Calm Down, the chase is NOT over!
by Joe 96alum on Nov 8, 2008 7:54 PM EST
Email
PrintDon't write the "Penn State can't play for the National Title" headline just yet. Last year 2-loss LSU got into the title game. All of the 1-loss teams have some very lose-able games over the next four weekends, with end-of season rivalries and conference championships games. We get to be Bobby Bowden fans when they play Florida at the end of the year. USC still has games with Cal, ND, and UCLA. Texas Tech will lose somewhere along the way. Texas has a noon kickoff at Kansas next week. Somebody in the Big 12 will lose another in their title game.
I know it sucks right now but there's a lot games left over the next month. It's hard for a team to run the table in a BCS conference, nobody did it last year.
Thanks for the fanpost! Please do not post any content from a premium site that requires a subscription. Also, if you just want to share a link, quote, or video, please consider using fanshots instead. Thanks.
19 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I see where you are going...
but I think you are asking a lot, my friend. I am afraid that we will get murdered by CPU’s and pollsters alike after today and never get a fair shake towards the end. Plus you have to factor in all of the other letdowns our conference has been adding to the equation (Illinois losing to a directional Michigan?). I will keep the faith with you but don’t be too upset when you see what will probably happen to us in the rankings…
If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.
I wasn't gonna...
be a dick about it like that but I see where you are going, as well…. lol
We are basically done.
If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.
by TheMightyErik on Nov 8, 2008 8:14 PM EST up reply actions
You can't be serious
Everyone has been DYING, I repeat DYING to see us lose. How do you think a two loss LSU somehow leapfrogged everyone to play for the national title last year? If last week taught us anything it’s that people were never going to give us a chance. We had Texas tech jump six spots to overtake us, while we were penilized (I’ll remind you that this year, after Alabama was idle one week this year, the talking heads said no one would be penilized for being off a week, but we were). We would have been extremely lucky to even be allowed to play in the title game this year, everyone wanted us to lose so much. How do you propose a 1 loss Big 10 team is going to somehow make it back to the title game? We’ll be lucky to still be in the top 10 after this week.
Sorry if I’m rambling, but I am in a horrible mood right now, and ABC putting up that goddam collegian cover saying our dreams are shattered has gotten me so pissed off I can’t even see straight, not to mention the rest of the country wanted us to fail, and never believed that we were actually a good team. And after tonight, it only adds gallons of gas to the fire, so I’m going to have to respectably disagree with you, save every team in front of us getting the Bubonic plague, we have ZERO chance of getting back to where we were.
I know we're not in great position
but just for fun, my off-the-cuff estimate for the probability of key losses for the remainder of the season:
FLA:
S Car. – 20%
@ FSU – 40%
SEC Champ. Game – 50%
ALA:
Auburn – 25%
SEC Champ. Game – 50%
TEX:
@ Kans. – 25%
Big 12 Champ. Game – 40%
TTech:
@ Okla – 60%
Big 12 CG – 40%
OKLA:
TTech – 40%
@ Okla St. – 50%
Big 12 CG – 40%
SoCal:
@Stanford – 30%
ND – 25%
@UCLA – 30%
Some of this could happen. Will it be enough for us? I don’t know, but there’s still a lot of games to be played.
I understand the thought process of this post and the original one
But we’re really not taking into consideration one thing: we’re not allowed to go to the title game now. Because people who hate Penn State are the ones who decide. I tried to let myself go down this road after the shock subsided, but I stopped myself to save the disappointment. Especially with both Alabama and Texas Tech winning their games, it just won’t happen. Of the 6 teams in serious contention right now, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and USC ALL have to lose a game, and Texas Tech and Alabama have to lose TWICE. Now granted, one of the 6 could avoid defeat because the title game takes two teams, but even as crazy as last November was, this kind of thing would be completely insane. LSU got in with two losses last year because there was only one one-loss team and a bunch of two loss teams. Sure, Ohio State thought they were done when they lost game #10 to Illinois, but their path back to the BCS top 2 was much more nicely laid out as ours would potentially be right now. And they had one big factor on their sides: the media and voters didn’t hate them, at least not at that point yet.
Fuckit
I’ll spell it out just to see it myself in print so I can convince myself to simply be excited for the Rose Bowl and nothing more.
Florida would have to lose to South Carolina or Florida State, and then beat Alabama in the SEC title game. Ok, potentially could happen.
Alabama would have to lose to either Miss St or Auburn including a loss to a twice-beaten Florida in the SEC title game to eliminate any SEC team from contention. Highly doubtful.
Texas Tech has to lose to Oklahoma, but the problem there is that Tech would knock itself out of the Big XII title game, thus leaving itself 11-1. Who knows what the voters would do with Tech following a loss to OU, but I’m mostly sure they would look more kindly on it than our loss, and the computers almost definitely would. There’s hitch #1.
USC has to lose to either Stanford, ND or UCLA. Stanford would beat USC 30% of the time? In what decade?? They’re going 11-1. None of those teams would do more than get lucky once out of 10 tries against SC, but they all only get one shot. Uh uh, not happenin’.
Texas/Oklahoma – both need to lose again, period. Texas could slip up at Kansas, throw out the records against A&M, but all doubtful. Oklahoma could get beat at home by Texas Tech, but that still leaves Texas Tech undefeated.
