2021 Miscellaneous College Football Thread

[DuWayne Steurer]

Cincy beat Notre Dame. Okie State had a slim chance to make an argument, and (literally) fell inches short yesterday. There's not a single team in the ACC, Pac 12, or Big 12 that has less than 2 losses. They're *all* out.

 

Michigan WHOOPED Ohio State, and then destroyed Iowa. The only mystery today should be whether Michigan or Georgia is #2, and that honestly doesn't matter.

 

Alabama vs. Cincy, and Georgia vs. Michigan.

[PinaMadness]

Everything coming up Cincinnati it seems. Wow. This is why we need expanded playoffs.

Why? Every year in the middle of the college football season people start chirping about how they need expanded playoffs, and every year by the end of the season everything shakes out so that there are four deserving teams and no teams left out that aren't deserving. This year you have five teams in consideration - Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame and Cincinnati beat Notre Dame. Notre Dame only played one school that finished the year ranked and they lost to them.

 

Really, who else deserves to be in this year? If the argument is non-Power 5 teams should be included, I agree - but that doesn't mean expansion, that means put an undefeated non-Power 5 team in the 4-team playoff.

Agreed. We already have blowouts in the semi finals. Why expand to have four more teams to get blown out as well? You could expand the playoffs to 64 teams like basketball and #65-68 will complain they should be in as well, just like basketball. In fact, I think NFL, NHL and NBA should reduce the amount of teams in the playoffs, and MLB should eliminate the wild card game. Expansion just rewards mediocrity.

[Fear The Chorizo]

The disparity between the East and West in the big 10 is pretty stark and embarrassing.

 

You could say the exact same thing about the SEC, just reverse the directions.

[adambr2]

Cincy beat Notre Dame. Okie State had a slim chance to make an argument, and (literally) fell inches short yesterday. There's not a single team in the ACC, Pac 12, or Big 12 that has less than 2 losses. They're *all* out.

 

Michigan WHOOPED Ohio State, and then destroyed Iowa. The only mystery today should be whether Michigan or Georgia is #2, and that honestly doesn't matter.

 

Alabama vs. Cincy, and Georgia vs. Michigan.

 

Yeah that's what I'm thinking.

 

Michigan/Georgia should be a fun matchup. Bama/Cincy probably not so much but I would love to see a shocker.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Bama probably smacks Cincy by 20. If Georgia's defense couldn't slow down Bama, I don't see how Cincy does. Of course, it took Bama overtime to put up 24 points on Auburn. Not to say that Cincy didn't earn the trip to the playoffs, they absolutely did, by beating ND, and then pretty much destroying everyone else on their schedule, as that's pretty much all you can do as a non P5 team.

 

I have a gut feeling we're going to see a Bama/Georgia rematch, and outside of deep south, I can't imagine anyone's too interested in that.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Bama probably smacks Cincy by 20. If Georgia's defense couldn't slow down Bama, I don't see how Cincy does. Of course, it took Bama overtime to put up 24 points on Auburn. Not to say that Cincy didn't earn the trip to the playoffs, they absolutely did, by beating ND, and then pretty much destroying everyone else on their schedule, as that's pretty much all you can do as a non P5 team.

 

I have a gut feeling we're going to see a Bama/Georgia rematch, and outside of deep south, I can't imagine anyone's too interested in that.

 

I think it's much more of a crapshoot, simply because I don't think there is a truly great team this year. I look at the body of work between Alabama and Georgia, and outside of the SEC title game they really haven't won a game against a quality opponent aside from Bama over Ole miss when they were playing without their best WR and lost some other key players early that game. I thing UGA's defense got exposed more by playing a good offense moreso than it just being Alabama being greater offensively than a great defense.

 

Michigan actually has by far the best resume and should be rated #1 headed into the CFP. I'd actually really hope Bama and UGA are #2 and #3 and have to play each other for a shot at the title.

[nodakfan17]

The presumed CFP field is fair.

 

Notre Dame was the only 1-loss team left out and I LOVE IT. It’s not fair that everyone else has to play an extra conference championship game against a ranked opponent while they sit idle and wait to back in.

[owbc]

Wait, some people think Michigan shouldn’t be the 1-seed?

[DuWayne Steurer]

Wait, some people think Michigan shouldn’t be the 1-seed?

 

 

I'm going on the assumption that the committee is going to jump Alabama to #1. I could be wrong, but I'm going to stick with that until proven wrong.

 

The bigger takeaway is there's people that think Michigan doesn't belong in the CFP. I mean, if there's an argument for that, I want to legitimately hear it.

[LouisEly]

Wait, some people think Michigan shouldn’t be the 1-seed?

Weren't their fans calling for their coach to be fired after consecutive 2-4, 9-4, 10-3, 8-5 seasons? A coach who, prior to this year, was 49-22 in his career (61% winning percentage) and had never beaten their biggest rival and was 3-4 against their second biggest rival?

