1078 replies to this topic

[BSLChrisStoner]

College Football News: Hardest Stadiums To Win In
http://cfn.scout.com/2/1209532.html

[Oriole85]

College Football News: Hardest Stadiums To Win In
http://cfn.scout.com/2/1209532.html

I've been to WVU before, I'm a bit surprised it made the top 20. I thought it was good atmosphere and all, but I'm suprised there aren't others that could've been ranked higher.

Don't think PSU will be super-imposing in the near future, so not quite sure how it made the 2012 list other than the *past.*

Totally agree with LSU being numero uno on this one. I think Nebraska should be ranked higher.

[BSLChrisStoner]

SI: Five teams capable of ending the SEC's BCS Championship Streak
http://sportsillustr...l?sct=cf_t11_a0

[BSLMikeLowe]

SI: Lane Kiffin now a strength for USC, not a hindrance
http://sportsillustr...l?sct=cf_t11_a0

Interesting story about how Kiffin and USC used the system to potentially lessen the severity of NCAA sanctions. I had forgotten, but despite the sanctions being handed down in 2010 this was the first year their 3-year/30-scholarship went into effect, and thus they are national championship contenders. Check out the story on some of the things Kiffin did that might soften the blow...like making sure he signed a kicker, punter and long-snapper last year so that he wouldn't have to use a scholarship on any of those positions during the penalty years.

http://espn.go.com/c...mbers-add-title

[BSLChrisStoner]

Yahoo / Rivals: ACC Preview
http://sports.yahoo....t-failures.html

[BSLChrisStoner]

SB Nation: Oklahoma Football Preview
http://www.sbnation....ootball-preview

[BSLMikeLowe]

Never thought I'd say this, but bravo for Lane Kiffin. Not only are preseason polls a joke, but having coaches vote in polls at all is ludicrous. I wish more would follow his example.

http://espn.go.com/l...ay-coaches-poll

Kiffin informed the newspaper of his decision to cease voting on Sunday, he said. The USA Today told him it was not an inconvenience because it was "so early, it'll be easy to replace us," Kiffin said.

Read: Another SEC coach will be eager to get in on the rigging, errr....ranking.

He said he wished he hadn't agreed to vote in the poll to begin with, like his predecessor Pete Carroll. There isn't enough time in his schedule to watch all the other top-25 contenders around the country and rank them appropriately.

"Thinking back, I wouldn't have done it in the first place, but I didn't think about it enough," Kiffin said Monday. "I just don't think I can do it very well -- know the whole entire country and who they are when we are flying back on the plane trip and turn a vote in at 7 a.m."

Which is why I didn't understand all the hand-wringing several years ago when it was revealed that a number of coaches were having people in the SID vote for them. Given the time constraints, I'd trust some intern who can spend all day Saturday in front of several TVs to come up with a vote more reflective of the truth than a head coach.

[CrimsonTribe]

The polls are there just to give the media something to talk about. Ideally, they should have no validity, but they usually act to sway opinion a little bit. Luckily, the first BCS polls don't come out until a few weeks into the season. One of the things they got right.

[CrimsonTribe]

No sense in the preseason being any different from the rest of the season.

If you can't beat 'em, whine about 'em.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Yahoo: Team countdown: No. 1 USC
[url]http://sports.yahoo....sc-preview.html

[BSLChrisStoner]

SI: ACC Preview
http://sportsillustr...p&sct=hp_t11_a0

SI: Conference Report
http://sportsillustr...p&sct=hp_t11_a6

[BSLChrisStoner]

Your ideal National title game?

[BSLMikeLowe]

Your ideal National title game?

Whomever the two best teams are, regardless of conference affiliation or preseason ranking. I know it sounds like a cop out, and we probably won't get it, but that's all I want.

As for my prediction, I'll go with Oklahoma vs the SEC Champ.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Add Chip Kelly to the list of enlightened coaches.

http://www.oregonliv...t_river_default

Kelly said he has been asked twice to participate in the USA Today coaches' poll — including earlier this year — and he has turned down the invitation both times.

"I've been baffled by polls," Kelly said, when asked about the Ducks' ranking after practice Saturday afternoon. "I don't know how coaches can vote in it, and I refuse."

Kelly emphasized that he was not being critical of any particular voter, but he said the idea that someone can monitor 120 college football teams each weekend doesn't make sense to him.

"If I'm going to do something, I'm doing to do it right," he said. "And I don't know who's good in any other conference. I know who's good that we play; I can do that. But there's 120 teams out there, and if you're going to judge 'em, you gotta look at 'em, and I've always said that. When people turn their votes in, they should put next to their name which game they watch them play. But no one can do it. ...

[mweb08]

The coaches poll is just dumb.

Not just because they can't possibly watch a reasonable number of the teams they're voting on, which is an important reason, but because there's the obvious conflict of interest problem.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Whomever the two best teams are, regardless of conference affiliation or preseason ranking. I know it sounds like a cop out, and we probably won't get it, but that's all I want.

As for my prediction, I'll go with Oklahoma vs the SEC Champ.

Yeah, this is fair, and certainly a reasonable Title pick.

[CrimsonTribe]

Your ideal National title game?

Alabama vs. It-Doesn't-Matter

[CrimsonTribe]

Whomever the two best teams are, regardless of conference affiliation or preseason ranking. I know it sounds like a cop out, and we probably won't get it, but that's all I want.

As for my prediction, I'll go with Oklahoma vs the SEC Champ.

We got it last year.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Alabama vs. It-Doesn't-Matter

Which of the non-SEC contenders (USC, Oklahoma, Oregon, FSU, WVU, Wisconsin, Michigan State, etc), do you think would be the most difficult match-up for Alabama?

[CrimsonTribe]

Which of the non-SEC contenders (USC, Oklahoma, Oregon, FSU, WVU, Wisconsin, Michigan State, etc), do you think would be the most difficult match-up for Alabama?

USC or Oklahoma most likely.