(11-24-2018 08:34 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(11-24-2018 08:11 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(11-24-2018 06:49 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(11-24-2018 06:31 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(11-24-2018 06:08 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  I’d be ecstatic if that were our problem. And so would probably 90% of this board.

Also, GT isnt going to win a NC in football now, no matter who their coach is or what their scheme is. So IMO, that's not a valid negative as it is based on a near impossible basis.

GT was in the ACC championship as recently as 2012. Win that these days and you’re probably in the playoff. So I’d say it’s still possible.

They were 7-7 that year and 6-6 going into the championship game. Even if they did win the ACC, they wouldnt likely be top 15 with that record.
I guess its possible, but IMO, quite unlikely.

They've won their division it 4 times under Johnson. They were 9-4 (2008), 10-3 (2009), 7-7 (2012), and 11-3 (2014). The 11-3 team ended up ranked 7th/8th, and with a win in the conference championship game might possibly have made a round of 4. The 9-4 and 10-3 teams were 9-2 for regular season, the 10-3 won the conference championship, then both lost their bowls. None of the were going 12/13/14-0, but they were pretty close. Three time that close in 11 years is not bad for a non-Bama/Clemson/OhioSt/ND/SoCal/Texas school.

I wouldn't have a problem with a contrarian offense at Rice because we, like all G5 teams, have zero chance at making the playoff, even with an undefeated record. I have my issues with continuing to play a sport for whose championship we are excluded from competing, but putting those aside, if we wouldn't really be losing anything by foreclosing the possibility of an undefeated season, then yes, I would trade that for steady winning-but-not-spectacular seasons.

But at the major conference level, no team should settle for a scheme that is guaranteed to be always a bridesmaid and never a bride.