Post game thoughts (Sagarin, Media, Playoffs, Notre Dame, 2013)

KrAzY3

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There was a lot of strength of schedule discussion, and I was irritated by Sagarin waiting to update until after the title game. From what I can tell, the SEC leapfrogged the Big 12 and Alabama leapfrogged Notre Dame in SoS prior to the title game: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin.htm

This is how SoS works, it tells you the most at the latest point. The SEC jumped the Big 12 by about the same margin they were ahead prior to the bowl games. This helped push Alabama's SoS up to 19th, and ahead of Notre Dame who has an SoS of 21 now (which was mainly pushed up because they played Alabama). Sagarin has a good grasp of things, ranking Oregon second (but a distant second due to an SoS of 38), followed by Texas A&M, Georgia, and then Notre Dame. The SEC yet again proved their dominance, fairing far better than any other BCS conference in the bowl games.

The media seems to have done an about face. I see a lot of glowing comments about Alabama, which I guess they have to after they spent their time talking up Notre Dame. I was listening to the Dan Patrick show (he had a good interview with Nick Saban), and he was quite flattering to the program.

I did see a completely disrespectful and annoying article by Mark Schlabach: http://espn.go.com/college-football...hlighting-why-playoff-needed-college-football
He basically said we should have had a playoff and a match-up of Oregon vs. Alabama since that would have been more entertaining. I don't like the idea of the upcoming playoffs, but come on now. Is it really supposed to be for entertainment purposes? Notre Dame was undefeated, they beat two teams that would have otherwise been in contention, and on top of that one of those teams beat Oregon. Oregon didn't deserve a title shot, it's as simple as that. Notre Dame belonged there, they earned it, like them or not. On the flip side, Alabama was the top contender. They deserved to be there on the merit of an SEC championship, and being defending champions. It irritates me to see anyone suggest we didn't see the two most deserving teams play each other.

A lot of people are pretending Notre Dame is back now. I don't really see it though. Their roster lists 29 seniors, and while those are not all scholarship players, that's a heck of a lot. It includes some of their bigger names (such as Manti Te'o). It's hard to imagine you lose that many seniors, and come back and contend right away. I'd say they got there because of senior leadership. Sure, they have a great incoming recruiting class, but they don't have Saban.

Alabama on the other hand only has 17 seniors listed and while some of those are important, it's not something they can't overcome. They are losing key parts of the offensive line, and I think special teams is a bit of a concern with Shelley and Tinker graduating. The injured players returning will offset a lot of those losses though, and another great recruiting class will have some instant contributors in it as well.

If AJ and CJ return, as it appears they will, I think Alabama is the top contender next year. There's a lot between now and then, and as always a single injury can derail a season. But, this shouldn't have been Alabama's year. This was a young team on defense, and a team that lost some key pieces on offense. This is a testament to what Nick Saban has built at Alabama and I hope the fans show up for A-Day and show their appreciation. This is something special and it doesn't end here.
 

selmaborntidefan

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His whine on the playoff is ridiculous. If Notre Dame had played Oregon - why does he assume the rejection committee would have picked Oregon over Stanford? In fact, the argument would have been that since the refs cost Stanford the game they "really" only had one loss and so they should get a second chance.

If you're going to disagree, fine - but he doesn't even understand how the new playoff will work.
 

deliveryman35

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I actually agree that us playing Oregon would have been a much better matchup. ND was exposed last night as a team that frankly I think would lose to half the teams in the SEC.
 

imaloyalone

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No... the game did some good. ND fans who ademantly believed they were superior to every other team in college football were told by their head coach last night "we're not there yet." Humility forced upon this fan base is good to experience... we went through it in 2008 when UF undressed us in the SECCG.
 

theballguy

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No... the game did some good. ND fans who ademantly believed they were superior to every other team in college football were told by their head coach last night "we're not there yet." Humility forced upon this fan base is good to experience... we went through it in 2008 when UF undressed us in the SECCG.
Nailed it.
 

Bamabuzzard

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No... the game did some good. ND fans who ademantly believed they were superior to every other team in college football were told by their head coach last night "we're not there yet." Humility forced upon this fan base is good to experience... we went through it in 2008 when UF undressed us in the SECCG.
I respect Brian Kelly for what he said at halftime, after the game and what he more than likely said to his players. Compared to a Bob Stoops 2003 halftime interview where he vehemently reminded the viewing audience after being totally man handled by LSU. That they were the #1 defense in the nation. Yeah, riiiiiiight Bobby. Keep living in denial.

