2017 Wisconsin Football Thread

[CheeseheadInQC]

If we lost, what bowl would we get relegated to? Vs. who? Ohio st and the Pac-10 won't have the Rose Bowl and you take those champions vs. eachother? We'd probably get Miami after losing to Clemson so then a game where winning would only drop us 1-2 spots in rankings, and losing drop us 3-4. So at this stage, WI will finish either ranked 9-12 or top 5.

 

Yah, Wisconsin is locked in for a New Year's 6 bowl even with a loss to Ohio State. It probably will be the top three in the Big Ten and SEC, the top two in the ACC, the Pac-12 champ, the AAC champ, Oklahoma and either TCU if they win or Notre Dame or Washington if TCU loses.

[LouisEly]

Clemson vs Miami - winner is in, loser is out. Clemson lost to a 4-8 team, Miami lost to a 5-7 team. UW should be ranked higher than both. Hell, if UW loses they should be in over those two because their one loss will be to Ohio State. Much "better loss" than either of Clemson's or Miami's.

Oklahoma wins and they are in.

Auburn vs Georgia - not sure if Auburn is in if they win. They've never taken a 2-loss team before. If Georgia wins they are in.

Then you have WI versus Alabama. I hope the committee sees that Alabama's wins (Miss St, LSU, next is probably Fresno State) are less impressive than WI's wins (Northwestern, Michigan, Iowa, Florida Atlantic, assuming Ohio State).

 

Breaking - rumors that Ohio State DC Greg Schiano is heading to Tennessee. Then the Barrett/photographer fiasco. Lots of distractions for Ohio State this week.

[RockCoCougars]

Bottom line is Saturday should be treated as the first round of the playoffs by UW. Win and you advance, lose and championship hope is gone. Right or wrong, Bama is getting in, and OSU will get in if they win and Oklahoma falters. That leaves two sec teams along with winner of Miami/Clemson.

[nodakfan17]

Assuming UCF wins The American championship game next weekend and remains undefeated, they deserve to be in the CFP over any 2-loss Power 5 team.

[paul253]

If Auburn wins they are in. They have beaten the playoff committees number 1 team twice. They’ll have also beaten Georgia a second time when Georgia is probably 6 or 7. Their losses aren’t terrible either. Clemson and LSU.

 

I think it gets interesting if Ohio St beats Wisconsin. Ohio St will have two losses but will have a better resume by far than Alabama. Plus they will be a conference champion.

[lcbj68c]

 

Breaking - rumors that Ohio State DC Greg Schiano is heading to Tennessee. Then the Barrett/photographer fiasco. Lots of distractions for Ohio State this week.

 

 

Schiano no longer heading to Tennessee.

 

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/21579125/tennessee-volunteers-no-longer-hire-greg-schiano-head-coach

[bani1717]

Based on everything I've read and observed, I think the main thing the committee looks at is who a team has beaten (i.e. strength if victory) and W-L record. In a hypothetical example, if you play four top 25 teams and beat all of them, but lose to two unranked teams, that looks a lot better in the committee's eyes than going 8-0 against unranked teams and 2-2 against top 25 teams. Obviously both of those are very good resumes, but an "average" top 25 team could go 8-0 against unranked teams and 2-2 against the top 25. Whereas a team that goes 4-0 against the top 25 but 6-2 against unranked teams would be viewed as more of a great team that had an off day or two. Also, a team that is 4-0 against the top 25 and 6-2 against everyone else could be ranked ahead of a team that is 2-0 against the top 25 and 10-0 against everyone else. Those are just hypotheticals, the committee doesn't necessarily use top 25 as the lone cutoff of a "good" vs "bad" win, but that is my general understanding and belief of what the committee looks at first.

 

Also, along with that, Barry Alvarez as a former committee member came right out and said that a loss is a loss and there is no such thing as a good loss. So I think every team's number of losses are weighed against their strength of victory.

 

After this "strength of victory" and W-L record criteria, I think the committee then uses their other published criteria (head to head, common opponents, winning a conference championship) to finalize the rankings.

