NCAA football

[Noheart]

I could see that, and it would mean the first and last "BCS Championship Game" under the bowl format that wasn't won by the SEC.

What a disappointment Notre Dame turned out to be, they were simply outclassed yesterday.

If I had to pick a top 10 to end the season, it'd be:

1. Alabama

2. Georgia

3. Oregon

4. Texas A&M

5. Notre Dame

6. Stanford

7. Florida

8. LSU

9. South Carolina

10. Kansas State

However, I imagine Florida will somehow finish higher, even though they totally did not deserve a BCS bowl over Georgia (who got majorly shafted in the pre-Bowl rankings IMO) and the Gators subsequently licked balls in said BCS bowl against #21 Louisville. I might be snubbing Clemson a little bit too, perhaps they deserve to be in ahead of K-State.

AP Final rankings

1-Bama are overrated IMO, the only high tempo offense they played all year beat them.

2-Oregon - is the only team without a loss in regulation, they have alot of people coming back including chip kelly

3-Ohio S

4-ND total fraud and a complete joke they are even in the NC

5-Georgia - has 2 losses, next season the defense is going to the draft they may take a step back

5-Texas A&M (tied) the are losing a few O-Line guys.

7-Stanford going to be the only other PAC 12 team to challenge the SEC

8-South Carolina

9-Florida

10-Florida S

11-Clemson

12-Kansas State Lucky to be in the top 15 next year with klein gone.

13-Louisville never play anyone good.

14-LSU hahahah

15-Okla

[Gretzky's Mullet]

AP Final rankings

1-Bama are overrated IMO, the only high tempo offense they played all year beat them.

2-Oregon - is the only team without a loss in regulation, they have alot of people coming back including chip kelly

3-Ohio S

4-ND total fraud and a complete joke they are even in the NC

5-Georgia - has 2 losses, next season the defense is going to the draft they may take a step back

5-Texas A&M (tied) the are losing a few O-Line guys.

7-Stanford going to be the only other PAC 12 team to challenge the SEC

8-South Carolina

9-Florida

10-Florida S

11-Clemson

12-Kansas State Lucky to be in the top 15 next year with klein gone.

13-Louisville never play anyone good.

14-LSU hahahah

15-Okla

Oops I forgot that Ohio State would still be in the AP rankings despite not being in the BCS. I think Oregon benefited from an easy schedule this year and was overrated. Really, they lost to the only good team they played (Stanford), and that despite the fact that the Cardinal didn't play very well (fumbles, etc). I guess they deserve a little credit for the Fiesta Bowl win.

Not sure how you can say Alabama is overrated though, they played a very challenging conference schedule and beat all but the 5th ranked team, who I think should be higher than ND for sure.

Also, I think Georgia got majorly shafted this year, they had only one regular season loss (a bit of an ugly one, but to a top 10 team), and they were 4 yards away and a few seconds short from going to the NC against Alabama. Somehow, a 4 point loss where they couldn't quite punch it in from the red zone to win at the end of the SEC Championship game (ie: about as close as it could possibly be) against the SEC's best team was enough to drop them in the rankings, and yet Notre Dame can get absolutely run out of the building by that same team and yet still finishes ahead of the Bulldogs. Meanwhile Florida got the chance to make a fool of themselves in the Sugar Bowl when anyone could see they just weren't very good.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Gretzky's Mullet

[Noheart]

Oops I forgot that Ohio State would still be in the AP rankings despite not being in the BCS. I think Oregon benefited from an easy schedule this year and was overrated. Really, they lost to the only good team they played (Stanford), and that despite the fact that the Cardinal didn't play very well (fumbles, etc). I guess they deserve a little credit for the Fiesta Bowl win.

Not sure how you can say Alabama is overrated though, they played a very challenging conference schedule and beat all but the 5th ranked team, who I think should be higher than ND for sure.

