2005-2006 College Football (USA)

[For Honor]

I was looking for a college football thread, and maybe there was one, but I went right by it.

I wouldn't mind a direction to it, if one is in existence, though.





But that being said, I suppose I'll make one if there isn't one already. I'm not a huge fan, but I try to keep in the know.






My team:


Nebraska Cornhuskers

I can only imagine what this season will bring.....

 

[U2ME3]

O-H-I-O! Go Bucks!

18 returning starters that finished very strong. Needless to say expectations are high in Cowtown, uh I mean, Columbus.

Game you don't want to miss--- September 10th, under the lights, the Texas Longhorns come to Ohio. Should be a great game.

 

[trojanchick99]

USC Trojans!

As you know, going for the unprecedented Back to Back to Back championships. I am giddy thinking about the season. We open in Hawaii, nice little vacay. Then back home for Arkansas, which should be a good one.

The biggest obstacles I see, are the Oregon and ASU trips. Although, I still don't see anyone outscoring this Offense this year.

For the first year ever, 'SC is having a free scrimmage at the Coliseum. I am so amped.

Matt and Reggie Television

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Mmmmmm, college football.....

I will be cheering for the following teams this year, as usual:

Oklahoma Sooners (my alma mater)
Georgia Bulldogs (my other alma mater)
Michigan Wolverines

Ohio State/Texas....this one obviously presents a dilemma for me, but I think I'll be going for the Buckeyes.

And I am hoping to get tickets to the USC/ASU game. Go Devils! : pitchfork salute :

 

[*BOOMCHAA!*]

Hook 'em

 

[For Honor]

Oklahoma, USC, Texas, Ohio State. Michigan


Wait, where's Miami???
None of the Florida teams have been mentioned yet, and you'd think there'd be more with all the FSU shots NCAA CF 2006 was hyping... Oh well.

I'm glad we have some college football fans here.

The Big XII north should be really interesting, as far as I'm concerned...



I think besides being a Nebraska fan, I like the SEC conference the best. So many rivalries down there.

 

[trojanchick99]

I just don't buy Texas at #2. Until they prove they can actually beat Oklahoma, they don't belong there. Nebraska should be much improved, and in the Big 12 North they should win.

The SEC will be interesting, LSU could be good, if they figure out the QB situation, Tennessee should be very good and Florida it just depends on how quickly they pick up the new offense. That said, I believe the SEC is horribly overrated. I just get frustrated watching teams getting highly ranked because beat up pansies.

As you can see, I have a bit of residual West Coast bitterness

 

[Bonochick]

Go Blue!

My boyfriend is a HUGE fan...and so was my late uncle.

 

[u2popmofo]

I'm going to be cheering for all the awesome teams here in Utah!! The Mountain West conference is so awesome and interesting!

Wait......

 

[randhail]

Question for you guys...

Did most of you go/want to go to the school you root for?

I'm a lost soul when it comes to college ball. I went to Providence College and we didn't have a team.

One thing I would've loved to experience was getting up on Saturday morning and going to the games.

Anyways, I tend to follow the gators and hurricanes...fan since the shane matthews and gino torreta days.

USC is a machine it will be difficult to stop them. I don't buy Texas at #2 either. Not exactly a big game team.

 

[nbcrusader]

Back to Back to Back

Trojans X3!!!!!

 

[nbcrusader]

Back to Back to Back

Trojans X3!!!!!

 

[flangerchorus]

Put USC in the Big Ten and theyd go 8-3

 

[trojanchick99]

Put USC in the Big Ten and theyd go 8-3

Oh please! I hear that all the time from the Big 10, Big 12 and SEC. USC has beaten in the past 3 years, two Big 10 champs. Iowa and Michigan. Trust me, with the depth of talent and great coaching 'SC has, we would dominate any league.

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

My Illini aren't so good at football.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I can't believe I'm about to defend Texas, but if I'm not mistaken, they did have a one-loss season last year with a victory in their bowl game over Michigan (I believe). Their only loss was to Oklahoma. They have a promising quarterback in Vincent Young, and they are poised to have another good year. Perhaps a #2 ranking isn't too far off.

