College football

[Vrede too]

Interesting. This from Brett McMurphy

"My @AP_Top25 ballot:

1-Clemson 2-UGA 3-Alabama 4-Auburn 5-OU 6-Mich 7-OhSt 8-LSU 9-NotreDame 10-Utah 11-A&M 12-UF 13-Texas 14-PennSt 15-Wash 16-Wis 17-Ore 18-MissSt 19-MichSt 20-Memphis 21-Va 22-BoiseSt 23-Iowa 24-Neb 25-WashSt"

He's no Ohio State/urban fan.

**Deleted, edited, re-posted after the AP poll came out.**

Auburn #4 after BARELY beating #17 OR? Seems extreme. Otoh, almost all of the other first games were laughers competition-wise.

Coaches place Auburn at #13, up from #16. OR dropped from #13 to #18.
AP places Auburn at #10, up from #16. OR dropped from #11 to #16.
http://scores.nbcsports.com/cfb/polls.asp
I don't have an opinion on it, but I'm guessing the shift wasn't greater since the game was so close.

[billy.pilgrim]

Interesting. This from Brett McMurphy

"My @AP_Top25 ballot:

1-Clemson 2-UGA 3-Alabama 4-Auburn 5-OU 6-Mich 7-OhSt 8-LSU 9-NotreDame 10-Utah 11-A&M 12-UF 13-Texas 14-PennSt 15-Wash 16-Wis 17-Ore 18-MissSt 19-MichSt 20-Memphis 21-Va 22-BoiseSt 23-Iowa 24-Neb 25-WashSt"

He's no Ohio State/urban fan.

**Deleted, edited, re-posted after the AP poll came out.**

Auburn #4 after BARELY beating #17 OR? Seems extreme. Otoh, almost all of the other first games were laughers competition-wise.

Coaches place Auburn at #13, up from #16. OR dropped from #13 to #18.
AP places Auburn at #10, up from #16. OR dropped from #11 to #16.
http://scores.nbcsports.com/cfb/polls.asp
I don't have an opinion on it, but I'm guessing the shift wasn't greater since the game was so close.

I'm not much on polls, especially football polls before November and I've never understood having a coaches poll. Aren't coaches the least likely to watch teams that aren't on their schedule and the most likely to have a conflict of interest?

[1 CAT FAN]

Maryland is playing their season opener at home against Howard. The Terps are off to a good start on the field, though the crowd has been lacking.
Emily Giambalvo, sports writer for The Washington Post, tweeted several pictures of the crowd attendance.
The pictures show the lackluster crowd showing at the start of the game and at the end of the first quarter.
https://thespun.com/big-ten/maryland/ph ... son-opener

[Vrede too]

I'm not much on polls, especially football polls before November and I've never understood having a coaches poll. Aren't coaches the least likely to watch teams that aren't on their schedule and the most likely to have a conflict of interest?

Maybe they figure that the number of coaches, whatever it is, negates the conflict of interest. As for how they make informed decisions, I have no idea. Maybe they read what AP reporters write .

[billy.pilgrim]

I'm not much on polls, especially football polls before November and I've never understood having a coaches poll. Aren't coaches the least likely to watch teams that aren't on their schedule and the most likely to have a conflict of interest?

Maybe they figure that the number of coaches, whatever it is, negates the conflict of interest. As for how they make informed decisions, I have no idea. Maybe they read what AP reporters write .

"Maybe they read what AP reporters write"

Or just vote for whoever they like, but they have to be the absolute least informed about actual college games.

[Vrede too]

"Maybe they read what AP reporters write"

Or just vote for whoever they like, but they have to be the absolute least informed about actual college games.

Could be. If I was voting I'd like to think that I would try and be responsible by farming out the watching and analysis to trusted friends, family, low level coaches, student interns, etc., with me making final decisions, but idk.

Go:

One of your favorites , @(24)Boise St -10.5 Marshall -- Fri 09/06 09:00 PM
@Maryland -2 (21)Syracuse. Wow, favored vs a ranked team, Go Terps!
(12)Texas A&M +17.5 @(1)Clemson, Go Aggies, destroy those pussies!
@Colorado +3.5 (25)Nebraska, knock those Cornholers out of the top 25.
N. Mex. St +55 @(2)Alabama 55!
Another one of your favorites, (18)UCF -10 @Florida Atlantic
Tulane +18 @(10)Auburn
@(9)Texas +5.5 (6)LSU, maybe the best and most meaningful game on paper.
(23)Stanford +1 @USC
@(14)Washington -14 California

[1 CAT FAN]

What were the odds

[1 CAT FAN]

At University of Maryland, football fandom continues to fall.

