2009 College Football Thread

[PenFoe]

I feel dumber for having read this thread. And I say that as someone who probably read like 200 pages of the Primary/General Election Clusterfucks without batting an eye.

Bump.

[Chuck to Chuck]

I also made a typo when saying the Big 12 was 2-0 against the Big Ten in bowls last year. They were 3-0. I did count it right in the overall, so still a 9-3 Big 12 advantage.

Last year, the Cubs won 97 games.  Should they have gotten credit for that this year?

Maybe Illinois should have the death penalty on them today for football because of Hart Lee Dykes.

Then again, such might not actually be a penalty.

You do know that MLB baseball is a pretty different sport than NCAA football, right?

As well as you know that 2008 is pretty different from 2009.

Not really.  2008 is just like 2009.  I'm sitting around crying in my beer 9 days earlier in a bar that fucked me over because they didn't tell me they had a private party booked instead of caring about the World Series.

Differented.

[JD]

And if we're really going to beat that old conference strength argument to death, I think there are some SEC fans that might take exception to how strong the Big 10 or Big 12 is right now.

Oh that's been covered as well. The only hooligans arguing the Big 10 is stronger than either of those conferences are the only ones whose favorite team would profit from that line of thinking.

As a Wisconsin alum and Big 10 fan, I'd love for the conference to be strong, but right now it is pretty mediocre.  Even though it's Iowa, it is good for the conference to have a high ranked team in the top 25.  Lots of football to be played however and those conference championship games are notorious for screwing up the BCS (which I love, the BCS is stupid)

Right. Let's all calm down, relax and enjoy looking forward to Iowa's blowout Rose Bowl loss to USC. All is right in the world after all.

FINALLY!  Somebody brings up something that's not from the past!  

[JD]

I also made a typo when saying the Big 12 was 2-0 against the Big Ten in bowls last year. They were 3-0. I did count it right in the overall, so still a 9-3 Big 12 advantage.

Last year, the Cubs won 97 games.  Should they have gotten credit for that this year?

Maybe Illinois should have the death penalty on them today for football because of Hart Lee Dykes.

Then again, such might not actually be a penalty.

You do know that MLB baseball is a pretty different sport than NCAA football, right?

As well as you know that 2008 is pretty different from 2009.

Sort of.  In the early season, part of where a team is ranked is based on how they performed the year before.  It takes a while to shake out, but generally the cream rises to the top eventually.  I don't really know what that means, but I do know Iowa won't be there at the top at the end.  Of the season.

[BC]

Man, SKO has a pretty strong anti-Iowa obsession going. You'd think he was going to team up with Deon Thomas and knock off Bruce Pearl.  

Now that's a statement that I can support.

[SKO]

Man, SKO has a pretty strong anti-Iowa obsession going. You'd think he was going to team up with Deon Thomas and knock off Bruce Pearl.  

Now that's a statement that I can support.

I just don't get how since I am an Illinois fan, and thus biased against Iowa, my argument (despite the cold, rational stats and whatnot) was somehow tainted, but the argument in support of Iowa Wasn't biased, despite the fact that they are Iowa fans and alums.

[Dave B]

Here's one for SKO's "margin of victory":

http://thenationalchampionshipissue.blogspot.com/2009/10/rankings-week-8.html

[Powdered Toast Man]

Man, SKO has a pretty strong anti-Iowa obsession going. You'd think he was going to team up with Deon Thomas and knock off Bruce Pearl.  

Now that's a statement that I can support.

I just don't get how since I am an Illinois fan, and thus biased against Iowa, my argument (despite the cold, rational stats and whatnot) was somehow tainted, but the argument in support of Iowa Wasn't biased, despite the fact that they are Iowa fans and alums.

You said taint.

[SKO]

Here's one for SKO's "margin of victory":

http://thenationalchampionshipissue.blogspot.com/2009/10/rankings-week-8.html

He doesn't give or take away any point from Iowa for playing a I-AA opponent in Northern Iowa, but takes away points from Alabama for defeating a shitty I-A opponent in North Texas? I don't see why the win over Northern Iowa, at home, by just 1 pt, doesn't factor in as "negative points", while a thumping of North Texas does. Also he awards more points for road victories, while lessening the value of the Virginia Tech win because it was played at a neutral site. Also, his #13 team in the nation is Central Michigan, so I'm forced to question his methods.

Also, here's an interesting stat:

Here's the points Iowa's scored vs. their opponents (other than UNI, but let the record show they managed just 17 points), and what those opponents have allowed to other BCS schools (not the FCS or the Non-BCS conference cupcakes)

Iowa State- Iowa 35, Others 20.5
Arizona- Iowa 27, Others 29.8
Penn State- Iowa 21 (although 9 of those came from a blocked punt td and a safety), Others 8.5
Arkansas State- Iowa 24, Others 38
Michigan- Iowa 30, Others 32
Wisconsin- Iowa 20, Others 29.7
Michigan State- Iowa 15, Others 23.8

So for the most part, other than the Iowa State game and the Penn State game (both of which were inflated by the turnovers), Iowa has struggled to even meet the scoring averages those defenses are allowing to other BCS schools. They are winning solely by defense and defense alone. How's that going to work when they run into Florida, Alabama, or Texas, all three of which are higher than Iowa in both scoring offense and defense?

[Chuck to Chuck]

How's that going to work when they run into Florida, Alabama, or Texas, all three of which are higher than Iowa in both scoring offense and defense?

Sucks that offense is the whole game.

[SKO]

How's that going to work when they run into Florida, Alabama, or Texas, all three of which are higher than Iowa in both scoring offense and defense?

Sucks that offense is the whole game.

Sucks that you can't read, you twit.

[SKO]

DPD- Here's Jeff Sagarin's rankings, which also factor in margin of victory. Iowa's at #4. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt09.htm

Do I subscribe to this? No, he has Texas at #10 and Georgia Tech somehow behind Virginia Tech, despite GT's win over VT. I don't put much faith at all into the computer rankings, as far too often the computer's #1 (2002 Miami, 2005 USC, 2006 Ohio State, 2007 Ohio State) gets the living shit kicked out of them. But my point is I can find a computer ranking saying Iowa isn't #1. MAYB TEH COMPUTERS AREN"T INFAILABUL. And before you thrash Sagarin, he's one of the guys the BCS actually consults.

[Dave B]

So you only subscribe to computers that support your cause?

[SKO]

So you only subscribe to computers that support your cause?

Except that one does support my cause, in that Iowa isn't #1. My argument isn't merely that Texas is better than Iowa, although they are. My argument is that Iowa does not under any circumstance belong in a national title game. In general I don't support any computer rankings. My point is that if you want to use some asshole's random blog for computer rankings, I can find another guy that has his own methodology that doesn't have them at #1. The point is that just because something is compiled on a computer, that doesn't mean there isn't such a thing as human error.

[MAD]

I was on the Iowa bandwagon big time when Chuck Long was leading the troops.  And then Ronnie Harmon fumbled 11 times in the Rose Bowl.

Never again.