Top Ten Teams Review

by Hook'em13 on Jan 11, 2009 1:47 AM CST Comment 20 comments

Before the season started I made a fanpost about preseason top ten teams. Now it's time to see how they played out.

1.Ohio State- tOSU finished the season 10-3 with a blowout loss to USC, and two close losses to Penn State and Texas. If they had finished 10-3 without playing Texas, I would have said they were overrated yet again and shouldn't have even been in the top ten. But after watching them give Texas a run for their money in the Fiesta bowl, I feel as though they deserve top ten consideration. Props on finishing strong guys.

2.Georgia- The bulldogs couldn't live up to the hype with 3 losses in 2008, to Georgia Tech, Florida, and Alabama. It seems as though they played like the 2007 longhorns, struggling to find an identity, not showing up to all of their games, keeping inferior teams in it until the end. All in all an overrated team.

3.USC- If not for a slip up in Corvallis, USC would have ended up in the national title game playing UF. The Trojans finished the season off strong with a 38-24 win in the rose bowl. USC finished the season with a 12-1 record and ranked #2 in the nation.

4.Oklahoma- Safe to say this was a disappointing season for the sooners, they lost to Texas 45-35 and lost a fifth straight BCS bowl game to Florida (and to make matters worse, Texas won a BCS game). OU finished the season ranked #5 in the nation, 12-2 and political Big 12 champions.

5.Florida- Urban and the Gators were an extra point away from finishing undefeated and national title winners, as it were, they finished 13-1 national champs. There really wasn't anything special about this team, they played solid defense and good offense.

6.V. Tech- Despite starting out the season 0-1 with a loss to ECU, Va Tech rebounded to win the ACC and win the orange bowl against Big East champion Cincinnati 20-7. They finished the season 10-4 and ranked #14 in the nation.

7.Missouri- Safe to say this was a disappointing year for the Tigers. They had hope of winning a National title and instead ended up in the Alamo Bowl. They lost to Okie state at home in a defensive struggle, and then got blown out by the longhorns in the following week. They later got handled by Kansas, and dominated by OU in the Big 12 title game, only to go on and win in horrible fashion in the Alamo bowl.

8.West Virginia- A disappointing year for a disappointing team. A lack of a passing game seemed to be the destruction of this team. West V. finished the season 9-4 and ranked #23 in the AP poll.

9.Texas- Texas started out strong going 7-0 in blowout fashion. However, they seemed flat against okie state, winning a close win 28-24 after failing to put osu away in the fourth. The next week as we all know was a disastrous one, as a poor first half lost this one, although Texas took the lead late only to give it up with 1 second left. Voters took Texas out of the big 12 title and put OU in, only to go on to have UT win its BCS game and OU lose theirs. Texas finished 12-1 and ranked #3 in the nation.

10.Texas Tech- Tech had a good year going 11-2 with a cotton bowl loss (which is great for tech). However they seemed to self implode when the spotlight got on them, going 1-2 in their last 3 games, getting blown out in both of their losses. The Tech defense looked as if it had take it up a notch against Texas and osu, but got exposed in their last three games giving up a combined total of 140 points in their last three games.

Now that we have looked at my pre-season top ten teams, lets look at the post season top ten (keep in mind this is not a formal poll, just my own).

Also, for teams I have written about in previous section, new section may be shorter.

1. Texas- Record:12-1 My opinion may be biased since I am a longhorn, but this team has a legitimate case for #1, after going 12-1 and one second away from getting a chance to go to a mnc game.

2. Florida- Record: 13-1 Like Texas, Florida has a case for being #1. The reason I don't give it to them is because the lost to a 4 loss team at home. With that said, they are very well coached and I would give them a talent edge over Texas.

3. USC- Record: 12-1 Great season, close games with Arizona and CAL, but domination of the rest. Some might ask "well why Texas ahead of USC when USC destroyed tOSU but Texas beat them by 3?" the answer: because we played a much better Ohio State than USC did, we had a tougher schedule, and we didn't lose to oregon state at home.

4. Utah- Record: 13-0 Why not the undefeated #1? Get in a real conference and then earn #1. I'm not saying the Utes are not good, but until they play with the big boys week in and week out and not once every four years, they don't get #1. But lets not take away from a great season and a terrific bowl win.

5. Oklahoma- Record: 12-2 fell apart in fourth quarter of tough games. Enough talent to beat anybody in the country.

6. Alabama- Record: 12-2 Great regular season and I think that I speak for most of the college football fan base when I say I didn't see Bama being a top ten team for a couple of years to come. Great season, although Saban's last two teams have had trouble closing.

