teamroper60

I notice you focused on the Northwestern game and want to eliminate it, yet convienently left off the statistics which showed the best offensive teams Penn State played were collectively worse (offensively, since that was your criteria) than the teams Auburn has faced. Nice. Use stats when they are convienent to you but eliminate them when they hurt you. Anything to make your point, huh? You should go into politics, you would be good at it. Yes, Indiana beat Missouri. Of course, since you want to eliminate the Northwestern game as an outlier, we'll just toss out the Indiana game too.. After all, picking one lone score to prove anything is wrong........... At least, according to you....... Based on what I have seen over a whole lot of years of watching college football, using stats is probably the worst way to pick who is in and who is out. Those stats are always skewed by the cupcake games on a teams schedule and really tell you nothing about the caliber of the team. If you really want to make it fair, a tournament of conference champions is the way to get it done. That would eliminate all the guess work out of it for everybody. Win your conference, you get in the dance. Lose and you are a spectator just like the rest of the nation..

On this we can agree!

Ok. Using your own stats. Northwestern is ranked 53rd but PSU gave up 361 yds, 17 first downs and 29 points to them. You can't say the offense/special teams cost you the game when you gave up 17 first downs. Using your stats, the offensive ranking of the 4 teams that PSU beat average 73rd. The offensive ranking of the teams that beat them averages 52.5. But the icing on the cake to me, is looking at who is ranked behind PSU on that chart. Watch anything besides B1G football and you will know there are some really good defenses ranked well behind them according to those stats, which only go to prove just how skewed they are. The most glaring example is the team ranked right behind PSU. Auburn. The offensive ranking of the teams Auburn has played averages 40th. There is no way Auburn should be behind PSU on that chart if it wasn't skewed. I said before that chart is no more useful than any other metric and given the obvious issues with it, perhaps less useful than some. It's only real purpose is yet another talking point for those whose teams are on the outside looking in.

According to that website, those rankings are based at least partially on how a team performs against "good teams". "Good" is subjective in and of itself. Since schools can be undefeated (and therefore mathematically good) yet not of the caliber of schools who have multiple losses, human intervention is still involved in determining which teams are "good" otherwise Marshall would be in the top 3 and they aren't. Furthermore, humans created the program, so human criteria for weighting the parameters is still involved. This isn't something as black and white as you are trying to portray it. Furthermore, anyone who has seen their games or highlights and honestly believes Penn State has a top ranked defense is delusional. Regardless of what some set of stats say, their defense is not anywhere near that good. They have just played most of their games against other bad teams. If their defense was half that good, they wouldn't be 1-4 in the B1G because they wouldn't have lost today and they sure as hell wouldn't have lost to what is a really bad Michigan team.

Arkansas is 0-5 in conference this year but have played well in all of them. Their best win is against Texas Tech.. The same team that gave up 82 to TCU... I will be surprised if Oregon doesn't get into the top 4 after finally breaking their Stanford jinx... Hated to see that injury to the Miss. St. receiver. That looked brutal...

Seriously? Penn State has lost their last 4 games, including losing to a horrible Michigan team and today to Maryland. In fact, UMASS is their best win of the season. Doesn't sound like a real top tier defense to me. The fact it took OSU 2OT to beat them says a ton about OSU and it isn't good. As I said earlier in this thread, the committee doesn't think much of OSU's body of work either. The chairman of that committee said so on live TV. The problem with those stats you listed is, they are still dependent upon rankings to determine which teams are "good". So human opinion still plays a part in them, rendering them no more (and conversely, no less) useful than any other metric. I don't think Vinsk is seeing Ohio State with a clear view when he brings up rankings from early in the season but I don't think you are either. The difference is, you make no bones about being an ardent OSU fan. Changing gears, I want to personally thank Florida for putting Mizzou back in the drivers's seat on the road to Atlanta. I just hope Mizzou can keep it together and take care of business for the remainder of their schedule. Of course, I don't think they stand the proverbial snowball's chance against the SEC west champ but it would be nice to see them make the SEC championship game two years in a row.

