The 2014-15 College Football Discussion Thread

[Torisakia]

As Charles Dickens once wrote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

2007 Part 2: Electric Boogaloo begins.

Eh, not so sure about that. Since Oregon, Alabama, and Oklahoma's playoff dreams have died, it's a huge toss up. It's not like FSU, Auburn, Baylor, etc. can all lose in the same week and Bama, Oregon, and Oklahoma come running back in.

[Bythyrona]

And the insanity continues. Arizona State beats USC on a last-second Hail Mary. Utah is up by 14 over UCLA to start the second quarter.

God bless Saturdays.

[Bythyrona]

UTES WIN, UTES WIN. What a night. The PAC-12 crew nearly made the worst call all season by calling running into the kicker despite that little asshat faking and rolling into the Utah defenders - and he still missed his second try. Fuck you, UCLA. Get the fuck out of my Top 25 and shut the hell up. UCLA is easily the PAC-12 version of Florida State.

[Bythyrona]

The PLAYOFFS?!?!?! Top 25 - Week 6

1. Baylor (5-0)
2. Auburn (5-0)
3. Florida State (5-0)
4. Notre Dame (5-0)
5. Ole Miss (5-0)
6. Alabama (4-1)
7. Oregon (4-1)
8. Michigan State (4-1)
9. TCU (4-0)
10. Oklahoma (4-1)
11. Mississippi State (5-0)
12. Georgia (4-1)
13. Texas A&M (5-1)
14. Arizona (5-0)
15. Arizona State (4-1)
16. Ohio State (4-1)
17. Missouri (4-1)
18. East Carolina (4-1)
19. Nebraska (5-1)
20. Kansas State (4-1)
21. Marshall (5-0)
22. USC (4-2)
23. Stanford (3-2)
24. Louisville (5-1)
25. LSU (4-2)
----------
OUT: BYU, UCLA, Wisconsin
IN: Kansas State, Louisville, Marshall
----------
The Best of the Rest: #26 UCLA, #27 Clemson, #28 Virginia, #29 Wisconsin, #30 BYU, #31 Duke, #32 West Virginia, #33 Oklahoma State, #34 Georgia Tech, #35 Oregon State, #36 Utah, #37 Washington, #38 Minnesota, #39 Iowa, #40t Kentucky, #40t Rutgers, #40t South Carolina

[Commerce Heights]

UTES WIN, UTES WIN. What a night. The PAC-12 crew nearly made the worst call all season by calling roughing the kicker despite that little asshat faking and rolling into the Utah defenders - and he still missed his second try. Fuck you, UCLA. Get the fuck out of my Top 25 and shut the hell up. UCLA is easily the PAC-12 version of Florida State.

They didn’t call roughing the kicker. They called running into the kicker. Which is exactly what it was.

[Bythyrona]

UTES WIN, UTES WIN. What a night. The PAC-12 crew nearly made the worst call all season by calling roughing the kicker despite that little asshat faking and rolling into the Utah defenders - and he still missed his second try. Fuck you, UCLA. Get the fuck out of my Top 25 and shut the hell up. UCLA is easily the PAC-12 version of Florida State.

They didn’t call roughing the kicker. They called running into the kicker. Which is exactly what it was.

I'm not debating five pages over the acting skills of the UCLA kicker. They were short well before they touched him.

[Commerce Heights]

They didn’t call roughing the kicker. They called running into the kicker. Which is exactly what it was.

I'm not debating five pages over the acting skills of the UCLA kicker. They were short well before they touched him.

I’m not asking you to debate it, but the Utah player rolled into the kicker’s leg, displacing him from his kicking position, before he had regained his balance. That’s a foul. Not one that carries a fifteen-yard penalty—and thankfully they didn’t give one, because that could have given the game to UCLA—but it is a five-yard penalty.

[Bythyrona]

I like the part where the kicker's fall disproportionately matched any kind of incidental contact he could've received.

Roughing or Running Into Kicker or Holder
ARTICLE 16. a. When it is obvious that a scrimmage kick will be made, no opponent shall run into or rough the kicker or the holder of a place kick (A.R. 9-1-16-I, III and VI).
1. Roughing is a live-ball personal foul that endangers the kicker or holder.
2. Running into the kicker or holder is a live-ball foul that occurs when the kicker or holder is displaced from his kicking or holding position but is not roughed (A.R. 9-1-16-II). Note: Running into the kicker carries a five-yard penalty.
3. Incidental contact with a kicker or holder is not a foul.
4. The kicker’s protection under this rule ends (a)when he has had a reasonable time to regain his balance(A.R. 9-1-16-IV); or (b)when he carries the ball outside the tackle box (Rule 2-34) before kicking.

