2018 College Football Season (Ohio, record, teams, Texas)

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by lluvia

Gutsy move no doubt.
Going back to the middle of last season, there were whispers from those watching Bama practices that Tua should have been playing more if not starting outright.
Everything came to a head in the NC game.

If I remember correctly, nobody was proclaiming Alabama to be an unstoppable force last year since they lost something like 7 starters on defense by midseason. The argument that the Committee made--and I agreed with--was that they were definitely a Top 4 team in reality despite the soft SOS and the injuries to their defensive front.

This year's Bama team is much better than last year's, especially on the offensive side of the ball, and the other challengers have too many major flaws at the moment to really contend against them.

OSU: Gives up too many long plays, QB still looks green and panics under pressure, LB play which has historically been strong has become somewhat of a weak point

Georgia: Fromm has been OK, not good. True freshman QB who barely gets on the field. Defense worse than last year's.

Clemson: True freshman QB, offensive line suspect in pass pro, predictable playcalling. Suspect secondary

Notre Dame: Need I say more?

[lluvia]

Things will get interesting if ND goes undefeated.
Along with a lot of complaints I'm sure.

For all its warts (I've said from the start there should be 6 teams - the Power 5 conference winners + an at large instead of just 4 teams) the new system has provided some exciting championship games.

Out of the first 4 games, 3 have gone down to the wire plus the great semifinal with Ga. vs. Oklahoma last season.

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

If I remember correctly, nobody was proclaiming Alabama to be an unstoppable force last year since they lost something like 7 starters on defense by midseason. The argument that the Committee made--and I agreed with--was that they were definitely a Top 4 team in reality despite the soft SOS and the injuries to their defensive front.

This year's Bama team is much better than last year's, especially on the offensive side of the ball, and the other challengers have too many major flaws at the moment to really contend against them.

Clemson: True freshman QB, offensive line suspect in pass pro, predictable playcalling. Suspect secondary

The knock on Alabama last year really wasn't the defense.. It was the play of Hurts. He was winning, but.. He didn't overly look good in doing it. The defense.. They weren't as good as the year before where they had a defensive score in every game, I think, but they were still good. The defense really won the game against Clemson. 2 tipped passes basically returned for TDs was really the difference in that game. The offense really couldn't move the ball effectively against Clemson's defense.

This year, the difference is 100% in the QB play. We're kinda looking at the difference between Deshaun Watson and Kelly Bryant when you look between Tua and Hurts. Watson and Tua are explosive players. Bryant and Hurts are more.. conservative? Not sure the word I want to use there.

Your knocks on Clemson are pretty much right on. How Sunshine handles pressure remains to be seen. He's handled most of it pretty well so far. But, he hasn't been down by 7 with 30 seconds to go on his own 40 yet. They likely have the best running attack in the country. I thought last year that they would have worn down Alabama's defense with the run.. And that MAY have wound up happening, but Alabama's 2 pick 6's (I know one of them wasn't a pick 6, but.. It was close enough) put the game in a different light where they had to rely on the arm of Bryant. The secondary is certainly suspect, and honestly, has been for the past 5 years or so. They've just operated under the idea of "Draw the PI rather than allow the catch". It hasn't burned them.. Yet. The only argument that I have about predictable play calling is that they now have a QB who can send the ball downfield. Watson could do that.. Bryant could not. At least, not to the same level as Lawrence or Watson. Lawrence, however, cannot scramble like either Watson or Bryant.

At this point, you can look at Alabama and say.. They're playing like a #1 team. Even though the teams that they're playing aren't the best in the world.. There's a visible difference between this year and last year.

[7express]

13-10 for the week definitely have seen better weeks.

104-47 for the year

[7express]

I don't see ND being a factor. Sure, the schedule is a piece of cake, but I see 3 games where I could see them get beaten: @ Northwestern (though not really a true road game as I believe this is at Soldier Field), home vs. Florida State, @ USC. ND usually chokes at the end of the year, and all 3 of those games are in November; I think 1 of those 3 ends up beating them, and Notre Dame with 0 conference affiliation, popularity be damned, has a less than 0% chance of making the playoff field with more than 0 losses, because the outcry from the 2 conferences that got left out will be too high.