The University of Maryland has struggled to reverse recent declines in fan interest in the football program, which underwent a turbulent 2018 season after the heatstroke death of 19-year-old player Jordan McNair, a new document shows.

Athletic event ticket sales and outside donations to the football program fell in the fiscal year ending last June 30 for the second year in a row, according to financial figures obtained in a Public Information Act request by The Baltimore Sun.

And that was before a fall season in which fewer fans filled Maryland Stadium. The university acknowledged that football ticket sales and revenue slipped last season after McNair’s death, but said it was too early to say by how much. Publicly available statistics show that home football attendance, which hovered close to 40,000 from 2015 to 2017, dropped to about 35,000.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ter ... story.html

[billy.pilgrim]

At University of Maryland, football fandom continues to fall.

The University of Maryland has struggled to reverse recent declines in fan interest in the football program, which underwent a turbulent 2018 season after the heatstroke death of 19-year-old player Jordan McNair, a new document shows.

Athletic event ticket sales and outside donations to the football program fell in the fiscal year ending last June 30 for the second year in a row, according to financial figures obtained in a Public Information Act request by The Baltimore Sun.

And that was before a fall season in which fewer fans filled Maryland Stadium. The university acknowledged that football ticket sales and revenue slipped last season after McNair’s death, but said it was too early to say by how much. Publicly available statistics show that home football attendance, which hovered close to 40,000 from 2015 to 2017, dropped to about 35,000.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ter ... story.html

Do you have a point, other than hate?

[Vrede too]

Thanks for letting me know, billy.pilgrim.

Do you have a point, other than hate?

That s/he is driven by deep and pathetic insecurity - Trump (formerly known as 'Tiny Hands') Syndrome.

You have any idea how many of your posts are just generic taunting? Whether it's sports, politics, religion, whatever, you post only taunts. Why don't you occasionally pick something you'd like to talk about and maybe you would get better responses and less ridicule.

Immature 'nyah, nyah, nyah' is all s/he's got, this time stupidly that ...

... MD football sucks and the fans know it. Pssst, that's a decades-old story, duh. At least the Terps moved to a real conference, the Big Ten, rather than staying in the ACC's "small pond".

Otoh, when one looks beyond the jocks:

Ranked: The Top 100 US Universities

36. University of Maryland, College Park

Not in the top 100: Clemson

Top US universities by state

Not even tops in SC, wow!: South Carolina - 2 (95. University of South Carolina at Columbia , Clemson University)

Full disclosure: The University of Maryland is not tops in Maryland, either, but its competition is a little stiffer.
Maryland - 3 (12. Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland College Park, 84. University of Maryland Baltimore County)

Fwiw, a Maryland grad would not have so stupidly set her/himself up for failure.

[Vrede too]

Email from one of the pool admins:

Really, Yahoo!? You’re making us bet on a 55-point spread for Alabama and NM State? Sheesh. I gotta factor just how pathetic the Aggies are against how big of a dick Nick Saben is? Great.

No one ever went broke overestimating how big of a dick Nick Saban is, but Go Aggies!

[O Really]

I don't think NM State is going to get any better, or earn greater cred by sacrificing its players health and its self-respect for a trashing by Alabama (or whoever). But, they do get a lot of money for it, which IMNVHO makes them scumbags regardless of how common the practice. That said, it would be fun if Dick Saban didn't even bother to suit up his starters, treated it like a scrimmage, and ended up on the short end of the score. Not that there's any chance of that, of course.

[1 CAT FAN]

MD football sucks and the fans know it.

You don't say.

At least the Terps moved to a real conference, the Big Ten, rather than staying in the ACC's "small pond".

More from the article
https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ter ... story.html

Since joining the Big Ten, Maryland’s record in conference games is 13-30, including a 3-6 record during the tumultuous 2018 season.
“For a long time the conference was called the Big Two and the Little Eight,” Weaver said. While it has since expanded to 14 members, “Maryland has become one of those [little] teams,” she said.

Fwiw, a Maryland grad would not have so stupidly set her/himself up for failure.

That would have been good advice for Jordan McNair before signing on at Maryland. A young man who wasn't allowed the opportunity to graduate. Little did he know that Maryland had/has shitty coaches.

