RE: Sagarin ranks the top two G5s as #35 Marshall and #37 Boise State.
Sagarin This stupid ass poll also has North Dakota State ranked #34, Arkansas ranked #31, and Illinois State ranked #53. OP is a troll. It should be pretty obvious by now.
I guess we should put NDSU in the Access Bowl based on the OP.
(This post was last modified: 10-27-2014 09:01 AM by blunderbuss.)
It's just amazing to see how far Memphis has come in such a short period. I can see us doing something really nice in football in just a couple of years if we keep Fuente.
RE: Sagarin ranks the top two G5s as #35 Marshall and #37 Boise State.
The Tuesday 12/28/14 7:30 PM Playoff Poll on ESPN is the only one that matters this year.
We shall see who comes out as the top G5 this week. This will trigger a weekly playoff environment which will be great for the Top G5 schools in the ranking.
To UCF, Temple, Cincy, Boise, Marshall, and CSU...GAME ON!
RE: Sagarin ranks the top two G5s as #35 Marshall and #37 Boise State.
Computers can generate any number you want, but it's hard to believe Marshall would beat any of the 10 teams below them. They have great numbers, but against extremely weak competition.
The only good thing that would come from Marshall being selected is that they'd get beat so badly, they (and C-USA) would never be considered again.
RE: Sagarin ranks the top two G5s as #35 Marshall and #37 Boise State.
Assuming a school isn't any good simply based on SOS is a fallacy. Ask UCF how things went for them in a BCS bowl after playing a C-USA schedule. Ask ECU and the east division of 2013 C-USA if Marshall can't compete simply because their 2014 schedule is perceived as being weaker. Assuming a school isn't any good simply makes no sense at all. If that were the case, should we assume that any school Marshall beat in 2013 couldn't compete either?
I have no issue with anyone in the AA but I just think is is silly that so many of you are suddenly discounting Marshall because they are no longer in the conference. Marshall had a very strong 2013 (East div. champs, 10-4 with a bowl win over Maryland) against most of YOU and they are a significantly improved and more mature team in 2014.
RE: Sagarin ranks the top two G5s as #35 Marshall and #37 Boise State.
(10-27-2014 01:50 PM)herdftblfan1 Wrote: Assuming a school isn't any good simply based on SOS is a fallacy. Ask UCF how things went for them in a BCS bowl after playing a C-USA schedule. Ask ECU and the east division of 2013 C-USA if Marshall can't compete simply because their 2014 schedule is perceived as being weaker. Assuming a school isn't any good simply makes no sense at all. If that were the case, should we assume that any school Marshall beat in 2013 couldn't compete either?
UCF also played @Louisville (12-1, finished #15 in the country) and hosted South Carolina (11-2, finished #4 in the country). We also played @Penn St (7-5) and beat Houston (8-5) and a bowl-bound Rutgers (6-7) team.
That's part of the reason we weren't shell-shocked when we played Baylor in the Fiesta. We'd already played two teams of similar strength and faced plenty of other challenges. The Utah BCS busters played multiple BCS-conference teams in the regular season... I recall the 2008 team beat four teams that finished in the Top 25. Boise St had trouble scheduling teams, but still got Oregon, VaTech, and Georgia on their schedules. The TCU teams also beat multiple ranked teams. Marshall has none of that.
You may be a very good team, but all we can tell for sure is that you can beat up on scrubs. Can you match up with the OL and DL of a good team? That's what really determines if you can win a major bowl game, and we have no idea if Marshall can do that. It could be another Rice vs Mississippi St deal. UCF, TCU, Utah, and Boise St didn't have to worry quite as much about those kind of things.
(This post was last modified: 10-27-2014 02:12 PM by NothingButKnight.)
RE: Sagarin ranks the top two G5s as #35 Marshall and #37 Boise State.