[7express]

Originally Posted by 7express

I'll take App State tonight, get the rest and my totals from last week later tonight, tomorrow or Thursday.

Last week: 13-10
Overall: 104-47

Appalachian State vs. Arkansas State. Picked Tuesday night (see above).
Texas Tech vs. TCU. Ohio State broke TCU, but I think they bounce back with a win here.
Arizona vs. Utah. I'll take Utah at home.....begrudgingly, because this year whenever they should win they barely win (see the game vs. Northern Illinois last month) and when they should lose they keep the game close to where they have a chance to win, if not win outright (last 2 weeks @ Washington State where I think they had a second half lead, and last week @ Stanford where they dominated) so really who knows??
Iowa vs. Indiana. Iowa even on the road
Duke vs. Georgia Tech. Jackets aren't going to have it as easy as they had it last week in Louisville, but I think they get the win.
Pittsburgh vs. (4) Notre Dame. ND will likely keep this close throughout and win by 7-14 points.
Baylor vs. (9) Texas. Hopefully Texas doesn't have a let down.
(3) Georgia vs. (14) LSU. I'd be a lot more confident in the Georgia pick in Athens, but I think LSU's luck has run out, and they are going to need more than luck to beat Georgia. Probably got lucky to beat Auburn, and really should never had lost to Florida last week. They look on their way to a 9-3/8-4 season.
Michigan State vs. (12) Penn State. Penn State has had 2 weeks to contemplate how the hell they lost that Ohio State game, while MSU, coming into the season with championship dreams has seen their season for all intents and purposes already end. Spartans have way to many injuries to go into Happy Valley and win.
Purdue vs. Illinois. Purdue seems to be playing better lately and I'm not going to put any stake into what Illinois did to Rutgers last week.
Temple vs. Navy. Yup, I don't think Temple is good, but comparing results I'd take Temple to win. Navy's game last week was abysmal, allowed 59 points to Hawaii, granted Hawaii has turned out to be pretty good, but a Navy team shouldn't be allowing almost 60 points, lost on a 2 point conversion to SMU who is awful. Yup, Temple also lost to Villanova, but Nova is usually a FCS championship contender, Buffalo loss doesn't look nearly as bad, and BC has turned out to be pretty good here in the early going.
Texas A&M vs. South Carolina. First of 3 straight road games for the Aggies.
(7) UCF vs. Memphis. IIRC, I called the upset in this game last year and yah I wasn't close. UCF is going to lose eventually, and I agree with SouthernTiger this game will be close, but I just scratch my head at the 2 games Memphis lost this year: Navy and Tulane. Even though I just crapped on Navy a second ago, Navy usually plays them well, but the Tigers had the lead and the ball end of the 4th quarter and gave that game away, and then no showed a few weeks later at Tulane, so like in Temple and Navy I'll compare the schedules and take the team that's been more consistent and that's UCF....plus, its the classic pick the team you like less game, since I'm a Memphis fan I'll pick UCF. If Memphis wins I will gladly take the loss because it will be a great win, if not at least I picked the game right.
(8) Washington vs. (20) Oregon. if U Dub had won the Auburn game I may pick Oregon for the reasons SouthernTiger listed on Georgia/LSU: Midseason road game, tough environment, place historically they have not played well at, but Washington knows the Auburn loss was their 1 potential mulligan they have this year and they aren't giving that away.
(11) Miami vs. Virginia. Miami is overrated, but I'll take them here.
UCLA vs. Cal. I guess I'll pick Chip Kelly and UCLA again.....played Washington OK for a while last week, and Cal got fat eating OOC cupcakes and have lost so far both Pac 12 games.
(6) West Virginia vs. Iowa State. This game will be close, but I'll take Grier and the 'Eers to takeover in the 4th.
Ole Miss vs. Arkansas. Both teams in for a rough year, but Arky's is much, much worse
(10) Wisconsin vs. (15) Michigan. Michigan at home.
(23) Colorado vs. USC. Can't trust Colorado on the road in conference, and like mentioned previously USC at home in the coliseum isn't terrible....that's Wazzu's only loss so far, and after play concludes on Saturday I think you can add Colorado to that list as well.

