junior4949

This is a tough league. I'm not sure about the bolded part. Yes, Saban is going to retire at some point. Does Dabo go home once it happens? I have no idea whether Urban is done or not. I do know Ohio State will throw out however many millions it takes to get a top notch coach. However, there are other programs in this league. James Franklin more than likely isn't going anywhere. He's only three years older than Frost. At Vandy, he had them ranked in the top 25 at season's end two of his three years there. At Penn State, he's already won the B1G and has a couple top 10 finishes. As long as Dantonio is at Michigan State, they will be solid. As long as Alvarez is at Wisconsin, they will be solid. I realize everyone likes to bag on Harbaugh, but the fact of the matter is he's been successful everywhere he's been. Last weekend, it was mentioned more than once by analysts that the B1G is the toughest football conference. Who knows how long Brohm stays at Purdue? I'd say our road to a championship regardless of whether we're talking conference or national is tougher today than it has ever been. Thus far, there has never been a two loss team included in the playoff. Getting through the B1G with fewer than two losses has proven to be very challenging.

I'm just afraid that at some point in the season the "strain" is just too much for the upperclassmen, and they revert to old habits. I would agree with your seven win sentiment. Things are more than likely going to look pretty good early in the season. Once we get to the tougher games, we're more than likely going to have one of those wtf moments when we swear we're watching a Husker team of the past few years. The coaching staff really do have their hands full changing the culture. I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see this all getting ironed out in year one. We're probably going to see some growing pains this season, but I do believe Frost and staff will take care of the problems as they arise.

To the bolded, yes. If Riley is given another year, it's possible Frost is at Florida or Tennessee this year. I've got to think he would have been considered a home run hire if he were at either place. I'm not sure if a top 15 ranked class is around the corner. I'd assume he'll take a similar approach as to what Oregon did when he was there. He'll look for players who fit his system who might not really be on anyone's radar but has lots and lots of speed.

I think this is a bit of revisionist history. Frost didn't beat out the starter which is why he wasn't QB. Walsh acknowledged that Frost was quite simply too good of an athlete to have riding the pine which is why he played safety. Let's not kid ourselves here. Frost doesn't come back to NU had Bill Walsh stayed at Stanford. Instead, Walsh quit at Stanford after the 94' season. When Walsh quit, Frost chose to transfer from Stanford.

This almost seems like 94' all over again. Bunch will be fine and a very serviceable back-up. If Frost has to dig deep, we'll have a serviceable #3 as well just like we were with Turman. QB still remains one of the positions that I'm not worrying about going into this season.

Boy, I don't know. That's splitting hairs. UCF isn't in a Power 5 conference. They along with the players had to know they weren't keeping Frost and staff if they were highly successful. Gebbia wasn't recruited by Frost. Almost everyone had to know that he wasn't staying unless he was the starter. It was already discussed when POB left that Gebbia would be next if he wasn't the starter going into this season. Frost made a decision to advance his career. Gebbia made a decision to advance his career. Personally, I don't see either one as bailing from their commitment. I see both as trying to better their situation. Ask Pat Hill what happens when you stay at a non-Power 5 team too long.

If Gebbia doesn't start or loses his starting spot at some point in time this season, I don't see him being on the roster next year. If Gebbia is the starter throughout the entire season and plays well, I'd say there is roughly a 20% chance both graduate here.

Trivia question: what teams have won a NC when their defense averaged 80-90 plays per game?

With the money involved, I don't think we'll ever see the bolded.

I think what a lot of people forget with regards to Frost is the people he was surrounded by while actually playing football. As a player, he was around some of the best coaches to ever coach the game. As a coach, he's been around some good coaches. As a player, he was around some of the absolute best. I tend to agree that the expectations are unreasonable. Under the last two regimes, the roster management wasn't great. It's going to take a while to get the roster up to snuff.

Um, the two bolded parts have an awful lot in common.

While I have no idea what the committee would do given the bolded, I can tell you that all h**l would break loose if Notre Dame didn't make the playoff. At one time, I was against P5 champions getting an automatic bid into an 8 team playoff. However, every conference has made tremendous upgrades in the past five or so years in terms of coaching. I'm willing to now concede putting all P5 champions in with three at large teams. This leaves room for an independent like Notre Dame as well as room for a cinderella like UCF.

I agree with the bolded and will add the second half of the 09' season. It would have been very interesting to see what would have happened had that one second not been put back on the clock against Texas. It might have completely changed our trajectory.

The bolded is accurate. While it's my opinion, I also believe it would be accurate to say Ohio State would have gotten into the playoff last year had Auburn won the SEC. The committee would more than likely have put both two loss conference champions in the playoff while leaving Bama at home. It didn't happen, so we'll never know. What has really been lost in all the discussion here that has made up three pages is what happens when a one loss Notre Dame team doesn't make the playoff while a couple one loss conference champions get in, or Notre Dame does get in while a one loss conference champ doesn't? This is more than likely the surest way to get the playoff expanded.

