smokinandjokin

I like the idea but I think maybe polls should be avoided. Coaches rank teams and have no idea who that team's quarterback is. Many coaches have freely admitted they don't watch any other games but their own on the weekend, and often pass the duty off to an assistant coach to submit. Possibly a tournament committee modeled after NCAA hoops could decide the at large teams, and the seedings. There might be a better way to work the four major bowls to, so that they are the semifinal, 3rd place, and title game on a rotating basis, rather than the quarterfinals. I'd play the round of 8 at the higher seeds' homefield. Seems like something the top 4 teams in the nation have earned. Overall I like the ideas. Even if it's all hypothetical, these threads are so much better than "Get rid of the BCS because it sucks" and then offer no suggestions.

JP locks on to Evans, and Whitner misses too many tackles. They'll never win again.

I'd give that round to the shark, but you can't see what happened when the battle continued under water...

Wow, that dude sure knows how to clear a room. I thought this would've been from his younger days, but the one guy clearly mentions Seinfeld. I don't know what he was thinking. Comedians do things like that to be funny, or to shock their audience, but he seemed like he was a little f'd up and just being racial.

Ray Lewis is pissed because Fox refuses to show Ravens games?

Those of you who read crayonz's (since deleted) thread about his fifth cousin Brenda might be interested in who she is. Here you go.

There's no paradox quite like crayonz calling somebody out for an absurd post.

I think it's clear and everyone would agree that a playoff is the best way. I'm on board with the eight team scenario. I also don't mind the current system, and I do have some nostalgia for the old-school bowl games. I was at the USC-Michigan Rose Bowl in January 2004 and it was an amazing event. I would just like to hear one (just one) legitimate reason from the conference and university presidents as to why a playoff is not possible. They are so blinded by all of the money rolling in from the current BCS setup that they can't seem to see there's even more money to be made. I think they're just nervous about splitting the revenues up amongst the 'lesser' conferences. They say a playoff is not possible because of class and finals, and yet players that actually HAVE to go to school in 1-AA, DII, and DIII manage to work it out. Also, it's clear that school is priority #1 when these conferences schedule games on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights to bring in more TV money. No contradiction there. There are plenty of things to work out if the current system is adapted into a playoff system, but none of the issues appear to be an impossible obstacle. Actually, I take that back. Compromise and less greed from university and conference presidents may be asking too much.

Good enough to go out and buy a teal stadium parka?

I think that's why the statistic was pretty much unknown. I don't place a lot of stock in it either, it's just interesting. That's a lot of games in row to lose when you are right on the cusp. You'd think you'd have to get the bounces sometime. I actually had to go back and count them because I didn't really believe the stat. Specifically, I knew they won a few OT games; it's strange they were all by 6. And in the Minny game specifically, they did get a bounce- didn't Hollis kick a 50+ yarder at the buzzer that bounced off the crossbar and in?

My girlfriend said that my dictate good in her mouth.

We don't drink pop or warr. We drink beer and liquor.

The reason we say he had a bad game was because the missed tackles were noticeable, mainly because he was in the right position but didn't bring the man down. One-on-one open field tackling is something that is very difficult to do against any NFL RB, and the Bills have been lucky enough to have players in their secondary who are very good in run support. Several of those players are/were Ohio State alums. I think Whitner's tackling has been, overall, very solid this year. Yesterday was his poorest tackling performance, but like I said, it was so noticeable because he was usually in the right spot. For a young player, I'll take being in the right spot first, above finishing the play. It's better to read things correctly, rather than him completely taken out of the action and not even having the opportunity to miss a tackle. Once the positioning and reading the play is second nature, which it looks like it's becoming, the tackling will be there. IMO.

The speed rush upfield is Schobel's m.o. He sells himself out to get his one sack per game, while the right side is constantly gashed in the running game. I hope that is the plan, and it's just the guys behind Schobel missing tackles or not filling gaps. I doubt Schobel would continue to take himself out of the play consistently if the coaches told him not to. At least I would hope not. But I think this method contributes to both Schobel's solid sack numbers, and the Bills pourous run defense.

Not to be overlooked is Parrish charging a very awkward punt and making a running catch in traffic to save some important yards and preserve field position. Additionally, I agree about the play calling from Houston. That was right out of the Packers book, when Green gashed the Bills defense all the way to the goalline, and then they pass on 1st and 1. Whether the Texans got the 2 yards or not, a run would've forced the Bills to use their final timeout.

Why would Houston call a pass on 3rd and 2 with 2 minutes left? Their RB's were gashing the Bills for positive yardage all game. Regardless of the fact that Carr was rediculously accurate on his short throws, a pass always leaves the possibility open for an incompletion and free clock stoppage. A run, whether you pick up the 2 yards or not, at least forces the Bills to use their final timeout, which takes away some middle-of-the-field options when they get the ball. It was similar to Ahman Green chewing up yardage, and then the Packers throwing on 1st & goal from the 1. Once again, it was Nasty Nate playing tight on the receiver, forcing the incompletion, this time with a powerful overhand spike (which I throughly enjoyed.) Clements played his third straight excellent game. Special thanks to the Houston OC for giving our run defense much more credit than it deserves. But props to the defense for pressing 9 or 10 into the box and getting a huge stop when it was needed most.

