Oregon, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M

[charlie and algernon]

Buh Bye, thanks for playing!

[joeybee12]

1. But NOT Notre Dame, praise Jebus!

Thing is, the powers that be will bend over backwards to still get Bama to the playoffs...it's gonna be worse than the BCS!

[charlie and algernon]

2. ESPN's gotta be pissed

First they lose the Yanks and Sox in the MLB Playoffs, now they may have to deal with a Notre Dame-Baylor National Championship.

[joeybee12]

3. ND will be a draw, even you have to admit!

Not so sure about Baylor...



ND plays Florida State pretty soon...they better play better than they have recently!

[charlie and algernon]

4. Oh I love Notre Dame, I hope Notre Dame beats the crap out of FSU

But ESPN loves the SEC and they'll be beside themselves if God's Chosen Conference doesn't get into the championship game.

[joeybee12]

5. A lot of panicking at ESPN right now...

GOOD!

[Elwood P Dowd]

11. Its also the NFL's chosen conference.

Ask any NFL coach or scout the following question:

"What is the best conference in college football?"

Before the word football comes out of your mouth they will say SEC. Just look at the NFL rosters and recent drafts. BTW, what happened the last time Notre Dame or a Big Ten team played the best from the SEC in the BCS NC game? It wasn't even close.

The SEC is not going to win the NC every single year, but they did recently win 7 in a row and were only 13 seconds from winning an 8th. Even that loss was to a team located in the heart of SEC country in Florida State from the ACC. Florida State turned down an offer to join the SEC in 1992 because they felt they had much more easy schedule playing in another league, the ACC.

The only problem with the SEC is that all the top teams this year, except for possibly Georgia, are in the Western Division. The Eastern Division teams mostly suck this year. The West will beat up each other to the point that the best team might end up 11-2 and not make the final four. That same 11-2 team could probably go 13-0 in some of the other Top 5 conferences and make the cut. I don't think there is any doubt they would do it in the Big 10, which is the weakest its been in my 50+ years of following college football.

No, the SEC is not going to win the NC every single year or dominate the bowl games every single year. However, they will and do consistently put out the most outstanding and talented teams every single year, with one or two of the best capable of playing for or winning the NC. They also turn out the most future NFL players on a regular basis. Hate the South all you want, but that's just the facts.

[JonLP24]

7. I don't think they care about the recent results

it may mean more people tuning into the highlight shows but I'm not following Notre Dame being a disappointment since they seem to have a lot of coverage devoted to them and have a huge national fan base. In any case, Alabama wasn't my pick to win the SEC based on their inexperienced, soft defense but there are other SEC teams in the mix. No doubt undefeated Mississippi moves up several slots.

However I get tired of ESPN selling the same teams. UCLA's QB Hundley was injured against Texas, made the front page while Taylor Kelly injured the same night only made local news. Routine national reports to Hundley's injury while I had to follow AZCentral/sports (I prefer it for local sports coverage anyways) to see that Hundley ended up being available while Taylor Kelly (he is one of the active leaders in pass efficiency and is still out against USC so it isn't middle-of-the-pack QB that they're aren't reporting on or commentating on how it affects a Pac-12 title contender. Pac-12 sucks for coverage, a lot of games end near midnight Pacific time, unless it is a LA school or someone with establish success such as Stanford and Oregon. Even losing Notre Dame teams had coverage--guess which teams play each other next month?

On edit - I'm glad I don't have cable because I dread what kind of reporting & commentary has been done for the Arizona Cardinals which is a team that is rarely shown in outside markets. Typically Arizona subtract Yuma and NE Navajo reservation & the base area for the other team is usually how it is every weekend. This game against Denver will probably be shown in other markets and Denver has quite a reach. They have some Midwest and Mountain states as their base market.

[TexasTowelie]

10. The Catholics vs. The Baptists

Any clue as to which team the Atheists & Agnostics group will cheer for if that ends up being the national championship game?

[KamaAina]

12. The Catholics vs. the Baptists?

I have long thought that they, BYU, TCU, BC, etc. should form the Big Guy Conference.

[KamaAina]

13. I'm pretty sure a couple of one-loss teams will make the playoff

Rarely, if ever, are there three unbeatens in FBS.

[joeybee12]

14. It'll be a 2-loss SEC team and the jerks at ESPN

will all touch themselves inappropriately.

[JonLP24]

6. I expect those a couple of those team to be back in the mix

Hopefully not Oregon. I like Alabama's physical style, they still run the I-formation! How can I dislike Alabama? I don't know how good Alabama actually is but losing a couple of defenders at key positions and only returning a few starters overall can't help and looks like they may have to rely more on first year starter Blake Sims who actually is doing a good job despite the recent pick. West Virginia cost themselves late in the opener but it is different seeing Alabama's D look soft.

I don't know anything about Texas A&M but the next matchup w/ Alabama should jump start the victor back into the discussion while Oklahoma seems to be in the same boat, narrow defeat on the road to a ranked opponent.

Meanwhile I'm watching and hoping Arizona State can climb back into the top 25 w/ a win over USC rafter dropping all the way out to a ranked loss to UCLA (Pac-12 teams seem to take a bigger hit than SEC teams) They were without Taylor Kelly in that game.

[JonLP24]

9. Arizona vs UCLA is looking more and more interesting

Arizona State just threw a 67-yard TD pass after a key defensive stop (wide open USC receiver also dropped a touchdown).

The Sun Devils haven't won at the Coliseum since '99, they need this one bad it is too bad they have to do it without Kelly and USC appears to be talented w/ shifty playmakers. Difference here from the UCLA game is D, so far USC hasn't scored on offense (special teams so far).

College football playoff considerations both Arizona & UCLA are undefeated so far, Arizona was unraked due to their consistently weak non-conference schedule. Arizona has USC before while UCLA has Oregon before that match-up.

For South title considerations Arizona State has Stanford and a road test @ Washington before the "Duel in the Desert". Meanwhile USC is inside the 5 after a long reception by USC receiver. USC doesn't appear to have many major tests after the Arizona game before their rivalry game vs UCLA. They already defeated Stanford which is one of the 2 dreaded North opponents for South teams.

USC just scored. Wow, looks like at-least 4 teams have a good shot at the South title when preseason predictions had it UCLA w/ only Arizona State as a threat.