TCU-BCS???

[cowtownmike]

TCU is going to need either Oregon or Auburn to lose twice in order to make the national championship game. TCU's strength of schedule took a MAJOR hit with A&M beating Baylor and Notre Dame crushing Utah. Their schedule is weaker than Boise's.

Utah has to be the most over-ranked team I've seen this year.

**Prediction**

If Boise, Auburn, Oregon win out...TCU will not play in a BCS bowl.

[Ticket Mouse]

Here's the deal about UTah...they were overranked at 5. I think they are legitimately somewhere between 15-25. Did they lay an egg Saturday? Yes. I think that had a lot to do with TCU kicking their ass the week before and Notre Dame having a week off after losing at home to Tulsa of all people. What people forget about Utah is they beat Air Force on the road by a larger margin that OU beat AFA at home. They also put up 69 against ISU on the road a few weeks ago and lost a spot. Meanwhile, Nebraska needs the second worst throw I've ever seen by a kicker to beat ISU in OT and they're not penalized. Yes, Utah was overrated at 5 but by putting them that high and then calling them the ultimate pretenders the media proves that they are either college football idiots or their logic in how they rank teams is flawed.

The SDSU game was just plain weird and I'll try to get into it more when I have time but that is a team with three loses by a combined 11 points. They took Mizzou down to the last play of the game and had a win stolen from them against BYU when a BYU alum replay official pulled the ultimate screw job. They are the second-best team in the MWC, which suprises the hell out of me. They've really turned that program around.

Why wasn't Oregon and Auburn at least criticized for struggling against inferior opponents as well?

As much as I can't stand Mark May he was the only one I saw all weekend that made all these points and made any sense.

If TCU and BSU go undefeated, both will make a BCS bowl.

BTW, Miami finally has a QB with a clue and as long as Jacory Harris doesn't play, they will beat VT.

[P. Marf]

UGA, Cal >>>>>> San Diego State University.

[Ticket Mouse]

SDSU>=Clemson

Had this happened three weeks ago no one would be saying anything.

[P. Marf]

Whether it is true or not no one thinks of San Diego State football as being anywhere near any school in any BCS conference.

[Ticket Mouse]

So ISU, KU, UVA, Wake Forest, Duke, Wash St., Rutgers, Cincy, Louisville, IU, and Minnesota are all better than SDSU? Why? Just b/c they are in a BCS conference?

[P. Marf]

I never said all those teams were better. In fact, I said, "Whether it is true or not." The fact of the matter is the all around schedule of TCU is strongly inferior to Oregon and Auburn. So when they only when by 5 to a team many people have barely heard of it doesn't look good. I'm not saying they aren't a good team. But, for example, a 5 point win over Georgia looks 50 times better than a 5 point win of SDSU.

[Ticket Mouse]

This is what gets me about the polls being out the next morning...everyone votes on knee-jerk reactions and no one, NO ONE, gets a chance to see many games, especially coaches. Most people's perception of the game was based on what they saw on the crawl. Most were too lazy to even flip on the game to see a final score that barely scratches the surface in telling the story.

1) Based on what I saw SDSU will beat Utah next week and finish 9-3, 2nd in conference. This was essentially the conference title game. No one brings up the fact that A&M struggled mightily with one of the Florida teams (FAU, FIA, Bethune Cookman, Stetson...I can't remember). Nebraska struggled with ISU and South Dakota. Oregon struggled with a Cal team that was blown out at home by Nevada. Boise struggled against La Tech. No team is perfect. Every good team is going to have one or two games that aren't, on the surface, good wins. Of course, everyone was licking Boise's butthole last night because of how good they looked against Idaho. Idaho. If UNT played Idaho they'd go three OTs and the final would be 9-6.
2) TCU is one of the last teams to have a bye week. Many teams have had two. TCU gets one. They are a pretty beat up team at this point. Their pre-season All-American center didn't play the second half. Their leading rusher carried the ball once after hurting his ankle last week. They played without the left side of their DL. Jeremy Kerley barely played in the second half. Their starting TE was out as well. It's too bad they couldn't get a bye week in the middle of the season like most other teams. On a similar note, Utah was pretty banged up too, which attributed to their lackluster performance.
3) Their offensive line coach had a heart attack on the sidelines during the game.
4) The kicker cost us 7 points.
5) The offense called off the dogs midway through the 3rd quarter. GP doesn't like to run up the score, especially on conference opponents, and the offense ran something akin to Jim Swink's liking for several possessions. This was as much GP's fault as anyone. SDSU sure wasn't stopping them.

