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Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls
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All-In [29036]
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Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls
Oct 7, 2019, 10:24 AM
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Let me start by saying that I'm not worried at all. I trust the Dabo and his system.
Furthermore, I also think it is important for the nervous among us to recognize that no undefeated P5 champion has ever been left out of the playoffs. It's not going to happen this year (and IMO won't ever happen until there are more than 4 undefeated teams). So win, and we're in.
But I think it's okay to recognize that others from the outside have reasons to move us around in the rankings. There were games this weekend where highly ranked teams played games somewhat on par with our UNC game last weekend, and we saw what is usually expected of them.
UGA didn't look great early against Tenn... but they pulled away and made it comfortable.
OHST didn't look great early against Mich St... but they pulled away and made it comfortable.
OK didn't look great early against Kansas... but they pulled away and made it comfortable.
Now it may well be that UNC is a better team than all of the 3 above, but that is not a national consensus, and we were expected to pull away and make it look comfortable. We didn't, and so in the court of public opinion we get dinged.
But, it simply doesn't matter. Keep winning and we're in. Due to the somewhat down nature of most of the ACC (though not as down as some talking heads would have us believe) we probably don't have the available mulligan that some other teams do, but just keep winning and it doesn't matter.
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110%er [6101]
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Re: Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls
Oct 7, 2019, 10:28 AM
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Shame for taking such a common sense approach. Tnet wants drama and you have just burst the bubble!
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All-TigerNet [10824]
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Re: Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls
Oct 7, 2019, 10:33 AM
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Tiger_thom making more sense than all the talking heads put together.
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110%er [6825]
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Re: Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls
Oct 7, 2019, 10:34 AM
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Not worried.
There tends to be a lot of X-0 teams up until week 8 and then Ohio State takes a 20+ point road loss. Georgia finally plays someone goofy (like an Auburnt) and gets the rattles maybe against Florida. There is only really going to be 1-2 undefeated teams by December and maybe 2-3 one loss teams.
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All-In [40088]
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Fair take. ACC’s usual competition is down. Just a few years ago
Oct 7, 2019, 10:35 AM
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FSU and Louisville were quite the challenge. It still bugs me that the sec puts 5-6 in the top 10 off the bat because then when they actually play each other it’s a self fulfilling prophecy that they must be that good if Florida beats auburn for instance. Truth is not because I’m saying there schedule is brutal but because math is math, the undefeateds will continue to fall in the sec. LSU and Florida I believe this weekend? I’m not convinced that Florida is that good but mathematically one of them has to lose this weekend. Then eventually penn State has to play Ohio State etc etc. so as you say win out and we are in. Lose one and unfortunately we are at the mercy of a subjective process.
Message was edited by: lovingit®
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All-TigerNet [11478]
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Re: Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls
Oct 7, 2019, 11:00 AM
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The biggest difference between our game with UNC and the other three games you mentioned are game-changing plays.
UGA won the turnover battle.
OSU won the turnover battle.
Oklahoma won the turnover battle but Kansas dropped a pick 6, and missed a chance to recover a fumble. Oklahoma also benefited from multiple 15 yd penalties that all went the way of Oklahoma, some of which were absolutely ridiculous.
UNC did none of those things. They did not help us in the least on our off day.
UNC did what most average to below average teams don't do and played a clean game.
Oklahoma looked absolutely awful in the first half on Saturday. Kansas would have taken a 14-7 lead if they caught the pick 6. The next play was a 30 yard pass and 3 plays later OK had a 14-7 lead.
Credit to UNC for forcing our turnover and not returning the favor. They also did a great job of avoiding drive-extneding penalties while we continued to get drive-killing penalties.
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Orange Blooded [2829]
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Re: Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls
Oct 7, 2019, 12:12 PM
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With the PAC12 falling apart it is becoming more likely that the rest of the conferences will have more leeway in losing as well. So far only an undefeated ND and a 1 loss Bama have been able to make the playoffs without winning a conference. Both times the B1G and PAC12 were left watching from outside. With ND already losing the only other real chance a 1 loss ACC champion doesn't make the playoffs is Bama not winning the SEC championship. I really don't see another scenario that a team not named Bama will make the playoffs by not winning the conference.
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All-In [29036]
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Primarily agree
Oct 7, 2019, 12:22 PM
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Though I think LSU or Bama have a chance as 11-1 (having lost to the other) non conference champs.
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Walk-On [127]
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110%er [5072]
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Re: Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls
Oct 7, 2019, 12:29 PM
[ in reply to Re: Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls ] |
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Most years I'd agree, but it's hard to see us getting in this year with a loss unless a lot of other things happen in our favor. Let's say LSU goes on the road and losses on a late FG to Bama. Let's then say that Bama goes unbeaten and wins the SEC, while LSU goes 11-1, but obviously doesn't make the SEC Championship because of the loss to Bama. I could see LSU getting in over us in that situation based on our schedule.
