If LSU beats Clemson tomorrow

[Flatlandcoug]

I'm not sure there is an "our need" to bless everything as the best ever. TC floated the idea. You disagree. I think they're perhaps the best of the last 10-20 years. Clearly there is no consensus on a shared need to classify everything best ever.

The whole exercise about Nebraska/Miami we'll never settle. One problem is eras, as I've pointed out. How many targeting penalties would Nebraska or Miami have gotten? Did they have the strength and the finesse to adapt? My feeling is it's easier to hit guys over the middle than it is to remember the 5 tackling principles in realtime without drawing laundry. Also recall that Miami was cheating for much of its run, as was tOSU and Oregon and SMU and USC etc. I would elect to put an asterisk next to any program which was convicted of being dirty.

In any event, we'll never know who was best, but I feel pretty good about LSU being the best of the last decade or two.

PS this "mighty SEC" stuff has got to stop. Do you know what kind of losers this makes us look like? We are the 5 in high school sneering at the prom queen up against the wall with our friends while she's the most popular girl in school. If you hate the SEC, BEAT 'EM, but either way, the "she not even that hot" talk is just sad.

You don't think LSU is cheating? My aunt bought some "oceanfront" property near El Paso that she's trying to unload if you're interested. I guarantee that LSU does just as much hinky stuff as any other school.

And if you don't like me judging the SEC for gaming the system.....that's fine. It doesn't change the fact that they manufacture at least 7 additional conference wins per season by scheduling 4 OOC opponents per year, refusing to play on the road and in many cases, refusing to play Power 5 opponents at all. The SEC is a conglomeration of Boise State type scheduling except the best teams do have to play 2-3 good teams per year. The losses don't hurt them as much because they are losses against other "great" SEC teams. It took them a while to build their brand and hone the machine, but they've done a great job of it.

If I have a sour grapes type attitude, it's that we have a conference commissioner that's incompetent coupled with coaches and AD's that are willing to fall behind because they are more worried about their fiefdoms than the overall health of the conference.

 

[chipdouglas]

You don't think LSU is cheating? My aunt bought some "oceanfront" property near El Paso that she's trying to unload if you're interested. I guarantee that LSU does just as much hinky stuff as any other school.

And if you don't like me judging the SEC for gaming the system.....that's fine. It doesn't change the fact that they manufacture at least 7 additional conference wins per season by scheduling 4 OOC opponents per year, refusing to play on the road and in many cases, refusing to play Power 5 opponents at all. The SEC is a conglomeration of Boise State type scheduling except the best teams do have to play 2-3 good teams per year. The losses don't hurt them as much because they are losses against other "great" SEC teams. It took them a while to build their brand and hone the machine, but they've done a great job of it.

If I have a sour grapes type attitude, it's that we have a conference commissioner that's incompetent coupled with coaches and AD's that are willing to fall behind because they are more worried about their fiefdoms than the overall health of the conference.

You realize the ACC does the same thing right? But with different results than the SEC? The ACC today is Clemson and a bunch of G5 level teams despite the extra OOC. The SEC has a handful of perennially weak teams - and also 4-6 more each year which are Top 15 teams who prove themselves against non-SEC P5 competition.

Regarding cheating, every school I mentioned was busted. If you think the death penalty or recruiting caps are the same thing as "Flat's never been there but he thinks they're probably cheating," then you do not abide by any rational system I want to be a part of.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

You realize the ACC does the same thing right? But with different results than the SEC? The ACC today is Clemson and a bunch of G5 level teams despite the extra OOC. The SEC has a handful of perennially weak teams - and also 4-6 more each year which are Top 15 teams who prove themselves against non-SEC P5 competition.

Regarding cheating, every school I mentioned was busted. If you think the death penalty or recruiting caps are the same thing as "Flat's never been there but he thinks they're probably cheating," then you do not abide by any rational system I want to be a part of.

So much of the "cheating" back in the day was things that are in the process of being legalized in the form of players getting paid for their efforts. That doesn't mean it wasn't cheating, but it wasn't like they were pulling some of the things that New England has been accused of. And by the way, it's way more common than you think. It normally gets overlooked as long as it isn't too egregious or that they piss off someone that rats them out. FWIW, one of my roommates back in the early 90's at WSU was a basketball player who had transferred from another school. He had a really nice car that he owned because he got a very attractive "lease offer" while he was at the prior school. Another friend of mine played football, and they knew weeks in advance when the drug testing was going to happen. EVERYBODY cheats....just some more than others......and some better than others.

As far as the ACC goes, they were laying down the framework to be the next SEC, but their teams that are supposed to be elite have just sucked and that's hurt their brand. Still, they had 10 bowl eligible teams because of their scheduling. Because of their deal with Notre Dame, several teams from their conference play Notre Dame. So they get the losses of playing the Irish but not the prestige of having them as a true member. It took the SEC some time to build up their brand up and it'll be interesting to see where the SEC is in five years. Their biggest issue is the fact that Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech didn't get the memo that they were supposed to be carrying the flag for the conference.

 

[chipdouglas]

is it the greatest season ever for a college football team. They would have gone undefeated and beat the following teams.

Clemson currently ranked 3
Oklahoma currently ranked 4
Georgia currently ranked 5
Florida currently ranked 9
Auburn currently ranked 12
Alabama currently ranked 13

Factor in Joe Burrow's huge year and they have to be right up there.

The 1995 Nebraska team was bad ass they scored 638 points (50+ per game) while only allowing 174 (14 per game). Their average margin of victory was 38 pts. They beat four top 10 teams and destroyed the Gators in the Fiesta bowl 62-24. They laid 63 first half points on Arizona State that year. WSU played them tougher than anybody that season. Remember Frank Madu's 87 yard run!! We ended up losing 35-21.

Discuss.

Partial vindication

How Joe Burrow authored the best season in college football history
https://sports.yahoo.com/how-joe-bu...ge-football-seasons-in-history-062313307.html