American Sports Thread

[wicked]

Notre Dame will be in Yankee Stadium again in the next couple years ... they're making an effort to bring them in every couple years, as well as having a bowl game there at Yankee Stadium every year.

The finish of the Mississippi-Jacksonville State game was phenomenal.

[RedBolts]

Enjoyed the college football over the weekend there. Do many of you guys follow it closely? Ate a hole out of Saturday. Better than watching some dodgy premiership match. There's something about the college football culture that's very intriguing. Gripping almost. The colour and sound is fantastic. Makes NFL look sterile.

Florida were very poor. Tebow or not. Gotta be beating Miami easier than that. The amount of bad snaps they played was unbelievable. Some weren't even near the mark, I think the commentators had counted something like 13/14 bad snaps.

Denard Robinson was class for Michigan. Cannot believe he is a QB! Surely they can't ask him to do that sort of yardage every week? 113,000 attendance.

TCU looked OK too. I liked their QB Dalton. Katz looked decent enough for Oregon but there just seems to be a lack of conviction with him. Only for the picks Oregon would hardly have been in the game.

Big game tonight - Boise State v Virginia Tech. Tough game for Boise to start with, especially as they have title aspirations. But i'll take them to win. Probably too late to watch it though on a school night.

[AZOffaly]

I follow it alright, but not as closely as the NFL. I love the spectacle, but the NCAA needs to have playoffs rather than the computer system deciding who plays for the National Championship.

Robinson will not do that against better opposition, hopefully starting with Notre Dame next weekend. Katz it probably going to be a great NFL quarterback though, (Oregon State, not Oregon - Oregon are the green and yella fellas).

Boise v Va Tech tonight is huge alright, but I think Va Tech will beat them. It's not on the blue field in Idaho, and is nearly a home game for Va Tech. If Boise lose it they will be knocked out of the National Championship, but their only hope of getting to that game is to schedule tough non conference games. (Hence my preference for a playoff).

I still prefer the NFL because of the higher quality of game, but I do think the NCAA is a close second.

[DrinkingHarp]

The marching band shows at halftime are something else, as is the entire atmosphere surrounding college football. I'll take a Division I college game over the NFL any day.

For a fun atmosphere nothing beats a college game tailgaiting with students (esp coeds) and the price beats the NFL.

But the NFL is better in terms of athletics and ability of players. NFL tailgaiting is only a stepdown from the NCAA.

[mc_grens]

The marching band shows at halftime are something else, as is the entire atmosphere surrounding college football. I'll take a Division I college game over the NFL any day.

For a fun atmosphere nothing beats a college game tailgaiting with students (esp coeds) and the price beats the NFL.

But the NFL is better in terms of athletics and ability of players. NFL tailgaiting is only a stepdown from the NCAA.

I love watching the NFL and trying to work out how the offensive and defensive schemes work. It's nigh on impossible with the broadcast angles, but the schemes are much more complex. I also love working out matchups and seeing what problems players like Gates and Finlay can cause. I just don't get the same thing from NCAA Football.

[David McKeown]

Was lucky enough to be studying at UT Austin in 2005 when they won the national championship.  Got to the majority of home games that season and up to Baylor, the atmosphere of a college game really is something.  Was in the same class as Vince Young that year too.  Once I moved back home I more or less gave up watching NFL games in favour of NCAA games unless the vikings were involved but soon realised you get so many more one sided games in college football that more excitement can actually be found watching the pros play.

[BallyhaiseMan]

Was lucky enough to be studying at UT Austin in 2005 when they won the national championship.  Got to the majority of home games that season and up to Baylor, the atmosphere of a college game really is something.  Was in the same class as Vince Young that year too.  Once I moved back home I more or less gave up watching NFL games in favour of NCAA games unless the vikings were involved but soon realised you get so many more one sided games in college football that more excitement can actually be found watching the pros play.

Id say Vince had his selection of hot Female UT co-eds.
They loved him down there.

