Hey, college football fans, who's going to be MNC this year?

In My Humble Opinion
1

In Tennessee and Alabama (hell, the Southeast in general) football is king. The rivalries are bloodthirsty and all-consuming. I’m sure other conferences feel as strongly about their own prowess.

What I’m curious about is:

  1. Are you more excited about overall records of teams in your conference than in watching the actual games?

  2. Do you prefer TV coverage over being at the game itself?

  3. Do you have a team that you pull for even when they have no real chance of winning anything significant?

  4. Are you a real student of other teams’ players and coaches, or do you only know details about your own team?

  5. Which conference do you think has the strongest teams, top to bottom?

  6. Will you watch games of other teams in your conference as a preference to other nationally ranked teams?

(Feel free to add other relevant questions of your own.)

Mine:

  1. I hope Auburn can win a real (not just mythical) National Championship this season. But I will watch as many games as I can on TV and pull for them in any case.

  2. Definitely TV

  3. Yes, Auburn.

  4. I like knowing some details of other teams, but I’m mostly interested in the Auburn gang.

  5. SEC

  6. Yes, as a rule. If the nationally ranked team(s) are on Auburn’s schedule, I will watch them first.

2

Bump.

I can’t believe there are this few college football fans.

Is this a dead issue, then?

3

As a UK student, I’m just waiting for basketball season, when we get all you other SEC bastards back for the football asskickings.

4

Well, I didn’t reply earlier because I didn’t have good answers.

  1. I’m not a real stats person, so I enjoy games more than records.

  2. Heck yes. Last year we went to a Michigan game. Had a nice tailgate first, headed into the stadium, soaked in the fun of the huge crowd and the excitement, and then before the first quarter was over we left. We decided we’d had enough of The Big House experience to tide us over, and we watched the rest in comfort at home. We do this about every other year or so.

  3. My history has always been with pretty big-time teams, so generally, no. I still root for my team even when they have no bowl hopes, though.

  4. See number 1

  5. Hellifino

  6. Generally yes. I care about how our conference teams are doing in the regular season because they are our competitors, and in the bowl season because I’m rooting for them (not always OSU, that’s a hard one sometimes).

5

  1. Depends. I’m a die-hard Tennessee fan. I’ll watch some games like 'Bama and Auburn or Vandy and Kentucky (for some reason, I’m absolutely fascinated by Vandy/Kentucky. I think it was the first college ball game I ever attended.). The rest of the time I just want the conference to do well.

  2. Definitely not. There’s nothing like being at a ball game. It’s one of my favorite things in the universe and the biggest thing I’ll miss about college. sigh

  3. I’ll be rooting for the Packers this year. I also have a soft spot for Southern Miss.

  4. Hmm…I’d like to think I know a bit about other teams but I’m mostly a student of UT.

  5. SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, in that order. No surprises.

  6. Depends on the matchup. I’ll watch Texas and Oklahoma but for the most part I prefer SEC. South Carolina v. Arkansas is a more interesting matchup than most others.

6

Maybe it would have helped if you explained what MNC is. I’m guess from the body of your post it’s ‘Mythical National Champ’.

  1. I like watching the games.

  2. I prefer being at the game, bar none. It’s not just about the game itself, it’s about tailgating and being with 80,000 other people.

  3. Been doing it for years… Go Cocks!

  4. I’m not really a student of my own team, much less anyone elses.

  5. SEC of course.

  6. Yes, with the exception of two top 5 teams playing each other vs say the Vandy/UK high school game.

7

That’s what I assume as well. I encountered the term myself without a real definition, but had to guess that it meant “mythical” in the sense that college football championships are “awarded” rather than “won.” And if you examine the various awarding entities and the history of such, it really does become “mythical.”

Does it bother you that some people think of Southern Cal when they see USC?
I also think there are some misguided individuals who think UT has something to do with Texas!

8

  1. No. Is anybody?

  2. Yes.

  3. If by “winning anything significant,” you mean “winning more than two games in conference,” then yes - Temple and Kentucky. I also like Navy.

