2012-2013 NCAA Football Thread (National Signing Day)

[The Evil Genius]

How the hell does FSU get all the love when this is their schedule:

Murray St (FCS)
Savannah St (FCS)
Wake Forest
(14) Clemson
@USF
BC
@Miami
Duke
@(17) Virginia Tech
@Maryland
(23) Florida

If they finish less than 10-1, they should be unranked. Florida will be out of the rankings in a few weeks (their QBs are both garbage, and they can't score). I can't see Clemson repeating what they did last year, and the game is at home. @VT appears to be the toughest game on their schedule, and according to everyone in this thread they are chumps too. So if FSU loses a game, they should be out of the national championship discussion, right? Because no one that wins the ACC is qualified, right? Or does that just mean anyone that has a good season isn't worthy, unless they are Miami or FSU?

Not that I'm sad they are in the B12 now, but if the powers at be at ESPN and the ACC hadn't tried to kill off the BE, FSU and WVU would be playing this week.

And that would have been an awesome game.

---------- Post added September-4th-2012 at 09:00 AM ----------

...and Geno just completed another pass.

[earl]

How the hell does FSU get all the love when this is their schedule:

Murray St (FCS)
Savannah St (FCS)
Wake Forest
(14) Clemson
@USF
BC
@Miami
Duke
@(17) Virginia Tech
@Maryland
(23) Florida

If they finish less than 10-1, they should be unranked. Florida will be out of the rankings in a few weeks (their QBs are both garbage, and they can't score). I can't see Clemson repeating what they did last year, and the game is at home. @VT appears to be the toughest game on their schedule, and according to everyone in this thread they are chumps too. So if FSU loses a game, they should be out of the national championship discussion, right? Because no one that wins the ACC is qualified, right? Or does that just mean anyone that has a good season isn't worthy, unless they are Miami or FSU?

I think FSU is getting all the love because of their weak schedule. and so is USC's. Most "experts" picking these teams admittedly don't think there will be an undefeated SEC team this year. and they're probably right. and when you look at FSU's and USC's schedule... they should be heavy favorites in most if not all of these games. So in the aftermath of the so called "SEC Bias" national championship game and all the backlash that came w/ it. They feel that 2 undefeated AQ conf. champs should and will get in over a 1 loss team from the SEC. is it fair? i don't think so. but i may be biased. I just think when you have a conference win 6 straight someone has to beat them to dethrone them, instead of penalizing them for playing in a tough conference. and even though its only week 2, i don't think its a stretch to say that Bama, LSU and Arkansas are probably all in the top 5 teams in the country. at least in the conversation. so the BCS is really in a can't win situation.

[The Evil Genius]

I think USC (west) faces more competition in conference than FSU does.

Sorry Tech fans.

Oregon looks lethal (and has the athletes to match USC).

[earl]

yeah but thats the only game. they have to play them twice.

[LeesburgSkinFan]

Not that I'm sad they are in the B12 now, but if the powers at be at ESPN and the ACC hadn't tried to kill off the BE, FSU and WVU would be playing this week.

And that would have been an awesome game.

---------- Post added September-4th-2012 at 09:00 AM ----------

...and Geno just completed another pass.

The only reason WVU vs Florida State was scheduled in the first place was because of the Big East lawsuit settlement with the ACC after the 2003 raid.

[The Evil Genius]

The only reason WVU vs Florida State was scheduled in the first place was because of the Big East lawsuit settlement with the ACC after the 2003 raid.

True. The 2nd attempt to kill off the BE though resulted in WVU moving to the B12, which required 9 in conference opponents this year (instead of 7 in the BE).

Cancelling the FSU game cost WVU the least amount of $'s.

So, in reality (or at least in my reality ), it's the ACC and ESPN's fault that this game isn't getting played.

---------- Post added September-4th-2012 at 09:13 AM ----------

Which is a shame. That game would have been epic and probably in primetime.

---------- Post added September-4th-2012 at 10:06 AM ----------

New polls are out.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings

Alabama jumped USC. Michigan free falls 11 spots.

[The Evil Genius]

Now, let me show you why the AP poll is a joke.

Here is Ray Ratto's ballot for week 2.

http://www.pollspeak.com/component/o.../t2,/v,53/w,2/

[MattFancy]

Now, let me show you why the AP poll is a joke.

