not having a plethora of appealing options. That being said, something about a BCS conference playing its title game in a stadium that needs temporary seating to fit 40K is inherently bush-league, and the Pac-10 with its delusions of grandeur will ultimately go in a different direction, which to me should point them to Glendale, which would be better than playing in a half-filled Rose Bowl.
That's true, and I'd argue that across the board, the Pac-10 football fanbases are larger than those of ACC schools. UOP Stadium isn't massive, its base seating is about 63K. I'd say they could get close to capacity most years.
Having been in Sam Boyd, I'd say 40k might even be a bit on the high side, even if they brought in temporary seating. They shouldn't have the attendance issues that the ACC has, seems to me Glendale would be the obvious choice.
I personally wouldn't have bumped Florida over Wisconsin, but I could see the logic in it. There's no way I would rate LSU ahead of South Carolina right now. LSU may be the only team with 3 victories against BCS conference schools (to my knowledge), but none of their victories have been impressive. South Carolina physically manhandled Georgia and destroyed a better than you think Southern Miss team. Ga Tech shouldn't be ranked, they still lost on the road to an awful Kansas team, and Arizona State doesn't deserve credit for almost beating Wisconsin. I'd have Nevada and Air Force in the poll over those two schools.
I'd say it's unlikely as things currently stand. In addition to Bama-South Carolina, Florida-LSU is that weekend, as is Florida State-Miami, both of which are bigger games nationally. The chances would increase (in addition to both teams remaining undefeated) if they go to the Alabama-Florida game next weekend instead of Texas-Oklahoma (as they don't typically feature the same team two weeks in a row, regardless of location) and if one or both teams in the Florida State-Miami matchup aren't ranked. That being said, my guess is that they're going to Dallas on the 2nd and Baton Rouge or Columbia on the 9th.
The rules were changed in both college and pro the next season after that call to allow reviews in those situations.
Because there would never be an extra point or FG attempt because the play would be over as soon as the holder caught the ball with his knee on the ground.
The best comparison is also the easiest, as it involves a contemporary: Navy's Ricky Dobbs. He ran 315 times last year and has run 54 times this year out of the triple option, in which the QB takes a much bigger pounding that one in the spread option for a number of reasons. They're roughly the same size, yet no one seems to be worried that Dobbs is going to disintegrate as the season goes along.
This is exactly why I giggled when USC "sent" back Reggie's trophy. They sent back Reggie's, but somehow kept OJ's. Hypocrisy is quite amusing. USC is pretending Bush never existed, but somehow I don't think it's going to return all the money it made from him playing there.
Actually they do. They change the rule back a few years ago to where one FCS win per year can count towards bowl eligibility, provided that FCS school offers at least 90% of its 63 scholarships over a 2 year period.
That being said, nothing will ever replace losing to App. State, and UConn's performance didn't prove much. Texas Southern is an FCS team, and not a good one at that. Virtually any BCS conference team would beat them by 50+.
UMass
Under, Over, yes, no.
UMass won't be a complete pushover. We'll win comfortably, but not by half a hundred. It's clear after two weeks that Devin is ahead of Tate on the depth chart, although I suspect both will play. Any team with decent linemen and wideouts can beat MSU, Notre Dame fits the bill, provided Crist doesn't get knocked out.