FBC Week 14 thread: What the H'Ell Roberson is going on here?

[Oz]

You can't compare football and basketball. Completely different.

Just like everyone saying if there's a playoff you have to invite all the BCS conference champions to the playoff like you would for the basketball tournament. No you can't. You can bury conference champions in a men's basketball tournament. You can't do that in any football playoff by putting the MAC and Sun Belt riff-raff in there.

Actually, you can. Put the riff-raff as 13-16 seeds in a tournament that features all 11 conference winners and five at-large teams, meaning no contender (i.e. top 10 team) will be excluded. Giving teams possible walkovers against Troy and Ball State -- not to mention home-field advantages -- would provide some real incentive to win and earn as high a bid as possible.

And someday, we might romanticize Ball State's 2-15 upset of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, or Troy's 1-16 upset of Texas in Austin -- much like we do with Richmond-Syracuse or Hampton State-Iowa State, or close calls like Princeton-Georgetown, every March.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Seems like Gordon Reese trained his minions well.

Gordy's been completely retired for about four years now. The Pac-10 Commissioner of Officials is David Cutina, the guy who blew the onsides kick call in the Oregon-Oklahoma game several years ago. The head of the replay officials is Verle Sorgen, who previously had Cutina's job but was essentially fired after the OSU-Washington fiasco in 2007 and moved to the replay booth.

Earlier this year, the replay official for Arizona games was a former Pac-10 refereee who also was one of the most prominent UA boosters in Tuscon and a graduate of that school.

And you wonder why Pac-10 officiating is brutal. They still have no idea what constitutes pass interference, so they just throw the flag anytime it's close.

The new commish Scott has brought in some NFL consultants, has actually suspended refs for poor performance this year, and seems to be intent on fixing what has been a decades-long problem.

Hey JD you warm up yet? 8)

 

[apeman33]

The trainer's expression is prime material for a Comixed post.

 

[apeman33]

USC 7, UCLA 7, Stabbings 2

But having both teams in the dark-colored jerseys is super-sweet.

I agree. Didn't they just start doing that again -- USC in the cardinal jerseys, UCLA in the powder-blues -- a few years ago? And wasn't it technically a penalty or something? (I thought I remembered Carroll and Neuheisel agreeing to decline the penalty, or something like that.) Is that still the case?

On a somewhat related note, is it just me, or does Petros Papadakis have the least-pleasing voice in broadcasting?

At that time, USC was penalized a time out in each half and I think UCLA burned a time out early in each half to equal things out. Then the NCAA decided to allow both teams (in any game, not just USC-UCLA) to wear colors as long as they contrasted (Blue vs. red OK, blue vs. purple not OK).

 

[Batman]

USC 7, UCLA 7, Stabbings 2

But having both teams in the dark-colored jerseys is super-sweet.

I agree. Didn't they just start doing that again -- USC in the cardinal jerseys, UCLA in the powder-blues -- a few years ago? And wasn't it technically a penalty or something? (I thought I remembered Carroll and Neuheisel agreeing to decline the penalty, or something like that.) Is that still the case?

On a somewhat related note, is it just me, or does Petros Papadakis have the least-pleasing voice in broadcasting?

IIRC, the penalty was that it cost the visiting team (which is supposed to wear white) a timeout in the first half. Neuheisel and Carroll agreed that the home team would, in turn, call a timeout before the first play to even things out.
Glad to see that Lane Kiffin has continued this tradition. He couldn't figure out Tennessee's history, but he sure as hell has USC's down cold.

 

[Batman]

Looks like ratings suckage for the NC game.

With any due respect, I disagree.
Folks should love this game, whether in person or watching on TV.
They are playing at a high level, there are several blue-chippers on the field, and it's excellent that it's being played outside.
The Big 12 and SEC games were so seemingly homogenized with the indoor crap.
Love seeing it outdoors and this ACC game's getting more and more interesting.

Ummm ... even though it'll be on grass, University of Phoenix Stadium is a dome.

 

[podunk press]

LOL! Tracy Wolfson drinking "Cammy-Cam juice" with her mouth wide open.

A lot of odd moments in the coverage of that game. Darvin Adams racks up 240 yards receiving in the first half, and all Gary Danielson can talk about are his two damn drops. Tracy literally drinks the Cam Kool-Aid. It was just a strange broadcast.

http://twitpic.com/3czakg

 

[suburbia]

You can't compare football and basketball. Completely different.

