Collier11
6/18/2009, 11:29 AM
Isnt he the the one that some of you say hates OU?
Here is the full article http://cfn.scout.com/2/873231.html
Q: The most overrated team will be ... ?
A: Ole Miss. The love has been off the charts following a surprise season. Everyone will have the Rebels somewhere in the top ten, and the Sporting News has them No. 5 overall, but I'm not buying in quite yet.
When gushing about Ole Miss, everyone seems to point out the relatively favorable schedule. First of all, ranking teams in the preseason should be about how good the teams are and not where they'll end up (this is the fundamental flaw in how many do rankings, but that's for another time). Second, the schedule is going to be tougher than it looks.
Don't assume wins at South Carolina and Vanderbilt to start the SEC season. The Commodores are going to be almost as strong as last year, and certainly better on offense, while the Gamecocks will be strong among the starting 22. Just because Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and LSU have to come to Oxford, that won't guarantee wins.
The defensive back seven will be decent, but not elite. It'll get helped immensely by the pass rush, while the offensive line isn't going to be consistent enough to hold up week in and week out against the top SEC defensive fronts. And then there's the pressure factor.
It's one thing to have no real expectations and to come out of the blue in a down year for the SEC, but it's another to have the bull's-eye on your back. Everyone in the SEC West will be better, and Tennessee and South Carolina, also on the schedule, will have improved. Of course, everyone points to the win over Florida as evidence of how good the team was, and will be, but 1) about six things had to happen, from just missed post patterns to a fourth down stop to a missed kick to a blown coverage, to beat the Gators. No excuses, Ole Miss made plays when the Gators didn't, but that was a strange sort of perfect storm upset. 2) Ole Miss lost the two games following the win in Gainesville.
Don't get me wrong, this is a very, very good team, but it's not among the five best in America, and for those who try to project, this won't turn out to be one of the five best in the country.
Four of my other top five overrated teams ...
2. Virginia Tech - Unless there's some semblance of a passing game unearthed over the next two months, the Hokies are going to get swarmed over by the Alabama run defense in the season-opener. The O line isn't good enough for the team to be in the top ten.
3. Boise State - I always get yelled at whenever I dare to suggest that playing in the WAC is the main reason for the great record over the years, but this isn't a top 15 based on talent with lines that aren't top 20-worthy and a suspect receiving corps. Would you take Boise State over Georgia, who's ranked lower in almost every preseason poll, on a neutral field in the season opener? Of course you wouldn't.
4. Ohio State - If you're going by what the record will be, OSU is a top ten team. It'll finish up 10-2, 9-3 at worst. If you're going by how good the team is going into the season, it belongs around 15-to-20.
5. Texas - It's all relative. Everyone feels bad about what happened to the Longhorns last year so they're the automatic No. 2 pick over Oklahoma. I have a gut feeling that the Sooners, rebuilt O line and all, are better, and I have another gut feeling (or maybe it's the burrito I ate) that there will be at least two losses (OU and Oklahoma State)
Here is the full article http://cfn.scout.com/2/873231.html
Q: The most overrated team will be ... ?
A: Ole Miss. The love has been off the charts following a surprise season. Everyone will have the Rebels somewhere in the top ten, and the Sporting News has them No. 5 overall, but I'm not buying in quite yet.
When gushing about Ole Miss, everyone seems to point out the relatively favorable schedule. First of all, ranking teams in the preseason should be about how good the teams are and not where they'll end up (this is the fundamental flaw in how many do rankings, but that's for another time). Second, the schedule is going to be tougher than it looks.
Don't assume wins at South Carolina and Vanderbilt to start the SEC season. The Commodores are going to be almost as strong as last year, and certainly better on offense, while the Gamecocks will be strong among the starting 22. Just because Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and LSU have to come to Oxford, that won't guarantee wins.
The defensive back seven will be decent, but not elite. It'll get helped immensely by the pass rush, while the offensive line isn't going to be consistent enough to hold up week in and week out against the top SEC defensive fronts. And then there's the pressure factor.
It's one thing to have no real expectations and to come out of the blue in a down year for the SEC, but it's another to have the bull's-eye on your back. Everyone in the SEC West will be better, and Tennessee and South Carolina, also on the schedule, will have improved. Of course, everyone points to the win over Florida as evidence of how good the team was, and will be, but 1) about six things had to happen, from just missed post patterns to a fourth down stop to a missed kick to a blown coverage, to beat the Gators. No excuses, Ole Miss made plays when the Gators didn't, but that was a strange sort of perfect storm upset. 2) Ole Miss lost the two games following the win in Gainesville.
Don't get me wrong, this is a very, very good team, but it's not among the five best in America, and for those who try to project, this won't turn out to be one of the five best in the country.
Four of my other top five overrated teams ...
2. Virginia Tech - Unless there's some semblance of a passing game unearthed over the next two months, the Hokies are going to get swarmed over by the Alabama run defense in the season-opener. The O line isn't good enough for the team to be in the top ten.
3. Boise State - I always get yelled at whenever I dare to suggest that playing in the WAC is the main reason for the great record over the years, but this isn't a top 15 based on talent with lines that aren't top 20-worthy and a suspect receiving corps. Would you take Boise State over Georgia, who's ranked lower in almost every preseason poll, on a neutral field in the season opener? Of course you wouldn't.
4. Ohio State - If you're going by what the record will be, OSU is a top ten team. It'll finish up 10-2, 9-3 at worst. If you're going by how good the team is going into the season, it belongs around 15-to-20.
5. Texas - It's all relative. Everyone feels bad about what happened to the Longhorns last year so they're the automatic No. 2 pick over Oklahoma. I have a gut feeling that the Sooners, rebuilt O line and all, are better, and I have another gut feeling (or maybe it's the burrito I ate) that there will be at least two losses (OU and Oklahoma State)