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College Football 2015 Week One Thread: One True Champion(TM)
- Thread starter mre
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perfectchaos007
Member
Just 50 more hours to go until the 2015 offseason is history.
Fragamemnon
Member
Everything I've heard from the Wisconsin fans is that there aren't problems with Alvarez but most issues come from the university chancellor's office. They are also trying to clean up the party school image they have, which puts an eye on discipline and behavior of students regardless of if they are athletes.
Harbaugh and Michigan won't beat that Utah team, if the Utes lose it will be to due to terrible passing offensive production of their own fault. I don't know if people realize how much of a powerhouse the Utes would have been over the last several seasons if they could even just perform competently throwing the football, but they can't even manage that.
Problem with Wisconsin is budget and admissions.
FloydtheFathead
Member
I don't know about Utah's offense.. But I know that their defense is one of the best in country(remember how they killed Brett Hundley with ten sacks) and they could win the south with it. I think Utah will throttle Michigan because Michigan doesn't really have a huge offensive identity currently
StrikerObi
Member
Michigan could be really good this year, but with so many question marks, and with Utah's defense being a known quantity, the Utes are clearly the "safe" pick in that game. If it were even the second game of the season it might be a different story.
FloydtheFathead
Member
They could.. Say what we will about Hoke.. The guy was a decent recruiter and that defense of michigan's shouldn't expect a huge drop off with Mattinson still having involvement in it. But that offense is just.. Eww
Fragamemnon
Member
The Utes have a fabulous ground attack and those monster polynesian guys up front. You'll probably need the HARBAUGH-CAM during the game because all the Utes are going to do is rush the ball, run bubble screens, and bury Michigan in time of possession and field position (their punter is god tier) all game. It's going to be boring.
We all get to watch sad Michigan fans in the stands though. Probably the best reason to tune in.
Bonus for me: I get to watch a sad Michigan fan in person!
chicko1983
Member
Is the Army / Navy game even relevant anymore?
Before really watching college football, I thought that game was the biggest in CFB as you would sometimes see a little article in the paper or on the news if something interesting happened.
I mean it still gets its own week, but that is because the other colleges are waiting for bowl games.
They don't get the best recruits anymore and aside from that week, they barely get any espn coverage.
Yeah most teams don't like ND, is this just a catholics v the rest rivalry? Or were there some famous games that kicked off a rivalry.
I have never heard of Michigan State v ND being a thing.
Texas v TAM is big I know, but that is in-state.
chicko1983
Member
I'm thinking this game will be very close.
If Harbaugh is a decent coach, which I think he is, then Michigan will be competitive first week up. Most of the good college coaches have made almost immediate impacts at new schools I read yesterday e.g. Meyer, Saban, Malzahn.
Also, as someone mentioned, Michigan did recruit well under Hoke, its just he was a crap coach.
ON the other hand, Utes as very good team and won me some money last year.
I know you're Australian, but everyone knows who Manchester United is. Notre Dame is that team for CFB. They're the team that a bunch of people that aren't from South Bend or never went to Notre Dame are fans of. They're a team with the most bandwagon fans, and their fans tend to be obnoxious. See also, Patriots for the NFL. Yankees for baseball.
chicko1983
Member
I think Chubb is the best of those three running backs.
This year could be the year a RB wins the Heisman, given there are no pre-season standout QBs like last year with Winston and Mariota.
I mean, Kessler and Hackenberg?!?! those guys are chokers.
Ok, that's a bit more context.
But are most of the supporters Catholics or does that have nothing to do with it?
Family friends of mine are from Chicago, but they are catholic and so support ND. One of their sons went there because they love it so much.
It's relevant in its own way. They're not national powerhouses like they were in the 40s, but there's a huge amount of tradition there. Combine that with the various ways the military is intertwined with everyday life in this country along with good old patriotism, and you have that game.
A sizable portion of them are certainly Catholic. Couldn't give you an accurate guess, but a lot of them. Chicago is prime ND territory because it's close geographically and Illinois (the University of Illinois, that is) is generally shitty
Definitely has a lot to do with them being the main Catholic school. Boston College is another big one that a lot of Catholics are bandwagoners on.
