2015 College Football Thread is now closed

[usabasketball08]

You mean

4 losses> 3 or less

Edit: usabasketball08 You made the comment of the "5 losses" right, ok I'm in. I give them no more than 3, what's the wager my man

We can keep it simple and put $25 on it. PayPal or MO.

More than 3 L's, I win.

3 L's or less, you win.

I mean in this scenario you have two possible outcomes in your favor. (3 losses exactly, or less)

It really should be something like,

3 L's exactly - PUSH
More than 3 - I win
Less than 3 - You win

It's all good tho

 

[az5950]

Jeff Luc - Ukeme Eligwe - Matthew Thomas

Talent squandered.

Josh Harvey Clemons...Tray Matthews...Shaq Wiggins...Nick Marshall....

 

[nako xl]

Two fake colleges created solely to split NCAA football profits.

[OC] Are there two fake schools operating on the periphery of CFB? Learn about College of Faith & University of Faith: (self.CFB)

submitted 9 hours ago* by rawrHonestly_x5

[h3]How desperate are teams to get wins?[/h3]
What if someone exploited that opportunity?

During the offseason, as /u/bakonydraco was doing the bulk of the redesign, he carried on my minor obsession of adding flair for every college football team in America. During his search he uncovered two teams that I had missed (not members of the NCAA, NAIA or USCAA). When I looked into my omission I found two schools that seem to operate in a very sketchy situation—so sketchy I'm not entirely convinced they are legitimate even by their own ill definitions.

It came to a head last night when D2 Tusculum set a single-game NCAA record by holding the College of Faith to -100 total yards and -124 rushing yards.

Ever heard of the College of Faith in North Carolina? How about their sister school the University of Faith University of Faith down in Florida? Nobody has. We talked about it a bit on Twitter late last night, but I wanted to put together a comprehensive post reviewing programs that push the definition of "college" football and reveal how desperate some teams are to get a win.

Let's go over all the items that make them problematic:

(there's a lot, please read it all, it gets wacky)

• 
  They pitch themselves as online universities (unaccredited by any major organization) that field football teams.
• 
  The CoF website: http://www.cofchar.org/
• 
  The UoF's athletic website is hosted on weebly: http://universityoffaith.weebly.com/athletics.html
• 
  The admissions page for UoF has an application that just asks for "Address, Height, Weight, Position". I suppose that's a step above "Pulse: Y/N"
• 
  The tuition and fees page for CoF conveniently takes PayPal.
• 
  Both the CoF & UoF claim to be members of the American Small College Athletic Association (ASCAA)
• 
  The ASCAA does not appear to have a website; its only 2 members appear to be CoF & UoF (which explains their scheduling, see below)
• 
  UoF recruits on Facebook
• 
  This 2013 video about CoF found by /u/wacojohnny is a bit stunning. The program was originally based in the Memphis area and was started for a college that folded. The person who started teams decided to start a new school for those teams where he served as President, AD and the original head coach. Watch the video and the entire nature of entity as a "school" unravels. Actual quotes: "Actually, I have not really even instituted much of the online curriculum yet because of the situation with the players and enrollees that I have [. . .] some of them don't have consistent access to online accessibility. So basically what I've been doing is—those who have it—I give them their assignments each week at practice and they have one assignment a week and they turn it in by hand or they email it to me." The founder is "basically homeless".
• 
  The CoF is in its 2nd year and, despite claiming a record of 1-7 in their first year, in the games that we have records for (the incomplete records confounded an opponent, see below) they have never won or even scored a point:

2013

• 63-0, Tusculum
• 69-0, Brevard
• 56-0, Clark Atlanta
• 52-0, Ave Maria
• 42-0, Stillman

2014

• 56-0, Davidson (FCS team! Broke a 12-game losing streak)
• 71-0, Tusculum

But they won something, right?

• Here's what we know about their single win: they allegedly won a game against North Georgia Sports Academy, a junior college that is equally as mysterious. This is from the one story I found about them:

According to NGSA's website, it was created in 2013 to offer the opportunity for young men between the ages of 17-20 the chance to play football while pursuing a two year degree. The Mountaineers play their games against club teams and other sports academies.

But this isn't about the JC, so back to CoF/UoF.

