01-09-2013, 01:07 PM
I agree with Leftcoast and others. The only time being overrated is bad is if you are perennially expected to win big games and you fall flat on your face and you establish a reputation/culture of a team that can't get over the hump. Even then, you've had to have done something to gain the faith of the voters. Perhaps being overrated is a bad thing if it determines which bowl you're going to and you end up getting your ass handed to you on national TV like N.otre Dame, rather than playing a more competitive game in a lesser bowl. And even that's debatable.
Blog commentors are always saying things like "I'm so glad that we're the underdogs. We'll come out that much hungrier." Peronally, I would rather always my team be the favorite because the track record of success and the talent of the team makes it clear that you can rely on the Cardinal to come out deliver a beat down on lesser foes. Everyone wants to be part of a winner. (actually, I just thought of the rare cases where someone wants to MAKE a winner. think of Richard Sherman turning down U.SC because he wanted to show the world that smart guys can play football. but that's a rare bird.)
Without being "over-rated" at the start of the 2011 season, would we have been ranked highly enough after losing to Oregon to gain a guaranteed spot in the BCS? ANd if we weren't guaranteed, would the Fiesta still have taken us? Perhaps, but I felt a lot better know that we were guaranteed a spot based on a top-4 finish in the BCS polls.
Blog commentors are always saying things like "I'm so glad that we're the underdogs. We'll come out that much hungrier." Peronally, I would rather always my team be the favorite because the track record of success and the talent of the team makes it clear that you can rely on the Cardinal to come out deliver a beat down on lesser foes. Everyone wants to be part of a winner. (actually, I just thought of the rare cases where someone wants to MAKE a winner. think of Richard Sherman turning down U.SC because he wanted to show the world that smart guys can play football. but that's a rare bird.)
Without being "over-rated" at the start of the 2011 season, would we have been ranked highly enough after losing to Oregon to gain a guaranteed spot in the BCS? ANd if we weren't guaranteed, would the Fiesta still have taken us? Perhaps, but I felt a lot better know that we were guaranteed a spot based on a top-4 finish in the BCS polls.