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Miami-Florida State question/Lobby whitlock on his AP ballot

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Freelance Hack, Sep 4, 2006.

  1. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    I'll just have to agree to disagree, I guess. I haven't seen anything WVU has done which would have me putting them up in the land of USC and Texas and Ohio State ... and I don't see that much chance of them doing something prior to January which would change my mind.

    You folks say it isn't their fault that the other teams bolted the Big East. You're right ... but they certainly didn't replace the dates with any real tests. I don't care why; the fact is the fact. And 2007, 2008, 2009 dates don't count. 2006 does.
     
  2. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    Shot, you know better than this.

    Virginia Tech, BC and Miami left three years ago. Most football schedules are done years and years in advance. Hell, VT and Ohio State already have a home-and-home lined up for 2015-2016. A lot of WVU's non-conference games this year were scheduled five years ago. Marshall has been mandated by the state legislature, just as it happens in Iowa with basketball. The legislature forces Iowa to play UNI, Drake and Iowa State every year, same for Iowa State with the other two little guys.

    Trying to find any decent non-conference replacements in 2004 for this schedule would have forced WVU to buy out of current contracts with teams on the schedule, and even if that happened, they'd have to find some people with open dates. UNC and NC State were open this year because they were non-conference opponents for Virginia Tech who turned into conference opponents when the Hokies joined the ACC. I suppose WVU could have hooked up with UNC, but really, is that much better than playing Marshall?

    WVU got screwed more than anyone else with the whole Big East-ACC fiasco and it will take a few years before the scheduling gets back to normal because of it.

    Disclaimer: I bloody hate WVU. It's in my blood as a Hokie. :)
     
  3. Freelance Hack

    Freelance Hack Active Member

    I realize Chad Pennington, Randy Moss and Byron Leftwich no longer reside in Huntington, but Marshall is not that bad a team.

    As long as the two schools are both respectable D I-A schools, they should play yearly.
     
  4. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    But, fh, I'm not DENIGRATING WVU for winding up with this schedule. I'm accepting it as fact. The fact just happens to be that it's a pitiful schedule. Not their fault, but you don't turn a blind eye to it because it's not their fault.
     
  5. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    You're right, and that's fair. But if anyone accuses WVU of ducking people this year, it's just plain wrong. Bad circumstance. All they can do is keep winning and see where the chips fall.
     
  6. Freelance Hack

    Freelance Hack Active Member

    If WVU goes through the season unbeaten, they should get a chance to prove themselves in the BCS title game.
     
  7. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    Unbeaten, FH, yes. One loss, and I'd have my doubts, given their SOS.

    Then again, one loss by a Big Ten team, and I'd have my doubts there, too.
     
  8. Freelance Hack

    Freelance Hack Active Member

    You're right, they're schedule isn't as demanding as others (as you noted) to allow for a loss.

    But if they beat Louisville and Louisville finishes 11-1 or 10-2, then they deserve consideration. Just as Louisville would deserve consideration if they win.
     
  9. Is it just me or it is absolutely absurd to vote West Virginia as the best team in the country with ANY of the equation being based on their schedule.

    It's unfortunate that voters are turning Top 25 polls into National Championship predictions instead of who deserves to be higher in the polls for their actual body of work. If you honestly feel that WVU can beat any team in the nation at this point, then fine, by all means. But to say that they are No. 1 based on an easy schedule is giving them a double boost into the national championship game.

    They already have a cupcake sked, then you throw them a higher ranking because of the sked. What exactly are you encouraging? Anyone who votes WVU No. 1 should NEVER, EVER complain about any SEC, ACC, etc. team playing three 1-AA teams OOC ever again. Hell, the shittier the teams, the higher the ranking apparently.

    If you were to do the same thing for other teams, you might as well put FSU No. 3 or No. 4, b/c they will be favored at least until their last game of the regular season.

    A team like the Florida Gators are being punished by some in the polls for their tough schedule. Now THAT's a good lesson to teach... play tough teams and your ranking will be dropped before you even play them because the likelihood of that team going undefeated IN THE FUTURE, NOT IN THE PRESENT is less than someone else.

    The polls are supposed to be barometers for current achievements, not who I think should go undefeated. If people voting this way, you can kiss these OSU-Texas and Cal-Tennessee games goodbye.
     
  10. Oz

    Oz Well-Known Member

    Exactly. When I did my first rankings, I was told they should be like a weekly snapshot of how the teams are. Not how they were, not how they will be -- how are they now. If the guys doing the polls don't reflect that, they're not doing their jobs.
     
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