Also, I think Georgia got majorly shafted this year, they had only one regular season loss (a bit of an ugly one, but to a top 10 team), and they were 4 yards away and a few seconds short from going to the NC against Alabama. Somehow, a 4 point loss where they couldn't quite punch it in from the red zone to win at the end of the SEC Championship game (ie: about as close as it could possibly be) against the SEC's best team was enough to drop them in the rankings, and yet Notre Dame can get absolutely run out of the building by that same team and yet still finishes ahead of the Bulldogs. Meanwhile Florida got the chance to make a fool of themselves in the Sugar Bowl when anyone could see they just weren't very good.

Ala dam bama isnt in the NC if it wasnt for some teams losing, they beat Miss state which isnt much (in the top 15 at the time)

They sucked against LSU, pulled that out of the bum.

Lost to A&M when they played an up tempo "Chip Kelly"type offence

Beside that string of 3 games the have the easiest schedule in the SEC. Georga/ Florida and LSU had 2 times the schedule.

even next year Bama gets spoiled with another easy schedule they play A&M 2nd game of the season then LSU at the end at that is it. The SEC will never play against a powerfull team outside of the conference like OHIO, Oregon, Hell even Pennstate cause a loss would devistate there reputation.

http://www.fbschedul...ll-schedule.php

Oregon lost to Stanford in OT and that ruined the season for them indeed but they dominated every other team they played including Kansas state, USC, totally dominated Arizona, and a good Oregon state team.

I work in the usa and eveyone around me is from the southern USA and im so sick of defending myself.

Oregon? who is Oregon? they aint in the SEC, when in reality college teams give and recive invitations to out of conference teams, and they are the ones afraid to play anyone worth anything out of the PAC 12.

Edited January 12, 2013 by Noheart

[Gretzky's Mullet]

Ala dam bama isnt in the NC if it wasnt for some teams losing, they beat Miss state which isnt much (in the top 15 at the time)

They sucked against LSU, pulled that out of the bum.

Lost to A&M when they played an up tempo "Chip Kelly"type offence

Beside that string of 3 games the have the easiest schedule in the SEC. Georga/ Florida and LSU had 2 times the schedule.

even next year Bama gets spoiled with another easy schedule they play A&M 2nd game of the season then LSU at the end at that is it. The SEC will never play against a powerfull team outside of the conference like OHIO, Oregon, Hell even Pennstate cause a loss would devistate there reputation.

http://www.fbschedul...ll-schedule.php

Oregon lost to Stanford in OT and that ruined the season for them indeed but they dominated every other team they played including Kansas state, USC, totally dominated Arizona, and a good Oregon state team.

I work in the usa and eveyone around me is from the southern USA and im so sick of defending myself.

Oregon? who is Oregon? they aint in the SEC, when in reality college teams give and recive invitations to out of conference teams, and they are the ones afraid to play anyone worth anything out of the PAC 12.

Yes but did you realistically think that Oregon was going to be able to leapfrog a team that won the NC? And after Oregon didn't even play for their own conference championship? Meanwhile Alabama beat an excellent Georgia team in their conference championship (albeit barely), and their only loss was to an excellent A&M team, definitely a more touted opponent than Stanford was. It doesn't matter if you "lost in overtime", it's still a loss to a lower ranked team. Also, watching that game, the Cardinal defence completely flummoxed the Ducks offence, and that probably strengthened the impression that the Ducks offence was overrated and simply hadn't been properly challenged yet (up to that point in the season, they hadn't even really been challenged). Also it doesn't matter that the LSU win was close they were still the first team to beat the Tigers in Baton Rouge since Tebow and the Gators in 2009. That win earned the Tide more credibility with the voters than anything the Ducks did. Also the Tide played Michigan in week 1, a harder non-conference game than any that the Ducks played.

I live in the States as well and get really sick of hearing about the SEC from its stupid fans. But, I'm not about to deny that the conference deserves its accolades.