[Commerce Heights]

I like the part where the kicker's fall disproportionately matched any kind of incidental contact he could've received.

I’m sure the kicker wasn’t trying especially hard to stay on his feet, but he has no obligation to do so. He was still in the process of regaining his balance after the kick as the defender rolled into his leg.

[Torisakia]

Whether or not the UCLA kicker acting like he got hit doesn't change the fact that they still lost.

With the new AP poll out, it'll be interesting to see the DakAttack vs Auburn. Personally, I don't think Auburn can stop a player like Dak. Hell, if they barely beat Kansas State, they'll surely struggle with MSU.

As for Alabama and their playoff hopes, I just hope they can get bowl eligible.

[95X]

Subject change! Every so often, I wonder if there will be an official 'losers bowl,' i.e. the two worst teams, or two winless teams, take the field in the postseason not as an act of futility but so both have hopes of getting a win. It looks like that's almost what's happening next week, as 0-6 Massachusetts plays 0-5 Kent State. There is a bright side, one of them should win.

[Bythyrona]

Subject change! Every so often, I wonder if there will be an official 'losers bowl,' i.e. the two worst teams, or two winless teams, take the field in the postseason not as an act of futility but so both have hopes of getting a win. It looks like that's almost what's happening next week, as 0-6 Massachusetts plays 0-5 Kent State. There is a bright side, one of them should win.

That should be on the responsibility of the school, lol, like the 1999 Swarthmore-Oberlin game - Swarthmore entered not having won a game in two years, Oberlin in five.

[Torisakia]

So now people are predicting Arkansas to blow Alabama out of the water.

Yet expect Oregon and Oklahoma (both who also lost last week) to win big.

Such great, flawless logic.

[Pope Joan]

As Charles Dickens once wrote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

2007 Part 2: Electric Boogaloo begins.

Eh, not so sure about that. Since Oregon, Alabama, and Oklahoma's playoff dreams have died, it's a huge toss up. It's not like FSU, Auburn, Baylor, etc. can all lose in the same week and Bama, Oregon, and Oklahoma come running back in.

Since so many big shots have been shot down, they are all still viable, ironically enough. Most likely there will be at least two one-loss teams in the playoffs.

And even if Notre Dame excels, they will never again be allowed in; at least until they go to an 8 team format (and the sooner the better).

[Pope Joan]

Subject change! Every so often, I wonder if there will be an official 'losers bowl,' i.e. the two worst teams, or two winless teams, take the field in the postseason not as an act of futility but so both have hopes of getting a win. It looks like that's almost what's happening next week, as 0-6 Massachusetts plays 0-5 Kent State. There is a bright side, one of them should win.

That should be on the responsibility of the school, lol, like the 1999 Swarthmore-Oberlin game - Swarthmore entered not having won a game in two years, Oberlin in five.

I would like to start a league without scholarships, which emphasizes scholarship and values over mindless muscle. Call it the "Collegiate Academic Athletics" conference.

Oberlin would be right on top; they are outstanding in those areas that really matter.

On the other hand, "schools" like Maryland and Oklahoma had entire basketball squads that never graduated, and that was long before the one-and-done syndrome.

[Bythyrona]

That should be on the responsibility of the school, lol, like the 1999 Swarthmore-Oberlin game - Swarthmore entered not having won a game in two years, Oberlin in five.

I would like to start a league without scholarships, which emphasizes scholarship and values over mindless muscle. Call it the "Collegiate Academic Athletics" conference.

Oberlin would be right on top; they are outstanding in those areas that really matter.

On the other hand, "schools" like Maryland and Oklahoma had entire basketball squads that never graduated, and that was long before the one-and-done syndrome.

Well, there IS Division III, Division II, and the Pioneer Football League...

A D-IA FBS team without scholarships would never be competitive. The 80-game losing streak of Prairie View A&M (against FCS competition in the SWAC; all of their non-conference opponents were either NAIA or lower division opponents, so they were essentially a club team until the school decided to re-award 15 scholarships around 1997 or 1998) came as a direct result of throwing a team like that against scholarship-driven schools. It doesn't work outside of the PFL.

[95X]

Well, there IS Division III, Division II, and the Pioneer Football League...

Division 2 has scholarships, just a lower number than Division 1.

http://www.ncaa.org/about?division=d2
Division II offers a “partial-scholarship” model for financial aid in which most student-athletes’ college experiences are funded through a mix of athletics scholarships, academic aid, need-based grants and/or employment earnings.

