2010 College Football

[Nebu]

They have had their lips firmly on Boise's dick all year.

Wait.  Brett Favre plays for Boise State?

[Nevermore]

Why would Boise be more appealing to them than TCU?

[Chimpy]

Why would Boise be more appealing to them than TCU?

Haven't lost a game in 2 years, including a bowl game against said Horned Frogs last year?

[Muffled]

Why would Boise be more appealing to them than TCU?

Because Boise are a group of obnoxiously self promoting assholes, and thus a greater draw?

[Abagadro]

Boise is also part of a league with an espn contract while the mountain west is not.

[Paelos]

Boise is also part of a league with an espn contract while the mountain west is not.

Ding Ding Ding!

[ghost]

What do you think about Nick Fairley, Paelos.  The guy seems like he needs to have a nice turd sandwich served up for his consumption, or if that isn't possible, a nice suspension. 

Video Evidence that Fairley is a douchebag.

[Rasix]

Arizona wins by at least 2 scores against USC Turns out Arizona sucks.

Turns out we're just really beat up.  During the first offensive series, there were 3 guys playing skill positions (2 WR/1RB) that I had never seens before.  We're down two of our best WR, our punt returner, our starting tailback, and our backup/change-of-pace QB is out for who knows how long (he wasn't pulled against Washington, he was hurt).  Defense seems pretty nicked up too as Reed and Elmore weren't on the field at the same time at just about any point (and Reed got hurt).   Criner also got hurt and was out toward the end.

We ran formations with a fullback and a tight end throughout the game and we never do that.  

Still, we got beat up on D.  200+ yards rushing against us.  They are physically imposing team and ran through a number of tackles.  Long drives prevented us from getting into sync offensively.  

It's a game we could of and still should have won, but we just made more mistakes (2 redzone fumbles, fell for a fake FG).  

On a side note, Barkley isn't very impressive. He throws a terrible deep ball.

I very much expect Oregon to absolutely maul us.  They'll be angry and our D just looks tired.

[ghost]

You know, Rasix, I think the Arizona issue very clearly delineates what would happen to a lot of these upstart teams if they were to play in one of the big three BCS conferences.  Foles is, in my opinion, every bit as good as Kellen Moore.  He just happens to play in a conference that has deep, talented defenses and can't rack up 2-300 yards every game.  Arizona, when healthy, is as talented as almost anyone in the top 5-15 range and would clearly dominate the WAC and probably the Mountain West.  They just don't have the depth that a USC or Oregon or Auburn have to be able to make it to the end of the year in the PAC 10 unscathed. 

[Nebu]

You know, Rasix, I think the Arizona issue very clearly delineates what would happen to a lot of these upstart teams if they were to play in one of the big three BCS conferences.  Foles is, in my opinion, every bit as good as Kellen Moore.  He just happens to play in a conference that has deep, talented defenses and can't rack up 2-300 yards every game.  Arizona, when healthy, is as talented as almost anyone in the top 5-15 range and would clearly dominate the WAC and probably the Mountain West.  They just don't have the depth that a USC or Oregon or Auburn have to be able to make it to the end of the year in the PAC 10 unscathed. 

This is a very good point.  The Big 10, for example, is a very physical and punishing division.  Winning the Big 10 is as much about star power as it is weathering the storm. 

[Rasix]

You know, Rasix, I think the Arizona issue very clearly delineates what would happen to a lot of these upstart teams if they were to play in one of the big three BCS conferences.  Foles is, in my opinion, every bit as good as Kellen Moore.  He just happens to play in a conference that has deep, talented defenses and can't rack up 2-300 yards every game.  Arizona, when healthy, is as talented as almost anyone in the top 5-15 range and would clearly dominate the WAC and probably the Mountain West.  They just don't have the depth that a USC or Oregon or Auburn have to be able to make it to the end of the year in the PAC 10 unscathed.  

Yep.  Lack of depth + back loaded schedule = hype train derailed.  One back going down shouldn't shelve your entire running game.  Our passing game wasn't that bad. Foles threw for 353 and 3 TDs, but he was throwing behind guys a lot and you could just tell he wasn't in rhythm.

On a positive note, one of the guys that game in yesterday should be put in the starting line up indefinitely for the rest of the year.  Guy is a 6-4 225lb TE/WR.  He was just beastly, and the best news is that he's a sophomore.  

