NCAA Football count down! (updated)

[bowl of soup]

Today's long-distance dedication comes to us from Bowl of Soup with great love to Alabama's favorite son, Angry Ewok.  From Tuesday Morning Quarterback (a must-read if you like intelligent discussion of football, the universe, and the world at-large, ESPN.com Page 2):

Weasel Bowl Approaches: This Saturday it's Little Nicky Saban versus Bobby Petrino as Alabama meets Arkansas -- the first Weasel Bowl! Note the schools of the Weasel Three -- Saban, Petrino and Rich Rodriguez -- are a combined 13-8 since these extremely expensive promise-breakers arrived. They'd probably be a combined 13-9 if Arkansas' game at Texas had not been postponed by Hurricane Ike, and surely Arkansas boosters are now praying that meeting is never rescheduled. The 13 victories include wins over cupcakes Western Illinois, Western Kentucky, Western Carolina and Miami (Ohio). Between huge salaries, legal fees and buyouts, Alabama, Arkansas and Michigan have already spent about $20 million to get a mediocre 13-8 result. Considering the fantastic advantages in money and recruiting power possessed by Alabama, Arkansas and Michigan, orangutans could have coached them to 13-8.

[BH]

orangutans could have coached them to 13-8.

Well there is a small compliment to Mark Mangino for you Elspeth!

[EAZYE]

#33 Nebraska vs. #34 Tennessee      

Somehow I do not seeing that as being epic as Frost vs. Manning from the '98 Orange Bowl.

Side note, 9/23 a DVD 5 pack hits netflix. 71 NU/OK, '82 NU/OK (I believe this is the bouncaroskie), and the 3 Nat'l Championships from the 90's. Hot Damn!

EZ- Care to take a trip down memory lane with the 82 game? Man that game was fantastic.

I was 2 in the 82 game, but have watched it a couple of times on espn classic.  Wouldn't care to watch either the 01 or 02 game where you guys beat us with the same throw back to the quarterback play we tried earlier in the game :-/

[corey]

That's a funny article and all, but you can't really polish a turd. Saban has done the best he could with what he was given. The promising thing about Saban is what can happen in the next year or two. Have you seen our Freshmen? He's still a powerhouse at recruiting, and we have some commitments for next year already. I think we're on the upswing.

Hate on him all you want. I don't give a fuck. :)

[Angry Ewok]

How can the hacks on Page 2 criticize Saban's record when the cupboards were absolutely bare when he got here? He goes 7 and 6 his first year with a totally dismantled program, and for the first time in nearly thirty years, Alabama didn't have an athlete drafted.

Then ol' "Satan" turns around and recruits the best class in the Nation.

We're still rebuilding. We're fielding more freshmen starters than any other team in the Nation. We'll disrupt a few teams this year, but we're going to be a real handful in about two years.

:-*

[mjkoehler]

#33 Nebraska vs. #34 Tennessee      

Somehow I do not seeing that as being epic as Frost vs. Manning from the '98 Orange Bowl.

Side note, 9/23 a DVD 5 pack hits netflix. 71 NU/OK, '82 NU/OK (I believe this is the bouncaroskie), and the 3 Nat'l Championships from the 90's. Hot Damn!

EZ- Care to take a trip down memory lane with the 82 game? Man that game was fantastic.

I was 2 in the 82 game, but have watched it a couple of times on espn classic.  Wouldn't care to watch either the 01 or 02 game where you guys beat us with the same throw back to the quarterback play we tried earlier in the game :-/

;D I was 9 and remember watching it going, Holy shit, can you do that!?!?!

I'm surprised they didn't include the game with the Miracle (some say illegal) kick/catch in the this series.  :-/ [size=8]Yeah Dave I went there. There are people I work with that are STILL bitter about that.[/size]

[Angry Ewok]

I still think the Big 12 is better this year.  Not last year or before, but this year.  So don't give me # of NFL players or national championships because I'm talking about 2008-09.

