The new season is almost upon us and I'm surprised no one started a conversation yet. Anyhow, here we go...
2017/2018 NCAA Football Thread
- Thread starter Connor Macleod
- Start date
Jagger69
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
Yeah man, I'll come back to this cesspool of a forum for some college football banter! Who'll be AP pre-season #1? Gotta be Alabama again? They're the favorite. Truth is, the poll is meaningless. In fact, the in-season poll is pretty ambiguous until we get to around week five or six I would say. Anytime you look at the pre-season poll in hindsight it's erroneous nature becomes crystal clear. Personally, I can't wait to see what Richt can do at Miami, Odom can do at Mizzou, Herman can do at Texas and Major Applewhite can do at Houston. As always, it will be an absolute blast so can't wait for them to tee it up again this fall! How's y'all's favorite team(s) look going into this season?
The only one that really has my attention is Herman. He took a podunk team and turned them around immediately with most of his recruits coming from within 30 miles of the school. It's going to be interesting to see what he can do on a national stage with a team steeped in tradition, and not having alienated the boosters and alumni.
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Jagger69
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
Yes Herman and Sumlin both (as well as Art Briles) did a Houdini act when it came to landing some serious recruits from the Houston metro region. Good news for them is that the area is one of the most fertile high school football pools in the nation. We'll see if Applewhite can pick up the mantle and carry it forward. Houston should be good again this year on both sides of the ball but the tale will be told once Applewhite is using a class of his own making. I love U of H games because they are local, cheap and the football is very high-quality....or at least it has been in recent years. Hope it continues....my son is a U of H grad so I have to pull for them.
Herman, meanwhile, has been landing some really solid recruits (he landed 4-star DT Keondre Coburn just today!) and there is some good talent on the existing roster but a lot of the upper-echelon in-state recruits have eluded him and gone to schools like Ohio State, LSU & FSU so we'll see how the situation develops as he gets more established statewide. He's got his DC from Houston (Todd Orlando) with him so I would look to see a very aggressive approach there and, with Shane Buechele getting his true frosh year behind him and having a QB guru like Herman to work with him, I would expect to see him make some serious strides forward. He's an exciting dual-threat QB who showed a real nose for the end zone last season so I would hope that trend would continue to expand as he moves forward in his college career. It won't be a quick turnaround for Texas like it was for Houston but I feel confident that Herman is the right guy for the job and that he will ultimately be able to return the Longhorns to their rightful place as one of the top-performing programs in the nation. The whole situation was caused by the Board of Regents' willingness to let Mack Brown stay too long based on the fact he took us to 2 NC games when the truth is he should have been let go after the dismal 2010 season. If I had to make a guess as to how the Horns will fare this year I would say they will probably go 8-4 and get another Holiday Bowl bid.
Herman, meanwhile, has been landing some really solid recruits (he landed 4-star DT Keondre Coburn just today!) and there is some good talent on the existing roster but a lot of the upper-echelon in-state recruits have eluded him and gone to schools like Ohio State, LSU & FSU so we'll see how the situation develops as he gets more established statewide. He's got his DC from Houston (Todd Orlando) with him so I would look to see a very aggressive approach there and, with Shane Buechele getting his true frosh year behind him and having a QB guru like Herman to work with him, I would expect to see him make some serious strides forward. He's an exciting dual-threat QB who showed a real nose for the end zone last season so I would hope that trend would continue to expand as he moves forward in his college career. It won't be a quick turnaround for Texas like it was for Houston but I feel confident that Herman is the right guy for the job and that he will ultimately be able to return the Longhorns to their rightful place as one of the top-performing programs in the nation. The whole situation was caused by the Board of Regents' willingness to let Mack Brown stay too long based on the fact he took us to 2 NC games when the truth is he should have been let go after the dismal 2010 season. If I had to make a guess as to how the Horns will fare this year I would say they will probably go 8-4 and get another Holiday Bowl bid.
