Official College Football Week 13 Thread

[Simbo Klice]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

In my computer rankings, Kent State remained at #25. The strength of schedule is simply too low to generate any movement.

Where's NIU in your rankings? Would a victory over them have much effect? I see in the computer rankings breakdown that 3 computers already had them as high as 19, one had them at 24, and the other 2(edit) didn't have them ranked.

[Solecismic]

Originally Posted by Simbo Klice

Where's NIU in your rankings? Would a victory over them have much effect? I see in the computer rankings breakdown that 3 computers already had them as high as 19, one had them at 24, and the other 2(edit) didn't have them ranked.

Kent State went from 32 to 25 and Northern Illinois went from 29 to 27 in my system today. I loaded the wrong file to check last week. The average rating had Kent State at 35 and Northern Illinois at 26. So I'm a little low on NIU and a little high on Kent.

Since strength of schedule is very important in pretty much every system, a conference championship game will help. Right now, Kent State is #118 of 124 in schedule strength and Northern Illinois is #124, right below transitional UTSA, which played four FCS schools.

I can quickly run a simulation of how my system will change the rankings, all other games unplayed. If Kent State wins on Friday, the Flashes move up to #20 (up 5) and the Huskies down to #32 (down 5). This would put Kent State's schedule strength at #112 and move Northern Illinois up to #123.

If the Huskies win on Friday, they move up to #26 (up 1) and the Flashes move down to #34 (down 9). This would move Kent State's schedule to #111 and NIU's to #123.

If my deviation from average is consistent, the MAC winner will be #22-24 in computer rankings. Take out Ohio State because it's ineligible, but I think the amount of help the winner will need to move up to #16 is considerable.

Of course, this is more about the voters than the computers. Voters tend to place much more weight on moving teams down after losses. So it's not impossible. Especially for Kent State because the computers cannot use margin of victory, and the system some of the computer rankers use seems to produce a bigger jump for Kent State when removing it.

[Easy Mac]

Wow, I think Phil Steele may have been a bit off in his predictions from section 1 of his article.

NCAAF ACC will top SEC this weekend - ESPN

1. The ACC will get the best of the SEC this week
The SEC is clearly the best conference in the nation, but I think it will take a hit this weekend at the hands of a conference that most of the country, including many of the polls, have disrespected so far: the ACC.

There are four games this weekend involving these two conferences going head-to-head, with three of them having major BCS implications. First, BCS No. 4 Florida travels to No. 10 Florida State. Despite the fact the Gators are ranked higher and have the strength of schedule edge, the Seminoles have huge advantages here and they start on the offensive side of the ball.

Florida State is averaging 43 points per game while the Gators' vertically challenged offense is averaging a meager 18 points per game over the past four weeks, and that's not merely a case of facing top SEC competition -- it came against the likes of Missouri, Louisiana and Jacksonville State. Now they will face a Seminoles squad that features the nation's No. 1 total defense. Even if Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel returns at full strength, the Gators are just too one-dimensional to keep this one close as the Noles, who have won the past two games in the series by a combined 52-14, make it three straight here.

Another big game involving ACC/SEC heavyweights comes in the Palmetto State, where No. 12 South Carolina visits No. 11 Clemson. The Gamecocks have won three straight in this rivalry for the first time since 1968-1970, but I think the Tigers end the streak in a big way this year. First, there may be no hotter team in the country right now than the Tigers, winners of seven consecutive games, and their dynamic offense has scored at least 37 points in 10 straight games. Last week, quarterback Tajh Boyd accounted for an ACC-record eight touchdowns in a win over North Carolina State, while the Gamecocks struggled with Wofford without the services of All-American defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, who has not been 100 percent in the past few weeks.

Clemson has won 13 straight home games while South Carolina has struggled on the road, getting outgained 406-211 in the loss to LSU while also losing 44-11 to Florida, and that was prior to running back Marcus Lattimore's injury. Clemson gets triple revenge here and stakes its claim for an at-large BCS berth.

It was just seven weeks ago that the Georgia Bulldogs were completely and thoroughly dismantled at South Carolina 35-7, but they now find themselves ranked No. 3 and just two wins away from playing in the BCS national title game. All they have done since that game is rally to beat a downtrodden Kentucky team 29-24, take advantage of six Florida turnovers and win three more games against the likes of a 5-6 Ole Miss team, an Auburn team in disarray and an FCS Georgia Southern squad.

