NCAA 2009

[Ed Anger]

All this reminiscing has made me misty eyed remembering watching football on TV in the fall back in the 80's.

I'm going to have to go compose myself, before I start blubbering for Earl Bruce.

[MadBurgerMaker]

They are coming back now they they remembered they are not Texas Tech of the north.

Nebraska should hire Paul Johnson (they'll have to take him away from GT) to make up for that stupid wannabe TTU shit.

Edit:  Apparently, Miami and LSU are in on that Nike uniform thing too. 

[Syt]

I miss the Oklahoma and Nebraska game meaning something. The game Saturday was a shadow of its former self. 

Osborne vs Switzer or even earlier than that old man?

My memory only goes back so far.

Who was the Oklahoma QB in mid 80's? All i can recall from those teams were the Boz and Keith Jackson.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Oh, Berkut:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4637797

Suspended running back LeGarrette Blount has been reinstated by Oregon.

Blount will be available to play Saturday when the Ducks (No. 13 BCS; No. 14 AP) host Arizona State. The following week Pac-10 leader Oregon visits Arizona in a showdown for first place in the conference.
Blount was suspended for punching Boise State defensive end Byron Hout in the aftermath of Oregon's season-opening loss to the Broncos. He was suspended for the season by Kelly the next day, but allowed to continue practicing with the team.

Kelly later announced that Blount could be reinstated if he met certain conditions.

"I'm grateful to Coach Kelly that he cares enough to offer me this second chance," Blount said. "Now it is up to me to prove to people that their lasting impressions of me are not what they saw in Boise.

"When I am ready to address this further with the public and the media, I will do so," Blount added. "Until that time, I feel my actions can speak louder than anything I could say. I just want to help my teammates who have been supportive of me."

Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement that he believed Blount learned from the incident and deserved another chance.

"After a thorough review of the situation, I am convinced LeGarrette Blount paid a significant and appropriate price for the mistakes he made on the field, and that he has learned important life-long lessons," Scott said.

[Berkut]

Shocked I am! Simply shocked!

I know this decision has nothing to do with football, of course, and everything to do with this young mans proven contrition which he has shown by taking the unprecedented move of attending class. And sometimes, when convenient for him, playing on the scout team.

[dps]

I miss the Oklahoma and Nebraska game meaning something. The game Saturday was a shadow of its former self. 

Nebraska ruined their program by hiring Callahan.

They are coming back now they they remembered they are not Texas Tech of the north.

Well, the problem wasn't that Callahan's West Coast offense couldn't work in the Big Twelve, as was often claimed.  The problem was that Callahan's defense got to the point it couldn't stop anybody's offense.

[Eddie Teach]

Apparently the Pac-10 is 6-5 against other BCS schools. Pure dominance.

(I actually kind of enjoy looking over the schedules and tabulating that stuff  )

[Berkut]

Apparently the Pac-10 is 6-5 against other BCS schools. Pure dominance.

(I actually kind of enjoy looking over the schedules and tabulating that stuff  )

Who said anything about dominance?

And why are you choosing "other BCS schools" as your metric?

How about we look at record against top-20 opponents outside the conference? What is the SECs record there? 0-0?

[Valmy]

Well, the problem wasn't that Callahan's West Coast offense couldn't work in the Big Twelve, as was often claimed.  The problem was that Callahan's defense got to the point it couldn't stop anybody's offense.

It was not a question of X's and O's really.  Nebraska had a way of doing things and a certain philosophy about their program he abandoned.  Even if Nebraska ends up going to a pro-style offense of some sort they really needed a Nebraska guy to run that program.

[katmai]

Against BCS i believe that SEC is 8-4.

[Valmy]

How about we look at record against top-20 opponents outside the conference? What is the SECs record there? 0-0?

Oklahoma State is top 20 so they are at least 0-1

[Ed Anger]

All this reminiscing has made me misty eyed remembering watching football on TV in the fall back in the 80's.

