Conquer Club

A story of two very different halves... the way Oklahoma's up tempo offense pushed Mizzou down the field in the first half it could have easily been 35-17 at halftime. Those turnovers were huge as the Tigers ended the second quarter with a field goal for a halftime lead and carried that momentum right into the second half. The defense came out fired up and never let the Sooner offense get comfortable again. A huge win at home for them... and they looked really good doing it.

I watched the Auburn/LSU game... Cameron Newton rushed for 217 yards and 2 Touchdowns
while breaking the most rushing yards by a QB in a season record... in just 8 games. Auburn
put up 440 rushing yards but couldn't pull away, while LSU had difficulty putting together any
sustained offense.

oVo wrote:Unbeaten Auburn jumps Oregon and Boise State to claim the BCS #1 with their 4th win over a ranked opponent. Their next game is against 3-4 Ole Miss so the current trend should end and the pressure is off of Oregon. Auburn hosts Georgia in two weeks and ends the regular season at Alabama, which will be the Tide's 7th game against a Ranked opponent and could also be for the SEC West's spot in the SEC Championship game.

More like probably the SEC West's spot as Auburn has already beaten Arkansas and LSU the other 2 main competitors in the SEC west. As an SEC fan I think the jump to #1 was undeserved. I had expected them to jump Boise but Oregon blew out their opponent and still gets jumped?

It's the BCS poll, Auburn remains undefeated with wins over 4 ranked teams
and neither Oregon or Boise State can make the same claim. IF Alabama runs
the table to win the SEC West Division, even with one loss they could be right
back in the National Championship hunt. A win in the SEC Championship game
would make the Crimson Tide 7-1 against top 20 ranked opponents.

Of course Auburn finishing the season unblemished puts them right there in the
BCS Championship Game facing off with Oregon or Boise State... there are still
four other unbeatens out there in TCU, Michigan State, Missouri and Utah.

Another good weekend of College Football kicked off last night with unranked NC State upsetting #16Florida State 28-24. The Wolfpack outscored the Seminoles 21-3 in the second half, including a 4th & goal TD to take the lead with 2:40 remaining. FSU drove to the NCSt 4 in the final minute before losing a fumble in the backfield to seal the win.

tomorrow
#1Auburn (8-0) at Mississippi (3-4)
#2Oregon (7-0) at USC (5-2)
#3Boise State (7-0) 49 Louisiana Tech (3-5) 20
#4TCU (8-0) at UNLV (1-6)
#5Michigan State (8-0) at #18 Iowa (5-2)
#6Missouri (7-0) at #14 Nebraska (6-1)
#8Utah (7-1) at Air Force (5-3)
#10Wisconsin (7-1) at Purdue (4-3)
#15Arizona (6-1) at UCLA (3-4)
#17Oklahoma State (6-1) at Kansas State (5-2)
Kentucky (4-4) at #21Mississippi State (6-2)
#25Baylor at Texas (4-3)
Michigan (5-2) at Penn State (4-3)
Florida (4-3) at Georgia (4-4) the Bulldogs still have a shot at winning the SEC East.
San Diego State (5-2) at Wyoming (2-6)

SEC West has 5 teams ranked in the Top 25... SEC East has 1

oVo wrote:Another good weekend of College Football kicked off last night with unranked NC State upsetting #16Florida State 28-24. The Wolfpack outscored the Seminoles 21-3 in the second half, including a 4th & goal TD to take the lead with 2:40 remaining. FSU drove to the NCSt 4 in the final minute before losing a fumble in the backfield to seal the win.

