Badgers Football 2019

[homer]

I agree with Cowherd, unfortunately. It's a sad statement about college football that the #1 team in the country could be a 2 TD favorite (and 5 actual touchdowns better) than the #4 team in the country.

 

Oklahoma earned the 4 seed, but they are far from the #4 team in the country.

 

Far from it? Then who? Oregon? UW? PSU? C'mon. All of these teams are flawed too. It's likelier that there just isn't a 4th team as close to as good as the top 3 this year.

 

Georgia and Alabama are probably better than Oklahoma

[homer]

What college football could use are good coaching hires at USC and Texas. Need to start spreading the recruits around a little more.

[LouisEly]

I'm surprised no one has brought up the fumble non catch.

 

I watched it about 5 times and am shocked they called in no catch. The ref just came out and said that the ball was coming loose as he moved. I dont see that. Anyone see it differently?

It was a catch, but it could also have been argued that forward progress had been stopped, as the receiver was going backwards being driven by the defender and not on his own.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I'm surprised no one has brought up the fumble non catch.

 

I watched it about 5 times and am shocked they called in no catch. The ref just came out and said that the ball was coming loose as he moved. I dont see that. Anyone see it differently?

It was a catch, but it could also have been argued that forward progress had been stopped, as the receiver was going backwards being driven by the defender and not on his own.

 

I would disagree with that, as he had taken 3 steps, but only 3 steps. At that point it's hard to say that the play was definitely "over". Pretty hard to find a ref that's going to blow a whistle on forward progress that quickly I think.

[adambr2]

Georgia and Alabama are probably better than Oklahoma

 

I dunno. LSU blew out Georgia by 4 TDs. Maybe Bama would be in that group with Tua, but not without. I guess maybe either is better than Oklahoma but still a far cry from the top 3.

[homer]

Georgia and Alabama are probably better than Oklahoma

 

I dunno. LSU blew out Georgia by 4 TDs. Maybe Bama would be in that group with Tua, but not without. I guess maybe either is better than Oklahoma but still a far cry from the top 3.

 

The question was if anyone else deserved the 4 seed.

[adambr2]

Georgia and Alabama are probably better than Oklahoma

 

I dunno. LSU blew out Georgia by 4 TDs. Maybe Bama would be in that group with Tua, but not without. I guess maybe either is better than Oklahoma but still a far cry from the top 3.

 

The question was if anyone else deserved the 4 seed.

 

And my position is that all 3 of those teams are basically on the same tier and none would have given LSU a competitive game. Oklahoma did deserve the 4 seed over the others based on a 1 loss season and winning a Power 5 conference.

[areacodes]

The question was if anyone else deserved the 4 seed.

 

And my position is that all 3 of those teams are basically on the same tier and none would have given LSU a competitive game. Oklahoma did deserve the 4 seed over the others based on a 1 loss season and winning a Power 5 conference.

 

But how much of that is due to LSU being exceptional this year vs it being some indictment of the playoffs?

 

The 4 seed has won two titles with this set up, so there are (and will be) years where they will be more than competitive with the top seed.

[stalton]

I think that the point that most of people are getting at, is that from year to year there are different amounts of teams in the top tier. This year arguably was 3. Past couple of years was most likely a couple more. No matter if its 2,4,6, or 8; There are going to be some years where some team is in the playoffs despite not being in the top level, and some years where somebody deserving will get shut out. All this, IMO.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I think that the point that most of people are getting at, is that from year to year there are different amounts of teams in the top tier. This year arguably was 3. Past couple of years was most likely a couple more. No matter if its 2,4,6, or 8; There are going to be some years where some team is in the playoffs despite not being in the top level, and some years where somebody deserving will get shut out. All this, IMO.

 

 

That is definitely the point I was making.

[owbc]

I'm coming to realize that the combination of making the playoff a big deal and making it nearly impossible to get into the playoff is a problem. Maybe the committee should just pick the 2 best performers from the NY6 winners to play for the championship.

[Fear The Chorizo]

I'm coming to realize that the combination of making the playoff a big deal and making it nearly impossible to get into the playoff is a problem. Maybe the committee should just pick the 2 best performers from the NY6 winners to play for the championship.

 

I'm firmly in the camp of having a sort of automatic qualifier setup for the college playoff with 1 at large bid. This would largely diminish the influence of preseason rankings, which all but make it impossible for teams outside the september top ten having a shot to jump teams in front of them unless they lose multiple times.

 

All 5 power 5 conference champs, plus 1 at large qualifier. This would incentivize winning your conference in order to win a title, and still have room for a deserving at large bid from a stacked conference or a deserving non power conference team. Seed those 6 teams based on body of work, giving the top 2 teams a bye in the playoff.

 

Setting it up this way inadvertently may incentivize top recruits spreading themselves out a bit more to improve conference parity. Right now the best all know the 6 or 7 programs they need to pick from to if they have any hope of playing in the playoff.

[LouisEly]

Berger isn't going to LSU, I don't believe there is any offer out there from LSU at this point either.

Berger will announce his commitment on January 4th, and his five finalists are Wisconsin, UCLA, Penn State, Rutgers, and LSU.

 

FWIW, Berger has only made two official campus visits - Wisconsin and UCLA.

