http://www.thepostgame.com/commenta...sto-southern-secession-chuck-thompson-sec-bcs Interesting read from a terribly titled book.
Absolutely - I'm just saying there will still be a national consensus on who the best teams are. So if the Harris Poll voters can't look at the AP Poll, they will look at these other things instead to make their votes. There just won't be a situation there no one is pooling together consensus opinions until week 8 or 9 of the season and all the voters will objectively decide for themselves.
I've never understood this line of argument: Might the nationwide perception of SEC superiority simply be part of a well-constructed ESPN business plan meant to protect and enhance the network’s $2.25 billion partnership with the SEC? ESPN has multi-billion dollar partnerships with the Big10 and Big12 as well. And, if anything, it has a stronger relationship with those conferences. CBS is the SEC's dominant partner, and then ESPN gets the games that CBS doesn't pick. ESPN is the dominant partner with the other conferences - they would benefit far more from making one of those conferences their powerhouse instead of the SEC.
David Piland did not Graduate. We should be in the top 2. Houston dismantled and enitre program with one beat down, Penn St., we are on a path of destruction. UCLA up next.
You obviously knew I was talking about Case Keenum. Piland led the team to a 3-6 finish in 2010. Their ranking is right. Let me also say that I'l admit UT doesn't deserve to be ranked that high. The power of a good brand and 10 years of success.
I agree preseason rankings should be abolished. As long as you are in the top 2 when preseason rankings start, all you have to do is win every game barely and unimpressively and there's a strong chance you make it to the championship game. It doesn't matter if a team that is ranked 10th on the preseason rankings also goes undefeated and more convincingly. If there are no mutual matchups there is no way that the lower ranked team can get into the national championship game provided the 1st ranked team also goes undefeated.
This is not remotely true. Undefeated teams pass each other all the time in the rankings. Just last year, LSU jumped both OU and Alabama without them losing from the preseason to midseason by looking more impressive against a tougher schedule. #22 Auburn jumped multiple teams throughout the season in 2010 and was #1 by midseason, jumping over a number of other still undefeated teams. This stuff happens all the time - the whole idea that preseason rankings set a pecking order is simply not true. But your first point is certainly true to an extent - chances are if you go undefeated, even unimpressively, you'll be in the national title game - but that's true no matter where you start in the polls. The only exceptions are minor conference teams and the one time there were 3 undefeated major conference teams. And in that scenario, Auburn was on the verge of jumping OU but looked the least impressive down the stretch in the conference championship games, so it's no surprise they didn't make the title game. They also had the weakest schedule (the SEC then was not what it was today, and they played some 1-AA teams) and were a distant 3rd in the computers.
Considering the players that are gone from the squad this year, we probably shouldn't be ranked preseason, but I do think Piland is gonna have a much better showing this time around than he did as a freshman. He essentially went through what TJ Yates went through last year for the Texans. The talent is there and now that there is more familiarity with the system, I expect we'll see him look like a completely different QB.
