Penn State Football Thread

[SteelCityMan786]

Double vision: Paterno correct to bash BCS, but fails to see weak schedule hurts
By Cory Giger, cgiger@altoonamirror.com

UNIVERSITY PARK - Joe Paterno wants to have it both ways but can't see the reality of the way things are in college football.

Paterno wants to criticize the BCS and call for a playoff system. He's absolutely right, too. There should be a playoff. But unfortunately, that's unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Paterno also wants to believe he can schedule anybody he wants and, by simply winning every game, it will be enough to reach the BCS championship game.

He's dead wrong on that issue.

Given the status quo of the dumbest championship system in big-time sports, it would stand to reason Paterno would want to do things to enhance his team's BCS position. This season's cupcake-rich non-conference schedule proves Paterno and Penn State don't know how to go about that.

Let's start with one basic assumption: The Nittany Lions have a chance to go undefeated during the regular season. Sure, they are replacing lots of starters on both sides of the ball, but there are plenty of skill people back on offense and a tremendous front seven on defense.

The toughest Big Ten games (Ohio State, Iowa) are at home, and the Lions should be big favorites on the road at Illinois, Michigan and Michigan State. The non-con is a joke with the likes of Akron, Temple, Syracuse and Eastern Illinois.

A good but not great team can navigate that schedule without any losses.

Now let's get to the reality: If the Lions do go 12-0, there's a very good chance Paterno will not be coaching in the BCS national championship game.

Why? Because the BCS - with its human voters and computer analyses - will see through the schedule mirage and kick the Lions to the sidelines, perhaps even in favor of a one-loss team.

Paterno didn't like it when I asked about the soft schedule during a recent press conference.

"Forget about it. Oh, forget about it," he said. "I don't care about that."

He reverted to the standby of all he cares about is the first opponent, in this case Akron, and brought up the Appalachian State shocker at Michigan two years ago as proof teams can't look past anyone.

The next question, from another reporter, was about the BCS.

"I don't like the BCS situation," JoePa said. "I've said that 1,000 times. I think that we ought to try to figure out a way to have a good playoff."

There's little doubt Penn State has been shafted before in the national title picture. The 1994 team was as good offensively as any in the history of college football, and JoePa also was denied a title after back-to-back undefeated seasons in 1968 and '69.

"I'll go to my grave thinking I had four or five national championship teams and got voted out of about two or three of them," Paterno said.

At that point, my follow-up question was a no-brainer. I asked Paterno about the possibility of going undefeated this year and being glossed over yet again in the national championship picture.

"Oh, I know. You can if, if, if," he shot back. "You know what, I could drop dead tomorrow, too."

Paterno's refusal to accept how the BCS works is troubling, though not surprising. He likes to be in control of every situation, and he can be for the most part when it comes to preparing his team for games or for a season.

He will never be able to control how his team is perceived nationally, by voters or the BCS. Even if the Lions do go undefeated during the regular season, you can bet the next 10 generations of your family's wealth that there will be a slew of critics claiming Penn State has proven nothing and does not belong in the national championship game.

One college football columnist wrote last year that Iowa did the country a favor by beating Penn State. It spared everyone, he wrote, of the whining Lions fans would have done had they gone undefeated and been denied a spot in the BCS title game.

That just might have happened, too. An unbeaten Penn State team from a down Big Ten Conference may have been shut out of the championship game in favor of one-loss teams Florida and Oklahoma from superior conferences. That would have been a crime, but it could have transpired.

Paterno also likes to talk about how his team was only one second away from playing for a national title in 2005, referring to the last-second loss at Michigan. He's incorrect in that assumption, however, as there's no way the Lions would have been chosen for the BCS championship game over undefeated Texas or USC.

It's unacceptable that Penn State's non-conference slate this year is so weak. The Lions can win those four games 60-0, and it still won't enhance their BCS ranking.

The PSU men's basketball program learned a tough lesson this year as it put together a pathetic non-conference schedule and paid the price by missing out on the NCAA Tournament.

It would be a tough, double dose of disappointment to swallow if the same scenario plays out for the football team this fall.

[revefsreleets]

Great, great point. The Big Ten will return to it's former glory one of these years, but until it does, winning out in this conference will not be enough. PSU needs at least one big non-con game a year, and one of these years not scheduling that way will kill them.

Mock the Bucks all you want, but they play that one game, and it makes a big difference. Guarantee if the Bucks win out this year they play for it all again, and that's namely because they have the USC game early in the year. They also play New Mexico State, Toledo and Navy. Toledo and NMSU aren't much, but Navy is respectable, and that's a tougher OOC schedule than probably 95% of the rest of D1 faces.

[Steel Head]

Penn State usually does play 1 big non-conference game a year. The problem is they schedule them so far in advance that they didn't know that Syracuse would suck this bad.

Up next they have a home and home with Alabama

Atleast they dont play division AA teams like crappy Pitt and Ohio state have recently

[SteelCityMan786]

Originally Posted by revefsreleets

Great, great point. The Big Ten will return to it's former glory one of these years, but until it does, winning out in this conference will not be enough. PSU needs at least one big non-con game a year, and one of these years not scheduling that way will kill them.