I'd also honestly have a hard time having a problem with that. It's hard to go unbeaten without a doubt, but if we lose a game on our remaining schedule then it's almost certainly against an unranked team, unless it's a loss at home to a ranked Wake team. We could play a ranked team in the ACC Championship game, but A) that would require Wake to lose 2 games in that case which would diminish the quality of that loss, and B) we're talking about us being the ACC champs in this example. It's hard to look at our resume if that happens and argue that we'd be one of the 4 most deserving teams. I do think we're in with a 13-0 record though no matter what.
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110%er [5072]
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Re: Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls
Oct 7, 2019, 12:21 PM
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I agree. I very well feel that we'll get things figured out, and a lot of that feeling is based on seeing us play similar games in each of the past few years. However, it's hard for me to blame any pollsters or media for putting other teams ahead of us at the moment based on how things have played out so far. A lot of our fans want to call that bias, but one could argue that having us at #2 right now with several first place votes is the media being biased in our favor.
If any other team in the country had played our scheduled this season with the same results our fans would be ripping them and the media for still having that team ranked at 2. Part of that response by our fans would be pointing out how A&M is our best win, and how A&M doesn't look good at all right now.
I say this because I've seen posts on here for years now calling other teams overrated after watching that team punt on their first offensive series of the game. This past week I saw a post about Ohio State only being up 3-0 early against Michigan State. I also saw posts saying that Florida and Auburn shouldn't even be ranked in the top 15 based on how they looked against each other. It's debatable how good either of those teams are, but my point is how quick we are to call other teams overrated whenever they don't look perfect, but then we want to turn around and be angry whenever anyone dares to say we don't look like the best team right now.
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Orange Blooded [3612]
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Re: Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls
Oct 8, 2019, 9:03 AM
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You do know that Bama's best win so far this year is their 49-7 thrashing of ...(ahem) Southern Miss, right? Or the season opener when Duke was breaking in a brand new QB.
They have not played an upper tier SEC team yet, and their only road victory was against a SouCar team that lost by 20 at Mizzou that lost at Wyoming.
I have a Bama friend who stretches the bounds of friendship any time we 'barely' win because he condescendingly jokes about being nervous that our near-losses will force the Tide to play someone else for the championship. Then last week he admitted to being worried about Ole Miss because they gave the Tide their only SEC loss in recent memory. Apparently Tide fans don't even get nervous about teams that haven't beaten them before.
Meanwhile, NMSt at 0-6 says hello.
At least our punching bag was a required game with a conference rival, not a team specifically scheduled to be a punching bag.
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Orange Blooded [3612]
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Re: Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls
Oct 8, 2019, 9:03 AM
[ in reply to Re: Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls ] |
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You do know that Bama's best win so far this year is their 49-7 thrashing of ...(ahem) Southern Miss, right? Or the season opener when Duke was breaking in a brand new QB.
They have not played an upper tier SEC team yet, and their only road victory was against a SouCar team that lost by 20 at Mizzou that lost at Wyoming.
I have a Bama friend who stretches the bounds of friendship any time we 'barely' win because he condescendingly jokes about being nervous that our near-losses will force the Tide to play someone else for the championship. Then last week he admitted to being worried about Ole Miss because they gave the Tide their only SEC loss in recent memory. Apparently Tide fans don't even get nervous about teams that haven't beaten them before.
Meanwhile, NMSt at 0-6 says hello.
At least our punching bag was a required game with a conference rival, not a team specifically scheduled to be a punching bag.
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Legend [15778]
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I agree, win out and we are in...problem I have is that we
Oct 7, 2019, 2:15 PM
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dropped from #1 (not a big problem more of a minor annoyance). Had Bama been #1 and had a scare at the UofSuCk and stopped a 2 point conversion to win...there is no way they would have dropped in the polls. The spin would be how tough the SEC is and how hard it is to win on the road. But they are Bama and part of the great SEC so they get the bias. I think if you hold the crown you're king until someone knocks it off your head.
I do wonder if UNC had not tripped up with App St. would we have fallen to #2 with a 1 point victory over a ranked UNC? Bottom line is none of it really matters until the last CFP poll comes out.
Win and we are ALL IN!
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110%er [7173]
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Re: I agree, win out and we are in...problem I have is that we
Oct 7, 2019, 2:50 PM
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Tigermaniac - exactly! U of Non-Compliance was on the verge of being ranked. Mack Brown love plus the Wake loss was controversial. Had they beaten App St after beating U of sux they would have been ranked somewhere in the top 25 between 20-25. When they lost to App they were #26.
Clemson2003 - I agree and mostly agree. But like someone posted earlier; it's the fact "pre-season polls" have multiple SEC teams ranked that keeps the "lie" going. No teams should be ranked until after a month of playing; but that would hurt TV rankings! SEC schools love and support more importantly their teams. Good marketing schemes should be centered around those teams with large fan bases to get more bang for your buck for advertisements. So - rank these teams with the rabid fan bases so their early season games garners as much attention as possible(more eyes). TV can ask for more money from commercials and such. And as has been said, these now ranked opponents play each other. The loser only drops a few spots b/c of the ranked SEC gauntlet. But, "it's really not a gauntlet"! The teams are ranked higher than let's say for S & G ACC teams! But, when they play out of conference against P5 teams the record isn't what everyone thinks. 6-7 in 2016 bowl season. 6-5 last year. They lose OOC if they aren't playing group of 5 or FCS teams just like ACC schools. The top of the SEC is very good of course - no doubt! But, folks need to stop acting like every team is some gauntlet - their records OOC even in the regular season versus P5 teams will tell you that.