It's not the value of one game. It's the value of the entire season. Thus far, the committee has said they won't put a two loss team in the playoff. People arguing about not valuing the season then refer to one game. The committee isn't doing this. They have so far committed to the idea that no two loss teams will be in the playoff. End of story. The conference champions mean a lot less to the committee than the win/loss record. I'm not sure why anyone is surprised by what happened last year especially when one considers what happed the year before that. For the 2016 season, Penn State won the B1G and OU won the Big 12. Neither of those teams made the playoff despite winning a P5 conference. Ohio State who did not win a P5 conference got into the playoff because they only had one loss. The precedent was set leaving the committee with really only two to three teams to choose from last year. They either put Bama in the playoff, or Wisconsin, or UCF. UCF really never stood a chance, so it really came down to Bama or Wisconsin.

Alabama checked a box that Ohio State didn't. They only lost one game. It's no different than the previous year when Penn State won the conference but Ohio State went to the playoff. From past results, one can conclude that losing two games kills any chance at a playoff spot. There has been a tremendous value placed on the regular season. Given what the committee has done thus far into the playoff era, I just don't understand how anyone can argue that there's not a lot of value on the regular season.

There's not a huge difference between #6 and #3 SOS. The difference then becomes that one team managed to lose twice with their SOS while the other team only lost once with their SOS. The regular season then had a huge impact on who made the playoff. It was no different putting Bama into the playoff last year than it was the year before putting Ohio State in it. The committee thus far has shown they care a lot more about the regular season and winning those games. Losing one game in the season doesn't kill playoff hopes, but so far losing two games in the season has killed any chance.

This simply isn't true. There has yet to be a two loss team make it into the playoff. Thus far, the committee has made it pretty clear that the season significantly matters. They could care less whether or not a team wins their conference title. They left B1G Champ Penn State out of the playoff because they lost two games. They left B1G Champ Ohio State out of the playoff because they lost two games. How in the heck does one get the impression that the season already doesn't matter?

When one brings up Texas and their culture, I can't understand why people expect a quick turn around at Florida. The wheels on that program were coming off under Meyer. His worst record of his head coaching career came his last year at Florida. I don't expect a quick turn around at Florida. Mullen is very overrated as a coach. I still can't understand why people wanted him to be our next coach. In 9 seasons, his teams have only finished the season ranked in the top 25 three times. He's a career 60% winning coach. I don't see this changing at Florida. From the list, I see UCLA making the biggest leap. Their upper classmen came from recruiting classes ranked #12 and #13. Given their schedule this year, they have four games against stiff competition in OU, USC, Washington, and Stanford. I could definitely see them going 8-4. Texas might very well have a better overall record as I only see 3-4 losses on their schedule. However, I'm not sure why they even made the list considering they are the only team on the list that doesn't have a new coach.

While we may not have "proven" talent this year, by year's end I have a feeling we will see that some stars have emerged. This defense isn't nearly as devoid of talent as some would suggest.

Wow, it must be most impressive being the fifth winningest coach in the B1G with a 59.6 winning percentage. Apparently, you must coach in the B1G for at least 20 years in order to even qualify for this honor. Heck, Bo won over 70% of his games. Urban Meyer has won over 90% of his games while in the B1G. Dantonio has coached in the B1G for 11 years, and his winning percentage is almost 10 points higher than Ferentz. It appears to me that Ferentz made the list simply by putting 20 years in the B1G.

You are exactly right. However, don't we have better talent than Northwestern? Would you consider our coach decent, or above decent? When I look at their predictions, I'm more concerned with Purdue and Michigan State that they have as W's than I am about Northwestern and Iowa that they have as L's.

While the bolded is true for the beginning of the season, Frazier was starting as a true freshman less than halfway through the season.

In 2012, Northwestern won 10 games. In 2013, Northwestern went 5-7 and went 1-7 in the B1G. I have never understood why so many people think Pat Fitzgerald is even a good coach. He has a losing record when playing B1G teams. He's really never even come close to winning a conference title. I'm sure Northwestern isn't the easiest place to win, but Gary Barnett did it. He actually won the B1G while at Northwestern. The guy before Fitzgerald even tied for a conference title. In his tenure at Northwestern, Fitzgerald is averaging winning just under 7 games a season. At times, he wins a couple more than his average. At others, he wins a couple less than his average. He's been there long enough to see a trend. When he has one of those decent seasons, he always follows it up by gravitating back to has average 7 win seasons.

I'd say the bolded is about right. A Pat Fitzgerald coached team typically falls on their face the season after winning 10 games.