2021 College Football Discussion and Pick'em Thread

[NewYorkExpress]

Wow... Fresno State leads #11 Oregon 24-21 in Eugene, roughly halfway through the 4th Quarter.

[NewYorkExpress]

#18 Iowa running away with this one against #17 Indiana 31-3.

Meanwhile, #11 Oregon survives against Fresno State 31-24.

[Santander]

#18 Iowa running away with this one against #17 Indiana 31-3.

Everyone knew Indiana was overrated based on "almost" (but not really) beating Ohio State last season. Still, I don't think anyone predicted the game to be this lopsided.

[Хahar 🤔]

Looks like Oklahoma will hold on.  Meanwhile, UConn football continues to circle the drain, losing to Holy Cross 38-28.

UConn has assembled a remarkably soft schedule, with games against three of the absolute worst teams in FBS (Vandy, Middle Tennessee, UMass), two FCS opponents (Holy Cross and Yale), and a handful of teams in the bottom half of FBS (Fresno, Purdue, Army, Wyoming). I'm not sure what Houston will be this season, but it's very possible they only play two teams above .500. Going winless against that slate would be a remarkable feat.

They also play Clemson.

At this point, as far as I can tell, the sole purpose of Connecticut football is to take buy games to pay off the debt the program has incurred. I don't know why any high school kid with a CAA scholarship offer would go to Connecticut.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I told you Penn State is legit. They could (like, 30% chance) beat Ohio State.

Watching that game, I had a stronger impression that neither was legitimate, but Penn State clearly had a higher ceiling. Definitely not the best team they've had in recent memory (2016-2018 all significantly better). But then again, neither is Ohio State. 30% is fair. They'll take a loss at some point. It's more a question if they will lose twice and/or if one is Penn State.

[NewYorkExpress]

I told you Penn State is legit. They could (like, 30% chance) beat Ohio State.

If Penn State goes undefeated, they could make the playoff.

That said, I think, they probably lose to Ohio State, Michigan and Auburn, and I wouldn't be shocked if they lost to Iowa too.

[Хahar 🤔]

I was not impressed by Penn State. There was a huge athletic mismatch all day between Penn State's receivers and Wisconsin's secondary, but they didn't take advantage of that much at all. I don't know if that was because James Franklin is a lousy coach or because Sean Clifford can't make the throws, but I think it's some of both. I don't think they'll stand a chance against Ohio State. Honestly, that game made me feel good about Maryland's chances to beat Penn State again, even though the only reason Maryland is beating West Virginia now is that West Virginia absolutely does not want to win.

[Donerail]

North Carolina is obviously much better than Vanderbilt, but you can make a case for anyone else in the SEC beating them. The lower half teams in the SEC tend to recruit as well as UNC or better, and put a similar number of players in the NFL draft. And I didn't say UNC would be last in the SEC, just 11th or worse if they were the SEC's 15th team.

I'm going to go ahead and say that Carolina is better than Mississippi State. This is just really bleak.

[NewYorkExpress]

#21 Texas with an easy win against #23 Louisiana 38-18.

Meanwhile, #7 Iowa State just barely avoids being embarrassed, with a 16-10 win over Northern Iowa.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Terrific defensive struggle in Charlotte.  Georgia leads Clemson 7-0 at the half, the only score coming on a pick six (Georgia also had a FG attempt bounce off the upright).  Clemson has exactly one rushing yard so far.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

Alabama is probably going to win it all again this year.

[Хahar 🤔]

North Carolina is obviously much better than Vanderbilt, but you can make a case for anyone else in the SEC beating them. The lower half teams in the SEC tend to recruit as well as UNC or better, and put a similar number of players in the NFL draft. And I didn't say UNC would be last in the SEC, just 11th or worse if they were the SEC's 15th team.

I'm going to go ahead and say that Carolina is better than Mississippi State. This is just really bleak.

I wonder where Louisiana Tech would finish in the SEC.

[7,052,770]

North Carolina is obviously much better than Vanderbilt, but you can make a case for anyone else in the SEC beating them. The lower half teams in the SEC tend to recruit as well as UNC or better, and put a similar number of players in the NFL draft. And I didn't say UNC would be last in the SEC, just 11th or worse if they were the SEC's 15th team.

I'm going to go ahead and say that Carolina is better than Mississippi State. This is just really bleak.

Mississippi State plays NC State next week, so we'll get a better data point to answer that question. I think NC State is approximately as good as UNC, maybe a little better or worse.

I wonder where Louisiana Tech would finish in the SEC.

I mean, is there any real doubt that they'd be 14th (ahead of only Vanderbilt)? I guess if Mississippi State finishes somewhere in the middle you could make an argument for a little higher.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

Vandy losing to Eastern Tennessee

[GeorgiaModerate]

UConn-Vandy should be fun.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I-L-L!

Oh, I'm sorry I guess that Northern Illinois beating a P5 team on the road, and Illinois losing to a borderline top 100 team that's never won a bowl game at home. Wonder how that 48% probability of bowl eligibility will change overnight.