The same could be said about the defense. One two of the last three SDSU scoring drives they had several 3rd stringers in the game. I looked out once and though FW Paschal was on the field. Finally, they put the starters back in but the damage had been done and TCU has no one to blame but themselves.
6) The 30 yard line accounted for a 14 point swing. Curtis Clay had a sure return for 6 when he tripped over the 30. Two plays later Dalton throws an INT when the receiver fell down. Three plays later SDSU throws a bomb and the DB gets beat.
7) SDSU essentially made 5 plays. 4 passing TDs of 37 yards or more (an inexperienced DB got burned three times) and a fumble recovery in the endzone. Their first play from scrimmage was a reverse flea-flicker down to the one. SDSU made the plays when they had to and from that standpoint were outcoached. Other than that, they went 40 minutes without a first down. They had one in the first half-the flea flicker.
8) SDSU was never in a position to take the lead.

I'm not making excuses. These are typical things that teams have to deal with. Good teams overcome them. Bad ones don't. TCU dealt with them and came away with the W. If Oregon or Auburn had done the same thing people would be praising the resiliency of the teams.

[P. Marf]

Again, if GP "doesn't like to run up the score," and in return only wins by 5, then he should be highly criticized for it. You are complaining that TCU is getting less respect cause the only beat SDSU by 5. If GP calls off the dogs cause he doesn't want to win by much then that is their problem. It is widely known that these weak conference schools needs to win BIG every week if they want a chance at the title. So either your idea that GP "wants to just win by one point" is bogus, or GP is an idiot. I will agree on the polls and how they are voted very quickly where it is obvious no one really watches all of the games. But that is the way college football go. If you can convince me that TCU has more big wins than Auburn or Oregon (which is impossible) and even many one loss teams for that matter then maybe I can see them as having a shot at the title. I'm not saying they are a bad team by any means. They are great. They would probably win the Big 12. But without them playing a schedule like a BCS conference does it is tough to make a case.

[Ticket Mouse]

I'll never argue the strength of schedule issue but I have a problem with TCU being penalized for not playing up to par in ONE game. I understand that they have to, for the most part, win big but I think they're being held up to an impossible standard. Again, this is a team that has three losses by a combined 11 points. How many "experts" know that? Probably less than half. I could see if this was BYU, CSU, or Wyoming but this is a team with a shot at winning 10 games and their coach will probably be coaching a BCS AQ team within 3 years. They've taken care of business against those pathetic teams. This is one game. I don't understand that the big deal is. Now, if they had 3-4 of these games it would be another story.

I'll say this, let's see if ESPN is kissing Boise's ass next year when they move to the MWC and aren't Bristol's little butt boys next year. Something to think about...

Gil Lebreton had a great article about the voters:
www.star-telegram.com/2010/11/14/2631006/bcs-perception-is-only-what-is.html

[cowtownmike]

LeBreton is a TCU schill. might as well have Gary Patterson write it.

[Ticket Mouse]

Are you saying his points are without merit?

The pollsters logic defies logic.

[cowtownmike]

I am saying there is no top 25 team on TCU's schedule. No way should they be considered for a BCS bowl.

[Ticket Mouse]

What do you have to say about the Big East champ?

[cowtownmike]

Same thing. Big East is taking a BCS bid away from a deserving team. the rule limiting conferences to 2 BCS bids is even more rediculous.