[Paelos]

What do you think about Nick Fairley, Paelos.  The guy seems like he needs to have a nice turd sandwich served up for his consumption, or if that isn't possible, a nice suspension.  

Video Evidence that Fairley is a douchebag.

It's football. It's the oldest rivalry in the SEC. Do i agree with raking your face across a QB? No. Does worse shit happen every down to a lineman under a pile? You bet your sweet ass it does. Murray didn't cry. He didn't flop. He didn't pull a Leinert or Mallett and cry to the officials while lying down for extended periods on the turf. He got up, he kept playing, and he did the best he could while letting the rest of his teammates take a number.

The late hit was cheap, and he was summarily flagged. Beyond that, I didn't see anything done to Murray with late hits. The hit on the knee was him going down to a block. UGA fans have a bad history of crying like a bunch of whiny bitches when we get outplayed in a game, wanting to talk about refs or fairness or dirty this or non-neutral sites or whatever. Just fucking win. Don't cry, don't make excuses, and don't try to put a dress on the QB.

[Abagadro]

Heh, there are rumors floating around that all of the Cam Newton shenanigans just happened to take place at the exact time the FBI was investigating a bunch of Auburn boosters for fraud related to a failed bank, casinos, influence peddling, etc. etc. so there are wiretaps of all of the pay for play stuff recorded basically by accident.

[ghost]

Auburn is absolutely, 100% fucked.  And I think the fact that they continue to play Newton is evidence of this.  They know they are going to have to vacate a ton of games so they might as well go for broke. 

[Rasix]

This will be pretty interesting if they win it all and Newton wins the Heisman.  It'll be like this year in college football never happened.

[01101010]

Auburn now needs to win out then have the NCAA come down. The fall out will be nothing short of epic as to who should be where on the national scene. It may carry straight into next season and circumvent the gap between the Stanley Cup Finals and college opening week.

[Paelos]

I don't think Auburn gets fucked in this deal. I think the wins get vacated (whoopde-doo, they still get the $$$), Cam gets declared ineligible, and he goes to the NFL. I don't think they can tie anything to Auburn University, and I think the fact that the whole show was being run through a myriad of people and puppet-mastered by Cam's father without his knowledge will be a mitigating factor.

I don't believe for a second Auburn gets punished by the NCAA unless it turns out that someone inside the University actually made payments to somebody, and I don't believe that it happened or they can prove it. Also, if that happens I fully expect Florida to get buttfucked by the civil suit for releasing Cam's Federally sealed academic records.

[ghost]

The rumors that Ab referred to are some that I've also heard.  It seems as if the FBI might be investigating some boosters of Auburn for gambling type fraud of some sort (not real clear on the specifics).  This could get hairy for Auburn, at best, Paelos.

[Chimpy]

Boosters giving money to players almost always leads to sanctions at major universities because the boosters are always so entwined in the athletics departments that there is no conceivable way that there can be "no knowledge" of that kind of activity going on.

[01101010]

I can just see the college kids from the opposing school in the BCS national championship game against Auburn adorned with their "How much did this championship cost you?" shirts. 

If anything, this will hit after the season - it would do very bad things for this to come out during the bowl weeks, methinks.

[Paelos]

Boosters giving money to players almost always leads to sanctions at major universities because the boosters are always so entwined in the athletics departments that there is no conceivable way that there can be "no knowledge" of that kind of activity going on.

True, but this has been going on for weeks now, and at best we are still working off of "unnamed sources" and all that bullshit.

I don't believe any press release until somebody stands up and gets quoted.

EDIT: Again, I'm not defending Auburn if they are guilty. They should be totally azzraped if that's they are at all connected to money changing hands with boosters, university officials, or the like. However, I believe the reporters are trying to out-do each other with a bunch of horseshit because they can go to the unnamed source well.

[Abagadro]

Boosters giving money to players almost always leads to sanctions at major universities because the boosters are always so entwined in the athletics departments that there is no conceivable way that there can be "no knowledge" of that kind of activity going on.

Yup, the names being thrown around are on the Board of Trustees.

It is somewhat odd, that they go hire a completely no-name coach with a horrible W/L record and all of a sudden they are raking in top recruits.  I think this goes WAY beyond Newton.

[ghost]

Well, as far as Auburn goes there's this where former coach Bowden talks about them paying 12-15 K for recruits.

