Preseason and Regular Season Polls (2015)

[Zander42]

Would this make everyone happy?

 

[matcar]

Yes. Even though I thought they would get beat by someone, they were rightly ranked #1, IMO. I would even say they should have been seeded #1 by the committee going into the playoff, since they were still undefeated.

You're entitled to your opinion but I'm entitled to say that's bullshit. They didn't deserve any #1 ranking or seed. They were an above average team. Nothing more.

 

[Muck]

Really, seeding of four teams who have no real common resume and who only play a dozen games is an exercise in futility anyways. I would be willing to bet that when the first playoff contract expires that 3 & 4 seeds will have won just as often as 1s & 2s.

I think the powers that be created the worst of all possible worlds when they tried to balance the new with the old.

They kept the bowls...but destroyed the traditional match ups.

Ohio State vs Oregon in the Rose
Alabama vs FSU in the Sugar

Would have been just as much of a ratings monster.

If you're going to destroy the old system. Then destroy it completely. Stop giving the Pac & SEC de facto home games and pretending it's somehow a more 'fair' system.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Let me get this straight...you want us to determine if Ohio State is playing "championship level football" without looking at any other teams against whom we can develop a benchmark to determine what constitutes a championship level? How can you tell who "is the best team in football" without making a comparison?

Are we playing good enough? It's that simple. You guys are trying to make it complicated because you don't like the answer to that question.

 

[Palpie]

Are we playing good enough? It's that simple. You guys are trying to make it complicated because you don't like the answer to that question.

But good enough can change from year to year, it has to be evaluated relative to the other teams playing that year. Now if your question is "is this years buckeye team playing a level where you'd pick them vs 95 corn" then sure knock them. But even there you're still comparing the team to SOMEONE. I don't think osu is playing it's best, but that's actually GOOD because i believe they will find that level and would rather they play at that level vs msu/tsun/west champ/playoffs than vs northern ill and western tsun. Peaking in september is what nd and tsun aspire to, peaking at the end of the season when things matter is what osu aspires to.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

I'm well aware of how much easier it is to find fault rather than bother to consider who actually deserves the spot. "OSU isn't up to par" is a much simpler statement.

"Finding fault" is a crude way of putting it. I'm just stating the obvious. We aren't playing as well as we could or should. We need to play better. You don't need to evaluate any of the other teams in CFB to make that judgement.

OSU is playing elite defense and has paired it with a good, bad, hideous and solid offensive performance thus far. Obviously they should be playing far better football on that side of the ball, but frankly I'm not sure they were expected to play ferocious, shut down defense this season.

MSU has a pretty good offense and a very suspect defense yet because their giant flaws are on defense, practically no one notices them. They've also been ravaged by injuries.

TCU has a high flying offense and a horrendous defense yet they're right there near the top.

The last time Ole Miss beat Alabama everyone went absolutely mississippi crazy. That ended well, and that was after a win over a much better Bama team than this Bammer offense led by a Wisconsin esque QB.

It's easy to say they aren't number one. It's very difficult to find a #1 team without substantial flaws.

I'll respond to all of this because it annoys me when people pick and choose from what I post. I agree that people don't look at defenses the same way they do offenses....I've used that argument before about Ohio State against the very same TCU or Baylor or even Oregons who score a million points and don't even pretend to play D. I don't think our D is as elite as you do....though I do think it is very good, and I love each unit on this team. I just watched a team running the same play over and over plow their way down the field. If not for that, I could put an elite label on them.

But the O is just killing themselves. Unforced mistakes, turnovers, poor blocking, poor execution. Teams that win championships don't do these things. 2002 didn't do these things, and that defense was a lot better.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

But good enough can change from year to year, it has to be evaluated relative to the other teams playing that year. Now if your question is "is this years buckeye team playing a level where you'd pick them vs 95 corn" then sure knock them. But even there you're still comparing the team to SOMEONE. I don't think osu is playing it's best, but that's actually GOOD because i believe they will find that level and would rather they play at that level vs msu/tsun/west champ/playoffs than vs northern ill and western tsun. Peaking in september is what nd and tsun aspire to, peaking at the end of the season when things matter is what osu aspires to.

I'd agree with you if they weren't playing as poorly as they are. The very minimum of good enough to win a title is better than what Ohio State has shown this year.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Are we playing good enough? It's that simple. You guys are trying to make it complicated because you don't like the answer to that question.

I think we are, and I think you're being overcritical. We're had one close game, against the team that will likely win the MAC and end up in the top 20. Aside from Baylor, all other team in the top 10 have had a close game, and many of those against a team not as good as No Ill.

 

[buckeyesin07]

I think we are, and I think you're being overcritical. We're had one close game, against the team that will likely win the MAC and end up in the top 20. Aside from Baylor, all other team in the top 10 have had a close game, and many of those against a team not as good as No Ill.

Doubtful on the end up in the top 20 point now, since they lost to BC and sit at 2-2.

 

[MaxBuck]

I think we are, and I think you're being overcritical. We're had one close game, against the team that will likely win the MAC and end up in the top 20. Aside from Baylor, all other team in the top 10 have had a close game, and many of those against a team not as good as No Ill.

Can't believe I did a "like" to a Mili post, but just couldn't help myself. He just made too much sense (for a change ...).

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

I think we are, and I think you're being overcritical. We're had one close game, against the team that will likely win the MAC and end up in the top 20. Aside from Baylor, all other team in the top 10 have had a close game, and many of those against a team not as good as No Ill.

That's fair.

 

[jwinslow]

"Finding fault" is a crude way of putting it. I'm just stating the obvious. We aren't playing as well as we could or should. We need to play better. You don't need to evaluate any of the other teams in CFB to make that judgement.

Most of the people arguing with you agree with all of the comments about how they're playing. What's crude is your approach in a rankings thread.

You're telling us about national rankings in a national rankings thread and then insisting you can discuss it without having to acknowledge the other 100+ national teams that are factored into OSU's unworthy ranking.

You're telling people we shouldn't be analyzing teams before they have a large resume to evaluate, yet we're supposed to ignore your recommendation when talking about OSU, who wasn't just flawed but flat out awful as a national entity this time last year (and deservedly so).

You're right, OSU isn't playing up to their potential. MSU has played woefully on defense and that was before suffering a number of big injuries on both sides of the ball. We're in agreement about TCU. So who exactly is deserving of #1? Ole Miss? Does anyone feel confident that the QB we all watched will avoid screwing it up? Either way, isn't their signature win based on assumptions about how good Bama is or should be? What if they're very average by November? Utah, who dismantled an Oregon team that no one respects? Who?

You can make an argument to downgrade OSU but they aren't sliding far in the poll nor should they.

I'll respond to all of this because it annoys me when people pick and choose from what I post.

Sorry I wasn't overly compelled to engage in a really long winded hypothetical of the matrix when it was really just a rhetorical question.

I agree that people don't look at defenses the same way they do offenses....I've used that argument before about Ohio State against the very same TCU or Baylor or even Oregons who score a million points and don't even pretend to play D. I don't think our D is as elite as you do....though I do think it is very good, and I love each unit on this team. I just watched a team running the same play over and over plow their way down the field. If not for that, I could put an elite label on them.

That's fine, though I'd say that was a sharp diversion from the last three games.

But the O is just killing themselves. Unforced mistakes, turnovers, poor blocking, poor execution. Teams that win championships don't do these things. 2002 didn't do these things, and that defense was a lot better.

Yes there are problems. Propping up the 02 offense is something else.

That team had to score 0 TDs to beat PSU and regularly had to score less than Joe Bauserman led offenses to secure victories.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Doubtful on the end up in the top 20 point now, since they lost to BC and sit at 2-2.

BC has (right now) the toughest defense in the country, albeit inflated due to two FCS team, but they did hold FSU to 14 points, which is what No Ill scored. I'd bet that if No Ill wins the MAC (including their title game) and then win their bowl game and end up 12-2 or 11-3, they'll be around #20 or so in the final poll.

Can't believe I did a "like" to a Mili post, but just couldn't help myself. He just made too much sense (for a change ...).

Lulz...

That's fair.

Mahalo...

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Oh for fucks sake Josh

Most of the people arguing with you agree with all of the comments about how they're playing. What's crude is your approach in a rankings thread.

Sorry my point about us not playing well enough happened to be in a rankings thread. The thread it's in doesn't really change the message.

You're telling us about national rankings in a national rankings thread and then insisting you can discuss it without having to acknowledge the other 100+ national teams that are factored into OSU's unworthy ranking.

You're telling people we shouldn't be analyzing teams before they have a large resume to evaluate, yet we're supposed to ignore your recommendation when talking about OSU, who wasn't just flawed but flat out awful as a national entity this time last year (and deservedly so).

I'm doing nothing of the sort. I'm not telling anybody what they should or shouldn't do, and I'm not insisting on anything. I'm saying we're not playing good enough to win a title, and the bitching in every other thread about our lack of results bears that out. Again, apologies if it happened to be in a rankings thread.

This time last year we were righting the ship after a kick in the ass loss. This time this year we're still dicking around and wasting offensive opportunities. I'll take last years 3-1 squad over this year's 4-0 squad every day...but that's not really fair because I know how that story ends.

You're right, OSU isn't playing up to their potential. MSU has played woefully on defense and that was before suffering a number of big injuries on both sides of the ball. We're in agreement about TCU. So who exactly is deserving of #1? Ole Miss? Does anyone feel confident that the QB we all watched will avoid screwing it up? Either way, isn't their signature win based on assumptions about how good Bama is or should be? What if they're very average by November? Utah, who dismantled an Oregon team that no one respects? Who?

So you can just dismiss Ole Miss because you expect them to fuck up at some point? I'm not talking about at some point, I'm talking abut right now. Right now, a lot of teams look better than Ohio State....and since the rankings are just a beauty contest, I'd say that means at least one of those teams has a better claim to #1 than we do. Clemson is going to Clemson, the SEC is going to thin itself out, Utah probably will lose to an Arizona school...but that hasn't happened yet, so you don't get to act like it has.

You can make an argument to downgrade OSU but they aren't sliding far in the poll nor should they.

Only because the polls are stupid. Last year's FSU proves that.

Sorry I wasn't overly compelled to engage in a really long winded hypothetical of the matrix when it was really just a rhetorical question.

That wasn't a shot at you, it was a courtesy because I didn't really feel the need to reply to other parts of your posts, because then we end up with mini novels going back and forth like this....which is as annoying as ignoring parts of a post anyways. And you weren't the only person who ignored it.

Propping up the 02 offense is something else.

I didn't bring up 02.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

I'll settle this.....

Tits.

I win