2025-2026 College Football Thread

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Moviefan1203

We'll see man, regardless it should be a real barn burner.

I think Boise wins easily. But the game is @ Nevada so they at least have a chance since it's not in the smurf turf.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

The thing is though Chad, let Boise State play in just ONE and if they get smoked or at least lose, they will shut up about it for a good time to come. I don't see TCU going undefeated, I don't think they're as good as BSU, who now has a clear road to a 0 loss season.

What if this scenario happens. Alabama runs the table, locking in a #1 spot in the title game and a few other teams like Oregon and Nebraska have a strong season with each losing 1 close game.

I'm sorry but even in that scenario it's hard to justify letting Boise get that #2 spot to play for a championship. By season end there's a very good chance not a single team Boise played this year will even be ranked.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

What if this scenario happens. Alabama runs the table, locking in a #1 spot in the title game and a few other teams like Oregon and Nebraska have a strong season with each losing 1 close game.

I'm sorry but even in that scenario it's hard to justify letting Boise get that #2 spot to play for a championship. By season end there's a very good chance not a single team Boise played this year will even be ranked.

I think the whole idea that only 2 schools should qualiy each year for a national championship bid is beyond silly, maybe you do too. That whole bowl game fracas is exactly why I consider college football a distant, lesser step sibling of the NFL.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

I think the whole idea that only 2 schools should qualiy each year for a national championship bid is beyond silly, maybe you do too. That whole bowl game fracas is exactly why I consider college football a distant, lesser step sibling of the NFL.

It's very silly. Unfortunately it's all we have at the moment. Polls of college football fans consistently show 90%+ support for a real playoff system. Too bad the bigshots rigging the system don't care.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

It's very silly. Unfortunately it's all we have at the moment. Polls of college football fans consistently show 90%+ support for a real playoff system. Too bad the bigshots rigging the system don't care.

Yeah then it wouldn't matter what Boise, TCU exc. did because if they played well enough to make a playoff they'd get their shot along with the top tier 1 loss teams along with the undefeated teams.

They could also try something like having wins against top opponents help give you home field for round 1 of the playoffs or something so you would try real hard to get the wins to help keep regular season games relevant. Personally I think because their are such few games just like with NFL you will always have a sense of urgency to win games. Where as with College Basketball UMD for example has two shots to beat Duke every year(which we did last year ).

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by supersix4

Yeah then it wouldn't matter what Boise, TCU exc. did because if they played well enough to make a playoff they'd get their shot along with the top tier 1 loss teams along with the undefeated teams.

They could also try something like having wins against top opponents help give you home field for round 1 of the playoffs or something so you would try real hard to get the wins to help keep regular season games relevant. Personally I think because their are such few games just like with NFL you will always have a sense of urgency to win games. Where as with College Basketball UMD for example has two shots to beat Duke every year(which we did last year ).

There lies the problem for schools like Boise St. and TCU. Under the current system they don't get their shot at a title game regardless of how big they win every game. But in an 8 or 16 team playoff they'd likely have to defeat 3 or 4 top-tier programs in a row to win a championship. Fat chance.

Even in NCAA basketball the smaller conference teams flat out do not win national championships. I believe Western Kentucky back in 1966 was the only small conference school to ever win an NCAA basketball tourney. And their case was unique because the school broke the color line at a time when most major schools refused to, which gave them a big advantage.

[Moviefan1203]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

Even in NCAA basketball the smaller conference teams flat out do not win national championships. I believe Western Kentucky back in 1966 was the only small conference school to ever win an NCAA basketball tourney. And their case was unique because the school broke the color line at a time when most major schools refused to, which gave them a big advantage.

It was Texas Western (Now UTEP), but yes it is an inspirational and amazing story. It's even harder in basketball than it would be in football to run the table and win a championship if you are a midmajor in my opinion, but it's always good to see a good run. It's great for TV ratings as well, you'd think the NCAA would see the dollar signs and do the same for football. But I guess they aren't the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree, are they?

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Moviefan1203

It was Texas Western (Now UTEP), but yes it is an inspirational and amazing story. It's even harder in basketball than it would be in football to run the table and win a championship if you are a midmajor in my opinion, but it's always good to see a good run. It's great for TV ratings as well, you'd think the NCAA would see the dollar signs and do the same for football. But I guess they aren't the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree, are they?

Bah. I knew that. Typo on my part. As for the finances of a playoff I cannot imagine it would produce less revenue than the current system. In fact it would probably multipl revenues. My ideal scenario is 16 team playoff, though 8 team would be much more likely. And even with a playoff you can still keep the rest of the bowl games for the teams that don't make the playoff. Best of both worlds.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

I think the whole idea that only 2 schools should qualiy each year for a national championship bid is beyond silly, maybe you do too. That whole bowl game fracas is exactly why I consider college football a distant, lesser step sibling of the NFL.

Ugh - they could keep the BCS system for eternity, and I'd prefer college over NFL any day.

So Georgia's new AD (formerly an assistant at UF) is trying to make Georgia's schedule more "Florida-like". He canceled the home-and-home series with Oregon, and now scheduled more games with FCS opponents (Georgia Southern and some other school).

Georgia will still play Georgia Tech each year, and likely one other non-conference FBS team (e.g., Louisville, Clemson, etc.). But it looks like the days of traveling to Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, etc., are over for the time being.

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by O_V_N

So Georgia's new AD (formerly an assistant at UF) is trying to make Georgia's schedule more "Florida-like". He canceled the home-and-home series with Oregon, and now scheduled more games with FCS opponents (Georgia Southern and some other school).

Georgia will still play Georgia Tech each year, and likely one other non-conference FBS team (e.g., Louisville, Clemson, etc.). But it looks like the days of traveling to Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, etc., are over for the time being.

