Like a few sportswriters, I've been saying for sometime that these are the two best teams in the CFB. Both of us lost games that we shouldn't have, as well as OU. I'm not worried about Kansas, because I believe they lose to Missouri. OU probably wins out. They could jump UO, but not LSU, unless you lose another one you shouldn't. I really believe that we play each other for the NC, since we should both win out. But strange things do happen in College football. Our biggest concern is Dixon and Stewart. We lose Stewart and we're not top 10, Dixon and we're probably not top15 or 20. I'm not sure LSU has one player that would be as devastating a loss as those two would be to UO. We have already lost our other great RB and the backup QB isn't close to Dixon. Anyway, I just wanted to stop by now that we are #1 & #2 and wish you luck and hope we both win out so the 2 best teams from the two toughest conferences this year play for the NC.
Congrats on a good season Duck. Congrats on your #2 BCS ranking as well. However, I wouldn't say that your conference is one of the two toughest conferences this year. I will admit that the SEC is though.
OU winning out does present a problem for Oregon. Not nearly as much of a problem as Kansas winning out, obviously. I do believe Oregon will maintain an advantage over OU in the computer polls (maybe as much as an entire spot difference (#2 vs #3, e.g.). If the difference is that much, I don't think voters will give OU enough of a boost to take over the #2 spot in the BCS. I stated in another thread that OU must face an unbeaten Kansas team in order to leapfrog Oregon on that last weekend of football. If they simply beat a Mizzou team they already beat, I don't think it will be enough for the voters to do anything with. Anybody else with me on this logic? It might be subtle, but subtle is everything when it comes to the BCS.
Most Big 12 fans wouldn't....I would, and many others would, too. I'd put OU up there with the top three though. :thumb:
Pac 10 has really improved in recent years and is a tough conference. Big 12 north is a lot toughter this year than in past years to make that a better conference. I would put Pac 10 , Big 12, and SEC all roughly equal with the ACC, Big 10, and Big East all lagging way behind.
Duck, Welcome to the board. Good first post. You are correct we are pretty deep at all positions (provided our backup QB can stay out trouble). It would hurt us from a leadership point if we lost Hester, Steltz, Dorsey or Doucet, but talent wise I think we would be fine. We only run the risk of beating ourselves in the last 2 games of the regular season. Then we will have to face a red hot Georgia team in their in "home" dome for the SEC championship game. I think Georgia is a top 5 caliber team. We have a lot of football left before we should be thinking about the NC game. How do you guys have left on your schedule?
Oregans problem is that the remaining schedule is against low ranked teams and they don't have a championship game to play another contender. They won't get any bolster from computer rankings. But they'll get the love from the left coast sports writers. I just hope OU doesn't jump them, play us for the national championship, Oregan beats Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and then the AP jumps all over them for the number one spot. It's like Deja vu all over again.
Looking at the scenario of OU passing Oregon in the BCS after the last week of play: I firmly believe OU will be a entire spot below Oregon in the computer polls (something like .960 to .920). Teams like Arizona State and Ohio State could further hurt OU's chances as they could serve as a buffer between themselves and Oregon in many of the computer polls. In this case, you may be looking at .960 to .870 or something very similiar). Right now OU is 71 points behind Oregon in the Harris, and 41 behind in the Coaches. That's approximately 2/3 of an entire spot behind Oregon (114 Harris voters and 60 Coaches). They would have to finish about 60 votes AHEAD in the Harris, and 35 points AHEAD in the Coaches to make up for that difference in the computer pollls (in the .960 vs .920 scenario). A fairly significant leap. If Arizona State and Ohio State win out, then you looking at a jump that's more than a spot ahead of Oregon in both polls (more than 114 in the Harris, more than 60 in the Coaches). I don't see that happening, as that would mean they would be eating into LSU's first place votes. LSU would be playing a fairly significant team in the SEC CG while OU plays its CG the same weekend. Basically, OU has to pray that Arizona State loses at some point. They play USC next weekend. If ASU wins that game, it will offset the boost OU gets from its Big 12 CG to a significant degree. There will be little chance OU jumps ASU in the computer pollls. Not to mention, Arizona State keeps a top 10 win in Oregon's pocket, boosting Oregon's computer rankings as well (or at the very minimum not hurting it). Basically, you could be looking at a scenario as follows in many of the computer polls: 1. LSU 2. Oregon 3. ASU 4. Oklahoma And in a couple it will probably be Ohio State at #4 and Oklahoma at #5. Ohio State gets a boost from its game vs a ranked Michigan team this coming weekend (if they win, of course). Hopefully this was pretty clear to everyone. A lot of stuff to digest.
Richard Tellshow will run a computer poll projection on the following sets of teams winning out: 1) LSU, Oregon, OU 2) LSU, Oregon, Missouri I will be interested to see how far OU is projected behind Oregon in scenario #1.
I need some of what you guys are smoking! The Wac-10 and Little 12 are NOWHERE close to the SEC. They each have 3 good teams then TOTAL CRAP after that. The SEC, on the other hand, has 10 teams that are bowl eligible with Vandy being no. 11 if they can get another win. And that's with the SEC "beating up" on each other. No other conference comes close to that.
