• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

2019 College Football

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
I mean they've won 3 national titles since the advent of the BCS and been to a 4th so like...probably not gonna suddenly just drop off the face of the Earth for 20 years.

It’s interesting you make this point.

Between 1980 and 2000 the SEC won the national title 4 times.

1980 - Georgia
1992 - Bama
1996 - UF
1998 - TN

From 2001-2019 they’ve won it 11 times.

When did the Big 10 sign that monster deal with Fox that included a Network? Food for thought....
 
It’s interesting you make this point.

Between 1980 and 2000 the SEC won the national title 4 times.

1980 - Georgia
1992 - Bama
1996 - UF
1998 - TN

From 2001-2019 they’ve won it 11 times.

When did the Big 10 sign that monster deal with Fox that included a Network? Food for thought....

It’s almost like the landscape of college football and other sports change over the years. USC, Miami, Nebraska and Colorado used to be power houses and now they’re not. Hell, BYU won a title during your 20 year period.

2 of those SEC National Titles came against OSU, when they were ranked #1. Nick Saban came along and won 5 with Alabama. The landscape will change again when these kids start getting paid.
 
Me at the bar last night for two hours:

This is what you get for keeping osu out of the championship game!
 
I mean they've won 3 national titles since the advent of the BCS and been to a 4th so like...probably not gonna suddenly just drop off the face of the Earth for 20 years.

Havent done much in the past decade at all until this year. I suspect they will shrink back down to where they have been in recent years.

That said I knew LSU was going to take over number 1 and thought it was fairly obvious too. Didnt have a huge problem with it. They clearly earned this natty, I just wish OSU had gotten to play them.
 
What was the corruption here?

That bowl games are played in the South?

Or that LSU was number 1?

Are we so homerish as to act like there's no argument, outside of corruption, that LSU deserved it.

I remember being the beneficiary of blowing a team out to end the season and having an opposing fanbase (TCU) decry us getting in because we were the "big market" team. And no one here gave one flying fuck.

Ohio State was better than Clemson and both blew the game and got screwed, but the bitching about LSU being number 1 is...just that. Bitching.

As for all of the major Bowls being places that benefit warm weather teams, I've said countless times the Big Ten needs to stand up for itself. It's the largest conference with the most money. IT can put an end to the entire bowl season being played in the South and in the West. It just has to do so.

But what happened with LSU having a home game can still happen. It can happen in the NFL in the superbowl. Sometimes it's just dumb luck.

Quite simply, the corruption is the ACC and the SEC have a vested interest through their multi-year television deals worth close to $10B with ESPN. The SEC Network and the ACC Network are both broadcast out of ESPNU in Charlotte.

The ACC and SEC are now partners within the ESPN family. It’s quite simple.

Ohio State is the largest fan base in the country and draw massive ratings....just stating the obvious. But again, do you think ESPN likes seeing Fox set TV ratings records for regular season games? It’s direct competition, of course not.

How excited do you think ESPN would be if Ohio State won the National Title and were poised to bring 10 Nationally televised games to Fox as defending National Champions?

Does Coke root for Pepsi to do well? Does Sony root Samsung on?

In any other industry, there is no way this arrangement is allowed...it just isn’t. Massive conflict of interest based on the money. And when there’s multiple “bang bang” calls that go against one team, and one absolutely egregious error on an overturn that goes against everything we know about replay (and the explanation was even worse)....it reeks of a conflict of interest.

With PAC 12 and Big 12 officials available, one has to wonder why they wouldn’t remove the optics in a game where the ACC (all content owned by ESPN) is playing a game against a Big 10 team (Tier 1 rights owned by Fox) and use an officiating crew from a conference also with vested interest in ESPN making money.

It’s odd and it’s not right. And the whole review center in Birmingham is just more fodder....so bizarre.
 
It’s almost like the landscape of college football and other sports change over the years. USC, Miami, Nebraska and Colorado used to be power houses and now they’re not. Hell, BYU won a title during your 20 year period.

2 of those SEC National Titles came against OSU, when they were ranked #1. Nick Saban came along and won 5 with Alabama. The landscape will change again when these kids start getting paid.

A little assistance doesn’t hurt either.

When did the “Southern Speed” narrative begin? Was there not an abundance of Southern Speed between 1980 and 2000? Like, it genuinely confuses me.

Or could it be a counter-narrative was created against the Big 10 once they became a financial competitor?

I certainly remember being an underdog to Miami in 2002 and listening to guys like Mark May troll OSU about not having athletes.....but I’d put it around 2005-06 where a huge push was made to one, trash northern football as being slow, corn-fed, and plodding, and this almost mythologic narrative around southern athletes and how much better the football is in the SEC.

I mean, you can draw your own conclusions.

My biggest objection to the OSU vs Clemson game though, is the obvious conflict of interest. I’m still waiting for anybody, anywhere to show me where this type of arrangement exists in sports. Where a Network with a massive amount of money staked on two conferences (ACC and SEC), own the college football playoff, and one of the teams (Ohio State) is a massive ratings thorn in the side of the network hosting the playoff....and that network (ESPN) also owns the ACC and SEC networks.

I honestly think a lot of people just have their heads in the sand to some degree, and I’m not sure why. In any other industry, this arrangement would be nipped in the bud immediately.

Coca-cola owns Sprite and Fanta. Both Sprite and Fanta have their own executives, marketing teams, sales teams, etc. Imagine Coca-Cola hosting a “best tasting soda tournament”. In the finals, it comes down to Sprite vs. Pepsi and Fanta is named the judge of the tournament. Do you think Pepsi would feel good about that?

