Already getting way too soon bowl predictions:
Does Eric Crouch still play for them?
Brett McMurphy? Ehh Iāll pass.
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Generic and plausible, but things change so much. UW to Feista (slight favorite over Bama), Oregon in Peach as heavy favorites over Tulane? sure, possible. Alamo then gets USC vs. Texas (meaning both underperformed what others are saying since neither are in a NY6). That seems more realistic to me. Then I guess Utah drops to the next PAC12 slot which is Vegas. How Nebraska gets there? I donāt think they will have a good enough record. But Utah favored by 17 seems about right. PAC12 is deep, so someone in Vegas is going to beat up a B1G team.
Couple wins this way or that and someone from the PAC12 is playoff bound (but likely the champ will have 2 losses) or like he has, 2 in other NY6 games. We just have to take care of business and beat USC (decent chances, but on the road - we finally beat them last time in the Col), Oregon (ok chances, at home), UW (tough one and on the road). And we have to watch out for Ore St. on the road.
I think this year will be like every other yearā¦in that, except for Weber, every other game could go either way, even Colorad9.
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Beavers will be a challenge in Corvalis. Other than QB, they were strong in most parts of the game last season and they will be fired up against all their opponents who are departing the conference.
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I was in Vegas last year for something else and decided at the last minute to go to the Vegas Bowl with Oregon State vs. Florida. Oregon State walked up and down the field on Florida, as they were motivated while you could easily see that Florida didnāt care. A fired up OSU team, if you are not ready for them, will get you.
I tend to agree and donāt agree with Alabamaās spot either. Two Big 1G schools again? meh.
Never thought Iād see a āDidnāt want to be thereā excuse done without irony on this board.
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They will be good. And getting kudos with #18 pre-season ranking. With the addition of DJ Uiagalelei (who has to beat out last year starter Gulbranson), they shored up a little bit of a weakness. They are a tough team like us. I think they lost some RB production, but Jonathan Smith has that program heading in a good direction (unfortunately they are screwed a little with the conference re-alignment).
I obviously hope Utah is able to 3-peat and at least go to the Fiesta Bowl (now have family in PHX). Cotton Bowl (Big 12 country) would be good going into Big 12 next year. Alamo not the worst for same reasons. Vegas is good bowl, but 2 days before Christmas and that means that we dropped to around 8-4 (which could totally be this season). Hoping we donāt drop to the Holiday, but I have family in SD as well, so might try to hit that up before we move from west coast to central conference.
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Well, I would say that Florida was down some players who didnāt play to prepare for NFL draft (this is a new thing that canāt be applied to any situation prior to say, 2016) and that certainly didnāt help losing upperclassmen leaders.
I donāt think you can apply my statement universally to any bowl matchup. It certainly applied to that specific Vegas Bowl.
I will never make an excuse for Alabama losing like that to Utah. That said, the #6 pick in the NFL draft was not playing in the Sugar Bowl for Alabama. Alabama lost him for the Tulane game and did awful running the ball. They dominated all the other games. Again, who cares. He wasnāt stopping what the Utes Offense was doing.
I never want to hear ādidnāt want to be thereā as an excuse. Remember the Team composites Florida was coming in with the 18th best team in terms of talent composite while Oregon State was 53rd.
I get it, and I would generally agree, but it was so obvious from my seats on about the 40 yard line about 15 rows behind the FL bench, it sticks in my mind.
One thing to remember, which was really the point of my post, is that when motivated OSU is a real handful, they had an excellent season last year (they only lost to USC by 3, UW by 3 and beat Oregon by 4) and had a great defense. If you consider Utah and Florida a toss-up based on the game last September, it makes sense that OSU would give Florida fits if they werenāt ready.
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Nowadays it is hard to say a team phoned in a bowl game given the moving parts that spin into play after the regular season and CCGās are done. It is hard to sin players who are looking to the NFL for opting out of a meaningless bowl game to prepare for the combine and Pro Day. Opting out of the CFP would be a head scratcher; but even then, there are circumstances that could make opting out a real option.
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Can you imagine if Dick Butkus was your teammate and you had to tell him you were opting out of the Bowl game because you didnt want to get hurt ?
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Or Ronnie Lott?
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I am generally disappointed by all the āopting-outā that has been happening lately.
That said, I guess you canāt fault them not wanting to risk their livelihoodā¦
Iād bet Butkus would understand when he saw the dollars attached to opting out.
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I hate it, but I 100% get it and donāt fault the players who make that choice one bit.
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More prognostications:
- Fiesta v Penn St. - rematch?! Would love to beat them (sans QB ACL tear)
- Alamo v Texas Tech - preview of future Big 12 rematch
Well, Butkus probably made $50,000 a year and had a part-time job in the off-season.
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