Is Auburn overrated?

[bucksfan2]

It's basically impossible to satisfy some people on this score, though.

* For most people to change their minds about BSU's worthiness, they probably have to beat a team that's minimum Top 10-15.

* They probably have to win two or three such games to really make a case.

* Most scheduling is done years in advance.

So what is the probability, really, of knowing today what schools they'll have to have on the schedule in 2013 and beyond to impress voters and computers enough to get into the national title game? I mean, suppose they'd lined up Tennessee, Michigan and Texas a few years back for 2010. Would winning those games be proof to you they belonged in the big game, or would they be waved off because those teams aren't much good this year?

Even if you don't really think Boise State is one of the two best teams in the country -- and I don't -- it's still obvious the system is rigged.

Yes and no. In essence you are correct about the scheduling. Most schedules are worked out years ahead of time. But it is my understanding that those are home and home series. If a team is willing to travel and play anywhere that can be done almost on a yearly basis.

I guess my point is that BSU needs to be flexible. They need to be willing to go on the road and play a top team. Home and home series are great for the big time programs but BSU isn't a big time program yet. They don't have the luxury of playing one (or even two BCS teams) and then sitting at home and playing cream puffs while the rest of conference play is going on.

[Boston Red]

But Boise agreed to a 2 for 1 with Nebraska (that Nebraska balked at because they wanted something valuable for free). And they agreed with a 1 for none with VaTech. And they just signed a 2 for 1 with Michigan State. How much more flexible would you like them to be?

[15fan]

Boise State could take a big step towards legitimacy by simply ripping up that blue turf and replacing it with something crazy like...green turf.

Standing outside the gate in a clown costume isn't a great way to get someone to sponsor you as a new member in the country club.

[kaldaniels]

Boise State could take a big step towards legitimacy by simply ripping up that blue turf and replacing it with something crazy like...green turf.

Standing outside the gate in a clown costume isn't a great way to get someone to sponsor you as a new member in the country club.

Never thought about that...you make a nice point there.

[Chip R]

Boise State could take a big step towards legitimacy by simply ripping up that blue turf and replacing it with something crazy like...green turf.

Standing outside the gate in a clown costume isn't a great way to get someone to sponsor you as a new member in the country club.

I don't know about that. It's an attention getter.

[bucksfan2]

I don't know about that. It's an attention getter.

Sure its an attention getter. But once you get to the point where you want to be considered a big time program you don't need attention getters.

I guess its a good thing for BSU football in that they are know for their actual team instead of their field. But I wonder what kind of backlash they would have if they decided to put green turf in.

[Homer Bailey]

LaMichael James at 3-1 to win the Heisman? Absolutely.

[kaldaniels]

LaMichael James at 3-1 to win the Heisman? Absolutely.

What's this West Coast place where James plays? Never heard of it.

It's Cam Newton's trophy right now, and unless he lays a huge egg against Bama (I expect Bama to win) it's his.

I'd need more of a premium than 3-1 to put some cash on James.

[Boston Red]

I agree with kal. Seems to me you're taking 3-1 odds on Newton getting hurt.

[kaldaniels]

I agree with kal. Seems to me you're taking 3-1 odds on Newton getting hurt.

Or soliciting a bribe.

[Boston Red]

LaMichael James at 3-1 to win the Heisman? Absolutely.

He's at 3.5-1 at my book now. With the Newton scandal swirling, I'm thinking of putting a small play on him and Kellen Moore (8-1) tonight before they take Heisman betting down.

[Kingspoint]

The entire SEC is overrated. They've played absolutely nobody.

[Kingspoint]

The only "computer" rankings I pay attention to is Jeff Sagarin's (one of six that the BCS uses). Whether it's football, basketball, or baseball, his rankings always seem to be fairly accurate in my opinion. He's got Oregon #1, but because the top and the bottom computer rankings are thrown out leaving 4 computer rankings to calculate their average, Oregon gets the shaft and falls way down to #8.

I'm sorry, but the Pac-10 is, by far, the strongest Conference in the Nation.

Oregon gave Tennessee a thumping 48-13 in Tennessee.

Arizona beat Iowa 34-27 in Tuscon.