Just like everyone saying if there's a playoff you have to invite all the BCS conference champions to the playoff like you would for the basketball tournament. No you can't. You can bury conference champions in a men's basketball tournament. You can't do that in any football playoff by putting the MAC and Sun Belt riff-raff in there.

Actually, you can. Put the riff-raff as 13-16 seeds in a tournament that features all 11 conference winners and five at-large teams, meaning no contender (i.e. top 10 team) will be excluded. Giving teams possible walkovers against Troy and Ball State -- not to mention home-field advantages -- would provide some real incentive to win and earn as high a bid as possible.

And someday, we might romanticize Ball State's 2-15 upset of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, or Troy's 1-16 upset of Texas in Austin -- much like we do with Richmond-Syracuse or Hampton State-Iowa State, or close calls like Princeton-Georgetown, every March.

I agree. If they do a playoff, this is how they need to do it.

The only challenge with a 16-team playoff is that you'd have to start it at the latest the first weekend of December. That means pushing back conference championship games to Thanksgiving weekend and taking a bye week out of everyone's regular season schedule or shortening their schedules by a game. Will the schools, particularly the BCS ones that draw 100K+ per home game, be willing to do that?

 

[jlee]

Looks like ratings suckage for the NC game.

With any due respect, I disagree.
Folks should love this game, whether in person or watching on TV.
They are playing at a high level, there are several blue-chippers on the field, and it's excellent that it's being played outside.
The Big 12 and SEC games were so seemingly homogenized with the indoor crap.
Love seeing it outdoors and this ACC game's getting more and more interesting.

Ummm ... even though it'll be on grass, University of Phoenix Stadium is a dome.

Retractable roof, actually, which looks like this when open:

It still has a indoor vibe to me, even with the roof open.

 

[Oz]

I agree. If they do a playoff, this is how they need to do it.

The only challenge with a 16-team playoff is that you'd have to start it at the latest the first weekend of December. That means pushing back conference championship games to Thanksgiving weekend and taking a bye week out of everyone's regular season schedule or shortening their schedules by a game. Will the schools, particularly the BCS ones that draw 100K+ per home game, be willing to do that?

They wouldn't have to change the schedule at all, really. Say they take a bye next week before the playoff begins, you're talking games the weekends of Dec. 18, Dec. 25 and Jan. 1 and Jan. 8 before the championship game Jan. 10, where it's scheduled next month.

 

[MileHigh]

Here's a 16-team bracket with all 11 conference champions, based on rough BCS standings.

No. 1 Auburn (13-0, SEC No. 1) vs. No. 16 FIU (6-6, Sun Belt No. 1)
No. 8 Michigan State (11-1, Big Ten at-large) vs. No. 9 Oklahoma (11-2, Big 12 No. 1)

No. 5 Wisconsin (11-1, Big Ten No. 1) vs. No. 12 Nevada (11-1, WAC No. 1)
No. 4 Stanford (11-1, Pac-10 at-large) vs. No. 13 Connecticut (8-4, Big East No. 1)

No. 3 TCU (12-0, Mountain West No. 1) vs. No. 14 UCF (10-3, Conference USA No. 1)
No. 6 Ohio State (11-1, Big Ten at-large) vs. No. 11. Virginia Tech (11-2, ACC No. 1)

No. 7 Arkansas (10-2, SEC at-large) vs. No. 10 Boise State (11-1, WAC at-large)
No. 2 Oregon (12-0, Pac-10 No. 1) vs. No. 15 Miami Ohio (9-4, MAC No. 1)

And those left out in favor of FIU (6-6), Miami Ohio (9-4) and UCF (10-3):
Missouri (10-2, Big 12 at-large)
Oklahoma State (10-2, Big 12 at-large)
LSU (10-2, SEC at-large)
Utah (10-2, Mountain West at-large)
Nebraska (10-3, Big 12 at-large)
Hawaii (10-3, WAC at-large)
Northern Illinois (10-3, MAC at-large)
Texas A&M (9-3, Big 12 at-large)
West Virginia (9-3, Big East at-large)
Alabama (9-3, SEC at-large)
Tulsa (9-3, Conference USA at-large)
Navy (8-3, independent at-large)

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Looks like ratings suckage for the NC game.