[SnakeCharmer]

Yup, the names being thrown around are on the Board of Trustees.

It is somewhat odd, that they go hire a completely no-name coach with a horrible W/L record and all of a sudden they are raking in top recruits.  I think this goes WAY beyond Newton.

To completely fair, Chizik and his staff are phenomenal recruiters.  That's the staff he built when he came to Auburn - recruiters first, coaches second.  Basically he followed the Saban approach to building his staff. 

I know some really well connected and entrenched people that know the people intimately involved and the word is this is going to be big.  There is some highly circumstantial evidence that hasn't been released or reported on, that if the NCAA takes that circumstantial evidence and runs with it, that AU is going to be proper fucked.  I know what I just said sounds rivals.com tinfoil hat worthy, and I know I'm very likely to be called out on it here because I can't say who/what other than you would just have to trust me.  

The problem with the NCAA is that they can basically do whatever they want - you're effectively very very guilty and you have to prove you're less guilty than they think.  There's generally no proving your innocence (even if you are), just proving you're not as guilty as they say in their report.

The whole thing is basically the perfect storm.  There is some major backroom politiking going on right now with the biggest players that have the biggest vested interest in this.  If a book ever comes out about this and releases the whole story?  The only way I know to describe it would be a book about college football written by Dan Brown on steroids.  But true.  This isn't USC being investigated on the downward slide of their dynasty.  This is the number 1 team in the nation in the media darling conference with billions of dollars invested into it by the biggest sports conglomerate (ESPN) in the world.  The only way possible would be if it were happening in Tuscaloosa instead of Auburn.

Gotta run.  Blackhawk helos are buzzing around my house.

[Paelos]

I know I'm very likely to be called out on it here because I can't say who/what other than you would just have to trust me.  

Yep, I am. You can do this because it's an internet message board on gaming, and you are a Bama fan. The sad fact is that legitimate "reporters" are basically doing the same thing. I don't believe it. I don't buy that we're "through the looking glass" on this case. I think that what we're hearing is 20% fact and 80% rumor/made-up.

[SnakeCharmer]

And that's fine.  I got no problem with that.  You're pretty right on the ratio, but the stuff that's not being reported (yet) is the stuff that's going to blow your mind.

Thing is, I want Auburn to run the table since Bama is out of it.  I want the SEC to win another NC.  I don't hate Auburn because they're rival - I don't hate them at all (or any other SEC team).  SEC pride, y0.

[Chimpy]

This is the number 1 team in the nation

I know your SEC bias runs deep. But the Ducks are still #1 in all the polls, sirrah.

[ghost]

If you have some time and are bored at work, this is a very interesting read on the whole Auburn situation.  If even 10% of what this dude says is true, Auburn is fucked into the next century. 

Gross Speculation and Rumormongering

[Paelos]

This is the number 1 team in the nation

I know your SEC bias runs deep. But the Ducks are still #1 in all the polls, sirrah.

 

[Nebu]

The whole Cam Newton thing is a witch hunt.  The NCAA knows very well that this kind of thing happens at EVERY major football program in the country.  They just pick and choose which team to make an example of based on media coverage and exposure.  USC was the big team last year.  This year it's Auburn.  It has been going on ever since the tv contracts started to be worth big dough. 

 

[ghost]

The NCAA knows very well that this kind of thing happens at EVERY major football program in the country. 

This is a great point.  And the average fan really just doesn't care that much.  So the NCAA is ruining the fun for everyone.  I liked the old days better, pre SMU.

[Paelos]

Again, another situation where letting agents legally get involved would solve a lot of the problems.

[01101010]

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/40275672/ns/sports-college_football/

...In other news, looks like the game at Wrigley Field is going to be on big clusterfuck.  

edit: game is at 3:30. That sun should be perfect for the game... the whole game. 

[Chimpy]

Sigh...they should never have decided to go east-west instead of north-south. Football fields always go north-south by tradition damnit :p

I am an Illinois alum and hate to say it but I sure as hell hope we goose-egg the rest of the season. I want Zook gone so we can move on to the next mediocre coach.

[Nebu]

Illinois is such an odd situation.  They manage to recruit some exceptional talent, but never seem to put together an entire team of it.  At least the university makes up for their mediocre football team with some exceptional academics.  They were always one of the best in chemistry and engineering.