• 
  This July 2014 article on the CoF from the Charlotte Observer indicates that the school is now operating out of as an "an extension of the school’s main campus in West Memphis, Ark., along with other branches in Oklahoma and Florida". The main campus was presumably the school founded in the above video. The Florida campus is UoF. Who knows when the Oklahoma campus will field a team. It includes a video of the CoF at practice.
• 
  On a recruiting website, the CoF has an incomplete and incorrect ("public"?) profile, topped with these quotes by a a pair of coaches that raise more questions than it answers (I've bolded some highlights):

“College of Faith football program is in its 2nd year of college football. We don't have S.A.T. or G.P.A. academic eligibility requirements. Our football program competes against NCAA D2, D3 and NAIA schools. We are looking for some IMPACT players of all sizes to help grow this great program into something special. College of Faith academic programs is a Christ-centered, online college of higher education which main office is in West Memphis, Ark with an extension campus located in Charlotte, NC. College of Faith’s Charlotte extension campus provides Athletic program, academic and student support with christian understanding, hands on ministry outreach and paid On-The-Job STUDENT WORK experience while obtaining a certification or degree.”

—Coach Dell Richardson

“Hello my name is Waycus Luckett. I was born in Mississippi and now resides in charlotte, nc, where I coach now with the College of Faith Saints as a defensive line coach. College of Faith is a second chance program for kids whose grades are not up to par and who believe what they can't do to what they can do. So if your the athlete that want to build and become part of yt?history in the books respond with an number so we can talk and I tell you more information because without faith nothings possible”

—Coach Waycus Lucket

• 
  The UoF has a second athletic website with the current 2014 schedule, anyone notice some glaring issues? First off: ESPN? I checked, they were not televised against FCS Mississippi Valley State; in fact all we know is they were briefly mentioned in the school's own write-up. The Week 8 game at Mississippi College is not being televised on ESPN2. Two of their games are scheduled against the only team that they might beat, the CoL (this type of scheduling isn't uncommon in D2, but this is also the only "conference" opponent they play). They have only one home game, against their sister school CoF. They have large stretches of bye weeks as they try to fit into the schedules of teams who are willing to pay to beat them. Their opening game at small HBCU NAIA school Edward Waters College is only listed on their own football schedule without any results (the game isn't even listed on the NAIA's football schedule which, to be fair, appears to be voluntary).
• 
  Limestone College, a school that just restarted its football program at D2, has a comical preview for the CoF that's incomplete: describing the team as "a bit of a mystery", with only limited information on their schedule and they list their conference as the non-existent "Bible Belt". They mention a "ASCAA National Championship Game" that's scheduled before what UoF (the only other ASCAA members) lists as their only home game...if you recall that game is against CoF.
• 
  When Davidson got their first win of the season, breaking the 12-game stream with a new coach, they didn't have much to say about the CoF, which just filled a need...no questions asked! Here are Davidson's preview and post-game articles.

[h3]Bigger Questions:[/h3]

• Are they diploma mills that take advantage of kids who want to play college ball but simply can't elsewhere?
• Do these legitimate schools want to admit that they intentionally schedule programs that may not be on the level? It's a guaranteed win, after all. Davidson is the most glaring example.
• Who arranges these games? I imagine the de facto ADs of CoF & UoF try to solicit games, but are ADs now quietly suggesting them as opportunities for struggling teams?
• How much are these teams being paid per appearance?
• Do NCAA/NAIA rules allow schools to play schools with zero accreditation?
• Because they are not in any existing org (NCAA, NAIA or USCAA), can they pay players?

I really hope the bigger media takes a look at this situation. Nothing seems right here.
[h3]EDIT: to make things a bit clearer, here's the timeline of these schools:[/h3]

• At the time of the 2013 video, Sherwyn Thomas started an athletic program for a Memphis-area school that he says folded (Shepherd Technical College, here's the old website that was hosted on Google). Rather than lose all the work he put in, he decided to start an online university (CoF) to support the program where he initially serves as president, AD and HC.
• The football program at the Arkansas campus has no record and is apparently just a basketball school now, playing as the Warriors (official site).
• The football program is instead moved to an "extension campus", the CoF-Charlotte, as the CoF Saints (official site).
• Later a new campus called the University of Faith is opened in St. Petersburg by the same institution (effective as a FL non-profit in May 2014. They are the UoF Glory Eagles (official site).
• There is also a campus in Oklahoma.
• These make up the only members of the ASCAA.

 

[nako xl]

[h1]How Week 1 College Football AP Poll Would Look If There Weren't a Preseason Poll[/h1][h4]  [/h4]
By Brian Pedersen , Featured Columnist

Sep 1, 2014

USA TODAY Sports

54.4K

Reads

129

Comments

The first regular-season edition of the 2014 Associated Press Top 25 poll is set to be released on Tuesday, encompassing the results of the first week of action in relation to how teams were rated in the preseason poll.