Meanwhile, their in-state rival Georgia Tech has quietly won three straight games, averaging 48 points per game in those contests, and is a dangerous two-touchdown underdog here. We have seen how teams have played with added pressure in recent weeks, and there is certainly pressure on the Bulldogs to make the SEC championship a national title play-in game. While I think the Bulldogs may pull it out in the end, it would not shock me one bit to see a huge upset here.

[Easy Mac]

Dola, he also missed on predictions 2 and 3 and half missed on prediction 4.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

I just hope ND loses. Should they win, fans might be insufferable.* SportsCenter has already become the Notre Dame Tribute Hour.

* Fairly or unfairly, I regard Notre Dame as being Boston's Official Unofficial College Football Team. I am assuming Tawmmy from Quinzee is Catholic.

Please point that out to any and all BC fans you ever meet

re ESPN: ND brings in traffic even when they're 6-6... but do you really think they'd be much different if Oregon or Ohio State was a step away from clinching?

Btw, what are the chances of Manti Te'o actually winning the Heisman? Unless Collin Klein torches Texas (and that's been devalued the last few weeks), is Te'o actually the favorite going into NYC? Manziel has the lead in ESPN's Heisman Watch, but I assume the actual voters will penalize him for being a freshman more than the "more educated" ESPN pollsters.

I'm also rooting for Alabama next week... I agree ND is less likely to beat them, but there's no denying the title if that happens (unless Theo Riddick blows out an ACL late in the 4th and KeiVarae Russell gets called for a questionable late PI call and his brother posts about it on this board of course.)

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Dola, he also missed on predictions 2 and 3 and half missed on prediction 4.

I do think GA is overrated and would be concerned for the SEC streak if they faced ND. Alabama is the most consistent and best SEC team.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Wow, I think Phil Steele may have been a bit off in his predictions from section 1 of his article.

Also hammers home how wide the difference is between the ACC and SEC is. Unfortunately, the Big Ten will get to experience this during bowl season.

[Logan]

Watching the Rutgers offense is so damn infuriating. It's become painfully obvious that Flood isn't a head coach, but they're not going to be able to get rid of him.

I haven't given up hope for Thursday.

[MizzouRah]

Good win for Notre Dame. I still think Alabama beats them by double digits, but a fine season nonetheless.

In other news, Missouri gets smoked, please let this be the end of the Franklin era!

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by Logan

Watching the Rutgers offense is so damn infuriating. It's become painfully obvious that Flood isn't a head coach, but they're not going to be able to get rid of him.

I haven't given up hope for Thursday.

I have. Which means we will win.

As far as Flood is concerned, I'm not ready to write him off as a head coach, but the offense needs to be less passive. The fact that Rutgers has had one decent season of QB play in the last 12 years is mind-boggling.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by Logan

Watching the Rutgers offense is so damn infuriating. It's become painfully obvious that Flood isn't a head coach, but they're not going to be able to get rid of him.

I haven't given up hope for Thursday.

I think Flood has done more with less for a first year head coach (no one thought that with a first year head coach we'd be 9-2, a share of a conference title, and a chance to play for a BCS game at home). I'm more concerned about the OC.

Having said that, I'd rather be in Rutgers position than Louisville's---a 3 OT home loss where the starting QB sustains multiple bad injuries in a short week where they travel.

[General Mike]

Also if you hear that someone jumped off of section 205 of High Point Solutions Stadium after Thursday's game, it was me.

[Bobble]

Go Kent State! They've actually got a kid from my dink High School, Tyler Arend.

[Johnny93g]

I am a long suffering fan. In the last 20 year, I have seen my team play for a championship once.

Leafs
Dolphins
Jays (too young to really appreciate 92/93)
Indiana Hoosiers Basketball (2002 is the only time i've seen my team play for a title)
Notre Dame football

I'm in uncharted territory. I very excited. I'm so used to losing, it's hard to get my hopes up. They did it! Fighting Irish playing for the National Title!!

[fpres]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Btw, what are the chances of Manti Te'o actually winning the Heisman? Unless Collin Klein torches Texas (and that's been devalued the last few weeks), is Te'o actually the favorite going into NYC? Manziel has the lead in ESPN's Heisman Watch, but I assume the actual voters will penalize him for being a freshman more than the "more educated" ESPN pollsters.

I suspect some will penalize Manziel for being a freshman and some will penalize Te'o for playing on defense. It'll be interesting to see if one of the two breaks through or if Klein wins as the best available non-freshman offensive player.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Simbo Klice

So.... 9 teams ranked from #10-#22 lose. My #23 Kent State Golden Flashes handled Ohio, I know MAC title game opponent NIU is knocking on the door for the rankings as well. I think we might be able to jump Boise if we beat NIU (The computers already favor us) and sneak into the top 16 for an auto BCS berth. Or have I been huffing too many paint fumes again?