And I've said it before, so why not say it again. My cat could win the Pac-10 championship if she had half a defense. I get the impression from the Pac-10 fans I know (and I live in Pac-10 country) that they have no clue how good the rest of the country is at football and how brutal conferences like the Big 10, Big XII, and SEC can be. It's hard to make it out of one of those conferences unscathed, especially with the conference title games that the Big XII and SEC have. Not trying to take anything away from the great team that won the championship last year (and split it with an SEC team, thank you very much, the previous year), but I'm just not buying it that USC would dominate the other major conferences.

 

[Blue Room]

Michigan Wolverines GO BLUE! We will have an offense as good as anyone in the country this year!! Defense? probebly why we wont contend for the national title this year.

Regarding USC. USC is obviously a great team and they would be in any conference. I think what is being said is that they are in a fairly weak conference currently. The PAC 10 is probebly the weakest of the major conferences this year (and I mean as a conference overall). I think they would have a MUCH better chance of losing a game or two if they played in the Big 10, Big 12, ACC or SEC. Not saying they would for sure, but going undefeated does take some luck as well (IE USC against Stanford last year) and the more quality opponents you play, the more likely you will slip up obviously at some point.

 

[u2popmofo]

how brutal conferences like the Big 10, Big XII, and SEC can be

Dont forget the Mountain West. That is the most hardcore conference ever. Seriously, I'd like to see some of these supposed "good" teams beat people like Wyoming, TCU, UNLV, San Diego State, etc. You dont mess with them. YOU DO NOT MESS.

 

[Mr. BAW]

Put USC in the Big Ten and theyd go 8-3

Ask that of Michigan and Oklahoma.......

 

[Blue Room]

Ask that of Michigan and Oklahoma.......

I will say this, if Michigan played in the PAC 10 this year their only serious potential loss would be to USC. The Big 10 has 3 teams in or around the top 10. How many does the PAC 10 have up there besides USC?

 

[BEAL]

When Iowa played USC 3 years ago in the Orange Bowl, they laid a big egg. It's one of the few coaching mistakes that Ferentz has made. He let his team get too comfortable and relax that year. They had some major weapons on offense, and a pretty good defense. At worst, it should have been a closer game. I still remember the iowa defense getting called offsides a ridiculous amount of times that game.

That being said, the past two years Ferentz has had no bull attitude when it comes to the bowl games. They really didn't have a any great standouts the past two years (you could argue defense), but they played well as a team.

I would love to see a Iowa-USC matchup this year. If my d-line can gain experience fast, and play well, it'd be a good game.

 

[For Honor]

Question for you guys...

Did most of you go/want to go to the school you root for?

I would have liked to have gone to nebraska, but it would have been too much, too far away, too much $$$ fir travel

But I hear they have excellent academics.

 

[For Honor]

Put USC in the Big Ten and theyd go 8-3

 

[For Honor]

Oh please! I hear that all the time from the Big 10, Big 12 and SEC. USC has beaten in the past 3 years, two Big 10 champs. Iowa and Michigan. Trust me, with the depth of talent and great coaching 'SC has, we would dominate any league.

That's just it, though. USC wouldn't be the same if it was in the Big 10 because they would not be in Cali. They don't ahve to do any work for recruiting, because everyone is right there in Cali.

If they were, say, in Minnesota even, not to mention Ill. or Ohio or Michigan, than it would be completely different.




Someone mentioned bitterness about the SEC because they live on the West Coast?


I have some bitterness about all warm weather teams.
Only pussys play football when it's warm out.
Football should be played in the snow, and cold, and rain.

But of course, it's all about money, and attendance.
Which is why warm weather teams have it easier.



Now, that is slightly biased, but slightly true.
But I generally have a lot of respect for all teams.

I just wanted to be biased for a bit

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Dont forget the Mountain West. That is the most hardcore conference ever. Seriously, I'd like to see some of these supposed "good" teams beat people like Wyoming, TCU, UNLV, San Diego State, etc. You dont mess with them. YOU DO NOT MESS.

Go Horned Frogs! (who were actually pretty Frantastic just a few years ago)

I would have liked to have gone to nebraska, but it would have been too much, too far away, too much $$$ fir travel

But I hear they have excellent academics.

What does the N stand for on their helmets?

Nowledge!





And yeah, feel free to have USC swap schedules with Michigan or Oklahoma. See how many championships they win when they have to play teams like Texas, Ohio State, and (usually) Nebraska year after year. Not to mention Colorado, Texas Tech, Iowa, K State, Wisconsin, or Texas A&M when they're having a good year.

