College Football 2011-12

[dtowndough]

Justin, I have to disagree with you on the boring part of LSU/Bama. I'm not the biggest fan of rematches, but I do love great defenses. I don't subscribe to "these offenses suck" theory of these two schools. Are they as explosive as Ok State or Baylor, absolutely not, but Trent Richardson is a beast and fun to watch. And LSU stopping them from running the ball is something no one else can do. I was really hoping that Ok State would make it so that we could see what comes out on top, great defense, or gun-slinging offense.

[nevzter]

Friggin' Pac - 12. Crushing expectations for decades...(aside from the cheater, private U situated near downtown Los Angeles). Thanks for validating that no (important) college football exists west of the Mississippi.

[SoCalJoe]

Caught some of the final (for years) Texas v Texas A&M game and saw how the Aggies caused their fans to rip their hair out this season. They literally had Texas on the ropes and gave the game away, sorry Matt.

Nev, did you forget that just across the bay from you Stanford is 23-2 the last 2 seasons? Add the University of Nike up in Eugene losing the Title game v Auburn on a field goal as time expired in Jan. and there is some good football out here on the left coast.

Looks like Lane Kiffin can coach, 50-0 over the Ruins? Ucla fires Neuhisel, but he gets to coach in the Pac-12 title game, which is a joke.

Watched LSU crushes Arkansas. Thought the Hogs were overrated, but the TIgers are the class of the land.

Arizona hires RIch Rodriguez...SLAM DUNK!! He was a square peg in a round hole at Michigan, but recruited great (even landed the best player in Arizona 2 years ago) and left the cupboard full for a "MIchigan Man". In Tucson, a new football complex breaks ground in Jan. Throw in the last 12 years of piss-poor to moderately successful football, and he will get carte blanche to build how he wants. The key is he hire a solid D coordinator, the last one cost him the gig in Ann Arbor. The offense will hit the ground running next year w/a good O-line, great Soph rb, and a 5th year Senior QB Matt Scott that red-shirted this year just so he could start and is tailored made for RR's scheme. Where's the Dancin' Banana??

[SoCalJoe]

Texas Tech is the outlier of the Big 12, and non-conventional Mike Leach was the perfect fit at that remote campus. Washington State is as remote as it gets in the Pac-12 and Leach looks to be the perfect hire. Wazzu has a history of great QBs and the new coach should develop some more.

Leach and Rodriguez are now both in, w/the Scum Devils and Ucla needing to hire a new coach.

[SoCalJoe]

Some interesting games w/BCS bowl implications.

#24 Southern Miss at #6 Houston. How will the Cougars respond now that a win will put them in a major bowl for the first time in decades? Throw in the swirling rumors of coach Kevin Sumlin being linked w/Texas A&M and Arizona State and Dtown's USM has a good shot at the upset.

*Matt, what do you think of Sumlin going to College Station? A former Aggie assistant, knows Texas well, and you would have to assume he would prefer that gig over ASU.

#14 Georgia v #1 LSU. Even w/a loss here, LSU is said to be a shoe-in for the title game. However, this team won't lose in Atlanta. Georgia is improved, but not near enough.

#15 Wisconsin v #13 Michigan State. Rematch of one of the best games of the season (MSU won on a Hail Mary). This time the Badgers will come out on top.

#10 Oklahoma at #3 Oklahoma State. Bedlam in Stillwater. The scoreboard operator should be very busy. Now that the pressure is off OSU going undefeated, a win over their big brother at home is the call.

[dtowndough]

SoCal, been nervous all week for this one. Last time SoMiss had this opportunity, they beat LT and TCU to knock them out of BCS. Here's hopin!

I'm pulling for UGA, but fear you're right. LSU is just too much to handle.

Agree again, Badgers take care of business and Russel Wilson lights it up.

I picked OU early in the season on this one. However, I think OSU can still prevent the rematch no one wants if they beat them bad enough. So, week of game, I'm switching it to OSU by 14!

[SoCalJoe]

[quote="dtowndough"]SoCal, been nervous all week for this one. Last time SoMiss had this opportunity, they beat LT and TCU to knock them out of BCS. Here's hopin!

Congrats on the big win dtown!! I loved your coach's reaction when asked how he felt about the conference losing out on all that money 'We belong in a BCS bowl game!!' Great game plan and were able to put pressure on Keenum w/out having to blitz.

[VegasJustin]

Michigan is back. Hopefully that win boosts our recruiting and we can compete for a title next year. We have some players leaving and luckily for Michigan, we should be able to bring in new players now that people know we're for real.

Great win!

[SoCalJoe]

Some really good games this bowl season leading up to the National Championship game tonight.

Oregon over WIsconsin in the Rose Bowl. What an entertaining game. I was very happy Oregon won since we were hosting 4 Duck fans and they would have been grumpy if they had driven 15 hours to see a loss.

Stanford never trailed until OT against Oklahoma State, and felt really bad for the freshman kicker to miss short FG w/2 seconds left to win it. Andrew Luck was brilliant, especially considering his best receivers were his tight ends. Oklahoma State was resilient, but proved that they certainly aren't one of the best 2 teams.

Michigan w/a gritty win, only problem was that Va Tech and no business being there. Really wished Boise State would have gone (even though I did get a good laugh when BSU destroyed Arizona St).

Alabama and LSU tonight for the National Title. A key turnover will probably decide it. The Alabama QB and Kicker were terrible the earlier in the season when these two played. They have to be better this time around. LSU has been the best team all season, and I'll take them to finish it off in New Orleans.

[SoCalJoe]

First off this game in the words of Charles Barkley...Tuurrible

Nick Saban absolutely destroyed Les Miles. Alabama plays great D, but threw it time and again on first down when LSU expected Trent Richardson. AJ McCarron was night and day compared to the last time they played. The kicker had 7 (yes 7) field goal attempts, a testimony to the LSU D for having the heart to keep their team semi in it.

Bama's D was suffocating, BUT LSU's offensive coordinator called the single worst game I've seen in recent memory. What were they doing?? They threw it downfield once that I can remember and the guy was wide open for a TD, but the QB missed him. The either ran it up the middle, ran the option, or threw it outside on the line of scrimmage to a WR that had a Bama DB on top of him. Did they try to use Bama's aggression against them with some reverses, throw back screens, pump and go's?? The only reason I kept watching this train wreck was to see if they would put in the one QB they do have that can throw (of course Miles didn't), but I guess LSU's plan was to hope the D would score. Alabama needs to send a big thank you to Iowa State for beating Oklahoma State and allowing them the chance for a rematch, the Tide took the opportunity w/both hands and won the National Title.

[VegasJustin]

I am not joking when I say I actually fell asleep during the game. It was absolutely horrible and the only reason why Alabama put up points is because, like you said Joe, LSU didn't figure out that Richardson was a decoy on first down. We need a playoff because I don't want to watch SEC teams walk into the title game every year and get crap games like last night. I can guarantee Alabama doesn't shut out Oklahoma State and maybe we get a close game in the 20's instead.

[dtowndough]

I think Alabama had the best defense that college football has seen in several years. Yes, the Offensive play-calling and refusal to even give Lee a shot hurt LSU. I have no problems with SEC teams playing in it every year if they are top teams to play. With that being said, i would love to see if Oklahoma state could have success against a team like Bama. Overall, I thought it was a decent bowl season. Ohio getting their first win ever in a bowl, Utah State suffering perhaps the worst luck of any team ever for a complete season (look at their results). Full attention to FFC now (and Brocnos).