TIMMMAAY

December 8th, 2013 at 1:03 PM ^

Wow. I didn't think Sparty would jump that much. I'm still pretty conflicted about the events of last night. Meteor did not make the appearance I had hoped for...

Finance-PhD

December 8th, 2013 at 1:15 PM ^

If we had a four team playoff and they picked like the AP or USA then the play in games would be

FSU vs MSU

Iron Bowl part 2

Still have the SEC playing for a national championship no matter what.

 

Expanding the field to 8 results in the following

ACC - 1 team

SEC - 3 teams

B1G - 2 teams

PAC 12 - 1 team

Big 12 - 1 team

 

Naturally I am curious what the actual playoff picture looks like in the future.

LSAClassOf2000

December 8th, 2013 at 1:21 PM ^

Not that it really matters at this point, but Ohio State actually did get individual votes as low as 12th, 13th and 15th. The low end of Michigan State votes was 7th, 8th and 9th. Interestingly, in both cases, the same person is responsible for the lowest ranking among all the votes. 

 

JamieH

December 8th, 2013 at 1:23 PM ^

The SEC has rigged the game so that they always will have more chips in the basket than any other conferece.  This is regardless of whether they deserve it or not.  The narritive is that they DO deserve it, so they will always get more playoff spots than anyone else. 

The only real way to fix things is to expand to at least 8 teams so that enough teams get a shot to show that the SEC is really no better than any other conference.  With only 4 teams, they will continue to get auto-passes into the title game, as they would this year with an Auburn-Alabama rematch.  I'd actually prefer 16 teams with some sort of limit on how many teams per confernce can get in (maybe 3).  That somewhat mitigate the SEC deck stacking that gets done and make them actually win their way to a title rather than just have to beat each other in rematch games.

speakeasy

December 8th, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^

Maybe not "they" the SEC but "they" the media et al. It is taken as gospel at this point that the SEC is hands down better than everyone else, and when their championship game yields a 60-40 scoreline it is an amazing display of offensive acumen and parity, whereas anyone would be chided for having a one-sided outfit.

I think MSU could probably beat Auburn and Mizzou because the new look MSU offense is certainly competent enough to put up 30-40 points on either and the defense would be the first either team has seen this season.

At some point it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy of greatness and that point came a few years ago.

alum96

December 8th, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^

Auburn saw a top flight defense in Bama a few weeks ago.  Bama is not as elite as it has been the past few years on defense but still pretty solid.  I do think Sparty would beat Auburn because you'd see a similar game as yesterday with MSU giving up 24-28 and then their offense as you said, has taken incredible steps from where it was 3 months ago.  Cook and Langford are unrecognizable from the players they were the first week in September.   In many ways it is like the 97 Wolverines, a dominant defense and a good enough offense.

I am upset Bama lost however because this was the year I think another conf could have ended the SEC streak and if FSU beats Auburn everyone down south and most of the natioal media will say it was fluky and doesnt really count because it was not Bama.  FSU has both a superior offense and defense to Bama this year... they are destroying teams by 30 pts+ often, and not junk teams; they made Clemson look like ...well Michigan.  Completely lost in FSU offense fireworks is the fact they have a top 1-2 defense in the country.

4godkingandwol…

December 8th, 2013 at 1:47 PM ^

Is silly.  Just look at recruiting rankings the last 6-8 years, then look at bowl records and the scores of the BCS championship games. The SEC is 9-1 in BCS championship games.  The only losing team was LSU, and they lost to... Alabama.

Is the culture of football corrupt, and can it really be called "student" athletics?  That's a fair question.  But questioning whether the SEC is the best conference in football is a foolish endeavor.  

bluebyyou

December 8th, 2013 at 1:31 PM ^

Maybe if the B1G does a bit better in their bowl appearances than they have over the last several years,  they might be seen a bit more favorably.  Get past a couple of teams in the B1G and the quality falls off quickly.

 

Steve in PA

December 8th, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^

ESPN has a financial interest in hyping the SEC.  The B1G has the BigTenNetwork and the PAC12 has the PAC12 network which are not beholden to ESPN.

The SEC Network will be a creation of ESPN and SEC. The Longhorn Network is a yawn right now with Texas down but you could still hear them doing their best to hype Texas.

More hype=more votes->More ranked teams=more viewers

I would postulate that ND is only ranked as high as they are is because they have their own network and hype machine.

G. Gulo of the Dale

December 8th, 2013 at 2:35 PM ^

I think the Big Ten is still down, and we're one of the main culprits for that being true.  But I don't think this is some historically unprecedented year.  Had we and MSU switched places this year, I think some people would believe that the conference was stronger, simply because its two powerhouses were quasi-elite.  What doesn't get quite enough mention--in my opinion--is the unbalanced schedule.  I think one way in which the Big Ten was genuinely weaker lies in the fact that Purdue and Illinois were horrific (Boilerquest!).  MSU was a great team this year, but prior to the B1G title game, they didn't play the other two very good in-conference opponents (Wisconsin and OSU); Missouri provides a similar example in the SEC.  We were our own worst enemy this year, but getting to play both Illinois and Purdue, rather than neither of them, couldn't have hurt our record--but it would have dropped our strength of schedule.  For another example, Iowa played us, Nebraska, MSU, OSU, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in conference.  That's a pretty respectable in-conference slate.      

alum96

December 8th, 2013 at 1:37 PM ^

With the night to think about it, as sucky as the situation is here, OSU fans have to be going crazy thinking they had 1 loss in 2 seasons and due to tattoos and Sparty they have been shut out of the NCG back to back. 

Frankly other than FSU and Bama, I think Sparty right now can play and potentially beat anyone.  They are getting better, and in the case of the offense much better, as the weeks go by.  They did sleepwalk through Purdue and Minn on offense, but the defense is so dominant it didn't matter.  Startling to think Sparty would be in the playoff if this was 12 months from now but beating "name brands" like OSU and Michigan in front of national audiences helps big time.  Glad to see a 1 loss Big 10 is ahead of a 2 loss Pac 10 (Stanford).

Magnum P.I.

December 8th, 2013 at 1:58 PM ^

I think MSU fans have to be going crazy. They had one close game all year (i.e., less than 10-point margin), which they lost in fluky fashion at ND. If not for that weird outcome, they'd be playing in the NCG right now with a great chance to beat FSU with their defense. I don't think anyone here wants to admit how dominant they were this season. Their defense is something. 

NOLA Wolverine

December 8th, 2013 at 2:05 PM ^

They lost when they gave up a chance to put distance between themselves and ND in the 2nd  half by calling a reverse pass (interception) instead of just hammering Langford into ND and when they trotted a cold Maxwell out to save the day on the last drive. They got 2 or 3 bad PI calls, but they lost it on their own accord. 

Wolverine Devotee

December 8th, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^

Am I the only disturbed/depressed that SPARTY has two B1G titles, two division titles since 2005 and Michigan has none? Not to mention a 41-12 record in the 2010s to our 33-18?