Writers vs Coaches Polls & SEC Teams

[Rocky Mtn Bob]

Couldn't watch EVERY game, but I managed to catch the highlights. These are my musings after Week 3. All of this is merely my opinion....

1. Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Miami and Georgia Tech are *stronger* than I thought pre-season. None of this is good news for Bama.

2. Penn State, LSU, [Wow!] Texas, Illinois, Ole Miss, Iowa State and [Ha-ha!!!] Notre Dame are *weaker* than I thought pre-season. Good news for Alabama.

3. Ohio State and Georgia are about as strong as I figured pre-season. [Yikes!]

Conclusion: After three weeks, I still have no idea if Alabama will make the 12-team playoff.

(Mods, if this is a repeat, or belongs somewhere else, have at it.)

 

[CB4]

I don’t think we have large enough “body of work” through 3-4 games.

Example is Clemson. Some had them as pre-season favorites to win not only the ACC but also contenders for a NC. They lose the opener to LSU in a close game, wallow around against Troy, then lose to Ga Tech. And it now that LSU win to start the season isn’t quite so impressive. And speaking of LSU- they looked very pedestrian against the Gators at home on Saturday.

Alabama- how good is FSU really? At this point we don’t know. We will find out in few weeks. Wisconsin? Well we can “say” they were good “defensively” but the only teams they had faced or Miami of Ohio and MTSU. Not exactly a gauntlet. At this point, Alabama has to show me they can be physical at the LOS on both sides of the ball. They haven’t shown me the ability to “impose their will” on anyone besides LA-Monroe.

Ohio State and Texas? Very talented teams. But talent doesn’t always get you there. Both are having issues with consistency at QB position.

Right now, I think Miami looks pretty good. But their biggest weakness is Cristabol. He has the ability to screw up a one car funeral procession.

With a 12 playoff, it is about “getting there” first. Just like the NCAA Basketball Tournament. And it isn’t about who looks good or is “ranked” at week 3 or 4. It’s now about how you play once you make the playoffs.

 

[Rocky Mtn Bob]

All good points, CB4.

And your Cristabol comment? Funny AND accurate!

 

[miggy402]

Gunner Stockton is better than I thought. Tennessee's has also upgraded tremendously at QB. Georgia deserves a ton of credit for going into Knoxville and playing as well as they did.

Not sure beating a winless ND team is enough to sell me on aTm just yet, but they've definitely got my attention.

I think Vandy is considerably better than they were last year.

I want to see Julian Sayin play in a hostile environment before I buy into Ohio St., but I do think their defense is legit.

LSU doesn't scare me, and as always, "Clemson is gonna Clemson."

 

[Power Eye]

A quarter of the way into the season, and I think Ohio St. is the only team that I see that has any chance of running the table in the regular season, and that's unlikely. I will say that I will be shocked if Oregon, Penn St, and Ohio St. don't make the playoffs. There just isn't anyone else in the league ( I don't care how high Illinois is ranked) that can challenge those teams. That's not to say that those three teams are better than the top 4 or 5 SEC teams, which I don't know who those are yet.

As far as the ACC, Miami and FSU are well positioned for the playoffs at this point. GA Tech has a very favorable schedule and a legit chance to go undefeated up until the UGA game. They avoid Louisville, FSU, SMU, and Miami and they don't play ND in the ND ACC five game schedule.

The SEC is just going to cannibalize itself this year. There isn't a great team, but there are tons of good to very good teams. Georgia had a nice comeback win, but they aren't a great team. There are two losses ahead of them. I don't know to who, but I really believe they're there. With that said, I will be surprised if UGA is not a playoff team, and is the bet lock for the playoffs of any SEC team right now, even over LSU.

 

[squib]

Wisconsin is not good. We still don't know much about Bama. I am hopeful that Bama can do some damage. I am a bit afraid the damage may be coming our way. Lots of ranked opponents ahead.

I would feel a ton better if Bama had any running game at all.

 

[CB4]

Wisconsin is not good. We still don't know much about Bama. I am hopeful that Bama can do some damage. I am a bit afraid the damage may be coming our way. Lots of ranked opponents ahead.

I would feel a ton better if Bama had any running game at all.

I agree. The teams today in college football that seem to have the most success are the ones that find balance between “physical and finesse” in terms of play on both sides of the ball. Yeah you can success at times “out scheming” the other guy, but throughout the course of a season you must line up across from the other team and simply “whip them”. I’m not certain at this point this team is capable of doing that if or when that time comes.

You can bet UGA isn’t spending a bunch of time trying to figure out how to “trick us. They will come into this game saying “we are coming at you. Now you stop us”.

 

[Rocky Mtn Bob]

I guess I could just say "Ditto" about the rankings today.

Seriously this is laughable.

 

[bamaga]

Didn’t play and dropped three spots, I guess we barely beat bye

 

[92tide]

I agree. The teams today in college football that seem to have the most success are the ones that find balance between “physical and finesse” in terms of play on both sides of the ball. Yeah you can success at times “out scheming” the other guy, but throughout the course of a season you must line up across from the other team and simply “whip them”. I’m not certain at this point this team is capable of doing that if or when that time comes.

You can bet UGA isn’t spending a bunch of time trying to figure out how to “trick us. They will come into this game saying “we are coming at you. Now you stop us”.

i bet they try at least one or two trickeration things. they're still georgia

i think we made last year's game closer than it should have when we tried to get cute with a "trick" play in the 2nd quarter that got blown up. we were absolutely destroying them up until that point, and they got a little bit of momentum blowing up that play