But just like George Bailey wondered how things would be different if he were never born in It's a Wonderful Life, we can't help but speculate how the AP Top 25 would shake out if this first in-season ranking was, indeed, the actual first ranking of the season.

Pretty darn different, for sure.

Without a preseason poll, voters would be forced to base more on the opening week's results and not have the backup of a baseline ranking. There would likely still be a bias toward teams who were good the year before and received lots of offseason hype, but at the same time a perceived power who struggled in its first game wouldn't automatically remain high in the poll just because it won.

It would almost be like a poll put together by a committee of people whose job is to determine which teams are the best in the country, not the most well-regarded. Such a ranking could maybe be used to select, say, a four-team playoff?

With all of that in consideration, here's how we think the Week 1 AP poll would look if it didn't have a preseason version to build from:

What Week 1 AP Poll Would Look Like
[table][tr][td]Rank[/td][td]Team[/td][td]Record[/td][/tr][tr][td]1.[/td][td]Georgia[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]2.[/td][td]Texas A&M[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]3.[/td][td]Florida State[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]4.[/td][td]Oregon[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]5.[/td][td]Oklahoma[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]6.[/td][td]Notre Dame[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]7.[/td][td]Michigan State[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]8.[/td][td]USC[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]9.[/td][td]Baylor[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]10.[/td][td]Auburn[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]11.[/td][td]LSU[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]12.[/td][td]Stanford[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]13.[/td][td]Alabama[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]14.[/td][td]Texas[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]15.[/td][td]Penn State[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]16.[/td][td]Nebraska[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]17.[/td][td]Arizona State[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]18.[/td][td]Michigan[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]19.[/td][td]BYU[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]20.[/td][td]Kansas State[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]21.[/td][td]Ohio State[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]22.[/td][td]Ole Miss[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]23.[/td][td]Arizona[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]24.[/td][td]UTSA[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][tr][td]25.[/td][td]Temple[/td][td]1-0[/td][/tr][/table]
Projected rankings

Looks quite different, huh?

That's because this first poll would be truly a result of first impressions, how those opening-week results made the teams look. Consideration would be made for the opponent, but with so many high-profile schools opening against cupcakes, a runaway victory wouldn't hold as much weight as a solid win over a quality foe.

Because of that, some teams' spot in the poll would be much different than in the actual poll, the one influenced by a preseason ranking:

Georgia

The No. 1 team in the country should be the team that's considered the best in the land. And based on the first week of 2014, it's hard to argue that Georgia wouldn't be deserving of that spot if outside influences weren't involved.

The Bulldogs were masterful on offense and surprisingly dominant on defense in their 45-21 win over Clemson, particularly in the second half when they limited Clemson to just 15 yards and one first down.

But even without that defensive effort it would be hard not to be high on Georgia with the way it ran the ball and with how absolutely electrifying junior running back Todd Gurley (198 rushing yards, 100-yard kickoff return TD, four total touchdowns) looked.

While Georgia coach Mark Richt might not be convinced after one game, telling Marc Weiszer of the Athens Herald-Banner,  "I don't know how good we are, quite frankly," the voters would say otherwise. Several national experts have the Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff after Week 1, Weiszer noted, and voters would likely follow suit with that nod.

Texas A&M

When scanning through resumes, it's often the first and last ones read that make the most lasting impressions. Texas A&M was part of the season's first big game back on Thursday night, but we're still talking about that runaway 52-28 win at South Carolina.

Rainier Ehrhardt/Associated Press

Much like how Florida State had an untested quarterback heading into its season opener the year before—which happened to be the final game of the first week, for the record—A&M came in with a big offensive question mark regarding how sophomore Kenny Hill would fare as the successor to Johnny Manziel.

The answer? Quite well, thank you very much.

Hill threw for a school-record 511 yards and four touchdowns, looking nothing like a guy making his first career start, let alone one doing so on a national stage in a stadium where a visiting team hadn't won in nearly three years. Throw in a seemingly unlimited supply of skill weapons and a defense that at least has a clue how to slow a team down, and after one week the Aggies will have gone from an enigma to a legitimate contender.

Florida State

In the real world, the preseason No. 1 tends to stay in that spot until it loses. But in a land without early projections, even the defending champs have to put up a good result in their opener to be worthy of the top spot.

Florida State did not look like the best team in the country in its 37-31 win over Oklahoma State, not with a suspect running game and a quarterback whose late-game exploits were almost overshadowed by his early miscues. And because of that, the Seminoles wouldn't be No. 1 in the first poll.

Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde wrote that "the defending national champions escaped with the desired result but some undesirable play that will keep them grounded going forward," a fancy way of saying that a win is a win. Improvement will be needed, and voters will echo that opinion with their ballots. 