 

In my mind there is no way Alabama is above Wisconsin this week. They do not have any overly impressive wins and they have a loss. Wisconsin has a similar resume for wins but zero losses.

 

Also, Herbstreit last night argued for some pretty BS rankings. He said Auburn 1, Clemson 2 (not sure that's possible when one loss Clemson beat two loss Auburn this year), Oklahoma 3, Georgia 4, Wisconsin 5 (not sure how Georgia jumps Wisconsin when both played weak opponents), Alabama 6. He seemed to be really reaching just to keep an SEC team #1 and keep a second SEC team in the top four.

[lcbj68c]

I realize that CFP rankings are all the rage and all that really matters. Just wanted to point out that Wisconsin moved to #3 in the AP and the coaches polls. Does anybody know the last time Wisconsin made it that high in the AP polls?

Also, they got 10 first place votes. And 21 first place votes in the coaches poll, just a few points behind #1 overall. When is the last time Wisconsin got that many first place votes?

 

IF, IF, IF we can beat Ohio State on Saturday in Indianapolis, I am hopeful for the Rose Bowl, as I would drive over from my home in Salt Lake City to go to my first Rose Bowl. It's my understanding that the #1 seed goes to their closest stadium? But New Orleans is 1000 miles from Madison and Pasadena is 2000 miles. If Wisconsin is a #1, wouldn't it just make more sense to allow them to go to the bowl where the Big Ten champ usually goes? My best case scenario has Wisconsin winning and getting a #3 seed playing a #2 seed Oklahoma. Auburn and Clemson playing as #1 and #4 in the Sugar Bowl.

[homer]

I realize that CFP rankings are all the rage and all that really matters. Just wanted to point out that Wisconsin moved to #3 in the AP and the coaches polls. Does anybody know the last time Wisconsin made it that high in the AP polls?

 

 

1962 I believe.

[PeaveyFury]

As others have said, if Alabama is behind us in this week's rankings, a win practically guarantees a spot.

 

I'm not convinced that the rest are locks either. I think TCU or Miami could pull off wins that would make us in with a win, and potentially the 3. It's nice that we're the last game of the day on Saturday.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Also, skeptics continue to point out the drubbing wisky took in 2014 at the hands of osu as some sort of recent comparable that automatically means the buckeyes will dominate this saturday....my guess is there are maybe 10 players total left on both squads from that game, and most all of them had insignificant roles in that game.

 

They also fail to mention the ot game between the same teams last season that the badgers probably should have won...I think it's pointless to argue past years matchups on college football because there is so much turnover in rosters due to graduations, the nfl, and influx of younger players. However, a game from only 1 tear ago seems to be a better measuring stick than one played in 2014, which the badgers had a different coach.

 

That osu team was absolutely loaded with NFL ready talent, too...I think this year's osu team is talented, but they are more inexperienced at key spots (ie, they don't have 15 guys who will be playing in the NFL next year)

[pacopete4]

The Badgers getting blown out will hurt a lot. Not only as it kills this season but it will affect other, future seasons as well. The Badgers need to start winning these types of games if they ever want to jump up into the being taken seriously on a yearly basis. They're so close. Just need to win and compete in the final four to start getting some respect as one of the top programs in college football.

[adambr2]

Also, along with that, Barry Alvarez as a former committee member came right out and said that a loss is a loss and there is no such thing as a good loss. So I think every team's number of losses are weighed against their strength of victory.

 

Could have fooled me when Notre Dame lost by a point to Georgia and the committee seemed to treat it like a win and ranked Notre Dame as an elite for awhile despite not even being ranked pre-season.

[tmwiese55]

Here's how I see it.

 

Clemson/Miami winner is in, loser out.

 

Georgia/Auburn winner is in, loser is out.

 

Wisconsin and Oklahoma both control their own destiny and are in with wins. Both will be out with losses.

