blutow

I'd agree that Georgia is too low. Seems like the committee isn't putting much weight on "quality of loss" and I think that should matter. I'd probably have Georgia one spot ahead of Bama and both those 2 in front of Old Miss and Tenn. Georgia has more quality wins and their losses are also better. And Notre Dame (and arguably Miami) should be behind all of them. Georgia hasn't looked great in several of their wins, so I guess it's back to eye test being a big factor.

Same as it ever was - when rankings get difficult, the committee will make it mostly about eye test down the stretch.

This would be enough if I was on the jury

Agree that on paper Texas/Tenn schedules aren't much different, but Tenn will get more credit for a Bama win than we do for a win over aggy. Bama has a really good win (along with just being Bama) while aggy has no cache and no quality wins. Obviously none of it matters unless we drop a game, but we better at least look like a playoff team down the stretch if we drop the CCG. Just don't want to get into the 2 loss debate with a bunch of teams who all have head to head comps against each other.

Good way to phrase it, similar to aggy ostensibly being first place (tied) in said conference. I don't think either is the case and many teams have been knocked down after losing a CCG historically. In the eye's of many, Texas has lost it's only tough game. As much as I'd like to see aggy drop to auburn next week, they really need to be ranked as high as possible when we play them to help our case if we end up losing in the CCG (plus, it's much sweeter to be the team to crush their dreams). An aggy loss to Auburn doesn't help Texas in any way other than maybe recruiting. If aggy lost to auburn and then us, we'd have zero top 25 wins at the end of the season if we then lost in the CCG. Again, I like our chances as long as we win the next 2, but I'd rather have as much ammo as possible if we end up in a beauty contest across 2 loss SEC teams.

Most likely, but I don't think it's guaranteed. If we got blown out by Bama in the CCG, it would certainly be a discussion between us and Tenn. Recency bias (and eye test) has always played a big role with people making the decisions. If it's 4+ payoff spots for SEC, I think we're in even with a bad loss in CCG. 3 SEC spots and I think there is risk. If we lose close in CCG, we're probably in regardless of spots available. And we obviously need to win the next 2, hopefully passing the eye test while we're doing it. If we end up in CCG and losing, eye test in last few games (for all 2 loss teams) will probably be bigger factor than SOS and other "measurables".

Yep, and even if we beat aggy and go to CCG and lose, I don't think a playoff spot is guaranteed (depending on who we play and how the game plays out). Our SOS is so crappy this year that it's going to be a tough argument against other 2 loss teams. I believe the committee has said they don't want to penalize teams for losing in CCG's, but at some point the body of work has to matter. With OU and Michigan sucking so bad this year, it's got to hurt our chances if we end up in a 2-loss showdown and there aren't enough chairs left to get 4+ SEC teams in. I think we'd jump Tenn if it came down to it and maybe Old Miss, but I wouldn't count on either of those.

Exactly. A generational QB can make up for a lot of shortcomings and might carry a team to a title, but it's a stupic thing to count on if you are building for sustained success. It's like buying lottery tickets as your retirement plan. Quin is the best QB we've had under center since Colt (by a big margin) and he's better than many QB's who have led their teams to titles in the last 20+ years. More than good enough to win a title with the right team around him. Maybe Arch will turn out to be better than Quin, but that's far from certain and it should not be a prerequisite to compete for championships.

Solid win in my opinion. While it's fun to watch blowouts like last week, I never felt like the win was at serious risk and we played smart most of the game. Very few moments where I felt we were giving Arky anything for free. Blue has to be better protecting the ball and I question Bolden's decision making on punt returns at times (although it hasn't bit us yet), but it was mostly a well executed game other than that. A few throws missed and a few balls dropped, that's football. Minimal penalties or serious breakdowns. I think Sark's comments post game help tell the story - when your defense is playing that well, playing conservative/safe football makes a lot of sense. No reason to risk forcing a ball down field when up by 2 scores when Arky was doing nothing on offense. The downside of a turnover in that situation is much greater than the benefit of another first down. Once Arky got some momentum, I thought we responded well. I really don't get the Quin hate, the guy made some outstanding throws when it mattered and managed the game well. Lots of championships have been won using that formula.

How you act after a big loss is a good indication of whether you have a winning character. I wasn't impressed with the character those 2 Nebraska freshman showed in the presser. And I wasn't impressed with some of the coach's comments either, not exactly setting a great example for his team. The gals get a bit of a pass for being freshman and having a mic stuck in their face after being humiliated on a big stage, but clearly they have some growing up to do. That Nebraska team has talent for sure, will be interesting to see how they respond. The future is bright for Texas as well. I think we're only seeing a glimpse of what Swindle is capable of and Texas can always get the big powerful hitters.

Speed kills...

I honestly think there was a good chance the SEC would have been left out if FSU hadn't looked epically bad on offense in the last 2 games. The ACC CCG sealed FSU's fate with the committee watching that abortion of a game. If FSU had just lined up in wildcat all night, the optics would have been better and then they could have said their #2 guy would be back for the playoffs with plenty of time for both QB's to get reps. No good came from sticking that poor #3 guy out there for the world to see. You just can't leave that game as the last impression on the committee when there are 4 other deserving champs in play. By the end of that game, my opinion totally shifted from "you can't leave out an undefeated P5" to "there is no way you can put that team in the playoffs". I assume the committee felt the same. I thought Texas was in after the Bama win regardless of ACC outcome, so I think my view of FSU was pretty unbiased. Sucks for FSU, it will be interesting to see what they do against Georgia.

If Texas does win a title this year, we shouldn't give Sark anything because Texas will still suck and we just got lucky this year. At least that's what the folks over on Texags are saying... They are already mentally conditioning themselves for a very long aggy winter. It's coming.

Yeah, I'm not sure any of these guys are really doing it for the $ once you get to $10m+/yr. Maybe ego if you aren't making more than the next guy. But NFL clearly appeals to some of these guys who have their choice. Sark seems to really like the relationship/teacher aspect of college, but I'm just guessing that based on his public statements.

Does anyone know if Sark has ambitions to go back to the NFL? I know Sark often references Saban, but I think he aligns closer to Pete Carroll. I don't know if he shares Pete's drive to coach in the NFL or not, but that seems like a potential risk in a few years if he has interest. I can't see him going to another college program unless Texas screws things up in a big way (ie bring back patterson, etc.). I say pay the man ~$9m plus some good incentives, but no long term guarantees. This year has been great on all levels, but it's a down year for the conference and obviously a small sample size. A couple more years of double digit wins and I'll be convinced. I feel like we're still in the first quarter and up 21 points. Feels really good, but no guarantee we're winning the long game yet. We've definitely had some things fall our way this year and we could have easily missed the CCG and playoffs based on a couple plays, but winners make their own luck in my opinion (at least in the long term).