Washington v Alabama

[donovan]

So hard to hang with Alabama the whole game. These announcers are worse than I am. There is this assumption that if you play hard hitting football, you are not a finesse team. Both of these teams have finesse and both seemingly are hitting hard.

[Spence]

I think they confuse a passing game with finesse.

[Spence]

Petersen is going to build a perennial winner in Washington. He is the real deal.

[donovan]

I think that is right. I am not sure what you do against Alabama. Not sure anyone does. Washington played hard and were disciplined, just was Alabama is too big, too strong and too fast. I could not see a weakness in any player.

I think Ohio State is the only team that could be them, if Ohio State can beat Clemson.

[Spence]

Ohio State can't play offense. Barrett gets a lot of blame but between the offensive line and hitting guys in the hands who can't hold on JT doesn't have much of a chance. The Buckeyes just are too young and inexperienced. They just aren't as good as the other top teams out there. They also need a field goal kicker. Durbin is snake bit right now.

[Eric]

I think that is right. I am not sure what you do against Alabama. Not sure anyone does. Washington played hard and were disciplined, just was Alabama is too big, too strong and too fast. I could not see a weakness in any player.

I think Ohio State is the only team that could be them, if Ohio State can beat Clemson.

This is the part where I hear about stupid fans bragging, "oh we see this all the time, some team from the Pac-12 or Big 12 thinks they're hot stuff until they play one of us [SEC]." Oh, right, by "one of us," you usually mean, "Alabama." So even when Georgia and Florida and Tennessee aren't having spectacular years, they can take credit for what Alabama does. And tell me how Washington's performance today was any different than most teams in the vaunted SEC. This random guy I saw on the Internet claimed that Washington probably would have lost to Florida and Auburn. But see, when Florida and Auburn get embarrassed against Alabama, that's not really a big deal. Washington loses to the same degree, and they suck now.

[Eric]

I don't think people understand how this works. There's a lot of variation involved from week to week, but a team like Washington doesn't have the skill on the offensive line to match up against Alabama with 6-7 future NFL players on their defensive line. Ross and Pettis can torch slower defenses or defenses with poorer coverage, but they couldn't do it against Alabama because Alabama's secondary was just too good to give them room. Boom, shut out the lights, Washington can't score in this matchup. There's no special SEC magic sauce that teams get by virtue of belonging to the collective otherwise known as the SEC. Florida and Tennessee (to borrow two teams) are not as talented as Alabama on defense and Washington would at least have a semblance of a passing game, which would have allowed them to score and run their normal offense, which would have allowed them to be fine. Granted, Florida and Tennessee have superior defenses to teams like Arizona State or Oregon, so Washington probably wouldn't hang 40 points like they might in a Pac-12 contest. But how could you have watched that game and not come away impressed with Washington's secondary and defensive line? The d-line was great at getting pressure and while they didn't do a great job of containing the RBs on first contact, but that's the LBs job. And, whether it's the type of offenses they see in the Pac-12 or whatever, Washington's LBs were lean and athletic, not bulked up.

Football is a game of matchups, that's it. Alabama shut down everybody other than Ole Miss this year, so there isn't any shame in losing by the second-smallest margin of the year to this team.

[billybud]

I think that is right. I am not sure what you do against Alabama. Not sure anyone does. Washington played hard and were disciplined, just was Alabama is too big, too strong and too fast. I could not see a weakness in any player.

I think Ohio State is the only team that could be them, if Ohio State can beat Clemson.

This is the part where I hear about stupid fans bragging, "oh we see this all the time, some team from the Pac-12 or Big 12 thinks they're hot stuff until they play one of us [SEC]." Oh, right, by "one of us," you usually mean, "Alabama." So even when Georgia and Florida and Tennessee aren't having spectacular years, they can take credit for what Alabama does. And tell me how Washington's performance today was any different than most teams in the vaunted SEC. This random guy I saw on the Internet claimed that Washington probably would have lost to Florida and Auburn. But see, when Florida and Auburn get embarrassed against Alabama, that's not really a big deal. Washington loses to the same degree, and they suck now.

You can blame the Buckeyes for that SEC, SEC, SEC attitude....Since 1990, the Bucks have gone 2-10 against the SEC...and spread those losses around to Bama...and also Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, LSU, Tennessee. Not just one team dominating that record, but a conference.

[billybud]

In bowl games, all time, the SEC is 50-29 against the Big Ten...

[donovan]

Always dangerous for me to jump into a conversation when my memory is more ashes than flames. I am sure what Mr. Billybud says may be correct, but there is another issue that is bigger and we don't talk about it because of our sensitivity to offending racial groups. Here is my take.

In general, some more than others, college athletics, in particular, football has separated their programs from the scholastic element of the college. The departments are self-funded, contribute financially to many other programs and operate very independently. What happens is programs can develop powerhouse football teams without regards normal scholastic requirements. (If the discussion is athletes do not get special treatment in every area, then we can have that conversation, but ...well you get it.)

I think this started sometime in the late 80's when it was determined the proposition 48 test requirements SAT ACT etc were racially skewed. The suggestion that African American students may not have received as good as of education as their white counterparts was almost summarily dismissed. It was quickly decided that it was purely racially biased and exceptions were made. What this did was leave the door open for ALL athletes to come into programs when they may not have been ready for college academics.

In a geographical area where football is a more integral part of the culture, the South, that led to way to develop powerhouse football teams disproportionately to areas where football is not as important to the culture.

There is no doubt, in my mind, the Southern oriented conferences are the strongest in the country. The will continue to become stronger disproportionately to the rest of the country.

I could be wrong.

[billybud]

In basketball and football....the prevalence of black athletes is felt. But don't jump to conclusions yet about sections of the country.

Some interesting stats...

...2016 NCAA Report...

....APR is higher in the FBS thanthe FCS
....Retention is higher in the FBS than FCS

(based on 124 FBS squads and 116 FCS squads reviewed)

The Majority of squads below the APR Penalty are:
....93% FCS
....85% Historic Black Universities

Clemson had the same NCAA APR score that Stanford has...and Auburn and Louisville are one point behind Stanford/Clemson (as is the Naval Academy, Illinois, Indiana, and Nebraska).


Alabama and Florida are ahead of Michigan State, Ohio State, California, UConn, Iowa, Purdue, Oregon, Colorado...in the latest NCAA report.

[billybud]

And one stat that hurts Big Ten credibility in SEC land...The Big Ten has been outscored an unbelievable 69-0 in the last two playoff appearances.

[donovan]

Your points are well taken. It's been 25 plus years... I do believe, subjectively, that football being part of the culture is greater in Southern States than for interest West of the Mississippi.

[Spence]

And one stat that hurts Big Ten credibility in SEC land...The Big Ten has been outscored an unbelievable 69-0 in the last two playoff appearances.

Playoff national champions
Alabama 1 playoff record 3-1
Ohio State 1 playoff record 2-1
Clemson 0 playoff record 2-1
Oregon 0 playoff record 1-1

No one else in the county has a playoff win. That is 1 B10 team, 1 ACC team, 1 SEC team, and 1 PAC10 team. Alabama is head and shoulders about every other program in the USA, no other team from the SEC holds that distinction.

So why don't we count Ohio State's margin over Alabama and Oregon in the first playoff year? Yeah the Big 10 didn't fair so well this year and Ohio State really sucked it up in the bowl game. Last year was different and next year probably will change too.

[billybud]

Ohio State has not matched up well with some programs...

They are 2-9 vs the SEC

Lost 4 of the last 6 with the ACC

Lost all three games that they have ever played against Clemson

Lost all three games that they have ever played against FSU