2023 College football thread - That's A Wrap (2 Viewers)

[Schmeabs]

I’m an Oregon fan, to the core, and I’m pulling for Michigan to lose.

I have never been more disappointed in you and GM than I am right now.

 

[The Commish]

I remember Penix had a great game against Michigan 5-6 years ago when he was with Indiana.

Haven't watched a ton of Washington football this year, but the things that were true back then seem to be true now. Get him off his spot. Make him uncomfortable. I don't know what the daily Washington running game is like but I think they'll need a good day on the ground. Feels like Michigan can run the ball against them, but that's only based on the game last night and the one other game they played against Oregon.

Michigan will be able to run, but the nature of this brand of football keeps the opposition in the game even when in control. That's not a recipe for success against an explosive offense like Washington. Penix deserves praise, but he's able to do what he does because he has some very strong weapons outside. Michigan presents a much more formidable passing defense than Washington's faced all year, including Texas, but with that arsenal they'll do some damage anyway.

Agree. See them trying to keep Washington off the field as much as possible and shortening the game.

 

[Schmeabs]

UGA is significantly better than ALA. forget what they did to FSU backups. UGA had a lot of injuries for the sec championship game. Therein lies the problem w conference championships. Your best team doesn’t even get to play in the final four. Happened in B10 before too.

Same thing with Oregin in Pac 12 championship game (and in Seattle). Oregon is better than Washington but key injuries killed them.

Didn’t Washington beat them TWICE?

Yes. If they played a 3rd time on a neutral field Oregon would be favored again.

Go ahead and blame the injury report if you want. Bottom line is that UW has beaten Oregon twice this season and at Autzen last year. All close games but all losses for Oregon--home, road and neutral. I sense that you have difficulty admitting defeat graciously.

I was actually rooting for Oregon today for the first time in a long while. I told my cousin, a Duck fanatic, that I expected a 40 point win for UO. Pretty close.
They got screwed by the CFP committee and their bowl assignment. Nice blowout win for your favorite team. Congrats. Oregon is going to be a juggernaut next year, no doubt.

I know Oregon and Washington are rivals, but not having a degree from UO nor having the state listed on my birth certificate, I'm not inclined to hate on Washington the way a guy like Schmeabs or other homegrown Ducks' fans do. And I really REALLY have grown to respect and appreciate Michael Penix. My wife - who I'll call a casual football fan at best - was super impressed with Penix at the Heisman ceremony where he flashed the inseam of his jacket that had all his teammates names written into the lining. Just a humble guy that carries himself very well. Easy to root for, even if he plays for a rival school.

So, I'm happy for Washington and I think it speaks a lot about how strong the Pac12 was in its final year. Oregon had chances to win twice against the Huskies but Washington has found a way to win all year long and that sometimes separates great teams from elite. Attention to detail. Not making mistakes that cost your team. Putting your team in position to win and then delivering. Great coaching, great team leadership.

Go beat Michigan.

Penix and the UW players seem like good dudes. UW fans however, are the worst on the planet. Michigan is going to crush them. Nobody has won a national championship with a defense as bad as UW and it isn't happening Monday.

 

[FDASv2.0]

Nice win Michigan. You have no chance next round though. Enjoy losing in the big game. Harbaugh used to that

You've been a **** tier poster for years. Sidewalk fan throwing a little tantrum. Be better.

 

[whoknew]

I've watched every Michigan game, read all the blogs, and listened to a bunch of podcasts all season.

This Michigan team is great. Very few weaknesses. Starting with the defense - the DL is truly elite. The back 7 is very good - with one CB who is All-American level (Will Johnson). The OL is very good, but took a step back from the last two seasons (when they won the best OL award). The WRs are solid, not great. The TEs are excellent. Corum is an absolute stud. JJ was incredible at the beginning of the year and has been ok recently. When he's healthy and can run, that adds a huge component to the game.

Believe it or not, usually the special teams are very good. Yesterday they were (obviously) terrible. Hopefully that is not the case next week.

They are one of the least penalized teams in college football and have excellent coordinators on both sides of the ball.

I do not think they are overrated at all. They are really, really good.

Having said that, so is Washington. And they for sure can beat Michigan. Penix was incredible last night. I'll be interested to listen to the normal Michigan analysts later this week to see what they think - can we get more pressure than Texas did? That will be important, I reckon.

Anyway, I'll be there next Monday. Am very much looking forward to it.

 

[General Malaise]

When I watch these high level games every once in awhile someone stands out where you sit up and just go: "that dude is different."

The last time I really did that was when watching Suh in that Big 12 championship game where he just flat out owned that entire line of scrimmage. You just KNEW that guy was going to be great at the next level.

Last night was Penix. The dude just looks different from every college QB I've seen this year. In that game with those stakes that dude just balled out. If I need a QB in the NFL I'm taking THAT guy.

I love Penix.

He's been fun to watch as have his skill players. Rome Odunze and Jay'Lann Polk are DUDES. Rome should go early in the 1st, Polk in the 2nd and I think McMillan is a day 3 draft selection. There should be 5 Husky players taken in rounds 1 and 2. Penix included.

 

[culdeus]

I'll never quite grasp how Alabama beat Georgia. Of all the strange outcomes this year that was the strangest and got us to this point. Georgia wins that game, then blows out FSU in the Sugar and Washington/Michigan are in the Rose.

We were deprived mostly of seeing the Georgia UM/UW winner, which I would think Georgia would be a 6.5 point favorite in vs either of the teams.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Michigan isn’t all that sexy to watch because their offense is so middling, but underrate their defense at your own peril. Their defense is really really good, especially their D-line. They WILL make it tough to run on them. They WILL pressure the QB. The question is whether their opposing OC can make adjustments for their game plan to make things as easy as possible for their QB and whether or not the QB can stay calm and make plays in the face of tremendous pressure.