There just aren’t enough games left nor enough potential losses on these teams’ schedules. Lets go beat USC in the Rose Bowl, there certainly wouldn’t be any shame in that. We Are (going to be) Big Ten Conference Champions. And that I am proud of.
Why....
….should USC be ranked higher than Penn State?
Both beat OSU, PSU beat Or State and Or State beat USC. The Big Ten is at least equal, if not better than Pac-10. Now I think the Pac-10 did beat the Big Ten 3 or 4 times early in the season (Oregon over Purdue, USC over OSU, Cal over MSU). The Cal over MSU game would be the one that hurts the most.
How is what they are doing impressive? They are beating the two worst teams (Wash, Wash St.) by 60 points. Big whoop. I bet Syracuse, Temple, and Coastal Carolina would beat those two teams.
WE ARE.......PENN STATE!
USC certainly shouldn't be, agreed 100%
Just like Florida shouldn’t be either, our 1 point loss on the road to Iowa is more forgivable than a 1 point loss at home to Mississippi. But you know how it goes with the pollsters, they don’t see it like that.
The Later the Loss, the harder the impact
By this great BCS system, it is better to lose a game early in the season and then win out, then it is to win 9, then lose. Folks, we lost to Iowa….it is not more forgivable then florida’s loss to ole miss. If any, they are pretty even games.
Going in the wrong direction
The problem is the PSU offense has been shut down two straight games. Looking at the season as whole, it really doesn’t make a difference when you lose. But PSU has been going in the wrong direction (which coincidentally occurred against the two best defenses they faced).
When it comes down to ranking 1-loss teams, I do think you need to look at which direction teams are going. Right now it looks like teams have figured out the spread HD. Florida looks to be rolling. Penn State needs to show it hasn’t peaked too early. I’d take the team that gelled over the season over the one with the hot start every time.
"teams have figured out the spread HD"
cold, windy weather, and a top-10 defense. Not sure too many teams/places outside of the Big 10 are gonna be able to offer up that combination.
by The JuggerNitt on Nov 10, 2008 3:00 PM EST up reply actions
AP rankings are up
1. Alabama (44) 10-0 1,604
2. Texas Tech (21) 10-0 1,574
3. Florida 8-1 1,467
4. Texas 9-1 1,437
5. Oklahoma 9-1 1,375
6. USC 8-1 1,311
7. Penn State 9-1 1,161
8. Utah 10-0 1,157
9. Boise State 9-0 1,110
10. Ohio State 8-2 1,009
Penn State needs...
a semi-fathomable scenario is this:
Florida to lose to Florida State. Florida to beat Alabama in the SEC Championship.
USC to somehow lose. Its happened before, and always seems unlikely, so its out there. Stanford did it to them last year, UCLA had done it, Notre Dame almost did it. Again, it seems very likely, but USC has proven a history of falling when least expected.
This would leave Florida and USC with two losses. Out.
Alabama with only one loss, but would have been in the most recent game, the SEC Championship. Out?
There will most likely be 2 Big 12 teams ahead of Penn State in the end (Texas and the winner of TTU/OU, unless Mizzou can pull the upset in the B12 championship). The question becomes this…can 2 teams from the same conference play each other in the National Championship? I suppose, but its seems unpopular. Especially since TTU/Texas/OU have all played each other.
So…that could leave PSU to jump into the #2.
Again, extremely unlikely.
I’m kind of excited at the prospect of playing in the Rose Bowl and potentially playing a much hyped USC team. Sounds odd, but I’ll cheering for an OSU Beaver loss, as a Rose Bowl rematch just isn’t that intriguing.
National championship hopes
After watching us play yesterday do you think we deserve a shot at the National Championship? Do you think we are a National Championship caliber team?
I no longer think so, I dont think we deserve it no matter what should unfold in front of us, we are a good team, but not one of the best 2 teams in the nation. I’m proud of our team and our program and will be happy with a Rose Bowl win, which would be much preferred to a blowout loss in the title game.
As much as I hate to agree with this statement
Over recent weeks I began to think we would not be able to win if we made it to the NC game. I wasnt expecting a blowout, but just to not leave with the win… I was almost hoping to get screwed over and play undefeated in the rose bowl and go 13-0 (then get to bitch for the next few years about how we always get the shaft…)
I think we’ll move forward, win out, and beat USC in the Rose Bowl for a solid 12-1 record to finish out the season with a big ten title and a pretty damn good season. Lets not mourn our loss too long, lets look back at our accomplishments this season with some of that renowned Penn State Pride.
You find out life's this game of inches. And so is football.
by BleedingBlue4Psu on Nov 9, 2008 6:25 PM EST up reply actions
I agree somewhat
I don’t think we are one of the two best teams in the country, but instead of USC in the Rose Bowl I’d rather see us get a chance to play one of those SEC or Big 12 teams that everyone loves so much. That way, we could finish in the top 5 and help re-establish the Big Ten’s reputation.
If we do that, next year, we could start in the Top 10. If we keep winning, we won’t hear all the “they don’t deserve to play for the title” talk. Or, at least not as much. We’ll need to develop the O Line and have some receivers step up, but everywhere else we should be pretty solid if you look at who is returning. Plus, I think we should start push Sean Lee for the 2009 Heisman. If ever there was a straight defensive player (as opposed to someone who also returns kicks or play some offense) who could win it, it’s Sean Lee.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
SHOP THE BLACK SHOE DIARIES STORE
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
