My Top 25 Poll for 2012

[Grayghost]

Whoa whoa, hold on a second here. The top 12 make sense, and of course Mizzou and A&M as 13, 14. I can even believe most of Grayghost's top 54 (minus Akron, of course... I mean WTF?) but you're all losing sight of long-term trends.

Notre Dame has to be #15. Just because the SEC dominates all, doesn't mean we're supposed to stop overinflating the Irish to start every season. College football relies greatly on tradition, you know.

You have to understand Brian...If the an SEC plays a team, that team automatically becomes one of the toughest, most elite teams in the nation. Okay...I'll squeeze N.D. in at 15, but Akron stays. If an SEC team deems them suitable for non-conference play, they must me a monster...Monster I'm telling you!

And tradition...where? (looks around furitively for tradition)...Oh, you mean that mangled body over there with wearing a working class shirt with the name tag "Tradition"? Sorry buddy...tradition is dead...it got run over by the "Money Bus".

[Brian Roastbeef]

Money bus? No, no, money bus upholds traditions. Like the NBC contract to show Notre Dame football that is guaranteed through 2087. Or the glorious tradition that is the BCS system which arranges for us to view exactly which SEC West team is our National Champion (well, which of two that is... we're not going to allow that to go to somebody from Mississippi, now. They should just be grateful to be bracketed by championship-caliber states).


All the money bus ran over was nonsense like inter-conference parity and eighty year old rivalries... and besides the rivalries will have a chance to be restored once all of the teams are finally reshuffled into the two mega-conferences: SEC and the Conference of Random Amateur Programs. Notre Dame of course, will be independent.

And although I recognize that all of those opponents for the SEC are absolute beasts, Notre Dame just has it all together for next season. Guaranteed 12-0. No way they lose two of their first four and make all of the preseason hype look foolish!

[Grayghost]

And although I recognize that all of those opponents for the SEC are absolute beasts, Notre Dame just has it all together for next season. Guaranteed 12-0. No way they lose two of their first four and make all of the preseason hype look foolish!

Ahhh...you are killing me. You've been drinking the "Lou Holtz" kool aid!

Seriously though...How does Mark May sit through their shows and not just strangle Lou Holtz? I mean really.

[Brian Roastbeef]

Seriously though...How does Mark May sit through their shows and not just strangle Lou Holtz? I mean really.

I'm thinking hip flask. Or maybe a five gallon jug behind the desk. Whatever it takes to sit back and see the comedy in all of it.

[WoVeU]

I am about 16.3 kinds of tired of ESPN talking of how great the SEC is...yet as soon as they play an OOC game the opponent is one of immediate merit and worthy of accolade!

[WoVeU]

You have found the one and only way for Kentucky's football team to be ranked in the neighborhood of their basketball team!


I actually am looking forward to next year already as I think WVU should have a good year. Losing like 5 guys on D, and 4 or 5 on O. The big thing is Miramar, Florida will be back on offense and they will have a year under their belt with DH's offense. Smith and Austin, along with Bailey and McCartney have garnered a good deal of attention. Much depends on the Orange Bowl for initial rankings but with a win I expect them to start next season around 15.

I actually think the swap of Missouri/A&M for TCU/W.V. is an upgrade for the Big 12. That is going to be a tough conference next year. The only "real" weak team is Kansas. I also like the fact that the Big 12 plays a 9 game round robin confernce schedule...If you win it you win it, there is no skipping anyone. That is my biggest beef with the SEC. I know they can't play every conference team, but the fact that they still play only 8 conference games bothers me...along with the Big 10 and ACC. The Pac 12 played a round robin 9 game conference schedule when they were only 10, but still kept it when they went to 12 teams.

Has the Big 12 stated it will retain Round Robin play when it returns to 12 teams?

[WoVeU]

I went and checked, the Big 12 played 9 Conference games when they were at 12 teams...no round robin. And the PAC-12 played 9 this year.

(The logic is that everyone schedules less than the full conference and the divisional games determine the division winner. The only chink I see is if one team skips Oregon and Stanford, and another skips Washington State and Oregon State. The W and L's don't matter on paper, but the wear and tear does, and the mental effects of losing can make a difference.)

[Grayghost]

Yes...my statement was that I liked that the PAC10 played a round robin schedule of 9 conference games. I was glad that they did not reduce the conference games to 8 when they went to 12 teams. It irks me that the SEC, ACC, and B10 only play 8 conference games. Why? 8 conference games allow the for the potential of 12 more wins for the conference oveall...not guaranteed, but the potential. having 9 conference games guarantees a conference 6 losses. This has a huge impact on potential W/L totals and rankings. And I gaurantee that conferneces with 10 teams or more who only schedule 8 conference games understand the math of this.

There should be a set standard for the amount of conference games that are played. Any conference with 10 teams or less...round robin, play everyone in your conf., that still leaves 3 OOC games or more if you are in a 9 or 8 team conference. Conferences with 11 or more should play 9 conference games...yes, some teams will still get missed, but that is okay.

[RazorHawk]

I would also like to see 9 conference games, but I believe it is a financial deal that keeps them at 8. This allows for 1 additional home game each year and a rent a win. The difference is probably a couple million dollars.

[Grayghost]

I would also like to see 9 conference games, but I believe it is a financial deal that keeps them at 8. This allows for 1 additional home game each year and a rent a win. The difference is probably a couple million dollars.

You are absolutely correct in this. The SEC played 87 home games this year. The next nearest competitor was the Big Ten at 83 & ACC at 81. Both play 8 confernce games. The Pac12 by comparison (12 teams/9 conf. games) only played 77 home games. Considering the size of SEC stadiums and there overall attendance rating of 95%, 1 additional home game is a huge money maker. Only the big 12 with a 97% attendance rating was better. The rent a win aspect is obvious.

Edit: Considering 1 more home game per team in the SEC, and that the all 12 stadiums could put a combined 900k fans in the seats at 95% cap. your estimate would be more along the lines of 10-20 million more dollars, and that is not even considering concessions and parking. That is a huge motivation to keep it to 8 conf. games.

[Derek]

This just in...

The BCS has made the decision to make the SEC Championship game the de facto National Championship game...unless #1 & #2 are in the same division. If this happens there will be a BCS championship game and it will always be held in either the Orange or Sugar bowl (whichever is closest to the #1 team). The SEC has announced plans to absorb anybody the want from the FBS and expand to a 64 team conference with 8 eight team divisions. The will schedule 7 division games, 4 games with the other 7 divisions, and 1 FCS team at the beginning of the year for a tuneup game. More later.

I had to edit this, cause after reading it I remembered a scene from Demolitin Man when Sandra Bullock informs Sly "After the corporate wars all restaraunts are Taco Bell".

But what teams would be the three sea shells?? (That's a reference to the movie)