It's not unreasonable to say the Bills 'softened up' the Colts. They certainly provided the blueprint for hanging close (or maybe just added to Tennessee's blueprint from a few weeks ago.) Clements and McGee jammed Harrison and Wayne at the line and the safeties played deep, as the Bills constantly gave up the underneath routes, and then quickly gang-tackled and pounded the pass catchers. It's also imperative for the defense or special teams to make a play which leads to points, which the Dallas D did with an INT for 6. The Bills couldn't play Jacksonville at a better time. The Jags have a short week, playing an away game on MNF tonight, and then with the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday and travelling up north on the weekend, the Bills should have a 'freshness' advantage.

I think this is true. However, they were dominated by Michigan. They were dominated for three quarters by Michigan State. They needed a last minute TD to defeat a pretty average UCLA team at home. Going into the season, it was easy to see that the meat of ND's schedule was front-loaded. That was the stretch they had to escape unscathed, and then they could coast into the USC game. Well, they didn't escape. And while it's true they have gotten things rolling, it's tough to throw previous impressions out the window, when the teams they've 'gotten it rolling' against have been Purdue, Stanford, UCLA, Navy, UNC, Air Force, and Army, with only Navy and Air Force on the road. Personally, I've always had them ranked pretty high, for whatever that's worth. An offense like theirs is never out of a game, as the Spartans know. They have one chance left to stake their claim for the title game, and I'm sure they'll show up. They desperately needed USC to be undefeated for this week's matchup; as it stands, even with a victory, I can't see ND jumping both Michigan and the SEC champ to slide into the title game.

Here's the last 15 games decided by 3 points or less. Not pretty: 2006 @ Hou 24-21 W @ Ind 17-16 L @ Det 20-17 L @ N.E. 19-17 L 2005 @ Mia 24-23 L 2004 @ NYJ 16-14 L @ Oak 13-10 L vs Jax 13-10 L 2003 @ Ten 28-26 L vs Ind 17-14 L vs Hou 12-10 L 2002 @ KC 17-16 L 2001 @ Atl 33-30 L vs N.E. 12-9 L vs Car 25-24 W

Did you know: The Bills had lost 13 straight games that were decided by 3 points or less? That is an NFL record. Their last victory in a game decided by such a small margin was in 2001, when they defeated the Carolina Panthers 25-24. That streak ended today with the 24-21 victory in Houston. Did anyone know about this streak, or the fact that it was a record? I didn't, but I'm glad it's over.

I'm pretty gassed. Since I graduated in '01 I've made it out to at least one game each year. Last year, I was kinda bummed going in because it was 'only' the Fresno State game- and the only reason I went to that one was because I was heading down to SD the next day for the Bills game. Then it turns out to be an amazing game, with Bush going off. I'm sure this one will be just as crazy. Teams have been moving on SC's defense, but they've managed to get the timely sack or turnover. If Quinn and ND can avoid mistakes, they should be able to put up some points. I expect the Trojans to do the same. I know the Irish want this one bad, and USC has everything to play for as well. I can't wait for Saturday....

I'm not really sure what to make of this. I guess I'll be able to assess things better after the USC-ND game next week. I only have two points for consideration about USC- 1) Their offense was not fully healthy when they went through their stretch of close wins and then the loss to Oregon St. They were missing either Jarrett or Smith for those games. Since about 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter against the Beavers, the offense has been clicking. However, UM was missing Manningham for a stretch and didn't falter. 2) USC is young. They have a rotation of 3 freshman tailbacks. Their QB is a redshirt junior but is seeing his first real action this year. Compare that with Ohio State, Michigan, Florida, and ND, who have all had their core offensive players in place for 3+ years. It makes sense that it took USC a while to gel. At this point in the season, the 'young' excuse doesn't fly- but USC appears to have found some of the explosiveness that has defined their recent teams. The Trojans seem to be in the driver's seat, and if they perform against ND and UCLA, they should jump into the #2 spot. UM made their case for a rematch, and while they are most definitely worthy, I don't want to see that game. They played as 1 vs. 2 on November 18th; I'm not sure I care to see it again 50 days (!!!) later on January 8th. Their in-season game feels so pure, and means the world. Something about playing in Arizona would diminish that, at least for me. There's still a lot of football left, and there are still 4 or 5 teams alive to face Ohio State. However it shakes out, each of those 4-5 teams controlled their own destiny at some point, and those left out will have to live with the results. I fly out Friday morning for the USC-ND game....EXCITED

Out like a boner in sweatpants.

No worries man, you were pumped about your squad, nothing wrong with that. Cincy, at 5-5 (2-3 in the vaunted Big East) is not a bad team at all, from what I could tell the two times I watched them. And Rutgers was nowhere near the 7th best team in the country the two times I watched them. They are a decent squad, but the top teams in the country would school them. I know people would've bitched if an undefeated BCS team was left out of the title game, but IMO, that would've been a sign that the BCS works. Ohio State would beat Rutgers by 25. In the meantime, my alma mater is having their own problems....

You're dead to me JSP! Where was BotD when we needed her? Now a little competition comes along and you think you can just reclaim your market share? Not so fast, pal!