Edited January 12, 2013 by Gretzky's Mullet

[Noheart]

Yes but did you realistically think that Oregon was going to be able to leapfrog a team that won the NC? And after Oregon didn't even play for their own conference championship? Meanwhile Alabama beat an excellent Georgia team in their conference championship (albeit barely), and their only loss was to an excellent A&M team, definitely a more touted opponent than Stanford was. It doesn't matter if you "lost in overtime", it's still a loss to a lower ranked team. Also, watching that game, the Cardinal defence completely flummoxed the Ducks offence, and that probably strengthened the impression that the Ducks offence was overrated and simply hadn't been properly challenged yet (up to that point in the season, they hadn't even really been challenged). Also it doesn't matter that the LSU win was close they were still the first team to beat the Tigers in Baton Rouge since Tebow and the Gators in 2009. That win earned the Tide more credibility with the voters than anything the Ducks did. Also the Tide played Michigan in week 1, a harder non-conference game than any that the Ducks played.

I live in the States as well and get really sick of hearing about the SEC from its stupid fans. But, I'm not about to deny that the conference deserves its accolades.

Hell no I did not think O would leapfrog the national champions and Stanford is not a huge step down from A&M I would almost say those teams are too close to call

Just saying Bama is far from unbeatable.

I'm just happy I have someone to talk about NCAA football with lol

[Gretzky's Mullet]

Hell no I did not think O would leapfrog the national champions and Stanford is not a huge step down from A&M I would almost say those teams are too close to call

You might be right about that. You can probably call the quality of losses a wash between the two teams. However, if you just look at the wins then, I'd still say Alabama deserves to be ahead. And I kept on feeling that the Bulldogs got screwed (am not a Georgia fan, but just saying). Maybe I'm just pissed off that I was the only one pulling against the Cardinal vs Ducks among the group I watched with and the Ducks screwed it up.

Just saying Bama is far from unbeatable.

I'm just happy I have someone to talk about NCAA football with lol

Yeah, they're not unbeatable, but neither is anyone else this year. Also enjoying the chat, though we are on a canucks site after all. I often feel a little lonely in the MLB thread too.

[Noheart]

You might be right about that. You can probably call the quality of losses a wash between the two teams. However, if you just look at the wins then, I'd still say Alabama deserves to be ahead. And I kept on feeling that the Bulldogs got screwed (am not a Georgia fan, but just saying). Maybe I'm just pissed off that I was the only one pulling against the Cardinal vs Ducks among the group I watched with and the Ducks screwed it up.

Yeah, they're not unbeatable, but neither is anyone else this year. Also enjoying the chat, though we are on a canucks site after all. I often feel a little lonely in the MLB thread too.

Agreed, cant wait for the mini playoff in 2014.

[Noheart]

http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?storyId=8849699

NOOOOOO

You lied to me

[Tony Romo]

I am sok confused about this manti teo incident?

Someone please explain!

Edited January 16, 2013 by Tony Romo

[drdeath]

I never post in this thread, but the Manti T'eo story just blew up on /sp/ so I had to come in here and say LOL

[Champions of Nothing]

I never post in this thread, but the Manti T'eo story just blew up on /sp/ so I had to come in here and say LOL

I just ad about that too, WTF

For those that haven't heard about it yet:

Promising U.S. college football player Manti Te’o claimed his girlfriend died, soon after he lost his grandmother, yet he played through the pain.

Turns out his grandmother died, but his girlfriend never even existed, according to a lengthy investigation by Deadspin.com, a sports news website.

Te’o, an all-star player for Notre Dame who finished second in Heisman Trophy voting and is expected to be a first-round NFL draft pick, tearfully spoke of his pain playing football after losing his girlfriend.

His heartbreaking story — of how a young man played through painful loss and had his best-ever season last year — was media gold.

The girlfriend survived a car accident, only to be later diagnosed with leukemia and die, reports said. The two deaths were said to be mere hours apart.

The Fighting Irish linebacker appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and his story was told again and again, including in the South Bend Tribune, the New York Times, on CBS and ESPN.

But it was all apparently a hoax, according to the Deadspin.com story which revealed the girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, only ever existed online.

Te’o faked the relationship with Kekua, allegedly created by his friend Ronaiah Tuiasosopo using pictures of another woman.

Deadspin.com spoke with the woman whose picture was used for the fake Twitter account, and she was shocked.