 

Bama is the first team in if either Wisconsin or Oklahoma fall. If neither do, they're out. If both do, door opens for one of Ohio State or TCU.

 

This should exactly be it.

 

Ran into several people after the game Saturday saying how bad it was that Bama lost and I just couldn't see it. If we win, we're in. Bama losing made it very unlikely that we'd have to play Bama (which looked inevitable beforehand). So it was a big plus in my opinion. Now, we just need Miami and UGA to win and I'd actually feel like we have a shot to win the whole thing...

[Baldkin]

I realize that CFP rankings are all the rage and all that really matters. Just wanted to point out that Wisconsin moved to #3 in the AP and the coaches polls. Does anybody know the last time Wisconsin made it that high in the AP polls?

 

 

1962 I believe.

 

Yep. They hit 4th a few times in the last 30 years, but never got over that hump.

 

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/wisconsin/

[owbc]

Paul Chryst didn't coach the 59-0 game so I also don't see how it is relevant at all. Wisconsin should win if they avoid turnovers on offense and avoid giving up big plays on defense.

[paul253]

My biggest concern about the rankings is that the members don’t just take this season into consideration. They’ll take recent history into consideration too. That’s why Clemson will be 1 and that’s why Alabama will be 5, in great position to get in if UW or Oklahoma loses.

[superfly]

What a joy it is to be able to think about this game for the next several days and get the dumpsterfire known as the Packers coaching staff off the mind.

[Fear The Chorizo]

My biggest concern about the rankings is that the members don’t just take this season into consideration. They’ll take recent history into consideration too. That’s why Clemson will be 1 and that’s why Alabama will be 5, in great position to get in if UW or Oklahoma loses.

 

That's why the system is still broken - SOS, eye test, perceived conference strength, etc. all are still a product of poorly constructed preseason top 25 rankings by the AP and Coaches Poll. If they want to keep the 4-team CFP system, I think the AP and Coaches polls shouldn't issue rankings until early November as well. To me, the CFP rankings start with the current top 25 as an initial benchmark, and evaluate everything else from there. The flaw in that line of thinking is that where teams start the season ranked sets the precedent for everything else. The SEC has no incentive adding a 9th conference game or scheduling quality OOC opponents from other power 5 conferences at true road game settings when the preseason AP poll had 6 of their teams ranked in the top 25, including Tennessee and Florida. All they need to do is have most of their teams hold serve against OOC cupcakes and they'll always have 2-3 teams within striking distance of the top 4 come conference championship saturday.

 

Teams lose so many players due to graduation and the NFL, and gain so much talent via true and redshirt freshmen coming in, that a preseason ranking is shortsighted - it basically amounts to which programs have had the best perceived recruiting classes and tends to reward previous year's success without considering who's still on the team.

 

I'd be really interested in how different the AP, Coaches, and CFP rankings would look if they were all initially issued the first tuesday in November. By then everyone would have understood that FSU and the SEC east were largely garbage this year, the SEC overall is down aside from the top 2-3 programs (lessening SOS's for those teams), Wisconsin's OOC slate this year actually wasn't that cupcake-y, and the Big 12 essentially can't play defense.

[paul253]

The NCAA really needs to step in to the scheduling issue. First off, all conferences should be playing the same number of conference games. The SEC and the ACC have a HUGE advantage by playing only 8 games. Additionally, games against FCS teams shouldn’t be allowed. Alabama playing Mercer is a joke. Also, non conference games shouldn’t be allowed after a certain date unless they are either makeup games or games against FBS independent teams (i.e. Notre Dame).

 

With how big the playoff has become conferences have a huge incentive to get their teams in. And I’ve said for years the SEC, with how they handle their schedule, seems to do it with the sole purpose of rewarding their best teams and making sure they are in it at the end. How else does Alabama get a bye every single year before the LSU game? And when is the last time Alabama played a non conference true road game? I think it’s been over a decade.