The athletes going pro is an indicator to the quality of athletes in the conference. The number of coaches with National Championship rings indicates the quality of coaches in the conference. Just more indisputable arguments explaining why our conference play is tougher and better than everyone else.

In the end, let's just see how many of this year's athletes get drafted, and which conference comes away with a third consecutive title ring.

Your defense argument is compelling and I will certainly give you the overall nod there.  However, keep in mind, when a team, like MU for example, scores on every series, and the average time of possesion for a drive is like two minutes because of the hurry up as well as the stupid college football clock rule, the other team always has the ball. So eventually, yes, they are going to move the ball.

I guess my way of thinking is... what's the point of putting up points in record speed if you allow the opponent to come right back and score in response? This is what I've been talking about the entire time - you guys have that flashy no-huddle offense, but generally speaking the defense is just pathetic.

The SEC will face tougher teams, naturally, but they'll also allow less points per points scored. As early as it is in the season, we can already look at the Top 10 teams based on points scored versus points allowed, and see exactly what I'm talking about.

87-10      (8.7)      #1 USC
82-13      (6.3)      #4 Florida
82-16      (5.1)      #6 LSU
64-15      (4.2)      #10 Auburn
95-23      (4.1)      #9 Alabama
94-23      (4.0)      #7 Texas
164-42      (3.9)      #2 Oklahoma
173-62      (2.8)      #5 Missouri
115-45      (2.5)      #3 Georgia
127-50      (2.5)      #11 Texas Tech
102-41      (2.4)      #8 Wisconsin

See? You guys are at the bottom of the stack with a grossly over-rated Wisconsin and a humbled Georgia (who I guarantee will send a message this weekend).

[BH]

Ha!  Talk about manipulating the numbers.   Somehow outscoring your opponents by far more points than the SEC becomes a "ratio" of points for vs. points against?  That is a stretch my friend.

If a team wins 3-0 then your "ratio" would be infiniti and therefore dominating by your calculations.

And yes, Missouri's pathetic defense held McFadden and Arkansas to one of their lowest yardage totals of the season last year.  When it really counted.

[Angry Ewok]

Ha!  Talk about manipulating the numbers.   Somehow outscoring your opponents by far more points than the SEC becomes a "ratio" of points for vs. points against?  That is a stretch my friend.

But you aren't outscoring your opponents more than the SEC is, because you're allowing more points in the process. Missouri has scored more points than anyone else in the Top 10, but they've allowed more points than all of the SEC teams combined (minus Georgia). That's why I don't like your chances up against a balanced team. How'd you do against Oklahoma last year, for example?

And yes, Missouri's pathetic defense held McFadden and Arkansas to one of their lowest yardage totals of the season last year.  When it really counted

When it really counted? You mean a week after Oklahoma dropped you guys (a second time) from the #1 spot, kicking you out of a BCS entry, where you (with a 10-2 record) ended up in the non-BCS Cotton Bowl against an unranked Arkansas (8-4) with an interim coach named Reggie something? That's when it really counted? I know you love the fact you beat an SEC team, and kudos to you guys for that, I guess, but we all know interim coaches were 1-5 last year, and the SEC was 5-1 in bowl games. Missouri was favored to win for a reason, dude...

You want to talk about the pitiful Arkansas game last year, as if it really counted... Let's talk about your two games against Oklahoma, specifically the Conference Championship where you were ranked #1 in the Nation. #9 Oklahoma beat you guys 38-17.Those were the games that really counted because they kept you out of the National Title game...

But another thing you mentioned was time of possession. You mentioned that Missouri typically has the ball less than their opponent, right? Why is that a good thing? Doesn't that just mean that Missouri's defense is weak? I'm not spinning anything, I'm just asking, here, because I'm an SEC guy, and in the SEC, the winning team usually has had the ball twice, if not four times longer than the losing team.

[Angry Ewok]

After looking at your schedule, can we just debate this after the third week of October?

[BH]

After looking at your schedule, can we just debate this after the third week of October?

