[scorecard]

I love this game, and want to enjoy it.

But I can't help being POed that the SEC is about to get rewarded for playing an absolutely creampuff (or given this week's news, Twinkie) OOC game instead of a 9th conference game.  Again.

VG

Screw the SEC. I wish we could play Bama.

That's pretty much the only downside to winning this game (well, that and Notre Dame now being the worst #1 team ever).  Oregon and Stanford have been the class of the Pac-12 lately, and now for the 3rd year in a row, one has kept the other from having a shot at an undefeated season and ruined their national title hopes.  But unlike the SEC where a 1-loss team is somehow crowned as being better than other undefeated teams because the league is so so tough, a Pac-12 team has practically no shot at a national championship game without running the table.  When Alabama plays LSU, it's the game of the century, and Bama shouldn't be punished for losing at home in a close game.  When Stanford plays Oregon, the loser is called a pretender and plummets in the polls.

It is incredibly frustrating -- the SEC rarely plays anyone away from home and plays a cupcake OOC schedule.  It's more of the same, they say Luck couldn't play against an SEC defense, but we never got a chance to prove it (and obviously Luck is proving he could play against any defense even in the NFL with a makeshift offensive line). 

Now an outsider team like #15 Texas A&M walks in and beats #1 Alabama at home, and Bama only falls to #4 and A&M gets elevated to #8 because they must be that good to beat the almighty Saban.  And Johnny Mansiell is automatically a Voldemort contender (in one of the weakest Voldemort races ever) because did you see what he did against Bama?  So all the 1 and 2 loss SEC teams are packed at the top of the polls, because all their losses are "quality losses." 

Bama gets incredible kudos this year for winning in a nailbiter against LSU in Death Valley at night, the "most intimidating environment ever".  But LSU nearly lost to Ole Miss in that same environment.  How do we really know how good any of these teams really are? 

This eyeball test business is terrible.  I can't wait until they at least get a 4 team playoff.  Do I know that we would beat a Bama?  No, but I sure would like to find out.  Nobody gave us a shot at Oregon.  Prove it on the field. 

[scorecard]

I love this game, and want to enjoy it.

But I can't help being POed that the SEC is about to get rewarded for playing an absolutely creampuff (or given this week's news, Twinkie) OOC game instead of a 9th conference game.  Again.

VG

Screw the SEC. I wish we could play Bama.

That's pretty much the only downside to winning this game (well, that and Notre Dame now being the worst #1 team ever).  Oregon and Stanford have been the class of the Pac-12 lately, and now for the 3rd year in a row, one has kept the other from having a shot at an undefeated season and ruined their national title hopes.  But unlike the SEC where a 1-loss team is somehow crowned as being better than other undefeated teams because the league is so so tough, a Pac-12 team has practically no shot at a national championship game without running the table.  When Alabama plays LSU, it's the game of the century, and Bama shouldn't be punished for losing at home in a close game.  When Stanford plays Oregon, the loser is called a pretender and plummets in the polls.

It is incredibly frustrating -- the SEC rarely plays anyone away from home and plays a cupcake OOC schedule.  It's more of the same, they say Luck couldn't play against an SEC defense, but we never got a chance to prove it (and obviously Luck is proving he could play against any defense even in the NFL with a makeshift offensive line). 

Now an outsider team like #15 Texas A&M walks in and beats #1 Alabama at home, and Bama only falls to #4 and A&M gets elevated to #8 because they must be that good to beat the almighty Saban.  And Johnny Mansiell is automatically a Voldemort contender (in one of the weakest Voldemort races ever) because did you see what he did against Bama?  So all the 1 and 2 loss SEC teams are packed at the top of the polls, because all their losses are "quality losses." 

Bama gets incredible kudos this year for winning in a nailbiter against LSU in Death Valley at night, the "most intimidating environment ever".  But LSU nearly lost to Ole Miss in that same environment.  How do we really know how good any of these teams really are? 

This eyeball test business is terrible.  I can't wait until they at least get a 4 team playoff.  Do I know that we would beat a Bama?  No, but I sure would like to find out.  Nobody gave us a shot at Oregon.  Prove it on the field.