NCAA Football 2023-2024

[grumbler]

I'm thinking that Washington is going to regret settling for field goals the last two times they got within scoring distance.  Texas can win with two TDs.

[crazy canuck]

One more TD to go

[crazy canuck]

Too bad.  But somewhere Katmai and Camper are celebrating

[Valmy]

Congrats to Washington. They were clearly the better team.

But what a heartbreaker.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Kind of cool the last year the Pac is a relevant conference they will send their champion to play for the NC versus the Big 10 Champion, harkening back to the historical end of season game those champions played every year prior to the BCS / CFP era.

[ulmont]

Just going to highjack this thread as search is dead and I can't find the LFFL thread:

Congrats to funkmonk for winning LFFL 2024 thanks to Lamar Jackson circling and underlining his MVP status.

[grumbler]

Kind of cool the last year the Pac is a relevant conference they will send their champion to play for the NC versus the Big 10 Champion, harkening back to the historical end of season game those champions played every year prior to the BCS / CFP era.

Yeah, that's a nice bit of throwback in my eyes, as well.

[grumbler]

I've been impressed all season with the way Michigan, with the 14th-most-talented squad according to the recruiting ratings, has beaten teams with many more high-star players (Alabama has 18 5-stars on its roster, OSU and Texas 10, and Michigan 2).  But Washington puts Michigan to shame, with zero 5 stars and only 27 blue-chips recruits total (compared to 56 for Texas and 74 for Alabama).

This is the first time the NC game features two teams outside the top 10 in recruiting.  With the expanded playoff, it may be the last.  So, enjoy the brief triumph of culture, coaching, and conditioning over recruiting NIL $$$.

[Valmy]

I've been impressed all season with the way Michigan, with the 14th-most-talented squad according to the recruiting ratings, has beaten teams with many more high-star players (Alabama has 18 5-stars on its roster, OSU and Texas 10, and Michigan 2).  But Washington puts Michigan to shame, with zero 5 stars and only 27 blue-chips recruits total (compared to 56 for Texas and 74 for Alabama).

This is the first time the NC game features two teams outside the top 10 in recruiting.  With the expanded playoff, it may be the last.  So, enjoy the brief triumph of culture, coaching, and conditioning over recruiting NIL $$$.

Washington certainly wasn't any less talented than Texas. At no point did I look at them and think "oh yes what a scrappy little cute team" they were loaded as fuck, that is why I was so worried about playing them. I would have much preferred Alabama. Washington was pretty elite with speed and talent at every position. Their cornerbacks were able to lock down Texas' receivers while still pressuring our QB. I was jealous as hell, it has been a very long time since Texas could do something like that. Bama could neither pressure Ewers nor cover Worthy and Mitchell as well as Washington did. Ultimate their ability to do that won the game at the end, they kept rushing Ewers on those last plays, if he could have sat back there unmolested for even one play he is able to win that game. But Washington wouldn't let him, that was cool to see...well ok it was cool in retrospect. At the time it caused me a great deal of unhappiness.

Texas, on the other hand, couldn't touch or even hurry Penix much despite bringing people most of the game.

Also I just want to point out that Texas' best player, T'vondre Sweat, was a 3* recruit. But saying he isn't an elite talent NOW is kind of ridiculous. Sure he was a skinny and lanky kid coming out of High School, but hey things change. I do not even know who the 5* players are on Texas' team but I bet a couple of them didn't even play. Some people just peak in High School. Well ok one of them was Arch Manning, but unless his 5* shine inspired people from the sideline I don't think having him on the team was very relevant to the game that was just played.

Now I don't want to minimize recruiting. Sure getting blue chip recruits out of High School is a big part of success. But that is over an aggregate of the entire country over many decades, we are talking about 4 specific teams. And today, thanks to the portal, the ability to get veteran players from other programs changes things a little bit. In the very recent pass it would be unlikely that Penix is even playing for Washington, or at least he would have had to sit out last year. Great coaching attracting veteran players in the transfer portal is very viable. They got their NIL and now they want to play and get a chance at the NFL. I think culture, coaching, and conditioning are going to be just as important, if not more important, going forward. But the Big 10 is going to have plenty of $$$ to compete. The scrappy underdogs are the schools left out of the SEC and Big 10. I predict we will see plenty of Washington and Michigan in the future.

Also shouldn't the expanded playoff help the schools who normally would just be left out thanks to the beauty contest nature of the four team playoff and the BCS before them? Michigan should be a perennial participant (along with its best friend Ohio State).

[grumbler]

Washington was considerably less-talented than Texas, but had talent where it needed it in order to match up well.  Texas's pass defense was a weak spot, while Washington's pass offense was their strength.  Texas ran all over Washington, though, and would have beaten them, IMO, if they'd just stuck to what was working.

Washington has the best pass offense, and Michigan the best pass defense, in the country.  That will be quite the matchup.  Unless Michigan makes mistakes, though (and they are the least-penalized P5 team, with the best turnover margin in FBS) I don't see how they can stop Michigan's run game, as their run defense is a weakness and Michigan's run offense is elite (only a hair below Texas).  Washington's pass defense is okay at best, and Michigan's pass offense above average.

But mistakes and sloppy execution are always a possibility, and if Michigan isn't careful it could find itself in a shootout.

LFG, and BET.

[Valmy]

Washington was considerably less-talented than Texas, but had talent where it needed it in order to match up well.

So more talented in a way that gives no advantage in a game of football? Sounds like many of Texas' numerous losses to Oklahoma State 

Anyway talent is as talent does. Theoretical talent isn't very useful.

Texas's pass defense was a weak spot, while Washington's pass offense was their strength.  Texas ran all over Washington, though, and would have beaten them, IMO, if they'd just stuck to what was working.

And likewise Washington kept screwing up their drives by inexplicably running, if they just kept passing they would have scored at least two more touchdowns. Also Texas just kept fumbling, which was something they hadn't done much this season. So that was an unfortunate way the running game got off track in the second half.

[crazy canuck]

Washington can't really stop the run. But if they had just hit a couple of those wide open receivers, they would be out in front.

It'll be an interesting second half.

[crazy canuck]

Enjoy the victory Grumbler

[Valmy]

Congrats Michigan! Hell of a season!

Texas will see you in Ann Arbor in September!

[grumbler]

Enjoy the victory Grumbler

I am.  This was a special season for a special team.  They knew it was championship or bust, though, because next year's team won't be nearly as experienced and I think that a lot of the coaches from this team will be getting promotions to other teams.  So, I've been savoring this (when I wasn't spitting mad about all the lies the click-chasing sports "journalists" were spreading about so-called "cheating."  Luckily, "ball don't lie."