In the SEC, "Big XII," and in a rare year, the" BIg X," one loss would not necessarily disqualify a team from a chance to play for the mythical "national championship." One loss in the ACC will knock a team out of contention though. The ACC, PAC12 and Big East are truly "one and done" BCS conferences. The competition level is just not there top to bottom. That is exactly what happened to FSU yesterday. I watched most of the second half of play and FSU just did not look like a national contender. A good team sure. Top twenty no doubt. Top 10? Not so much.
I was a little surprised that they allowed a very average NC State team to hang around and ultimately win as seconds ticked away but that is exactly what happened. FSU may well win the ACC, and play in a "BCS Bowl,' but they have no shot at the Title game.
In other ACC news; has anyone noticed that Duke is just one victory away from being "bowl eligible?" With so may bowls now the Blue Devils are almost assured of getting one. Wouldn't it be interesting if they ran the table for the remainder of the year? Won't happen, but fun to think about. It is Duke football after all.
What did the Gator victory of LSU prove? Mostly that the Tigers were over rated this year. Other than the beat down over a very very average Washington squad early, they have just not played up to their potential. There have been warnings and alarm bells going off about the Tiger team this season. The games with North Texas and Towson were certainly indicators that LSU is not the same team that we are used to of late.
Does that mean that Florida is ready to vie for a national title? Probably not. They do appear to be a team to take very seriously though.
Has anyone noticed that the Aggies are rather quietly building a pretty good season in the SEC? They are certainly competing better than I thought they would in year one. Of course victories over Arkansas and Ole Miss don't mean much at this point....
Georgia's lackluster performance yesterday was somewhat of an anomaly perhaps. I have noted that the Bulldogs start off slow early in games this year, but tend to come back strong. That didn't work out so well yesterday. South Carolina proved they are the real deal for certain.
Which coach will be fired first. Gene at Auburn or John L. at Arkansas? Both will be gone at season's end. If not before.
In order to beat West Virginia a team will need a very good defense and at least an offense that is capable of matching scores. If the Mountaineers had a defense worth mentioning then it is quite possible that we would be discussing them as a contender for a national title. As it stands now, WVU is a very very good team, but greatness might allude them. They remind me a bit of the Texas Tech squads under Leach or the Houston teams under both Briles and Sumlin. Excellent offensive teams that just could not get over the hump due to horrific defense. The Texas team they met yesterday has both a good defense and a very capable offense and fell just short.
It is possible the WVU can overcome their defensive problem and win the Big Twelve? Very possible. It would be interesting to see the Mountaineers play a Bama. Georgia, SC, Oregon, or Florida in a BCS Bowl. Likely will happen. I can't include them as a contender for the Title game with that below average defense though. At least not yet.
Texas Tech and TCU were exposed yesterday. I figured as much frankly. TCU does not look the the Frog teams of the last few seasons and when you compound that with a suspended QB?.........The writing was on the wall there.
Am I the only one who thinks it is high time for Tuberville to catch the next flight out? Probably not. TTU will not compete in Big Twelve play with that coach. Just won't happen.
Oklahoma will be a top 10 team before all is said and done. Mark it. KSU? They may be able to stay there. Or not. Hard to say at this point. The Wildcats have a good defense and a bruising, methodical run game. Can such an offense compete long term in this age? We will see.
Is Ohio State the only team in the Big Ten that can play football? That appears to be the case this season. If the Buckeyes were not irrelevant due to sanctions, they might be worthy of discussion.
Oregon is hands down the best team in the PAC12. The other Oregon team ain't bad either. Stanford can play a little ball also but USC has been a disappointment for those who don't wish ill on the Trojans.A lackluster victory over Utah Thursday last doesn't quite mean USC is back. No one else deserves mention. Yes that means you UCLA.
Ohio survived a scare with a somewhat under rated Buffalo squad but came out on top. Ohio is a good team and would give quite a number of top 20 teams a run for their money. I will say the same about Louisiana Tech, Boise State, and perhaps Nevada. Good teams all.
Have I mentioned that Notre Dame appears to finally be back? Now that is a darn shame.
In local action; it seems that if the Cougars are not careful, they might just have a winning season. CUSA is dismal and that will certainly help them in that regard. Rice lost to Memphis and that pretty much says it all. I would imagine that this will be Bailiff's last season leading the Owls.
I will try to get the Bartender Cabbie Top 25 for this week and the predictions for next week out as soon as possble. Last week I fell off the pace a bit and went 7-3.
4 comments:
LSU finally ran out of bench on defense, and when the offense cannot spend any time on the field the defense is not going to have much of a chance. I blame the lack of offense on coaching more than players. I've never considered Les Miles any sort of play calling genius, but that was just plain stupid. Worst play calling I have ever seen in a football game at any level. As the announcers kept saying with regard to Florida's offense, "make the defense think." Les didn't even make his own offense think. This week may be the angriest I have ever been at that clown.
I'm not sure that Georgia's performance was that much of an anomaly. The Gamecocks are the best team they have faced, and they were visibly overmatched. And out coached.
I'm not sure Gene Chisik will be fired this year. I think they'll give him another year to rebuild. I'm not sure one year will be enough, though.
I watched most of the Tiger games this year and have wondered why a team with such talent can have such lackluster performances. Not just a one time fall off, but week in and week out. Whether it is lack of player motivation or bad play calling it all points to the coaching staff.
I watched very litte of the SC/Georgia game as the boss informed me we would be watching Big Twelve. I like that Shaw and Latimore? at SC. Spurrier has a winning combination there.
It is pretty hard to keep up with all the good games when they seem to run at the same time and any change of the television off either KSU or a Texas game brings howls of protest.
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