Alabama to play...

[lewindha]

USC in 2016 in Dallas.

Meanwhile, we host Wofford and Georgia Southern in 2016. We could've been hosting Clemson.

[Rebchuck18]

Looks like Bama admin listened to what the playoff committee will be looking for.

[jrebel87]

That's cool, good for them. Meanwhile, we will gain two wins and those two wins just helps us improve our overall record and that's the most important factor. If we play USC there's a better than average chance we lose and if we lose it hurts alot more then winning two over bad teams.

[Rebchuck18]

Wins of diminished value if we want this program to ultimately compete for the big prize. But you're probably right...we shouldn't expect to beat a USC... Just like we shouldn't ever make it to a College World Series. I mean why weigh yourself down with goals or aspirations. You know what, since meaningless wins are "the most important factor", why don't we just join Conference USA...that will guarantee us another game in the awesome Mecca that is Liberty Bowl stadium every year. We can be the undisputed champs of Memphis! We will own Memphis! Andy Kennedy will be so happy! That would be so awesome!

Look, everyone knows that I think the playoff will ruin the magic of college football and the regular season. And that the subjectivity will make it a less valid process than the BCS which produced IMO the most valid champions in the history of the game. But the playoff and its subjective selection committee is now the reality. And if you have paid attention to any of the dialogue you know that they have said that the subjectivity gives them the ability to pick a team with a loss in a tougher schedule over a team with wins against a weaker schedule. Most every SEC team is making efforts to adjust their schedules accordingly. We are going the opposite way. Short sighted IMO. Maybe the reason we haven't made it to Atlanta is because we seem to be the only program with so many fans, and maybe coaches and administrators, who think that Championship aspirations are unreasonable. We will never win by setting the bar too low.

[rebeljim]

Wins of diminished value if we want this program to ultimately compete for the big prize. But you're probably right...we shouldn't expect to beat a USC... Just like we shouldn't ever make it to a College World Series. I mean why weigh yourself down with goals or aspirations. You know what, since meaningless wins are "the most important factor", why don't we just join Conference USA...that will guarantee us another game in the awesome Mecca that is Liberty Bowl stadium every year. We can be the undisputed champs of Memphis! We will own Memphis! Andy Kennedy will be so happy! That would be so awesome!

Look, everyone knows that I think the playoff will ruin the magic of college football and the regular season. And that the subjectivity will make it a less valid process than the BCS which produced IMO the most valid champions in the history of the game. But the playoff and its subjective selection committee is now the reality. And if you have paid attention to any of the dialogue you know that they have said that the subjectivity gives them the ability to pick a team with a loss in a tougher schedule over a team with wins against a weaker schedule. Most every SEC team is making efforts to adjust their schedules accordingly. We are going the opposite way. Short sighted IMO. Maybe the reason we haven't made it to Atlanta is because we seem to be the only program with so many fans, and maybe coaches and administrators, who think that Championship aspirations are unreasonable. We will never win by setting the bar too low.

Chuck, u keep going on and on and on about setting the bar too low. Who's done that? I'm sure the coaches and players haven't. We all hope we win it all, but just because some realize our talent level isn't up to what some think it is, doesn't mean we set the bar too low. At least 3 teams in the west have more talent than we do. That's pretty much a fact. But that doesn't mean they will win, just better odds of them winning. I'm not going into the season thinking we'll lose to any of them. But if we do lose to some of these schools, I won't come down on the program like u will. And the reason we haven't made it to Atlanta has NOTHING to do with the fans. U can just look at the administration for that reason.

[jrebel87]

Wins of diminished value if we want this program to ultimately compete for the big prize. But you're probably right...we shouldn't expect to beat a USC... Just like we shouldn't ever make it to a College World Series. I mean why weigh yourself down with goals or aspirations. You know what, since meaningless wins are "the most important factor", why don't we just join Conference USA...that will guarantee us another game in the awesome Mecca that is Liberty Bowl stadium every year. We can be the undisputed champs of Memphis! We will own Memphis! Andy Kennedy will be so happy! That would be so awesome!