[young guns]

Everything coming up Cincinnati it seems. Wow. This is why we need expanded playoffs.

Why? Every year in the middle of the college football season people start chirping about how they need expanded playoffs, and every year by the end of the season everything shakes out so that there are four deserving teams and no teams left out that aren't deserving. This year you have five teams in consideration - Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame and Cincinnati beat Notre Dame. Notre Dame only played one school that finished the year ranked and they lost to them.

 

Really, who else deserves to be in this year? If the argument is non-Power 5 teams should be included, I agree - but that doesn't mean expansion, that means put an undefeated non-Power 5 team in the 4-team playoff.

I pretty much laid out my reasoning in the rest of my post, but here's a reminder. I want to see each conference champion get a shot at it so that they all matter, and I don't want to see the sec championship not matter. I don't know how you can say that both Alabama and Georgia are both deserving just because they are swc schools when the criticism of both of them are their soft schedules. I do think Utah, Baylor, and Pittsburgh are all deserving, and it's fine if you disagree, but that's my opinion. Specifically looking at Utah, they destroyed Oregon twice and you would probably say that Oregon has a huge talent advantage between the 2, yet that's basically why Georgia would get picked over them, they are better on paper.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The conference championships do matter. Utah went out there and poured everything they had into blasting Oregon into the center of the sun, to earn a trip to the Rose Bowl. It might not matter to casual college fans, but it certainly mattered to Utah, and their fans.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Wait, some people think Michigan shouldn’t be the 1-seed?

 

 

As expected, Alabama gets the 1 seed, Michigan 2, Georgia 3, and Cincy 4.

 

Not surprised.

[JosephC]

I'm not an SEC fan at all. I also hate Michigan. I'm not naive enough to think Cincinnati has a chance. So I'm hoping the final game will be Alabama and Georgia and Alabama will win by 17 points so everyone can say, "Didn't we just watch this same game a few weeks ago?"

 

Not a fan of having second-place teams included in a format that only has 4 teams.

[BruisedCrew]

Wait, some people think Michigan shouldn’t be the 1-seed?

Weren't their fans calling for their coach to be fired after consecutive 2-4, 9-4, 10-3, 8-5 seasons? A coach who, prior to this year, was 49-22 in his career (61% winning percentage) and had never beaten their biggest rival and was 3-4 against their second biggest rival?

 

Some fans were calling for Harbaugh to be fired, while others raised the legitimate question of who Michigan could get that would be able to beat OSU without being willing to play by the same rules the Buckeyes do.

 

Those calling for his head also seemed to forget the Rodriguez/Hoke years and that basically nobody in the B10 has beaten OSU over the last several years except for an occasional slip up.

[JosephC]

I was thinking Utah had only lost 2 games and had to go look up how they got to 3 losses. Wow, they lost games this year to both BYU and San Diego State and then go on to win the last 6 Pac 12 games and put an absolute whipping on Oregon 2 times. My my, what has happened to the once proud (then) Pac 10?

 

And looking back, how in the world did Ohio State lose that game to Oregon? If they would have won that game, they would have been in somewhat similar situation to Georgia. Georgia goes undefeated, loses in the championship game to Alabama and finishes with 1 loss and is in the playoffs. Would have happened 1 week earlier with Ohio State....goes undefeated, probably would have been ranked #2 going into the Michigan game...loses to Michigan. Would a 1 loss Ohio State team have been in the playoffs ahead of Cincinnati? Very likely so. Kind of why I like limited playoff formats. All games matter.

[LouisEly]

Wait, some people think Michigan shouldn’t be the 1-seed?

Weren't their fans calling for their coach to be fired after consecutive 2-4, 9-4, 10-3, 8-5 seasons? A coach who, prior to this year, was 49-22 in his career (61% winning percentage) and had never beaten their biggest rival and was 3-4 against their second biggest rival?

 

Some fans were calling for Harbaugh to be fired, while others raised the legitimate question of who Michigan could get that would be able to beat OSU without being willing to play by the same rules the Buckeyes do.

 

Those calling for his head also seemed to forget the Rodriguez/Hoke years and that basically nobody in the B10 has beaten OSU over the last several years except for an occasional slip up.

I'm alluding to the people who are clamoring for Paul Chryst to be fired, when Chryst has had a better winning % at UW than Harbaugh had prior to this season. And not acknowledging the same issues with replacing Chryst that you brought up.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I'm alluding to the people who are clamoring for Paul Chryst to be fired, when Chryst has had a better winning % at UW than Harbaugh had prior to this season. And not acknowledging the same issues with replacing Chryst that you brought up.

 

 

I think it's relevant to point out that every job, every position, and every coach should be criticized and praised for his own merits and failures, not just "coach X has a better win % than coach Y or Z, therefore is better".

