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  1. #1
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    Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Before you all hate on Phil Steele, this is his projection for the AP preseason top 25, not what he personally ranks the teams:
    http://www.philsteele.com/Blogs/2015/APR15/DBApr27.html

    I counted NINE SEC teams --- Bammer (3), Barner (9), UGA (10), Ole Miss (12), LSU (14), Mizz (19) Arky (20), Miss St (21), Rocky Top (24). That sounds about right, because the AP voters would rank all 14 if their conscience wasn't in the way: Durrr, shouldn't this be a national poll durr?

    To be fair, the Big 12 has two in the top four, so the playoff projection might make up for last year's end of season slight (TCU at 2, Baylor at 4)

    BUT... the Sooners have fallen to No. 22. We're still ranked, yes, but our reputation took a huge hit last season.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    I actually didn't think the big12 got slighted and I had the same top 4 in the playoffs (in a slightly different order). And it had nothing to do with the lack of CCG.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    The Big 12 was very, very close to have two teams in the playoffs. All it would have taken was Wisconsin's running back acting like a first round NFL prospect and Florida State finally getting upset. Neither happens, so Baylor and TCU were left out. Tough sheet. It's the chance we took and it didn't pay off... but it very well could in future seasons.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Quote Originally Posted by BoulderSooner79 View Post
    I actually didn't think the big12 got slighted and I had the same top 4 in the playoffs (in a slightly different order). And it had nothing to do with the lack of CCG.
    Looks like we'd better hope that's the case:

    http://espn.go.com/college-football/...-talk-hold-now
    Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Quote Originally Posted by Salt City Sooner View Post
    Looks like we'd better hope that's the case:

    http://espn.go.com/college-football/...-talk-hold-now
    Trying to have a CCG with 10 teams is moronic.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Quote Originally Posted by BoulderSooner79 View Post
    Trying to have a CCG with 10 teams is moronic.
    Agree totally, but IF (& I say if because we weren't in the room w/ the committee, not to mention we only have a 1 year sample size) the lack of one is actually being used against us in that voting room, then we'd better get with the program & get it installed, IMO. There's always the risk that whatever team we have in contention for the playoff gets upset in said CCG, but if the committee is going to hold the lack of one against us to start with, how big really was that risk in the first place?
    Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Quote Originally Posted by Salt City Sooner View Post
    Agree totally, but IF (& I say if because we weren't in the room w/ the committee, not to mention we only have a 1 year sample size) the lack of one is actually being used against us in that voting room, then we'd better get with the program & get it installed, IMO. There's always the risk that whatever team we have in contention for the playoff gets upset in said CCG, but if the committee is going to hold the lack of one against us to start with, how big really was that risk in the first place?
    Being OU biased, I'd leave it alone. If OU wins the conference undefeated, they're in. If they have 1 loss and are tied with other teams out there, they are most likely in. Baylor would have been in last season had they played 1 decent P5 team OOC and that's on them. TCU got tons of credit for playing a slightly above average Minnesota. They probably would have gotten in with 1 loss had they had the head to head win like BU did. Bottom line is the conference needs to offer up an elite team with a resume to support it. Came close last season, but no cigar. But I really don't give a crap about other conference teams.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Remember when we used to whine and complain that the Big Ten had an unfair advantage by not playing a CCG? This is going to be a cyclical argument. This year it's viewed as a disadvantage, and everybody wants to have a CCG. At some point in the next few years, it will work to the Big XII's advantage, and other conferences will try to not have to play a CCG.

    The real disadvantage was that TCU and Baylor were fighting for the spot instead of OU and Texas. Let's be honest, though, Baylor had no business in the playoffs. We all know they would have **** the bed like they did against UCF and MSU. TCU would have taken Bama to the woodshed, though.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Quote Originally Posted by Eielson View Post

    The real disadvantage was that TCU and Baylor were fighting for the spot instead of OU and Texas. Let's be honest, though, Baylor had no business in the playoffs. We all know they would have **** the bed like they did against UCF and MSU. TCU would have taken Bama to the woodshed, though.
    I disagree. BU should have beaten a very good MSU team and had to expel a couple of brain farts late in the game to lose it. MSU only lost to the 2 teams in the BCS final and they had the Ducks beat in Oregon before they experienced cranial gas. I think TCU would have matched up well against Bama, but I think Bama's power running game would have prevailed. Just my opinion, but TCU got too much credit for trouncing a very discouraged Ole Miss team. The Rebels had about as much will to win at the end as we did against Clemson and had already been beaten 30-0 by Arkie. TCU on the other hand seemed very motivated to prove something to the committee. Kudos to Patterson for getting them prepared - not his fault Ole Miss wasn't equally motivated.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Quote Originally Posted by BoulderSooner79 View Post
    I disagree. BU should have beaten a very good MSU team and had to expel a couple of brain farts late in the game to lose it. MSU only lost to the 2 teams in the BCS final and they had the Ducks beat in Oregon before they experienced cranial gas. I think TCU would have matched up well against Bama, but I think Bama's power running game would have prevailed. Just my opinion, but TCU got too much credit for trouncing a very discouraged Ole Miss team. The Rebels had about as much will to win at the end as we did against Clemson and had already been beaten 30-0 by Arkie. TCU on the other hand seemed very motivated to prove something to the committee. Kudos to Patterson for getting them prepared - not his fault Ole Miss wasn't equally motivated.
    If that Baylor 4th quarter performance isn't "****ting the bed," then I don't know what is.

