2009 College Football Thread

[betterREDthandead 58]

True. I think they should schedule more Big East teams. Although I would imagine it being a circus if Michigan had to travel to West Virginia to play a game there. Still a game against Sryacuse wouldnt be that bad.

Not much difference between scheduling Syracuse and scheduling Bowling Green, frankly....

[timothy1997 0]

Not much difference between scheduling Syracuse and scheduling Bowling Green, frankly....

difference is that michigan isnt gonna travel down I-75 to play at bowling green. Michigan has played at the Carrier Dome tho.

[RockyMountainWingGal 108]

I agree with your sentiment, but why should Florida schedule tough non-conference games? There is no advantage to doing it unless you win and most major programs want a home-and-home in the deal. Although I do think the SEC does get overhyped in terms of toughness, it is still a brutal conference to compete in. If a team can go 8-0 or 7-1 in the SEC, I think they have proven enough to warrant not scheduling a quality non-conference game.

Then why did USC and OSU do it? I have to give USC alot of credit for their scheduling. They are not afraid to schedule teams from the big conferences pre-season. It would be easier to get the championship game (well not this year) by playing all lower conference teams, but they don't.

Personally, as an incentive, I think the BCS should factor in your preseason and require teams to play at least one big conference team to even get ranked. But it is never about the fans anymore, like everything else (even though technically this is not a business sport), or the integrity of football, it's all about the bogus BCS rankings. So instead of getting to see Florida vs Texas, or USC, or Penn State or whomever, we get to see Florida vs. "fill in the blank 70-0 team".

[timothy1997 0]

Then why did USC and OSU do it? I have to give USC alot of credit for their scheduling. They are not afraid to schedule teams from the big conferences pre-season. It would be easier to get the championship game (well not this year) by playing all lower conference teams, but they don't.

Personally, as an incentive, I think the BCS should factor in your preseason and require teams to play at least one big conference team to even get ranked. But it is never about the fans anymore, like everything else (even though technically this is not a business sport), or the integrity of football, it's all about the bogus BCS rankings. So instead of getting to see Florida vs Texas, or USC, or Penn State or whomever, we get to see Florida vs. "fill in the blank 70-0 team".

#1 There is no preseason in college football. Ask BYU if they can still get to the title game now that they lost to Florida State.

#2 Big schools don't want to make the mistake and schedule the Boise State, the Utahs, the BYU or even Appy State schools because if they win, no big deal. Buf if they lose, its the talk of the season. Sometimes the little schools do win tho. it just happens less and less.

#3 If the little schools want the big schools to come and play them at their stadium or neutral field and have the "homefield" advantage, they need cash. Cash is king and thats why Ohio State agreed to be the visitor and play Toledo in Cleveland this year. That is the same reason why MSU is going to travel to Mt. Pleasent to play at Central in a few years. If EMU wants to play Michigan and be called the "home team" then they need to play at Ford Field. Problem is that it would be a downsize in attendence for Michigan to play their. Thats why you will see Michigan play their games at the big house and not at Ford Field...regardless of home team or not. That is unless Michigan makes the Motor City Bowl game.

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

I am so torn about this Saturday...

Optimism:

-MSU's D sucks

-CMU/U-M pretty much have the exact same playbook

-Revenge for last year

-I think MSU's musical QB experiment is killing them

-If MSU goes down early they might throw in the towel because of the last 3 weeks

-When Rodriguez had his system in place he lit up Dantonio's teams

Concerns:

-Our D is probably worse

-MSU's WRs will be a nightmare for us minus Warren. Plus both QB's can air it out

-Forcier's first road game....a road game in a hostile environment.

-Molk/Minor's injuries

-This is a must win for MSU, and they treat it like their Super Bowl no matter what's going on anyways

-Minus the ND game, and the first half against WMU we have not played well. We are dodging bullets, and reality could be on the horizon for this team.

Edited September 28, 2009 by mannysBETTER3434

[betterREDthandead 58]

Fun fact: In Dantonio's first 30 games, he has exactly the same record (17-13) as John L. Smith's first 30.

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

Fun fact: In Dantonio's first 30 games, he has exactly the same record (17-13) as John L. Smith's first 30.

That is interesting.....

[Hockeytown Red Wings 245]

Penn State. First team they've played all year....first loss. Love it.

[timothy1997 0]

no one blames any big ten team for losing in Madison. That has always been a hard place to win a game. That being said I still like MSU's chances this saturday. Yeah they are 1-3 but they could easily be 2-2 or 3-1. The Wisky game is the only game that wasn't even that close.

Michigan is a fraud just like Penn State. Yes they are 4-0 but who exactly have they beaten. ND was an impressive win but should it really take a 4th quarter comeback to beat Indiana and still be in the Big Ten title hunt.