tomorrow
#1Auburn (8-0) at Mississippi (3-4) Auburn by 5. I think this may be close simply because Auburn is flawed and now that they are #1 and the only undefeated team left in the SEC, the other teams will really be gunning for them.
#2Oregon (7-0) at USC (5-2) upset of the week? No not really. Oregon wins by 12
#3Boise State (7-0) 49 Louisiana Tech (3-5) 20 BSU has something to prove to the BCS elitists so I don't see them slipping up any time soon. BSU by 25
#4TCU (8-0) at UNLV (1-6)same as BSU. TCU by 15
#5Michigan State (8-0) at #18 Iowa (5-2)Upset. Iowa by 3
#6Missouri (7-0) at #14 Nebraska (6-1)Missouri by 1
#8Utah (7-1) at Air Force (5-3)Utah by 8
#10Wisconsin (7-1) at Purdue (4-3)Wisconsin by 13
#15Arizona (6-1) at UCLA (3-4)Arizona by 19
#17Oklahoma State (6-1) at Kansas State (5-2)Kansas St by 2
Kentucky (4-4) at #21Mississippi State (6-2)Mississippi st. by 1
#25Baylor at Texas (4-3)Texas by 3
Michigan (5-2) at Penn State (4-3)Penn St. by 10
San Diego State (5-2) at Wyoming (2-6)SD St. by 3

There are my picks.

You were close, Boise State already won by 29. Ha!
Wyoming upsets San Diego State tomorrow.

oVo wrote:You were close, Boise State already won by 29. Ha!
Wyoming upsets San Diego State tomorrow.

Stupid weekday games never keep track of...

oVo wrote:You were close, Boise State already won by 29. Ha!
Wyoming upsets San Diego State tomorrow.

Us Poke fans are hoping so. And I'll be at the game too.

Edit*
Also strike, this was posted on the MWC board and I wanted to hear your thoughts on it as it preludes to the SEC and what I was talking about earler.

Strike Wolf wrote:BSU has something to prove to the BCS elitists so I don't see them slipping up...

It's good that Boise State is Ranked #3... but their only ranked win is over #23 Virginia Tech in the season opener 33-30 and now they have but two teams remaining on their schedule with winning records, Nevada (6-1) and Hawaii (6-2). They also beat Oregon State (3-3) and I have no doubts that they are a good team, just wish they had more opportunities to prove it.

Last weekend I expected both Nebraska and Iowa to win, but the way they shellacked
Missouri and Michigan State was a big shocker... Georgia should have beaten Florida
and looks to be improving every game. Unfortunately the QB position is still shakey
but they just might be up to giving Auburn a tough game.

Oregon now tops the BCS Rankings and with a single win over a top 20 team I'm not sure they will stay there, but finishing undefeated will be in the BCS National Championship Game. Auburn drops to #2 even though they have 4 wins over teams currently ranked in the BCS top 20, but still have the SEC Gauntlet remaining. It's hard to compare any team's schedule to what Alabama and Auburn have faced this year.

BCS Ranked teams:
SEC: 6 (3 Top 10)
Big 12: 6 (2 Top 10)
MWC: 2 (both Top 5)
Pac 10: 3 (1 Top 10)
Big Ten: 4 (1 Top 10)
ACC: 3

this weekend:
#1 Oregon (8-0) vs Washington (3-5)
#3 TCU (9-0) @ #5 Utah (8-0) basically this year's MWC Title game
#6 Alabama (7-1) @ #10 LSU (7-1)
#7 Nebraska (7-1) @ Iowa State (5-4)
#13 Stanford (7-1) vs #15 Arizona (7-1)
#18 Arkansas (6-2) @ #19 South Carolina (6-2)
#17 Oklahoma State (7-1) vs #21 Baylor (7-2)

oVo wrote:Oregon now tops the BCS Rankings and with a single win over a top 20 team I'm not sure they will stay there,...

They will stay there as long as they keep winning big. The BCS tried to deny them the spot a couple times and got burned. They'll be national champs this year and you can take that to the bank. Auburn is good but mostly just Cam Newton.

Game of the day is TCU @ Utah. Both top 5 and could be launched in the NC spot.

