ESPN Preseason FPI Rankings

[AUsince72 11,084]

6 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I'm curious what UF fans think of Meyer. Very complicated legacy. 

Also curious how Boise State fans feel about their last two coaches. 

As for loyalty, it seems we've replaced it with exorbitant salaries. We may not give you 4 years to right the ship, but work here 3 years and your grandkids' college is paid for. 

My feeling living here is they don't put much stock into Meyer's time here.  They love them some Tebow, but Meyer is "meh".

Spurrier, on the other hand....  There's a few Hatfield's but most of the McCoy's would take him back ... even now.  ....although I think they are excited about their new coach.

That is int about BSU, though.  I wonder...

[DAG 33,954]

2 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

My feeling living here is they don't put much stock into Meyer's time here.  They love them some Tebow, but Meyer is "meh".

Spurrier, on the other hand....  There's a few Hatfield's but most of the McCoy's would take him back ... even now.  ....although I think they are excited about their new coach.

That is int about BSU, though.  I wonder...

Quite a bit of my UF friends don’t seem to care for UM after his cardiac episode. Not to mention, he left the program completely undisciplined . Got them some NCs though.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

1 minute ago, AUsince72 said:

You're right about the internet.  As Mrs. Boucher would say "It's the Devil!!"

But I personally feel there are plenty "middle" people on this board.  There's a lot of us who love Malzahn and want him to succeed.  But because we're not willing to just go "we're gonna win cuz we're Auburn" and actually have honest critiques (because we care about the direction of AU football), which honestly come up in an honest conversation (yes, I'm meaning to keep using "honest"), we get lumped into the "negative" posters group and attacked by the truly Head in the Sand "sunshine" posters group.

We WANT Gus to do well and be AU's coach for a very long time.  But just cuz we SAY he doesn't have major flaws doesn't MEAN he doesn't have major flaws.  IF he fixes them this year AMEN!  I'll be among the first to say "Gus for President 2020!"

I don't disagree that there are plenty of middle people. I consider myself one, though there are many who are hardcore on one side who would like to make sure that everyone think differently (I expect a certain one to chime in any minute, in fact). Still, I have caught myself numerous times, and missed it and been called out other times for letting feelings outweigh logic.

You inadvertently brought up another big problem on the internet. Name calling. If you were having a face to face conversation with one of the people who disagrees with you, you likely would not refer to them as a "head in the sand 'sunshine' poster" (a mild name call by this boards standards). You'd know that would likely escalate the situation and smartly, would avoid that as you wouldn't want to push someone to violence, if they had that proclivity. Yet, here, there is no danger, so people willingly throw around insults, call people names, etc.

Another thing that I find particularly frustrating is the discussion about honest critiques. There is a growing faction on this board who only want honest critiques if the critique is that Gus is a sub-par coach. If someone actually tries to analyze the game and pick apart what happens the are frequently called names by that group. If anyone says anything nice about Gus, you are almost guaranteed that another poster will attack that comment. If you say something remotely negative about another coach, you are almost guaranteed that someone will popup and use that as a reason to say Gus is worse. There is one poster, in particular, who isn't A4E, who chimes in on almost every thread, just to say something negative about Gus. 

I think @SumterAubie made an incredibly valid point earlier in this thread, which is no coach is perfect. If we win the national championship next year and go undefeated, all that means is that we are going to have a disappointing loss some other time in the future. It's like the Iron Bowl this year. bama was, as is pretty common for them these days, rolling all comers, and then we didn't just beat them, we soundly beat them. Saban shouldn't have lost that game, but the truth is that any coach can get out coached and any team can get out played. 

I think the point a few of us have been trying to make for the past few weeks is that dwelling on the bad things that happened, and bringing them up over and over again on a message board has no value. All it does is maintain a negative atmosphere and widen divides between a bunch of people who, for the most part, are pretty cool. So I say, let go and gif on!

[McLoofus 35,182]

15 minutes ago, DAG said:

Great post! There are much more middle ground people on this forum than the extremes. Neither of those sides seem to be okay with such a mindset sadly.

Agreed. I think maybe that our most extreme opinions aren't always entirely genuine or accurately expressed. I think maybe sometimes those are teased out by tone of the conversation and it's more about arguing with and one-upping the other person. Or they're just interpreted to be more extreme than they are.

I know I frequently mis-read things on this site. I've tried to be more analytical but I'll still sometimes think I know what a person has said without *really* reading the post. 

 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

I'm curious what UF fans think of Meyer. Very complicated legacy. 

Also curious how Boise State fans feel about their last two coaches. 

As for loyalty, it seems we've replaced it with exorbitant salaries. We may not give you 4 years to right the ship, but work here 3 years and your grandkids' college is paid for. 

Yea... Meyer is a complicated one, isn't he? Of course, at Florida, I'm sure many just fall back to the Spurrier legacy if they are torn about Meyer.

