NCAA Bowl Season 2011

[MJ5150]

I saw that about OSU, it surprised me.

I know what you mean, just pointing out UF is also in posession of a "nations longest" streak to be proud of.

-Mike

 

[basstotheface]

Actually I'm wrong.

Because of FSU's VACATion UF has the record.

Although in 79 UF didn't win any games and FSU has beaten the majority of their opponents since 77.

 

[burk48237]

Well U of M didn't deserve it, but they won it. Special teams and some big plays on D were the difference. Brady Hoak goes 11-2 in his first year as a Wolverine coach, not bad.

 

[basstotheface]

I don't know about that game.

 

[BioDriver]

Big Blue shouldn't have won that game, but I suppose stranger things have happened.

 

[burk48237]

Big Blue shouldn't have won that game, but I suppose stranger things have happened.

Yep, as a U of M fan I thought they were thoroughly outplayed. But the Hoakies coach made some strange calls. Up 3 with U of M's offense doing nothing he calls a fake punt. On a fourth and one, after U of M has stopped them three plays in a row they turn down a sure three to try for the first, and MI stops them. You can argue that he spotted MI 6 points, not a wise move the way his defense was playing. Both defenses were tough, but U of M's seem to wear down toward the end. And special teams are part of the game.

One other point. I just watched two great bowl games, the MSU victory and U of M victory. Both games were officiated great, no no-doubt TD's taken away, no questionable fumble calls, you didn't have one receiver get three offensive pass interference's, and tackles weren't tackling DE on pass rush without getting holding calls. Why did these college games have such better officiating than the NFL?

The NFL officiating is beginning to look like NBA officiating, reputation officiating is not calling the game, it's favoring players and it destroys the integrity of the sport. The NBA is just a couple of notches above the WWE in it's officiating and the NFL seems to be sadly headed in that direction.

 

[Eublet]

I don't think Beamer us to Blane for that loss. His players didn't execute and made several key mistakes that cost them the game. The game plan was solid.

 

[aborgman]

All games I listed were this year.

Top to bottom the SEC is no different than the Big 10 (12), Big 12 (10), and PAC 12. They're just cycling right now and happen to have their top teams performing well.

I wouldn't agree with that.

I'd say right now that the SEC IS slightly stronger top to bottom than the other conferences.

I would also argue that folks/homers think the SEC is a lot stronger top to bottom than it really is because of how well the top teams have done over the last several years.

 

[aborgman]

It is one heck of a cycle, and it involves more than just the top teams--and those top teams change over pretty short periods.

"The SEC is assured of one of its teams winning a BCS national championship for the sixth consecutive season, the longest such streak for a conference in college football history. Since the Associated Press Top 25 poll started in 1934, a conference had won three consecutive national titles only twice -- the Big Ten did it from 1940 to '42 and the SEC did it from 1978 to '80."

A bit of a cherry picked stat only using the AP poll, then talking about the BCS (which doesn't use the AP poll)... but it is pretty cyclical -

1930s
Big10: 5
PAC10: 2

1940s
Big10: 5
Notre Dame: 4
Army: 2

1950s:
Big 12: 3
SEC: 3
Big10: 2

1960s:
SEC: 3
Big 10: 2
PAC10: 2

1970s:
Big 12: 4
SEC: 2
Notre Dame: 2

1980s:
ACC: 3
Big10: 2

1990s:
SEC: 3
Big12: 2
ACC: 2

2000:
SEC: 5
PAC10: 2
Big12: 2

The top of the SEC has been reasonably dominate over the last 10 years or so, but it has historically been pretty cyclical - and I suspect the NCAA is eventually going to crack down on greyshirting/oversigning and that will bring the top of the SEC back in line a bit.

 

[aborgman]

Oh, it's not permanent or anything. My points are that the SEC's run of dominance is unprecedented, and it involves more than just a couple teams.

Well - if you artificially limit the pool, it's unprecedented.