Jagger69
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
You too, my mallard-loving muchacho! I was getting quite used to not putting up with all the garbage on this forum when I heard the siren song of NCAA football playing in my ear and I simply had to return for my fix. Thanks for the warm welcome-back, Bodie!! :thumbsup:
Ace Boobtoucher
Founder and Captain of the Douchepatrol
My Hawkeyes will probably have an off year. Every time they've had a decent season since 1999, the next year they lose four or five games. Insight.com or maybe the Holiday Bowl. Woof.
Jagger69
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
Yeah well get ready to tee it up against my Longhorns then. It's hard to fathom that Kirk Ferentz has been in Iowa City for almost 20 years! He's been a solid second act to the immortal Hayden Fry but he has never taken the Hawkeyes to the promised land. They have lost 5 consecutive bowl games and got slaughtered in the Rose Bowl by a very good Stanford team 2 years ago so it has been a familiar string of teasingly frustrating years for Ferentz and Iowa fans over the past two decades. By all accounts, it doesn't appear that this year's squad will be competing for the West title either as Wisconsin is the consensus favorite but, as you say, a second-tier bowl slot may not be out of the question for Iowa if they can overcome some of their weaknesses.
I feel your pain, Ace. The Hawkeyes are very similar to Missouri, Miami & Texas in a lot of ways. A very good program that always seems to just come up short sprinkled with some really bad years that creep in once in awhile. I'll be keeping a close eye on them as the season unfolds. They are an interesting team with a very loyal and knowledgeable fan base. Plus, their uniforms and logo are very cool!
Jagger69
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
Week 1 pre-season AP poll is out. No surprise with Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State 1-2-3.
1 Alabama(52) 0-0 1513 —
2 Ohio State(3) 0-0 1414 —
3 Florida State(4) 0-0 1396 —
4 USC(2) 0-0 1325 —
5 Clemson 0-0 1201 —
6 Penn State 0-0 1196 —
7 Oklahoma 0-0 1170 —
8 Washington 0-0 1150 —
9 Wisconsin 0-0 926 —
10 Oklahoma State 0-0 889 —
11 Michigan 0-0 881 —
12 Auburn 0-0 880 —
13 LSU 0-0 784 —
14 Stanford 0-0 695 —
15 Georgia 0-0 690 —
16 Louisville 0-0 629 —
17 Florida 0-0 624 —
18 Miami 0-0 492 —
19 South Florida 0-0 327 —
20 Kansas State 0-0 317 —
21 Virginia Tech 0-0 240 —
22 West Virginia 0-0 207 —
23 Texas 0-0 173 —
24 Washington State 0-0 133 —
25 Tennessee 0-0 114 —
For me, Miami at 18 is their highest pre-season ranking in a LONG time and Texas at 23 hopefully points to what should be just the start of a climb up the rankings as the year wears on.
http://www.espn.com/college-football/rankings
1 Alabama(52) 0-0 1513 —
2 Ohio State(3) 0-0 1414 —
3 Florida State(4) 0-0 1396 —
4 USC(2) 0-0 1325 —
5 Clemson 0-0 1201 —
6 Penn State 0-0 1196 —
7 Oklahoma 0-0 1170 —
8 Washington 0-0 1150 —
9 Wisconsin 0-0 926 —
10 Oklahoma State 0-0 889 —
11 Michigan 0-0 881 —
12 Auburn 0-0 880 —
13 LSU 0-0 784 —
14 Stanford 0-0 695 —
15 Georgia 0-0 690 —
16 Louisville 0-0 629 —
17 Florida 0-0 624 —
18 Miami 0-0 492 —
19 South Florida 0-0 327 —
20 Kansas State 0-0 317 —
21 Virginia Tech 0-0 240 —
22 West Virginia 0-0 207 —
23 Texas 0-0 173 —
24 Washington State 0-0 133 —
25 Tennessee 0-0 114 —
For me, Miami at 18 is their highest pre-season ranking in a LONG time and Texas at 23 hopefully points to what should be just the start of a climb up the rankings as the year wears on.
http://www.espn.com/college-football/rankings
You really never know, but USC, Penn State, Oklahoma and Washington seem overrated, with Michigan underrated. Texas seems underrated also. I think they'll finish the year ranked higher than 23.