Stanford crushed Wake Forest 68-24 and drilled Notre Dame at their place 37-14.

The Beavers beat Louisville 35-28 but lost @ TCU 30-21 (it was 21-21 going in the 3rd, and 28-21 going into the 4th Quarter, but Oregon State couldn't get that tying TD. They also lost @ Boise State 37-24 (31-24 going into the 4th Quarter). Oregon State under Mike Riley always struggles their first few games, then gets better game after game more than any team that there is. The reason is because they just don't get the armload of talent, so their progress has to come from coaching and discipline. The Rodgers brothers obviously have loads of talent (WR James Rodgers is done for the season as of 2 games ago), but it stops there. Oregon is loaded, as is USC, Stanford, Arizona, Washington and California. UCLA should be, but I have no idea what Neuheisel is doing down there.

That said, UCLA thumped Texas in Texas 34-12, and it wasn't that close. They lost their opener at Kansas State 31-22.

USC beat Virgina 17-14 (just mentioning major conference vs major conference games) and won @ Minnesota 32-21. They should have won those games by wider margin, but Auburn should have won many of their games by wider margin, too.

California beat Colorado 52-7, but they lost @ Nevada 52-31.

Washington beat Syracuse 41-20, but got thumped by Nebraska in Seattle 56-21.

Arizona State lost @ Wisconsin 20-19 when they failed to execute an extra point that would have tied the game with 4:09 left, possibly sending the game into overtime.

Washington State doesn't beat anybody lately, losing at Oklahoma State 65-17 and at SMU 35-21.

All told the Pac-10 is 10-8 this year against quality teams and/or BCS Major Conferences outside the conference. What's of note is the total number of road games against quality opponents, something the ACC and the SEC schools avoid like the plague, maybe not all, but certainly Florida State has always been guilty of that. The Southwest schools, Oklahoma, OK ST, Texas and Texas Tech haven't been afraid to do that. Teams like Florida State won't even play a decent school at home, instead opting for 3 or 4 patsies to warm up their Conference season. Oregon usually schedules stronger than they did this season, as these games are scheduled 5-6 years out, and it just happened that they didn't have two strong games to prep them for the Conference schedule, but scheduling @ Tennessee 5-6 years ago was National Championship suicide at the time. Who knew how the Lane Kiffin/etc. fiasco was going to turn out.

The quality road games scheduled this year by the Pac-10 schools:

@ Tennessee
@ Notre Dame (The Irish lose @ Mich St 34-31 in OT and then come home and get thumped by Stanford 37-14)
@ TCU
@ Boise State
@ Texas
@ Kansas State
@ Minnesota
@ Nevada
@ Wisconsin
@ Oklahoma State
@ SMU

Compare to the SEC's non-conference quality/BCS Major Conference road games:

Note: Auburn has none with only 4 road games all year vs 8 home games and 3 of the 4 road games are easy pickings (Kentucky, Mississippi, Mississippi State).

@ Duke (technically, they have a football team in the ACC, so Bama is willing to take a chance)
@ North Carolina (LSU)

Hope these players aren't getting travel fatigue from having to travel so far.

@ Texas A&M (Arkansas)

And, that's your SEC West. Three road games against bottom-of-the-conference opponents.

Now, for the SEC East. They have a lot more guts than the weak sisters Alabama and Auburn (always include Florida in that as they never travel anywhere).

@ Clemson (South Carolina)
@ Colorado (Georgia) I'm shocked. Some actual travel. They lost 29-27.
@ Connecticut (Vanderbilt) They lost 40-21.
@ Louisville (Kentucky, of course) They won 23-16.
@ Florida State (Florida).

Those are some pretty ugly road games for a "resume" for the SEC.

The SEC is a joke.


The Big-10 (11) is just like the Pac-10...always ready to schedule tough road games:

Looks like Ohio State and Michigan State are tired of not getting any credit for scheduling tough road games and are opting out and pulling a Florida State/Alabama/Auburn/Florida glide your way through an easy schedule on your way to a Championship method. Those two teams have zero quality non-conference road games. Wisconsin doesn't either, though, this year.