You'd have to think the Boise knows that they are a stepping stone. Hopefully their fans are proud of the success their guys have once they have moved on.

Yes... the salaries were what I was referring to as one side of the lack of loyalty fence. Fans/schools are no longer loyal. They want championships and they want them now. Coaches are no longer loyal, either, they will walk for the next big payday. I think the exception would be those coaches who land their dream job, coaching their alma mater, but you can bet if they are good at what they do, Sexton and his ilk will be milking that school for every dime they have.

I, personally, don't think coaches are particularly greedy. I think they are in a position where money is thrown at their feet, and let's be honest, who's going to say "no"? I've seen it thrown around here that Gus was greedy and hung the Arkansas offer over the University's head to make out like a bandit. I would bet you what really happened is Sexton spurred on the Arkansas offer (maybe even started the conversation... possibly even got the media involved), called Gus and said, "I'm going to use this to get you a new contract", Gus said "that's great, I'm planning for a big game, you do what you do", and Sexton did everything else without Gus lifting a finger.  After all, he gets a significant percentage from that raise. In fact, if that information was public, considering the number of coaches that he represents, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he makes more than any one of them.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

16 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Agreed. I think maybe that our most extreme opinions aren't always entirely genuine or accurately expressed. I think maybe sometimes those are teased out by tone of the conversation and it's more about arguing with and one-upping the other person. Or they're just interpreted to be more extreme than they are.

I know I frequently mis-read things on this site. I've tried to be more analytical but I'll still sometimes think I know what a person has said without *really* reading the post. 

 

Another HUGE pitfall of the internet. No inflection and no real knowledge of the other poster, so you are left with the black and white of the text and prior experience which may have just come from a bad day. @AUsince72 and I are a great example. I seriously hurt his feelings, once and I totally thought I was joking with him.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

36 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

(& sucky coaches since) has healed the old wounds.

The grass is always greener

36 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

Dye was forced out due to the scandal (and bad health) but he was forgiven from day one because most AU fans feel it was a shaft job perpetrated by the REC.

I always thought that the 2 5-win seasons in a row also played a part. I honestly didn't know about the REC involvement until 10+ year later when I started chatting on Auburn football boards. It's amazing how "uninformed" the students are about the inner workings of everything that they are in the middle of. I'm sure that's far less the case now that they have access to message boards.

[AUsince72 11,084]

14 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

I don't disagree that there are plenty of middle people. I consider myself one, though there are many who are hardcore on one side who would like to make sure that everyone think differently (I expect a certain one to chime in any minute, in fact). Still, I have caught myself numerous times, and missed it and been called out other times for letting feelings outweigh logic.

You inadvertently brought up another big problem on the internet. Name calling. If you were having a face to face conversation with one of the people who disagrees with you, you likely would not refer to them as a "head in the sand 'sunshine' poster" (a mild name call by this boards standards). You'd know that would likely escalate the situation and smartly, would avoid that as you wouldn't want to push someone to violence, if they had that proclivity. Yet, here, there is no danger, so people willingly throw around insults, call people names, etc.

Another thing that I find particularly frustrating is the discussion about honest critiques. There is a growing faction on this board who only want honest critiques if the critique is that Gus is a sub-par coach. If someone actually tries to analyze the game and pick apart what happens the are frequently called names by that group. If anyone says anything nice about Gus, you are almost guaranteed that another poster will attack that comment. If you say something remotely negative about another coach, you are almost guaranteed that someone will popup and use that as a reason to say Gus is worse. There is one poster, in particular, who isn't A4E, who chimes in on almost every thread, just to say something negative about Gus. 

I think @SumterAubie made an incredibly valid point earlier in this thread, which is no coach is perfect. If we win the national championship next year and go undefeated, all that means is that we are going to have a disappointing loss some other time in the future. It's like the Iron Bowl this year. bama was, as is pretty common for them these days, rolling all comers, and then we didn't just beat them, we soundly beat them. Saban shouldn't have lost that game, but the truth is that any coach can get out coached and any team can get out played. 

I think the point a few of us have been trying to make for the past few weeks is that dwelling on the bad things that happened, and bringing them up over and over again on a message board has no value. All it does is maintain a negative atmosphere and widen divides between a bunch of people who, for the most part, are pretty cool. So I say, let go and gif on!

TL/DR.... ....just kidding...

Sure, there are plenty purely negative that just want Gus gone.  That's fine and that's their opinion and I don't really react to them.

Same with some that are just all rainbows & unicorns (which are getting fewer with each passing season) and I don't think I react to them either.

Those are the two extremes and I find them amusing now, more than annoying.

I DID, in the past, react to some negative posters just for their, what I felt was unwarranted, negativity a la what certain posters have been doing currently.  Proved nothing, gained nothing, then I realized it's a forum and they're entitled to feel and say what they want within the rules of decorum, just like I am.  So I try to not call people out anymore but rather actually have a conversation or argue my point, piggy back on an idea, etc.