With any due respect, I disagree.
Folks should love this game, whether in person or watching on TV.
They are playing at a high level, there are several blue-chippers on the field, and it's excellent that it's being played outside.
The Big 12 and SEC games were so seemingly homogenized with the indoor crap.
Love seeing it outdoors and this ACC game's getting more and more interesting.

Ummm ... even though it'll be on grass, University of Phoenix Stadium is a dome.

Retractable roof, actually, which looks like this when open:

It still has a indoor vibe to me, even with the roof open.

Glad someone took a picture when it was open, just to prove it can.

They've kept it closed for inclement weather this season... which has included 72 degrees and sunny.

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

I remember 72 degrees and sunny. I think.

(Yes, micro. Thanks for asking.)

:)

 

[Roscablo]

Looks like ratings suckage for the NC game.

With any due respect, I disagree.
Folks should love this game, whether in person or watching on TV.
They are playing at a high level, there are several blue-chippers on the field, and it's excellent that it's being played outside.
The Big 12 and SEC games were so seemingly homogenized with the indoor crap.
Love seeing it outdoors and this ACC game's getting more and more interesting.

Ummm ... even though it'll be on grass, University of Phoenix Stadium is a dome.

Retractable roof, actually, which looks like this when open:

It still has a indoor vibe to me, even with the roof open.

Glad someone took a picture when it was open, just to prove it can.

They've kept it closed for inclement weather this season... which has included 72 degrees and sunny.

They rarely open it, and even when it is it's such a small hole that you'd never know it was "open air." The Cardinals have a rule that it must be closed unless it's under 75 or something like that and Kurt Warner liked playing in domes so they pretty much kept it closed when he was around.

It hasn't been open for any of the Fiesta Bowls, the title game that was there or the Super Bowl so I can't imagine that it will be open for either the Fiesta Bowl or title game this year.

Honestly, with it being such a small opening and the fact they never open it anyway, I have no idea why they even added the feature.

 

[Blitz]

Looks like ratings suckage for the NC game.

With any due respect, I disagree.
Folks should love this game, whether in person or watching on TV.
They are playing at a high level, there are several blue-chippers on the field, and it's excellent that it's being played outside.
The Big 12 and SEC games were so seemingly homogenized with the indoor crap.
Love seeing it outdoors and this ACC game's getting more and more interesting.

Ummm ... even though it'll be on grass, University of Phoenix Stadium is a dome.

I thought we were talking about the North Carolina-based ACC game.
NC - I thought (for some reason) it meant we were discussing the game in North Carolina.
Some posters have talked bad about that game in past weeks.

My bad.
Carry on.

 

[derwood]

Auburn moves to number one in AP poll.

 

[kickoff-time]

Here's a 16-team bracket with all 11 conference champions, based on rough BCS standings.

No. 1 Auburn (13-0, SEC No. 1) vs. No. 16 FIU (6-6, Sun Belt No. 1)
No. 8 Michigan State (11-1, Big Ten at-large) vs. No. 9 Oklahoma (11-2, Big 12 No. 1)

No. 5 Wisconsin (11-1, Big Ten No. 1) vs. No. 12 Nevada (11-1, WAC No. 1)
No. 4 Stanford (11-1, Pac-10 at-large) vs. No. 13 Connecticut (8-4, Big East No. 1)

No. 3 TCU (12-0, Mountain West No. 1) vs. No. 14 UCF (10-3, Conference USA No. 1)
No. 6 Ohio State (11-1, Big Ten at-large) vs. No. 11. Virginia Tech (11-2, ACC No. 1)

No. 7 Arkansas (10-2, SEC at-large) vs. No. 10 Boise State (11-1, WAC at-large)
No. 2 Oregon (12-0, Pac-10 No. 1) vs. No. 15 Miami Ohio (9-4, MAC No. 1)

And those left out in favor of FIU (6-6), Miami Ohio (9-4) and UCF (10-3):
Missouri (10-2, Big 12 at-large)
Oklahoma State (10-2, Big 12 at-large)
LSU (10-2, SEC at-large)
Utah (10-2, Mountain West at-large)
Nebraska (10-3, Big 12 at-large)
Hawaii (10-3, WAC at-large)
Northern Illinois (10-3, MAC at-large)
Texas A&M (9-3, Big 12 at-large)
West Virginia (9-3, Big East at-large)
Alabama (9-3, SEC at-large)
Tulsa (9-3, Conference USA at-large)
Navy (8-3, independent at-large)

This makes too much sense, Mile High, which means it will not happen. I assume all first and second-round games will be at home of higher seed, maybe even third round. I think that is the only way it works.