[Fear The Chorizo]

The NCAA really needs to step in to the scheduling issue. First off, all conferences should be playing the same number of conference games. The SEC and the ACC have a HUGE advantage by playing only 8 games. Additionally, games against FCS teams shouldn’t be allowed. Alabama playing Mercer is a joke. Also, non conference games shouldn’t be allowed after a certain date unless they are either makeup games or games against FBS independent teams (i.e. Notre Dame).

 

With how big the playoff has become conferences have a huge incentive to get their teams in. And I’ve said for years the SEC, with how they handle their schedule, seems to do it with the sole purpose of rewarding their best teams and making sure they are in it at the end. How else does Alabama get a bye every single year before the LSU game? And when is the last time Alabama played a non conference true road game? I think it’s been over a decade.

 

100% agree - LSU has gone from unranked 3 weeks ago to rated near the top #15, jumping multiple 2 and 3 loss teams that didn't lose games either. Who did LSU beat during that time? Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas A&M - horrible teams with 15 wins total, of which 9 came against cupcakes outside the SEC. The only reason LSU keeps climbing is to bolster what is now Alabama's best win.

 

And with how the schedule plays out, Bama gets a bye every year before facing LSU and before the Iron Bowl against Auburn - since the SEC schedules Mercers of the world the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

[FVBrewerFan]

The NCAA really needs to step in to the scheduling issue. First off, all conferences should be playing the same number of conference games. The SEC and the ACC have a HUGE advantage by playing only 8 games. Additionally, games against FCS teams shouldn’t be allowed. Alabama playing Mercer is a joke. Also, non conference games shouldn’t be allowed after a certain date unless they are either makeup games or games against FBS independent teams (i.e. Notre Dame).

 

With how big the playoff has become conferences have a huge incentive to get their teams in. And I’ve said for years the SEC, with how they handle their schedule, seems to do it with the sole purpose of rewarding their best teams and making sure they are in it at the end. How else does Alabama get a bye every single year before the LSU game? And when is the last time Alabama played a non conference true road game? I think it’s been over a decade.

 

The NCAA is the problem in the first place. Now ask them to get involved in the scheduling? I ask you, how do you expect that to turn out?

 

I get what you're saying, I just don't think having the NCAA MORE involved is a solution.

[homer]

Also, skeptics continue to point out the drubbing wisky took in 2014 at the hands of osu as some sort of recent comparable that automatically means the buckeyes will dominate this saturday...

 

 

Wisconsin was actually favored in that game. Guess who's favored this year? OSU. Tables will be turned!

[madbad2000]

The debate will always be there until we see 4 super conferences....16 teams each....two 8-team divisions...4 conference champions battle for the title. Conference matchups in the semifinals rotate each year: Year 1 Big Ten vs SEC and Pac-10 vs ACC, Year 2, ACC vs Big Ten and SEC vs PAC-10, etc.

 

Big 12 splits to fill out Pac 10/Big 10 and Notre Dame finds a home in the ACC although it should be in Big 10.

[MadThinker88]

Also, skeptics continue to point out the drubbing wisky took in 2014 at the hands of osu as some sort of recent comparable that automatically means the buckeyes will dominate this saturday...

 

 

Wisconsin was actually favored in that game. Guess who's favored this year? OSU. Tables will be turned!

 

We shall see. Its why they still play the game.

Badgers were favored that time because NO ONE had an inkling what Cardale Jones would be able to do as QB. He was the 3rd string guy...

I recall seeing Jones play in HS and I was not expecting much at all. Knew he was large & could nearly throw the length of the field but I doubted his ability to read a defense or move away from pressure.

 

Urban got him into single read setups. Turned him loose running at 265 lbs. Once Cardale connected on a long deep pass for the 1st score he was completely confident in the game plan and at that point, the Badgers were toast.

 

I'm just hoping that whomever wins makes the 4 team playoff. The loser would be eliminated.

The Badgers could win & the committee could say the resume is very weak with 1 top 10 win & maybe 3 top 25 opponents.

The Buckeyes could win & the committee could say could say your a conference champ with 2 loses & that isn't good enough.