[Vrede too]

I don't think NM State is going to get any better, or earn greater cred by sacrificing its players health and its self-respect for a trashing by Alabama (or whoever). But, they do get a lot of money for it, which IMNVHO makes them scumbags regardless of how common the practice. That said, it would be fun if Dick Saban didn't even bother to suit up his starters, treated it like a scrimmage, and ended up on the short end of the score. Not that there's any chance of that, of course.

I'm dreaming of a NM State upset of the Alabama starters. Why not? After all, if an ACC team can beat it . . . I might even flip to it during the timeouts and halftimes of real games.

[O Really]

Upsets can happen, but they're usually by a team that's really good, but not considered at the level of the favourite. Easiest example is App State at Michigan. But App State was a good football team, winning conference championships, etc. New Mexico State, on the other hand, is awful and has been awful since at least before 2005. One winning year since then, and that was 7-6. They've got no business playing somebody like Alabama, and, following BillyP's thinking, Alabama has no business playing them. They obviously had no business playing Wasu, either. Not a good way to attract good recruits so you can improve, and not a good way to get respect for the school.

[O Really]

Otoh, when one looks beyond the jocks:

Ranked: The Top 100 US Universities

If you look globally instead of just in the US, on the world list of best universities, we find UNC at #56, several other ACC schools in or around the top 100, and including Maryland at #82. Auburn (sorry BillyP) was somewhere between 601-800. Clemson not found in the top 800. But hey - they've got themselves a football team.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/wo ... cols/stats

[billy.pilgrim]

Otoh, when one looks beyond the jocks:

Ranked: The Top 100 US Universities

If you look globally instead of just in the US, on the world list of best universities, we find UNC at #56, several other ACC schools in or around the top 100, and including Maryland at #82. Auburn (sorry BillyP) was somewhere between 601-800. Clemson not found in the top 800. But hey - they've got themselves a football team.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/wo ... cols/stats

56 in the world - damn good
but at least we check in at #1 in the state

https://ocm.auburn.edu/newsroom/news_ar ... labama.php


Depending on the list you use

[billy.pilgrim]

Upsets can happen, but they're usually by a team that's really good, but not considered at the level of the favourite. Easiest example is App State at Michigan. But App State was a good football team, winning conference championships, etc. New Mexico State, on the other hand, is awful and has been awful since at least before 2005. One winning year since then, and that was 7-6. They've got no business playing somebody like Alabama, and, following BillyP's thinking, Alabama has no business playing them. They obviously had no business playing Wasu, either. Not a good way to attract good recruits so you can improve, and not a good way to get respect for the school.

You're missing my take on this.
Simply put - a team's schedule should reflect the goal of the program.
If they want to be considered in the rankings war, then they need to play at least 3 or 4 high ranked teams (6 or 7 would be better) - if they have enough in their conference, then that's all they need. If they have a nothing confrence, then they need to change to a better confrence or schedule top non-conference games.

Re bammer and NM. Bama has an easy schedule by SEC standards, but it's still tougher than anything ucf has ever faced.
Besides, it's a good payday for NM and a bunch of kids get to play against Alabama. They will always remember.

[Vrede too]

If you look globally instead of just in the US, on the world list of best universities, we find UNC at #56, several other ACC schools in or around the top 100, and including Maryland at #82. Auburn (sorry BillyP) was somewhere between 601-800. Clemson not found in the top 800. But hey - they've got themselves a football team.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/wo ... cols/stats

56 in the world - damn good
but at least we check in at #1 in the state

https://ocm.auburn.edu/newsroom/news_ar ... labama.php

Depending on the list you use

Good cover . One might ask if Auburn University cherry picked which list to use in its press release.
O Really's link places the University of Alabama at Birmingham at 179th in the world, #274 in the US.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/wo ... birmingham
Auburn University is close, 297th in the US.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/wo ... university
Does that mean that there are 430 or more non-US schools between them?

I wasn't going to say anything, but since it's come up - my link doesn't put either Alabama school in the top 100, and lists Auburn 2nd to 'Bama in the state.
https://www.topuniversities.com/where-t ... iversities



Full disclosure:
At O Really's link the U. I attended the longest is ranked higher than Auburn at 401–500 in the world, lower than Auburn at greater than 800th in the US, which makes no sense.
There seems to be a disconnect between the US and world lists - different sources?
At my link it is listed at #1 in the state.
The then correspondence, now online school I eventually got my degrees from is not listed by either site.

[1 CAT FAN]

#24 in Top Public Schools (tie)
#66 in National Universities (tie)
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/cl ... l-rankings