TBH, I think trying to get scholarships out of college sports would be like taking money out of politics; would work great in theory but extremely unlikely to happen.

I seriously need to find another team to root for. Is Eastern Washington accepting bandwagons?

:D
Maybe.

[Pope Joan]

I like the part where the kicker's fall disproportionately matched any kind of incidental contact he could've received.

I’m sure the kicker wasn’t trying especially hard to stay on his feet, but he has no obligation to do so. He was still in the process of regaining his balance after the kick as the defender rolled into his leg.

Many kickers these days are soccer players, and we all know how expert those chaps are at flopping.

[Commerce Heights]

I’m sure the kicker wasn’t trying especially hard to stay on his feet, but he has no obligation to do so. He was still in the process of regaining his balance after the kick as the defender rolled into his leg.

Many kickers these days are soccer players, and we all know how expert those chaps are at flopping.

I’m sorry to have to bring you this news, but that stereotype passed away four years ago, after its terribly insensitive employers worked it to exhaustion.

[Bythyrona]

Well, there IS Division III, Division II, and the Pioneer Football League...

Division 2 has scholarships, just a lower number than Division 1.

http://www.ncaa.org/about?division=d2
Division II offers a “partial-scholarship” model for financial aid in which most student-athletes’ college experiences are funded through a mix of athletics scholarships, academic aid, need-based grants and/or employment earnings.

TBH, I think trying to get scholarships out of college sports would be like taking money out of politics; would work great in theory but extremely unlikely to happen.

I know Division II still grants scholarships, but it's less than half of what an FBS team can have. My point was that if a school really values academics that much more than their athletic program, then there are ways such as D2 to achieve that end but still play football. I don't believe in not granting scholarships - it is the duty of the NCAA, as ham-fisted as it is, to enforce such restrictions as APR.

[Bythyrona]

...and Todd Gurley is suspended indefinitely. Neither Treon Harris nor perhaps the best RB in the land can be suspended BEFORE the Vols play them.

Kentucky or Missouri for SEC East title, wut. UGA might have the depth to cover that void in the backfield, but with that secondary...

[Torisakia]

God dammit Todd Gurley. I guess its up to the DakAttack to bring the Heisman back to the SEC...

[Torisakia]

Dan Mullen had his 2nd String Defense in while up 21-0 in the first quarter.

How stupid is he? i mean, sure he's up big on the #2 team in the nation. But putting your backups in that early? Wtf?

EDIT: Aaaannnd MSU's letting Auburn back in the game....

At least Alabama's not the only one to do it.

EDIT 2: GOD FUCKING DAMMIT. QUIT TRYING TO LOSE, MSU. IF YOU LOSE THIS GAME, CANCEL YOUR FOOTBALL PROGRAM. WHAT A FUCKING DISGRACE.

EDIT 3: #FireDanMullen

[Torisakia]

EDIT: At this point, I'm unamused that Alabama is playing so badly. They really have no one to blame but themselves for losing two in a row.

It's now up to the DakAttack to bring the national championship back to the SEC.

EDIT 2: So I guess party like it's 2007?

EDIT 3: #FireLaneKiffin

EDIT 4: Alabama's prancing around the field like they dominated the game. lel

[Bythyrona]

The "Keep Lane Kiffin" Top 25 - Week 7

1. Mississippi State (6-0)
2. Baylor (6-0)
3. Ole Miss (6-0)
4. Florida State (6-0)
5. Notre Dame (6-0)
6. Auburn (5-1)
7. Oregon (5-1)
8. Michigan State (5-1)
9. Alabama (5-1)
10. Georgia (5-1)
11. Oklahoma (5-1)
12. TCU (4-1)
13. Arizona State (4-1)
14. Nebraska (5-1)
15. Ohio State (4-1)
16. East Carolina (4-1)
17. Texas A&M (5-2)
18. Kansas State (4-1)
19. USC (4-2)
20. Marshall (6-0)
21. Arizona (5-1)
22. Stanford (4-2)
23. LSU (4-2)
24. Clemson (4-2)
25. Duke (5-1)
---
IN: Clemson, Duke
OUT: Louisville, Missouri
---
The Best of the Rest: #26 Virginia, #27 Wisconsin, #28 West Virginia, #29 Utah, #30 Missouri, #31 Kentucky, #32 Minnesota, #33 UCLA, #34 Louisville, #35 Oregon State, #36 Oklahoma State, #37 Washington, #38 Iowa, #39 Rutgers, #40t BYU, #40t South Carolina