(10-27-2014 02:11 PM)NothingButKnight Wrote:
(10-27-2014 01:50 PM)herdftblfan1 Wrote: Assuming a school isn't any good simply based on SOS is a fallacy. Ask UCF how things went for them in a BCS bowl after playing a C-USA schedule. Ask ECU and the east division of 2013 C-USA if Marshall can't compete simply because their 2014 schedule is perceived as being weaker. Assuming a school isn't any good simply makes no sense at all. If that were the case, should we assume that any school Marshall beat in 2013 couldn't compete either?
UCF also played @Louisville (12-1, finished #15 in the country) and hosted South Carolina (11-2, finished #4 in the country). We also played @Penn St (7-5) and beat Houston (8-5) and a bowl-bound Rutgers (6-7) team.
That's part of the reason we weren't shell-shocked when we played Baylor in the Fiesta. We'd already played two teams of similar strength and faced plenty of other challenges. The Utah BCS busters played multiple BCS-conference teams in the regular season... I recall the 2008 team beat four teams that finished in the Top 25. Boise St had trouble scheduling teams, but still got Oregon, VaTech, and Georgia on their schedules. The TCU teams also beat multiple ranked teams. Marshall has none of that.
You may be a very good team, but all we can tell for sure is that you can beat up on scrubs. Can you match up with the OL and DL of a good team? That's what really determines if you can win a major bowl game, and we have no idea if Marshall can do that. It could be another Rice vs Mississippi St deal. UCF, TCU, Utah, and Boise St didn't have to worry quite as much about those kind of things.
No question about that but you are also acting like none of these kids have played in this same environment or that they haven't played the same Conference schedule most of the AA has the past decade. You act as if Marshall is ten years removed from sharing a conference with you.
In the past three years Marshall has played Maryland, WVU, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Purdue, etc. They beat Louisville at Louisville, barely lost to Purdue in the final minutes and it took triple OT for VT to beat the Herd last season. This was during years when Marshall was still on the upswing, very young and not nearly as talented as they are in 2014. It's silly to argue against that just the same as it would be for me to claim we have a hard schedule this year.
The schedule is weak. I admit that. It's dumb not to. Marshall has been dominating that schedule, though, has excelled when comparing common opponents and demonstrated in 2013 their capacity to compete on a level playing field.
All I am saying is it is a mistake for SOME of you to say "Marshall would get destroyed by X team" or "ECU is so much better because of their schedule" etc. You simply do not know that and all evidence otherwise points to the contrary.
RE: Sagarin ranks the top two G5s as #35 Marshall and #37 Boise State.
If ECU wins out im afraid there's nothing Marshall can do.
I personally think Marshall is a very good team. I have watched them play. They are fun to watch. Problem is they don't have the schedule. I firmly believe Marshall could handle plenty of P5 teams. Access bowls aren't given to teams that play 3 MAC schools who are bad to average at best and a C-USA schedule.
RE: Sagarin ranks the top two G5s as #35 Marshall and #37 Boise State.
(10-27-2014 01:50 PM)herdftblfan1 Wrote: Assuming a school isn't any good simply based on SOS is a fallacy. Ask UCF how things went for them in a BCS bowl after playing a C-USA schedule. Ask ECU and the east division of 2013 C-USA if Marshall can't compete simply because their 2014 schedule is perceived as being weaker. Assuming a school isn't any good simply makes no sense at all. If that were the case, should we assume that any school Marshall beat in 2013 couldn't compete either?
I have no issue with anyone in the AA but I just think is is silly that so many of you are suddenly discounting Marshall because they are no longer in the conference. Marshall had a very strong 2013 (East div. champs, 10-4 with a bowl win over Maryland) against most of YOU and they are a significantly improved and more mature team in 2014.
Marshall has never won a Conference USA championship and they have been a very average team for most of their Conference USA playing years. Having seen two teams from the AAC now, USF and UCONN, it is easy to see the difference between the bottom AAC and Conference USA is not even close. USF and Uconn have better athletes in almost every position that what we saw in Conference USA. Not all bottom dwelling schools are created equal. UCONN's Def is better than anything Marshall has seen this year.
The problem for Marshall also is that after Cato leaves, there is little to no room for growth in Conference USA for football or basketball. The Herd should enjoy this year, but the years after this one look bleak for them and their conference.