Penix will be by far the best QB Michigan has faced all season. Michigan will be by far the best defense Penix has faced all year. Who will make the most game changing plays against the other will determine the game IMO.

 

[General Malaise]

When I watch these high level games every once in awhile someone stands out where you sit up and just go: "that dude is different."

The last time I really did that was when watching Suh in that Big 12 championship game where he just flat out owned that entire line of scrimmage. You just KNEW that guy was going to be great at the next level.

Last night was Penix. The dude just looks different from every college QB I've seen this year. In that game with those stakes that dude just balled out. If I need a QB in the NFL I'm taking THAT guy.

I love Penix.

He should. He's like 35 years old.

I know you're joking, and it does seem like he's been playing forever, but he's 23. Caleb Williams is 22. Penix is 18 months older. We're not talking Brandon Weeden/Chris Weinke here.

He also had two torn ACLs that derailed his earlier seasons plus that weird Covid Year which was a 'no-countsies' for everybody in college. I think he's just gotten better and better as he matured and was able to avoid the season-ending type of injuries that marred his time at Indiana.

 

[General Malaise]

I’m an Oregon fan, to the core, and I’m pulling for Michigan to lose.

I have never been more disappointed in you and GM than I am right now.

You'd get along with one of my 8 year old twins. He is furious at me for rooting for Washington and doesn't think I should be allowed to wear my Chip Kelley Oregon visor anymore. I tried to explain how this victory makes Oregon look that much better but he was having none of it.

 

[whoknew]

I’m an Oregon fan, to the core, and I’m pulling for Michigan to lose.

I have never been more disappointed in you and GM than I am right now.

You'd get along with one of my 8 year old twins. He is furious at me for rooting for Washington and doesn't think I should be allowed to wear my Chip Kelley Oregon visor anymore. I tried to explain how this victory makes Oregon look that much better but he was having none of it.

Either way, its a win for our conference - the Big Ten.

 

[General Malaise]

I've watched every Michigan game, read all the blogs, and listened to a bunch of podcasts all season.

This Michigan team is great. Very few weaknesses. Starting with the defense - the DL is truly elite. The back 7 is very good - with one CB who is All-American level (Will Johnson). The OL is very good, but took a step back from the last two seasons (when they won the best OL award). The WRs are solid, not great. The TEs are excellent. Corum is an absolute stud. JJ was incredible at the beginning of the year and has been ok recently. When he's healthy and can run, that adds a huge component to the game.

Believe it or not, usually the special teams are very good. Yesterday they were (obviously) terrible. Hopefully that is not the case next week.

They are one of the least penalized teams in college football and have excellent coordinators on both sides of the ball.

I do not think they are overrated at all. They are really, really good.

Having said that, so is Washington. And they for sure can beat Michigan. Penix was incredible last night. I'll be interested to listen to the normal Michigan analysts later this week to see what they think - can we get more pressure than Texas did? That will be important, I reckon.

Anyway, I'll be there next Monday. Am very much looking forward to it.

I do think Michigan has the best defense in the country and they flexed when they needed to yesterday. That said, what does this game look like if Alabama's center doesn't airmail myriad snaps last night? I feel like the unforced errors by Bama (that fumble by Milroe late was a killer too) gave the game away to Michigan.

 

[General Malaise]

I'll never quite grasp how Alabama beat Georgia. Of all the strange outcomes this year that was the strangest and got us to this point. Georgia wins that game, then blows out FSU in the Sugar and Washington/Michigan are in the Rose.

We were deprived mostly of seeing the Georgia UM/UW winner, which I would think Georgia would be a 6.5 point favorite in vs either of the teams.

I think the Bowl Selection Committee or whatever it is now really dropped the ball. A Georgia/Oregon bowl game would have been a terrific contest. Instead, we got two horrendous matchups that nobody really watched. Liberty vs FSU and Oregon vs Georgia was there for the committee and they missed it.

 

[tri-man 47]

I remember Penix had a great game against Michigan 5-6 years ago when he was with Indiana.

I went back and looked for that Michigan/Indiana game: It was in 2020. Penix was 30 of 50; 342 yards and three TDs with no interceptions.

Indiana won that game, 38-21 ....Indiana's only win against Michigan in their last 28 meetings.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Saban had a month to prepare his team. That was supposed to be the difference maker from all the early comments.

 

[General Malaise]

Saban had a month to prepare his team. That was supposed to be the difference maker from all the early comments.

Should have spent a few minutes of every practice working on snapping the ball.

 

[Doug B]

I'll never quite grasp how Alabama beat Georgia.

This is a little psycobabble-ish ... but I think sometimes that teams that win a whole bunch in a row kind of forget what got them to that position of dominance. Especially over multiple seasons where guys get changed out over time, and especially when playing an opponent that is not thoroughly outmanned. And the coaches can only do so much to maintain that dominant edge.

I'm positing kind of a mental thing. A team like Georgia goes a score down early in the game -- or is even down two scores at the half -- it's not considered an urgent problem. Especially in a game where the Bulldogs drew first blood. The Georgia players down 17-7 at the half "know" that "something will happen" to reel the game back in to them. Then it's the beginning of the fourth, and it's still a two-score deficit, and you're on that mental knife-edge: Lean this way, and you're too relaxed and chill to tap into the sense of urgency needed to dominate your (really flipping good) opponent for the next two or three drives you have left. Lean the other way, you start pressing, or use up too much time, or make mistakes otherwise that allow your opponent to maintain control of the game's outcome.