Deadspin.com was not able to reach Te’o or Tuiasosopo for comment.

[drdeath]

You're such a good poster CoN, I made you a card

[Champions of Nothing]

Thanks!

Here's the whole deadspin page: http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax

Update! The man himself has commented on the matter:

Update (6:10 p.m.): Manti Te'o's statement:

This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her. To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating. It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother's death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life. I am enormously grateful for the support of my family, friends and Notre Dame fans throughout this year. To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick. I hope that people can understand how trying and confusing this whole experience has been. In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was. Fortunately, I have many wonderful things in my life, and I'm looking forward to putting this painful experience behind me as I focus on preparing for the NFL Draft.

[Hunter56]

http://m.espn.go.com...storyId=8849699

NOOOOOO

You lied to me

Yeah, it sucks that he left when he said he'd stay. Hopefully Oregon can still win a national championship -- they're still a good team.

Also very odd with the whole Manti Te'o hoax; it shouldn't affect his future though if he was the victim.

[Gretzky's Mullet]

Also very odd with the whole Manti Te'o hoax; it shouldn't affect his future though if he was the victim.

You buy that he was the victim? There are a lot of inconsistencies in the story. He himself has said that they met in 2009 after a Stanford football game, which must have been a lie. His family also was said to have met her. The dates of the deaths are very fuzzy. The hoax was said to have been perpetrated by one of Te'o's friends, so there's something of a motive issue. The photo is of an existing and very much alive person who has never met Te'o, meaning that he must never have even seen her if this was a hoax, and so why was he talking about marrying a girl he'd never even seen on a video call, let alone actually in person? Seems much more likely to me that he was in on it. The motive question remains, but the rest of it makes more sense. If he wasn't in on it, then he's been lying quite extensively to cover up whatever "it" was. If he was in on it, then either he's some kind of nutjob, or he was using it cover up something even more embarrassing. Whether or not he was the victim, he's most definitely not innocent. Edited January 17, 2013 by Gretzky's Mullet

[Hunter56]

You buy that he was the victim? There are a lot of inconsistencies in the story. He himself has said that they met in 2009 after a Stanford football game, which must have been a lie. His family also was said to have met her. The dates of the deaths are very fuzzy. The hoax was said to have been perpetrated by one of Te'o's friends, so there's something of a motive issue. The photo is of an existing and very much alive person who has never met Te'o, meaning that he must never have even seen her if this was a hoax, and so why was he talking about marrying a girl he'd never even seen on a video call, let alone actually in person? Seems much more likely to me that he was in on it. The motive question remains, but the rest of it makes more sense. If he wasn't in on it, then he's been lying quite extensively to cover up whatever "it" was. If he was in on it, then either he's some kind of nutjob, or he was using it cover up something even more embarrassing. Whether or not he was the victim, he's most definitely not innocent.

I said 'IF' he was the victim, I'm not saying I believe he was or not. The investigation is still in the early stages and there are allegations that say he was indeed in on it, we won't know for sure until people start questioning him at the combine and/or more dirt comes up on the situation.

[Gretzky's Mullet]

I said 'IF' he was the victim, I'm not saying I believe he was or not. The investigation is still in the early stages and there are allegations that say he was indeed in on it, we won't know for sure until people start questioning him at the combine and/or more dirt comes up on the situation.

Indeed, and I asked whether you buy that he was the victim or not? It was a question. Then I stated reasons that I don't.

My personal conspiracy theory (completely unsubstantiated by any evidence and unrelated to any of the current rumours) is that he's a closet homosexual. Having an imaginary long distance girlfriend would be a convenient way to satisfy Mormon parents antsy for their son to get married (and to a woman), and would be a convenient excuse for him not to engage in the generally promiscuous and highly sexualized lifestyle of a male campus icon, not to mention that he'd be able to hide what would be a disadvantage as a highly publicized athlete in a hypermasculine sports environment. His buddy Tuiasosopo would either be an accomplice or perhaps even his partner. However, as his career wound down, and as his family and fellow players perhaps began to suspect something was amiss, they had to "kill her off", and hadn't counted on the rigor of that particular journalist in exposing him. Admittedly, it doesn't explain everything, but it makes a lot more sense than anything else currently out

[Hunter56]

Indeed, and I asked whether you buy that he was the victim or not? It was a question. Then I stated reasons that I don't.

