# Way too early College Football chatter **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 6, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504 "2014-07-06T23:24:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/41 "2014-07-31T19:57:54Z")
Thanks for all that, **That Don Guy**. I wouldn’t be all that surprised if we have to revisit your post at the end of the season, as it’s apt to be a classic example of Murphy’s Law when it’s all said and done. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/42 "2014-07-31T20:50:53Z")
My Nebraska Cornhuskers should have an interesting season. I recall in the late 80s and early 90s, we’d get stomped by Miami and Florida State. The games were usually in the Orange Bowl in Florida. So our excuse was “Get these teams to Lincoln and see how their fancy passing works in a Nebraska winter.” Well, we finally get to play Miami in Lincoln this year. In September, when it’s usually in the high 90s. Couldn’t we have shifted the schedule around a bit to bring the Hurricanes in November? Maryland and Rutgers are in the Big Ten. When Nebraska joined the Big Ten, I felt we had a historical and cultural connection. The two new schools feel like a marketing grab for DC and NYC. Why am I so bitter? They caused a conference re-alignment that took Michigan-Ohio State-Penn State off our schedule! Six straight four-loss seasons. I would like to call this Pelini’s lame-duck season. But it is impossible fire a 9-win coach and hope to find a replacement. On the bright side, we have a Heisman candidate running back in Ameer Abdullah. Despite Nebraska’s history, it’s been nearly 2 decades since I could utter that. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/43 "2014-08-01T14:05:19Z")
Maybe the title is getting old, because it’s [counting down from](http://countingdownto.com/countdown/444921)27 days now! Do your local TV listings show channels for your must-watch games picks yet? When does the first AP Poll come out? Will your team be in the Top 25? Has The Nip been called in your area yet? Have you dusted off your pom-poms yet? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/44 "2014-08-03T02:10:17Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Have you had this thought lately: now that the FBS division is up to 128 schools (a neat member in the powers of 2) would it make better sense to move the Top X-Number up to 32? Why 25 for so long? > > Isn’t it pretty close to a certainty that at least the Top 32 will have at least winning records when it’s all said and done? Not necessarily the Preseason Top 32, but the end-of-season batch? With the inclusion of out-of-division games in the win-loss records, can’t there be more than 64 Winning Teams in the FBS? > > Should we at SDMB instigate our own Top 32 so as to get ahead of the game? Now that [College Football Ranking Composite](http://masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm) and [Preseason Rankings Comparison](http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/preseason_comparison_2014.html) both include the Coaches Poll in their surveys, perhaps we can decide which of their top X-number could make up our SDMB Preseason Top 32? Ideas? Votes? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/45 "2014-08-15T11:49:16Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Maybe the title is getting old, because it’s [counting down from](http://countingdownto.com/countdown/444921)27 days now! > > Do your local TV listings show channels for your must-watch games picks yet? > > When does the first AP Poll come out? Will your team be in the Top 25? > > Has The Nip been called in your area yet? > > Have you dusted off your pom-poms yet? It’s 13 days now! Surely there’s something to say by now? # ========================================== [Who takes The College Football Belt away from Oklahoma? - The Game Room - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=712025) Who takes The College Football Belt away from Oklahoma? # Have you seen an update or a prediction for how the AP preseason looks? [http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fbs/associated-press](http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fbs/associated-press) ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/46 "2014-08-15T12:40:50Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > Maryland and Rutgers are in the Big Ten. When Nebraska joined the Big Ten, I felt we had a historical and cultural connection. The two new schools feel like a marketing grab for DC and NYC. Why am I so bitter? They caused a conference re-alignment that took Michigan-Ohio State-Penn State off our schedule! It’s not our fault the Big 12 went crazy and decided to take the rest of the country with them. Once Pitt and Cuse left there was really no reason for any of us to stick around if we had better offers. I loved the old look Big East. Mostly for basketball reasons but I also enjoyed watching Rutgers football games where I actually cared about beating the other team beyond getting a W. Now, I look at the [Scarlet Knights schedule for 2014](http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/schedule/_/id/164/rutgers-scarlet-knights) and its hard to get worked up about anything except for Penn-State and Navy. No history with Penn-State though, that’s just a Jersey-PA thing. Since the B1G loves trophies, we will apparently begin a tradition against Maryland. That is kind of cool since we are both newbies to the league but it’s hard to get too excited about [fighting for Delaware](http://www.testudotimes.com/2014/8/1/5884937/maryland-penn-state-rutgers-rivalry-trophies). It should be an interesting season all the way around. Rutgers will be in for a rough 2-3 seasons but I don’t expect us to be shut out cellar dwellers the way everyone else does. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/47 "2014-08-15T15:33:48Z")
If Illinois had been put in the East division, they could have had Maryland fight it out with Illinois and Ohio State for the Illibuck (Terrillibuck?) in a little round-robin every season. That would have been…something. ---
**Author:** ![RetroVertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/48 "2014-08-15T17:44:37Z")
Speaking of the B1G… Nebraska made the correct decision making the jump, but do you think they anticipated having such a horrible schedule with regards to matchups. The division they’re in other than Wisconsin is extremely weak, and worse yet unexciting matchups. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/49 "2014-08-15T18:15:56Z")