Again, when your opponent is outmanned, this kind of mental stuff doesn't come into play. UGa can beat Vanderbilt or Georgia Southern with their D-minus game. But when the opponent, man to man, is even as much as 85-90% as good -- and Nick Saban is on the other sideline -- best be able to call upon that A-plus game when you really need it. But if you haven't had to come that hard in a while (SEC schedule notwithstanding) ... it's all the more difficult.

Not to say Georgia should have lost to Alabama, or that Georgia "walked into something" that they couldn't avoid. Just that after a point, bringing that same level of dominant "energy" into a game gets harder and harder.

 

[whoknew]

I've watched every Michigan game, read all the blogs, and listened to a bunch of podcasts all season.

This Michigan team is great. Very few weaknesses. Starting with the defense - the DL is truly elite. The back 7 is very good - with one CB who is All-American level (Will Johnson). The OL is very good, but took a step back from the last two seasons (when they won the best OL award). The WRs are solid, not great. The TEs are excellent. Corum is an absolute stud. JJ was incredible at the beginning of the year and has been ok recently. When he's healthy and can run, that adds a huge component to the game.

Believe it or not, usually the special teams are very good. Yesterday they were (obviously) terrible. Hopefully that is not the case next week.

They are one of the least penalized teams in college football and have excellent coordinators on both sides of the ball.

I do not think they are overrated at all. They are really, really good.

Having said that, so is Washington. And they for sure can beat Michigan. Penix was incredible last night. I'll be interested to listen to the normal Michigan analysts later this week to see what they think - can we get more pressure than Texas did? That will be important, I reckon.

Anyway, I'll be there next Monday. Am very much looking forward to it.

I do think Michigan has the best defense in the country and they flexed when they needed to yesterday. That said, what does this game look like if Alabama's center doesn't airmail myriad snaps last night? I feel like the unforced errors by Bama (that fumble by Milroe late was a killer too) gave the game away to Michigan.

That's interesting because watching it, all I saw were the (out of character) unforced errors Michigan made. Weird game, I guess.

And by the way, Alabama has had problems snapping the ball all season. It's been a weird thing with them. So it wasn't really out of character.

 

[Schmeabs]

For some reason I am unable to post a link on my mobile phone. Google luckiest college football team and Washington is #1 in the nation. Luck runs out on Monday. They are a very good team but got extremely lucky this year.

 

[Doug B]

Saban had a month to prepare his team. That was supposed to be the difference maker from all the early comments.

"The psychology" might have worked against Alabama going into the Michigan game ... in not too different of a way it worked against Georgia in the SEC title game. Have any of the current Alabama players seen a Big Ten opponent challenge an SEC team in the playoffs? The Texas game happened earlier this season, and everyone involved on Alabama's end might have thought to themselves "Oh no, that was our lesson, we're back on track now -- that will not happen again."

Then there was the getting up for the Georgia game, winning that and maybe thinking "Oh yeah, we're a finished product now! Bring on any comer -- we got this!" Nothing wrong with confidence -- unless it gets decoupled from urgency.

 

[Doug B]

Have any of the current Alabama players seen a Big Ten opponent challenge an SEC team in the playoffs?

Forgot that Georgia and Ohio State played a one-point game in last year's semifinal. Still, thinking about that ... the game came back to Georgia after being down 14 going into the fourth quarter. "They'll let us back in, they can't hold us off for 60 minutes" -- likely a common mindset of any elite SEC team vs any elite Big Ten team in recent years.

 

[culdeus]

If Alabama doesn't win the title next year it will be the first recruiting class Saban has ever had to not win a title.

 

[tri-man 47]

It's an interesting stats comparison. [And Michigan bias here.]

Washington offense is #10 nationally in yds/game ...#1 for passing yds/game. But they're very mediocre with their running game. Michigan defense is #2 nationally in yds allowed/game ...and #1 in pts allowed/game. Against Bama, besides their six sacks, Michigan had 10 TFL, which I think is telling. Will Penix have enough time to operate, and will he be able to nail some deep throws to his elite WRs if the running game gets shut down (as is likely)? Washington OL vs. Michigan DL should be a great - and key - battle.

Michigan offense isn't great (#72 in yds/game), but I'd note that Michigan's first nine games were blow-outs, so JJ and crew hardly played in the 4th Q. The Washington defense is weak (#93 in yds allowed/game). Can Corum and the OL dominate, and can JJ and his excellent TEs and good group of WRs have a big game? Michigan offense did well enough against a very good Bama D. Can the Washington D rise to the occasion?

As in many of their games, I expect Washington will need to score a bunch of points to keep up with their opponent. But unlike their other games, can they do enough of that against Michigan's defense? It'll be a fun game to watch!

 

[Joe Bryant]

It is funny to me that people think Georgia got screwed when any of the 4 teams playing yesterday would have done the same thing to that Florida State team that they put out for the bowl game.

Now the real question. Does Washington have to play Oregon again before Michigan or do they have to beat Michigan and then play Oregon for the national title?

UGA definitely didn’t get “screwed over”. But I do think they’d have a better than 50/50 shot at beating all 4 of these teams.

No doubt that All 4 teams that were in playoffs plus Georgia and Oregon could beat each other on a given day.

Just happy we had 2 really fun playoff games to watch yesterday. With Michigan beating Alabama it is nice to finally have a non SEC final. Tired of seeing Bama-Georgia-LSU in there. Great teams but nice to see a different look in the finals.

Congrats to the Washington Huskies and Michigan Wolverines.

