MavGrad's NCAA Week 4 Preview (2018)

[Coach Rab]

TEAMS WE WATCH

#22 Texas A&M at #1 Alabama  2:30  CBS

I think it's foolish that the AP ranked A&M after a loss.  I think there are more deserving teams to look at right now like UNT, but it is what it is.  I am pretty sure it was done to make this game look sexier than what we all expect it to turn out.  I've said it, A&M fans said it, everyone kind of thinks it, but this game should be a blood bath if Bama continues to play the way they have been.  A&M looked the part vs Clemson.  Jimbo has done a fantastic job in a very short time frame with some underdeveloped athletes...  but... This one won't be close.  Bama will win this something in the range of 45-24.  

Kansas at Baylor  2:30  FS1

There was a time that this game would be considered the toilet bowl.  But Kansas and Baylor are both 2-1!  Kansas has 2 Power 5 wins!  Rhule Ball is working so well that @Waggle is well... he still hates it...  Anyways... Baylor by 7.

#17 TCU at Texas  3:30  FOX

I am naming my pick first...  Texas...  Why?   Did you see TCU collapse against Ohio St?  It had nothing to do with defense...  Their QB fell apart when the pressure fell on him to come back...  Texas may be slightly above average on offense, and may only score 30 at the most in any game this season, but TCU's QB will choke this one away if Orlando coaches the D like he did last weekend...  Texas by 3.

Army at #5 Oklahoma  6:00  No TV Listing

@AKA Thinks Mike Stoops is up to the job this week so much that he nicknamed him "Mike Stops".  I don't really know what to expect.  OU is the better team, but... its the triple option.  Old school..  OU by 20.

Louisiana Tech at #6 LSU  6:00  ESPNU

This #6 ranking is the AP equivalent of "Over reaction Monday" for NFL fans.  Sure, LSU has 2 top 10 wins against at least 1 team that won't sniff the top 10 this year and another that may not have happened if it wasn't for a Pass Interference call (right call, but still...) against the Auburn DB... LSU is a solid team.  Maybe even top 12...  but they are not the 6th best in the country...  However, I look forward to them kicking the mess out of La Tech.  Geaux Tigers!  by 30.

ONLY OTHER RANKED ON RANKED MATCHUP

#7 Stanford at #20 Oregon  7:00  ABC

I underestimated Stanford last week.  Some betting sites are saying take Oregon, although it may be for the points and not the straight win... But I actually watched Stanford vs USC... They are solid and I like them a lot.  Cardinal by 14.

[Mr. P]

59 minutes ago, MavGrad99 said:

Army at #5 Oklahoma  6:00  No TV Listing

@AKA Thinks Mike Stoops is up to the job this week so much that he nicknamed him "Mike Stops".  I don't really know what to expect.  OU is the better team, but... its the triple option.  Old school..  OU by 20.

I'm actually hoping this game is very very close, and Army rushes for, like, 500 yards against us. 

With no hope of competing for a national title, the only victory that can come out of 2018 is that Mike Stoops resigns/gets fired/takes a job coaching junior varsity in Youngstown, Ohio. 

By the way, this game is on Pay Per View? Lol, yeah right! 

I'm watching it for freeeee thanks to my Russian hacker buddies. Come at me, FBI! 

[Valhalla]

24 minutes ago, AKA said:

I'm actually hoping this game is very very close, and Army rushes for, like, 500 yards against us. 

With no hope of competing for a national title, the only victory that can come out of 2018 is that Mike Stoops resigns/gets fired/takes a job coaching junior varsity in Youngstown, Ohio. 

By the way, this game is on Pay Per View? Lol, yeah right! 

I'm watching it for freeeee thanks to my Russian hacker buddies. Come at me, FBI! 

It is sad that I look forward to the PPV game every year.

It is the only game in Norman that doesn’t start at freaking 11 AM.

Thanks Big 12.

[WETSU]

You think UNT is more deserving of being ranked than A&M?!? 

What do you think the rankings are? Are you one of those guys who believes a 12-0 Boise st with only one power 5 win on the schedule is more deserving than a 11-1 Auburn who’s only loss is to 12-0 Bama simply because one is undefeated and one is not? 

A&M would wipe the floor with UNT. Arkansas is a bad team. I understand UNT doesn’t have a loss and A&M does, but A&M is a much better team in terms of talent and depth. You only need eyes to see that. I do agree though that it’s dumb to rank A&M this week just before they play Bama. They should have been ranked the day after clemson or not until the go 3-2 against Arkansas. 