@ Arizona (Iowa) They paid the price and lost 34-27.
@ Notre Dame (Purdue) Next-door neighbors. They lost 23-12.
@ Missouri (Illini) They lost 23-13.
@ Fresno State (Illini) Gutsy schedule the last game of the season flying all the way out west. Fresno State can beat Majors, especially at home.
@ Notre Dame (Michigan) They won 28-24. A great game.
@ Vanderbilt (Northwestern) They won 23-21. Squeaked by a very, very bad team.
@ Alabama (Penn St.) JoePa would never purposely schedule a patsy schedule just to win a National Championship. He wants to earn it. They didn't. They lost 24-3. But, they can hold their heads up high. It's how you handle defeat in life that makes a person, not how you handle success.

There's only 7 quality non-conference road games from 11 schools. That's disappointing, as it appears the Big Ten is heading the way of the ACC and SEC. But, those 7 games that were scheduled matches up with the Pac-10's 11 games, and blows away the combined games of the SEC and the ACC.

[kaldaniels]

The only "computer" rankings I pay attention to is Jeff Sagarin's (one of six that the BCS uses). Whether it's football, basketball, or baseball, his rankings always seem to be fairly accurate in my opinion. He's got Oregon #1, but because the top and the bottom computer rankings are thrown out leaving 4 computer rankings to calculate their average, Oregon gets the shaft and falls way down to #8.

I'm sorry, but the Pac-10 is, by far, the strongest Conference in the Nation.

Oregon gave Tennessee a thumping 48-13 in Tennessee.

Arizona beat Iowa 34-27 in Tuscon.

Stanford crushed Wake Forest 68-24 and drilled Notre Dame at their place 37-14.

The Beavers beat Louisville 35-28 but lost @ TCU 30-21 (it was 21-21 going in the 3rd, and 28-21 going into the 4th Quarter, but Oregon State couldn't get that tying TD. They also lost @ Boise State 37-24 (31-24 going into the 4th Quarter). Oregon State under Mike Riley always struggles their first few games, then gets better game after game more than any team that there is. The reason is because they just don't get the armload of talent, so their progress has to come from coaching and discipline. The Rodgers brothers obviously have loads of talent (WR James Rodgers is done for the season as of 2 games ago), but it stops there. Oregon is loaded, as is USC, Stanford, Arizona, Washington and California. UCLA should be, but I have no idea what Neuheisel is doing down there.

That said, UCLA thumped Texas in Texas 34-12, and it wasn't that close. They lost their opener at Kansas State 31-22.

USC beat Virgina 17-14 (just mentioning major conference vs major conference games) and won @ Minnesota 32-21. They should have won those games by wider margin, but Auburn should have won many of their games by wider margin, too.

California beat Colorado 52-7, but they lost @ Nevada 52-31.

Washington beat Syracuse 41-20, but got thumped by Nebraska in Seattle 56-21.

Arizona State lost @ Wisconsin 20-19 when they failed to execute an extra point that would have tied the game with 4:09 left, possibly sending the game into overtime.

Washington State doesn't beat anybody lately, losing at Oklahoma State 65-17 and at SMU 35-21.

All told the Pac-10 is 10-8 this year against quality teams and/or BCS Major Conferences outside the conference. What's of note is the total number of road games against quality opponents, something the ACC and the SEC schools avoid like the plague, maybe not all, but certainly Florida State has always been guilty of that. The Southwest schools, Oklahoma, OK ST, Texas and Texas Tech haven't been afraid to do that. Teams like Florida State won't even play a decent school at home, instead opting for 3 or 4 patsies to warm up their Conference season. Oregon usually schedules stronger than they did this season, as these games are scheduled 5-6 years out, and it just happened that they didn't have two strong games to prep them for the Conference schedule, but scheduling @ Tennessee 5-6 years ago was National Championship suicide at the time. Who knew how the Lane Kiffin/etc. fiasco was going to turn out.