It's possible but Boise St. is looking at a big BCS rankings jump too this week with so many teams ahead of them falling- they jumped up to #15 in the coach's poll. If they can beat Nevada, they have a pretty good chance of being the first 2-loss non-BCS team to get into a BCS bowl

[JonInMiddleGA]

Chizik fired at Auburn ... O'Brien fired at NC State

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

O'Brien fired at NC State

Proof that the only thing State cares about is beating UNC.

[Swaggs]

That makes four SEC jobs available (Tennessee, Auburn, Arkansas, Kentucky)?

Who lands in those spots?

Petrino at Kentucky.
Malzahn at Arkansas.

[JonInMiddleGA]

UT won 5 games this season ... at least three of those teams will have new head coaches next year. (Ga State, NC State, Kentucky ... with Akron & Troy at least possible I suppose if their coach is hired elsewhere)

[Simbo Klice]

Originally Posted by molson

It's possible but Boise St. is looking at a big BCS rankings jump too this week with so many teams ahead of them falling- they jumped up to #15 in the coach's poll. If they can beat Nevada, they have a pretty good chance of being the first 2-loss non-BCS team to get into a BCS bowl

It's weird how all over the place Boise is. They're #25 in the AP and #15 in the Coaches'. I'm eager to see what the BCS computers think of the situation.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Simbo Klice

It's weird how all over the place Boise is. They're #25 in the AP and #15 in the Coaches'. I'm eager to see what the BCS computers think of the situation.

Them getting beat by a 6-6 MSU team makes me question them being ranked.

[HerRealName]

NSFW?

[dawgfan]

Mike Leach contacted by NC State?

http://www.footballscoop.com/the-scoop

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Mike Leach contacted by NC State?

http://www.footballscoop.com/the-scoop

Seems like teams would be leery of Leach after more reports of him abusing players started coming up?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Heh, Ivan Maisel on Chizik FTW

For going 5-19 with the Cyclones, Chizik was awarded with a head-coaching job in the Southeastern Conference. Given the ups and downs of Chizik's career, after this 3-9 nightmare, he will be either the next coach of the Dallas Cowboys or the next U.S. Secretary of State.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by BillJasper

Seems like teams would be leery of Leach after more reports of him abusing players started coming up?

In both cases the accusations are false. I think there are other reasons to be leery of Leach...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

In both cases the accusations are false. I think there are other reasons to be leery of Leach...

This, I think. Being batshit crazy is much higher on my list of reasons I don't particularly want him coaching my team than some b.s. allegations that don't seem to have much (if any) basis in reality.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

In both cases the accusations are false. I think there are other reasons to be leery of Leach...

How many times do accusations have to come up before we begin to wonder what is really going on? You don't really see other coaches getting falsely accused more than once if at all.

[PurdueBrad]

Celebratory drink here as Purdue parts ways with Danny Hope!!!

Early list of contenders for the spot are Dave Doeren from NIU, Pembo from Ball State, the coach from Kent State and...

Jim Tressel? Yeah, lots of rumors about this one and I really can't see this happening.

My guess would be Doeren as he's a Big Ten guy and a hot name right now.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Matthean

You don't really see other coaches getting falsely accused more than once if at all.

Minnesota (football) would beg to differ, Texas Tech (b'ball) might also like a word.

In this era of coddled athletes & coddled youth in general, given the high profile nature of the Leach allegations, this seems to be the go-to claim regardless of whether there's any truth to it or not.

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by PurdueBrad

Celebratory drink here as Purdue parts ways with Danny Hope!!!

Early list of contenders for the spot are Dave Doeren from NIU, Pembo from Ball State, the coach from Kent State and...

Jim Tressel? Yeah, lots of rumors about this one and I really can't see this happening.

My guess would be Doeren as he's a Big Ten guy and a hot name right now.

Jim Tressel got a 5 year show cause penalty from the NCAA. No one is touching him with a 100 mile pole til 2016.

[PurdueBrad]

Originally Posted by General Mike

Jim Tressel got a 5 year show cause penalty from the NCAA. No one is touching him with a 100 mile pole til 2016.

Yep, that's exactly what I'm hoping because it would just be weird.

I wouldn't mind if Purdue contacted Leach but I think we'll avoid him.

[tarcone]

Rumor on the news in St Louis has Pinkel of Missouri resigning tomorrow.
It is a rumor. He is under contract until 2017.