    I said TCU would beat Alabama before the playoffs even happened. There should be a thread somewhere around here if you want to verify. The results of the tOSU game, and the beatdown of Ole Miss that you don't seem to want to give them any credit for, only served to further solidify my opinion.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Also, MSU lost by 3 scores to Oregon. They played well for about 30 minutes, but that's not enough to say they "had them beat." We had a great first quarter against Baylor, but you won't hear any of us bragging about that.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    IMO, dude.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Quote Originally Posted by BoulderSooner79 View Post
    IMO, dude.
    And I gave mine.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Quote Originally Posted by Eielson View Post
    And I gave mine.
    Sorry, ran out of time to post. I'm just going by the eyeball test and I watched many of those games. I gave TCU plenty of credit, I just don't give it to Ole Miss. TCU had reason to be down after thinking they might get in to the CFP, but ended up below BU. Instead of being down they put in a stellar performance - not something I think Stoops could inspire in recent years. But they had their flaws too as their loss to BU was a total meltdown in a game they had won. And they were supposed to be the defensive big12 leader, but gave up 750 yards in that game. Many voter raised an eyebrow about *both* BU and TCU after that one since elite teams are not supposed to give up 60 points in a regulation game. Their close call against KU didn't help either, but most teams will have one like that in a season. Bottom line is I liked both TCU and BU, but I would not have voted either into the playoff last year. The team they should have displaced was FSU, but I just can't see anyone leaving out an undefeated team that was also defending champ, so I can't argue that one.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Not to beat a dead horse but... tee hee state of Texas. The power programs are now TCU and Baylor, not Texas and Texas A&M. When whorn and aggy are asked about recently accomplishments, the list is short but clever: Fired Mack Brown, second-best in SEC... head coaching pay.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Quote Originally Posted by badger View Post
    Not to beat a dead horse but... tee hee state of Texas. The power programs are now TCU and Baylor, not Texas and Texas A&M. When whorn and aggy are asked about recently accomplishments, the list is short but clever: Fired Mack Brown, second-best in SEC... head coaching pay.
    That's a dead horse that deserves a whack every once in a while.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    I think it was Steve Spurrier who joked that Kevin Sumlin is a great negotiator. He used NFL and USC speculation to get a max $5 million (or so) annual deal that is second only to Nick Saban in the SEC... a coach who actually competes for SEC division and conference titles. A coach who's actually won national championships. A coach who has his team in the college playoff discussion at the end of the regular season, not the beginning (actually, the beginning too).

    Thread-related, because neither UT nor aTm are in Steele's top 25. I really don't know if Charlie Strong will get whorn turned around. I was none too impressed with their spring game (which you can watch all summer long on The Longhorn Network)

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Quote Originally Posted by BoulderSooner79 View Post
    Sorry, ran out of time to post. I'm just going by the eyeball test and I watched many of those games. I gave TCU plenty of credit, I just don't give it to Ole Miss. TCU had reason to be down after thinking they might get in to the CFP, but ended up below BU. Instead of being down they put in a stellar performance - not something I think Stoops could inspire in recent years. But they had their flaws too as their loss to BU was a total meltdown in a game they had won. And they were supposed to be the defensive big12 leader, but gave up 750 yards in that game. Many voter raised an eyebrow about *both* BU and TCU after that one since elite teams are not supposed to give up 60 points in a regulation game. Their close call against KU didn't help either, but most teams will have one like that in a season. Bottom line is I liked both TCU and BU, but I would not have voted either into the playoff last year. The team they should have displaced was FSU, but I just can't see anyone leaving out an undefeated team that was also defending champ, so I can't argue that one.
    I wasn't that impressed with Ole Miss, either. I felt they were pretty good for a 9-3 team, but I wasn't sold on them as top 10. I didn't think anybody in the country was capable of beating them as badly as TCU did, though. Alabama certainly didn't, and neither could Miss. St. That was one of the most thorough late-season beatdowns I've ever seen of a top 10 team. I will admit, though, that the tOSU beatdown of Wisconsin was probably equally impressive (didn't catch much of it).

    I was also impressed with how thoroughly Baylor handled MSU. Baylor was clearly the better team, but then again, they were better than UCF as well. My argument wasn't so much that Baylor didn't earn a spot in the playoffs, but rather that they would have blown it.

    I don't feel that TCU or Baylor were slighted. They were just unfortunate. Not having a CCG worked against TCU and Baylor this year, but the odds aren't in favor of that being a continual trend. If we count TCU and Baylor as one team, then there were 5 teams fighting for 4 spots heading into CCG weekend. I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather be the team not playing. It was just the perfect storm (all 4 teams won, tOSU delivered one of the most epic beatdowns in recent CFB history, and Oregon was able to convincingly avenge their one loss).

    It's funny, though. This playoff system was supposed to clear things up and reduce the controversy, yet one year in we're already complaining about teams 5 and 6. I can't help but think there would have been less controversy had we let FSU and Alabama play for the championship.

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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    I'm not sure reducing controversy was a goal - if so, that's not realistic. Even with 64 teams, there is always an ESPN segment about who got screwed after hoops selection day. I think the goal is to keep more teams in the running and thus more total interest in the sport farther into the season. I do think there was a better outcome than the old system which would have most likely been FSU vs. Bama. FSU just didn't look that good in a many of their games against mediocre competition, but there was just no way to omit them, so having 4 teams really helped. After watching the first round, I felt like the Bama vs tOSU was the real championship game and the Rose bowl winner was going to get pounded and that turned out to be the case.

  20. #20
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    Re: Phil Steele's preseason top 25 projections

    Fair projections.

    Although, and I'm doom-and-gloom every year, but I don't see us finishing in the top-5. Top-12 is more likely.

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