It's a really young rivalry, but the Holy War is the name of the rivalry between ND and BC.
GoldenEye 007
Member
Yeah it's still relevant. They've never got the top recruits as they're service academies first. They have to meet military requirements first and foremost.
As far as interest, ratings are still high and even with Navy joining a conference for the first time in history, the CFP has accommodated the game in case Navy is ever in the playoff or access bowl hunt. That is unprecedented. They will wait for that game before making the bowl lineup official as necessary.
As far as ESPN, they don't have as much incentive to cover it as much given it is a CBS owned game. Now when the CBS contract expires in a few years and Navy is fully brought under the AAC's ESPN media contract, I'm sure they will act appropriately.
chicko1983
Member
I should also disclose that I own a ND football jacket, which my friends game me about 20 years ago.
Its still in the closet, I have only worn it a couple of times, but it does fit still (mainly because it was massively oversized when I was given it).
So, I guess I have a connection to ND over any other college. But I will not support them, as I can feel the general dislike towards them.
Its still in the closet, I have only worn it a couple of times, but it does fit still (mainly because it was massively oversized when I was given it).
So, I guess I have a connection to ND over any other college. But I will not support them, as I can feel the general dislike towards them.
ND has a Strong following in the northeast as the dominant football powers there are no longer (fordham/army), and well there's alot of catholics in nyc/boston and philadelphia.
ND is also popular in chicago due to proximity (south bend is very close to chicago).
FloydtheFathead
Member
He is.. He made Stanford the only thing stopping Oregon from owning the North permanently. I just don't see the offense yet. I could be wrong but god the offense was atrocious last year with subpar qb play. Devin Gardner is a wonderful person off the field and was someone the school should be proud to represent them.. But god he was mediocre.. That's not all his fault though. Line wasn't great obviously and Funchess couldn't catch a damn cold. Why anyone would think he is anything but Braylon Edwards 2.0 is amazing to me.
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
Holy War? Meh. That is BYU/Utah all the way, brother.
FloydtheFathead
Member
It's a big part but not just the only part. They,outside of BYU, wear their religion on their sleeve compared to other catholic colleges like Boston College. Hack has had good success at Penn State.. I don't think of him as a choker.
Someone posted a article comparing Chubb and Zeke in the last thread and I think they were virtually equal with Chubb being more of a threat in the passing game whereas Zeke is better at running the ball overall than Chubb and you are correct I think with an RB winning the award this year.
Fragamemnon
Member
Yeah this. I've seen Boston College/ND wear that term but Utes/Cougars is one of the top 15 rivalry games in the country.
Dsyndrome
Member
I'm no bandwagon, I just hate life some times more than others, like ND-USC last year. Wife and I went there, so we have that, but she could give two shits about football there.
That one dude who broke down last year was hilarious though.
Also, fuck BC.
GAF majority thinks Notre Dame is a joke. However, I love to see USC lose to them, when it happens.
Florida State being a close 2nd
The Civil War (Oregon v. Oregon State) is one of the oldest rivalries in the sport. But for the last five years or so it hasn't been that interesting. The hate is very one-sided at the moment. In fact most Duck fans I know root for the Beavers out of pity when we're not playing them.
Frozenprince
Banned
Not even close. Da U is ahead of FSU for sure.
timetokill
Banned
USC v. Notre Dame is considered the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football.
Also, USC v UCLA is a great rivalry. It's one of the only ones you'll find where the campuses are only 10 miles apart (~ 16.1 km). People from both universities and their families work together, go to the same schools, and live in the same neighborhoods in a way that you don't find with other rivalries. Additionally, UCLA's stadium is actually closer in proximity to USC than it is to UCLA
Everyone pretty much has a "perceived" rivalry with USC in the conference since it's the top dog historically. Ever since I moved to Oregon I've been pretty amazed at how much Oregon fans care about beating USC. It's like the #1 thing any of them care about. I guess it doesn't help that the Beavers haven't been good in so long, but you'd never find USC fans rooting for fucla like Oregon fans do the Beavers when they're playing other teams.
