Monday, November 14, 2011

The Guru's BlogPoll (Week 11)

The Guru's BlogPoll ballot, with notes below:

* Both Stanford and Boise State too their obligatory drops after losing on Saturday, but I cut Stanford a bit more slack because of the competition. Keep in mind that Arkansas lost by 24 points to Alabama and yet is still in the top five. Stanford lost by 23 to Oregon.

* Houston gets a slight bump but the Cougars will now be tested, going into the toughest part of their schedule with games against SMU (which beat TCU) and Tulsa (whose only losses were to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Boise State) left. A sweep of those games will land Houston in the C-USA title game against potentially 11-1 Southern Miss. The Cougs have a lot of work to do to stay unbeaten.

* Oklahoma was idle but dropped two spots. Of all the teams in the top 10, the Sooners by far have the worst loss. They were beaten by a Texas Tech team (in a game that actually wasn't that close) that went on to lose by an average of 42 points in its next three games. That really can't be so easily overlooked.

* Cincinnati remains the only Big East team on the ballot. But with the season-ending injury to QB Zach Collaros, it's only a matter of time before the Bearcats take a dive.

* New teams that made the ballot this week: Notre Dame, Florida State.

* Conference-by-conference tally: SEC (5), Big Ten (5), Big 12 (3), Pac-12 (3), ACC (3), C-USA (2), MWC (2), Big East (1), Independent (1).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I understand the desire to drop OU because of the horrible loss to Texas Tech, but 11 seems too low. OU also has some of the best wins, including many against other top 25 teams. One fluky loss, with 3 top defensive players out, and very late at night after a long weather delay doesn't, in my opinion, warrant such a drop. I'm curious if they beat OSU, how much that will move them up (or will that just be evidence of how bad OSU really was?).

Anonymous said...

It makes a lot of sense that boise is way ahead of TCU....NOT.

CrimsonCorner said...

The SEC is like no other league...not in strength, style of play or overall quality of athletes. All conferences have great teams and players, just not as many as the SEC where football rules.


DEFENSE rules in the SEC. It affects our offenses. It makes good offenses look bad at times. It is hard to find equity in comparing an SEC offense that has an SEC schedule playing ALL tough SEC type defenses to conclusively label an offense as good or not good.


Just look at a few SEC defenses as well as other notable team defenses thru 11/13/11

NATIONAL TOTAL TEAM DEFENSE LEADERS:


1. Alabama 181 ypg

2. LSU 253 ypg

4. Georgia 273 ypg

7. S Car 282 ypg



4 of the Top 10 in the nation are SEC Defenses



Penn St is #8

Florida is #12

Vandy is #22

Kent State is #25



Does that contribute as to WHY SEC teams get slowed down offensively?



Alabama played 5 out of the top 25 defensive teams so far this year....



Not one other team the talking heads are trying to elevate above Alabama for BCS consideration has played anywhere near this many.



Quote:Even Miss St is #40 in total defense & if you think thats no big deal, then take a look at the folowing teams that are BCS notables or recent factors in wins/losses affecting BCS talk:


Oklahoma is #46 in total defense


Oregon is #63 in total defense.....wow.... how "unimpressive"?


Kansas St: "Highly thought of victory" if you beat them.....but is #82...pretty sad


Oklahoma State flops in @ #101 .... NC contender?



Quote:So, the question is.... Who do these teams beat up on?


The likes of:


Texas is the anomaly at #14


Missouri ranked #73


Texas aTm ranked #90


Iowa St. ranked #91


Baylor ranked #110


Texas Tech ranked #113


Kansas is dead last and ranked #120 ...How can any major conference member be this bad on defense? .....you start to wonder!


The above are just examples.

The offenses that play in those leagues where there are no defenses will always seem like they are elite when the real facts are that they play crazy lousy defenses!

CrimsonCorner said...

Today, I heard one noted National Analyst say, "the SEC would NOT be BCS Championship material because they have NO offenses"... HA !

LSU whipped Oregon with 40 points ! And NO, LSU isn't even considered a great offensive team...why? Because they play in a "mans league" where defense rules ! Its a different STYLE.

The SEC has mowed down the BCS wannabes 5 years in a row now keeping the National Title in the SEC for a reason...we play defense. The closest thing to a moderate defense winning the SEC was *U in 2010, ranked #54 in the Nation.

My position is that anyone that wants to be critical of the SEC or even overly critical of Alabama should also put the league we play in, the style we play into the equation. Otherwise, the only way to compare is on the field & that evaluation says that the Florida's, Lsu's Alabama's & even the Barn......as SEC representatives TRUMP all the fluff & fold offenses ...if winning the games have any meaning as a fact to detractors....


Sorry for the inclusion of AJ & our OC & offense in support, but I just think that judgement of our offense should be put into a fair perspective as to the type league we are in.. I agree with everyone that believes AJ needs to keep improving, Coach MAc needs to squeeze a bit more consistency out of what we have, & our offense needs to execute better. Thats fair as Alabama aspires to be excellent...not just pretty good, etc....

But I really think we should keep our overall offense in perspective to the tough league we play in....You put Oklahoma State in the SEC and they will look a lot less productive as well. Same for Oregon. Weeden @ OK St cant pass as well playing an SEC defense, running for his life & Oregon already gave up 40 pts to a poor LSU offensive team. I guess in "that league" "only" allowing 40 pts is considered a defensive gem!

If you put Alabama's offense in the Big 12, Pac 14, Big 10 or ANY other league and we mow those guys down.

Didn't we show an offense in the bowl game against Co Big 10, Mich State? LSU & Alabama both would make "those offensive coordinators puke up their fancy playbooks "after we showed them SEC style defense"......ask Texas....ask Colt McCoy what it feels like to play Alabama.......ask anyone outside the SEC how easy their offense "works".......when playing a good SEC team.

Im a little fired up as I hate for politics in voters or talking heads to discount the SEC for any personal reasons as we have earned the right to be called the best with our post season play & particularly for winning BCS Titles the past 5 years in a row.........on the field.



BTW, ALABAMA IS RANKED 30th in TOTAL OFFENSE!

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