Alabama

The Crimson Tide weren't expected to be tested much in their opener game against West Virginia, but instead had themselves a tight game that sparked more questions than it did provide answers. While the closeness of the 33-23 win will no doubt help Alabama in the long run, in the short term it will mean having its lowest ranking in several years.

There were so many standout team performances during Week 1 that voters will be hard-pressed to put the Tide in the Top Five, where they've more or less gone in on a timeshare under Nick Saban. But no team that was abused in the secondary as much as 'Bama, which allowed West Virginia's Clint Trickett to throw for 365 yards, is deserving of a high ranking this early.

Texas

After one game, many voters will already be convinced that Charlie Strong's will has been imposed at Texas. Ignoring the fact that it was against North Texas, a box score that shows the opponent had 94 total yards and the Longhorns registered six sacks and four interceptions will hold more weight than whom it was against.

Texas might end up a little lower, though, depending on how voters take Monday's news that quarterback David Ash would once again miss time because of a head injury, according to Jim Vertuno of The Associated Press. Not having Ash available for Saturday's visit from BYU could impact that result, but since this opening poll would reflect how teams have looked to this point rather than how they'll end up, it might not have an effect yet on their ranking.

Michigan

The blue bloods of college football tend to get the benefit of the doubt at the start of each season, regardless of how they performed the year before. It's likely why Florida nearly opened 2014 in the preseason rankings, despite a 4-8 record last season, and why Michigan had 19 voters in that initial poll despite looking very bad down the stretch in 2013 en route to a 7-6 record.

[h4]Which Team Deserves To Be No. 1 After Week 1?[/h4]
Florida State Georgia Texas A&M Other Submit Vote vote to see results

And with that in mind, a runaway win in Week 1 by a traditional power will tend to be given far more weight than a strong effort by a lower-profile team, no matter whom it was against.

Michigan looked great in crushing Appalachian State, but odds are most teams would have beat the FCS-newcomer Mountaineers as convincingly. Why the Wolverines will get extra credit for the performance, though, is because of how it compared to results in 2013 when their offense sputtered and stalled more often than it excelled.

Temple

It's the power conferences that get most of the attention—and by definition, most of the accolades—but voters who pay attention to all of the results might use those final spots in their ballot to reward teams who surprised with how great they looked in their openers.

Teams like Arizona, Temple and UTSA all had big wins in Week 1, earning them enough nods to crack the first Top 25. Of that trio, though, Temple would draw the most attention because of how superior it looked in its 37-7 win at Vanderbilt and because the Owls were 2-10 a year ago.

That 30-point margin might be more an indication of how bad Vandy is than how improved the Owls are, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be worthy of a token ranking.

 

[swendro]

 

[a-friend]

You mean

4 losses> 3 or less

Edit: usabasketball08 You made the comment of the "5 losses" right, ok I'm in. I give them no more than 3, what's the wager my man

We can keep it simple and put $25 on it. PayPal or MO.

More than 3 L's, I win.

3 L's or less, you win.

I mean in this scenario you have two possible outcomes in your favor. (3 losses exactly, or less)

It really should be something like,

3 L's exactly - PUSH
More than 3 - I win
Less than 3 - You win

It's all good tho

I'd be in on the 3 loss push, if, IF you hadn't already declared a 5 loss scenario, I know you feel comfortable in a 5 loss sitch, so I'm a little hesitant to let you backtrack on that for the sake of a $25 bet, nah mean

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

WTF is this ****

 

[swendro]

A recording of Bo saying "To hell with Notre Dame"

I remember hearing this on the radio pre-game show way back. I wish I could find the whole clip, but that's all that's on the internet.

 

[nako xl]

 

[nako xl]

 

I got the

Sexual Ballers
Ducks
Michigan

Winning

Winners tomorrow:

University of Sexual Ballers; Oregon Donald Ducks; Notre Lame... smh.

 

[a-friend]

nako xl Those are dope posts.
Can I ask you a question?

If you had to pick a #1 team right now tonight based on the info you posted and even including week 1 results, who would you say is the best team in the Country FBS, Texas A&M or Georgia?, or another team?

Edit: Last Saturday I thought and posted who I thought the best teams were, Texas A&M and Georgia were the two I named, shortly after that I also said Bama's schedule was weak, and somehow that was more flame worthy than me saying(although it seems true) TAMU and Georgia were the best teams.
Cliques gon' clique.

I could have said, "Miami has the best Uni's" and the pow wow would have spent the same 4 days killing my opinion

 

[swendro]

 

[mr marcus]

Pitt looking pretty good......I mean it's BC but still

 

[a-friend]

Watch

 

[nako xl]

@Nako XL Those are dope posts.
Can I ask you a question?

