I'm really getting a little bored with the "mine is bigger than yours" argument. What matters to me most is whether or not C-USA is performing well, and at this juncture, I'm pretty happy with our overall performance, and particularly pleased with our 11-0 record against our peers (yes, peers.) I do wish we had one a couple of our P-5 games, although I am fairly pleased with some of our performances in those games. IN several, we were quite competitive, but didn't seal the deal.

As to the Access Bowl; I do have to agree that a 11-1 ECU, Cincinnati, Boise State and Northern Illinois is in the driver's seat for the Access Bowl with Marshall also being at 11-1. Strength of Schedule matters, and I think it will matter a lot to the voters on who is the better and all four of those teams will have scheduled and beat a better stable of OOC games than Marshall. I also think it likely that at least 2, maybe 3, of those 4 teams beat out an undefeated Marshall team. ECU and Cincinnati for sure. Less sure about Boise State and Northern Illinois. But I really doubt that very many of these top 5 finish up 11-1. I see at least 2 losses for most of this group.

When you're using the RPI and Sagarin as references to validate your argument, then you really have no argument.

(09-16-2014 10:23 AM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote:  When you're using the RPI and Sagarin as references to validate your argument, then you really have no argument.

^^^This^^^

I'm always amazed by folks who think computer rankings in the early weeks of the season mean anything at all. At or near the end of the season, some computer rankings have a little meaning, maybe.

(09-16-2014 10:23 AM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote:  When you're using the RPI and Sagarin as references to validate your argument, then you really have no argument.

That's why I do find the bowl games (even the crappy ones) fairly interesting. Teams develop over the season. OOC schedules are interesting too---but there are alot of mismatches and alot of teams come out of the box poorly (or overly hot).

The bowls are the final word to me. That's where you see the teams fully developed. That's where you only see the upper half of each conference playing the upper half of other conferences. That's where you get a little better feel for where the best football is being played. I don't ignore OOC--because its relevant. But it seems that bowl season usually carries more weight.

The road to the east will go through Birmingham. ;-)

(09-16-2014 10:13 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  He seems to be grasping at straws. AAC has some good teams at the top but they're going to have a very fat bottom this year.

That fat bottom is exactly why I think the AAC has the advantage at getting the Access Bowl spot... they have a pair of teams capable of being one loss or less in OCC and running the table in conference and pad their record to 11 wins or more.

Despite all the talk and bashing they get on here, the AAC still has multiple members getting votes in the polls and multiple wins against the P5. That is the national perception and likely the mindset of the playoff committee.

As for CUSA, if this conference has as much parity as this board is bragging about with top to bottom strength - then I see trouble ahead.

Do these conversations not feel like the same arguments of fans of the old Big East? Well parity didn't get them much respect and that old name-brand lineup regularly beat teams in the other AQ/P5 conferences and had a good BCS bowl record - but beat each other up in conference play - so final records didn't look dominating. So I don't see this conference getting much love for parity either, especially with no P5 wins to date...

With strength of schedule there is zero room for error for Marshall - if the conference's best win ends up being over Houston (likely the 4th or 5th ranked AAC team), the Herd need this parity to be overrated and to blow the rest of the conference out of the water in conference play.

Marshall is at fault for scheduling cupcakes. If you want respect you don't get it by playing a schedule like yours. You've put yourself in a spot that if you lose one game to these cupcakes you won't get the Access Bowl and other more deserving teams (regardless of how we feel about them) who have played and beaten Cartel schools are more legitimate.

With this I'm not saying that I'm hoping Marshall doesn't get in, I'm saying that you better win all of your games.

Note to CUSA: Don't schedule cupcakes as we're not in a Cartel conference and have to prove our worth with each game. Again: DSCC.

I thought they had someone back out on them? Louisville?

ECU and Cincy have the inside track. ECU will beat UNC, no question. ECU and Cincy play one another, so someone is going to lose and cancel that team out. ECU also has to play UCF I believe.

I don't think we'll go undefeated, too hard to do regardless of schedule. I want to win the league and go from there.

(09-16-2014 12:23 PM)IceJus10 Wrote:  [quote='mturn017' pid='11127495' dateline='1410880420']
That fat bottom is exactly why I think the AAC has the advantage at getting the Access Bowl spot... they have a pair of teams capable of being one loss or less in OCC and running the table in conference and pad their record to 11 wins or more.
Despite all the talk and bashing they get on here, the AAC still has multiple members getting votes in the polls and multiple wins against the P5. That is the national perception and likely the mindset of the playoff committee.
As for CUSA, if this conference has as much parity as this board is bragging about with top to bottom strength - then I see trouble ahead.
Do these conversations not feel like the same arguments of fans of the old Big East? Well parity didn't get them much respect and that old name-brand lineup regularly beat teams in the other AQ/P5 conferences and had a good BCS bowl record - but beat each other up in conference play - so final records didn't look dominating. So I don't see this conference getting much love for parity either, especially with no P5 wins to date...
With strength of schedule there is zero room for error for Marshall - if the conference's best win ends up being over Houston (likely the 4th or 5th ranked AAC team), the Herd need this parity to be overrated and to blow the rest of the conference out of the water in conference play.

If we lived in a vacuum, then your analysis would have some merit, however, we do not. The 'fat bottom' schools you're overlooking now have been exposed and will make adjustments. Any team that walks into a game expecting to see what a team has put on tape the preceeding weeks will be ripe to get beat.

As the Marshall fan stated, running the table, no matter the schedule, is a tall order for anyone. Front runners have been listed but as far as the AP is concerned, it's only week 4 and there are a bunch of pitfalls and minefields around every turn.