Gene Smith was irate after the game. Ryan Day was really pissed. You know why? They felt cheated. Did they miss a lot of opportunities? No doubt.......I don’t dispute it. But when you feel cheated, like the game is tilted against you, it adds anger to the disappointment. OSU has felt slighted by the CFP before (2015, 2018) and the Big 10 was boned in 2017. They feel like they’re fighting significant head-wind based on ESPN’s financial interests.

But then to see it actually play out in front of their eyes, in what I’d consider a pretty blatant way, is the ultimate kick to the nuts. You cannot overturn that fumble for a TD. Cannot do it. And they did. While an ESPN rules analyst who was tied into the SEC replay booth (had access to what they were doing), tried softening the blow by explaining away a catch that arguably had 4 feet down.

I’m just glad it’s starting to pick up some steam. ESPN is certainly sensitive to it....I think more fans are aware. But I’ll forever be disappointed we didn’t get to see our secondary at full strength against Burrow. Would’ve been a classic.
 
So will anyone give credit to LSU or you going to continue to argue how it wasn’t fair to OSU that they had to play a tough game against a good opponent?

It was a terrrible call, no question. But again, that one call doesn’t make up for the 70 yards of offense you put up in the 3rd Q. Not being able to stop Lawrence. You say you lost by 6, catch one of the three TDs you dropped, and you’re playing LSU. OSU was up with 3mins remaining and Clemson had the ball on their own 6. They acored

At least give credit to LSU though like AZ said. They had one of the best offenses ever. They had a hell of a schedule and beat everyone.

Don't leave the game in the hands of the officials. Good teams don’t
 
Havent done much in the past decade at all until this year. I suspect they will shrink back down to where they have been in recent years.

That said I knew LSU was going to take over number 1 and thought it was fairly obvious too. Didnt have a huge problem with it. They clearly earned this natty, I just wish OSU had gotten to play them.
.
 
So will anyone give credit to LSU or you going to continue to argue how it wasn’t fair to OSU that they had to play a tough game against a good opponent?
Fine

LSU had a great season and is deservedly the National Champs.

Also true...the system screwed OSU, and as fans of the sport, we don't like it.

Now, will you stop strawmanning our arguments? Or are you gonna talk about how Texas beat Utah again?
 
I also feel the statement “good teams dont leave the game in the hands of the officials” is very disingenuous. So was Ohio State not a good team? What about the Saints last year? Good teams get boned all the time by officials. It’s football so you can always say, “Yeah, but you coulda done this this and this and then the call wouldn’t matter!” but I feel like that excuses poor officiating from taking accountability.
 
Again, I don’t think anyone here has any issues with LSU. They were a great team and a very worthy champion. Nobody is disputing that.
 
So will anyone give credit to LSU or you going to continue to argue how it wasn’t fair to OSU that they had to play a tough game against a good opponent?

It was a terrrible call, no question. But again, that one call doesn’t make up for the 70 yards of offense you put up in the 3rd Q. Not being able to stop Lawrence. You say you lost by 6, catch one of the three TDs you dropped, and you’re playing LSU. OSU was up with 3mins remaining and Clemson had the ball on their own 6. They acored

At least give credit to LSU though like AZ said. They had one of the best offenses ever. They had a hell of a schedule and beat everyone.

Don't leave the game in the hands of the officials. Good teams don’t

I never took any credit away from LSU.....they're an elite team. I called out the system for having blatant conflict of interest.

Did LSU benefit from being in the SEC, and get elevated to the #1 seed....absolutely. It was a close call against tOSU, and in this system, you have to assume LSU will get the benefit of the doubt, like a 2 loss UGA did last year over a 1 loss OSU. That's how it works right now.

But I don't think it's very disputable at all, that at even strength OSU was the much better team versus Clemson. Ohio State won everywhere but the scoreboard (had more rushing yards, throwing yards, time of possession). They lost in turnovers but that's a bit unfair because OSU forced the fumble and score that was then overturned incorrectly (as admitted by Director of Officiating day after game).

The momentum swung on the Wade targeting call (which I don't have beef with...by letter of law, call was correct). But the loss of Wade has proven to be an achilles heel for this team. He's uniquely gifted to play in center of field and blanket the slot receiver, or match-up on TE's. They mix and match a lot of coverages because of his ability. Unfortunately, the depth at that position wasn't there and it neutered the defense. Amir Riep is strictly a corner and Josh Proctor is strictly a Safety. Neither guy brings the ability to do what Shaun can, and it makes the defense extremely vanilla. I don't even care about the 7 points the targeting led to...Clemson could have it. If Wade stays in that game, it remains a blowout IMO. OSU was locking up Higgins (even post Wade ejection) and Ross entire night. They got burned a few times in the slot, especially on the final drive. IMO, if not for Lawrence shrinking to 5'6" instead of his usual 6'6" height, the game stays out of reach for Clemson. And I haven't even hit on the impact Dobbins injured ankle had on the run game........

I give LSU credit for winning every single game in front of them, and for Burrow being an absolute stud this year. I don't think LSU or the country got the (2) best teams in the championship though. Ohio State would've been a harder test. They proved it when the played Clemson for nearly 2 quarters and destroyed them at relatively equal strength.
 
I don't know why anyone is taking offense on LSU's behalf. Ohio State was better than Clemson. They fucked themselves multiple times, Dobbins and Fields were injured, and it still took the refs blatantly screwing them for Clemson to win.

That doesn't mean LSU wouldn't have beaten Ohio State's ass. They might have. I didn't even have a problem with LSU getting the #1 seed. The resumes were close. Ohio State won the eye test most of the year, but the last 3 games, LSU looked better. Saying Clemson shouldn't have even had the chance to play LSU doesn't take away anything from what LSU did.
 

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-13: "Backup Bash Brothers"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:11: "Clipping Bucks."
Top