Look, everyone knows that I think the playoff will ruin the magic of college football and the regular season. And that the subjectivity will make it a less valid process than the BCS which produced IMO the most valid champions in the history of the game. But the playoff and its subjective selection committee is now the reality. And if you have paid attention to any of the dialogue you know that they have said that the subjectivity gives them the ability to pick a team with a loss in a tougher schedule over a team with wins against a weaker schedule. Most every SEC team is making efforts to adjust their schedules accordingly. We are going the opposite way. Short sighted IMO. Maybe the reason we haven't made it to Atlanta is because we seem to be the only program with so many fans, and maybe coaches and administrators, who think that Championship aspirations are unreasonable. We will never win by setting the bar too low.

Chuck the playoff won't matter a bit to us unless we win the West and if we win the west then we will without a doubt be in the playoff hunt. Playing an additional BCS team won't change that. Beating USC wouldn't change that if we only go 9-3 and 5-3 in the SEC! If we lost to USC and then went 7-1 or 8-0 in the SEC we would still be in the hunt. The point of all this is those two additional wins will come in handy considering we play in the toughest conference in the nation and if we take care of business in the SEC then we will absolutely make the playoff.

[1OLEMISSREBEL]

Just heard Freeze on ESPNU.....he made this comparison...last year Ole Miss began the season and ended the season in Nashville, He said that when we play in ATL in August, he will make sure this team buys in to the opportunity to finish in ATL.....

" ALL IN WITH RELENTLESS EFFORT"

Does not sound like a coach with low expectations

[BobReb]

Just heard Freeze on ESPNU.....he made this comparison...last year Ole Miss began the season and ended the season in Nashville, He said that when we play in ATL in August, he will make sure this team buys in to the opportunity to finish in ATL.....

" ALL IN WITH RELENTLESS EFFORT"

Does not sound like a coach with low expectations

GO REBS!!!!

[oxpatchreb]

Looks like Bama admin listened to what the playoff committee will be looking for.

Annnnd, they are Bama. Who don't have much to fear from any OOC team on earth.

We, on the other hand, are still building, still improving and still trying to claw our way into the top tier of the conference. Once we reach the peak (as Bama has done) then we can start playing this super tough schedule everyone is whining about.

Until then, we need wins. More than anything else, we need to win. Period. Scheduling like Alabama, before we can PLAY like Alabama is a really dumb thing to do.

[oxpatchreb]

Wins of diminished value if we want this program to ultimately compete for the big prize. But you're probably right...we shouldn't expect to beat a USC... Just like we shouldn't ever make it to a College World Series. I mean why weigh yourself down with goals or aspirations. You know what, since meaningless wins are "the most important factor", why don't we just join Conference USA...that will guarantee us another game in the awesome Mecca that is Liberty Bowl stadium every year. We can be the undisputed champs of Memphis! We will own Memphis! Andy Kennedy will be so happy! That would be so awesome!

Look, everyone knows that I think the playoff will ruin the magic of college football and the regular season. And that the subjectivity will make it a less valid process than the BCS which produced IMO the most valid champions in the history of the game. But the playoff and its subjective selection committee is now the reality. And if you have paid attention to any of the dialogue you know that they have said that the subjectivity gives them the ability to pick a team with a loss in a tougher schedule over a team with wins against a weaker schedule. Most every SEC team is making efforts to adjust their schedules accordingly. We are going the opposite way. Short sighted IMO. Maybe the reason we haven't made it to Atlanta is because we seem to be the only program with so many fans, and maybe coaches and administrators, who think that Championship aspirations are unreasonable. We will never win by setting the bar too low.

You're entitled to your opinion, obviously. But this entire post is complete poppy cock....

[lewindha]

Wins of diminished value if we want this program to ultimately compete for the big prize. But you're probably right...we shouldn't expect to beat a USC... Just like we shouldn't ever make it to a College World Series. I mean why weigh yourself down with goals or aspirations. You know what, since meaningless wins are "the most important factor", why don't we just join Conference USA...that will guarantee us another game in the awesome Mecca that is Liberty Bowl stadium every year. We can be the undisputed champs of Memphis! We will own Memphis! Andy Kennedy will be so happy! That would be so awesome!

Look, everyone knows that I think the playoff will ruin the magic of college football and the regular season. And that the subjectivity will make it a less valid process than the BCS which produced IMO the most valid champions in the history of the game. But the playoff and its subjective selection committee is now the reality. And if you have paid attention to any of the dialogue you know that they have said that the subjectivity gives them the ability to pick a team with a loss in a tougher schedule over a team with wins against a weaker schedule. Most every SEC team is making efforts to adjust their schedules accordingly. We are going the opposite way. Short sighted IMO. Maybe the reason we haven't made it to Atlanta is because we seem to be the only program with so many fans, and maybe coaches and administrators, who think that Championship aspirations are unreasonable. We will never win by setting the bar too low.