MSU will win because its at home and this is the season for them. GO GREEN!! GO WHITE!!

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

ND was an impressive win but should it really take a 4th quarter comeback to beat Indiana and still be in the Big Ten title hunt.

Their defense is terrible, for sure (Michigan has several walk-ons on their starting defense), but they made good adjustments at halftime and held Indiana to 10 points in the second half, 7 of those obviously coming on one home-run play. Even good teams get in dogfights with inferior opposition from time to time (I just consider it variance; eventually everything regresses back to the mean ), so while it's probably not worth many points to the voters a win's a win and big blue is still in the Big Ten title race.

Of course, Michigan may very well be that bad, but the only way to be sure is to wait and see.

MSU will win because its at home and this is the season for them. GO GREEN!! GO WHITE!!

Prepare to have your heart broken by the most clutch QB in the nation:

[betterREDthandead 58]

no one blames any big ten team for losing in Madison. That has always been a hard place to win a game. That being said I still like MSU's chances this saturday. Yeah they are 1-3 but they could easily be 2-2 or 3-1. The Wisky game is the only game that wasn't even that close.

Michigan is a fraud just like Penn State. Yes they are 4-0 but who exactly have they beaten. ND was an impressive win but should it really take a 4th quarter comeback to beat Indiana and still be in the Big Ten title hunt.

MSU will win because its at home and this is the season for them. GO GREEN!! GO WHITE!!

If MSU was 2-2 and had beaten CMU, then we would just apply this argument:

should it really take a 4th quarter comeback to beat CMU

As for "who exactly have they beaten," well, you said it yourself: Notre Dame. Which you lost to. MSU's defense is as bad as Michigan's - maybe worse since you don't have a Brandon Graham onboard - but we have quarterbacks. It sure would suck to lose to a "fraud" at home.

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

MSU will win because its at home and this is the season for them.

Season for what? Underachieving? Speaking of frauds...I think Dantonio fits that mold. He makes people believe he owns the state for recruiting, that MSU will play in Rose Bowls with him, and all his other garbage. When in reality he's barely over .500 as a HC at Cincy/MSU.

[timothy1997 0]

i stand by my statement saying that michigan is a fraud this year. That being said MSU is much worse. They are underachieving this year and are OVER RATED!!!

Something has to be done this weekend for MSU to have any season left. Another loss and they soon will be fighting to just get to a bowl game.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

From a neutral perspective (I hate both Michigan schools equally), I don't think Michigan is a fraud at all. The argument of well "who have they played?" has always bothered me when dismissing college football teams. Michigan played the teams on their schedule and WON. You can't control what other teams do or how the schedule plays out in terms of opponents. Sure, Michigan hasn't beaten a real quality team yet (Notre Dame is pretty strong, potentially very good) but how many people had them at 4-0 a month ago? Michigan State hasn't even beaten a school this season that isn't Division II or whatever the hell they call it now. Props to Michigan for doing what they are supposed to: beating the teams they should beat.

I think Big 10 schools in general play some of the weakest schedules in college football. The conference itself is weak and besides a few exceptions, no team in the conference played any semblance of a tough non-conference schedule. Then the Big 10 goes to the Rose Bowl or other BCS game and gets steamrolled by the first real competition they face.

I guess my point is the term "overrated" is so overused in college football. Basically to most people, any team they don't like has some reason to get labeled overrated. To be fair it does apply to some teams like Ole Miss, but in large part it rarely serves true in most situations.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Michigan certainly hasn't shown they are a fraud so far...

Will they go 11-0/12-0? Probably not, but I think they are "back" in a sense, more/less.

Since the college I went to is not in the BCS big conferences, Who do you think has the best chances out of the non-BCS conferences to crack it if they remain undefeated? The first 3 are the best candidates right now IMO.

Also keep in mind if one makes it in over another or my school gets shunned out, I probably won't be going apes**t or campaigning or whatever, because the whole BCS/bowl process is pretty messed up, regardless of if you are in a "big" conference or not.

Boise State - So far they beat Oregon and ranked in the top 5. WAC conference though which they play in, pretty weak perceptively this year. Not really the most challenging non-conference schedule outside of Oregon (Bowling Green, UC Davis, Tulsa which is respectable).

TCU (Go Frogs, my school ) - Currently around #10 in the rankings. A great non-conference win at Clemson, another win on the road at the ACC in Virginia (even though they're probably going to be down this year). Other non-conference games include Texas State (I-AA, won) and SMU (should be able to win without too much difficulty). Mountain West Confernece that they are in had a great year last year and is tougher than the WAc, C-USA etc. traditionally. Still have to play BYU which should be in/around the top 25 still, and possibly the same for Utah.