Some nice second-round matchups under this scenario. I think you can still keep the bowls involved as well.

 

[D-3 Fan]

USC 7, UCLA 7, Stabbings 2

But having both teams in the dark-colored jerseys is super-sweet.

I agree. Didn't they just start doing that again -- USC in the cardinal jerseys, UCLA in the powder-blues -- a few years ago? And wasn't it technically a penalty or something? (I thought I remembered Carroll and Neuheisel agreeing to decline the penalty, or something like that.) Is that still the case?

On a somewhat related note, is it just me, or does Petros Papadakis have the least-pleasing voice in broadcasting?

Petros is kooky. Listen to his national radio show on FSR. If you think his voice is a pain to hear, three hours of it will make you give away all of your possessions to Cam Newton's dad, just to get Petros to stop.

 

[DanOregon]

Oddly enough - Petros is like a balm coming after Pat O'Brien, Steve Hartmand and Vic the Brick on FSR.

And then Tony Bruno follows Petros.

 

[MileHigh]

Here's a 16-team bracket with all 11 conference champions, based on rough BCS standings.

No. 1 Auburn (13-0, SEC No. 1) vs. No. 16 FIU (6-6, Sun Belt No. 1)
No. 8 Michigan State (11-1, Big Ten at-large) vs. No. 9 Oklahoma (11-2, Big 12 No. 1)

No. 5 Wisconsin (11-1, Big Ten No. 1) vs. No. 12 Nevada (11-1, WAC No. 1)
No. 4 Stanford (11-1, Pac-10 at-large) vs. No. 13 Connecticut (8-4, Big East No. 1)

No. 3 TCU (12-0, Mountain West No. 1) vs. No. 14 UCF (10-3, Conference USA No. 1)
No. 6 Ohio State (11-1, Big Ten at-large) vs. No. 11. Virginia Tech (11-2, ACC No. 1)

No. 7 Arkansas (10-2, SEC at-large) vs. No. 10 Boise State (11-1, WAC at-large)
No. 2 Oregon (12-0, Pac-10 No. 1) vs. No. 15 Miami Ohio (9-4, MAC No. 1)

And those left out in favor of FIU (6-6), Miami Ohio (9-4) and UCF (10-3):
Missouri (10-2, Big 12 at-large)
Oklahoma State (10-2, Big 12 at-large)
LSU (10-2, SEC at-large)
Utah (10-2, Mountain West at-large)
Nebraska (10-3, Big 12 at-large)
Hawaii (10-3, WAC at-large)
Northern Illinois (10-3, MAC at-large)
Texas A&M (9-3, Big 12 at-large)
West Virginia (9-3, Big East at-large)
Alabama (9-3, SEC at-large)
Tulsa (9-3, Conference USA at-large)
Navy (8-3, independent at-large)

This makes too much sense, Mile High, which means it will not happen. I assume all first and second-round games will be at home of higher seed, maybe even third round. I think that is the only way it works.

Some nice second-round matchups under this scenario. I think you can still keep the bowls involved as well.

First round at better seeded teams on the first weekend of December. Quarterfinals at the Big Four bowls. Reshuffle as needed for the quarterfinals and try to send conference tie-ins to their specific Big Four bowls. So if all the home teams win in the first round, you'll have:

Sugar: Auburn-Michigan State
Rose: Wisconsin-Stanford
Orange: TCU-Ohio State
Fiesta: Oregon-Arkansas

Play them on New Year's Day to make the day relevant again. Yes, there's a gap between the first round and quarterfinals, but this protects the "argument" by school presidents about December being for finals and so forth. And it makes the Big Four games actually mean something instead of the exhibitions that don't mean anything they've become. Semifinals the following week. Then a national title game. Rotate the Fiesta-Sugar-Orange-Rose committees as hosts for the last three games or open it up for bidding (say, Dallas, San Diego, etc.)

If you lose in the first round, you go to a lower-tier bowl.