I have two pair of Stealths and two pair of Protos. I have seen and tried on the current styles from True and really don't care for them at all. Plus, the wider toe box is exactly why I like the True's I have. I sure hope True comes out with something closer to their "roots" before I am in the market for shoes again. If not, the 4 pair I have will be the only ones I ever have.

and that's the game

And... FSU back on top..... edit: Barring something odd, it looks like FSU is gonna escape with a win.

Yeah, FSU is up by 4 now. Louisville needs to get it in gear. edit: now Louisville is ahead by 3... Good game! I still think FSU cannot afford to lose this or any other game..

The perceived weakness of the B1G is hurting MSU, OSU and Nebraska. The chair of the committee just the same as said so when he discussed the quality of the teams OSU has played to this point. It looks to me like the best chance the B1G has at getting a spot in the top 4 is MSU, provided they win out. I know that isn't what you want to hear but attritition among those above MSU might let them sneak in. Going in to East Lansing and beating a well rested MSU would certainly give OSU a boost but the flip side is, it might also give the committee reason to further downgrade the B1G's SOS (not saying it will, just saying it might). The TCU/K-State game is looking to be huge right now since that could well be the defacto Big 12 championship game., On paper, it looks like FSU has the easiest road in but I also think one stumble would probably knock them out of the top 4 altogether since the ACC is not exactly "murderer's row". It's pretty clear the committee sees the SEC (and the west in particular) as the toughest conference, so it's a pretty safe bet the SEC champ will be there although it's anybody's guess who that will be.

1 Mississippi State 7-0 2 Florida State 7-0 3 Auburn 6-1 4 Ole Miss 7-1 5 Oregon 7-1 6 Alabama 7-1 7 TCU 6-1 8 Michigan State 7-1 9 Kansas State 6-1 10 Notre Dame 6-1 11 Georgia 6-1 12 Arizona 6-1 13 Baylor 6-1 14 Arizona State 6-1 15 Nebraska 7-1 16 Ohio State 6-1 17 Utah 6-1 18 Oklahoma 5-2 19 LSU 7-2 20 West Virginia 6-2 21 Clemson 6-2 22 UCLA 6-2 23 East Carolina 6-1 24 Duke 6-1 25 Louisville 6-2 There they are. Obviously the SEC west schools are gonna wreak havoc on them since they still have games amongst themselves to play. The biggest thing that stuck out to me about the show on ESPN tonight was how much emphasis was placed on SOS. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few weeks.

Sorry to interrupt the ribs discussion but seriously, 82 points?!?!?!?!?!?! I didn't see the game but did Texas Tech even dress any defensive players today? I gotta think TCU scored on every single possession... That is just unbelieveable!

I agree, I think the NCAA will come down with a HUGE hammer if these allegations are true but I also suspect it will take several months for the decision to come down. It will be interested to see the total extent of this scandal. I didn't read the article linked to in this thread but I did read something today that said this went beyond athletics. So I expect the NCAA sanctions will only be a part of the total discipline they are facing.. Athletics aside, I have to wonder about the validity of the diplomas the involved students received.....

While I agree with your premise, I disagree with the highlighted part as a general statement. I have spent most of this year trying to get a reliable shot off the tee. I have finally achieved that and yes, it really is about 5-10 yards most of the time. Is it that way on every single shot? No, but then again, even the pros don't hit the shot they intended all the time. According to my statistics, I am hitting north of 60% of my fairways and now my miss is a straight shot to the left (or that draw I was trying to hit most of the year) rather than the two-way misss that had me spraying it all over the course earlier in the year. Stubborn as I am, I neglected the rest of my game while trying to get a reliable driver shot and now my irons, which used to be my strong suit are sucking about half the time, meaning I hit a great tee shot, only to hit my second shot fat, or push/pull it, etc.... So while I understand what you meant over most of your post (and agree with the majority of it as well), I think it is too generic to presume everyone sucks at all facets of the game and consequently, it isn't necessarily accurate. On a separate but related note, I have finally come to the realization that if I would set my stubborness aside, quit trying to force things on the course and just play golf, I might actually be able to move out of this thread.