I find it refreshing and it will probably put ND on the fast track to actually getting better. It was obvious. He came right out and said unless Alabama decides not to come back out in the second half we have no shot. He realized they were simply out matched on all levels of the game. Nothing wrong with admitting that. It's a lot better than denying it.
 

KrAzY3

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I actually agree that us playing Oregon would have been a much better matchup. ND was exposed last night as a team that frankly I think would lose to half the teams in the SEC.
First, if Notre Dame was exposed, what did Oregon losing to Stanford say? Notre Dame knocked two teams out of contention, the Big 12 and Pac-12 champions! So, I don't see how on earth anyone can say yeah, I know Notre Dame beat the Pac-12 champion, but this Pac-12 team that had a regular season loss belonged there instead.

Notre Dame was undefeated, and in doing so they bested the Big 10, Pac-12, and Big 12. No, they didn't beat the SEC, but unless the argument is that Florida should have been in the game instead, it's a moot point. It just irks me because we obviously had the two most deserving teams there, in a legendary match-up, and some people are still crying about it because of how well Alabama performed.

Don't get me wrong, I understand talking about ratings (although does anyone really think more people would have tuned into see Oregon?), or entertainment value being served by Oregon. That's not the issue. The issue is that Oregon did not belong in that game! If we're talking about playoffs, it should never be about good match-ups, or entertainment value, it should be about the most deserving teams, period, end of story.
 

Bamabuzzard

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First, if Notre Dame was exposed, what did Oregon losing to Stanford say? Notre Dame knocked two teams out of contention, the Big 12 and Pac-12 champions! So, I don't see how on earth anyone can say yeah, I know Notre Dame beat the Pac-12 champion, but this Pac-12 team that had a regular season loss belonged there instead.

Notre Dame was undefeated, and in doing so they bested the Big 10, Pac-12, and Big 12. No, they didn't beat the SEC, but unless the argument is that Florida should have been in the game instead, it's a moot point. It just irks me because we obviously had the two most deserving teams there, in a legendary match-up, and some people are still crying about it because of how well Alabama performed.

Don't get me wrong, I understand talking about ratings (although does anyone really think more people would have tuned into see Oregon?), or entertainment value being served by Oregon. That's not the issue. The issue is that Oregon did not belong in that game! If we're talking about playoffs, it should never be about good match-ups, or entertainment value, it should be about the most deserving teams, period, end of story.
The angst is because a lot of people didn't get the outcome they were hoping. So they're trying to discredit Alabama's win.
 

deliveryman35

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First, if Notre Dame was exposed, what did Oregon losing to Stanford say? Notre Dame knocked two teams out of contention, the Big 12 and Pac-12 champions! So, I don't see how on earth anyone can say yeah, I know Notre Dame beat the Pac-12 champion, but this Pac-12 team that had a regular season loss belonged there instead.

Notre Dame was undefeated, and in doing so they bested the Big 10, Pac-12, and Big 12. No, they didn't beat the SEC, but unless the argument is that Florida should have been in the game instead, it's a moot point. It just irks me because we obviously had the two most deserving teams there, in a legendary match-up, and some people are still crying about it because of how well Alabama performed.

Don't get me wrong, I understand talking about ratings (although does anyone really think more people would have tuned into see Oregon?), or entertainment value being served by Oregon. That's not the issue. The issue is that Oregon did not belong in that game! If we're talking about playoffs, it should never be about good match-ups, or entertainment value, it should be about the most deserving teams, period, end of story.
I did not say that Oregon deserved to be in the game. Using the BCS formula, ND did and we got no. 1 vs no 2. I just think Oregon is and always was better than the Irish and it would have been a more compelling matchup.(Which, by the way,I think we still would have won.)
 

cbi1972

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I too prefer Bama being matched up with Notre Dame than with a team like Oregon, but it is what it is. Oregon had their shot and missed.
 

Bamabuzzard

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I did not say that Oregon deserved to be in the game. Using the BCS formula, ND did and we got no. 1 vs no 2. I just think Oregon is and always was better than the Irish and it would have been a more compelling matchup.(Which, by the way,I think we still would have won.)

If anyone wants to get a glimpse of the outcome of an Oregon/Bama game then look no further than the Stanford/Oregon game. Take Stanford and their strengths and multiply them by two, maybe three and you get the outcome of an Oregon/Bama matchup. We run a similar style system, with a lot better talent.
 
