# NCAAF - The College Football Thread for 2018 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 3, 2018, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685 "2018-09-03T13:03:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/302 "2018-11-29T18:53:18Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > 72 is also the second-most points scored by a losing team (and another new Division I record); Chandron State beat Abilene Christian 76-73 in 3 overtimes in 2007. Nitpick: It’s ‘Chadron State’, not ‘Chandron’. And I remember this game because the son of a friend was playing at Chadron at the time. Danny Woodhead was the star running back of Chadron. Chadron was undefeated (11-0) going into the game, but trailed 49-20 entering the 4th quarter. They scored 17 points in the final 4:39 to tie the game at 56 and send it into overtime. When they scored in the 3rd OT to win, it was their first lead of the game. Woodhead scored 4 touchdowns in the game. [https://www.csc.edu/modules/news/public\_news/view/2182](https://www.csc.edu/modules/news/public_news/view/2182) ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/303 "2018-11-29T19:01:45Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > The “Fighting Illini” of Illinois: Why do they stink so bad? Illinois is definitely one of the most historically underachieving programs in NCAAF. They have major population centers to recruit from (Chicago and St. Louis) with plenty of football talent right in their backyard, and they have no in-state recruiting competition (Northwestern recruits differently from the other B10 schools due to their academics). Maybe it’s an issue of basketball being more popular among young people in Illinois (and Indiana for that matter, which would explain why Indiana and Purdue have never been football powerhouses), but I don’t buy that argument. Other midwestern schools like Notre Dame have recruited the Chicago area successfully for decades, so the talent is there. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/304 "2018-11-29T19:46:12Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > The “Fighting Illini” of Illinois: Why do they stink so bad? > > Yeah, Urbana-Champaign isn’t the greatest place for young people, but is it any worse than Columbus, Ohio or Ames, Iowa, for example? They have Lovie Smith who has NFL credentials and even made it to a Super Bowl once. What’s the deal? It’s like they don’t even belong in the Big Ten anymore. Maybe the MAC. Columbus is like 10 times bigger than Champaign. Anyway, Illinois must have basically no expectations of their football program. Lovie’s contracted was extended after a 4 win season, 9 wins total in his 3 years there. I think there was always a question of how interested or effective Lovie would be in recruiting. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/305 "2018-11-29T20:23:12Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Wonder if, had the LSU-Aggies game gone to something ridiculous like 20 or 30 overtimes, the officials would have suspended the game due to player exhaustion? Is that allowed? Perhaps, if both teams had reached that point. However, there are something like 100 players on an FBS football team (quite a few of them have to give the same number to two players; this is allowed, provided they aren’t both in the game at the same time), so they can go quite a way before they’re at that point. Now, a Division III game between two teams that probably don’t have that much business playing football in the first place, on the other hand, could get there. The rules say, “The referee may suspend the game temporarily when conditions warrant such action,” without going into any further details. However, the rules also say that if a game is suspended after overtime begins, the game is considered to have ended in a tie, unless a winner “must be determined,” in which case “conference policy” dictates what happens next (for interconference games, such as the playoffs, the home team’s conference’s rules apply). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/306 "2018-11-29T21:53:05Z")
Won’t it be fun if Alabama beats Georgia, Oklahoma squeaks by Texas and OSU blows out Northwestern? Imagine the moaning and whining over whether OK or OSU is more deserving to make the playoff (in the above scenario I’d expect the committee to select OSU\*). \*but from the standpoint of enjoying the angst, it’d be better if they took Oklahoma. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/307 "2018-11-29T22:40:58Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Perhaps, if both teams had reached that point. However, there are something like 100 players on an FBS football team (quite a few of them have to give the same number to two players; this is allowed, provided they aren’t both in the game at the same time), so they can go quite a way before they’re at that point. Now, a Division III game between two teams that probably don’t have that much business playing football in the first place, on the other hand, could get there. > > The rules say, “The referee may suspend the game temporarily when conditions > warrant such action,” without going into any further details. However, the rules also say that if a game is suspended after overtime begins, the game is considered to have ended in a tie, unless a winner “must be determined,” in which case “conference policy” dictates what happens next (for interconference games, such as the playoffs, the home team’s conference’s rules apply). There were quite a few totally clean players on both sides in the last few overtimes, and the guys who’d been playing the whole time were absolutely dead on their feet. I was starting to worry that we were going to start seeing a lot of injuries. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/308 "2018-11-29T22:51:55Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > Illinois is definitely one of the most historically underachieving programs in NCAAF. They have major population centers to recruit from (Chicago and St. Louis) with plenty of football talent right in their backyard, and they have no in-state recruiting competition (Northwestern recruits differently from the other B10 schools due to their academics). > > Maybe it’s an issue of basketball being more popular among young people in Illinois (and Indiana for that matter, which would explain why Indiana and Purdue have never been football powerhouses), but I don’t buy that argument. Other midwestern schools like Notre Dame have recruited the Chicago area successfully for decades, so the talent is there. Midwest ain’t football country; it’s all about the Gulf Coast. From the shores of Southern Georgia & Florida to about Abilene, Texas. That’s where you’ll find real football talent. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/309 "2018-11-29T23:35:08Z")
Nebraska’s season is done. We have the same 4-8 as last year. However, that record is deceiving: We finished 4-2. Those two losses? A total of 9 points in road games against Ohio State and Iowa (2 teams that both blew us out 56-14 at home last year). There’s a tad bit of optimism for Scott Frost’s second year. Alabama’s run might be over. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/310 "2018-11-30T00:00:21Z")