Clemson will be in regardless of all that. Even if LSU loses on a last second FG at Bama and Ohio St. goes undefeated. Clemson is in if we go undefeated. Oklahoma is in if they go undefeated. Let's examine the "gauntlet Oklahoma has to play" just as much as you look at Clemson's "vaunted ACC schedule"! If your good you win games and people think you should just smoke everybody. Nobody is good enough. That's what you have to give the SEC over Big 12, Big 10 and the ACC - multiple top tier teams! But, stop it with the conference in it's entirety is elite b/c it is far from it. The ACC needs another elite team to emerge in the Coastal! Oklahoma has Texas. Ohio St has Penn St. this year - though they are shaky at best. Michigan was a fraud from the start and should have lost to Army. Who just lost to Tulane BTW. Who's left really folks?
In the LSU close loss on the road scenario - the talk about a 8 team playoff will go insane and get down right belligerent.
Only possible scenario is if either Ohio St, Oklahoma or Clemson have some key injury and is barely squeaking by every opponent "LATE" in the year!
But, purest would argue the point about conference championship and being undefeated and having done all you could. They would be right b/c now you are right back at the old: "eye test" to determine who gets a chance to compete for a national title. And a team with a loss has a loss, period. Sorry about who the loss came to. BCS era if you lost you were out and people still honor those champions; why would it be different now?
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110%er [5072]
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Re: I agree, win out and we are in...problem I have is that we
Oct 7, 2019, 10:43 PM
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No way UNC would’ve been ranked had they beaten App State. They didn’t even have a single vote in the poll the week of the App State game. No way was a win over App State going to take them from zero votes to being in the top 25.
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110%er [7173]
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Re: I agree, win out and we are in...problem I have is that we
Oct 7, 2019, 10:50 PM
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clemson2003 Do you have a poll handy? I very well cold be mistaken or have my weeks mixed up(could have been prior to the Wake game) but at one point this season they were #26.
Again, it would make sense, if they weren't heading into the App game; but I would have sworn they were. The "Mack Brown" fellow colleague thing and all. Plus, people like success stories for people that many people like.
App State is undefeated and probably should be ranked!
Either way!
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110%er [7103]
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For the sake of some counterpoint on this...
Oct 7, 2019, 4:31 PM
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Everyone in this thread is saying that nearly everyone will have a loss and that all we need to do is win out and we're in. Ok. Let's keep it realistic:
- Oklahoma wins out and beats Texas (or whoever) for the B12 title
- Ohio State, ditto. Penn State looks like they could present a challenge, but are they that good?
- UGA and Bama/LSU go into the $ECCG undefeated. That game is a slobberknocker, like last year. One of these awesome coaches pulls a bonehead fake punt at the end of the game and loses by 3.
- The Tigers win out but Wake Forest or NC State or FSU expose our sketchy OL again and we barely skate by in another two or three games.
Do you think it entirely outside the realm of possibility that the $ECCG loser, with one loss in the almighty SEC juggernaut, might be able to court the committee into leaving us out, IF we look as weak and all-fired inept as we did against the team that had already lost games to Wake Forest and APP STATE? All the other top five teams are beating the shyatt out of everyone they play. None has looked as vulnerable as we did by the end of the game. We really should have lost to the tarholes.
We've had our mulligan. That was it. And I think we'd better beat the dogshyatt out of the Luavulls, the Nancy States, the Weak Florists, and the Chicken Coop Dirtpeckers if we want to be sure of staking that CFP claim this year. Because you have to admit... the ACC sucks this year. It wouldn't surprise me if they UCF'd us if we don't look dominant against these pukes.
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All-In [29036]
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Yes
Oct 7, 2019, 6:57 PM
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I stand firm that an undefeated P5 champion will not be left out in favor of a defeated non conference champion.
Isn't going to happen.
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110%er [7103]
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Re: Yes
Oct 7, 2019, 9:17 PM
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Well Thom, if you’re undefeated then it goes without saying that you are a champion. But I disagree with your absolute assurance just because the ACC is considered P5. If the ACC continues to be a big steaming pile of shyatt, the day will come when we have to dominate them all to stay in it.
We did it last year. Better hope we can do it again.
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All-In [29036]
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Well
Oct 7, 2019, 10:36 PM
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I mentioned the conference champion caveat because I can potentially see an undefeated ND being left out. You may be right (though I don’t think so) that the ACC may be relegated to non p5 status in opinion, but that ain’t this year.
Win em all this year and we’re in.
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All-TigerNet [10343]
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Re: Nobody asked for it, but my take on current rankings/polls
Oct 8, 2019, 9:16 AM
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I don't even watch the media anymore. I just wait for Dabo to hoist the trophy and then I tune in to hear their opinions.
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Replies: 21
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