No doubt both games were fun and entertaining, which is fantastic. However, - although I'm not really qualified to make this judgment as many posters here are - but I have the feeling that the Alabama - Michigan game was two overrated teams playing to each other's poor level whereas Texas - Washington was two great football teams playing great football.

Where would you rank Michigan and Alabama?

Im not very good at this but would say Michigan is 1-2 today with Washington and Alabama is probably 4-5 in the country.

Sorry but I don't understand. When you said, "I have the feeling that the Alabama - Michigan game was two overrated teams playing to each other's poor level" how are they overrated?
Wasn't Michigan #1 and Alabama #4?

Michigan is the undefeated Big Ten champ so they pretty much have to be 1 or maybe 2 if someone prefers Washington. However, until yesterday, Michigan's biggest wins were against Ohio State and Penn State, who were both embarrassed in their bowl games. Michigan's win over Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game proves nothing. The game with Alabama yesterday was entertaining almost by definition because it went to OT, but for me was a comedy of errors.

But if you rank Michigan 1-2 and the Playoff ranked them 1, how can they be overrated?

 

[Tau837]

I've watched every Michigan game, read all the blogs, and listened to a bunch of podcasts all season.

This Michigan team is great. Very few weaknesses. Starting with the defense - the DL is truly elite. The back 7 is very good - with one CB who is All-American level (Will Johnson). The OL is very good, but took a step back from the last two seasons (when they won the best OL award). The WRs are solid, not great. The TEs are excellent. Corum is an absolute stud. JJ was incredible at the beginning of the year and has been ok recently. When he's healthy and can run, that adds a huge component to the game.

Believe it or not, usually the special teams are very good. Yesterday they were (obviously) terrible. Hopefully that is not the case next week.

They are one of the least penalized teams in college football and have excellent coordinators on both sides of the ball.

I do not think they are overrated at all. They are really, really good.

Having said that, so is Washington. And they for sure can beat Michigan. Penix was incredible last night. I'll be interested to listen to the normal Michigan analysts later this week to see what they think - can we get more pressure than Texas did? That will be important, I reckon.

Anyway, I'll be there next Monday. Am very much looking forward to it.

I do think Michigan has the best defense in the country and they flexed when they needed to yesterday. That said, what does this game look like if Alabama's center doesn't airmail myriad snaps last night? I feel like the unforced errors by Bama (that fumble by Milroe late was a killer too) gave the game away to Michigan.

I would point out that Michigan's dominant DL might have caused some of those bad snaps, just due to the pressure on Bama's OL, including the center.

 

[The Commish]

Saban had a month to prepare his team. That was supposed to be the difference maker from all the early comments.

Doesnt really matter. Michigan went fishing with former coaches and got to the inside providing tons of disinformation. Only explanatuon for all the confusion on defense. Harbaugh plants are 15D chess.

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

It's an interesting stats comparison. [And Michigan bias here.]

Washington offense is #10 nationally in yds/game ...#1 for passing yds/game. But they're very mediocre with their running game. Michigan defense is #2 nationally in yds allowed/game ...and #1 in pts allowed/game. Against Bama, besides their six sacks, Michigan had 10 TFL, which I think is telling. Will Penix have enough time to operate, and will he be able to nail some deep throws to his elite WRs if the running game gets shut down (as is likely)? Washington OL vs. Michigan DL should be a great - and key - battle.

Michigan offense isn't great (#72 in yds/game), but I'd note that Michigan's first nine games were blow-outs, so JJ and crew hardly played in the 4th Q. The Washington defense is weak (#93 in yds allowed/game). Can Corum and the OL dominate, and can JJ and his excellent TEs and good group of WRs have a big game? Michigan offense did well enough against a very good Bama D. Can the Washington D rise to the occasion?

As in many of their games, I expect Washington will need to score a bunch of points to keep up with their opponent. But unlike their other games, can they do enough of that against Michigan's defense? It'll be a fun game to watch!

The Michigan defense is great and maybe they'll hold down the UW offense but their stats may have been partially skewed by the fact that the highest rated offense that they played this season is UNLV at #44. And only one other ranked in the top 50-----Ohio St. at #48.

UW played 6 of the top 50 defenses, 4 of them in the top 20.

I'm hoping the UW offense can score enough to keep it interesting. Or maybe they will just get lucky again.

 

[Brunell4MVP]

I think the Bowl Selection Committee or whatever it is now really dropped the ball. A Georgia/Oregon bowl game would have been a terrific contest. Instead, we got two horrendous matchups that nobody really watched. Liberty vs FSU and Oregon vs Georgia was there for the committee and they missed it.

100%. It would be interesting to see if Liberty could handle FSU's backups. I think they could at least gave FSU a game. And UGA/Oregon would have been quality on both sides of the ball.

 

[-OZ-]

It is funny to me that people think Georgia got screwed when any of the 4 teams playing yesterday would have done the same thing to that Florida State team that they put out for the bowl game.

Now the real question. Does Washington have to play Oregon again before Michigan or do they have to beat Michigan and then play Oregon for the national title?

UGA definitely didn’t get “screwed over”. But I do think they’d have a better than 50/50 shot at beating all 4 of these teams.

And yet when they had the chance to punch their ticket to the CFP, they choked.

they got beat barely by a very good team. Replay that thing Ten times and they probably split 5-5.

 

[fasteddie_21]

I’m an Oregon fan, to the core, and I’m pulling for Michigan to lose.

I have never been more disappointed in you and GM than I am right now.

My thinking is it makes Oregon look even better and I feel a bit of camaraderie going into the B1g next year. In the opposite side, Christ they’re gonna be insufferable. So….

