Select Seventeen — Week 2
Posted by Brett Kincaid on September 8, 2009
What a great weekend of college football! There were plenty of good games, capped by a thriller last night between Florida State and Miami. The Hogs looked dominant in a game they were expected to dominate, and the rest of the SEC flexed (with the exception of Georgia). The big news of the weekend comes from Dallas, Texas.
BYU beat Oklahoma. They may not have as good a starting 11 on each side, but they lined up and won. Losing your starting QB hurts, but they lost the game. With two 1,000-yard backs and a D-Line that is supposed to be the best in the nation, OU still should have won that game if they are in deed better than BYU.
I say all that because a number of my fellow pollsters disagree. I’ll release my ballot in a comment on this post.
| 1 | Florida (7) |
| 2 | Texas |
| 3 | Alabama |
| 4 | USC |
| 5 | Oklahoma St. |
| 6 | Penn St. |
| 7 | LSU |
| 8t | Mississippi |
| 8t | Oklahoma |
| 10t | California |
| 10t | Ohio St. |
| 12 | Boise St. |
| 13 | BYU |
| 14 | Virginia Tech |
| 15 | Georgia Tech |
| 16 | Nebraska |
| 17 | North Carolina |
Dropping out: Georgia, Oregon, Utah
10 Responses to “Select Seventeen — Week 2”
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Brett Kincaid said
Here is my ballot:
Rank Team
1 Florida
2 Texas
3 Alabama
4 USC
5 Oklahoma St.
6 Penn St.
7 BYU
8 Boise St.
9 Ohio St.
10 Mississippi
11 Oklahoma
12 California
13 LSU
14 Virginia Tech
15 TCU
16 Notre Dame
17 Utah
I watched a good bit of the Oklahoma/BYU game. It was ugly. Both defenses were top-shelf, and BYU did more than Oklahoma. Add the fact that this was essentially an OU home game and the Oklahoma coaches evidently did not recover from the Bradford injury, I have serious questions about OU.
The best way I know to judge a team is by head-to-head matchups. If Oklahoma were a better overall team, they would have won without their starting QB (who still played almost an entire half). Until they can prove they are worthy, Oklahoma will sit on the outside of my Top 10. They may be ranked too high as it is.
krismboydpa said
I thought you were not “religulous”, BK? Have the Mormans gotten to you? Well, I hope your BYU bandwagon came with airbags because when it crashes you might get hurt.
BYU was not in my top 17. Yeah, they are close, but beating an OU team which lost its heart and soul doesn’t do a lot for me. Those pair of 1,000 backs need a passing game in order to open up holes and that jr. high QB OU put in will not get the job done.
Utah has shown me it can win the big game. Boise has shown me it can win the big game. The last big game BYU was a part of was when Ty Detmer stole the Heisman. Oh, and by the way, they got trounced that day.
Brett Kincaid said
But doesn’t that show more about the TEAM from Oklahoma? There are no “off” days in college football. It’s the world’s greatest round-robin tournament. Oklahoma lost. Period. BYU beat them.
I don’t believe BYU is the best team in the country, but they went to Dallas and beat Oklahoma. I just cannot understand why anyone would put OU ahead of them. Heck, but BYU 16 and Oklahoma 17. For me it is not about how highly ranked BYU is right now. It’s about Oklahoma being ranked higher after losing.
Adam Butler said
I think it’s really easy to defend picking OU over BYU. They lost the Heisman trophy winner, who plays the most important position on the field, near halftime. If Bradford had played most of the game and BYU had won, I would have had BYU higher, but he didn’t.
Despite that fact, OU still pretty much shut down one of the best offenses in America for most of the game and was in position to win. BYU was not ranked in my initial poll and OU was #4. Therefore, I had OU 10 and BYU 15.
This is a perfect example of why I think a 1-shot playoff system would not guarantee a more “true” champion.
Brett Kincaid said
Despite that fact, OU still pretty much lost the game. In fact, they DID lose the game. Maybe if their offensive line was better they would not have lost their quarterback. Anyone who watched that game (which I saw significant portions — almost all the 2nd half) knows that OU did not “pretty much shut down” the BYU offense. Max Hall threw for 329 yards. BYU outgained the Sooners by almost 100 yards of total offense, and they dominated the TOP. BYU converted almost half of their 3rd downs, while OU was just 2 of 11 in that category.
Oklahoma is a good team. They are not a great team. And, oh by the way, BYU beat them in what was essentially a road game.
Where a team ranks in a pre-season ballot should have no bearing on where they rate once the games start. When it comes to BYU and OU, there is no ambiguity about who would win if the two met on a neutral field (even if “neutral” means 80% partisan).
Adam Butler said
If a win is a win is a win, then 14 points=pretty much shut down. I see the veiled swipe about not watching the game. Nice. Sorry I actually WENT to the Hogs game that was, you know, in the city in which I live.
That said, I did watch the replay, and I maintain that if (with very little help from your offense) you hold BYU to 14 points and 0.8 yards perry carry on 33 rushing attempts, while creating four turnovers, that’s impressive.
You point out that OU had 100 less yards, and I appreciate that–it goes to my point–that OU’s offense was stunned by the loss of Bradford during the game and was never able to really regroup. The defense, though was superb, and that’s why I still have them ranked in the Top 10. Stated another way, I am not ignoring the obvious impact and importance of the injury.
Brett Kincaid said
I can respect the fact than an injury has a big impact. But I ask this: Why reward a team that has so heavily weighted their offense around one player? That’s the risk you run. If he’s healthy, OU may win the game. If he gets hurt, you suffer the consequences. With all the talk about how devastating the loss of Bradford was, it should be pointed out that the game was tied at 7 at the end of the 2nd quarter when he was injured. It’s not like OU was scorching the Cougars before the injury.
All the explaining cannot overcome the fact that BYU beat Oklahoma. They scored more points when the two teams met on the same, “neutral” field. Period. BYU won. No amount of rationalizing and explaining will ever counter that.
I’ll say this: If OU wins 12 straight (including the Big XII Championship Game) while BYU goes undefeated, I think OU will probably play for the BCS title and BYU will not. Which is insane. When it’s all said and done, BYU beat Oklahoma.
Football is a rough sport. Injuries are part of the game, and your depth is critical to survival. Oklahoma is not as good a team as they are with Bradford in the game. He won’t play for the next 2-4 games. Ergo, Oklahoma is not a Top 10 team while Bradford is on the bench.
And BYU won the game. Never forget that. BYU won.
Adam Butler said
It’s simple. I won’t use 3,000 words to say it (AGAIN). All things equal, OU is the much better team. That’s why they were 21-point favorites. But, all things weren’t equal. Bradford went down in mid-game. It was a shock to the offense and threw the gameplan out the window. It forced a redshirt freshman into the game. It killed the OU offense as it would most teams. You admitted to me you were suprised to see BYU jump OU in the AP, so why are you suprised they didn’t in my poll?
Brett Kincaid said
I was surprised because I did not think AP voters would get it right. They rarely do.
BYU won. They beat OU. Sometimes it really is that easy.
Adam Butler said
Last Word.