7. Penn State- Record: 11-2 Big ten Champions. Great season that I didn't see coming. If not for a sloppy played game against Iowa, we would have seen Penn State in the national title. At one point in the Rose bowl I thought "wow what a disappointing team", but they really changed my mind when they never quit and really played tell the last whistle was blown. This looks like a team with alot of character and great coaches.

8. Ohio State- Record: 10-3 Again great season, really changed my mind about them and the big 10 in the fiesta bowl when they took it to us in the fourth quarter. blew up Mich state, played Penn State tough.

9. TCU- Record: 11-2 Beat undefeated Boise State in their bowl game. Lost to OU in blowout fashion at the beginning of the season, and lost a close one at the end of the season to undefeated Utah. They solidly beat everyone on their schedule (including 10-2 BYU) except for the two losses and Colorado State. Led the nation in defense.

10. Texas Tech- Record: 11-2 At one point they were playing like the #1 team in the nation, then fell apart. Lost to Ole Miss in the cotton bowl after jumping out to a 14-0 start.

Feel free to make a list of your own top ten teams and critique mine.

mark

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Comments

Hmmm...

You conveniently ignore the fact that the four-loss team that defeated us convincingly beat the team that bested you guys. You also harp repeatedly on the fact that you lost in the last second of the game, but fail to recognize that our loss was by a single point (due to a freak blocked extra point), that we were a mere yard away from converting on fourth down with just under 40 seconds to play and a handful more from getting into FG for the winning try. The only thing that makes your loss considerably more palatable than ours is that we lost at home.

That said, it really is a judgement call in these personal polls and I can see the case to be made for Texas over Florida. Our biases will keep us on opposite sides of the fence. Speaking of biases, how is Texas Tech in the top ten over Ole Miss (the team that beat them in their bowl and has a pretty impressive resume) and/or Boise State (better record, a signature win over Oklahoma and tight loss to TCU in the bowl game)? I haven’t finished my final Top 25 (I will tomorrow, I hope) so I can’t offer up my own for criticism. I will say that I if you flip-flop USC and Oklahoma (as well as the aforementioned UF-UT swap) you’d probably have my Top 5. Thanks for sharing, man.

by ejruiz on Jan 11, 2009 6:28 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

eh, texas played 4 teams in the top 15 consecutively, so i think it’s safe to say they were banged up. I don’t see why you would use a past win over OU (in like ’06 with a fairly different roster) as evidence to rank Boise; though i could care less how TTech is ranked, as long as its not as high as Texas or TCU.

i will give you that Ol’ Miss was impressive this year. I hope they continue to improve.

What the Bowen giveth Horry taketh away. --LatinD (2008 Playoffs Round 2, Game 1)

the Spurs do not defeat you so much as they grind you into tiny shards of psychological wreckage.
-the Denver Post

by Hamer_SpursFan on Jan 11, 2009 10:03 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Oops.

Not Oklahoma, Oregon. That’s what I get for early morning posting!

by ejruiz on Jan 11, 2009 12:34 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Based it on a mixture of season and how good they are

and I picked Tech out of Boise and Ole Miss because Ole Miss had 4 losses and Boise plays in a weak conference.

Time for a playoff.

by Hook'em13 on Jan 11, 2009 12:25 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree about Tech and Ole Miss, but

The second five, and beyond, will get cloudier to judge the further away you get from the top. Tech is definitely not a top 10. I still stand by the circumstance of the UT loss to them being that we had just gone through 3 tough games and were injury ridden, namely Orakpo and Quan Cosby. But it’s like discussing symantics. UF’s loss was also close, and if if if. I do agree with Hookem13 about the top 3 being in the top 3, but that the order is pretty subjective, I’m sure based on bias most of the time, and can definitely entertain the Utah option.

by UT92 on Jan 11, 2009 9:36 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Texas, USC, Florida, and Utah

all have an argument to the national championship.

by clra2 on Jan 11, 2009 2:17 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

and if there really was such a thing,

they’d all have their shot at it…

by Pflash on Jan 11, 2009 6:00 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Get in a real conference?

Utah plays in a conference that went 5-2 versus the Pac 10, and you’re telling them to get in a real conference? Tell that to USC, who you have reanked higher. No one would be questioning FSU if they went undefeated. Do you consider the ACC a real conference? That’s just BS.

I can put the longhorns ahead of anyone just because I’m a fan, I’m biased, and I admit it. I think any of the top 4 teams can make a case for being #1. But after seeing Utah absolutely handle Bama, I don’t think anyone should rank them below number 2. They dominated a team that Florda was losing to in the 4th quarter. It seems like everyone forgets that Bama was winning that game.

They did everything right. You shouldn’t have to go undefeated for 2 seasons to get into the title game. Florida lost to freaking Michigan at the end of the year last year, and no one cared about that.

by UT_BKC on Jan 11, 2009 6:30 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Dig Deeper.