[ETXfan16]

8 minutes ago, WETSU said:

You think UNT is more deserving of being ranked than A&M?!? 

What do you think the rankings are? Are you one of those guys who believes a 12-0 Boise st with only one power 5 win on the schedule is more deserving than a 11-1 Auburn who’s only loss is to 12-0 Bama simply because one is undefeated and one is not? 

A&M would wipe the floor with UNT. Arkansas is a bad team. I understand UNT doesn’t have a loss and A&M does, but A&M is a much better team in terms of talent and depth. You only need eyes to see that. I do agree though that it’s dumb to rank A&M this week just before they play Bama. They should have been ranked the day after clemson or not until the go 3-2 against Arkansas. 

Then their only "quality" wins would be NW State, UL Monroe, and an AWFUL Arkansas team... Idk about UNT being ranked, but A&M ranked just because they lost a close game to Clemson is pretty stupid imo.

[DB2point0]

2 hours ago, Valhalla said:

It is sad that I look forward to the PPV game every year.

It is the only game in Norman that doesn’t start at freaking 11 AM.

Thanks Big 12.

I believe there was a vote in the Big12 about tier 3 rights some 7-8 years ago.  Should’ve voted to get a conf channel started.

[WETSU]

2 minutes ago, ETXfan16 said:

Then their only "quality" wins would be NW State, UL Monroe, and an AWFUL Arkansas team... Idk about UNT being ranked, but A&M ranked just because they lost a close game to Clemson is pretty stupid imo.

I believe the rankings should be the best teams. I do not think it’s a stretch by any means to have watched college football this year, and say that Texas A&M is a top 25 team, regardless of who their only two wins are. 

[Valhalla]

7 minutes ago, DB2point0 said:

I believe there was a vote in the Big12 about tier 3 rights some 7-8 years ago.  Should’ve voted to get a conf channel started.

It’s really more about the FOX contract.

Oklahoma gets them ratings at that 11:00 am spot, and apparently no other Big 12 team can do that.

[ETXfan16]

1 minute ago, WETSU said:

I believe the rankings should be the best teams. I do not think it’s a stretch by any means to have watched college football this year, and say that Texas A&M is a top 25 team, regardless of who their only two wins are. 

If they play Bama REALLY well then maybe I see your point. But an undefeated UNT team will be ranked over a 3-2 A&M team. It's a lot like the UCF fiasco last year. Even though their competition is weak, they have dominated every team they have played thus far. 

[DB2point0]

1 minute ago, Valhalla said:

It’s really more about the FOX contract.

Oklahoma gets them ratings at that 11:00 am spot, and apparently no other Big 12 team can do that.

Is it PPV or on Fox?

[WETSU]

4 minutes ago, ETXfan16 said:

If they play Bama REALLY well then maybe I see your point. But an undefeated UNT team will be ranked over a 3-2 A&M team. It's a lot like the UCF fiasco last year. Even though their competition is weak, they have dominated every team they have played thus far. 

Teams shouldn’t be punished for playing a decent schedule. Rankings should be the best 25 teams, not the teams that schedule the easiest to get the most wins. 

Do you honestly think UNT is a better team than A&M? Do you honestly think they “deserve” to be ranked ahead of A&M simply because they played nobodies and A&M played the top 2 teams in the country? Do you think UNT beats A&M straight up? If any of those answers are NO for you, than A&M should be ranked at 3-2 before UNT is a 5-0 without a victory over a team with a winning record thus far.  

[WETSU]

Who’s pooping and thumbs downing every comment in every thread? 

[DB2point0]

I’ll give you ThreeGuesses

 

like clockwork......

[ETXfan16]

4 hours ago, MavGrad99 said:

 

#17 TCU at Texas  3:30  FOX

I am naming my pick first...  Texas...  Why?   Did you see TCU collapse against Ohio St?  It had nothing to do with defense...  Their QB fell apart when the pressure fell on him to come back...  Texas may be slightly above average on offense, and may only score 30 at the most in any game this season, but TCU's QB will choke this one away if Orlando coaches the D like he did last weekend...  Texas by 3.