I dig that Oregon gets a shot at both next year, too

 

[dickey moe]

I’m an Oregon fan, to the core, and I’m pulling for Michigan to lose.

I have never been more disappointed in you and GM than I am right now.

You'd get along with one of my 8 year old twins. He is furious at me for rooting for Washington and doesn't think I should be allowed to wear my Chip Kelley Oregon visor anymore. I tried to explain how this victory makes Oregon look that much better but he was having none of it.

None of us think you should be allowed to wear a visor either... like ever.

 

[General Malaise]

I’m an Oregon fan, to the core, and I’m pulling for Michigan to lose.

I have never been more disappointed in you and GM than I am right now.

My thinking is it makes Oregon look even better and I feel a bit of camaraderie going into the B1g next year. In the opposite side, Christ they’re gonna be insufferable. So….

I dig that Oregon gets a shot at both next year, too

Well, they're already insufferable (except for our Marco, he's fabulous) but yeah, they win Monday it's going to be a long off-season.

Twas nice to be able to chirp "TWELVE IN A ROW" at 'em but them days are gone.

I think college football as a whole is better when these two teams are at their peak.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

It is funny to me that people think Georgia got screwed when any of the 4 teams playing yesterday would have done the same thing to that Florida State team that they put out for the bowl game.

Now the real question. Does Washington have to play Oregon again before Michigan or do they have to beat Michigan and then play Oregon for the national title?

UGA definitely didn’t get “screwed over”. But I do think they’d have a better than 50/50 shot at beating all 4 of these teams.

No doubt that All 4 teams that were in playoffs plus Georgia and Oregon could beat each other on a given day.

Just happy we had 2 really fun playoff games to watch yesterday. With Michigan beating Alabama it is nice to finally have a non SEC final. Tired of seeing Bama-Georgia-LSU in there. Great teams but nice to see a different look in the finals.

Congrats to the Washington Huskies and Michigan Wolverines.

No doubt both games were fun and entertaining, which is fantastic. However, - although I'm not really qualified to make this judgment as many posters here are - but I have the feeling that the Alabama - Michigan game was two overrated teams playing to each other's poor level whereas Texas - Washington was two great football teams playing great football.

Where would you rank Michigan and Alabama?

Im not very good at this but would say Michigan is 1-2 today with Washington and Alabama is probably 4-5 in the country.

Sorry but I don't understand. When you said, "I have the feeling that the Alabama - Michigan game was two overrated teams playing to each other's poor level" how are they overrated?
Wasn't Michigan #1 and Alabama #4?

Michigan is the undefeated Big Ten champ so they pretty much have to be 1 or maybe 2 if someone prefers Washington. However, until yesterday, Michigan's biggest wins were against Ohio State and Penn State, who were both embarrassed in their bowl games. Michigan's win over Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game proves nothing. The game with Alabama yesterday was entertaining almost by definition because it went to OT, but for me was a comedy of errors.

But if you rank Michigan 1-2 and the Playoff ranked them 1, how can they be overrated?

In my mind "overrated" is different than "overranked" - but its not relevant to the main point I was making anyway. Instead of saying "two overrated teams" I could have said "two teams who played poorly" or something else. As we've particularly seen the past month, ranking college football teams during bowl season is similar to blindly pulling names out of a hat. My point was just my gut feeling that the Mich-Bama game was fun and entertaining but was one of those games where it seemed like two teams trying to give away the game with mistake after silly mistake. I was driving home and had the radio on and heard the commentators debating whether the game was an "instant classic" etc. etc.

But no doubt it was a more entertaining game than we're used to in the college post-season these days for sure, which is a good thing.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Maybe the final game will take less than 5 hours unlike the ones last night

Why do college games take so long?

 

[culdeus]

It is funny to me that people think Georgia got screwed when any of the 4 teams playing yesterday would have done the same thing to that Florida State team that they put out for the bowl game.

Now the real question. Does Washington have to play Oregon again before Michigan or do they have to beat Michigan and then play Oregon for the national title?

UGA definitely didn’t get “screwed over”. But I do think they’d have a better than 50/50 shot at beating all 4 of these teams.

No doubt that All 4 teams that were in playoffs plus Georgia and Oregon could beat each other on a given day.

Just happy we had 2 really fun playoff games to watch yesterday. With Michigan beating Alabama it is nice to finally have a non SEC final. Tired of seeing Bama-Georgia-LSU in there. Great teams but nice to see a different look in the finals.

Congrats to the Washington Huskies and Michigan Wolverines.

No doubt both games were fun and entertaining, which is fantastic. However, - although I'm not really qualified to make this judgment as many posters here are - but I have the feeling that the Alabama - Michigan game was two overrated teams playing to each other's poor level whereas Texas - Washington was two great football teams playing great football.

Where would you rank Michigan and Alabama?

Im not very good at this but would say Michigan is 1-2 today with Washington and Alabama is probably 4-5 in the country.

Sorry but I don't understand. When you said, "I have the feeling that the Alabama - Michigan game was two overrated teams playing to each other's poor level" how are they overrated?
Wasn't Michigan #1 and Alabama #4?

Michigan is the undefeated Big Ten champ so they pretty much have to be 1 or maybe 2 if someone prefers Washington. However, until yesterday, Michigan's biggest wins were against Ohio State and Penn State, who were both embarrassed in their bowl games. Michigan's win over Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game proves nothing. The game with Alabama yesterday was entertaining almost by definition because it went to OT, but for me was a comedy of errors.

But if you rank Michigan 1-2 and the Playoff ranked them 1, how can they be overrated?

