if UT somehow makes it to the National Championship and beat OSU *knocks on wood*, I will officially quit following college football because I've basically witnessed all there is to college football in the past two years.
WV > Lou But it was Lou biggest game EVER at home and WV made mistakes and didn't match the energy. Lou > Rutg But it was Rut biggest game ever at home and LOU didn't match the energy. Rutgers is at WV. They will face a drunk, crazy, hostile crowd and a team/fans that did think they were going to the NT game only to piss it away on a bad night in LOU where they still scored 34 and had 500+ yards. Like I said, I think WV wins by 2 TDs, maybe more. Rutgers will be in over their head versus that talent in that environment.
Ok...we'll see The coach has his team believing anything. RU has momentum and is used to playing in hostile enviroments. They've been doing it for the past 4 decades. I dunno.... I'll take the Scarlet Knights and the Chopping block over WVU. You forget this RU team only allows 10pts a game while averaging 30 pts a game. Not to mention they have a better defense(2nd in the nation now) and an explosive RB in Rice(possible Heisman Candidate). This is no GIMME or EASY WIN for WV, not by any chance. You can bet Tony Soprano's life that the Rutgers faithful will take a road trip to WV and have some nice support for the Scarlet Knights. At any rate....BACK TO LONGHORN FOOTBALL!
HAHAHAHAHAHA...............what did I say last week! Who was the hater that said that the begging east was better than the BIG 12??????? Lpouisville WVU was a high school game..only on national TV. UT vs. OSU part 2 baby!!!!!!!!!!
I'd still take WVU. The winner of that game goes to a BCS bowl so its a big deal for both teams. I don't think Rutgers matches up with WVU very well. West Virginia's weakness is its god awful secondary. They contained Louisville's running game pretty well but Brohm just torched them through the air. Rutgers is all about rushing and screens which plays into West Virginia's strengths since they have a small defense that emphasizes quickness and deception. Rutgers has one of the worst passing games in the country (they're ranked in the sub 100s in passing) Also, I don't see how Rutgers stops the WVU rushing attack. They've got a great defense but its hard to get pressure on a QB like Pat White that will break the pocket and run for 20 yards every time. There wont be those wide open sacks like the Louisville game. And finally, WVU plays at home which is an absolute hellhole for opposing teams. A bunch of drunk and rowdy hillbillies will make it hard as hell to win. The environment there is just deafening.
And what have they done this season? Nothing. So would your argument be that suddenly, practically out of the blue, the big east has 3 top-tier, BCS teams? They are unproven outside of their conference (one tight bowl game against Georgia last year and a defeat of a mediocre Miami proves little). Now it's obvious that those 3 teams are just about even. My argument still stands; this conference is unproven. Evidence is stacking up against them being qualified for a top BCS Bowl, and to have invited any of the 3 to the NT game would have been ridiculously premature. * * * Major, You still think the big east deserved those high rankings and a shot at the NT?
I'm a Longhorns fan myself...but this quote...sounds familiar with tOSU fans. They came into Austin with a bunch for Drunk and Rowdy Texans and kicked our ass. The environment was deafening until the 3rd quarter at least. All about momentum. If the Longhorns can finish up strong as well as Rutgers than hopefully you'll see UT at the NC and Rutgers with a nice BCS bowl game.
Judge Ito: It's good, the second time... Great game and we'll see what happens...Good Tony Soprano clip during the game...nothing special, just showing love for Rutgers...
If one of the two (UL or WV) went undefeated, absolutely. Talk schedule all you want, but both of those teams have schedules rated as more difficult than Texas right now by the computer algorithms that don't take into account previous years. The Big East proved more in non-conference than the Big 12. College football put together this system to bring in computers specifically to counter the nonsense that are the polls taking into account previous reputation and stuff like that. Based on their on-the-field performances, an undefeated UL or WV were rated by polls and computers as better than one-loss teams. I don't see why they shouldn't have gone. Fortunately, neither of them made it that far. I don't believe in looking at previous years to determine who gets to play in this year's bowl games. It's unfair to the players that are on the teams right now as opposed to the past. I'd prefer a playoffs, but if that doesn't happen, then an undefeated UL/WV had every right to be there. WV ended last season in the top 5 and started this season in the top 10 and UL was top 15 and was top 10 for parts of last season. It's not like people didn't think they were good in the first place.