No discussion of the new “Power 5” rules? As a fan of a team in a mid-major (and a major until recently), I am really worried that we are basically going to have a new division. I don’t see how the other conferences (even the American) are going to compete on more than a fluke basis. ---
**Author:** ![RetroVertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/50 "2014-08-15T18:30:14Z")
I tend too agree with your assessment, but after seeing the Big East make so many undeserving trips to a BCS Bowl I don’t see this as a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/51 "2014-08-15T18:48:44Z")
And now Notre Dame has removed 4 players from the team for academic fraud. Their top CB and WR are in the mix. How’s that Top 20 ranking looking now? > **[College Football News, Scores, Standings & Stats](https://www.foxsports.com/college-football)** > > Get NCAA College Football news, scores, stats, poll rankings & more for your favorite college teams and players -- plus watch highlights and live games! All on FoxSports.com. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/52 "2014-08-15T19:05:46Z")
Good for Notre Dame. It’s nice to see a program that takes athletes’ academics seriously. > [@RetroVertigo](#): > > I tend too agree with your assessment, but after seeing the Big East make so many undeserving trips to a BCS Bowl I don’t see this as a bad thing. I know what you mean, but my team only just signed up (UCF), and we were deserving as hell last year (suck it, Baylor!) ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/53 "2014-08-15T20:13:18Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Okay, > > ACC - Florida State > Big10 - Ohio State > PAC12 - Stanford > SEC - Alabama > > And there’s your playoff teams. > > **Oh, the Big12? Sorry, when they actually have 12 decent teams again then I’ll give a shit. Until then it’s the Big2andahalf conference.** Not according to those who create the polls, who have them in front of both the ACC and Big 10. The average rank of all teams, by conference, using the College Football Ranking Composite is below: ```auto SEC 32.14 P12 36.33 B12 43.70 ACC 48.50 B10 49.86 FBSI 56.00 AAC 78.27 MWC 80.75 MAC 90.92 CUSA 91.92 SBC 102.18 ``` ---
**Author:** ![RetroVertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/54 "2014-08-15T21:44:00Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I know what you mean, but my team only just signed up (UCF), and we were deserving as hell last year (suck it, Baylor!) No you’re right UCF deserved to there last year. And I look forward to seeing Mizzou beat the shit or them here in about a month too. I forgot you attended school there. We visited a couple years ago to go the game against Mizzou (my sister-in-law attends UCF), I should have mentioned something and tried to tailgate together. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/55 "2014-08-16T02:30:44Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > Not according to those who create the polls, who have them in front of both the ACC and Big 10. That’s a composite\*. The question I was answering was about the Top 4 and in both this year’s preseason poll and last year’s final poll, all 4 of the other conferences had teams above the highest ranked Big12 school. - I should clarify. I mean it’s a composite of the entire conference. Obviously it’s a composite of all the polls. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/56 "2014-08-16T07:50:26Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > That’s a composite\*. The question I was answering was about the Top 4 and in both this year’s preseason poll and last year’s final poll, all 4 of the other conferences had teams above the highest ranked Big12 school. Did Oklahoma switch conferences without anyone knowing about it? They appear to average third or so in the preseason polling, which is ahead of everyone but Florida State and Alabama. So the composite of the conference is third in the preseason and the average of the polls has a Big 12 team ranked third. Sure sounds like top 4 to me. The only major source that has them lower than fourth is the USA today poll. Sporting News actually has them as first. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/57 "2014-08-16T08:17:43Z")
Just for fun, I took the median of the composite polls used for the earlier calcs. ACC: 42.5 Big 10: 50.5 Big 12: 33 Pac 12: 24.5 SEC: 18 It seems that the Big 12 falls smack dab in the middle of the 5 conferences using a wide variety of metrics. Not that preseason polls mean anything, but since that’s what we’re discussing, I figured we might as well have the facts. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/58 "2014-08-16T11:56:54Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > Did Oklahoma switch conferences without anyone knowing about it? They appear to average third or so in the preseason polling, which is ahead of everyone but Florida State and Alabama. > > So the composite of the conference is third in the preseason and the average of the polls has a Big 12 team ranked third. Sure sounds like top 4 to me. The only major source that has them lower than fourth is the USA today poll. Sporting News actually has them as first. I was using the [composite link](http://masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm) provided earlier, which has Oklahoma in 8th just behind Michigan State. Top 10 is: FSU Alabama Oregon Auburn Stanford South Carolina Michigan State Oklahoma Ohio State UCLA ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/59 "2014-08-16T15:50:13Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > I was using the [composite link](http://masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm) provided earlier, which has Oklahoma in 8th just behind Michigan State. After looking at that, it seems to be a pretty weird list. As far as I can tell, all but one of the rankings it includes are algorithm based, which doesn’t really work with zero games played. I was using sources such as Athlon, Sporting News, USA Today, Phil Steele, etc, which use human prognosticators. I actually trust a composite of computers over a composite of humans, but not until the sample sizes exceed zero by quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504/60 "2014-08-17T18:48:33Z")
[Preseason AP poll](http://collegefootball.ap.org/poll) is up. 1. FSU 2. Bama 3. Oregon 4. Oklahoma 5. Ohio St 6. Auburn 7. UCLA 8. Michigan St 9. South Carolina 10. Baylor [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-too-early-college-football-chatter/692504.md?page=4)