Week 10 Conference Rankings:

ESPN & AP:
1. SEC
2. Pac 10
3. Big Ten
4. Big 12
5. Mountain West
6. WAC
7. ACC
8. Big East
9. C-USA
10. Mid American
11. Sun Belt

Computer Ranks:
1. Big 12
2. Pac 10
3. SEC
4. Big Ten
5. ACC
6. Mountain West
7. WAC
8. Big East
9. C-USA
10. Mid American
11. Sun Belt

The ESPN Stats & Info conference rankings system uses a formula that equally weighs the rankings
from the AP poll and the computer ratings used by the BCS.

TCU is destroying Utah. 37-0 in the 3rd.

Most impressive win of the day is TCU going into Utah and dominating 47-7.
Nobody will be jumping them in the BCS Rankings now. Down 21-0 Penn State
puts up 35 unanswered points to give Joe Paterno his 400th win.

Best game of the day was LSU beating Alabama... while Nebraska struggled
to slip past Iowa State in OT. Oregon also struggled before running away from
Washington in the second half.

Michigan is bowl eligible for the first time in the Rodrigues era.

I think after their win, TCU has every right to be in the top 2, if not #1 in the next BCS Poll.

muy_thaiguy wrote:I think after their win, TCU has every right to be in the top 2, if not #1 in the next BCS Poll.

Or rightfully, nothing will change. TCU's schedule is a joke(not that I don't think they're good).

HapSmo19 wrote:

muy_thaiguy wrote:I think after their win, TCU has every right to be in the top 2, if not #1 in the next BCS Poll.

Or rightfully, nothing will change. TCU's schedule is a joke(not that I don't think they're good).

Yep, Auburn put style points on a FCS team and Oregon was being stone walled the entire first half of their game against freakin' Washington. Meanwhile, TCU goes to Salt Lake City, ranked #3, to face the #5 team who had the 3rd longest (current) home winning streak in FBS right now. A team that had the #3 offense and # 6 defense. And what happened? Oh yeah, they got steamrolled from the get-go.

muy_thaiguy wrote:Yep, Auburn put style points on a FCS team...

Cam Newton is about to get reamed anyway, so....I'll agree with TCU at #2 even though their schedule is weak.

muy_thaiguy wrote:...and Oregon was being stone walled the entire first half of their game against freakin' Washington

That's was called strategy. Oregon wears em' out with the crazy pace for the first half and then, well, you've seen what happens.

muy_thaiguy wrote:Meanwhile, TCU goes to Salt Lake City, ranked #3, to face the #5 team who had the 3rd longest (current) home winning streak in FBS right now. A team that had the #3 offense and # 6 defense. And what happened? Oh yeah, they got steamrolled from the get-go.

They were overrated from the get-go.

Update:

In The Running/Slim Chance/No Chance:

HapSmo19 - Oregon & Oregon State for 22
muy_thaiguy - Boise State & Utah for 17
Woodruff - TCU & Oregon for 8
mviola - Wisconsin & Miami(FL) for 11
AceArtemis - USC & LSU for 35
Frito Bandito - Oregon State & Alabama for 25
jrh_cardinal - Alabama & Oregon for 6
john9blue - Wisconsin & Alabama for 13
Quirk - Georgia & Florida for 20
InsomniaRed - Nebraska & Penn State for 25
rockfist - Wisconsin & Alabama for 3

HapSmo19 wrote:

muy_thaiguy wrote:Yep, Auburn put style points on a FCS team...

Cam Newton is about to get reamed anyway, so....I'll agree with TCU at #2 even though their schedule is weak.

They beat the shit out of Baylor who has been giving the Big 12 South nightmares, and held them to a season low.

muy_thaiguy wrote:...and Oregon was being stone walled the entire first half of their game against freakin' Washington

That's was called strategy. Oregon wears em' out with the crazy pace for the first half and then, well, you've seen what happens.[/quote]Oregon's "crazy pace" never showed up until the 2nd half. Do they have an explosive offense once they get going? Oh yeah. But they struggled in the first half.

muy_thaiguy wrote:Meanwhile, TCU goes to Salt Lake City, ranked #3, to face the #5 team who had the 3rd longest (current) home winning streak in FBS right now. A team that had the #3 offense and # 6 defense. And what happened? Oh yeah, they got steamrolled from the get-go.