Rutgers, WV and Lou are undefeated in non-conference, with games versus the ACC, Big 10 and Big 12. They include the following wins by Lou and WV over probable Bowl teams from those conferences... 09/03 Kentucky W 59-28 (mid SEC team, 5-3 versus others) 09/16 #17 Miami W 31-7 (mid ACC team, 5-3 versus others) 09/23 at Kansas St W 24-6 (mid Big 12 team, 6-3 versus others) 09/14 Maryland W 45-24 (a top ACC team, 7-1 versus others) Had WV or Lou won all their games yes they would have earned a NC spot. They would have had a solid nonconference resume and won them all in a solid conference. Rutgers probably does not deserve a shot as an undefeated over a real quality 1 loss squad, as they did have a truly pitifull nonconference opponent group. It isn't like Texas has a very impressive resume. Texas has no quality nonconference wins (a 4-5 Rice team doesn't stack up with any I posted above) and may only have one top 25 win by the end of the season (maybe NU or A&M can add a 2nd, or maybe not). Texas would have had no right to be in the BCS champ game over an undefeated Lou or WV. And honestly I do believe WV or Lou is better than any big 12 team other than Texas. OU--the clear #2 versus WV or Lou would be pretty even, I have them underdogs versus WV for sure. Anyway, I am glad Texas is back in the picture. Texas needs to keep winning, and winning impressively. We need to do this to continue to convince the country we are a much better team than the one who had a mighty failure (at home no less) against our 1 real good opponent of the season. In my subjective oponion I do think Texas has grown into one of the top 5 teams in the country as McCoy has developed, the secondary is better shaping up, and our offense is better utilizing the talent. But I want us to keep proving it.
I'm not going to argue that any of the Big East teams are true national title contenders, but the situation that's developed in the conference shows what a joke most football "experts" and fans that think they're experts are. Furthermore, the credibility of most fans is completely demolished by the fact that they're so swayed by thinking their team is #1. If you introduced fans of UT, USC, Auburn, Florida, Rutgers, etc. into this discussion, they'd all be screaming "HEY WE ARE BETTER THAN X! The Big 12/SEC/Big East is SO OVERRATED!" What this argument comes down to is personal bias, and that's fine -- we all want to root for our own team. But people are knocking the Big East simply for the reason that the teams that are excelling this year aren't the traditional powers. It has very little to do with their on field performance. People have been screaming about Louisville's "weak schedule," despite the fact that they played Miami (yeah, they're down..but a helluva lot better than teams like Southeast Missouri St., Buffalo, Sam Houston State...) Kentucky, an SEC bowl team, and Kansas State, a potential Big XII bowl team. They pretty much demolished all of those teams. Now, Louisville is out of the picture after losing yesterday -- but the argument that their schedule is weak holds no water. Compare UL's non-conference wins to Texas (Rice, Sam Houston State, North Texas) and Auburn (Buffalo, Wash. St., Arkansas St., Tulane) and their non-conf performance was by far the most impressive. Louisville is out of the national title picture now, but to say they're "unproven" when they went out and beat bowl teams from three other BCS conferences is either ignorant or disingenuous
I think this is an important part of the discussion. I think Texas is better than either UL or WV. But if they had gone undefeated, I think they'd have deserved to make the title game over Texas because I don't think my biases should be taken into account. What they would have accomplished on the field is better than what Texas would have.
Very brilliant post and absolutely true (and we wrote similar things). And to say WV, Lou and Rutgers beat on each other says nothing about conference strength, or that any of them were overrated. Maybe those 3 teams are good. Noone says FL, Aub, Ark, LSU, and Ten are weak because they happen to defeat each other.
You speak of 'computer algorithms' as if they are a panacea. Speaking as software developer, they are created but humans based on human-created assumptions. Just this season they altered them substantially, and they still suck. Not taking into account the year-in year-out proven ability of the strong conferences to draw top talent ... there will be outliers, but to act like a conference win in the big east is worth the same or more as a win in the big 12 or one of the other substantial conferences is downright assisine. Maybe this algorithm is politically acceptable to all of the weaker conferences...they certainly be upset over such a correction, but it would be an improvement in the algorithm.
Who's being disengeuous? Miami sucks...they are 5-4 and easily could have lost to Houston and 0-9 Duke. And you're claiming that a win over Kansas State (3-3 in conference) proves the big east's worth? So beating one of our average teams is a substantial event...are you trying to prove or disprove my point? Of the Big 12 teams, at least 7 have been ranked at some time during the season. The leader of the big east, Rutgers, had not beaten a ranked team for almost 20 years until last night. Their conference is STILL unproven. There is NO WAY a conference win in the big east is equal to or greater than a conference win in the Big 12. Almost all of our teams are competitive, even cellar-dweller Colorado only lost to #9 Georgia by 1 point. Their 6-3 powerhouse South Florida lost to a mediocre Kansas, crappy Connecticut gave Rutgers a battle just at the end of October, Louisville barely defeated the powerhouse called Cincinnati but maybe it was close because Cincy was still flying high after beating down Akron the weak..sorry, week before, 20-14. Until this Conference proves it's worth, it doesn't deserve top rankings.
So you argue that certain Conferences and Teams don't have the tendency to reliably recruit the best talent? FL, Aub, Ark, LSU, and Ten and their Conferences have proven their worth over the years. The best of the big east beating mid-level (your words) teams and 1 'top' team (barely ranked) from the strong conferences does not validate their conference and should not allow them a shot at the NC game. I think the top big east teams would have a tough game with most of the Big 12.