[LargeKingCat]

91-59 for the year
Bad week last week Lots of upsets and missed picks



Appalachian State vs. Arkansas State already played
Texas Tech vs. TCU I would think that the Horny Toads at home would get a win

Arizona vs. UTAH Utes beat the Zonies

IOWA vs. Indiana

DUKE vs. Georgia Tech

Pittsburgh vs. (4) NOTRE DAME

Baylor vs. (9) TEXAS

(3) GEORGIA vs. (14) LSU Bulldogs geaux eat some Tiger

Michigan State vs. (12)PENN STATE

PURDUE vs. Illinois Purdue...Purdon't I wont even watch this one
Temple vs. NAVY I cannot figure the Navy Out
TEXAS A&M vs. South Carolina Overrated, boring, dull Aggie band bores the people of South Carolina with the exact same halftime show as the last 55 years
(7) UCF vs. Memphis
(8) WASHINGTON vs. (20) Organ Huskies visit the Pipes for a PAC 18 Battle
(11) MIAMI vs. Virginia at least one team in Miami wins sometimes
UCLA vs. CAL
(6) WEST VIRGINIA vs. Iowa State
OLE MISS vs. Arkansas
(10) WISCONSIN vs. (15) Michigan
(23) COLORADO vs. USC

[7express]

We always here of Alabama breaking teams, but this year a new team is on that list as Ohio State has claimed 2 ranked victims. Ohio State beat TCU in a virtual home game for the froggies, and the froggies have won I think one game since then. A couple weeks later they beat Penn State in Happy Valley taking advantage of James Franklin's conservative play calling, coming back from a double digit 4th quarter deficit to win; even after a bye with a Michigan State team coming in to Happy Valley with injuries galore on their offensive line and with their receiving corps, somehow the Spartans get the game winning touchdown in the final 20 seconds to win. And that's why Mark Dantonio is one of the best coaches in the country....nobody gets more out of less than he does.

[SouthernTiger]

11-9 on picks this week. I was doing all right, before it all went to hell during the night. Oh, well, Here's my top 25.


#1: Alabama (7-0)
#2: Ohio State (7-0)
#3: Notre Dame (7-0) +1
#4: UCF (6-0) +3
#5: LSU (6-1) +9
#6: Clemson (6-0) -1
#7: Texas (6-1) +2
#8: Michigan (6-1) +7
#9: Oklahoma (5-1) +4
#10: Georgia (6-1) -7
#11: Oregon (5-1) +9
#12: Florida (6-1) +4
#13: West Virginia (5-1) -7
#14: NC State (5-0) +3
#15: Washington (5-2) -7
#16: USF (6-0) +2
#17: Kentucky (5-1) +2
#18: Wisconsin (4-2) -8
#19: Penn State (4-2) -7
#20: Cincinnati (6-0) +1
#21: Miami (5-2) -10
#22: San Diego State (5-1) +3
#23: North Texas (6-1) NEW
#24: Appalachian State (4-1) NEW
#25: Texas A&M (5-2) NEW

Honorable Mentions/Dropped Out

Utah State (5-1)
Mississippi State (4-2)
Michigan State (4-2)
Fresno State (5-1)
Duke (5-1)
Washington State (5-1)
Iowa (5-1)
Colorado (5-1)
Houston (5-1)

[Babe_Ruth]

(Oct 13 weekend)
I think Iowa gets in to the top 25..
Miami falls out after their UVa loss..

I liked that Northwestern comeback..