Ok, but that is going to hold you back for quite a while... I did that for a long time, while trying (hoping) to hit a draw. It wasn't working for me. If you are good with that, then go for it. I'll opt to play my 5-10 yard fade. Hogan, Nicklaus and Trevino played a fade. Those guys seemed to do ok with that "miss".. This may be a case of semantics here. Some people call anything that moves left to right a slice and anything moving right to left a hook. Maybe you are one of those.... I dunno, but if you mean 5-10 yards of total movement left to right, then you are talking about what I call a fade (the fade I am currently hitting, in fact). Now, if you mean aiming off the left side of the fairway and ending up 5-10 yards off the right side, then yeah, that is a slice in my book and I wouldn't be satisfied to live with that much movement.

My typical fade isn't moving as much as yours, maybe half that and often less, which is why I have decided it is probably best for me to live with it at this point, rather than continue to struggle trying to hit a draw and ending up all over the course and especially the rough. So for now, in an effort to improve my scores, I have decided to play the fade as it has become something I can hit far more often than not and much more fluidly. I have to say, it has made standing on that tee box less stressfull for me, as I now have an actual plan, versus "spraying and praying". LOL I will keep working on the draw up on the range and firmly believe the time I have spent trying to draw the ball is what has turned my huge slice into a baby fade, so I am still holding out hope I will find a draw out there... Ironically, driver is the only club I hit a fade with. I have a tendency to hook the 3 wood and everything else is straight or a draw and always have been. I know what my problem is with lifting up, I keep wanting to watch the shot fly before I hit it.. At any rate, I do feel getting a reliable tee shot is going to let me turn a corner.. Especially since now I can use the LSW strategies to plan how I will play the hole in front of me. Of course, just as I get to this point, fall is here and cold weather is just around the corner! LOL

Congrats on the milestone!! I think we still need an Archland golfers outing...

Stupples has golf cred and I think she works well with Martin Hall. Sonders had ratings and a body that could inspire wet dreams in an old man. I wish Sonders was still on TGC but as with everything else, things change. I miss her on TGC and hope she is part of the olympic coverage....

well, my scores are not showing it but I have finally turned at least one corner... I have fought a two way miss for a long time, especially with my driver. A lot of that had to do with struggling to find the right tempo. For as long as I have been playing golf, (roughly 4 years now), I have fought a slice and tried desperately to hit a draw. While i have achieved that at times, I keep coming back to a fade. I have finally decided to accept that I hit a fade and have been working on making that shot repeatable. I am hesitant to say it had reached that point, but if I am not there, I am damn close... Close enough that I am now teeing up on the right side of the tee box and aiming to the left side of the fairway.. It bites me on the ass once in a while but more often, I am playing a second shot from the short grass. At this point, I am focusing on staying down and in the shot with my irons rather than lifting up and topping it or hitting it off the toe.....

That is true but it will also bite them in the tail come playoff time. As it stands now, 3 teams from the SEC west are in the top 4 of both the AP and Coaches polls. Clearly, those polls will change over the next few weeks as those teams are forced to play each other....

Interesting day for sure.. A lot of one sided games but this FSU/ND game has been entertaining (what I have seen of it, since I had to watch Mizzou lay the smack down on Florida).. I don't have a rooting interest in this game at all but it is definitely fun to watch.

If any of the allegations against Winston and/or FSU turn out out to be true, FSU will be in deep excrement. Hindering an investigation into rape/sexual assault would be the next best (worst) thing to what happened at Penn State and if proven true, the repercussions will be severe and long lasting. The autographs thing is small potatoes compared to the rape/sexual assault charges but, with that said, I think Georgia suspending Gurley will probably save them from dealing with a situation like Ohio State had a couple years back. If one remembers the Auburn/Cam Newton deal, Auburn suspended Cam and then appealed to the NCAA to reinstate him. The NCAA did so and thus relieved Auburn for culpability/forfeited wins/lost scholarships. Not choosing to go this route should be troubling to FSU fans.

Apparently they aren't. 1:35 to go and Miss. St. is up by 15.. So, not a blow out but something of an upset...

WOW!! Mizzou gets blown out at home and now Miss. St. is up by 3 TD's in the first quarter.. Blow out day in the SEC????