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BigBama76

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If anyone wants to get a glimpse of the outcome of an Oregon/Bama game then look no further than the Stanford/Oregon game. Take Stanford and their strengths and multiply them by two, maybe three and you get the outcome of an Oregon/Bama matchup. We run a similar style system, with a lot better talent.
I agree. If we'd played Ore last night their D would have given up a lot more yardage and points than ND and we saw what a disciplined physical defense can do to their offense.
 

KrAzY3

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I did not say that Oregon deserved to be in the game. Using the BCS formula, ND did and we got no. 1 vs no 2. I just think Oregon is and always was better than the Irish and it would have been a more compelling matchup.(Which, by the way,I think we still would have won.)
It's kind of funny since coming into this the media was telling us that Alabama vs. Notre Dame could be the highest rated game of all time. These things are hard to predict, although if the media has ever bothered to understand that being on cable dramatically reduces the ratings they would never have made such claims (or bashed the BCSCG for lower ratings once it moved to cable). The thing with gimmick offenses is when they're bad, they're bad. Oregon was held to 14 points against Stanford, and this team got blown out the year before by LSU. It's easy to make the claim, and I would tend to agree with the notion based on results, but there is little to back it up.

One thing I forgot to put into my original post was my feeling towards SEC fans cheering for Alabama. There's only one SEC team I universally cheer against, and that's Auburn. I cheered for the SEC in all their bowl games, it's about respect, and pride. The SEC helps give the south an identity. A lot of the media doesn't get this, but Texas A&M and Missouri has a reason to feel proud to. We're all part of something here, and I'd gladly cheer for Texas A&M, or Florida in next year's championship game if that's who ends up there.
 

DrollTide

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I'm not especially an ND hater, but I have to say I don't think they will amount to much next year. They have a lot more work to do than just tweak their NC performance. Golson is not much different than Michigan's Denard, i.e. a nice player but not a game breaker like Johnny.

As for Bama losing to A&M, I could quote an ND poster here who said that triangle theories don't work. I like to believe that Alabama had a bad first quarter against A&M coming off an emotional win against LSU. After that, A&M looked very ordinary against the Bama defense. The current Sagarin numbers are reasonable, and show that Bama and A&M improved over the season but LSU and Florida probably peaked.

Next season, beating A&M will require the new defense to gel quickly against Tech. I think LSU will be a much more manageable game than they were this year. There is no good reason why we should not be back in the SECCG next year, against who knows who bubbles to the top in the East.
 

Al A Bama

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It's kind of funny since coming into this the media was telling us that Alabama vs. Notre Dame could be the highest rated game of all time. These things are hard to predict, although if the media has ever bothered to understand that being on cable dramatically reduces the ratings they would never have made such claims (or bashed the BCSCG for lower ratings once it moved to cable). The thing with gimmick offenses is when they're bad, they're bad. Oregon was held to 14 points against Stanford, and this team got blown out the year before by LSU. It's easy to make the claim, and I would tend to agree with the notion based on results, but there is little to back it up.

One thing I forgot to put into my original post was my feeling towards SEC fans cheering for Alabama. There's only one SEC team I universally cheer against, and that's Auburn. I cheered for the SEC in all their bowl games, it's about respect, and pride. The SEC helps give the south an identity. A lot of the media doesn't get this, but Texas A&M and Missouri has a reason to feel proud to. We're all part of something here, and I'd gladly cheer for Texas A&M, or Florida in next year's championship game if that's who ends up there.
There were only two post season games that I really enjoyed this year. In both the winning teams took the losing team behind the wood shed!

1st - A & M vs Oklahoma. A & M owed the Sooners a much bigger tail kicking (remember 77 to zip?) However, what they accomplished was not bad.

2nd and best of all - The Crimson Tide vs Notre Dame (remember 1966, 24 to 23, 13 to 11, et al. I don't want to gloat, but this is the most satisfying victory that I can remember. #2 would be 1992 vs Miami, #3 would be against Texas in Pasadena, California.

I also pull for all SEC teams in Bowl games with the exception of the Barn. However, it is something to note that no team outside of the state of Alabama has won the NC in the past 4 years. What do they feed those boys growing up to play football in Alabama?
 

Al A Bama

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GA was better.
Yes! I was thinking of bowl games and said post season. That Georgia game would have to be up there. It was both entertaining and the fact that Bama won made it even better.

When I talk about the best of all above, I'm talking Bama DOMINATION of Notre Dame! I really wish it had been 42+ to 0!
 

gtowntide

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I think the Georgia game for the SEC was really the the hardest game we had. I'm nervous about all games but I really feared Georgia much more than ND.
 

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