Overrated is probably the wrong word. On paper, they are #1 but that same eye test of an undefeated FSU found them ranked out of the top 4. I would never consider holding them out of the playoffs, but I don't think Alabama was all that good either. They lost at home to a team that has 1 top 10 win in three years, and needed some serious luck to scrape out wins versus some truly bad teams.

I would change the overrated to unchallenged or something. A problem that was common to a lot of highly rated teams this year.

 

[culdeus]

Maybe the final game will take less than 5 hours unlike the ones last night

Why do college games take so long?

Bro, Derek Jeter isn't going to get home on that jet and you need to know it.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Maybe the final game will take less than 5 hours unlike the ones last night

Why do college games take so long?

As someone who sometimes avoids halftime by running to the store for whatever, NFL has a pretty tight window, at least in the regular season. College halftime drones on and on.

 

[General Malaise]

Maybe the final game will take less than 5 hours unlike the ones last night

Why do college games take so long?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[nysfl2]

It is funny to me that people think Georgia got screwed when any of the 4 teams playing yesterday would have done the same thing to that Florida State team that they put out for the bowl game.

Now the real question. Does Washington have to play Oregon again before Michigan or do they have to beat Michigan and then play Oregon for the national title?

UGA definitely didn’t get “screwed over”. But I do think they’d have a better than 50/50 shot at beating all 4 of these teams.

No doubt that All 4 teams that were in playoffs plus Georgia and Oregon could beat each other on a given day.

Just happy we had 2 really fun playoff games to watch yesterday. With Michigan beating Alabama it is nice to finally have a non SEC final. Tired of seeing Bama-Georgia-LSU in there. Great teams but nice to see a different look in the finals.

Congrats to the Washington Huskies and Michigan Wolverines.

No doubt both games were fun and entertaining, which is fantastic. However, - although I'm not really qualified to make this judgment as many posters here are - but I have the feeling that the Alabama - Michigan game was two overrated teams playing to each other's poor level whereas Texas - Washington was two great football teams playing great football.

Where would you rank Michigan and Alabama?

Im not very good at this but would say Michigan is 1-2 today with Washington and Alabama is probably 4-5 in the country.

Sorry but I don't understand. When you said, "I have the feeling that the Alabama - Michigan game was two overrated teams playing to each other's poor level" how are they overrated?
Wasn't Michigan #1 and Alabama #4?

Michigan is the undefeated Big Ten champ so they pretty much have to be 1 or maybe 2 if someone prefers Washington. However, until yesterday, Michigan's biggest wins were against Ohio State and Penn State, who were both embarrassed in their bowl games. Michigan's win over Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game proves nothing. The game with Alabama yesterday was entertaining almost by definition because it went to OT, but for me was a comedy of errors.

But if you rank Michigan 1-2 and the Playoff ranked them 1, how can they be overrated?

Overrated is probably the wrong word. On paper, they are #1 but that same eye test of an undefeated FSU found them ranked out of the top 4. I would never consider holding them out of the playoffs, but I don't think Alabama was all that good either. They lost at home to a team that has 1 top 10 win in three years, and needed some serious luck to scrape out wins versus some truly bad teams.

I would change the overrated to unchallenged or something. A problem that was common to a lot of highly rated teams this year.

Seems to be a consistent trend of people devaluing the teams that Michigan beats.

"Well, Penn State sucks, but OSU will show them what a real offense looks like"
"Well, OSU actually isn't very good, but Alabama will totally outclass them. Just wait until Saban has a month to prepare for them"
"Um, Alabama lost to Texas, so they actually suck. Michigan's just lucky they didn't have to face Georgia!"

In another week, we'll probably be hearing how Washington was just lucky all year, and Michigan never faced a good team all year.

 

[nysfl2]

FWIW, Penix dropping dimes into his well-covered receivers arms 30 yards down the field is already giving me nightmares. He looked amazing last night.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

I remember Penix had a great game against Michigan 5-6 years ago when he was with Indiana.

Haven't watched a ton of Washington football this year, but the things that were true back then seem to be true now. Get him off his spot. Make him uncomfortable. I don't know what the daily Washington running game is like but I think they'll need a good day on the ground. Feels like Michigan can run the ball against them, but that's only based on the game last night and the one other game they played against Oregon.

It will be interesting because I think Washington is the better team, and their offense looks unstoppable. But as we all know the one thing that can stop ANY qb, even Brady (see Super Bowl 42 against the Giants) is when a defense can get consistent pressure on the QB with a 4 man rush.

I could see Washington winning. But I could also see Michigan winning by 40, if they're able to get consistent pressure up front like they did against Bama. They might just be the perfect matchup to stop Penix.

 

[MAC_32]

Will Penix have enough time to operate, and will he be able to nail some deep throws to his elite WRs if the running game gets shut down (as is likely)? Washington OL vs. Michigan DL should be a great - and key - battle.

Penix has really developed manipulating the pocket and selectively choosing when to run. Milroe is the first real duel threat this defense has faced all year and he ran for 112 yards on 15 carries (removing all of the sacks). I wonder if DeBoer will learn his lesson from the semi's and just put the ball in Penix hands and say go win. The Washington run game will get shut down again and his desire for balance almost cost them the game - turned it over on down with three straight runs in the 2nd, had to settle for a FG after doing the same in the 3rd, and were still at the 10 after 2 straight runs in the 4th before an incompletion then FG. Embrace a high variance game and try to force Michigan into a track meet is their best chance at a dub.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

It is funny to me that people think Georgia got screwed when any of the 4 teams playing yesterday would have done the same thing to that Florida State team that they put out for the bowl game.