  4. I follow all of it.

  5. The SEC.

  6. No. I hate watching ACC teams play, for the most part. I’ll watch a lower-rung west coast or SEC game over, say, Miami-NC State. I’d never not watch a game between two top-10 teams, though, regardless of the other matchups, with the possible exception of Ohio State-Michigan. At the very least, like if FSU has a game at the same time as the Red River Shootout, or something, I’ll just flip back and forth.

9

I do the flip-back thing too if there are a lot of good games. VTech and Maryland is usually fun to watch. GAWD I cannot wait for football season. Nothing better than falling asleep on the couch watching colllege ball after a long morning in the yard.

10

1) Are you more excited about overall records of teams in your conference than in watching the actual games?

Depends. I’m a Michigan fan, and I like to watch the other Big Televen title contenders play conference games. So a game like Iowa vs. Wisconsin might be interesting, but Iowa vs. Indiana might not. In the latter case I’d probably just catch the score after the game.

2) Do you prefer TV coverage over being at the game itself?

Hell’s no. IMHO, there is no feeling like celebrating a touchdown with 100,000 other people.

[brag]My student ticket this year is in the fifth row.[/brag]

3) Do you have a team that you pull for even when they have no real chance of winning anything significant?

I know it’s a cliche, but yes. Michigan and whoever is playing Ohio State. :smiley: I also root for Bowling Green and Toledo (yeah, rivals, I know).

4) Are you a real student of other teams’ players and coaches, or do you only know details about your own team?

College football is my favorite sport of 'em all, so yes. I watch all the coverage I can stand.

5) Which conference do you think has the strongest teams, top to bottom?

Top to bottom? Then it probably has to be the SEC. That conference is a nightmare for any national title contender. LSU, Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, and now a Steve Spurrier-led South Carolina. Youch.

6) Will you watch games of other teams in your conference as a preference to other nationally ranked teams?

Yes, I’ll watch important Big Ten games before, say, Texas vs. Oklahoma.

I’ll tack on another question: Who do you think will win the Heisman? Leinart’s the obvious choice, but I’m gonna go with Marcus Vick. Despite limited experience and some problems off the field, he’s got all the ingredients to make a run at it.

11

  1. Easily the actual games. Though I’m really interested in how the revamped Big East will shake down this year.

  2. The only thing that compares to being at a college football game is playoff hockey. And then college football still wins. Nothing like being at the stadium when the parking lot opens.

  3. I’ll be a Pitt fan 'til the day I die. I may hate the administration and their refusal to grow the fan base at the expense of short-term greed, but they’re my team and nothing will ever change that. I also root for evil things to happen to Boston College, Miami, and Virginia Tech. Especially Boston College. Actually, I root for bad things to happen to the entire ACC. I think the reasons are obvious. I wouldn’t blame C-USA folks for doing the same.

4)I always know a bit amount about the other teams, but by no means a student.

  1. SEC, easily

  2. Oooh, that really depends. We’ve got some real dogs in our conference. It would depend on the matchup and it’s importance to the conference. I assure you that I’d pass on the UConn/Rutgers game.

12

  1. I’m a lifelong Nebraska fan, and I only cared how the Big 8/12 looked when Nebraska was good. When we were #1 in 1995, four top ten were from the Big 8!! Now that the Huskers have fallen on tough times, it’s not as much fun

  2. I prefer the game itself. The crowd, the hot dogs, the bands. Plus Hawaii vs USC is going to be a sellout. Always fun, even if the final score won’t be (if you’re a UH fan)

  3. See above about rooting for Hawaii vs USC. They say “any given Saturday”, but realistically, no one on UH’s team would even be recruited by USC.

  4. Only my teams (Nebraska and Hawaii). I may read about upcoming opponents in the newspaper, but that’s about it.

  5. Tie between SEC and Big 12 (the South mostly). Pac 10 is weakest, which is almost like spotting USC 8 wins before the season begins. What if Auburn or OU was in the Pac-10 last year? Reminds me of the ACC during FSU’s heyday.

  6. Always nationally ranked teams. Inter-conference games are always the most fun (like Texas-Ohio State this year). Sadly, a lot of the teams from the stronger conferences like the SEC and Big XII follow Kansas State’s type of non-conference schedule. I think the non-conf killed Auburn last year.

13

Substitue “LSU” for “Auburn,” and you’ve pretty much summed up my answer except for #2. I sure miss being in Tiger stadium while a student. TV is good, though. LSU seems to be on ESPN or ESPN2 a lot, if not one of the networks. If no TV, I’ll stream the game on the net.