[Donerail]

North Carolina is obviously much better than Vanderbilt, but you can make a case for anyone else in the SEC beating them. The lower half teams in the SEC tend to recruit as well as UNC or better, and put a similar number of players in the NFL draft. And I didn't say UNC would be last in the SEC, just 11th or worse if they were the SEC's 15th team.

I'm going to go ahead and say that Carolina is better than Mississippi State. This is just really bleak.

Mississippi State plays NC State next week, so we'll get a better data point to answer that question. I think NC State is approximately as good as UNC, maybe a little better or worse.

I don't know how you could come to that conclusion. Carolina is currently 18th in the Massey composite, which seems fair. NC State is 45. To put that into SEC terms, it's roughly the gap between LSU and Kentucky.

Edit: though that gap may not be that large, LSU...

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

North Carolina is obviously much better than Vanderbilt, but you can make a case for anyone else in the SEC beating them. The lower half teams in the SEC tend to recruit as well as UNC or better, and put a similar number of players in the NFL draft. And I didn't say UNC would be last in the SEC, just 11th or worse if they were the SEC's 15th team.

I'm going to go ahead and say that Carolina is better than Mississippi State. This is just really bleak.

Mississippi State plays NC State next week, so we'll get a better data point to answer that question. I think NC State is approximately as good as UNC, maybe a little better or worse.

I don't know how you could come to that conclusion. Carolina is currently 18th in the Massey composite, which seems fair. NC State is 45. To put that into SEC terms, it's roughly the gap between LSU and Kentucky.

The SEC's perenially beloved FPI also loves NC State because of their performance yesterday. They may jump across the board, but they won't move one spot ahead of UNC on more commonly used metrics.

[Santander]

Purdue-Oregon State lived up to my hype for weeks that it was the biggest game of the week. Massive game for the Big Ten that Illinois (anyone still going to claim they're good?) kinda spoiled.

Also, Iowa State was even more overrated than Indiana. They shouldn't be within a mile of the top 10.

[7,052,770]

North Carolina is obviously much better than Vanderbilt, but you can make a case for anyone else in the SEC beating them. The lower half teams in the SEC tend to recruit as well as UNC or better, and put a similar number of players in the NFL draft. And I didn't say UNC would be last in the SEC, just 11th or worse if they were the SEC's 15th team.

I'm going to go ahead and say that Carolina is better than Mississippi State. This is just really bleak.

Mississippi State plays NC State next week, so we'll get a better data point to answer that question. I think NC State is approximately as good as UNC, maybe a little better or worse.

I don't know how you could come to that conclusion. Carolina is currently 18th in the Massey composite, which seems fair. NC State is 45. To put that into SEC terms, it's roughly the gap between LSU and Kentucky.

All of the computer rankings are basically made up right now. (I realize they incorporate prior year stuff and "coaching" factors, but come on.)

We'll have a good idea by the end of the year if UNC is better than at least 5 SEC teams or not. I suspect the answer is No, but I happily admit I was wrong if they are.

PS: I've never heard "Carolina" refer to UNC before. I hear the team often referring to South Carolina in a college football context. I wonder if that's an SEC peculiarity.

[Donerail]

LSU getting run out of the Rose Bowl — this is getting out of hand. Coach O might get fired this season.

[Santander]

Harry's "SEC has 13 top teams" argument not looking so good...

[Хahar 🤔]

PS: I've never heard "Carolina" refer to UNC before. I hear the team often referring to South Carolina in a college football context. I wonder if that's an SEC peculiarity.

I find this (almost literally) incredible! I do remember that I realized I had spent a lot of time in the South when I found myself using "USC" to refer to South Carolina.

LSU getting run out of the Rose Bowl — this is getting out of hand. Coach O might get fired this season.

One wonders if this is why Texas A&M gave Jimbo Fisher that monster extension; he had definitely been making eyes at Louisiana State back when he was at Florida State.

[7,052,770]

Harry's "SEC has 13 top teams" argument not looking so good...

Wut

I said that the SEC has 10 teams better than North Carolina, which is up in the air [and probably right]. I intentionally left myself an out for Vanderbilt and even bought myself 3 more, a total scam on the anti-SEC people (!).

I can't imagine that North Carolina would be favored against LSU if they were playing next week, as embarrassing as this performance is for them. They may be one of the 3 additional SEC schools not better than North Carolina.

[7,052,770]

PS: I've never heard "Carolina" refer to UNC before. I hear the team often referring to South Carolina in a college football context. I wonder if that's an SEC peculiarity.

I find this (almost literally) incredible! I do remember that I realized I had spent a lot of time in the South when I found myself using "USC" to refer to South Carolina.

That's really interesting. You live/lived in Georgia, right? Did you discuss football a lot with Georgia fans, especially in, say, 2019, when a 4-8 "Carolina" team came into Athens and beat them?

Or I wonder if "Carolina" is just an SEC West thing?