2007 NCAA Football Season - Page 2

Bitter towards who? The Irish, maybe, but certainly not anyone they played.

Who's blowing up Chad Henne? Every report is, "can he not suck in a big game this year?"

Just busting your balls man.

I agree that Henne has never been a great quarterback. Anyone can get those numbers starting for four years. What frustrates me is that he didn't show a lot of improvement over his sophomore and junior years. They won't make that leap they seem so intent on making without him.

Is the ND comment directed at Henne's reputation or at the team's preseason ranking (which is meaningless anyway)? If it's directed at the team, I don't agree. They're not still trading on that win. They're trading on the offense's potential.

Michigan has that young, talented defense. They're going to be tough.

I think it carried over more than a little bit. It's the game everyone remembers from Michigan last year, and when they think of offensive potential, that's what they're thinking of. They didn't really have a ton of high scoring games, had some close games against pretty shitty teams and closed out with two straight losses. That doesn't seem like the makings of a top 5 team to me.

Then why isn't Florida #1?

It's naive to assume that the pollsters don't pay any attention to the previous year's results, but there's no way that a win over ND has more influential weight than getting pasted by superior teams in their last two games. "Well, they got their asses kicked by USC and Ohio State, but man, they manhandled Notre Dame early in the season in a down year, so I guess they really are pretty good." Come on, do you really believe that?

That leaves you with the presumption that they look at the team on paper, see all these talented kids at the skill positions (and more team speed than the offense has had in a long time), figure they were pretty good last year and extrapolate that to this year.

Again, if that much weight were given to last year, Florida would be #1 on the strength of Tebow and Harvin alone (as nauseous as that makes me).

Speaking of ND, how strange is it to not see them ranked? It seems the overrating of Brady Quinn continues even after he's gone.

I'm not saying they make a conscious decision to look at the ND game, but it plays into an overall sense of thinking they were better than they were. What big win did Michigan have last year? They had close calls against Northwestern and Ball State, and then were handled pretty well by the two best teams they played last year. It's not often that a team not called Notre Dame drops that much at the end of the year, and then somehow vaults into the top 5 the next year.

Of course, it plays some role, but the victory against Wisconsin (even at home) and the OSU game probably played bigger roles.

I don't think the Wisconsin game had much to do with it. Wisconsin is getting credit for beating an SEC team in their bowl game, and good for them, but most of the national media wasn't watching when they played Michigan.

True, no one was watching, but Wisconsin ended hot and Michigan got some of the retrospective "rub".

As an aside, the best part of last year's Michigan team was that the blewout Indiana, thus allowing me to rest easy during my wedding. (And yes, I did watch some of the game in between the ceremony and reception).

Please. This has been Michigan's stock and trade. In 2002 they finished at #12 (9-3), and in the next preseason poll they were #4 with two first place votes. In 2004 they finished #14 (9-3) and were #4 again the next year. They're not the only ones. In 2005 Auburn finished #14 (9-3) and were #4 when the next year started (with three first place votes). In 2003 Florida State finished #11 (10-3) and got to #5 in the next preseason.

This happens with the big-time programs all the time.

As an aside, the best part of last year's Michigan team was that the blewout Indiana, thus allowing me to rest easy during Jon's wedding. (And yes, I did watch some of the game in between the ceremony and reception).

It's completely different to have a 3 loss season and end the season on the kind of note Michigan did. I understand seeing potential in teams that maybe lost too many games because they were inexperienced or had some bad luck, whatever. But look at 5 of the last 6 games Michigan played; struggled at home against an Iowa team that ended up 6-7, struggled at home against two bad teams in Ball State and Northwestern, and then handled in their last two games by two very good teams.

Usually, when a team jumps up high in the rankings, it's because they ended the year well, or because they had an off-year because of injuries or some freak incident. Michigan struggled mightily at the end of the year, and they lost big-time defensive players. It doesn't really add up is all.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think they'll be bad, and it's entirely possible that people are ranking them high by looking at their schedule and seeing a down year for ND, a retooling year for OSU and an unproven power in Wisco (always around the top, but rarely are able to push through and beat the best teams). They have a great schedule for a title run in that they play good schools that may be down a bit from where they've been lately.