Sadly I think most teams are going to stop playing top-tier teams from outside their area. The Big 10 and Big 12 are both moving to 9 games schedules, with the Big 12 starting next year and the Big 10 likely starting in 2015. This leaves only 3 non-conference games and in years that teams only have 4 home conference games they are going to want to have all 3 non-conference games at home. A lot of teams will go with 1 FCS team, 1 low conference (MAC, Sun Belt, WAC, C-USA) team, and 1 game against a BCS conference team. A lot of teams already have a rivalry game against a BCS conference team, like Notre Dame versus Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State, and Iowa versus Iowa State, so it's unlikely those teams will be playing any new home and home series with top-tier programs.

Georgia's new AD knows from his time at Florida that there's not a lot of benefit to playing good teams like Oregon. If you go undefeated in the SEC you're going to make the title game, so why play multiple hard games outside the conference?

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

Sadly I think most teams are going to stop playing top-tier teams from outside their area. The Big 10 and Big 12 are both moving to 9 games schedules, with the Big 12 starting next year and the Big 10 likely starting in 2015. This leaves only 3 non-conference games and in years that teams only have 4 home conference games they are going to want to have all 3 non-conference games at home. A lot of teams will go with 1 FCS team, 1 low conference (MAC, Sun Belt, WAC, C-USA) team, and 1 game against a BCS conference team. A lot of teams already have a rivalry game against a BCS conference team, like Notre Dame versus Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State, and Iowa versus Iowa State, so it's unlikely those teams will be playing any new home and home series with top-tier programs.

Georgia's new AD knows from his time at Florida that there's not a lot of benefit to playing good teams like Oregon. If you go undefeated in the SEC you're going to make the title game, so why play multiple hard games outside the conference?

I'm actually surprised Georgia still goes along with playing the Gators in Jacksonville every year. I know it's tradition but it basically amounts to the the Gators getting to play Georgia at home every single year since Jacksonville is within the Gators sphere of influence.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

I'm actually surprised Georgia still goes along with playing the Gators in Jacksonville every year. I know it's tradition but it basically amounts to the the Gators getting to play Georgia at home every single year since Jacksonville is within the Gators sphere of influence.

I'm with you. It was a fun trip when I was in college, but now it's just too much. The new AD has said the game's not going anywhere.

I wish they'd at least rotate between Jax and Atlanta every other year.

[Moviefan1203]

Tomorrow at Noon is Miami @ Clemson. It's always a good game, and the Tigers always give us way more than we can handle. I'm already a bit keyed up for the game, and it's not even game day yet! I really thought Jacory Harris was going to settle down this season, but I'm starting to fear he may always be a turnover machine. I suppose we'll know in a month or two, but tomorrow would be a good day for him to have one of his good games. Clemson is a very good football team.

[fatediesel]

Great day of games today. Miami-Clemson should be a good game to start the day, then the 3:30 schedule is loaded with Texas-Oklahoma, Wisconsin-Michigan State, Tennessee-LSU, and Virginia Tech-NC State. The slate of night games is very strong as well. The showcase game is Alabama-Florida, but you've got a great Pac-10 showdown in Stanford-Oregon and a good Big 10 matchup in Iowa-Penn State. I got offered a free ticket to the Iowa game but chose the UNI-South Dakota State game instead.

That Wisconsin-Michigan State game could be a real eye-opener. Michigan State might be a good team and could knock off the Badgers. I like Virginia Tech against NC State as well. I think Virginia Tech is a good team that lost to a very good Boise team then made a huge scheduling blunder by playing 5 days later and lost to a good FCS team in James Madison. Boise was smart in scheduling a bye after the Monday night game, I have no idea why V Tech didn't do the same thing. It is nearly impossible to finish a game late Monday night, suffer a heartbreaking defeat, and then be ready and motivated to play a meaningless game 5 days later.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

good Big 10 matchup in Iowa-Penn State. I got offered a free ticket to the Iowa game but chose the UNI-South Dakota State game instead.

You're team better win that PSU game

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by supersix4

You're team better win that PSU game

I really have no clue how good Iowa is. They were clearly the better team against Arizona but couldn't overcome 2 big blunders early as well as numerous killer penalties. Their running back situation is troubling but the freshmen they used last week both looked good and should be able to relieve Adam Robinson when he needs a rest. Stanzi is still erratic but he looks better this year. I don't think Penn State's offense will be able to score enough points to beat Iowa, so as long as Stanzi doesn't have any pick-6 interceptions and the special teams plays well Iowa should get the W.

I'm not even sure how good last year's Iowa team was. Nearly all their games could have been losses. Usually you win about half of those type of games, Iowa won 7 of 8 of the toss-ups. They could have easily been a 7-5 team, but UNI doesn't have a kicker that can any elevation on his kicks (even with 2 tries), Michigan State can't cover a slant on the final play of the game, Indiana couldn't hold a lead, Penn State's offense and special teams threw away a great defensive effort, and Michigan couldn't stop turning the ball over.

[Moviefan1203]

I really don't feel comfortable at all with the way Clemson is cramming the ball down our throats. Our offense needs to give our defense a breather!

[fatediesel]

I have no idea who Miami has as a backup but they are not going to be a top-tier team with Jacory Harris at quarterback. He makes too many bad throws and is way too careless in the red zone.

[ChadFL]

What an awe inspiring peformance by Ohio St. against a crappy Illinois team. 14-10 OSU at halftime. Come on Illinois put them away.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I have no idea who Miami has as a backup but they are not going to be a top-tier team with Jacory Harris at quarterback. He makes too many bad throws and is way too careless in the red zone.

Sounds a lot like Jay Cutler, hopefully for the Canes' sake he will turn it around.