Here is Ray Ratto's ballot for week 2.

http://www.pollspeak.com/component/o.../t2,/v,53/w,2/

All polls are a joke. You really think the coaches that vote in the coaches poll watch all the games?

[The Evil Genius]

All polls are a joke. You really think the coaches that vote in the coaches poll watch all the games?

Of course not. Their assistants vote for them.

That said, I doubt if many coaches would dare vote Texas St at 16, 8 spots ahead of WVU, right now.

And I'm not even mad about WVU's ranking on Ratto's ballot. I am mad about how careless his vote was.

I hate that he has a vote over then 1000+ more reporters who probably watched 24hours of college football this weekend - when apparently he didn't. Besides, I have to deal with Ratto's hate for Bay Area sports all the time - so I know his schtick quite well.

[MattFancy]

Of course not. Their assistants vote for them.

That said, I doubt if many coaches would dare vote Texas St at 16, 8 spots ahead of WVU, right now.

And I'm not even mad about WVU's ranking on Ratto's ballot. I am mad about how careless his vote was.

I hate that he has a vote over then 1000+ more reporters who probably watched 24hours of college football this weekend - when apparently he didn't. Besides, I have to deal with Ratto's hate for Bay Area sports all the time - so I know his schtick quite well.

Not saying I agree with Ratto's either, no way WVU is anything less than a top 12 team IMO. But I just think all polls this early are stupid.

[The Evil Genius]

I wish they would reveal the coaches ballots.



---------- Post added September-4th-2012 at 12:26 PM ----------

WVU's entrance video this year.

Pretty sweet.

[ixcuincle]

Everyone has to use Seven Nation Army now

That used to be a Penn State thing

[The Evil Genius]

Everyone has to use Seven Nation Army now

That used to be a Penn State thing

WVU has been using it for a few years.

[The Evil Genius]

BTW - Ratto moved WVU up one spot this week...but only because he thought they beat Elon (and not Marshall).

I'm no Thundering Terds fan..but that's just stupid even for a west coaster beat writer.

http://www.csnbayarea.com/ncaa/news/...29&feedID=8349

[Spartacus87]

I simply stated VT is not a top 5 team. But they will always be in the top 10 because of playing in the ACC. Unlike FSU which starts int he top 10 and ends up almost out of the rankings.

And keep haning your hat on the past, I'm sure it'll help you guys win another National Championship soon... Can't wait to see how Dumbo fisher and FSU plans to fail this year.

It's funny listening to all the VT haters. If winning 10+ in the ACC is so easy, why doesn't media darling FSU win 10+ every year?

And outside NCSU playing Tenn and Clemson playing Auburn in Georgia, no other ACC school played a team worth a damn. Elon? William & Mary? Richmond? Murray St? Liberty? FIU?

VT is a small town school doing things the right way. Why do they get the hate?

EDIT: I fully expect Sparty will stop by eventually and lecture us on why THIS Jimbo Fisher team will finally return to dominance

I know that this grew out of some earlier comments (or I suppose, some "hate") towards VT which may have been unwarranted, but I always think that it's rather endearing when VT fans try to flip things around to clown on FSU.

Jimbo Fisher has been running the program for 2 full seasons now and in that time frame, went to an ACC title game, has built FSU's defense into one of the top 3 or 4 units in the entire country, and even after the team suffered more injuries to its original starting lineup than any other team in the country in 2011, FSU still has a 19-8 record in that time span.

(And of those 8 losses, FSU was favored in just 4 of them, so really, if one stops to think about it, or knew what they were talking about, FSU has truly "failed to live up to expectations" in 4 games out Fisher's 28 as the HC)

Only 11 other teams in the country matched that record between 2010 and 2011. And I realize that that's not exactly a great sample set, but Fisher also took over a program that was a complete train wreck at the time, and didn't have a 10 win season record since 2003 or had gone to the ACC title game since 2005. So it's hardly like Fisher just hit the ground running with a fully loaded team - he's had to rebuild the program practically from scratch over the past couple of years.

If it helps, maybe try and think of it like a new coach coming and having to take over the Redskins after Jim Zorn was fired. The last 4 years of Bobby Bowden were that sort of a disaster, both on the field and in the locker room.

But really, what are we even talking about here?

This is like old school, terrible NCAA Forum-level trolling.

