SMU Coach Rhett Lashley on ACC and CFP

[davesbrain]

I’m not sure what vacuum they filled. Ranked or not, this is the current record of who they beat this year:

3-7
3-8
4-6
3-7
4-6
4-6
5-5
6-5
4-6
5-5

They beat one team with a winning record. Ouch.

That was the cesspool in 1980

 

[forensicbuzz]

Well Clemson gets a shot at USCe, Louisville gets their chance against UK and FSU gets their shot at FLA. FSU will lose. The other two are toss up games in my view. Louisville is at UK and Clemson is home vs USCe. UGA will be a double digit favorite against us.

I view the Top of the ACC as Miami, SMU and Clemson. I view the top of the SEC as Texas, Bama, UGA, Tenn and Ole Miss. A&M is a pretender in my view.

I agree Vandy, Mizzu, UF, UK and Auburn are like much of the AC this year. Mizzu has been overrated all season. Louisville and Pitt laid eggs when they had an opportunity to show they were worthy of being ranked.

So did we, but I didn’t realize we were as injured as we were.

 

[forensicbuzz]

My bad. It was the NC State AD not the ACC commissioner.

Doesn’t change that the ACC doesn’t stand up for itself. if you wanna blame the Tobacco Road mafia I’m right there with you.

The SEC would speak with a unified voice for decades in support of SEC teams relative to a non SEC team. Thats a huge part of why they got where they did.

I think Jim Phillips should have been much more vocal than he was but he was quite adamant the the decision was disgusting. Jim is an awesome guy and a hell of a negotiator, but he’s not a chest-thumper, and I think that was what was needed at the time. He should have been screaming from the jump leading up to the decision that there’s no way an undefeated P5 team gets left out. He didn’t. I was disappointed.

 

[Ramble1885]

I feel your pain, Rhett, but they left our undefeated conference champ out of the playoff last year. It is what it is, but knock yourself out, coach.

to be fair FSU would have gotten themselves blue-balled if they were let in.

thankfully there's an autobid. must admit current system is really good in how inclusive it is.

 

[stinger78]

to be fair FSU would have gotten themselves blue-balled if they were let in.

thankfully there's an autobid. must admit current system is really good in how inclusive it is.

We don’t know this. They had a killer D when all their players suited up. They allowed 16 ppg until that last game with half their 2-deep gone.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

For those who don’t understand, let’s put it this way. Alabama crushes Clemson for the national championship and the following preseason poll has 4 SEC teams in the top 10 while the ACC has 1 team in the top 25.

All of this is factual except for one thing. It was Clemson that destroyed an undefeated Alabama team 44-16.

 

[CEB]

to be fair FSU would have gotten themselves blue-balled if they were let in.

thankfully there's an autobid. must admit current system is really good in how inclusive it is.

I think you mean black-balled.

Fans of FSU are likely blue-balled. It’s been a long time and a whole lot of build up with no satisfaction for those folks.

 

[CEB]

We don’t know this. They had a killer D when all their players suited up. They allowed 16 ppg until that last game with half their 2-deep gone.

Committee didn’t value wins last year.
This year seems to be different… or maybe it’s only Big Ten wins that count? I’d have to check the requirements again.
I’m still trying to figure it all out. Bear with me.

 

[awbuzz]

I think you mean black-balled.

Fans of FSU are likely blue-balled. It’s been a long time and a whole lot of build up with no satisfaction for those folks.

Maybe he did... Maybe he didn't...

 

[jeffgt14]

BCS... we only complained about it because it only put in 2 teams. The system would be nearly flawless for building a 12 team playoff along with the conference champion auto-bids. We have every ability in the world to take the subjectivity out of it but we refuse to because we think our emotions know more than stats.

I've pounded this drum for years but I've yet to see evidence that one conference is head and shoulders above the rest. Usually 3 really good teams, 3 really bad teams, and the rest are just a toss up. There's no denying that they've won the most National Championships so from a "top team" perspective, they've probably also had the most chance (including a few championship games that were SEC vs SEC).

About to get even more interesting after this weekend after A&M and Ole Miss lose and we hear all about how strong the SEC is when bottom feeders like Florida and Auburn beat potential playoff teams.

 

[UgaBlows]

It’s interesting that this season there is no one dominant team, Bama, TX, uga, Ohio St, Ole Miss etc- they all have their flaws and can be beaten. This could be one of thise years when a non-football factory team comes in and wins it all

 

[Ramble1885]

For those who don’t understand, let’s put it this way. Alabama crushes Clemson for the national championship and the following preseason poll has 4 SEC teams in the top 10 while the ACC has 1 team in the top 25.

All of this is factual except for one thing. It was Clemson that destroyed an undefeated Alabama team 44-16.

the ACC was WEAK that year though. that was the year Virginia won the coastal with Bryce Perkins. Clemson finished the year as the only ranked ACC team as well lol. that season's rankings were not wrong.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

It’s interesting that this season there is no one dominant team, Bama, TX, uga, Ohio St, Ole Miss etc- they all have their flaws and can be beaten. This could be one of thise years when a non-football factory team comes in and wins it all

In my opinion it will all depend on what opponent a team draws in the first round. The team that wins it all might come down to being lucky that the team that could have beaten them got knocked out in the first round. If SEC has the most teams in the playoffs, it’s not just a mathematical advantage, it’s also a matchup advantage, because there’s a good chance one of your SEC brethren took out the team that would have cleaned your clock.

But, matchups could also break in a different way and you end up with something weird and wonderful like Miami vs Oregon or Ohio State vs BYU.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

the ACC was WEAK that year though. that was the year Virginia won the coastal with Bryce Perkins. Clemson finished the year as the only ranked ACC team as well lol. that season's rankings were not wrong.