Fragamemnon
Member
FSU Twitter is really terrible. Between the off the field misconduct and obnoxious online fan base I have a hard time calling out anyone for disliking FSU right now. Hopefully Jimbo can clear up the garbage that he can control and some other fanbase will find a way to be even worse on the Internet so #FSUTwitter won't be as bad in comparison.
When the Beavers turn it around, watch out. That team will be out for vengeance on every conference opponent they play. That's a when, not a if, because Gary Anderson is a full on miracle worker.
I guess its good that I'll find out how much emotion to vest in the season early tomorrow night. If Duke cannot beat Tulane, there isn't much reason to expect a decent year. Not that I won't enjoy the season, but any hopes of a repeat of 2013 or even last year go down the drain.
Looks like I'll be skipping pick 'em this year.
Looks like I'll be skipping pick 'em this year.
StrikerObi
Member
Why did we go with Yahoo for the Pick 'em? Their pick 'em system is garbage. Assigning confidence points is a nightmare. It doesn't support drag & drop ordering. It doesn't re-order the games to put them in confidence order. And if you change the points on a game it doesn't auto-adjust the other games to account for that (so if you have all 15 points assigned and change one, you then need to manually change the other 14 to account for it). Complete garbage. ESPN and Fox both have far easier to use systems.
Ah, good point.
It was me. It does seem like a RB could win the award this year with few notable returning QBs.
bucknuticus
Member
We wouldnt have this problem if we just used TTK....
When did we decide we were using either the in thread version or Yahoo? Seems pretty random atm. Given the number of folks posting the in thread version I thought we were going with that but it's turned into a tug of war with affeinvasion reminding people to join his yahoo group meanwhile folks read the OP or see others post their picks against the spread and do that. Probably something we should have figured out in the offseason thread as this confusion is almost certainly going to have some impact on the first weeks results and thus the entire season.
I'll settle for tomorrow myself!
PlayALLtheGames
Banned
Plans for this Saturday?
We usually get some people together at a bar just before noon and watch games until whenever.
A lot of people are out of town this weekend though, so I'll probably just turn on the TV, set up my 2 laptops for streams, load up on Lagunitas IPA, make my signature buffalo wings, pack the binger, then kick back and commentate on games on a couple of forums.
So fucking excited!!!!! The only thing that relieves the depression of the end of summer for me is the start of CFB.
My fiancee is rolling her eyes already, hahaha.
We usually get some people together at a bar just before noon and watch games until whenever.
A lot of people are out of town this weekend though, so I'll probably just turn on the TV, set up my 2 laptops for streams, load up on Lagunitas IPA, make my signature buffalo wings, pack the binger, then kick back and commentate on games on a couple of forums.
So fucking excited!!!!! The only thing that relieves the depression of the end of summer for me is the start of CFB.
My fiancee is rolling her eyes already, hahaha.
Fragamemnon
Member
I have a growler of Abita Root Beer and an making chicken and waffles. Between that and sitting in front of screens all day watching football it's the very definition of cheat day.
Affeinvasion
Member
Pick 'ems are optional. Mre will do a great job facilitating the in thread version. I set up the yahoo one because I've done it before and I don't know dick about picking to cover a betting line. The yahoo one is different enough that it should be fun to do both.
GoldenEye 007
Member
I just used both. Not that big of a deal.
They're different enough that playing both isn't a big deal at all.
They're different enough that playing both isn't a big deal at all.
It's like posting on cfbgaf and reddit.
What's a reddit?
One more sleep til football is back, yay
Basically TigerDroppings.
I only post here and at OrangePower.com.
That place is better than most fan forums... but it's still kind of a cesspool, especially the political forum that makes me want to disavow OSU forever.
Yeah, it seems like a fun place but I don't need any more online communities distracting me.
An additional pick'em only serves to split people between the two and create less overall involvement throughout the season. Plus part of the reason for the pick'em is to create more engagement with the thread and I'm skeptical that a pick'em on a different site is going to do that.
It's more along the lines of having a variety of polls, each of which appoints its own National Champion.
It's more along the lines of having a variety of polls, each of which appoints its own National Champion.
I heard FSU fans tends to congregate there.
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