Now the real question. Does Washington have to play Oregon again before Michigan or do they have to beat Michigan and then play Oregon for the national title?

UGA definitely didn’t get “screwed over”. But I do think they’d have a better than 50/50 shot at beating all 4 of these teams.

No doubt that All 4 teams that were in playoffs plus Georgia and Oregon could beat each other on a given day.

Just happy we had 2 really fun playoff games to watch yesterday. With Michigan beating Alabama it is nice to finally have a non SEC final. Tired of seeing Bama-Georgia-LSU in there. Great teams but nice to see a different look in the finals.

Congrats to the Washington Huskies and Michigan Wolverines.

No doubt both games were fun and entertaining, which is fantastic. However, - although I'm not really qualified to make this judgment as many posters here are - but I have the feeling that the Alabama - Michigan game was two overrated teams playing to each other's poor level whereas Texas - Washington was two great football teams playing great football.

Where would you rank Michigan and Alabama?

Im not very good at this but would say Michigan is 1-2 today with Washington and Alabama is probably 4-5 in the country.

Sorry but I don't understand. When you said, "I have the feeling that the Alabama - Michigan game was two overrated teams playing to each other's poor level" how are they overrated?
Wasn't Michigan #1 and Alabama #4?

Michigan is the undefeated Big Ten champ so they pretty much have to be 1 or maybe 2 if someone prefers Washington. However, until yesterday, Michigan's biggest wins were against Ohio State and Penn State, who were both embarrassed in their bowl games. Michigan's win over Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game proves nothing. The game with Alabama yesterday was entertaining almost by definition because it went to OT, but for me was a comedy of errors.

But if you rank Michigan 1-2 and the Playoff ranked them 1, how can they be overrated?

Overrated is probably the wrong word. On paper, they are #1 but that same eye test of an undefeated FSU found them ranked out of the top 4. I would never consider holding them out of the playoffs, but I don't think Alabama was all that good either. They lost at home to a team that has 1 top 10 win in three years, and needed some serious luck to scrape out wins versus some truly bad teams.

I would change the overrated to unchallenged or something. A problem that was common to a lot of highly rated teams this year.

Seems to be a consistent trend of people devaluing the teams that Michigan beats.

"Well, Penn State sucks, but OSU will show them what a real offense looks like"
"Well, OSU actually isn't very good, but Alabama will totally outclass them. Just wait until Saban has a month to prepare for them"
"Um, Alabama lost to Texas, so they actually suck. Michigan's just lucky they didn't have to face Georgia!"

In another week, we'll probably be hearing how Washington was just lucky all year, and Michigan never faced a good team all year.

Glad to see you finally got a copy of the playbook.

 

[The Commish]

Will Penix have enough time to operate, and will he be able to nail some deep throws to his elite WRs if the running game gets shut down (as is likely)? Washington OL vs. Michigan DL should be a great - and key - battle.

Penix has really developed manipulating the pocket and selectively choosing when to run. Milroe is the first real duel threat this defense has faced all year and he ran for 112 yards on 15 carries (removing all of the sacks). I wonder if DeBoer will learn his lesson from the semi's and just put the ball in Penix hands and say go win. The Washington run game will get shut down again and his desire for balance almost cost them the game - turned it over on down with three straight runs in the 2nd, had to settle for a FG after doing the same in the 3rd, and were still at the 10 after 2 straight runs in the 4th before an incompletion then FG. Embrace a high variance game and try to force Michigan into a track meet is their best chance at a dub.

I'm not sure letting Michigan pin their ears back knowing it's all passing all the time is going to work that well. For the above to work they also have to figure out how to stop Michigan's running game. I really think Michigan's best defense is a time/yard consuming run game.

 

[Tom Servo]

It is funny to me that people think Georgia got screwed when any of the 4 teams playing yesterday would have done the same thing to that Florida State team that they put out for the bowl game.

Now the real question. Does Washington have to play Oregon again before Michigan or do they have to beat Michigan and then play Oregon for the national title?

UGA definitely didn’t get “screwed over”. But I do think they’d have a better than 50/50 shot at beating all 4 of these teams.

And yet when they had the chance to punch their ticket to the CFP, they choked.

they got beat barely by a very good team. Replay that thing Ten times and they probably split 5-5.

That and $5 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. It's what actually takes place that matters.

 

[Tom Servo]

It is funny to me that people think Georgia got screwed when any of the 4 teams playing yesterday would have done the same thing to that Florida State team that they put out for the bowl game.

Now the real question. Does Washington have to play Oregon again before Michigan or do they have to beat Michigan and then play Oregon for the national title?

UGA definitely didn’t get “screwed over”. But I do think they’d have a better than 50/50 shot at beating all 4 of these teams.

No doubt that All 4 teams that were in playoffs plus Georgia and Oregon could beat each other on a given day.

Just happy we had 2 really fun playoff games to watch yesterday. With Michigan beating Alabama it is nice to finally have a non SEC final. Tired of seeing Bama-Georgia-LSU in there. Great teams but nice to see a different look in the finals.

Congrats to the Washington Huskies and Michigan Wolverines.

No doubt both games were fun and entertaining, which is fantastic. However, - although I'm not really qualified to make this judgment as many posters here are - but I have the feeling that the Alabama - Michigan game was two overrated teams playing to each other's poor level whereas Texas - Washington was two great football teams playing great football.

Where would you rank Michigan and Alabama?

Im not very good at this but would say Michigan is 1-2 today with Washington and Alabama is probably 4-5 in the country.

Sorry but I don't understand. When you said, "I have the feeling that the Alabama - Michigan game was two overrated teams playing to each other's poor level" how are they overrated?
Wasn't Michigan #1 and Alabama #4?