If you had to pick a #1 team right now tonight based on the info you posted and even including week 1 results, who would you say is the best team in the Country FBS, Texas A&M or Georgia?, or another team?

Edit: Last Saturday I thought and posted who I thought the best teams were, Texas A&M and Georgia were the two I named, shortly after that I also said Bama's schedule was weak, and somehow that was more flame worthy than me saying(although it seems true) TAMU and Georgia were the best teams.
Cliques gon' clique.

I could have said, "Miami has the best Uni's" and the pow wow would have spent the same 4 days killing my opinion

Florida State or Georgia. I think Clemson is good, 45-21 loss aside. I'd say that's more indicative of Georgia's defense.

I think OK St. is pretty good, and I know Florida State's offense is better than they were last year. I think team's just have a year's worth of film on them to prepare better.

Those are the best two teams, in my mind and right now, based on all the information I have about them and how they went out and performed on the field last week.

If the Sexual Ballers handle Stanford and Oregon (or even MSU) wins that game convincingly then I'd have to move them up there right now too.

To your other questions, I don't think Bama's schedule is soft at all. I think you're paying too much attention to a preseason strength of schedule ranking. If you look at the rosters and watch the games you know there's at least 5 very good teams on there: Ole Miss, A&M, LSU, Miss St., and Auburn. We have no idea how good Tennessee is, but they definitely have the talent now, Arkansas looked great for a half last week, and WVU may be better than we thought. And even after all of that they still have to play the best team out of the SEC east in a championship game.

The reason people get irritated when you call their schedule soft is because computer stats aside, no player in the country would look at that schedule on paper and go "cake walk." Any way you slice it, you're almost guaranteed 1 loss at least. A lot of luck has to break your way to get out of that conference unscathed or with just 1 scratch -- ask 2012 Florida and 2013 Auburn.

Also teams like Bama and LSU have sort of led the way in the recently reinvigorated "any team, anywhere" tradition of FBS schools scheduling tough games early in the season along with schools like Oklahoma, USC (Pre-death penalty), Ohio State (pre-Urban), VT, Oregon, and Miami. And yes, Notre Dame too.

So it's kind of unfair and untrue to say Bama plays a soft schedule when Florida hasn't played an OOC game outside the state of Florida since the Union won the war.

And in re: Notre ame's strength of schedule... It's not soft by any means. They have 5 legitimately TOUGH games (maybe 6, or 7 or even 8 depending how good Michigan, Northwestern and UNC end up being) but the reason people are irritated is there's about 2 or 3 teams in the SEC that may be better than every single team on ND's schedule, USC and Stanford included.

And those teams could all be in the same division.

 

[cash money 1999]

yo dre lmfao
didnt know caneshades was on canesinsight
http://www.canesinsight.com/threads/78180-Caneshades-radio-live-now

he host a radio show lmfao if i catch one on time imma call in and troll dude

 

[a-friend]

All that makes sense nako xl . I disagree with very little you said. It seems you've shed a little light on the threads frustration towards my comment about Bama's schedule as well. I still can't see the absurdity in which the comment was treated, for it wasn't off base.

I didn't say anyone's schedule was weak or strong based off anything other than looking at the schedule, looking at the teams and making a comment based on my eval.

I don't have the same love fest with the SEC's strength from season to season though.

The preseason strengths of schedule was something I had to drop at some point to bring some rationale to the fact that my comment wasn't as absurd as the thread treated it.

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

yo dre lmfao
didnt know caneshades was on canesinsight
http://www.canesinsight.com/threads/78180-Caneshades-radio-live-now

he host a radio show lmfao if i catch one on time imma call in and troll dude

#CanesShades

I ***** w/ dude

 

[cash money 1999]

i got a soft spot in my heart for folks thats unapologetic about anything they fans of

 

[nako xl]

Miami lost 5 of their last 7 games by double digits, 3 of which were to unranked teams.

yikes.

 

[kingofne]

 
Miami lost 5 of their last 7 games by double digits, 3 of which were to unranked teams.

yikes.

 

[10508 cardo jr ln]

How in the **** do we have Todd Gurley, Keith Marshall, Sony Michel, Nick Chubb AND the best Caucasian power back Brendan Douglas...?! Mind still blown. Our RB coach is a BEAST.

View media item 1168352

 

[nako xl]

If only your head coach could catch up...

 

[10508 cardo jr ln]

If only your head coach could catch up...

Care to elaborate?

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Washington State is poorly coaches all around