The quality road games scheduled this year by the Pac-10 schools:

@ Tennessee
@ Notre Dame (The Irish lose @ Mich St 34-31 in OT and then come home and get thumped by Stanford 37-14)
@ TCU
@ Boise State
@ Texas
@ Kansas State
@ Minnesota
@ Nevada
@ Wisconsin
@ Oklahoma State
@ SMU

Compare to the SEC's non-conference quality/BCS Major Conference road games:

Note: Auburn has none with only 4 road games all year vs 8 home games and 3 of the 4 road games are easy pickings (Kentucky, Mississippi, Mississippi State).

@ Duke (technically, they have a football team in the ACC, so Bama is willing to take a chance)
@ North Carolina (LSU)

Hope these players aren't getting travel fatigue from having to travel so far.

@ Texas A&M (Arkansas)

And, that's your SEC West. Three road games against bottom-of-the-conference opponents.

Now, for the SEC East. They have a lot more guts than the weak sisters Alabama and Auburn (always include Florida in that as they never travel anywhere).

@ Clemson (South Carolina)
@ Colorado (Georgia) I'm shocked. Some actual travel. They lost 29-27.
@ Connecticut (Vanderbilt) They lost 40-21.
@ Louisville (Kentucky, of course) They won 23-16.
@ Florida State (Florida).

Those are some pretty ugly road games for a "resume" for the SEC.

The SEC is a joke.


The Big-10 (11) is just like the Pac-10...always ready to schedule tough road games:

Looks like Ohio State and Michigan State are tired of not getting any credit for scheduling tough road games and are opting out and pulling a Florida State/Alabama/Auburn/Florida glide your way through an easy schedule on your way to a Championship method. Those two teams have zero quality non-conference road games. Wisconsin doesn't either, though, this year.

@ Arizona (Iowa) They paid the price and lost 34-27.
@ Notre Dame (Purdue) Next-door neighbors. They lost 23-12.
@ Missouri (Illini) They lost 23-13.
@ Fresno State (Illini) Gutsy schedule the last game of the season flying all the way out west. Fresno State can beat Majors, especially at home.
@ Notre Dame (Michigan) They won 28-24. A great game.
@ Vanderbilt (Northwestern) They won 23-21. Squeaked by a very, very bad team.
@ Alabama (Penn St.) JoePa would never purposely schedule a patsy schedule just to win a National Championship. He wants to earn it. They didn't. They lost 24-3. But, they can hold their heads up high. It's how you handle defeat in life that makes a person, not how you handle success.

There's only 7 quality non-conference road games from 11 schools. That's disappointing, as it appears the Big Ten is heading the way of the ACC and SEC. But, those 7 games that were scheduled matches up with the Pac-10's 11 games, and blows away the combined games of the SEC and the ACC.

I appreciate the work you put into this but in isolation that is a weak argument for the PAC-10.

The bolded teams are average to weak teams that should have been beaten. Not impressed.

The 4 teams I have put in red are the 4 best teams that the PAC-10 has played out of conference. The results speak for themselves.

[jojo]

The SEC is a joke.


The Big-10 (11) is just like the Pac-10...always ready to schedule tough road games:

Jeff Sagarin's conference rankings essentially bunch the PAC-10, Big 12 and SEC (81.95, 79.78, and 78.78 respectively) together according to his conference ranking so the hyperbole is misplaced. Arguing that the Big Ten is a weaker sister or that the Big East or Mountain West were jokes relative to the BCS would be more fair and balanced. But kudos to the PAC-10 as their second tier teams historically have been willing to get the snot beat out of them by the Boise States of the world thus elevating the conference as a whole.

Note: Auburn has none with only 4 road games all year vs 8 home games and 3 of the 4 road games are easy pickings (Kentucky, Mississippi, Mississippi State).

@ Duke (technically, they have a football team in the ACC, so Bama is willing to take a chance)
@ North Carolina (LSU)

MSU is 7-2 and a top 20 team this season. Beating them on the road is a quality road win in my book. Also, for the sake of accuracy, Auburn also played Clemson. Assuming Auburn makes it to the SEC championship game, it's looking like they will have played 9 games against teams that will be bowl eligible with as many as 6 games being against teams ranked in the top 25 of the BCS standings depending upon how the last few weeks turn out. Picking on their schedule is kinda like picking on Cindy Crawford's beauty mark.