NCAA football...Sandy's ship finally comes in

[William Thornton]

With Baylor, TCU, and Utah numbers 2, 3, and 4 behind traditional power Ohio State in rankings it's looking like power has shifted westward and away from the SEC. Ole Miss beats Bama and the promptly loses twice. The last a shabby showing against Memphis of all teams. UGA and Mizzou play an entire game where neither can score a touchdown, and this in the age of gaudy offenses and obscene point totals. Either SEC gets on board with the offense or gets further left behind, I suppose.

I predict they will get on board, since they have the ability to pay head coaches $5-7 million annually and assistant coaches $1 million plus to fill the 100k stadiums and generate hundreds of millions in football revenues. SEC universities are in a position where assistant coaches, several of them on a given team, likely are paid more than the university president.

Not sure why Oklahoma State is undefeated but without any respect and not cracking the top ten.

Of course, with the playoff system the high scoring western teams will have to line up and beat a couple of the big schools eventually.

...but for now Sandy, ever the SEC critic, finally is having a good year.

[Dave Roberts]

William, someone explained coaches salaries to me last week--they are paid so much because they are able to walk off the field at halftime without punching out the lights of an ESPN reporter shoving a mike in their faces and asking when you are twenty points behind, "What do you plan to do differently in the second half?"

[William Thornton]

[ET]

(University of) Memphis is my alma mater, although I really grew up a hard-core Tennessee fan. The worst thing about success in the Memphis football program is that whoever is the coach probably won't be there long once they have some success. I imagine Fuente will be gone after this year with 5 or so positions open.

I just hope they keep winning.

[Joseph Patrick]

From Joseph Patrick...aka Gerry Milligan,

As an alum of and rabid fan of TCU, my biggest regret this year is that Baylor and TCU are 2 and 3 and will play each other and the winner will probably go on to the playoffs...of course, for an old SW Conference gray-beard the outcome of such a game (playoff for the winner and a major bowl for the looser) is something we could olny dream about. My memories were a 1 and 9 season each year I was in school there! The one win was either Rice or Univ. of Texas at Arlington, depending on which was a home game for the Horned Frogs. The times, they are a-changin.

[David Flick]

[KeithE]

Should be a good year where some non-traditional powerhouses ( e.g. Utah, Memphis, California, Toledo, Houston, Iowa) do well.

I’ll predict one of these will make it in final four.

[Sandy]

[Sandy]

Well, things didn't come out well this weekend, particularly with Baylor losing its starting QB to a fractured neck bone. However, they do have a backup who has, fortunately because of the schedule, had a whole lot of playing time, and has been pretty good for lots of passing yardage and touchdowns in a high-powered offense. They have a week off, so there's time to work him in the system.

Lots of parity in the major conferences, with teams knocking each other off. It'll be another year that points to the need for a genuine playoff system, rather than a stacked committee selection.