The top three Pac-10 teams didn’t play a single game against the MWC, while the top three MWC teams played in five of the eight games played in the series. Gotta give credit to New Mexico for beating Arizona, but they redeemed themselves by defeating BYU in their bowl game. UNLV’s victory over Arizona State is offset by Cal’s win over Colorado State, I’d say. The conferences are largely equal, even though I’d still take the Pac-10 over the MWC if they were to play against each other slot to slot.

Then again, I believe USC’s National Championship “claim” is overrated and only Florida, Texas and Utah (in that order) deserve consideration.

by ejruiz on Jan 11, 2009 7:55 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Actually, that’s not quite right. Top 3 Pac 10 Teams:
USC
Oregon
Oregon State – lost to Utah (OSU was also the only team to beat USC, I’m sure you remember).

Also, Oregon lost to Boise ST, who lost to TCU.

by UT_BKC on Jan 11, 2009 10:46 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Oh Sweet.

If we’re gonna play six degrees of seperation, this should get interesting. Seriously though, I goofed putting Cal ahead of Oregon State (same record overall, lesser conference record). Like I said, I think they’re about equal in strength and Utah has a better case than USC. That said, Florida and Texas have better cases than Utah.

by ejruiz on Jan 12, 2009 12:10 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I really don’t think Florida has a better case when you look at the common opponent: Bama. I think Texas does, just because I’m biased.

And we have to play 6 degrees of seperation. It’s 50% that, and 50% beauty contest. We’re obviously not looking at record, otherwise Utah would win without argument. And we don’t have a playoff, so what else can we do?…

by UT_BKC on Jan 12, 2009 9:54 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

which FSU are you talking about?

and Utah beat Michigan by 2, TCU by 3 (keep in mid TCU got dominated by OU), and bama by 14. Bama was a solid win, but beating Michigan by 2 this year is not exactly impressive.

And are you going to tell me that TCU and BYU are equal to OU and Okie State?

Time for a playoff.

by Hook'em13 on Jan 11, 2009 7:20 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

For Fun.

They also beat New Mexico by three.

by ejruiz on Jan 11, 2009 7:42 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I meant Florida State. Is there another (serious question).

I’m not saying the MWC is better than the Big 12, top to bottom. I’m saying that other schools from a ‘real’ BCS conference aren’t questioned when they go undefeated. Specifically I’m talking about the Pac 10 (who did help improve their OOC record during the bowls) and ACC this year.

No. TCU lost to OU. I would probably take TCU over OkSU this year though. TCU has a good D, and OkSU couldn’t handle Oregon. Oregon lost to Boise, who TCU just beat.

It’s a lot of If A>B, B>C… stuff that doesn’t quite work in the end, really.

by UT_BKC on Jan 11, 2009 10:52 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

FSU

I didn’t know if you meant Florida state or Fresno state.
Anyway I get what you mean about the ACC, but instead of Pac Ten I would go with Big East (they suck).
And I don’t want to make excuses for Okie state losing to Oregon, but when Zac Robinson’s shoulder wasn’t separated, and Dez Bryant’s ankle wasn’t torn up, osu was takin it to Oregon. Only when the two got hurt did the offense fail.

Time for a playoff.

by Hook'em13 on Jan 11, 2009 11:03 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Just for accuracy

USC lost to Oregon State on the road.

by mtntrance on Jan 12, 2009 12:19 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

ya I goofed

In the first top ten I put Corvallis but in the second I put at home.

Time for a playoff.

by Hook'em13 on Jan 12, 2009 7:56 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Of course I rank Texas #1...

It’s the only team I watched play every minute and every down for the entire season (including replays). I cannot watch every other team these days and therefore cannot say definitively (by my opinion of course) what the correct order the top five should be.

by DaGoose on Jan 12, 2009 9:32 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

My rankings would be...

I don’t know, but UT wouldn’t be #1. That game against tOSU was a huge turd on the national stage.

I’m not saying that our guys did bad, or didn’t do their best. But in order for us to have a valid #1 claim, we needed to beat tOSU in the third quarter, if not the second. tOSU could have easily won that game.

USC looked like monsters against Penn State ( could have been Penn making them look good, but who knows ), and Florida’s secondary during the championship game was the best I had watched all year.

I think we ended up where we deserved… #4

For next year, our only title hopes are:

1. Offense – the running game needs to step up to give Colt a hand ( that’s O-Line + Whittaker next year ). Our whole team is one guy currently, and if he’s missing passes we lose games.
2. Defense – Just don’t regress without Orakpo and continue to improve at the same pace as this year. Our defense made huge gains this year, so I think they’re set as long as they keep on going.

by notsofst on Jan 13, 2009 4:52 PM CST reply actions 0 recs