They were overrated from the get-go.

And yet, the BCS has had 3 over-rated teams in the #1 spot over the last few weeks (with Oregon being about the only exception)? Not to mention in the top 10 (Bama, LSU, for example). And yet, Auburn jumped out from almost nowhere just a couple of weeks ago and jumped every team in front of them to be #1? The BCS is having to skip AQ teams up front just so that the non-AQs don't get into the top 2 for the BCS National Championship. Utah came the closest in 2008 with their "weak schedule" when they absolutly destroyed Bama, the runner-up of the SEC conference title. TCU beat Auburn at Auburn last year to go onto the Fiesta where they met Boise who had held Oregon's offense to a mere 8 points.

Really, what the hell do teams like TCU, Utah, and Boise have to prove that they are National Championship worthy?

Playoffs.

I broke it down in a thread here once. I wsh I could remember what I named it cuz I'd like to go back and look at it...doh!

muy_thaiguy wrote: And yet, Auburn jumped out from almost nowhere just a couple of weeks ago and jumped every team in front of them to be #1?

By jumped from out of nowhere, I presume you mean, "Beat two #12 teams and a #6 ranked team over a 5 week period, including rushing for over 500 yards against one of the top rushing defenses in the country." I think that tops a #24 and a #5 separated by 9 weeks. I'd also point out that the only thing that kept the Auburn-LSU game from being a blowout for Auburn was LSU's punter pinning Auburn inside the 10-yard line on most of their drives.

Now, those were the rankings of those teams at the time the games were played. I'd agree that it would be fair to consider the opponents entire seasons rather than the ranking at the time the games were played. Though, in that case, BSU no longer has any wins against opponents ranked in the top 20. Also, my guess is that Utah ends up ranked around #10 this week, and LSU jumps back to about #6. So Auburn's signature win looks better from that end as well.

Plus, look at remaining schedules (assuming both teams win out): Next week Auburn plays Georgia and TCU plays San Diego State. It's possible SDS will be ~ #25 after this week's rankings, though in all metrics other than current W-L record, Georgia is similar to SDS. Advantage: Slight TCU. The last week of the season Auburn plays Alabama and TCU plays New Mexico. Assuming Alabama beats Mississippi State next week, they'll probably climb back to ~ #10 or #8. NM finally this week got their first win of the season and ranks among the worst in the country in all metrics. Advantage: Strong Auburn.

I'm not claiming TCU, BSU. or Utah are bad teams. I think they could all match up well against Auburn or Oregon. My complaint is the sense of entitlement without actually earning a spot. Winning a single signature victory against a highly ranked opponents with a full month to prepare is a lot easier than beating 4+ highly ranked opponents with only 1-2 weeks to prepare for each.

HapSmo19 wrote:Playoffs.

I like the idea of playoffs, but I don't like adding 4 games to the season. I'd suggest taking the top 4 ranked teams from the BCS standings and have them play bowl games in mid December against each other. The two winners play each other in early January. It adds only one game to the season (and that only for the two teams playing for the championship), it doesn't threaten the power that the BCS people currently hold (which is key to getting a proposal through), and it will eliminate complaints about #3 and #4 teams getting left out. I'd also add a requirement that no conference can have more than one team among the top 4, so no conference championship rematches in the national championship game.

I won't say I expected Alabama to lose to LSU but it doesn't surprise me either. Alabama had won the last two meetings, everyone was picking Bama to win and treating LSU like they were a 3-4 team coming into the game. Quite simply they wanted it more than Alabama and they showed it.