Michigan is the undefeated Big Ten champ so they pretty much have to be 1 or maybe 2 if someone prefers Washington. However, until yesterday, Michigan's biggest wins were against Ohio State and Penn State, who were both embarrassed in their bowl games. Michigan's win over Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game proves nothing. The game with Alabama yesterday was entertaining almost by definition because it went to OT, but for me was a comedy of errors.

But if you rank Michigan 1-2 and the Playoff ranked them 1, how can they be overrated?

Overrated is probably the wrong word. On paper, they are #1 but that same eye test of an undefeated FSU found them ranked out of the top 4. I would never consider holding them out of the playoffs, but I don't think Alabama was all that good either. They lost at home to a team that has 1 top 10 win in three years, and needed some serious luck to scrape out wins versus some truly bad teams.

I would change the overrated to unchallenged or something. A problem that was common to a lot of highly rated teams this year.

Seems to be a consistent trend of people devaluing the teams that Michigan beats.

"Well, Penn State sucks, but OSU will show them what a real offense looks like"
"Well, OSU actually isn't very good, but Alabama will totally outclass them. Just wait until Saban has a month to prepare for them"
"Um, Alabama lost to Texas, so they actually suck. Michigan's just lucky they didn't have to face Georgia!"

In another week, we'll probably be hearing how Washington was just lucky all year, and Michigan never faced a good team all year.

It has always amazed me how people will continually move the goal posts just to make sure they appear right.

 

[tri-man 47]

Will Penix have enough time to operate, and will he be able to nail some deep throws to his elite WRs if the running game gets shut down (as is likely)? Washington OL vs. Michigan DL should be a great - and key - battle.

Penix has really developed manipulating the pocket and selectively choosing when to run. Milroe is the first real duel threat this defense has faced all year and he ran for 112 yards on 15 carries (removing all of the sacks). I wonder if DeBoer will learn his lesson from the semi's and just put the ball in Penix hands and say go win. The Washington run game will get shut down again and his desire for balance almost cost them the game - turned it over on down with three straight runs in the 2nd, had to settle for a FG after doing the same in the 3rd, and were still at the 10 after 2 straight runs in the 4th before an incompletion then FG. Embrace a high variance game and try to force Michigan into a track meet is their best chance at a dub.

I'm not sure letting Michigan pin their ears back knowing it's all passing all the time is going to work that well. For the above to work they also have to figure out how to stop Michigan's running game. I really think Michigan's best defense is a time/yard consuming run game.

Does anyone know the strength of the Washington D depth chart? If Michigan chooses to keep pounding the ball, does Washington have the depth to keep the D fresh? That was/is a strength for Michigan ..rotating several guys along their defensive front. Can Washington do the same, or could Michigan tire them out? Than again, does Washington ever run a hurry-up offense as a way to prevent defensive substitutions?

 

[Schmeabs]

Texas pass defense is like 90th in the country, it was a bad match up for Washington. Michigan has a top 10 pass defense on paper, but they have not faced a lot of good passing offenses. Texas ran the ball very well against UW and I expect Michigan to do the same. Michigan 41- Washington 24

 

[Bob Sacamano]

UGA is significantly better than ALA. forget what they did to FSU backups. UGA had a lot of injuries for the sec championship game. Therein lies the problem w conference championships. Your best team doesn’t even get to play in the final four. Happened in B10 before too.

Same thing with Oregin in Pac 12 championship game (and in Seattle). Oregon is better than Washington but key injuries killed them.

Didn’t Washington beat them TWICE?

Yes. If they played a 3rd time on a neutral field Oregon would be favored again.

Go ahead and blame the injury report if you want. Bottom line is that UW has beaten Oregon twice this season and at Autzen last year. All close games but all losses for Oregon--home, road and neutral. I sense that you have difficulty admitting defeat graciously.

I was actually rooting for Oregon today for the first time in a long while. I told my cousin, a Duck fanatic, that I expected a 40 point win for UO. Pretty close.
They got screwed by the CFP committee and their bowl assignment. Nice blowout win for your favorite team. Congrats. Oregon is going to be a juggernaut next year, no doubt.

I know Oregon and Washington are rivals, but not having a degree from UO nor having the state listed on my birth certificate, I'm not inclined to hate on Washington the way a guy like Schmeabs or other homegrown Ducks' fans do. And I really REALLY have grown to respect and appreciate Michael Penix. My wife - who I'll call a casual football fan at best - was super impressed with Penix at the Heisman ceremony where he flashed the inseam of his jacket that had all his teammates names written into the lining. Just a humble guy that carries himself very well. Easy to root for, even if he plays for a rival school.

So, I'm happy for Washington and I think it speaks a lot about how strong the Pac12 was in its final year. Oregon had chances to win twice against the Huskies but Washington has found a way to win all year long and that sometimes separates great teams from elite. Attention to detail. Not making mistakes that cost your team. Putting your team in position to win and then delivering. Great coaching, great team leadership.

Go beat Michigan.

Penix and the UW players seem like good dudes. UW fans however, are the worst on the planet. Michigan is going to crush them. Nobody has won a national championship with a defense as bad as UW and it isn't happening Monday.

This matches much of what I saw at the Pac-12 Championship game. At least until the point a UW fan behind us yelled at the dbag in front of us, "Sit down and shut up. NOBODY likes you." Totally redeemed them.

 

[General Malaise]

FWIW, Penix dropping dimes into his well-covered receivers arms 30 yards down the field is already giving me nightmares. He looked amazing last night.

God, I hope he lands in Minnesota and gets to make magic with their skill players.