Well it's here, the first full weekend of the season, spread out over four days.
What will the Michigan/Florida game be like with all of Florida's suspensions and 10 new additions to the Wolverines defense?
'Bama starts right off with a tough nut but I expect they'll get it done.
Lane Kiffin's Florida Atlantic team got demolished by Navy 42 to 19.
Arizona State barely squeaked by New Mexico State. Looking for crappy years from the two 'Zona teams again.
UCLA favored over Texas AM at UCLA. Hmmm. Still not sure how UCLA expects their non existent rushing game from last year to suddenly materialize, coaching changes notwithstanding.
You really never know, but USC ....seem overrated
I hope you're right. I HATE that program. But to me they look mighty solid.
What will the Michigan/Florida game be like with all of Florida's suspensions and 10 new additions to the Wolverines defense?
'Bama starts right off with a tough nut but I expect they'll get it done.
Lane Kiffin's Florida Atlantic team got demolished by Navy 42 to 19.
Arizona State barely squeaked by New Mexico State. Looking for crappy years from the two 'Zona teams again.
UCLA favored over Texas AM at UCLA. Hmmm. Still not sure how UCLA expects their non existent rushing game from last year to suddenly materialize, coaching changes notwithstanding.
You really never know, but USC ....seem overrated
I hope you're right. I HATE that program. But to me they look mighty solid.
There's one thing Bama fans have learned, "Never bet on Bama to cover the spread!". They are notorious for not covering, and Florida ST may have a chance to pull one out late if Bama struggles to find it's identity. The key to this game will be Florida ST's defense.
Personally, I think Bama will wear them down in the second half. Bama fans may not want to take the spread, but I think they'll cover this one.
Jagger69
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
Texas under Tom Herman looks a lot like they did under Charlie Strong. The Terps are wiping the field with them on both sides of the ball so far. There's a long way to go in Austin it would appears at this early juncture.
Missouri-Missouri State looks like a video game so far. 12 TDs and 884 yards of total offense....in the FIRST HALF. Drew Lock has already thrown for 400 yards! Zero defense by either team. Crazy.
Missouri-Missouri State looks like a video game so far. 12 TDs and 884 yards of total offense....in the FIRST HALF. Drew Lock has already thrown for 400 yards! Zero defense by either team. Crazy.
What an embarassment. Favored by 18 at home.
The fans were certainly none too happy about it.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/09/tex...loss-maryland-upset-college-football-saturday
Jagger69
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
It was....and is. Just goes to show that preseason rankings are based on little more than intuition and erroneous information.
That said, I do believe that the 'Horns will show better in ensuing games than they did today but, at least as of now, they are in no way deserving of a #23 ranking. Their defense is just plain bad as was painfully on display today in Austin. Anytime you allow a fresh-off-the-pine freshman QB to complete a pass for first down on a 4th-and-19 and then score a TD two plays later, you've got big problems on defense. I'm not at all convinced that Todd Orlando is the answer at DC even though he is Herman's buddy. It will take a year or two to assimilate Herman's recruits into the equation and, even then, there's no guarantee of success although I am confident that Herman will ultimately lead the Longhorns back to the promised land as coach of UT....just not this year.
I saw that last night. How far the mighty have fallen!
Baylor has never had a defense, but when you let an FCS school score 48 on almost 600 yards of offense, your defense is fucking pathetic! No wonder former QB Jarrett Stidham transferred to Auburn! He must have foreseen the shit-storm!
Speaking of Auburn and Stidham, he certainly didn't live up to the hype of being a Heisman candidate. He's better than the other scrubs we've had the past few years, but he needs work. The bright spot on Auburn was surprising. Will Hastings at 5-foot-11 and 167 pounds doesn't look like much, but this skinny white kid is the fastest player on the team, and Malzahn switching this kicker to wide receiver was a stroke of genius!
Did anyone see Howard beat UNLV? OMG, that was fucking embarrassing! How do you lose to a team that you're supposed to beat by 45?!