 

[Hewson]

That's just it, though. USC wouldn't be the same if it was in the Big 10 because they would not be in Cali. They don't ahve to do any work for recruiting, because everyone is right there in Cali.

So you're saying that the only talented high school football players in the US are in California then?

 

[Blue Room]

So you're saying that the only talented high school football players in the US are in California then?

Anyone that follows College Football recruiting l knows that California, Texas and Florida are where the largest percentage of top notch recruits come from. Then factor in the weather and it does make things a little easier. There are great recruits all over, but there is typically a larger percentage in those areas.

I'm not going to get into which conferences are better because each year its different. They all have ups and downs as far as how good of an overall conference they are. This year the weak major conference is the Pac 10. By weak I mean compared overall to the Big 12, Big 10, SEC and ACC. Of course this is all on paper at this point. Thats why they play the games!! Its also why people beqeathing the national title to USC this year are jumping the gun. They will be good, but they are not the exact same team as last year. There are injuries, chemistry and luck that all contribute to how good a team is.

 

[For Honor]

So you're saying that the only talented high school football players in the US are in California then?

I'm saying if your USC, you don't have to spend hardly any money to recruit kids (but since they are so wealthy, it multiplies the effectiveness)- and you certainly don't have to look very far to find talent. And what's even better for USC is that -- who is there "at home" competition? A lot of kids don't want to go too far away, and USC is the place to go in Cali

It is the place to go across the entire nation, too, with their glorious NCs now.


So that is a huge advantage.


======================


Let's look at Nebraska - where did they go for talent?
Especially Bill Calahan's ties to Cali, of course they went there


A lot of NU fans feel the same way - "What, Nebraska talent isn't good enough?" Unfortunatly it isn't. There aren't as many blue chip or even 4 star prospects from Nebraksa.

In their championship days, it was no different, either. Recruits from all over the country would flow into NU. That wasn't the case for a while, and look what happened. Talent sank, made coaches look horrible, add that to a nostalgic yet outdated playing style, and you get Nebraska.

(However, I am a huge fan of running the football, and I will alwaus love the option. Any true NU fan should feel the same, IMO)


If lovely crop of super nebaskan kids grew up to play football, that's great. But the bottom line is - there are a lot more people in Cali than in Nebraska.

But no one can take away from the Nebraksa fans - deication. What is it now, 262 consecutive sell outs?

I can't imagine what it will be like when they don't have a sell out.... I hope that never happens. Though with the new stadium expansions.... I wonder........

 

[Hewson]

It goes in cycles, USC had many down years, give Pete Carroll some credit. He's an outstanding recruiter and thats the reason the program has returned to prominence. He's brought in the blue chip talent. For a long time USc lost out on many of California's best and had trouble recruiting blue chippers from out of state. If kids only used nice weather as a factor , June Jones would have a lot of national championships on his resume.
Notre Dame used to get the nation's best talent with not much effort, and the weather there is not particularly balmy in November, it was the prestigious place to play for many a year. Nowadays the academic stamdards have hurt a bit, it'll be interesting to see if Charlie Weis can restore the program to prominence, I think he'll attract top flight offensive players for sure.
And lets look at warm weather University of Florida. After Spurrier left, the program took a noticeable downturn.

In a nutshell, what I'm saying is that NCAA football is a coaches sport much like NCAA hoops, kids choose schools on a number of factors, but a successful head coach and winning program are miles ahead of the weather in most blue chippers' decision. They want the best shot at success and ultimately the NFL, they get that from great coaches and winning programs, not sunshine.

 

[Blue Room]

In a nutshell, what I'm saying is that NCAA football is a coaches sport much like NCAA hoops, kids choose schools on a number of factors, but a successful head coach and winning program are miles ahead of the weather in most blue chippers' decision. They want the best shot at success and ultimately the NFL, they get that from great coaches and winning programs, not sunshine.

Yes, but a winning program in a warm climate has even more of an advantage. Its also easier to get a decent program going when its easier to recruit.

As far as FL, noticeable downturn? FL won ONE national title with Spurrier. They were still having winning seasons and going to bowl games. Something 80% of the programs out there would kill to be able to do. Why would that continue even without Spurrier there, because of the talent pool and ease of recruiting in FL. FL biggest problem it the other two major programs within the state. Why are there so many great programs in that state, do the math.