I really don't want to debate just for the sake of debating, but I will say that Michigan's 2004 season was actually very similar, the key difference being that they actually lost to Notre Dame that year. They barely beat Minnesota, beat a middling Michigan State squad in overtime, then got pummeled by Ohio State and lost a game they should have won (this is Michigan after all) to Texas in the Rose Bowl. But everybody saw golden boy freshman Henne woukd be a sophomore and their ranking was back up to open the next season.

I'm just saying that Michigan will always be able to trade on its name to some degree, and that's what I think happened here. The offense could be great, the defense is a big question mark, but it's Michigan, so they get the spot.

Nah, I don't trust that their defense will be all that good. Same with OSU - they've gotta replace ALL their offensive skill players. I'd have them both in the 10 range. Probably put OSU a smidge higher because I value defense more than offense and a lobotomized Jim Tressell could outcoach Lloyd Carr.

It would be nice if preseason rankings actually WERE meaningless.

They lost more than just Quinn. Also, ND fans were pretty used to not being ranked prior to their good start in '05.

Giving this a bump because I'm so excited I could shit a wolverine right now.

I can't wait for all of it: Marching bands, cool weather, 10 am Gameday, days spent at the bar with drunk SEC girls, arguing about bowls vs. playoffs, gambling (especially gambling), rivalries. All of it.

At the same time, I don't quite to know what to think of it. This will be my first Michigan season without my Dad, and I'm not sure what I'll do when we get a good win. Who else will I bitch to about a failed third down conversion in a 31-13 win? (Jon, get ready, I'll be calling that much more this year) I'll miss him like hell, but I'm hoping this season will be a way to still feel that connection.

Quinn has never been overrated by those whose opinions actually matter. That's a myth. There was a backlash against hype that was never truly at the level to warrant such. Unless of course putting up better numbers than the Heisman winner while playing on a team with absolutely no defense means he sucks.

Not lashing out at you personally, but just this mindless groupthink that continues and is so obvious to those who actually watched the kid play football every week for 4 years. Quit listening to "The Worldwide Leader..." and sports radio pocket sportscasters whose words are almost universally tainted by bias and grade-school level hyperbole and dig a little deeper.

I can't wait until his eventually successful NFL career forces all of these Anti-Quinn naysayers to fistfuck themselves.

As for ND this year... it's gonna be extremely interesting. Even those of us who follow the program and actually know a little about what's going on (which means ND fans only as pretty much everyone else remains content in their ignorance) really have no idea what to expect. All I know is that if you want to see us knocked down hard, then THIS is the year... because the recent recruiting success, Weis' continued sheparding of the program, and future schedules that are MUCH more sane are spelling very good things to come. As in legitimate NC contention.

Oh, and no more Rick Minter! Yay!

I think Quinn's eventual NFL success will depend a lot more on what team he's with than his ability. I mean, come on. It's the Browns.

LSU vs Mississippi State tonight.

I am not impressed by Crowton's new offense AT ALL (GFC called it). It looks like pure vanilla boring conservo garbage. Not that innovative, no shots downfield...just boring.

I know its going to take a little time with a new O and a new QB (5th year Senior)...but they need to improve QUICK or that Hokie defense next week is going to eat their lunch.

LSU opened it up a bit in the 2nd half. A lot better.

Take heart, Matt. At least it's not John Shoop.

Croom is gone. Miss State looked atrocious. All those picks were just disgusting. Good for LSU to shake off the dust and get rolling. I still think the Va Tech next week will be tough for LSU.

Tomorrow I would love to see Ga Tech smack down ND. And I think they can. Unless as usual they coach themselves out of a win.

And Monday.....GO NOLES!!!!!!!

Well, supposedly LSU held a lot back this week, and the Offense will be much more open next week for VaTech. We'll see.

Well that certainly hurt last night. I mean we could have at least gotten 3.

Croom needs to have a winning season this year or else he is gone. And if so, State needs to go out with an open checkbook and get a top tier coach (I know this won't happen; but dammit I can dream).

