If Alabama loses there isn't a clear 2nd team to step into the Top 2 this year. The SEC isn't as strong this year as is has been the past few seasons.Originally Posted by traderumor
If Alabama loses there isn't a clear 2nd team to step into the Top 2 this year. The SEC isn't as strong this year as is has been the past few seasons.
We'll find out a lot about Baylor in the next three weeks, but would an undefeated Baylor team jump Ohio State?
"In our sundown perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing 'base', a certain game of ball. Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our close rooms, the game of ball is glorious"
-Walt Whitman
The Big12 isn't any great shakes either. Too much is being made out of how bad the Big 10 is. Oregon has their big showdown with Stanford coming up, and no one says boo, about #5 Stanford losing to a 4-4 Utah team? So Stanford could lose again, in a beat down, and that will validate Oregon? I am not really impressed with any of the conferences this year.
Ohio State has played the weakest schedule of the current top 4, and they have to live with that. Other teams currently below them, that would jump them, would be people falling victim to a narrative.
Hugs, smiling, and interactive Twitter accounts, don't mean winning baseball. Until this community understands that we are cursed to relive the madness.
Stanford will later play ND. If they smoke ND, that would be some solid validation. ND isn't great, but they DID beat the second best Big Ten team.
And it's not as if Urban Meyer coached teams haven't beaten top-flight Saban-coached Alabama teams before, either.
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
Michigan State is an offensive coaching dumpster fire. The defense is legit. But any team that employs Jim Bollman is mandated to lose a game 13-17. I have seen that movie before. Not much validation to be had there.
Hugs, smiling, and interactive Twitter accounts, don't mean winning baseball. Until this community understands that we are cursed to relive the madness.
B1G teams tend to take later into the season to gain momentum IMO. The MSU team of today is much, much stronger than the MSU team that played Notre Dame in September.
My opinion of the B1G has altered some in the past few weeks. I really don't think it is that much weaker than the other leagues anymore. MSU is a top 10 team in the country if it had an average offense. As it is now, it isn't too far off. Wisconsin is playing its traditional brand of hard-nosed football. With Ohio State, those three teams make a compelling enough 1-2-3. With the right matchups, it wouldn't surprise me to see those three teams each winning their bowl game...
Well, Michigan State is the best team Ohio State will play all year. You have to take your comparisons/get your validation where you can find it.
LoganBuck (11-05-2013)
And they also lost to the 4th or 5th best B10 team, while narrowingly beating the worst B10 team. Can't just selectively compare Oregon/Stanford to OSU by saying A > B > C. What if OSU smokes MSU in the B10 title game? MSU & ND showed on the field, at least on that 1 day, that they are roughly equal. what if Oregon narrowly beats Stanford, who narrowly beats Notre Dame? Does that mean Ohio State would smoke both? I doubt anyone is going to make that argument.
I can't wait for the day the playoffs eventually expand to 12 teams, top 4 get a bye, 5-12 play each other, then move forward thru 3 more rounds to determine a champion. You know they won't stop at 4 teams, it will eventually grow b/c most years, its going to be tough to decide b/w 4, 5, 6 and beyond. A boise or Utah of the past are going to go undefeated and finish out the season 6th in the country and no shot at proving they belong amongst the best. Those two things will ultimately push expansion beyond what we see next year.
*BaseClogger* (11-05-2013),Roy Tucker (11-06-2013)
You're not making a great case for the second-best Big Ten team.
See that is what I am talking about. It fits the narrative. In the mean time Stanford lost to Utah!!!
Hugs, smiling, and interactive Twitter accounts, don't mean winning baseball. Until this community understands that we are cursed to relive the madness.
*BaseClogger* (11-05-2013)
Utah is another Pac-10 team, at least. Michigan State played one decent team out of conference and lost to them. They struggled much more than they should have with USF and WMU, too, but now they're feasting on the Big Ten.
I don't think MSU "struggled" with anyone it is just their MO. They don't score a lot of points and they play amazing defense. I watched part of what might be the most awful football game of all time when the played Purdue. They only won 14-0, but at no point was Purdue going to score unless something crazy happened.
For an objective measure, you need look no further than Sagarin's ratings. He has the two Big Ten divisions behind each of the SEC divisions, both Pac-12 divisions and the Big 12. On the plus side, the Big Ten's divisions each beat out the two ACC divisions.
But the difference between the SEC West and the Big Ten is roughly the same as the difference between the Big Ten and the American Athletic Conference.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf...13/conference/
I'm not trying to make a great case for the 2nd best team in the B10, just pointing out the flaws in saying that Stanford would have to be a quality win if they hammer Notre Dame who beat Michigan state. Besides, if a gun was held to my head, I'd probably pick Wisconsin over MSU on a neutral field to win more often head to head.
Michigan State will face neither Ohio State, nor Wisconsin during the regular season this year, at this point, while they are certainly the favorite to make it to Indy from that side of the division, they still have to travel to Northwestern and Nebraska, while Nebraska has to go to Michigan & Penn state as well as a home game vs Iowa. I think Nebraska losses at least 2 of those game, but w/ the Michigan State game at home, win that one and well they just might end up representing that half of the division in Indy.
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