My personal conspiracy theory (completely unsubstantiated by any evidence and unrelated to any of the current rumours) is that he's a closet homosexual. Having an imaginary long distance girlfriend would be a convenient way to satisfy Mormon parents antsy for their son to get married (and to a woman), and would be a convenient excuse for him not to engage in the generally promiscuous and highly sexualized lifestyle of a male campus icon, not to mention that he'd be able to hide what would be a disadvantage as a highly publicized athlete in a hypermasculine sports environment. His buddy Tuiasosopo would either be an accomplice or perhaps even his partner. However, as his career wound down, and as his family and fellow players perhaps began to suspect something was amiss, they had to "kill her off", and hadn't counted on the rigor of that particular journalist in exposing him. Admittedly, it doesn't explain everything, but it makes a lot more sense than anything else currently out

Oh my bad, I must've read it the wrong way.

I'm really not sure what to think about the situation -- obviously it's pretty odd that he never truly met her, but it seems pretty messed up to make up her death right when his grandmother died. Your theory might very well be true, but I'd feel horrible to think that if he really was the victim.

I won't bore you with an "on the fence" answer though lol. As of right now... I think he wasn't in on it. With his Mormon faith and recent passing of a family member; that'd just be too outrageous for him to do. Of course, way worse and odd things have happened though.

Edited January 18, 2013 by Hunter56

[Noheart]

Indeed, and I asked whether you buy that he was the victim or not? It was a question. Then I stated reasons that I don't.

My personal conspiracy theory (completely unsubstantiated by any evidence and unrelated to any of the current rumours) is that he's a closet homosexual. Having an imaginary long distance girlfriend would be a convenient way to satisfy Mormon parents antsy for their son to get married (and to a woman), and would be a convenient excuse for him not to engage in the generally promiscuous and highly sexualized lifestyle of a male campus icon, not to mention that he'd be able to hide what would be a disadvantage as a highly publicized athlete in a hypermasculine sports environment. His buddy Tuiasosopo would either be an accomplice or perhaps even his partner. However, as his career wound down, and as his family and fellow players perhaps began to suspect something was amiss, they had to "kill her off", and hadn't counted on the rigor of that particular journalist in exposing him. Admittedly, it doesn't explain everything, but it makes a lot more sense than anything else currently out

Holy crap man that's crazy but I bet your right, he lives a lie so this is nothing for him to pull off.

I still hate him though, could never understand why it was unexplainable

I think I musta sensed he was full of BS

[Gretzky's Mullet]

Oh my bad, I must've read it the wrong way.

I'm really not sure what to think about the situation -- obviously it's pretty odd that he never truly met her, but it seems pretty messed up to make up her death right when his grandmother died. Your theory might very well be true, but I'd feel horrible to think that if he really was the victim.

I won't bore you with an "on the fence" answer though lol. As of right now... I think he wasn't in on it. With his Mormon faith and recent passing of a family member; that'd just be too outrageous for him to do. Of course, way worse and odd things have happened though.

I might have better phrased the question I suppose too, no problem. However, as much as one would like to believe in his public image, I have a hard time believing he wasn't in on any of it, it'd be just too bizarre. For instance, he claimed to have seen her at a football game, which obviously was untrue. I suppose if he saw someone similar looking and briefly, and then that person contacted him online, maybe you can come up with a scenario where he's innocent there. But she's in the hospital for a crash and then for leukemia and he never tries to visit her even once (upon which he'd find out she doesn't exist), the woman he wants to marry? And he doesn't attend her funeral either? If anything, that speaks worse about his character than would him making up the hoax. At least with my closet homosexuality theory, he comes across more as an insecure and uncomfortable young person under a lot of pressure than he would under the current story.

In any case, I have a feeling we haven't heard the end of this what with all of the unanswered questions.