[Wolfpack]

I'm still reeling a bit from finding out about O'Brien's ouster. The reaction has been pretty mixed as far as I can tell. Many were unhappy with the program since it seemed like it was stuck in a rut, but they applaud his character and willingness to show how to run a program the right way (especially in contrast to what was happening to UNC under Butch Davis).

State fans aren't super-demanding, but there was always a sense that every year felt like some degree of underachievement. Historically, State is a 7-5 type of program, but there was never a sense that any one season was going to turn into something great. Just more 7-5 sameness that got stale. Every year, the team would struggle early then claw their way through conference play to get somewhere near contention for a division title, only to screw it up somehow, especially after a heroic performance put them into a good position to get over the hump. The one card that O'Brien always held was beating UNC every year, but he lost that protection this year. I don't think that was the tipping point, but it didn't help. The Virginia game, however, probably was a tipping point. Yes, the UNC game was a disappointing loss, but to get whacked at home the following week to (at the time) the worst team in the ACC did him no favors.

Many State fans seemed to have hopes for James Franklin, but AD Debbie Yow disavowed that possibility at the news conference she held this afternoon, so they're not sure who would be an ideal replacement at this moment. Yow did say that she's looking for someone who matches O'Brien's character and program management, but wants someone who is willing to go for bigger and better recruits rather than the average recruits that O'Brien always got and tried to coach up. He had some success with that at BC and State, but the feeling was that the game has passed him (and his staff) by and that State wants someone more "current", if you will. Frankly, I hope it's not Mike Leach. There's just too much baggage, real or imagined, with him at this point. A prickly guy like him isn't going to handle the local media scrutiny very well.

[cuervo72]

Oh that's right...you all have Debbie Yow. Well, good luck with that.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Interesting note with the BCS standings.

The loser of the SEC c'ship game is probably headed to the Capital One Bowl, assuming they fall behind Florida in the final standings.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Rumor on the news in St Louis has Pinkel of Missouri resigning tomorrow.
It is a rumor. He is under contract until 2017.

I don't understand that one?

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Rumor on the news in St Louis has Pinkel of Missouri resigning tomorrow.
It is a rumor. He is under contract until 2017.

I will be extremely stunned if Pinkel and Mizzou part ways. I think some Mizzou fan in St. Louis who hates Pinkel is getting his dream of starting an urban legend going viral.

That said, Pinkel was very adamant last night that he wasn't making any changes to his staff or system for 2013 -- "we do what we do." If Alden tells him he needs new coordinators and Pinkel says no, I could see Alden letting him leave.

But considering his freshly minted divorce papers have him shelling out about a quarter of a million a year to his ex-wife, be pretty dumb to leave a $2.5 million contact because you're loyal to Yost or Steckel.

My friends and I have had a love-hate relationship with Yost over the last few seasons. Personally, I'd love to see Yost move back to QB coach and bring in Dave Christensen to be the coordinator again. Has Wyoming fired him yet?

[JonInMiddleGA]

BC fires whatshisname

[Young Drachma]

Would love to see Kent State win the MAC and get to a BCS bowl game. That conference hasn't had a shot at one yet, so it'd be cool to see them try their hand regardless of the outcome.

[molson]

Ya, I forgot about Kent St, but it looks like they almost control their own BCS destiny now. They're at #17 and the 3 teams in front of them all have to play in conference championship games this week. If any of those 3 loses and Kent St. wins, they appear to be a lock. If Kent St. loses, that opens the door up a crack for Boise St and Northern Illinois at #20 and #21, but they'd probably need a bunch of teams to lose and to win very impressively themselves.

[Swaggs]

Would there be a more fitting way to end this season for the ACC than to have a 6-6 GT knock off Florida State and then have to play a MAC team in the Orange Bowl?

[molson]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

BC fires whatshisname

Jeff Jagodzinski is available. But he might still be holding out for the Jets job which is going to open up again.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Matthean

How many times do accusations have to come up before we begin to wonder what is really going on? You don't really see other coaches getting falsely accused more than once if at all.

Leach rode Marquess Wilson hard - he saw him as a talented kid that didn't work anywhere near hard enough. So he made an example out of him and pushed him hard. Kid couldn't deal with it, and when he quit, he had someone advising him and his family craft a very carefully worded piece that was designed to hit Leach in his most vulnerable spot.

Leach is now a sitting duck for any disgruntled former player. Doesn't matter whether there's a shred of truth to the thought, but the fact that he's now been accused twice of abusing players means that in the court of public opinion, smoke = fire. It's not fair to Leach, because in neither case has any evidence been found to support the claims.

