FBC week 4 running thread

Sorry. Not seeing that.

TCU (AP No. 28), Texas (No. 7), Kansas (19), Nebraska (33), Texas Tech (11), Missouri (5). And every one of those regular-season games is at home.

For Georgia, Alabama (9), LSU (6), Florida (4), Auburn (10), Tennessee (34), Auburn/Alabama/LSU again (10/9/6). Not to mention Kentucky (37). And only Alabama and Tennessee at home. And that's just the conference slate. There's also Arizona State (30), since you included TCU for Oklahoma. Also on the road.

There's no question that, for Georgia at least, the SEC slate is tougher. No question.

The trick for any of the SEC teams is what LSU showed last year: You can afford to lose to a team you're not supposed to lose to, but if you lose to one of the top-tier teams, it can be construed as proof that you can't run with the big boys. So Georgia, I think, might actually be hurt less if it loses to, say, Kentucky, than if it loses to Florida.

If Georgia and Florida have one loss each, and Georgia beats Florida, it's difficult to make the argument that Florida is better. You can pass off a loss to Kentucky or Vanderbilt or South Carolina as an off day, much as LSU was able to do that with Kentucky and Arkansas last year. Those were upsets. Out of the norm. Not an indicator of the team's quality. (At least as far as a lot of people saw it.)

The attitude I'm going to have to force myself to accept, and I'm working on it, is that winning an SEC championship is the most important thing for Georgia this year. It's concrete. It's done according to an understandable, straightforward system. If winning the SEC championship sets up a chance to win the national championship, great. If not, oh well.

 

OK, went to work today. I graduated from a Big Ten school that has a somewhat less-than-stellar football reputation, but has never lost to a MAC team.

I haven't been in the door 5 minutes when Ball State grads were talking trash about Saturday's BSU-Indiana game.

Not a big game on the national scene, but a pretty big game in our neck of the woods. Ball State's probably the top team in the MAC. Indiana trying to establish itself as a mid-tier Big Ten team after going 7-5 last season.

 

So obviously, you didn't go to Michigan State then....

 

Yeah, no somewhat about that.

 

Seriously, wouldn't the computers shake it out on SOS?

 

UT brought a lot back from last season's East champs. If Crompton stops sucking — admittedly a big if — the Vols could beat anyone in the league. Winning in Neyland is always a big deal, too, unless you're Florida.

 

Instead of what happens when the polls come out on Dec. 5, here's what Georgia should be concerned about: Its defense gave up 270 yards passing to Chris Smelley -- Chris Freakin' Smelley -- and they're facing the two best qbs on their schedule the next two weeks in Rudy Carpenter and John Parker Wilson. Without Jeff Owens, it's become clear they're going to have to take some chances and blitz more than the two times a game they've done so far. Because if Carpenter can sit back there with time, they're going to have trouble slowing him down.

 

Rudy Carpenter and JPW are better than Tebow?

 

Tenn. looks pretty good when they're handing the ball off.

 

Come on, novelist.

Wilson? Really?