 

This one is tough for me. TCU single handily lost that game because of their qb. He fumbled in the endzone for a TD, threw a pick 6, and like you said just folded under pressure. Other than that, TCU looked pretty good. If we get the Texas team that showed up against USC, then I'm picking Texas. If not, I lean TCU. Hopefully DKR is packed because that environment against SC was tremendous. 

[Valhalla]

16 minutes ago, DB2point0 said:

Is it PPV or on Fox?

The game this week is on PPV. That’s why it will probably be the only home late game. Oklahoma gets to dictate the kickoff time.

Pretty much any home game that Fox picks up (almost every game) ends up being a 11:00 am kickoff.

[DB2point0]

1 minute ago, Valhalla said:

The game this week is on PPV. That’s why it will probably be the only home late game. Oklahoma gets to dictate the kickoff time.

Pretty much any home game that Fox picks up (almost every game) ends up being a 11:00 am kickoff.

Thus the need for a conf network, that I think 11 teams voted against

[ETXfan16]

7 minutes ago, WETSU said:

Teams shouldn’t be punished for playing a decent schedule. Rankings should be the best 25 teams, not the teams that schedule the easiest to get the most wins. 

Do you honestly think UNT is a better team than A&M? Do you honestly think they “deserve” to be ranked ahead of A&M simply because they played nobodies and A&M played the top 2 teams in the country? Do you think UNT beats A&M straight up? If any of those answers are NO for you, than A&M should be ranked at 3-2 before UNT is a 5-0 without a victory over a team with a winning record thus far.  

Right, but that's not really how it plays out and that's why I'm saying they'll rank a 5-0 UNT team team over a 3-2 A&M whether you agree with it or not. We both know that A&M is better than UNT.

[JohnnyFootball]

5 minutes ago, ETXfan16 said:

This one is tough for me. TCU single handily lost that game because of their qb. He fumbled in the endzone for a TD, threw a pick 6, and like you said just folded under pressure. Other than that, TCU looked pretty good. If we get the Texas team that showed up against USC, then I'm picking Texas. If not, I lean TCU. Hopefully DKR is packed because that environment against SC was tremendous. 

I won't be surprised either way. Depends on which team makes fewer mistakes. Both teams have cost themselves a game making mistakes. 

[ETXfan16]

1 minute ago, JohnnyFootball said:

I won't be surprised either way. Depends on which team makes fewer mistakes. Both teams have cost themselves a game making mistakes. 

Bingo. I agree.

[WETSU]

I must be the only one who think TCu beats Texas comfortably. 14 or so. I don’t expect their QB to give a way the game in back to back weeks. I don’t expect Texas to be near as successful making them one dimensional like they did USC. Tcu also has a much better defense than usc. 

Tcu 31-17 

[Valhalla]

17 minutes ago, DB2point0 said:

Thus the need for a conf network, that I think 11 teams voted against

Having a conference network wouldn’t change what games FOX chooses to put on their prime time channel.

[DB2point0]

It would change this weeks game from being PPV right?

[JohnnyFootball]

Shut up, Lion LOL

[MeanGreenDogs64]

Oh what a time to be alive. We're having conversations if we should be ranked over A&M. We shouldn't be ranked yet. If we are undefeated still in a few weeks, then yes I would expect to have a few more votes. 

Good luck with Bama this week. 

[Coach Rab]

2 hours ago, WETSU said:

I believe the rankings should be the best teams. I do not think it’s a stretch by any means to have watched college football this year, and say that Texas A&M is a top 25 team, regardless of who their only two wins are. 

Being one of the top 25 talented teams in the country and being one of the top 25 teams are 2 different things.  I don't like the AP poll.  Their poll is emotional.  LSU has a big win vs Miami... OOHHHHHH lets jump them up to #11.  Turns out Miami is ok, but not great.  LSU beats Auburn OOHHHHHHHHHHHH  top 5!  Top 5!  Top 5!  THEY ARE THE ONLY SEC TEAM THAT CAN BEAT BAMA!!!  

Now, if we rank teams based on season accomplishments, then hell, put LSU #1...  If we rank teams based on just talent, then keep Bama 1, Ohio St 2... hell, lets just take the average recruiting rankings from the past 4 years and put them there...  

But rankings should be rewarding...  preseason polls... sure rank them where you think they should be...  but after you get a body of work, they should evolve.  A&M has 0 big wins and 1 good loss.  I am sorry Aggie fans, I am not rewarding anyone for a good loss... Ed O had a good loss to Bama last year and I wanted to fire him!  Get with the program!