 

I'm not going to get into the Coach CHryst debate in this thread, as it's not the place for it. I will say that Michigan fans had every right to question keeping Harbaugh around given his record against their cross-border rival. Good for him. He got it done this year. He's 1-9 against OSU, and fair or not, that's one of the measuring sticks for success at Michigan.

[wOOgiE22]

I'm alluding to the people who are clamoring for Paul Chryst to be fired, when Chryst has had a better winning % at UW than Harbaugh had prior to this season. And not acknowledging the same issues with replacing Chryst that you brought up.

 

 

I think it's relevant to point out that every job, every position, and every coach should be criticized and praised for his own merits and failures, not just "coach X has a better win % than coach Y or Z, therefore is better".

 

I'm not going to get into the Coach CHryst debate in this thread, as it's not the place for it. I will say that Michigan fans had every right to question keeping Harbaugh around given his record against their cross-border rival. Good for him. He got it done this year. He's 1-9 against OSU, and fair or not, that's one of the measuring sticks for success at Michigan.

 

I’m a Michigan fan and will admit I was questioning Harbaugh after last season. However, he went out this off-season and re-tooled his coaching staff with young, energetic coaches. This seemed to pay off as it lit a fire with this specific group. We will see if this momentum carries over from the CFP. If he comes back and lays eggs against Ohio St and Michigan St in the future his seat will be hot. Those 2 games define success for a Michigan coach.

[BruisedCrew]

I'm alluding to the people who are clamoring for Paul Chryst to be fired, when Chryst has had a better winning % at UW than Harbaugh had prior to this season. And not acknowledging the same issues with replacing Chryst that you brought up.

 

 

I think it's relevant to point out that every job, every position, and every coach should be criticized and praised for his own merits and failures, not just "coach X has a better win % than coach Y or Z, therefore is better".

 

I'm not going to get into the Coach CHryst debate in this thread, as it's not the place for it. I will say that Michigan fans had every right to question keeping Harbaugh around given his record against their cross-border rival. Good for him. He got it done this year. He's 1-9 against OSU, and fair or not, that's one of the measuring sticks for success at Michigan.

 

For the record, Harbaugh is now 1-5 against OSU.

[MadThinker88]

I'm alluding to the people who are clamoring for Paul Chryst to be fired, when Chryst has had a better winning % at UW than Harbaugh had prior to this season. And not acknowledging the same issues with replacing Chryst that you brought up.

 

 

I think it's relevant to point out that every job, every position, and every coach should be criticized and praised for his own merits and failures, not just "coach X has a better win % than coach Y or Z, therefore is better".

 

I'm not going to get into the Coach CHryst debate in this thread, as it's not the place for it. I will say that Michigan fans had every right to question keeping Harbaugh around given his record against their cross-border rival. Good for him. He got it done this year. He's 1-9 against OSU, and fair or not, that's one of the measuring sticks for success at Michigan.

 

For the record, Harbaugh is now 1-5 against OSU.

 

Since John Cooper (2-10-1 record in 'The Game') was pushed out of Columbus in late 2000, Michigan has won 'The Game' only 3 times:

1 time over Jim Tressel in Ann Arbor (2003, 35-21)

1 time over interim coach Luke Fickel in Ann Arbor (2011 40-34)

1 time over Ryan Day in Ann Arbor (2021 42-27)

[BruisedCrew]

It’s no secret that, in the last 15-20 years, the Buckeyes have “elevated” their program to be more like the SEC powers, and they have left everyone else, including Michigan, behind.

 

In the last 17 seasons, O$U has only lost 15 conference games, and 5 of those came in 2011 when the Buckeyes were dealing with the sanctions brought on by Jim Tressel’s “indiscretions”.

 

In the last 10 seasons, the Buckeyes have lost only 6 conference games: 2 to MSU, and 1 to each to Michigan, Penn State, Iowa, and Purdue. Wisconsin, the bell cow of the Big 10 West, is 0-7 against them.

 

No program in the Big 10 has been able to beat the Buckeyes much since Cooper left.

[nodakfan17]

All scholarship Texas Longhorn offensive linemen are getting $50K per year from a booster group. I thought the terms of NIL meant you at least had to film some commercials or sign autographs, but this seems like just a direct cash payment.

 

What is college football going to look like in 5 years? Wow.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/no-nil-money-no-recruits-231127787.html

[DuWayne Steurer]

All scholarship Texas Longhorn offensive linemen are getting $50K per year from a booster group. I thought the terms of NIL meant you at least had to film some commercials or sign autographs, but this seems like just a direct cash payment.

 

What is college football going to look like in 5 years? Wow.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/no-nil-money-no-recruits-231127787.html

 

"for participating in charitable causes"

[owbc]

If the coaches are making 10 million per year, the players should be making millions per year as well.

 

If it leads to competitive imbalance, that can be fixed in other ways.