Yeah, FSU really blew it a handful of times in Bowden's last years. No argument there. But if I were a rational VT fan, I'm not going to start trashing FSU as a program.

FSU's peak as a program saw 14 consecutive top 5 finishes, 2 Heisman trophy winners, 2 National Championship trophies, and 5 National Championship game appearances. While accomplishing all of that, FSU had to battle similarly elite programs in-state with rivals UF and Miami.

VT, meanwhile, shows off an empty trophy case, and boasts about a 10-win season streak and an "ACC dominance," which just so happens to neatly coincide with the program's noted failures in BCS Bowl games and the worst national perception the ACC has faced in decades. That's something to be proud of, for sure.

FSU has also never lost to an FCS program, which is a spectacular notch in VT's belt (and that JMU game is recent history, too).

So congratulations to Virginia Tech. The Hokies really are the best!*

*Until VT is playing a team ranked in the top 10, in which case the Hokies are an incredible 6-27 under Beamer...and the last win over a team that was ranked in the top 10 was Miami in 2009, and they proved themselves to be fairly overrated by season's end

(On a serious note: can't more VT fans just be more like SHF? He doesn't bother with anything like this. These conversations are so much easier if we don't have to go down this sort of path.)

VT will likely have the #1 D in the ACC, even though FSU gets all the cred. The dine is 8 deep, the secondary has unreal athletes, and the LBers are good. Foster thinks this D has the chance to be the bet D in school history.

VT should have a good defense this year. Didn't look very great last night, but that's probably a result of some early season kinks to work out while going against GT's triple option.

But I would also bet that without using Google, you couldn't name even 3 starters on FSU's defense, so I think it's amusing that you're complaining about FSU's defense getting a lot of hype compared to VT's (even though VT's defense has gotten a lot of preseason praise from most national writers and bloggers).

But that aside - to answer you, while VT will have an excellent defense this season (and easily the best in a few years, although Bud Foster's also produced some overrated defenses in the past several years), no, it's not going to be as good as FSU's.

VT didn't even have a starter who would start for FSU at that same position, until Greg Reid got kicked off the team and Brandon Jenkins hurt his foot. Now, you could certainly state that Kyle Fuller would start at field corner for FSU, and James Gayle would start at DE.

But it's still not going to be a better unit.

Bud Foster would eat his lunch pail if it meant he could have FSU's DT and NT rotation.

What in the world are you talking about? Who said that VT are chumps? Or is that your own warped perception? Miami isn't even ranked, and isn't going to be relevant in terms of contending for anything of note, for a long time, and I'm a Canes fan saying that. Preseason polls are always jacked up. Michigan probably probably shouldn't have been ranked as high as ey were. Some SEC teams probably shouldn't have been ranked as high as they were either. It's Week 2 for crying out loud.

A guy at work today told me that he liked what he saw out of Miami's defense on Saturday. Said that they looked calm and composed, and communicated really well with each other while on the field.

Another guy tried to tell me that based on the game, and the way they gutted out the win, Miami looked like they had a great shot at winning the ACC Championship this year.

My response to both of them was that they gave up 440 yards passing to Chase freaking Rettig, and 6.3 yards per play to Boston College's offense as a whole. Miami has zero chance of winning the ACC, and will struggle to win more than 5 games all year, if that's how the defense is going to look in 2012.

Duke Johnson looked like he'll live up to the hype and be a star within a very short time, but outside of that, there weren't many positive moments for Miami fans to take away from that game.

Spartacus sad to learn that Brandon Jenkins is out for the season

Yeah, that's some real crap.

Losing Jenkins hurts, but not necessarily because FSU will miss Jenkins himself, but rather because it limits FSU's depth at DE now. Jenkins' individual contributions will definitely be missed, you don't just replace an All-American/All-ACC DE with no problem, but he also was going to be leaned on to take about 500-600 snaps as a heavy contributor on the DL. Now this means that redshirt freshman Giorgio Newberry will be pushed into heavy action in the rotation when he's probably not fully ready for that responsibility.

It would have been really great, right about now, if Aaron Lynch's mom hadn't forced him to go to Notre Dame instead of FSU.

Instead of having him around to step in and take over the full-time starting spot nicely, he's sitting out the year before he can play for freaking USF in 2013 and then turn pro. What a waste.