College Football Saturday open thread

Alright, gang, as promised, we're shifting gears a bit as we are essentially handing over the reins of our running Ssturday college football post to our good friend and former roomie from Seminary, Jonesy.

We're not going to clutter things up with too much introductories... we'll just let the man do his thing.

Greetings and Salutations,

In order to provide a more fair and balanced view of the college football scene, Deano has permitted me to provide a non-West-Coast-biased viewpoint of the 2011 College football season. Without further ado, here is my first ever posting.


“There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know.” - D. Rumsfeld.


This quote just about captures the state of college football at the half way point. I’d argue (see below) that the unknown unknowns > known unknowns > known knowns.



Known Knowns:

Alabama & LSU are fantastic. When these two teams square off in November, one half of the national championship game will be settled. And this in not like the 2006 Ohio State-Michigan “Game of the Century” pitting #1 verses #2. (That year both OSU and Michigan got their asses handed to them in bowl games, proving once again that the Big 10+2 either (1) over-rated (2) can’t handle the great weather at most bowl sites[i].) Alabama and LSU are proven winners, from the nation’s best conference and have played quality opponents to date.

FSU and Notre Dame are over-rated. The annual high preseason rankings have once again proven overly optimistic for these perennially crap teams. There will be no BCS bowls for these teams this year. Or any time soon for that matter. How about we make a deal? Anyone that ranks these two teams high early in the season gets bitch slapped. Let me know.

PSU has no QB: Just Tuesday, for the 7th week in a row, JoePa says he will play both QB’s this game because (and I’m paraphrasing) “They are just so dang close in competition with each other.” Really JoePa? Couldn’t it be that they both suck and it is too painful for you to watch either of them play an entire game let alone a half? I know that’s the case for me. PSU, with is fantastic defense and good skill players, is just a QB away from contending for a BCS bid. Not a BCS title but one of the other games.



Known Unknowns

Oklahoma, Clemson & Wisconsin: I know I don’t know how good the Sooners, Tigers or Badges are this year. They’ve certainly proven to be better, by a long shot than Texas , VaTech and Nebraska . They might be legitimate contenders for the BCS Title Game, but they would probably be rather large underdogs. Questions for you. If you are the best team in the PAC 12, Big 12-2 (outside of Oklahoma ), ACC or Big 10+2, how would you fair in the SEC. I’m thinking they’d probably be the 3rd to 5th best team in that conference.

SEC East: I think they really stink, but I’m not sure. It’s not just that Florida , Georgia , Tennessee and USC (Not your SC Dean, South Carolina ) would/have gotten the beat down from Alabama & LSU. I would have them as underdogs against Arkansas and Mississippi State . In fact, none of the SEC East teams might compete for a title in the other power conferences. Some would say this is cyclical and will change soon. I don’t necessary agree. Who is to say Florida and Tennessee , despite all their passion and resources made the right coaching hires? USC has Spurrier but not the talent and Georgia ’s time under Richt might have come and gone. Losing to Boise State they way they did shows they have a long way to go.

Oklahoma State, Michigan and Illinois : My hunch is that they are not good enough to win their conferences and have been lucky with and early season schedule. They upcoming weeks should tell the tale. I will say that each of these teams has dynamic players that are fun to watch.



Unknown Unknowns

How the hell should I know? These are unknown unknowns.

I’m not the Lykes Lines Captain with the following quote “What I need is an exact list of specific unknown problems we might encounter.” Typical Deckie.


Games I’ll be Watching[ii]

Oregon verses Arizona State: If this game was in Arizona I’d give the Sun devils as shot. And without their running back, Oregon could be vulnerable. Either way, I see these teams playing again on December 3rd.

Baylor verses Texas A&M: I love the Bears. It’s nice to see this program rise from the ashes. I think Robert Griffin (my favorite non-PSU player) is the most exciting player in college. I’m hoping that Baylor will give A&M a nice send off. (Fact: when it comes to obnoxious fans, the Aggies are right up there with the best of them. Sure A&M is overshadowed by the douches at Texas but give the Aggies their due: they can be assholes[iii])

VaTech verses Wake Forrest: The two best ACC teams outside of Clemson. Both coming of big wins. I like it when two good (and under-rated) teams battle it out.

Michigan verses Michigan State : I’d love to see “little brother” kick Michigan ’s ass for a forth straight year. Either way, we’ll find out which of these teams deserves the relatively high ranking.

PSU verses Purdue: Not a powerhouse game. It will give PSU’s offense another week to get their QBs’ heads’ on straight. Let the game come to you. Your defense is solid, your running game shows promise, take and make easy throws that are open and MOST IMPORTANTY don’t lose the game by yourself.

Temple verses Buffalo : The “T” will gain revenge for the City of Philadelphia this weekend. Expect a beat down. This game won’t be televised, but I will be following my Owls closely with my ESPN iphone Scorecenter app[iv].

Non Football Football Comment

I used to hate Oregon ’s uniforms[v]. But I’ve done a 180 degree on them. I find them both interesting and admirable. Oregon has managed to create a damn good program that centered around the 1000+ weird-ass combinations of their funky unis. They are trend setters and more power to them. I don’t think the desperate copy cats, and I’m speaking to you Maryland , are worth much.

So that’s all I’ve got. Please feel free to comment, praise, or argue as you wish. And enjoy this week’s game.

Later.

Jonesy

[i] I’d love to see some of the SEC & PAC 12 teams head up North to play a bowl game in crappy weather. It might neutralize the speed of those teams and the cold would definitely affect them.

[ii] These are not necessarily the best games, only the games I care about most. Obviously the PSU-Purdue game is only of interest to us Blue & White diehards and other masochist out there.

[iii] I can say this because I went to PSU and have seen us at our best, err worse.

[iv] Best free app I’ve gotten. Love, Love, Love it.

[v] And compared to PSU’s beautifully simplistic Blue & White they don’t hold up.