And understand, I'm not a WSU fan - I'm a Washington fan, so defending Leach doesn't come naturally to me. It's just that I find this particular accusation and what it means for him unfair. He's got plenty of other reasons for Athletic Directors to be wary of him; it shouldn't be because of this.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by molson

Jeff Jagodzinski is available. But he might still be holding out for the Jets job which is going to open up again.

Wonder if Tom O'Brien would consider it...

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

I'm still reeling a bit from finding out about O'Brien's ouster. The reaction has been pretty mixed as far as I can tell. Many were unhappy with the program since it seemed like it was stuck in a rut, but they applaud his character and willingness to show how to run a program the right way (especially in contrast to what was happening to UNC under Butch Davis).

State fans aren't super-demanding, but there was always a sense that every year felt like some degree of underachievement. Historically, State is a 7-5 type of program, but there was never a sense that any one season was going to turn into something great. Just more 7-5 sameness that got stale. Every year, the team would struggle early then claw their way through conference play to get somewhere near contention for a division title, only to screw it up somehow, especially after a heroic performance put them into a good position to get over the hump. The one card that O'Brien always held was beating UNC every year, but he lost that protection this year. I don't think that was the tipping point, but it didn't help. The Virginia game, however, probably was a tipping point. Yes, the UNC game was a disappointing loss, but to get whacked at home the following week to (at the time) the worst team in the ACC did him no favors.

Many State fans seemed to have hopes for James Franklin, but AD Debbie Yow disavowed that possibility at the news conference she held this afternoon, so they're not sure who would be an ideal replacement at this moment. Yow did say that she's looking for someone who matches O'Brien's character and program management, but wants someone who is willing to go for bigger and better recruits rather than the average recruits that O'Brien always got and tried to coach up. He had some success with that at BC and State, but the feeling was that the game has passed him (and his staff) by and that State wants someone more "current", if you will. Frankly, I hope it's not Mike Leach. There's just too much baggage, real or imagined, with him at this point. A prickly guy like him isn't going to handle the local media scrutiny very well.

I can tell you with certainty that Clemson has been contacted to request permission to speak with OC chad morris.....here we fawking go.

[Butter]

So, CU, wondering how many times will Dabo be able to go 10-2 but lose to the Eastern USC before the boosters cry for his head? Can't imagine he'll be able to survive too many more losses, especially not to The Visor who seems to take such delight in needling not only Dabo but the entire Clemson fanbase.

He's starting to remind me of UM's favorite Ohio St. coach, John Cooper, in that way. But as I reminded my stricken wife this weekend, they still have about 8 more years to go before it reaches Cooperian proportions of rivalry game losing.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

So, CU, wondering how many times will Dabo be able to go 10-2 but lose to the Eastern USC before the boosters cry for his head? Can't imagine he'll be able to survive too many more losses, especially not to The Visor who seems to take such delight in needling not only Dabo but the entire Clemson fanbase.

He's starting to remind me of UM's favorite Ohio St. coach, John Cooper, in that way. But as I reminded my stricken wife this weekend, they still have about 8 more years to go before it reaches Cooperian proportions of rivalry game losing.

Don't know the validity of it, but a good friend who sits on the Universities BOT, told me yesterday that it was made clear to Dabo Saturday night that regardless of anything else, if he lost to SC next year he would be unemployed before midnight. Allegedly it was said, "We don't care if you are 11-1 and pre-selected to play in the NC game, if that 1 is SC someone else would coach the game."

It's disappointing to give the little sibbling any breathing room and let them think they are superior. Especially when you look at the facts and realize if CLEMSON would have committed to the damn run Saturday night they would have ran SC out of town.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

The Virginia game, however, probably was a tipping point. Yes, the UNC game was a disappointing loss, but to get whacked at home the following week to (at the time) the worst team in the ACC did him no favors.

I do think this was key. Plus he talked up how strong his secondary was, then many of their losses came because they kept giving up the big play (Miami and Tennessee, for example). Why they don't punt out-of-bounds in the UNC game is beyond me as well.

This is a team that did have a legitimate shot at the Atlantic Division title. They threw away the Tennesse, and Miami games, never should have lost to Virginia at all, did manage to beat FSU, had a tight one with UNC that they should have taken to OT with a shot, and really just suffered the honest track meet loss against Clemson. But they couldn't handle it. When you are 6 years in you shouldn't be losing to Virginia, and should be showing more poise in the other games. 9-3 would have been more realistic for this team (losses to FSU, Clemson, and UNC will always be a tough game or one other slipip).