Morning Coffee

by Peter Bean on Apr 26, 2007 8:34 AM CDT in Quick Hits Comment 8 comments

Today's Headlines: Texas Baseball, Top 30 Football Games, Poor Argumentation, SMQ

Kyle Russell hit for the cycle on Tuesday night during Texas' 11-1 win over UT-Pan American. The Longhorns picked up the 11 runs on just 13 hits, in large part due to the 11 walks they collected. The Horns now gear up for a road series in Stillwater against Oklahoma State.

Over at Rakes of Mallow, Chris has given a rundown of his top thirty college football games of the 2007 season. The list is broken down into two parts. Two Longhorn games (vs OU / at A&M) made the list, and Chris was unapologetic about not considering Texas' non-conference slate.

Despite the fact that TCU ought to be a strong team this year, he's right - it's a pitiful non-conference slate. Arkansas State, Central Florida, and Rice are all automatic wins. With that said, I'm expecting the Big 12 to be considerably better than it was last year, so conference play isn't going to be a walk in the park.

CFR points out college football's increase in popularity as a data point for not adopting an end-of-year playoff.

There is a case to be made against a college football playoff, but pointing to this data is patently absurd. Especially when that other football league is enjoying even greater growth in popularity while being a sport in which 12 of its league members make the playoffs each year.

This is just one example of far too many where CFR picks up news bits - almost willy nilly, really - and tries to cram the story to fit his preconceived judgments. Proceed with caution.

I'm a bit of a broken record on this, but there's no real way to overstate SMQ's awesomeness if you're a college football fan. His daily hubs and absurdly premature preview series are all must-reads.

--PB--

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Comments

Before I go off on an anti-ND rant

their fans are by and large sensible people. They are smart, rationale and interesting football fans. The disturbing fanboy love affair w/ Quinn aside, they are generally well informed.
But there is a portion of them who would need Lasik surgery to remove the green eyed tunnel vision. My biggest bone to pick with ND is them thumping their chests over their schedule all the time. Yes, that schedule with three teams full of non-scholarship athletes who would be attending MIT if not for a calling to put on a uniform (Navy, Army, AF).

Let's see, ND rounds out their last 4 games with Navy, Air Force, Duke and Stanford. Two teams with non-scholarship athletes playing with D2 talent and two with a combined 4-5 wins. By the time they finish that Clausen will be dubbed a pre-season Heisman candidate for 08, 09 and 2010 (his 30th birthday).

Apparently ND's athletic department isn't quite as dismissive of TCU. They are trying to play them in the Cotton Bowl in 2010 for a nuetral site series. That's a lot of planning and effort for a team so easily mocked by the fan base. I'm guessing by the time the end of the 2010 season rolls around ND will be pointing to TCU as a quality win. Just a guess though.

Cats and dogs sleeping together.

by EYESofBEVO on Apr 26, 2007 10:19 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

This new comment system is swanky

I was just talking to Pete about the other night that when people perceive your schedule as poor, you can't comment on theirs without the reply being "Yeah, but look at your schedule". What if I was just a random college football fan who pointed out that Texas went a little weak on the non-con this year? What would you say? I'd love to find anywhere in that Top 30 where I thump my chest over our schedule. It's not a death march, by any means, but it certainly has some difficult games. And do remember that BC needed a last-second fumble and field goal to beat Navy in the bowl last year, Air Force was a two-point conversion away from an upset on Rocky Top and Army nearly beat TAMU in San Antonio. (Of course, to even make it to those final four games, we have to get through UCLA, BC and GT teams that return nearly all of their starters, then games against Michigan, USC and Penn State. Is that chest-thumping? Probably a little bit.)

Texas played one of the best non-con home-and-homes in a while putting Ohio State on the schedule, and with the slight decline of the Big 12 - and I agree with Pete that it should bounce back a bit this year - the schedule this season looks kind of weak. Yes, TCU is a good team, but when you replace Ohio State with them and don't bump up any of the other games, it leaves a little bit to be desired.

And since you brought up a head-to-head comparison, Notre Dame's Sagarin SOS was 18 last year, compared to Texas' 61. I thought it completely irrelevant, but apparently you do not.

by CW on Apr 26, 2007 11:20 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That hurt my brain

That fist paragraph was almost surreal.

by Wells on Apr 26, 2007 11:32 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

After posting I realized

I should have first said, "I think our opening schedule is weak, but...." I've gone on record and was one of the first to point out how I think our OOS is BS and a slap in the face to fans. My reaction wasn't to go out and criticize other schedules. But it doesn't mean other schools aren't guilty of the same thing.

Air Force almost beat Tenn, Army almost beat TAMU, ND almost beat USC, Rice almost beat UCLA in LA, I almost won the lottery, but missed by a few numbers, blah, blah, blah.
It's been over 50 years since Navy has beat Notre Dame. Using them, at any point, in any discussion of competition is laughable. Don't they actually have to win more than once every 100 years to be considered a worthy opponent?

Look, it's cool ND schedules the academy schools. I enjoy watching them play. I have no problem with that. But lets be honest about who they are. They are non-scholarship athletes who would be playing D2 and D1aa football if not for the service. Each team has maybe one or two players who were ever offered a D1 scholarship.
There is no difference b/w Navy and the top tier D1aa schools.

BC and GT are mediocre teams. Before last season all I heard from ND fans was, "GT lost to BYU in their bowl, we'll crush them". Now they've become their most legit win of the 06 season.
Fact is, BC has never won a conference championship. They've never been competitive among top 25 teams. GT was a mediocre team in a terrible ACC conference last season.

I'm not trying to nitpick individual programs, which is what is probably happening. I like watching those teams play and I like watching them play ND. ND certianly has the most diverse and interesting schedule. For that I am jealous. IMO, teams like BC, GT, Purdue, Mich State, etc have been the definition of mediocrity. What have any of those teasm done lately? I'm tired of hearing from midwest fans (as a local resident) that their schedule is a mine field. What makes that lineup any more difficult than an SEC or PAC-10 schedule?

How valid can a rating like Sagarin be in a sport that only plays 12 games a year with very little cross over of competition? I've never paid attention to those ratings and never will.
I guess you win the debate of meaningless rankings.

For the record I'm not calling ND's schedule weak. I'm just pointing out that a fan base so quick to criticize should stop to take a longer look at their own schedule. You will completely disagree, but I've come to the opinion that ND simply plays a lot of "name" schools - and SOME (not all) of their fans label that tough competition. During certain seasons it may be true. But during the last few years teams like TCU and Rice could go toe to toe with Mich St, Purdue, BC, etc.

Cats and dogs sleeping together.

by EYESofBEVO on Apr 26, 2007 12:14 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow

This is like my longest post, EVER!

God I hate being sucked in to a schedule debate. Nobody is ever right and nobody is ever wrong. Just a suck ass way to talk smack.

Anyway, in the last few months I've come to grips with the fact that ND could be very good in a few years. It remains to scene if Weis sticks around, the fans cool their jets and put away the fickle broom -- and if transfers or injuries derail their plans.
Saw some of the spring game and they have many more legit athletes across the board for the first time in 5-10 years.
They will be interesting to watch.

Cats and dogs sleeping together.

by EYESofBEVO on Apr 26, 2007 12:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

schedule

at least we got Arkansas for '08 and '09, and UCLA in '10 and '11. I'd like to get my hopes up for the TBAs in those years, but I'm not feeling very optimistic about it.

by SelimSivad on Apr 26, 2007 4:17 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs