ozark trout fisher

I'm just looking at the SEC champ game as our bowl this year. Because our next postseason game (unless it's somehow the national championship) will not carry 1/10th as much weight. I don't care if it's the Sugar Bowl or Capital One/Cotton/Outback.

Agree to disagree. But putting players through that for our enjoyment doesn't feel right to me. I agree with Wayne, the current system needs tweaking, but not a complete overhaul. It's fun to think about the 16 team superconferences, but you'd be losing a lot if you did that. There is still an element here that is about rivalries and tradition and I think superconferences would officially be the death knell of that. It's one thing to have conference realignment, but in reality most of the old conferences are still somewhat intact. We need to protect what is left. We don't need NFL part II, college football is the game I really love. A four game playoff may end up being just about right. I'll certainly go into it with an open mind.

I'm really only going to argue the player safety issue of a large playoff, because that is the single issue that stops it dead in its track IMO. You can't compare football to Volleyball, basketball, or anything else. Obviously I'm not going to explain why, because it is unnecessary. You also can't just say "well, it's just four more games, it shouldn't be that important" because injuries are often (usually) cumulative in that sport, as everyone's bodies get worn down. For each extra game the injury risk goes up. In other words, you are talking about more of an exponential than a linear increase. At 16 games on a college team, you might have a hard time putting a decent team on the field by the time its over. The championship game would be decided essentially by who still had some healthy players left. Add in that these are unpaid (beyond the scholarship) athletes and that long of a grind is just too brutal. College players are not NFL players. They are not as strong, generally more prone to getting hurt. And once again, they are not making millions for whatever injuries they incur. And the vast, vast majority (even at Alabama) will never sniff the NFL.

I think FSU has a pretty good backup QB situation. They'll be a formidable opponent regardless of that situation, though less so if Winston isn't behind center.

16 may be too many. You're getting into teams that have 2-3 losses or 1 loss teams with very weak schedules at that point. I think 8 would be fine. Your top 8 in the standings are FSU, OSU, Auburn, Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Stanford, and South Carolina. Those are all good teams that belong, IMO. Any of those teams could have a legitimate chance to take the title. At 16, you would include 3 loss LSU, an Oregon team that got blown out by Arizona, and then both UCF and Northern Illinois. So 8 seems about right to me. Plus, to me, 4 post season games is way too much of a burden to put on college athletes. You cannot put a couple of college teams through an NFL length season and expect the injuries not to skyrocket. Not right. Really, as much as I'd love 8 teams for football reasons, you could make a great argument to keep at 4 based on the injury issue.

That pretty much sums it up, yeah. Poll voters could do something unexpected and make it work out differently, but that's the most likely set of scenarios.

Me too. Go Spartans! Part of the reason I'm relatively unconcerned is that there is a fairly small chance this matters. It's at best 50-50 that Mizzou even beats Auburn, and I think it's at best 50-50 that Ohio State gets past that Michigan State team and their defense. Chances are this gets sorted out pretty cleanly. It may be a mess when its all said and done, but we're not there yet.

They will be 25-0 over two seasons if they beat MSU (not a foregone conclusion by any stretch.) That, in my opinion, absolutely cannot go unrewarded. It's tough to say for a Mizzou fan, but it would just seem wrong. Anyway, I don't really care a whole lot about the title talk. Just beat Auburn. If everything else falls right, I'll take it. If not, an SEC title is an amazing goal in its own right. Wayne, I agree with you, the vast majority of football fans would probably not tolerate another SEC west runner up Alabama in the title game. They had that fall their way one time and I don't see it happening again. Frankly even as an SEC fan I think that never should have happened the first time. The Tide will probably end up in the BCS, though, if any bowl can fit them in (and they'll find a way, I bet.)

I really, really hope not. If so, then does winning a conference championship actually mean anything? The so called "experts" tend to think Alabama is out of the title race altogether (barring something unforeseen. I'm just working on that premise.

There will be a one loss SEC champ..... a one loss second place team cannot jump them, even if it's Alabama.

That was not a good performance, I agree. Michigan State has the talent (especially on defense) to really be a challenge. At the very least, a close, down to the wire game could take away from Ohio State. But it will probably take them losing.

Ohio State just needs to lose to Michigan State. And of course Missouri must beat Auburn. I don't see any other path, short of Duke beating FSU. I don't think we can, or should, jump an undefeated OSU.

The reason I call Auburn lucky is that they won two straight games in the most unlikely of fashions. Last game against Georgia, a tipped pass going down instead of up on a 4th down play knocks them out of the SEC race. Then well, if Nick Saban had taken a knee and sent that game into overtime last night, who knows what conversation we're having this morning. That said, calling them lucky does not equal an insult. Just to be in a position to have the luck do them any good in either game (particularly against Alabama) they had to play great football. They are an highly talented, well coached team AND have been the recipient of some fantastic luck which is how you go from 3-9 to 11-1. We can only hope that it runs out next week. Random, but it's good to see Georgia get a nice win to close the season. They are one of my favorite non-Mizzou SEC teams. In my experience their fans are ridiculously nice, and I'm a big Aaron Murray fan. Tough to see how hobbled they have become with injuries, but at least they evened out some of their bad luck last night with a great win over GT.

What a great win. I don't know why, but even when Mizzou was struggling early on, I never really got nervous. It just felt like they were stuck in the mud in the first half, but I couldn't help thinking they'd snap out of it. But really, it was the defense that we should credit. Scoring only 7 points in a first half against A&M usually means you are down big. Our defense insured we could survive a rough offensive half and still be in the game when it mattered. Auburn is very good (and even luckier, it seems) but Mizzou can win this game on Saturday. I'm not saying we will, but we can. It looks so very evenly matched.

Mizzou wins again over Nevada. The game wasn't on TV, but it sounds like they played okay given they were playing an opponent that is likely a mid-teir Mountain West team. The schedule doesn't get easier with West Virgina and UCLA at home in the next two games, and then Illinois and NC State intermixed with a couple of interesting mid-majors. I honestly thought they would drop a game in Vegas, and this raises our chances of getting to 10-3 or 11-2 in non-conference play. It is officially basketball season, and Mizzou might have a pretty decent team. Probably not a great team, but they look like they may be in the mix for a tourney bid. That would not be bad given the inexperience. Regardless, I'm starting to like this team. They showed against NW yesterday that they can be incredibly exciting to watch, if absolutely nothing else.

What is Arkansas doing? Leading LSU in the 4th??????????????????? I think they should have gone for two after the last TD, but we'll see how it works out.

A really nice performance by Mizzou IMO. They started slow, but really got it going in the second half. There is some fantastic talent on this roster, from the backcourt in Jordan Clarkson and Jabari Brown to JWIII and Ryan Rosburg (who has somewhat surprisingly been our best inside presence). Northwestern isn't the best team and they were without Drew Crawford for much of the game, but the Tigers just looked like a high quality team for the first time this year. Only now can I look at this team and say that they have a really good chance at contending in the SEC and for the NCAA tournament. Another big game against Nevada tomorrow, though. Tough that they have to play on Thanksgiving.

Yeah, Gonzaga will likely be fine this season as always. A possible top 4-5 seed in the NCAA tournament based on how they look early. They are one of the most consistent programs in the country-you can set your clock in March based on hearing their name on Selection Sunday. Arkansas should be improved. They are such a crapshoot with the Mike Anderson system but they will likely pick up some big wins in conference play at home. It was a good tournament for them overall-getting a nice win away from home always outweighs a loss to a quality opponent.

In terms of quality opponents, Mizzou's season gets started tonight against Northwestern. It will be interesting to see how they handle the step up in difficulty, but the Wildcats have struggled more than Mizzou in the early going. Tomorrow they play Nevada. Same story there-dangerous opponent but we should be the better team.

Georgia Southern to the SEC?

However it was acquired, that's an awfully cool area and I'm looking forward to using it as soon as its available to the public. Very good news, as far as I'm concerned. I do wish the circumstances were different, but that's in the past.

I actually like the way our schedule set up this year......get confident with early games against manageable opponents and allow yourself to build up to the bigger tests.

So it's 5th in the standings. Once again we're at the point where there is a path to the title, but it requires more help than we're probably going to get. Ohio State or FSU must lose. If one of those things happens- just try to win out and see where that takes you. Of course, winning out will be tough. A&M will likely be very upset about this weekend and I think they'll play hard. I don't think an Aggie victory would be too surprising.

Yeah, this was not a game they could take lightly. The final score looks like a near-blowout......but only a called back TD and a long drive to run out the clock really took the fight out of Ole Miss. They never let Mizzou deliver the knockout punch until there were a couple minutes left. The Rebels are a good team, and they were a few missed opportunities in the redzone from making this an OT game.

Yeah, boring win but that's good I think. I expected it to be considerably more exciting.