Lets say instead of AP, we look at who won a majority of polls at the time. And we'll look at all football post the forward pass, not post institution of the AP poll.

Suddenly, it ain't unprecedented.

Now we've got the Ivy League in first place with 8 national championships in a row.

And the fact that we're talking about an entire conference, rather than the individual schools above, means this run may continue to extend beyond folks' predictions (as it already has).

But we really aren't talking about an entire conference. We're talking about the top 1/3 or so of a 12 team conference.

# of top 20 teams (AP poll) over last ten years:

Current SEC members: 42
Current Big 10 members: 38

SEC schools who made top 20: 10/12
Big 10 schools who made top 20: 10/12

SEC schools who made top 20 more than once: 8/12
Big 10 schools who made top 20 more than once: 7/12


Times in top 20 last 10 years:

Ohio State: 9
LSU: 8
Michigan: 6
Florida: 6
Georgia: 6
Auburn: 6
Iowa: 5
Wisconsin: 5
Alabama: 5

 

[Eublet]

Stats, stats. Just watch football. The Sec has consistently been described as the toughest conference over the last few decades, even if we don't win the championship. That doesn't mean "always".

 

[aborgman]

Stats, stats. Just watch football. The Sec has consistently been described as the toughest conference over the last few decades,

No, it hasn't.

It's been consistently described as the toughest conference over the last 4-5 years... and based on the strength at the top, that is pretty reasonable.

Top to bottom the conference really isn't much stronger than the Big10... and if we go back "decades" there are a couple conferences that have cycled through that.

 

[MJ5150]

Stats, stats. Just watch football.

Amen brutha. You can find a stat to prove anything you want. There's no end to it.

-Mike

 

[aborgman]

Amen brutha. You can find a stat to prove anything you want. There's no end to it.

-Mike

Yeah... like the stat that shows the SEC and Big10 basically even on wins and losses against each other over the "decades" in question.

Over the last couple decades vs. SEC:

Illinois: 0-1
Indiana: 5-10
Iowa: 3-1
Michigan: 6-3
MSU: 1-3
Minnesota: 2-0
Nebraska: 3-2
Northwestern: 1-2
Ohio State: 1-7
Penn St: 6-4
Purdue: 0-2
Wisconsin: 2-4

30-39 over the last two decades. If it weren't for Ohio State and the yearly pounding of Indiana by Kentucky, the Big10 would be over .500 against the SEC.

If we make it three decades instead of two, the Big10 is ahead also.

 

[MJ5150]

Great, fine. You dug back a couple decades and found out the Big10 was/is super good at football. Now what?

-Mike

 

[aborgman]

Great, fine. You dug back a couple decades and found out the Big10 was/is super good at football. Now what?

Now it is obvious that:

the toughest conference over the last few decades

Isn't true.

Toughest conference over the last 5 years? Yep.

One of the toughest conferences over the last few decades? Sure.

The toughest conference over the last few decades? Nah.

 

[MJ5150]

I see where you were going. Makes sense to me. You can scratch "prove those SEC guys on the internet wrong" off your to-do list.

-Mike

 

[aborgman]

An interesting look at a different angle than TV replay ever bothered to show:

That view makes overturning the touchdown look a lot less questionable.

Relevant rule -

Incomplete Pass
ARTICLE 7. a. Any forward pass is incomplete if the ball is out of bounds by rule or if it touches the ground when not firmly controlled by a player. It also is incomplete when a player leaves his feet and receives the pass but first lands on or outside a boundary line, unless his progress has been stopped in the field of play or end zone (Rule 4-1-3-p) (A.R. 2-4-3-III and A.R. 7-3-7-I).

 

[BioDriver]

 

[Eublet]

Again, stats. Analysts have mostly agreed that the SEC is the toughest conference for as long as I can remember. Our passion in the league and brutal play is on display every week. Referencing some bowl records doesn't disprove this.