Houston - Great wins so far at Oklahoma State when they were in the top 10 and Texas Tech, two solid Big 12 schools. C-USA isn't the strongest, but they also still have to go on the road to play an improved Mississippi State team in the SEC even though MSU isn't usually at the top of that conference. Still have to play respectable opponents like Tulsa and Southern Miss.

As much as I got to support my school, I think Houston has the inside track right now if they keep winning and are 3rd in rankings between these schools right now. Two great wins against Big 12 schools that are usually win a lot more than they lose, and they are close to the top-10 right now. Plus they would have to win an extra game playing in the C-USA Championship like the MAC does with splitting their schools up in divisions.

I think BYU still has an outside shot despite the big loss to Jekyll-Hyde Florida State - if all the top 3 falter at some point. They have a big win against Oklahoma (which appears to be back in form as well) and are still in the Top 25. They also play in the MWC and will deal with TCU when they are ranked in all likelihood and the same with Utah.

Edited September 29, 2009 by SouthernWingsFan

[Hockeytown Red Wings 245]

I dont know what to make of this weekend's game in East Lansing.

I think MSU is better than the results they've gained, but in what year haven't we said that. At some point it just becomes the truth.

UM is most definitely improved, and are if nothing else clutch (aka anti-Spartan Syndome). I question if the defense will be able hold up, however I think there's talent there, especially in the secondary.

I'll be interested to see how Forcier responds in his first road game, especially with the shoulder injury.

How there is a QB controversey in East Lansing is beyond me. It hasn't even been close, Cousins should be the starter.

If scUM has a good showing this weekend, I'll start buying what the mass media is selling in that Michigan is "back". Definitely think they're better, but I guess it all depends on what your definition of "back" is.

I guess if I had to pick, Michigan has been clutch and MSU has founds way to kill themselves. Seems to set up the classic 'Spartans blow late lead' game. Michigan by 4.

[betterREDthandead 58]

It must be Michigan-Michigan State week, cause Sparty's already whining and crying about getting no respect.

Donovan Warren: "It's not a 1-3 team, it's Michigan State."

Trevor "Crybaby" Anderson: "The lack of respect they have is sickening."

Yeah, Warren's a real disrespectful *******, yup.

[TheDetroitRedWings 286]

I'm a Spartan but I'm also realistic. No way we beat the Michigan Tate Forciers.

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

It must be Michigan-Michigan State week, cause Sparty's already whining and crying about getting no respect.

Donovan Warren: "It's not a 1-3 team, it's Michigan State."

Trevor "Crybaby" Anderson: "The lack of respect they have is sickening."

Yeah, Warren's a real disrespectful *******, yup.

Maybe he's referring to this

"We only have one rival, that's Ohio State," Foote said on the show. "Michigan State is just another game in the Big Ten."

Foote said the Spartans tend to make the game their Super Bowl.

"Our Super Bowl is Ohio State," Foote said. "You don't want to lose to (the Spartans), especially if you live here because there are so many Michigan State people around with their little S on their license plate and their green shirts all the time. You don't want to hear their mouth when they beat you.

"They're just like a little nagging little brother. You just gotta put 'em in their place."

Not as classic as his "Spartina" comments, but dang thats why I love Foote!!! Why is Anderson even saying this stuff? Because he didn't get offered by us? My word, his best friend is Brandon Graham!

Edited September 29, 2009 by mannysBETTER3434

[timothy1997 0]

It must be Michigan-Michigan State week, cause Sparty's already whining and crying about getting no respect.

Donovan Warren: "It's not a 1-3 team, it's Michigan State."

Trevor "Crybaby" Anderson: "The lack of respect they have is sickening."

Yeah, Warren's a real disrespectful *******, yup.

I don't think he was calling out THESE wolverines, but wolverines in the past. Calling us little brother, stuff like that.

[timothy1997 0]

Hey Michigan,

If you think your team is BCS bound, keep dreaming.

If you think your team is Big Ten Title bound, keep dreaming.

If you think that Tate "the Great" Forcier is the best QB in the land, keep dreaming.

And if you think that you are gonna just walk in to spartan stadium and leave with a win, keep dreaming.

MICHIGAN STATE WILL PREVAIL TODAY! GO GREEN!! GO WHITE!!

[timothy1997 0]

Michigan is lucky this game is only 10-6 after the first half. Total domination by MSU in the first half.

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

I don't know what the hell happened in the last 5 minutes, but until then State's D which had gotten gashed by everyone was a wall, so I give them props. Forcier is just clutch all over, but punting for 55 minutes is not going to win you many games.

State was certainly the better team and they earned their W.

[Third Man In 2,091]

At least Michigan State and Ohio State have something in common: Michigan can't beat either of them anymore

[timothy1997 0]

Much needed victory for MSU. They were a team possessed early on and nearly gave the game away like they have previous weeks. Now they need to build on this win and make a run.

GO GREEN!! GO WHITE!!