But, therein lies the problem. The “not wrong” preseason ranking was not based on clairvoyance or solid data. It was based on bias. That same bias gets it wrong year after year and nobody seems to notice. Because it’s the SEC. But the SEC gets an artificial boost. And THAT becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

I honestly thought Tennessee would be good this year. And their preseason “ranking” seemed to prove it. Turns out they were middle of the road at best. But they still go into the uga game with a number 7 ranking! Then uga, who was exposed this year as deeply flawed, pounds on Tennessee and it becomes validation for uga being back in the playoff according to one of their famous talking head supporters.

No, I am never going to give pollsters credit for low ranking the ACC in seasons after we dominated the SEC.

 

[stinger78]

Part of the issue is that the ACC teams tend to struggle to sustain success. However, that happens in other conferences as well. TAMU, Auburn, Ole Miss, Miss St, Florida, USCe, UT, and even LSU and UGAg at times, all seem to struggle with it. All of those programs, though, will put a good to great team on the field every 2-5 years. So in any given year they don’t have the down years that the ACC tends to have a bit too often.

 

[Ramble1885]

But, therein lies the problem. The “not wrong” preseason ranking was not based on clairvoyance or solid data. It was based on bias. That same bias gets it wrong year after year and nobody seems to notice. Because it’s the SEC. But the SEC gets an artificial boost. And THAT becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

I honestly thought Tennessee would be good this year. And their preseason “ranking” seemed to prove it. Turns out they were middle of the road at best. But they still go into the uga game with a number 7 ranking! Then uga, who was exposed this year as deeply flawed, pounds on Tennessee and it becomes validation for uga being back in the playoff according to one of their famous talking head supporters.

No, I am never going to give pollsters credit for low ranking the ACC in seasons after we dominated the SEC.

you say year after year and yet the season before in 2018 5 ACC teams were ranked in the preseason poll and besides Clemson literally ALL of them tanked. Miami started the season in the top ten and finished 7-6. The only other ranked ACC team at the end of that season was Syracuse who nobody saw coming before the season started. This has happened in other seasons as well, I mean we play NC State this week look at them. Look at Florida State.

The bias exists because of previous results and performance on the ACC's part. When most of the teams in your league that are hyped up fall flat on their face year after year it's not a good look.

The ACC this season is relatively strong, and many of our teams are underrated, however if the conference didn't **** themselves in the mid-late 2010's, the bias would not exist in the first place.

Now I will say that the AP poll's recent bias against the ACC in basketball is terrible but the conference always shuts the doubters up when we have 3 teams in the Elite Eight every year.

 

[stinger78]

you say year after year and yet the season before in 2018 5 ACC teams were ranked in the preseason poll and besides Clemson literally ALL of them tanked. Miami started the season in the top ten and finished 7-6. The only other ranked ACC team at the end of that season was Syracuse who nobody saw coming before the season started. This has happened in countless other seasons as well.

The bias exists because of previous results and performance on the ACC's part. When most of the teams in your league that are hyped up fall flat on their face year after year it's not a good look.

The ACC this season is relatively strong, and many of our teams are underrated, however if the conference didn't **** themselves in the mid-late 2010's, the bias would not exist in the first place.

Now I will say that the AP poll's recent bias against the ACC in basketball is terrible but the conference always shuts the doubters up when we have 3 teams in the Elite Eight every year.

Not “countless.” Don’t overstate, it weakens your point. It happens occasionally.

The ACC good-great frequency is lower than the SEC’s and we have fewer teams that sustain.

F$U has been a good my example the past 20 years. Their MTBF (fail to be good-great = <7 wins/year) is about 3 years. UNC’s has been about 2 years.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I’ll try one more time.

In 2014, Clemson beat South Carolina, Louisville beat Kentucky, FSU beat Florida, and Tech beat uga. As a matter of fact, the ACC outperformed the SEC in head over a 3 year period.

But. The preseason polls for 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2017 remained virtually unchanged from the pattern of putting more SEC teams in the top 10 and top 25.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

you say year after year and yet the season before in 2018 5 ACC teams were ranked in the preseason poll and besides Clemson literally ALL of them tanked. Miami started the season in the top ten and finished 7-6. The only other ranked ACC team at the end of that season was Syracuse who nobody saw coming before the season started. This has happened in other seasons as well, I mean we play NC State this week look at them. Look at Florida State.

The bias exists because of previous results and performance on the ACC's part. When most of the teams in your league that are hyped up fall flat on their face year after year it's not a good look.

The ACC this season is relatively strong, and many of our teams are underrated, however if the conference didn't **** themselves in the mid-late 2010's, the bias would not exist in the first place.

Now I will say that the AP poll's recent bias against the ACC in basketball is terrible but the conference always shuts the doubters up when we have 3 teams in the Elite Eight every year.

I guess you are looking at a different preseason poll than I am. I saw Clemson, Miami, FSU and Virginia Tech. The SEC still had more in the top 25 and more in the top 10.

I just don’t see how you can’t say the year in and year out bias isn’t to put more SEC teams in preseason rankings.

To be fair, now that the SEC has added Texas and Oklahoma it is inevitable that the SEC dominates preseason rankings. But it didn’t have to be this way in past decades and yet it was. And when the SEC failed to perform according to preseason expectation they were still given the benefit of the doubt for the following season. “Reloading” began to be a term that was used.

But you will forgive me if I don’t respond anymore to this topic. I’m bored with how it comes up again and again without resolution. IIWII.

 

[MWBATL]

But you will forgive me if I don’t respond anymore to this topic. I’m bored with how it comes up again and again without resolution. IIWII.

This. Some fonts are simply SEC homers and buy into the bias no matter what you say….I’m not sayin’ they’re a cult, just sayin’….