Being from Hawaii, everyone’s getting excited about the Heisman Trophy. 2018: Tua Tagovailoa 2014: Marcus Mariota 2012: Manti Te’o (2nd) The local radio stations broadcast Bama games, and apparently Tua’s brother is tearing it up at the high school level. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/311 "2018-11-30T02:12:25Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Midwest ain’t football country; it’s all about the Gulf Coast. From the shores of Southern Georgia & Florida to about Abilene, Texas. That’s where you’ll find real football talent. As a lifelong resident of the region you described, I agree for the most part. However, there are plenty of Midwestern schools that have been and still are very successful. There is no excuse for Illinois to be as underachieving as it has historically been. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/312 "2018-11-30T02:42:10Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > As a lifelong resident of the region you described, I agree for the most part. > > However, there are plenty of Midwestern schools that have been and still are very successful. There is no excuse for Illinois to be as underachieving as it has historically been. Yeah well let’s keep it real: there’s not enough football talent in Alabama to sustain that program’s dominance, which means they raid talent in other states. Now how the hell do you think they do that? Do you think they do so just because of the climate in Alabama? Is it because Tuscaloosa is an ocean paradise? Or is it because they’ve figured out how to, ahem, game the NCAA system and make the right people look the other way? Alabama steals players from Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. What do they serve in those athletic hall cafeterias in Tuscaloosa? One wonders. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/313 "2018-11-30T14:09:19Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Yeah well let’s keep it real: there’s not enough football talent in Alabama to sustain that program’s dominance, which means they raid talent in other states. Now how the hell do you think they do that? Do you think they do so just because of the climate in Alabama? Is it because Tuscaloosa is an ocean paradise? Or is it because they’ve figured out how to, ahem, game the NCAA system and make the right people look the other way? Alabama steals players from Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. What do they serve in those athletic hall cafeterias in Tuscaloosa? One wonders. You’re accusing Alabama of cheating? Oh my. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/314 "2018-11-30T15:07:21Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Yeah, Urbana-Champaign isn’t the greatest place for young people, but is it any worse than Columbus, Ohio or Ames, Iowa, for example? They have Lovie Smith who has NFL credentials and even made it to a Super Bowl once. What’s the deal? It’s like they don’t even belong in the Big Ten anymore. Maybe the MAC. Having lived in all three places, yes, it is worse. Columbus is a major metropolitan area; there’s plenty of everything there and the university is just a small segment of the community. Urbana-Champaign and Ames are rural towns with more limited options; the universities are a major part of those communities. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/315 "2018-11-30T16:02:29Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Having lived in all three places, yes, it is worse. Columbus is a major metropolitan area; there’s plenty of everything there and the university is just a small segment of the community. Urbana-Champaign and Ames are rural towns with more limited options; the universities are a major part of those communities. I don’t think this explains UofI’s ineptitude though. Plenty of schools located in podunk college towns have had more success than them (Penn State, Iowa, Kansas State are just a few that come to mind). Tuscaloosa, Clemson, Gainesville, etc. are just as much “rural towns with limited options” as Champaign/Urbana. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/316 "2018-11-30T16:08:40Z")
There is a thought Notre Dame will be forced to join the ACC for FB if they get left out of the CFP with an undefeated season or 1 loss season. It could be held against them that they don’t have to play the conference title game like the other conference winners. That’s not the case this year but it could happen in the future. They have agreed to play at least 5 ACC teams per year so they would need to add 3 more for full ACC membership. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/317 "2018-11-30T18:40:02Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > There is a thought Notre Dame will be forced to join the ACC for FB if they get left out of the CFP with an undefeated season or 1 loss season. It could be held against them that they don’t have to play the conference title game like the other conference winners. That’s not the case this year but it could happen in the future. > > They have agreed to play at least 5 ACC teams per year so they would need to add 3 more for full ACC membership. I think what really needs to happen is an 8 team playoff. And if/when that does happen, Notre Dame can comfortably stay independent. But (and I say this every year) right now there is basically no meaning for UCF to go undefeated and win their conference. For what? Just bump it up to 8 teams and I think that can be the end of that. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/318 "2018-11-30T19:10:53Z")
easy way to go to 8 playoff teams is to get rid of conference title games - they are just cash grabs. They just have to replace the money generated by the conference title games which may be a bit tricky. They would end up with co-champs for each conference with 2 divisions but that can also happen for other conferences . ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/319 "2018-11-30T20:11:12Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > easy way to go to 8 playoff teams is to get rid of conference title games - they are just cash grabs. They just have to replace the money generated by the conference title games which may be a bit tricky. They would end up with co-champs for each conference with 2 divisions but that can also happen for other conferences . Cash grabs are necessary due to Title IX, unless you want to see even more schools drop football altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/320 "2018-11-30T20:16:09Z")
Yeah, conferences want the title game because dollar bills of course. But really, they could do more harm than good. What if Pitt actually beats Clemson? The ACC is likely out of the playoff. I’m hoping Ohio State and Oklahoma both lose, unlikely as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685/321 "2018-11-30T21:32:00Z")
the conferences will get more cash from an 8 team playoff than from 4 teams - obviously it’s 4 more games. I would think that would offset loss of title games money. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaaf-the-college-football-thread-for-2018/820685.md?page=17)