[DrinkingHarp]

Enjoyed the college football over the weekend there. Do many of you guys follow it closely? Ate a hole out of Saturday. Better than watching some dodgy premiership match. There's something about the college football culture that's very intriguing. Gripping almost. The colour and sound is fantastic. Makes NFL look sterile.

Florida were very poor. Tebow or not. Gotta be beating Miami easier than that. The amount of bad snaps they played was unbelievable. Some weren't even near the mark, I think the commentators had counted something like 13/14 bad snaps.

Denard Robinson was class for Michigan. Cannot believe he is a QB! Surely they can't ask him to do that sort of yardage every week? 113,000 attendance.

TCU looked OK too. I liked their QB Dalton. Katz looked decent enough for Oregon but there just seems to be a lack of conviction with him. Only for the picks Oregon would hardly have been in the game.

Big game tonight - Boise State v Virginia Tech. Tough game for Boise to start with, especially as they have title aspirations. But i'll take them to win. Probably too late to watch it though on a school night.

Incredible game!!!!  Down to the wire.

[RedBolts]

Unfortunately i didn't see it but it sounded like a good one alright. A lot of talk today about Boise State's right to be in a BCS title game. Must win all remaining games obv, but where do you guys stand on that one?

I think with their record over the past 3/4 years it would be unfair to tell them: you can't play for the BCS title. But you can see why it's unfair on the teams from the bigger conferences.

AZOffaly was talking about a playoff system. Would certainly remove some of these issues. But how would it work - top 10/12 teams in an NFL-style system? What would happen the other bowl games?

[AZOffaly]

Unfortunately i didn't see it but it sounded like a good one alright. A lot of talk today about Boise State's right to be in a BCS title game. Must win all remaining games obv, but where do you guys stand on that one?

I think with their record over the past 3/4 years it would be unfair to tell them: you can't play for the BCS title. But you can see why it's unfair on the teams from the bigger conferences.

AZOffaly was talking about a playoff system. Would certainly remove some of these issues. But how would it work - top 10/12 teams in an NFL-style system? What would happen the other bowl games?

The problem with Boise is that they play in a conference that is loaded with patsies. That's why they've scheduled VA Tech this year. Problem is, VA Tech is their only ranked opponent all year!! It'll be a major surprise now if Boise go anything less than 11 or 12 and 0. (Can't remember how many games they play).

If they do go undefeated, having started in #3, there's a fair chance (actually an excellent chance) that they will be in the BCS game.

HOWEVER, that's not really fair when you look at the SEC, Big 10, Pac 10, Big XII or any of the other major conferences. It's very hard to go unbeaten if you are Florida when you have to play Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Miami etc etc every year.

Obviously there's 120 Division 1 schools, and you can't have a playoff for all of them. What I would suggest is the winner of each of the major conferences (PAC 10, Big 10, Big XII, SEC, Big East, WAC, whatever) PLUS the next amount of teams from the BCS rankings would go into the playoffs, capped at 16 teams.

The quarter finals then could be the 4 big Bowl Games, Sugar, Rose, Orange, Fiesta.

The other bowl games could select from the rest of the teams with a winning record throughout the country.

I think it would be much fairer, and would allow the *real* national champion to be crowned.

[RedBolts]

Yeah I think the biggest problem is the fact that there are 120 FBS programs. Not easy to break into manageable/equal divisions. Then play-offs. I agree that a play-off system seems to be the only fair way to finish off the season, but its an extra 4 weekends of games, and you'll have the usual detractors if a poorer regular-season team lifts the title.

Hard to suit everyone. In Boise's case - how difficult/feasible would it be for them to join one of the BCS conferences - say PAC-10 (although they're already expanding it to PAC-12)? Or even become an independent?

[AZOffaly]

Lets look at last year as a starting point. I would give automatic entry to the 'Sweet 16' to the following schools...