14

Just to keep this thread from dying out, now that the football season is looming large, how do you feel about the pre-season polls? Does it make any sense to rate teams based on last year’s results? If so, why is Auburn rated so low and Oklahoma so high?

My take is that it’s just a way the sports writing establishment keeps people hooked on their opinions and “analysis.”

Is there a source that you trust to have unbiased and “accurate” opinions?

I will say that I have zero regard for the ESPN Gameday crew. Especially that old fart Lee Corso.

15

It makes zero sense to rate teams based on last year’s performance. The only reasonable way to do that is for individual teams that are returning a stunning amount of starters.

For college ball, I have no one source that I “trust.” I’d be thrilled to hear of anybody that does though.

16

  1. Are you more excited about overall records of teams in your conference than in watching the actual games? Yes, unless it’s my team.

  2. Do you prefer TV coverage over being at the game itself? Tossup

  3. Do you have a team that you pull for even when they have no real chance of winning anything significant? Yep. I’m an Arkansas Razorbacks fan.

  4. Are you a real student of other teams’ players and coaches, or do you only know details about your own team? I don’t know a lot of details of my team. I know basic lineups, significant players, coaches, etc.

  5. Which conference do you think has the strongest teams, top to bottom? SEC. All except a couple would be capable of winning other conferences.

  6. Will you watch games of other teams in your conference as a preference to other nationally ranked teams? Sometimes…I like to see them get beat!

Truth be told, though, I’m primarily an NFL fan.

17

  1. I usually don’t have the patience to sit through entire games, especially of teams I don’t feel invested in, so I most often just read the outcomes the next day.

  2. Greatly prefer TV coverage. My own food, my own bathroom, air conditioning, comfy seats, and the only drunken yahoo assholes I’m surrounded by are my own friends.

  3. Yea yea, I always root for the Gators, even though the Zook era was not kind to them (nor the end of the Spurrier era).

  4. I hardly even follow the Gators anymore. I know a few key players and coaches from “important” teams, but I’m mostly a fan because I graduated from UF and lived in Gainesville for seven years, not because I’m the hugest football fan in the world.

  5. SEC, without a doubt.

  6. As you can tell, I tend to not watch too much football. I like the social aspect of football season: the weather starts to get cool (even in Florida), and people come together to have cookouts or tailgate parties or meet at sports bars, and drink and watch the games and just have fun. I live in Orlando and my roommate is a major UCF fan and graduate, so I have a feeling I’ll be surrounded by far more UCF fans than UF fans this fall. And UCF sucks, but I am impressed by their loyalty.

18

Yes, but being a drunken yahoo asshole is SOOOOOO much fun.

19

*1) Are you more excited about overall records of teams in your conference than in watching the actual games?
*
What’s the fun in numbers? The entertainment is in the game.
*
2) Do you prefer TV coverage over being at the game itself?
*
Hell, no.
*
3) Do you have a team that you pull for even when they have no real chance of winning anything significant?
*
The University of (By-God) Texas, of course.
*
4) Are you a real student of other teams’ players and coaches, or do you only know details about your own team?
*
I know enough about who plays and coaches where to talk about it, and know what to expect from game to game. But I don’t obsess like many people I know. Until the season starts, I barely know who’s new at my own school.
*
5) Which conference do you think has the strongest teams, top to bottom?
*
Big XII South (we’ll forget about the other 6 teams). The SEC needs an attitude adjustment.
*
6) Will you watch games of other teams in your conference as a preference to other nationally ranked teams?
*
That depends. If OSU and A&M are playing a game that affect’s Texas’ conference standing, or if one of the teams playing is UT’s next opponent, or if the game determines which sacrificial lamb the North will send to the championship game, I’ll probably watch the conference game.

Only those of us who are right. :cool: ← burnt orange

20

You might find it interesting (I know I did), aktep, to check UTexas’s record against UTennessee, Auburn, and Vanderbilt. While UTexas has the edge against two of the stronger (at present) teams in the SEC, they have a miserable record against the (at present) doormat of the conference. Maybe the bold statement about the “attitude adjustment” needs to be re-examined? :smiley: