Non-Music Related: Penn State

AtoMikEnRtiA · Post by **AtoMikEnRtiA** » Monday Nov 07, 2005

You know what - it's been a few weeks since anything has been mentioned football wise about Penn State, but I think right now is a good time for one and all State supporters to stand up and applaud the effort that State has put up this year in a phenomonal run. At the beginning of the year none of us would have said that Penn State would be just 1 game away from Big Ten Champs, a BCS auto-matic and a team that could very easily play and contend for the National Championship..

A lot can be said for Joe Paterno's resilliancy in hanging in there - his player's loyalty. Jay Paterno and Galen Hall's brilliance in changing the way they play offense, not to mention the 2 headed monster known as Tamba Hali and Paul Posluszny on defense - brilliant season..

A lot more could be said and will be said that a lot of pundits considered ranking State higher than Alabama and Miami this week - they didnt but they considered it.. a lot more said that Penn State could be a team that would be able to shut down a USC and a Texas (many a defensive genius looking at the current State defense saying this is the very best defense college football has seen since the Ohio State defense of a few years back.. and if anybody remembers that defense of their National Title year.. they fuckin destroyed football players and then went after their families..) but nonetheless, great job Penn State. They've earned a much needed and deserved week off, so they can focus on beating Michigan State in East Lansing (never an easy win) and secure their Fiesta Bowl date w/ Notre Dame.. Go State!

EDIT: By the way - this just in - non State related but i didnt want to make a new thread. Philadelphia Eagles are done with Terrell Owens for the season. Just came through the wires.

Post by **Jim Price** » Monday Nov 07, 2005

I'm very impressed and excited with the Lions' turnaround this season, as well as the possibilities for the next few seasons.

Admittedly, I started to climb aboard the "Joe Must Go" bandwagon during the heat of the frustration last season, especially after the loss to Iowa. But after the season-ending wins against Indiana and Michigan State, and word about the incoming recruiting class, the frustration subsided and I stepped off the wagon; I wanted to see if Joe could right the ship. After what he has done with that program, he deserved the chance to exit on a high note.

Seeing how fiery he was on the sidelines this past Saturday, he looks like he could coach into his 90's! I hope I have half that much spunk and fire when/if I reach his age!

While it's not impossible for the Lions to get to the Rose Bowl and a shot at the national championship, it will take some help for them to get there. Out of the teams currently above them in the BCS standings, Texas seems to have the easiest path; they play Kansas and the rivalry game against a struggling Texas A&M, and then the Big 12 Championship Game, probably against Colorado, who they trounced during the regular season. USC faces California, Fresno State and cross-town rival UCLA; UCLA would appear to be the most dangerous of the three, since it is a rivalry and the Bruins might be able to match USC on offensive output. Again, possible, but not probable. I think Alabama falls this coming weekend to LSU, and if not there, they have to go to Auburn for the rivalry game; I see the Tide losing at least one, if not both, of those games. The sleeper, though, is Miami. They've improved steadily ever since their season-opening loss to Florida State, proven by their rout of Virginia Tech on the road this past Saturday. The 'Canes face Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Virginia - all win-able - their biggest remaining hurdle might be the ACC Championship game (if they leapfrog Va Tech in their division), probably a rematch against Florida State.

Again, it's not an impossible scenario for the Lions to get to the championship game, but they need to take care of their business in East Lansing on Nov. 19, and hope for at least a few upsets.

Post by **Jim Price** » Monday Nov 07, 2005

Two more quick items: In their win over Virginia Tech on Saturday, Miami lost tailback Tyrone Moss for the rest of the season with a knee injury; that might spell trouble for the Hurricanes, particularly if they have the rematch against Florida State in the ACC Championship Game.

And I forgot - if by chance Alabama gets by LSU and Auburn, they still have to play the SEC Championship Game, probably against Georgia or Florida. Alabama definitely would appear to have the toughest road holding on to their BCS hopes.

Mackovyak · Post by **Mackovyak** » Monday Nov 07, 2005

WE ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Sorry, coudldn't resist, it's been a while since I could scream that proudly....they just don't get it down here in the south.)

YankeeRose · Post by **YankeeRose** » Monday Nov 07, 2005

PENN STATE!!!!!!!!

(What made attending Saturday's game vs. Wisconsin even more special was that my daughter had just found out the day before she's been accepted to Penn State.

Some kind of attendance record was broke Saturday and Robinson broke a record for yardage previously set in '94, too!)

AtoMikEnRtiA · Post by **AtoMikEnRtiA** » Monday Nov 07, 2005

this is what i would like to do to 95 percent of the people i went to high school with hahaa

Jerry C · Post by **Jerry C** » Monday Nov 07, 2005

The excitement of Penn State football this year reminds me of when I used to go to most of the games in 94. It is also the kind of excitement I was hoping to find in the Steelers this year, but haven't found yet. I know a W is a W, but I hope they get their act together soon.

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Monday Nov 07, 2005

The latest BCS poll has PSU in 5th place. Now if they beat MSU, which they should, and Alabama loses any one of 3 very tough games, as JP pointed out in his post, PSU is then in the second best bowl game available. At this point, USC looks to play Texas for the nat. championship, and PSU will be either 3rd or 4th ranked.

Now there is lots of talk of PSU vs Notre Dame, which ANY bowl city would love to get. But Notre Dame does not have the ranking yet. They still have 2 tough games left.

I think its more likely its a PSU vs Miami bowl, but a Notre Dame January matchup could be real interesting.

Punkinhead · Post by **Punkinhead** » Tuesday Nov 08, 2005

undercoverjoe wrote:The latest BCS poll has PSU in 5th place. Now if they beat MSU, which they should, and Alabama loses any one of 3 very tough games, as JP pointed out in his post, PSU is then in the second best bowl game available. At this point, USC looks to play Texas for the nat. championship, and PSU will be either 3rd or 4th ranked.

Now there is lots of talk of PSU vs Notre Dame, which ANY bowl city would love to get. But Notre Dame does not have the ranking yet. They still have 2 tough games left.

I think its more likely its a PSU vs Miami bowl, but a Notre Dame January matchup could be real interesting.

Penn St. is having a great season. I actually got to go to the Ohio State game (we go every year) and it was really nice to see St. College alive on Saturdays again. They may have had 100,000 people a game the last two years but, it was dead compared to this year.

Bag · Post by **Bag** » Tuesday Nov 08, 2005

I've been a season ticket holder for 15 years now, and this season has been a blast. The students have been AMAZING! Paternoville, white-outs, the Zombie Nation jump around, the videos before the game, etc...

If only when you played Michigan, you didn't have the beat the "referines" too, we'd be sniffin a National Championship!

AtoMikEnRtiA · Post by **AtoMikEnRtiA** » Tuesday Nov 08, 2005

undercoverjoe wrote:The latest BCS poll has PSU in 5th place. Now if they beat MSU, which they should, and Alabama loses any one of 3 very tough games, as JP pointed out in his post, PSU is then in the second best bowl game available. At this point, USC looks to play Texas for the nat. championship, and PSU will be either 3rd or 4th ranked.

Now there is lots of talk of PSU vs Notre Dame, which ANY bowl city would love to get. But Notre Dame does not have the ranking yet. They still have 2 tough games left.

I think its more likely its a PSU vs Miami bowl, but a Notre Dame January matchup could be real interesting.

You Know I just read the BCS criteria - Penn State could actually be left out of the Bowl Championship Series if the BCS so desired based on the fact that they can revoke conference champions if their ranking in the last 4 years hasnt been around 12.. ill give u the link..

http://www.bcsfootball.org/index2.cfm?page=eligibility

that said - here's my take on undercoverjoe's remarks..

good points, but all Notre Dame has to do as an independent to be in the BCS rankings is finish with atleast 9 wins, and be ranked 12 in BCS rankings - which I think they'll get. A lot of State fans are already starting to make travel plans for Tempe, Arizona as it's almost a certainty if Penn State wins the Big Ten, they will go to the Fiesta Bowl since the Big11Ten champs wont be playing in the rose bowl this year - unless Miami, Bama, and Texas completely shit the bed. If they do, seeing as they all have to play conference championship games to get that automatic (Miami will be playing Florida State, Fla State beat them in the first game of the season. Bama will have to play Georgia more than likely for SEC title game in the Georgia dome - Bama has looked ugly all year. Texas will play Colorado in the Big 12 Title game.. never an easy task to win Big 12 title games.. remember Kansas State in i think 1999? They went into Texas A&M for the Big 12 Title game, they were 3rd in the polls, Miami was 2nd but got beat that day by UCLA - Kansas State had the game in their hands but threw it away, lost to A&M in overtime.. sad story.. Miami went on to play Ohio State for the title..)

Bowl Predictions..

Rose Bowl:
USC (Pacific-10 champion) vs Texas (Big XII champion).. Texas wins

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl:
Penn State (Big Ten champion) vs Notre Dame (Independent - At-large)... Penn State wins

Nokia Sugar Bowl:
Georgia (SouthEastern champions) vs Miami (Atlantic Coast - At-large).. Georgia wins

FedEx Orange Bowl:
Florida State (Atlantic Coast - champions) vs Louisville (Big East champion)... Florida State wins..

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Tuesday Nov 08, 2005

We are back at last! Life is good!

Punkinhead · Post by **Punkinhead** » Tuesday Nov 08, 2005

Bag wrote:I've been a season ticket holder for 15 years now, and this season has been a blast. The students have been AMAZING! Paternoville, white-outs, the Zombie Nation jump around, the videos before the game, etc...

If only when you played Michigan, you didn't have the beat the "referines" too, we'd be sniffin a National Championship!

The Zombie Nation jump around is awesome. I had more fun at that Ohio State game than I've had at any football game ever.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Thursday Nov 17, 2005

AtoMikEnRtiA wrote:You Know I just read the BCS criteria - Penn State could actually be left out of the Bowl Championship Series if the BCS so desired based on the fact that they can revoke conference champions if their ranking in the last 4 years hasnt been around 12.. ill give u the link..

This is based on the last 4 conference champions' final standings during the past 4 years, not PSU's final standings during the past 4 years. This clause is there to make sure that the conferences are worthy of a BCS slot.

On another note:

I'm sure there isn't a PSU fan who doesn't want those 2 seconds back, but now there is that age old nemesis to deal with--BIAS.

The computer algorithm used to generate the Sagarin ratings is more than likely the most accurate and unbiased assessment of the rankings of Division I football. If you look at the Sagarin ratings, PSU is 3rd and Ohio State is 4th. Miami is 6th and LSU is 11th. The BCS computer has PSU 3rd, VaTech 4th, Miami 5th and LSU 8th.

But, who's watching the henhouse?

Look at the Coaches' (Foxes) and Sportswriters' (Weasels) polls. Both Miami and LSU are ahead of PSU by significant margins. Why? Because there is a strong bias for Notre Dame, Florida teams and SEC teams and a notable bias against the Big 10 in general and PSU in particular.

By all rights, if either USC or Texas loses, PSU should be playing for the championship.

AtoMikEnRtiA · Post by **AtoMikEnRtiA** » Thursday Nov 17, 2005

lonewolf wrote: By all rights, if either USC or Texas loses, PSU should be playing for the championship.

If USC or Texas do lose.. PSU WILL be playing for the National Championship. Texas has a tough thanksgiving friday throwdown w/ Texas A&M which is never an easy game - and then they have to win their conference championship, and play Colorado which could give them fits. Its very possible that Texas could lose 2 games at the end of the year and be left out in the cold.

USC will have it easy - no conference championship, and only UCLA and Cal to worry about. UCLA could beat USC - but I doubt it..

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Thursday Nov 17, 2005

AtoMikEnRtiA wrote:
lonewolf wrote: By all rights, if either USC or Texas loses, PSU should be playing for the championship.
If USC or Texas do lose.. PSU WILL be playing for the National Championship.

At present, Miami is in front of PSU in the overall BCS ranking and would be in the championship...that was one of the points of my post. If either USC or Texas and the rest of this list loses one game, PSU will be in the championship:

USC (Fresno St. 8-1, UCLA, 9-1)
Texas (@Texas A&M 5-5, Colorado 8-3 or Iowa St 8-3)
Miami (GaTech 6-3, Virginia 6-3, Florida St.* 7-3)
LSU (@Mississippi 3-6, Arkansas 3-6, Georgia*8-2 or Florida* 7-3)
VaTech (@Virginia 6-3, North Carolina 4-5, Florida St.* 7-3)
Alabama (@Auburn 8-2, Georgia* 8-2 or Florida* 7-3)

LSU, Va. Tech and Alabama can all move in front of PSU by playing highly ranked teams.

AtoMikEnRtiA · Post by **AtoMikEnRtiA** » Thursday Nov 17, 2005

lonewolf wrote:
AtoMikEnRtiA wrote:
lonewolf wrote: By all rights, if either USC or Texas loses, PSU should be playing for the championship.
If USC or Texas do lose.. PSU WILL be playing for the National Championship.
At present, Miami is in front of PSU in the overall BCS ranking and would be in the championship...that was one of the points of my post. If either USC or Texas and the rest of this list loses one game, PSU will be in the championship:

USC (Fresno St. 8-1, UCLA, 9-1)
Texas (@Texas A&M 5-5, Colorado 8-3 or Iowa St 8-3)
Miami (GaTech 6-3, Virginia 6-3, Florida St.* 7-3)
LSU (@Mississippi 3-6, Arkansas 3-6, Georgia*8-2 or Florida* 7-3)
VaTech (@Virginia 6-3, North Carolina 4-5, Florida St.* 7-3)
Alabama (@Auburn 8-2, Georgia* 8-2 or Florida* 7-3)

LSU, Va. Tech and Alabama can all move in front of PSU by playing highly ranked teams.

I forgot about Miami. They have to play Florida State in the ACC Championship game this year. Florida State has beaten Miami once this year already - I dont think Miami could beat Florida State this year - so I dont think Miami has a chance.

Alabama will lose again. They're not all they cracked out to be.

I still think Texas will lose in the Big XII Title game or the thanksgiving game.

Virginia Tech is finished, you can write them off - they're not even playing in their conferences championship game.

LSU may not make the SEC Championship game. If they dont make the SEC Championship game, they're playing December 28 in San Antonio.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Thursday Nov 17, 2005

AtoMikEnRtiA wrote:I forgot about Miami. They have to play Florida State in the ACC Championship game this year. Florida State has beaten Miami once this year already - I dont think Miami could beat Florida State this year - so I dont think Miami has a chance.

Alabama will lose again. They're not all they cracked out to be.

I still think Texas will lose in the Big XII Title game or the thanksgiving game.

Virginia Tech is finished, you can write them off - they're not even playing in their conferences championship game.

LSU may not make the SEC Championship game. If they dont make the SEC Championship game, they're playing December 28 in San Antonio.

While I tend to agree with your conventional thinking, this is the BCS, and conventional thinking doesn't apply.

1st. PSU cannot gain any more ground on its own. MSU is not rated and even a 63-3 win won't help them in the BCS ratings. The ONLY thing PSU has going for it is the non-bias of the BCS computer program.

2nd. PSU is only where it is because the computers know that the Lions have the most top 10 wins with 2 and wins over top 30 opponents with 5. This is the time of the year when the top teams play each other. Any 1 loss team can significantly improve their standing with wins over top 30 teams. All of the teams I've listed are well within striking distance of PSU's #3 computer rating and are statistically still in the hunt.

3rd. The 1st rule of BCS is that #1 plays #2 for the championship, regardless of who is conference champion or what bowl wants whom.

In the Coastal Division title, VaTech has the driver's seat, not Miami. If both teams win out, VaTech goes 7-1 to Miami's 6-1 conference record and wins the division**. Virginia Tech's #4 BCS computer rating is presently higher than Miami's #5. 10,000:1, but still in it by BCS rules.

You're right about Alabama...Auburn will beat them this weekend.

Texas is another story. Of all the teams I listed, I think Texas is the least likely to lose with their remaining game and playoff. They already trounced Colorado and although A&M will be ready for them for about 12 minutes, it will end up a blowout.

If one of the top 2 is to lose, I think it would be if USC has a letdown by playing 3 ranked teams in a row. I think Fresno St is going to surprise a lot of people.

LSU is problematic because they (SEC) and Notre Dame get superbiased votes from coaches and sportswriters, even though the BCS computer lists them at 8th, the "human" polls have them in front of PSU at 4th. Blatant superbias.

**Unless there is some goofy-assed rule that deals with losses instead of record.

AtoMikEnRtiA · Post by **AtoMikEnRtiA** » Thursday Nov 17, 2005

lonewolf wrote:
AtoMikEnRtiA wrote:I forgot about Miami. They have to play Florida State in the ACC Championship game this year. Florida State has beaten Miami once this year already - I dont think Miami could beat Florida State this year - so I dont think Miami has a chance.

Alabama will lose again. They're not all they cracked out to be.

I still think Texas will lose in the Big XII Title game or the thanksgiving game.

Virginia Tech is finished, you can write them off - they're not even playing in their conferences championship game.

LSU may not make the SEC Championship game. If they dont make the SEC Championship game, they're playing December 28 in San Antonio.
While I tend to agree with your conventional thinking, this is the BCS, and conventional thinking doesn't apply.

1st. PSU cannot gain any more ground on its own. MSU is not rated and even a 63-3 win won't help them in the BCS ratings. The ONLY thing PSU has going for it is the non-bias of the BCS computer program.

2nd. PSU is only where it is because the computers know that the Lions have the most top 10 wins with 2 and wins over top 30 opponents with 5. This is the time of the year when the top teams play each other. Any 1 loss team can significantly improve their standing with wins over top 30 teams. All of the teams I've listed are well within striking distance of PSU's #3 computer rating and are statistically still in the hunt.

3rd. The 1st rule of BCS is that #1 plays #2 for the championship, regardless of who is conference champion or what bowl wants whom.

In the Coastal Division title, VaTech has the driver's seat, not Miami. If both teams win out, VaTech goes 7-1 to Miami's 6-1 conference record and wins the division**. Virginia Tech's #4 BCS computer rating is presently higher than Miami's #5. 10,000:1, but still in it by BCS rules.

You're right about Alabama...Auburn will beat them this weekend.

Texas is another story. Of all the teams I listed, I think Texas is the least likely to lose with their remaining game and playoff. They already trounced Colorado and although A&M will be ready for them for about 12 minutes, it will end up a blowout.

If one of the top 2 is to lose, I think it would be if USC has a letdown by playing 3 ranked teams in a row. I think Fresno St is going to surprise a lot of people.

LSU is problematic because they (SEC) and Notre Dame get superbiased votes from coaches and sportswriters, even though the BCS computer lists them at 8th, the "human" polls have them in front of PSU at 4th. Blatant superbias.

**Unless there is some goofy-assed rule that deals with losses instead of record.

And in explaining this - you've proven the greatest point of all time.. College football needs a playoff format - get rid of games 11-12 in the regular season. Have 16 teams in the playoffs, and lets see how it goes down. I guarantee you - this season, Penn State would be the toughest team to beat in the playoffs, if they held homefield for a few rounds, which they would if there were playoffs this year - they would hold a 2 seed in the eastern half of the U.S. if the playoffs went by BCS rankings. I would love to see post season play in State College with as crazy as the kids have been in the stands this year. Opposing teams would want to commit suicide

Punkinhead · Post by **Punkinhead** » Thursday Nov 17, 2005

As much as college football needs a playoff, I seriously doubt that any of us will ever see it. What's good for the game doesn't matter as much as what's good for the bank accounts that run it.

Post by **Jim Price** » Thursday Nov 17, 2005

I'd like to see USC or Texas lose, not only because it might put Penn State in the national championship game, but it would also create more BCS controversy over which one-loss team deserves to play in the national championship game...leading to more cries for a bonafide playoff system for college football's national championship.

I even heard one analyst say that it's possible that USC and Texas are far enough ahead in the BCS equation that they might still be in the championship game even if they do lose once.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Friday Nov 18, 2005

Jim Price wrote:I even heard one analyst say that it's possible that USC and Texas are far enough ahead in the BCS equation that they might still be in the championship game even if they do lose once.

This analyst probably doesn't understand the BCS equation and probably got his communications degree while playing linebacker for Ohio State.

The only way this could happen is if all the former coaches, players, administrators, media and present coaches vote them into #1 or #2.

The BCS formula is equal weighting of:

1/3 Harris Poll (former coaches, players, administrators and media poll)
1/3 USA Today Coaches poll
1/3 BCS computer ratings

The BCS computer ratings are comprised of 6 computer ratings services where the high and low number is thrown out and the rest averaged.

On the computer side, Both USC and Texas have a significantly weaker schedule rating and fewer top 10 and top 30 opponents that PSU. A loss by either and PSU moves into 2nd place hands down. A loss by both and PSU is #1 hands down.

If PSU wins Saturday, they have a statistical lock on at least #3 in the computer poll. This is because of a far superior strength of schedule and more games and wins against top opponents.

If we could have those 2 Michigan seconds back, PSU would have a statistical lock on #1 in the computer poll.

AtoMikEnRtiA · Post by **AtoMikEnRtiA** » Friday Nov 18, 2005

lonewolf wrote: This analyst probably doesn't understand the BCS equation and probably got his communications degree while playing linebacker for Ohio State.

So you're saying this Analyst is Andy Katzenmoyer? hahaha - cuz you know, he made so much of his pro football career after 5 great years at Ohio State hahah

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Friday Nov 18, 2005

But, Katzenmoyer got an A+ in Basketweaving 101 didn't he?

All said and done, GO NITTANY LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YankeeRose · Post by **YankeeRose** » Friday Nov 18, 2005

WE ARE!!!

PENN STATE!!!