Yes, but this is fun.

Right now we are number one in the nation in offense.  And 108th in time of possesion.  Last I checked, your record has nothing to do with Time of Possesion or "points ratios".  It has to do with scoring more points than the other team.   We have scored, on average, 37 POINTS PER GAME!, more than our opponents.  We have had 10 TD drives under two minutes this year.  If we score in 2 minutes, and then the opponent goes from their own 30 yard line to midfield with 5 running plays and punts, they are going to win the time of possesion.  Who cares?

Arkansas was ranked #24 in the country at Bowl game time.   Were we dissapointed that we didn't get a BCS game?  Yes, we were, KU should have never gotten it instead, but it was our own fault for losing again to OU.  Our worst performance of the season.  But this is Mizzou you are talking about.  The cotton bowl is the one of the best games we have got in decades.  It was big for us and we stomped Arkansas 38-7.  38-7! The same Arkansas team that beat National Champion LSU just weeks before!   So even the almighty SEC National Champions LSU had a bad day right, on their own field.  We lost to Oklahoma on "neutral" field in Texas.

[corey]

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20080917/NEWS/809159896/1067/NEWS&title=CECIL_HURT__Saban_offers_food_for_thought

Coach Saban on the Tide fan's expectations

[Angry Ewok]

Right now we are number one in the nation in offense.

That's great. Too bad ya'll are #56 in total defense.

We have scored, on average, 37 POINTS PER GAME!, more than our opponents.

But you ALLOW more points than all of the SEC teams in the Top Ten (minus Georgia) combined.

It was big for us and we stomped Arkansas 38-7.  38-7! The same Arkansas team that beat National Champion LSU just weeks before!

No, it wasn't the same team. Interim coach.

[BH]

That's great. Too bad ya'll are #56 in total defense.

Actually we are #88, Mississippi is #56.   (Nothin' but honesty here. ;))
But to me it's yardage differential that matters, because as you point out, offense and defense are equally important so net difference is the key.   Also, our first team offense and defense have only played 8 out of a possible 12 quarters.

But you ALLOW more points than all of the SEC teams in the Top Ten (minus Georgia) combined.

Again, differential is what determines the winner.

No, it wasn't the same team. Interim coach.

Yeah, the old coach was so good that he got fired.  I guess you think he would have been worth an extra 4 touchdowns if he was on the sideline.

I understand that all of this talk is a bit silly after only three games but I'm enjoying this.  (Don't take me too seriously please.)

[BH]

I'm so glad the NCAA finally realized they were missing out on the potential for another big night for college football and started putting some decent matchups on Thursday nights.

This is kind of wierd.  I noticed the next three nights have a Big 12 vs. Big East matchup.

Wednesday
KState at Louisville

Thursday
#21 West Virginia at Colorado

Friday
Baylor at Connecticut

[BH]

Sorry, me again.  I will give props to the SEC for having some early season conference matchups so there are some good games earlier in the year.  Have they always done this and I just didn't notice?

What's the spread on Arkansas/Alabama?

[Angry Ewok]

Actually we are #88, Mississippi is #56.

Crap, I just typed "Miss" in the "search page" thing...  :D

Sorry, me again.  I will give props to the SEC for having some early season conference matchups so there are some good games earlier in the year.  Have they always done this and I just didn't notice?

What's the spread on Arkansas/Alabama?

Alabama has a ten points on the spread.

I might be mistaken about this, but SEC teams typically begin conference play by Week 3 (for some) and Week 4 (for the rest).

[Ellis D.]

You silly guys with all of your talk of SEC and BIG 12. You really need to keep your eyes on the BIG SKY conference. GO LUMBERJACKS!!!

[TheBigChicken]

UGA v AZ St ...that should be a pretty good game.

[Crispy]

You silly guys with all of your talk of SEC and BIG 12. You really need to keep your eyes on the BIG SKY conference. GO LUMBERJACKS!!!

Yeah! Go UNC Bears! ;D