ACC Champion - Georgia Tech
Big East Champion - Cincinnati
Big 10 Champion - Ohio State
Big XII Champion - Texas
Conference USA Champion - East Carolina
MAC Champion - Central Michigan
Mountain West - TCU
PAC 10 - Oregon
SEC - Alabama
Sun Belt - Troy
WAC - Boise State


That makes 11. Now add 5 teams that are the top ranked in BCS rankings, but haven't won their conferences.... (This would include any independents that have played well enough).

In 2009 that finished.... (Wildcards for the playoffs in bold)

1   Alabama   .9978
2   Texas   .9433
3   Cincinnati   .8878
4   TCU   .8836
5   Florida   .8637
6   Boise State   .8106
7   Oregon   .7568
8   Ohio State   .6568
9   Georgia Tech   .6471
10   Iowa   .6180
11   Virginia Tech   .5675
12   LSU   .5375
13   Penn State   .5319
14   Brigham Young   .4531
15   Miami (FL)   .4419
16   West Virginia   .3357
17   Pittsburgh   .3141
18   Oregon State   .2876
19   Oklahoma State   .2628
20   Arizona   .2248
21   Stanford   .1803
22   Nebraska   .1655
23   Utah   .1245
24   USC   .1207
25   Wisconsin   .1203

Imagine this then. (Seeded based on BCS standings and my opinion for the lower conf champions, because they weren't in the top 25. Conf Champions automatically higher than Wildcards.)

#1 Alabama versus #13 Penn State.

#2 Texas versus #12 LSU

#3 Cincinnati versus #11 VA Tech

#4 TCU versus #10 Iowa

#6 Boise versus 5 Florida

#7 Oregon versus Number ?? Troy

#8 Ohio State versus Number ?? Central Michigan

#9 Georgia Tech versus Number ?? East Carolina

Now that would be a playoff run

[RedBolts]

Fair play AZ - seems like a solid system. Would certainly enjoy that month of action!! As if we haven't enough problems trying to structure a fair All Ireland football championship, without trying to put the BCS to rights as well!

Reading what the BCS themselves have to say about this, it appears that a few mindsets will need to change before a 'Sweet 16' playoff system is brought into place:

Why can't the BCS institute a playoff for Division I-A football?
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is a five-game showcase of college football; designed to ensure that the two top-rated teams in the country meet in the national championship game, while creating exciting and competitive matchups among eight other highly regarded teams in four other games.

It has been undeniably successful in achieving those goals. Thanks to the BCS, the top two teams have played each other 12 times in 12 years by BCS measurements and 9 times in the last 12 according to the AP poll -- including the last six years in a row. Additionally, it has provided more access to the major bowls for all 11 conferences, more television exposure, and more postseason revenue than ever before.

Playoffs have been considered by the NCAA Bowl Subdivision membership over the years, and have not been approved because of concerns that they would diminish the regular season, end the bowl system as it is today, create additional injury risk, pose significant logistical challenges, among other reasons. A survey of college football coaches at the American Football Coaches Association convention in 2010 found that 73 percent of coaches favor keeping the current BCS system in place.

http://www.bcsfootball.org/news/story?id=4809793

[Capt Pat]

Saints are leading 14-9 with 5 minutes to go in the third quarter, this game has been a bit of a grinder. Saints have missed a field goal and the Vikings an extra point.

[David McKeown]

Was lucky enough to be studying at UT Austin in 2005 when they won the national championship.  Got to the majority of home games that season and up to Baylor, the atmosphere of a college game really is something.  Was in the same class as Vince Young that year too.  Once I moved back home I more or less gave up watching NFL games in favour of NCAA games unless the vikings were involved but soon realised you get so many more one sided games in college football that more excitement can actually be found watching the pros play.

Id say Vince had his selection of hot Female UT co-eds.
They loved him down there.

Wasnt friendly enough with him to know about that but the talk around campus was that his long term girlfriend was there and that he was a one woman man.