2013 Week 4 B1G FB Open Thread

[jwinslow]

Oregon will lose and look bad doing it. I don't think this is the Bama we know, they'll also lose, and I'm thinking more than once. As far as scUM goes..I have no doubt that they will find a way to fuck up any possible benefit they might provide to our SOS long before the 30th of Nov.

Bama better get it together or they are going to get rolled by LSU.

No kidding that they aren't the bama we know. Past Bama teams with weaknesses were still strong running the ball and defending. This squad is flawed in both areas.

 

[HorseshoeFetish]

Bama better get it together or they are going to get rolled by LSU.

No kidding that they aren't the bama we know. Past Bama teams with weaknesses were still strong running the ball and defending. This squad is flawed in both areas.

LSU might just be the best team in the SEC. While I think the SEC has some serious flaws in the "top" teams section, LSU seems to be the most complete team thus far.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Hope everyone is correct and that I'm wrong. Right now, should it come down to an undefeated Bama/LSU, Stanford/Oregon and Ohio State, we're left on the outside looking in. Not that there is much that Michigan can do on its own to turn around the image of the Big Ten. It's a process that is going to need to be done by the top six or seven teams in the conference over a 2-3 year period of marquee ooc games and bowl games.

Ohio State knocking off the SEC champ in the NC game would go a hell of a long way towards starting that process. I just hope that we're given the chance, and that I'm not posting this gif in a few months.

 

[jwinslow]

Hope everyone is correct and that I'm wrong. Right now, should it come down to an undefeated Bama/LSU, Stanford/Oregon and Ohio State, we're left on the outside looking in.

and I'm not sure I disagree with that.

Not that there is much that Michigan can do on its own to turn around the image of the Big Ten. It's a process that is going to need to be done by the top six or seven teams in the conference over a 2-3 year period of marquee ooc games and bowl games.

No, it means OSU needs to take care of business in the postseason, and maybe have one other good team (presumably michigan).

No one cares that the ACC stinks (in part because ESPN is in bed with them). No one used to care that Miami, USC & early FSU played in questionable conferences. This hyperbole began when OSU choked repeatedly for 1.5 years (Jan 07 thru Sep 08) and ESPN/Delaney told each other to pound salt.

Ohio State knocking off the SEC champ in the NC game would go a hell of a long way towards starting that process. I just hope that we're given the chance, and that I'm not posting this gif in a few months.

I'm not sure I'm eager for this team to face LSU. OSU could have really used a domer matchup last spring. I also don't want to see this defense trying to stay with Oregon.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

No, it means OSU needs to take care of business in the postseason, and maybe have one other good team (presumably michigan).

I think it's going to take more than that. Do I think it's fair? No, but the Big Ten is going to have to overcome the relentless espn spin against it. To do that, I really think the top half of the conference is going to need to win consistently against other power conferencences. Computers won't do it because they'll be irrelevant after this year. The Clemson thing really pisses me off because if they're one of the last three undefeateds standing, espn will completely--and with no sense of shame--ignore ACC conference strength while bashing Ohio State for it with the other side of their mouths.

One factor could be the rise of Fox Sports 1. They'll either be neutral or spin in the BIG's favor, so perhaps they can act as a counterbalance to espn down the road.

 

[HorseshoeFetish]

No, it means OSU needs to take care of business

I think it's going to take more than that

<imo>"Bye" not included, the next 4 games will be huge for us. Everyone in the country, including us, will know where we stand after the slate of "prime time" games. If we look good it should help us a little. If we look bad it will take a lot of help to get back into the NC conversation. The Wisconsin and NW games will be huge for our defense. If they can manage to slow down the different styles that each play it will show we can play against anything out there. <imo>

 

[CincyInterloper]

The BTN is a direct threat to the ESPiN sports network cartel, so they will do anything they can to discredit the B1G. I'm hoping the PAC champion has a loss. Under that scenario, an undefeated OSU gets a shot at LSU for the championship. The fact that OSU would be undefeated over two seasons may help our case as well.

 

[Mike80]

The BTN is a direct threat to the ESPiN sports network cartel, so they will do anything they can to discredit the B1G. I'm hoping the PAC champion has a loss. Under that scenario, an undefeated OSU gets a shot at LSU for the championship.

If ESPiN thinks the BTN is a direct threat to their entire empire, they are even more short-sighted than we already think they are.

Is it a thread to their college football business? Certainly. Could it become a drag on their college basketball (men's and women's) coverage? Sure thing. But the BTN will never get things like golf or the NFL/MLB/NBA and it won't carry NHL games either even though ESPN doesn't carry those currently.

ESPN shits on the Big Ten because 1) the Big Ten has earned some of it and 2) the SEC and ACC ARE directly threatened by a strong Big Ten and to a certain extent, a strong non-Texas Big 12, it's just that the all of the Big 12 teams are bad enough to not really be in the MNC discussion at the moment so the target on their back is slightly smaller.

 

[ulukinatme]

I see Seamus O'Callahan and Sean O'Reilly brought their PI flags to South Bend today.

Nope, Wingate already mentioned it, but it was Big10 refs on the field yesterday.

Late to the party here, got back from the game late last night. Too many MSU fans sharing the toll road last night There were definitely a larger number of PI calls yesterday, but ND's receivers were beating the MSU DBs pretty regularly. If they weren't drawing a PI call, receivers were wide open and Tommy Rees was missing them long. Not one of his better games, but it was good to see they were airing it out. In the first three games we didn't throw the long ball very much, too many damn WR screens when the defenses were giving ND receivers big cushions.

MSU loaded up the box, we couldn't run the ball for crap yesterday. That did lead to a lot of 1 on 1 receiver matchups on the outside, which is why we were slinging it a lot. MSU has a great group of front 7 it looks like, but I'm not sure their DBs can hold up against a team with a decent WR core. I think they'll face WRs better than ND's this year. It's a shame OSU doesn't play Sparty this year, Braxton or Guiton would absolutely kill them through the air. Still a very tough, physical defense though. We got lucky on TJ's TD at the end of the 2nd quarter, from the stands it looked like an ugly catch.

As far as MSU's offense, they had some success running the ball from time to time, and the short passes over the middle were open all day (Probably one area on the field we've been weakest all year), but otherwise it looks like Cook still isn't the answer at QB for MSU. I think he's still better than Maxwell, and I was surprised he didn't keep the ball more. I thought he was supposed to be more mobile, I think he only took off with the ball once. MSU was pretty content hitting short passes over the middle all day, although we looked to have the deep stuff pretty much locked up aside from one longer pass. Dantonio seems to like drawing up a special play each time he faces ND. It worked for him in '11, but since then it's bitten him in the butt each time. The flea flicker yesterday was this year's play, and the ensuing INT eventually lead to ND's 2nd TD and the win.

Tough team, MSU always comes to play physical and smash you in the mouth.

 

[HorseshoeFetish]

The BTN is a direct threat to the ESPiN sports network cartel, so they will do anything they can to discredit the B1G. I'm hoping the PAC champion has a loss. Under that scenario, an undefeated OSU gets a shot at LSU for the championship. The fact that OSU would be undefeated over two seasons may help our case as well.

Let me know when the BTN will be able to have the best team in the BIG play a meaningful game on the network and I'll think about it.

Kind of hard to be a threat when the cash cow plays every game on the rival network.

Saturday
Sept. 28Wisconsin Badgers
Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH8:00 p.m. ET
ABCBuy
Tickets
Saturday
Oct. 5at Northwestern Wildcats
Ryan Field, Evanston, IL8:00 p.m. ET
ABC/ESPN/2 TBABuy
Tickets
Saturday
Oct. 12---Open Date------
Saturday
Oct. 19Iowa Hawkeyes (HC)
Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH3:30 p.m. ET
ABC/ESPN/2 TBABuy
Tickets
Saturday
Oct. 26Penn State Nittany Lions
Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH8:00 p.m. ET
ABC/ESPN/2 TBA

 

[CincyInterloper]

If ESPiN thinks the BTN is a direct threat to their entire empire, they are even more short-sighted than we already think they are.

Is it a thread to their college football business? Certainly. Could it become a drag on their college basketball (men's and women's) coverage? Sure thing. But the BTN will never get things like golf or the NFL/MLB/NBA and it won't carry NHL games either even though ESPN doesn't carry those currently.

ESPN [Mark May]s on the Big Ten because 1) the Big Ten has earned some of it and 2) the SEC and ACC ARE directly threatened by a strong Big Ten and to a certain extent, a strong non-Texas Big 12, it's just that the all of the Big 12 teams are bad enough to not really be in the MNC discussion at the moment so the target on their back is slightly smaller.

It's true that the BTN will never carry more than a small percentage of total available sports programming. But what if the BTN is so successful that the rest of the NCAA begins to direct market their sports programming? What would stop the NFL, MLB, NBA, etc. from starting their own networks? The day is coming when we are all going to be watching most of if not all of our television over the internet. At that point, any sufficiently large organized sports league will be able to just stream their content directly to viewers. I think ESPN views the BTN the way John D. Rockefeller viewed all competition, however small - as an unwelcome threat to 100% dominance.

 

[jwinslow]

1) Btn has stolen a ton of basketball games from Espn, Espn 2, Espn plus, etc.

2) the success of the network has caused the rest of cfb to try and form their own networks. For Espn to maintain relevance on Saturdays they have had to wildly overpay for the longhorns and the acc

3) Disney used to be the home of the most lucrative sports conference in the country. With the partnerships formed with the Btn Disney will most likely lose coverage of almost all b1g sporting events in the big two sports. Whatever the ramifications may be to the perception of the league (and I seriously question how much worse it can get) Disney is losing a contract worth billions.

 

[Mike80]

It's true that the BTN will never carry more than a small percentage of total available sports programming. But what if the BTN is so successful that the rest of the NCAA begins to direct market their sports programming? What would stop the NFL, MLB, NBA, etc. from starting their own networks? The day is coming when we are all going to be watching most of if not all of our television over the internet. At that point, any sufficiently large organized sports league will be able to just stream their content directly to viewers. I think ESPN views the BTN the way John D. Rockefeller viewed all competition, however small - as an unwelcome threat to 100% dominance.

ummm they already did that.....