Mock the Bucks all you want, but they play that one game, and it makes a big difference. Guarantee if the Bucks win out this year they play for it all again, and that's namely because they have the USC game early in the year. They also play New Mexico State, Toledo and Navy. Toledo and NMSU aren't much, but Navy is respectable, and that's a tougher OOC schedule than probably 95% of the rest of D1 faces.

Especially when there is no playoff. Joe is right to bash the BCS because the system is screwed up. Problem is, he doesn't try to play with the system and schedule tougher. Penn State yes is as of now the favorite as far as I can tell in the Big Ten, but the thing is, they need to get a tougher team on the schedule. Penn State's schedule last year got tougher bringing in Oregon State.

Originally Posted by Steel Head

Penn State usually does play 1 big non-conference game a year. The problem is they schedule them so far in advance that they didn't know that Syracuse would suck this bad.

Up next they have a home and home with Alabama

Atleast they dont play division AA teams like crappy Pitt and Ohio state have recently

Penn State's future home and home
Alabama as you mentioned 2010-2011
Virginia 2012-2013
Nebraska 2014-2015
Rutgers 2014-2015

Penn State does play Division I-AA teams. In 2006 they played Youngstown State( I can forgive this because Louisiana Tech who was supposed to be in that spot had to drop out due to conference schedule change), 2008 they played Coastal Carolina, 2009 they play Eastern Illinois, 2010 Youngstown State comes back, 2011 they play the team who has had the worst record in D I-AA in recent memory(1-50 to be exact) Indiana State.

[revefsreleets]

Originally Posted by Steel Head

Penn State usually does play 1 big non-conference game a year. The problem is they schedule them so far in advance that they didn't know that Syracuse would suck this bad.

Up next they have a home and home with Alabama

Atleast they dont play division AA teams like crappy Pitt and Ohio state have recently

Your mom have any children who's brain lived?

In 2008 they played D1-AA Coastal Carloina
In 2007 They played Florida International
In 2006 THEY played Youngstown State

Please. Oregon State one year doesn't even come close to playing the likes of Texas and USC.

[SteelCityMan786]

Originally Posted by revefsreleets

Your mom have any children who's brain lived?

In 2008 they played D1-AA Coastal Carloina
In 2007 They played Florida International
In 2006 THEY played Youngstown State

Please. Oregon State one year doesn't even come close to playing the likes of Texas and USC.

It's a better alternative to those 3 teams and Penn State's future I-AAs. The best of the bunch is Youngstown State.

Plus Looking at OSU's future Non-Conference
2010-Marshall, Miami (FL), Ohio, Eastern Michigan
2011-Akron, Toledo, @ Miami(FL)
2012-Miami (OH), Cincinnati, California, UAB
2013-@ California
2014-@ Navy, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Kent State
2015-@ Virginia Tech
2016-@ Oklahoma
2017-Oklahoma
2018-@ Tennessee
2019-Tennessee

Compare that to Penn State's
2010-Youngstown State, @ Alabama, Kent State, Temple
2011-Indiana State, Alabama, Temple
2012-Ohio, @ Virginia, Temple
2013-Virginia
2014-@ Rutgers, Nebraska
2015-Rutgers, Nebraska

[revefsreleets]

OSU has some BRUTAL OOC seasons coming up. In particular, 2014. Navy, VT AND Cinci? It's possible they could be playing 3 OOC top 25 teams, and VT could possibly be top 5. If the Big Ten is back to form, that could be the #1 SOS in the country that year.

[J Dogg]

Good for Ohio State.

But if you're going to pound your chest and call yourselves one of the greatest college football programs of all time, you'd better be able to back that up.

[Steel Head]

Originally Posted by revefsreleets

OSU has some BRUTAL OOC seasons coming up. In particular, 2014. Navy, VT AND Cinci? It's possible they could be playing 3 OOC top 25 teams, and VT could possibly be top 5. If the Big Ten is back to form, that could be the #1 SOS in the country that year.

Navy, VT and Cinci?

that's not BRUTAL you tard

[revefsreleets]

Did you just call me a retard?

Holy Hell, you may be the stupidest remaining poster on this board, and you called ME retarded?

I'm gonna go REAL slow so even the biggest effing idiot on the board can read and comprehend. First off, this is an OUT OF CONFERENCE schedule. Navy is at least a top 50 opponent in off years, and flirt with top 25 status. Cinci was ranked in the top 10 a couple years ago, finished 17th last year, and was as high as 12. VT is a perennial top 25 team, and flirt with the top 10 year in and year out.

Meanwhile, PSU is busy scheduling Coastal Carolina, and CONTINUING to play YSU every other year, along with powerhouses like Temple and Eastern Illinois.

You have a LOT to learn, and really should shut your mouth and know your role...read, don't post, stupid. You embarrass yourself just about ever time you write something.