Tulane next weekend. Last time we outnumbered Tulane fans about 4 to 1 in the Dome and they still beat us. Oh it is gonna be a long year.

As a born LSU fan, its my duty to post on the greatness of the LSU defense. I hope the offense gets everything together for next week's battle.

The only thing worse than the UW-'Cuse game is Colin Cowherd's hideous face melting my screen every 5 - 10 minutes. I now actually hate him more.

Go Blue!

Yeah Dog! Riccola, ri-di-cu-lous. Look at me, I'm so cool. Left the wife for some tail dog, ya know what I'm saying? Me and Fish, we're so wacky and hip.

Ugh. I will admit, when he first came on the air I really liked him. Since then I have grown to despise the show. I just can't take guys thinking they are cooler and smarter than everyone else...especially those that are not.

I'm getting a little tired of hearing about what a magical healing experience this first Virginia Tech game is going to be. I'm sure the victims' families are comforted knowing that a college football game is going to make everything better.

Gameday!!!!!!

Baseball...phooey. It's time for the REAL sports season to begin. It's GAMEDAY everybody! Go Noles, Go Dawgs, Go Tech, Gaytors touch little boys!

F....S.....U..........!

Exactly the scenery I expect to see from a women's school. Thanks, Judge!

Man, I had forgotten how much it sucks to live in this town during football season. Can't drive anywhere in less than an hour on game days (when it normally takes 10 minutes, at most, to drive across town), and you can't walk around without being asked for directions every 10 seconds. Last night, though, I took advantage of the situation and whenever we walked past somebody who looked lik they were in town for the game, I would begin talking very loudly about the fraternity that keeps a goat in the basement that they like to fuck. This embarassed my friends, of course, but it was definitely worth it.

Appalachain Fucking State is beating Michigan right now. Wow. Wow. 31-26 with 4 minutes left. Would this be the biggest upset...ever?

VaTech played kind of crappily against ECU. Feeling a little better about the game next week.

Christ, amen. That pre-game coverage was mauldlin even by the usual over-the-top-sentimental-sports-coverage standards. Sure, football's huge there, but what does that have to do with those senseless fucking murders?

"Yeeeeeeee HAW!!!! Down go those frizzle frazzle Yankees."



Oh my goodness, NO ONE saw this coming. Holy shit.

Jenn Sterger is ugly as hell, but Michigan lost, so I'm happy regardless.

There's no way Michigan is still in the top ten come Monday. They can't be.

As an App State student, my entire month has been made. I'm still kind of speechless about the whole matter. I suppose I'll just go outside and honk car horns and go crazy like the rest of Boone.

Appalachian is hot hot hot.

how can they be considered a top 25 team? Rank them on how they play, not the talent level they have. Not a college fan but I love the upsets.

How come ND can't score? Shouldn't they have 2 or 3 QB's that can do the job?

A lot of people are going to get laid tonight at Appalachian state.

Lulz @ Michigan. I was sick of hearing them whine about being disrespected last year. Carr = fired. Tomorrow?

I cannot stop laughing. Go Big Blue!!!! HAHAHAHAHA.

Where does this upset rank all-time? #5 team in the land, at home, against a 1-AA school?

Damn I love college football.

Even when the weather outside is cold cold cold....

Hell, I'm -not- an App State student and this has made my entire month. Southern Conference pwns the Big 10!

ESPN says that it's the first time ever a 1-AA team has beaten a ranked I-A team. (and screw those new classifications, it will always be I-A and I-AA)

Combine that game with this beatdown on Notre Dame, I'd say this is a pretty good day. Now I just have to hope Western Carolina doesn't get any ideas from their conference foe App State.

Lou Holtz said that ND was going to win 10 games this year. Lou Holtz has absolutely not business being a commentator.

And when Michigan was down in the fourth quarter today, he said it wasn't a big deal because every team has bad weeks.

Oh shit, when did he say that about Notre Dame? Was it after the game today?

Well, shit. UA managed to gain 500 total yards in this game today, which I believe is the first time we've broken 500 since we played UTEP in 2001. And I know we were just playing Western Carolina today, but still.

edit: fucking Auburn!