College Football 2010: So it begins

[Imran Siddiqui]

So it's not enough for Tide fans to have their team be universally acknowledged as the #1 in the country: if there isn't sufficient effusive media fawning, they're getting a raw deal. Holy ****, Spencer, I don't think you realize how pathetic your whining about this looks. I can at least understand where the griping from BSU fans comes from.

Seriously. This is why I despise SEC fans and was so happy when Urban Meyer came in and was successful (after all the SEC fans saying that his "gimmick" offense won't work in the conference).

[Tuberski]

ESPN commentator on Alabama's destruction of Florida "the SEC is a one team league". A one team league with six teams in the top 25! Geez!

This is your proof that the SEC gets no respect?

ACK!

[SpencerH]

The COUNTRY is a one-team country, given how ahead of the pack the Tide appears to be.

The comment could be interpreted that way but the body language said otherwise so I prefer my interpretation that this was typical yankee disparging of the SEC.

[SpencerH]

So it's not enough for Tide fans to have their team be universally acknowledged as the #1 in the country: if there isn't sufficient effusive media fawning, they're getting a raw deal. Holy ****, Spencer, I don't think you realize how pathetic your whining about this looks. I can at least understand where the griping from BSU fans comes from.

Compare the media coverage of USC when it was no 1 with Alabama's now. Can you honestly say that they are in any way comparable? Thats not whining, little man, that's an opinion from someone who isnt an Alabama fan.

[Boris Godunov]

little man

Well, petunia, I'm not as old as you (and don't have the paranoid persecution complex, either), but my recollection is that all of the USC fawning was occuring after many years of USC genuinely dominating the Pac-10 and having an impressive history of strong winning seasons. Alabama has what kind of streak so far? Three consecutive winning seasons, but the first being a measly 7-6 record. You're basically comparing apples and oranges. Get back to us when the Tide has dominated the SEC for a decade and we'll see what kind of media coverage they've had compared to earlier 2000s USC, alright? Alright.

[Tuberski]

Compare the media coverage of USC when it was no 1 with Alabama's now. Can you honestly say that they are in any way comparable? Thats not whining, little man, that's an opinion from someone who isnt an Alabama fan.

To be fair, people actually live in California.

ACK!

[Solomwi]

I feel like I ought to step in to Spencer's defense here, but... I can't. Yes, there's some "highlight bias" against the typical SEC style of play, but I chalk that up to chicks, along with talking heads and most fans, digging the long ball, so to speak. That doesn't in any way, however, translate into an anti-SEC bias. ESPN absolutely loves the SEC, and with good reason: the second (occasionally first) choice it gets of SEC games each weekend. The only way the national media is ignoring or biased against Alabama is if it's being compared to the local media. I'll give Spencer that ESPN doesn't focus on them or rave about them quite as much as Scarbinsky, Segrest, Hurt, Kennedy, Finebaum, etc., but that's not a high bar. Oh, and whoever said nobody at ESPN is an Alabama fan overlooked Rece Davis. Rece is a consummate professional, though, so it's understandable.

Imran, any offense can work with UF's athletes. Anyone who said otherwise (not denying it was said, as I heard plenty of it, too) was being stupid, ignorant or obstinate.

Boris, Oregon is impressive. A basketball team, but impressive, all the same.

[Ben Kenobi]

Which is stupid, because it punishes teams for playing tough opponents and rewards them for having cupcake schedules, which apparently you find impressive. A 4-1 team that lost to the #4 team in the country deserves to be ranked above a 5-0 team that has played nothing but crap teams.

If that's the case then they will lose inter conference games. I'm not worried about about cupcake squads running the table. I do have a problem with circular reasoning. A highly ranked team shouldn't get you more points just because they were highly ranked.

[SlowwHand]

Oregon is impressive in Pac 10. If they were in Big 12 or SEC, they'd be fodder.

[Boris Godunov]

Oregon is impressive in Pac 10. If they were in Big 12 or SEC, they'd be fodder.

What happened when Big 12 Texas faced Pac-10 UCLA, Sloww?

[SlowwHand]

Texas is fodder so far. What does your question have to do with Oregon?

[Boris Godunov]

I do have a problem with circular reasoning.

Yes, you do, because your arguments have been rife with it.

A highly ranked team shouldn't get you more points just because they were highly ranked.

Yes, they should. Teams are highly ranked for a reason, not because of arbitrariness, so there's nothing circular about it. Arguing that beating New Mexico State should get a team as much credit as defeating the #9 ranked team in the country is laughable. The skill and record of one's opponents absolutely is a big factor in ranking teams. There's no other way to rank teams in a system where most teams don't even play each other.

[Boris Godunov]

Texas is fodder so far. What does your question have to do with Oregon?

It was UCLA. Which is as low down in the Pac-10 as Texas is in the Big 12 (same exact record, in fact). And didn't just win, they stomped Texas. By a much bigger margin than Big 12 team Oklahoma beat the Longhorns. And UCLA got stomped by Stanford. Which just got stomped by Oregon...

Come on, you can piece things together, can't you?

[Solomwi]

Oregon is impressive in Pac 10. If they were in Big 12 or SEC, they'd be fodder.

Whoa, hoss. Don't try to pull us down to your level by association. The Pac-10 may well be stronger than the Big 2 this year.

[SlowwHand]

Same exact record, but it's Pac 10 vs. Big 12. Go ahead and be a fan. It's all good. I would hope that at some point you could actually recognize and acknowledge the difference. If not, it's fine. We all have our realms of fantasy.

And Solomwi? Texas Tech, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and TCU (who SHOULD still be in the conference, will give any team besides Alabama a Hell of a game. So don't get cocky.