As far as name calling, if you're not calling someone out in particular then, oh well...sticks & stones.  Overly sensitive "groups" are not my thing.  If it's specific to a person, then that should be taken up in PM's.  I don't THINK I call anybody names on here but if so, I shouldn't and I'm sorry.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

Just now, AUsince72 said:

I don't THINK I call anybody names on here but if so, I shouldn't and I'm sorry.

I've never seen you take it personal, for what its worth. Like I said the other day, you and Loof are two that I consider to be among the good guys, even though we've been at odds a bit lately.

[McLoofus 35,182]

32 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

You inadvertently brought up another big problem on the internet. Name calling. If you were having a face to face conversation with one of the people who disagrees with you, you likely would not refer to them as a "head in the sand 'sunshine' poster" (a mild name call by this boards standards). You'd know that would likely escalate the situation and smartly, would avoid that as you wouldn't want to push someone to violence, if they had that proclivity. Yet, here, there is no danger, so people willingly throw around insults, call people names, etc.

Agree.

[McLoofus 35,182]

12 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

I've never seen you take it personal, for what its worth. Like I said the other day, you and Loof are two that I consider to be among the good guys, even though we've been at odds a bit lately.

It's gonna get REAL boring around here if we ever start agreeing. On football, anyway. BBQ is a totally different story. 

[AUsince72 11,084]

53 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

The grass is always greener

I always thought that the 2 5-win seasons in a row also played a part. I honestly didn't know about the REC involvement until 10+ year later when I started chatting on Auburn football boards. It's amazing how "uninformed" the students are about the inner workings of everything that they are in the middle of. I'm sure that's far less the case now that they have access to message boards.

Well, (I believe) the prevailing opinion is that the 5 win seasons were a direct result of the garbage brought down by Ramsey & the REC.  Between the NCAA investigation with threat of "death penalty" and the "60 Mins" expose, etc., Pat Dye was put through the ringer and nobody could have successfully coached through all that.

Now, for the record, and to be fair, I suspect bammers own Gene Jelks fiasco was probably returned fire from prominent AU boosters but that's just a day in the life of the AU/uat rivalry.

[Zeek 16,606]

1.	Clemson	25.5
2.	Alabama	23.2
3.	Georgia	23.1
4.	Ohio State	22.4
5.	Notre Dame	22.3
6.	Washington	22.3
7.	Auburn	20.1
8.	Penn State	19.9
9.	Oklahoma	19.0
10.	Michigan State	18.8
11.	Michigan	18.8
12.	Wisconsin	17.4
13.	Stanford	16.4
14.	Miami	16.2
15.	USC	15.0
16.	Mississippi State	14.8
17.	Texas	14.2
18.	Florida State	13.1
19.	Oregon	12.5
20.	Texas A&M	12.5
21.	Oklahoma State	12.4
22.	Florida	12.2
23.	Virginia Tech	11.5
24.	Georgia Tech	10.8
25.	Iowa	10.6

Here is how I think these teams will finish based off their schedules:

1. Clemson (12-0) there isn't an easier schedule in the Power 5 conferences. Holy crap. Their toughest opponents: #20 Texas A&M, #18 FSU...Dabo only has to play 2 ranked opponents. Neither FSU nor A&M are even in the top 15! 

2. Alabama (11-1) their ranked opponents: #20 Texas A&M, #16 Mississippi State, #7 Auburn... I think they'll drop one of those games but in the modern format it won't really matter to the Turds.

3. Georgia (12-0) their ranked opponents: #24 Georgia Tech, #22 Florida, #7 Auburn... I don't believe GT and UF will be ranked by season's end but Georgia has a perfect schedule to roll to an undefeated mark. Playing us in Athens definitely helps.

4. Ohio State (9-3) ranked opponents: #11 Michigan, #10 Michigan State, #8 Penn State...now here is a decent schedule based off these rankings. Three ranked teams seems to be the average for the teams above and these teams have the highest average rank. Call it a gut feeling but I'm thinking they drop all 3 of their big games this year.

5. Notre Dame (9-3) ranked opponents: #23 Virginia Tech, #18 FSU, #15 USC #13 Stanford, #11 Michigan...one thing is certain, if Notre Dame navigates this schedule without a loss they'll be in the playoffs. However, I think the last three teams will thump the Irish.

6. Washington  (10-2) ranked opponents: #19 Oregon, #13 Stanford, #7 Auburn...Man I wish we could hire Peterson. This guy does a lot more with way less than what we have at Auburn. Dude can coach, but I think he drops two of these three games against ranked opponents.

7. Auburn (11-1) ranked opponents: #20 Texas A&M, #16 Mississippi State, #6 Washington, #3 Georgia, #2 Alabama...Five ranked opponents and three of them are in the top 6. I think we win all but one of our games against ranked opponents.

[AUwent 3,747]

9-3 is what our floor for a successful season should be IMO.