I'm going to have to go compose myself, before I start blubbering for Earl Bruce.

I feels better. I gots me some tickets for the Iowa game. 

[ulmont]

Against top 25 (at game time) I make the SEC 1-3:

Georgia lost to OK State.
Vanderbilt lost to Georgia Tech.
Alabama beat Va. Tech.
MS State lost to Georgia Tech.

[Eddie Teach]

Who said anything about dominance?

And why are you choosing "other BCS schools" as your metric?

How about we look at record against top-20 opponents outside the conference? What is the SECs record there? 0-0?

All you've given as real evidence for your claim is that one computer algorithm happens to rank the logjam of mid-upper Pac-10 teams around number 20. Even Sagarin doesn't make the claim that the Pac-10 is the toughest conference at the top though. And the fact that squeaking by the 40th ranked team gives you better results than blowing out the 41st makes computer polls dubious anyway. (Also, you seem to think that playing more games amongst themselves is indicative of something vs. other conferences.)

Evidence for a counter-claim that the SEC is currently the top conference:
3 straight national titles
6 bowl wins last year, 7 the year before
Best out of conference record so far this year
Best out of conference record against BCS teams so far this year
#1 and #2-3 ranked team this year

I'm not going to say any of that is conclusive; I'm sure any fans of the BCS conferences and even the MWC could cherry-pick some data that supports an assertion that their conference is the best. I will say that your assertion that the Pac-10 is the "toughest conference from top to bottom" remains unconvincing.

[Berkut]

Who said anything about dominance?

And why are you choosing "other BCS schools" as your metric?

How about we look at record against top-20 opponents outside the conference? What is the SECs record there? 0-0?

All you've given as real evidence for your claim is that one computer algorithm happens to rank the logjam of mid-upper Pac-10 teams around number 20.

That is pretty good evidence for my claim though.

Even Sagarin doesn't make the claim that the Pac-10 is the toughest conference at the top though.

I haven't amde that claim either, although I do claim that much of Alabama's and Florida's success is based on a rather decided effort not to play anyone.

And the fact that squeaking by the 40th ranked team gives you better results than blowing out the 41st makes computer polls dubious anyway.

Not really, when you consider the aggregate. And since the issue is not "blowing out the 41st team" it is blowing out the 81st team rather than even playing the 40th ranked team at all, this objection is rather weak.

(Also, you seem to think that playing more games amongst themselves is indicative of something vs. other conferences.)

It is - it is indicative of a tougher schedule, and suggests that blowing away nobodies in order to avoid playing in your own conference is rather lame, and nothing to brag about. It is paying the system in order to get that magical -0 that means you get to be considered for the national title game.

Evidence for a counter-claim that the SEC is currently the top conference:
3 straight national titles

Says nothing about the quality of the conference top to bottom though, only about how good Florida/Alabama/LSU are.

6 bowl wins last year, 7 the year before

That is a pretty good argument, for last year and the year before at least.

Best out of conference record so far this year

Meaningless when compared to the Pac-10, since they play a lot more OOC games against terrible teams. Take away 12 of those wins against cupcakes, and their OOC record isn't any better, and even at that their OOC SoS is terrible.

Best out of conference record against BCS teams so far this year

What about their OOC record against GOOD teams this year? Have Florida or Alabama played a single top-20 opponent OOC this year? ONE???

They each play 4 OOC games, and they could not bother to schedule a couple that might give them a challenge?

#1 and #2-3 ranked team this year

Says nothing about anything but those two teams, which we all agree are very, very good.

I'm not going to say any of that is conclusive; I'm sure any fans of the BCS conferences and even the MWC could cherry-pick some data that supports an assertion that their conference is the best. I will say that your assertion that the Pac-10 is the "toughest conference from top to bottom" remains unconvincing.

I would say that your rebuttal doesn't even address my contention, but instead just focuses on the top few teams in a conference that understand very well how the rankings work, and schedules accordingly.

My contention may not be convincing to YOU, but that is more about you than anything else.