 

https://247sports.com/college/wisconsin/Article/Jalen-Berger-Don-Bosco-Prep-Names-Five-Finalists-Wisconsin-Badgers-Football-Recruiting-141114216/

Berger reportedly told 24/7 Sports that he will choose a school that he made an official visit to.

 

https://247sports.com/college/wisconsin/Article/247Sports-Crystal-Ball-Forecast-Top247-RB-to-Wisconsin-141372278/

 

If true, that means either Wisconsin or UCLA.

[homer]

FYI I'll leave this thread open for discussion on the title game. Next year we will do a misc college football thread for non Badgers news.

[nate82]

The Badgers offense looks to be really bad at WR next year are we sure we want Mertz starting with what looks to be a well below average receiving group?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

The Badgers offense looks to be really bad at WR next year are we sure we want Mertz starting with what looks to be a well below average receiving group?

 

I don't think it's a guarantee that Cephus declares in what looks like it's going to be a completely stacked WR draft class this year. He may choose to come back to be a focal point of next year's offense, and perhaps strengthen his draft stock.

[nate82]

 

I don't think it's a guarantee that Cephus declares in what looks like it's going to be a completely stacked WR draft class this year. He may choose to come back to be a focal point of next year's offense, and perhaps strengthen his draft stock.

 

I think the chances of Cephus returning is at about 5%. If Cephus comes back he might be able to get his stock value up to a 2nd round pick which probably doesn't change all that much of where he would be picked in this upcoming draft. Cephus looks to be a 3rd-5th round draft pick and if he come back he could maybe boost his value into a 2nd round pick. I don't think it would be wise for him to come back and risk injury to improve his draft position.

[PeaveyFury]

 

I don't think it's a guarantee that Cephus declares in what looks like it's going to be a completely stacked WR draft class this year. He may choose to come back to be a focal point of next year's offense, and perhaps strengthen his draft stock.

 

I think the chances of Cephus returning is at about 5%. If Cephus comes back he might be able to get his stock value up to a 2nd round pick which probably doesn't change all that much of where he would be picked in this upcoming draft. Cephus looks to be a 3rd-5th round draft pick and if he come back he could maybe boost his value into a 2nd round pick. I don't think it would be wise for him to come back and risk injury to improve his draft position.

 

I don't think this is accurate. If Mertz is as good as people on the internet seem to think he is, he could really benefit from a more open offense, and in a weaker draft, climb higher. And the different between a 5th round pick and a 2nd is pretty significant as it is.

[MrTPlush]

Mertz is a Sophomore with zero game experience and in an offense heavily skewed towards running the ball. Even with a hideous backfield compared to the last three years I doubt we suddenly start slinging it around like that.

 

Mertz could light the world on fire, but that is so far from a sure thing. Not to mention Mertz may, heck...probably won’t be the starting QB come August.

[homer]

Mertz will be a redshirt freshman next year but your point stands.

[LouisEly]

 

I don't think it's a guarantee that Cephus declares in what looks like it's going to be a completely stacked WR draft class this year. He may choose to come back to be a focal point of next year's offense, and perhaps strengthen his draft stock.

 

I think the chances of Cephus returning is at about 5%. If Cephus comes back he might be able to get his stock value up to a 2nd round pick which probably doesn't change all that much of where he would be picked in this upcoming draft. Cephus looks to be a 3rd-5th round draft pick and if he come back he could maybe boost his value into a 2nd round pick. I don't think it would be wise for him to come back and risk injury to improve his draft position.

I would not be surprised if the draft advisory committee comes back and says that teams want to see him stay out of trouble for another year. The talent is there, the film will show that, and while he was found not guilty of rape he wasn't an angel that night and the court of public opinion might be harsh on a team taking a chance on him with that incident not that far in the rearview mirror.

 

I'm also pretty sure that he LOVES his teammates and that Coach Gilmore has been more than a father figure to him. Leaving is not going to be an entirely logical decision for him - it will be a very emotional decision too.

[LouisEly]

FYI I'll leave this thread open for discussion on the title game. Next year we will do a misc college football thread for non Badgers news.

We did one this year:

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/viewtopic.php?f=156&t=39117

[nate82]

 

I don't think this is accurate. If Mertz is as good as people on the internet seem to think he is, he could really benefit from a more open offense, and in a weaker draft, climb higher. And the different between a 5th round pick and a 2nd is pretty significant as it is.

 

I don't believe Cephus coming back for another year is going to change his draft stock all that much. He will go from a 3-5 round pick to a 2-4 round pick and if he gets injured he could slot all the way back to the later rounds. I just don't think the risk of him getting injured is worth moving up one round in his draft grade. If he is being told he won't be picked until the 6th or 7th round then yeah he should definitely return as the injury risk is negated.

[adambr2]

Just my own speculation, but if Cephus is on the fence I would think his court situation probably breaks the tie. Bad memories, probably looking for a fresh start. I don't think he probably wants to continue hanging around UW; he had no choice but to do so this year once reinstated.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Just my own speculation, but if Cephus is on the fence I would think his court situation probably breaks the tie. Bad memories, probably looking for a fresh start. I don't think he probably wants to continue hanging around UW; he had no choice but to do so this year once reinstated.

 

He could have very easily transferred. Cephus stated several times, though, that he was only interested in staying at UW and playing football. I think given how stacked the WR draft class is this year that there's at least a decent possibility he's back next season.