Chuck the playoff won't matter a bit to us unless we win the West and if we win the west then we will without a doubt be in the playoff hunt. Playing an additional BCS team won't change that. Beating USC wouldn't change that if we only go 9-3 and 5-3 in the SEC! If we lost to USC and then went 7-1 or 8-0 in the SEC we would still be in the hunt. The point of all this is those two additional wins will come in handy considering we play in the toughest conference in the nation and if we take care of business in the SEC then we will absolutely make the playoff.

Tell that to the SECOND place SEC West team that will probably be in the playoffs more often than not.

This is the short-sighted thinking that Chuck is talking about. We CANNOT rest on our SEC record any more. Especially with Bama playing W. Virginia, USC, etc. Georgia scheduling Notre Dame. Those guys know they have to set themselves apart with OOC records.

We've got to step up our scheduling. You'd rather win 9 games and 3 of those be against Pres., Wofford, and Memphis,and watch Bama, Auburn, etc. play in the playoff. I'd rather play USC and Notre Dame and see how good we really are. If we loste, then we didn't deserve to be in the playoff to begin with.

[Rebchuck18]

The "players" involved with this committee have already more or less indicated that an 8 game SEC schedule with easy non conference games will not meet the criteria. And you can bet the ranch this "playoff" will not stay at four teams. Every time it expands the conmittees criteria will come into play for even more teams. That is why Bama is going to beef up their non conf schedule and why Saban is such an advocate for 9 SEC games. Bama will be positioned. They will not allow the arguments for leaving them out. The folks involved in this process have been very clear. They will reward a team with a loss to a quality opponent over teams with wins against non quality opponents. If we are okay with trips to the Music City Bowl or the Peach Bowl, then our recent scheduling is fine. If we are serious about being a legitimate player in the SEC and on the national stage, we are going in the wrong direction with scheduling.

[jrebel87]

Tell that to the SECOND place SEC West team that will probably be in the playoffs more often than not.

This is the short-sighted thinking that Chuck is talking about. We CANNOT rest on our SEC record any more. Especially with Bama playing W. Virginia, USC, etc. Georgia scheduling Notre Dame. Those guys know they have to set themselves apart with OOC records.

We've got to step up our scheduling. You'd rather win 9 games and 3 of those be against Pres., Wofford, and Memphis,and watch Bama, Auburn, etc. play in the playoff. I'd rather play USC and Notre Dame and see how good we really are. If we loste, then we didn't deserve to be in the playoff to begin with.[/quote]
I'm sorry but that's absolutely false. You and Chuck can't sit there with a straight face and tell me that a team with a 7-1 record in the SEC and an overall record of 11-1 wouldn't get chosen over a team that went 7-1 in the SEC and 9-3 overall because they lost two non conference games against better opponents. It's not going to happen.

[jrebel87]

The "players" involved with this committee have already more or less indicated that an 8 game SEC schedule with easy non conference games will not meet the criteria. And you can bet the ranch this "playoff" will not stay at four teams. Every time it expands the conmittees criteria will come into play for even more trams. That is why Bama is going to beef up their non conf schedule and why Saban is such an advocate for 9 SEC games. Bama will be positioned. They will not allow the arguments for leaving them out. The folks involved in this process have been very clear. They will reward a team with a loss to a quality opponent over teams with wins against non quality opponents. If we are okay with trips to the Music City Bowl or the Peach Bowl, then our recent scheduling is fine. If we are serious about being a legitimate player in the SEC and on the national stage, we are going in the wrong direction with scheduling.

Like I said previously, you can't sit there and actually believe that a 8-4 or 9-3 team with two additional out of conference losses would get into the playoff above a team that went 10-2 or 11-1. And if the SEC schedule goes to 9 games, it further strengthens my argument because if a team goes 7-2 or 8-1 in the conference and finishes with a 10-2 or 11-1 record they will get the nod over a team that goes 8-4 or 9-3.

[Rebchuck18]

"Why not us? Why can't we be a team that gets out of the West?" quarterback Bo Wallace said...... We're going to take it one game at a time. But why not us?"

At least our QB believes!