closetojumping

That's just you, though. Arkansas has been down for decades, but they do not deserve to be put into the same bucket as Tech. Tech has been a dreg of CFB for all but a small subset of years. Arkansas was a national power for decades and lays claim to a legitimate national title. As to the rivalry bit, there's zero doubt that those folks view Texas as a rival. However, even that has changed over the years. There was zero heat from Arkansas fans before, during or after the game this time in Fayetteville. The mood in the stadium was surreally one of a boredom and resolution. The stands got a little loud when the score was briefly 13-10, but was quickly diminished and back to the overarching mood. I was told by opposing fans on Saturday on multiple occasions that they were a basketball and baseball school now. Multiple folks went on about how excited they were about their cherished Omahawgs and how they were finally going to win it all this year. I laughed a lot inside at the premise that these people are calling themselves a baseball school when they're one of the chokiest baseball programs of all time and have never won a national title. That said, we are going to feel the rivalry heat from Arkansas in both basketball and baseball, and that will be awesome.

That dude is a special form of asshole.

The state's literal origin is due to siding with "the north" at the outbreak of the Civil War. They're a northern state in that sense, but I agree with the direction of your argument.

I feel like this could be one of those weird weeks in which very few things are going to go according to plan. The media and many fanbases are all baking in wins for the favorites and discussing the CFP as though this weekend's outcomes are a given. Seems like karmic fuckery could be at hand. Army and Notre Dame both hover near the top of many defensive statistics. Army's schedule is a laughable joke, but maybe they're good enough to take ND down. ND has been much better on offense since the early season, so it's going to be interesting to see which is more legitimate - ND's O or Army's D. Minnesota has been a weird team this season. They laid an egg at home against an also mediocre Iowa team, but their other three losses were all close against also mediocre teams. Penn State hasn't played anyone of merit and actually won the game. They've beaten the teams they should have beaten and then lost to Ohio State because they can't help themselves. Given all of that, I guess I assume Penn State to win by a FG. Of all of the teams to meet for a playoff game, I'd as much like to run into PSU as anyone.

The UK woman we'll be traveling with is a rich girl from Louisville with family history woven into the city, so I'm coupling that with this atrocity that you've just posted and will ensure that Louisville is the choice. Also, while I know you were joking, I'll never go to Starkville. Christ. My oldest daughter did 3 years in TFA volunteer work in Clarksdale and I visited a few times while she was there. There is nothing redeeming about the interior of Mississippi. I've never been to Starkville and I will gladly die having never been, either.

I generally stay at Aria and visit other casino floors for the grins and change of scenery. Stayed at Caesar's once, 15+ years ago, and would never do it again for reasons you observed. It's probably the worst of the big places on the strip now that the Tropicana is gone. I guess Excalibur, NYNY, and Luxor are probably as bad or worse too, but who in the hell is staying there?

We're hosting a Kentucky couple in our suite this weekend and they're great friends. The guy joining us played for Mumme and Leach at Kentucky and he's buddies with a bunch of guys involved in CFB and the NFL that he played with or got to know through playing for those guys. One of his good friends is Neal Brown, the HC at West Virginia. I've gotten to chat with Brown due to my friend a few times. That dude has dealt with some crazy shit at West Virginia. Anyhow, my buddy is a great source of non-UT CFB information and I present that here in threads when and where relevant. As to road trips, we're planning on going to the UK trip next year and making 4 nights of it, with a couple in one of Louisville or Cincinnati, two of the only large US cities that neither my wife or I have ever visited between us. Our friends go and on about Lexington, and we'll be there with them, so I hope it's a blast. The small college town bit gets kind of old, in my mind. They all start seeming the same - been to Knoxville, Fayetteville (twice), Tuscaloosa, and Ann Arbor over the last 3 years. I was in Fayetteville this past weekend with the wife and BIL (arky alum) and it was fine, and the dinners were great, but it's always the same drill at the bars and restaurants near campus, and the same horns down and SEC shit-talking there and around the tailgates.

The Asshole Bowl is this weekend. Charlotte and Biff Poggi, at 3-7, are slightly favored on the road (-2.5) as they square off against Tom Herman and FAU (2-8). The loser gets fired. The winner gets to continue screaming at his team for another week.

I’m assuming Texas will keep Ffrench and I hope so, but I also find it pretty hard to worry about WR in general.

You “get concerned” when the wind blows the wrong way or when you spot a cloud that looks like the wrong kind of animal. Take the tinfoil hat off for a bit and get a grip. You wrote similar shit before the Michigan game.

I guess you didn’t watch the SCar game, based on this post. They fucking quit in that game, on both sides of the ball, and were arguing amongst themselves on the sidelines.

I will say this - Kentucky is a weird team. I watched them quit against South Carolina while clicking back and forth between them and the NI/Notre Dame game. South Carolina dismantled the UK OL and DL as though it was child’s play. Then they come back the next week and should have beaten Georgia. They follow that up by pummeling Ohio and going on the road and whipping Ole Miss. “Man, maybe Kentucky is better than I thought?” Then 4 straight losses including another game in which they straight up quit at Florida. Then they played Tennessee tough. Their Saturday Beta is pretty fucking high.

“Maybe I’ll click on over to the Astros thread and see what the fellas are thinking about the offseason so far.” … posts nitpicking Livy Dunne … posts fantasizing about Juan Soto … ”Right.”

The Kentucky offense is shittastic. The offensive line is mediocre and the QB is a little league version of Carson Beck. Deone Walker leads a pretty good defensive front and Texas is going to have to account for him and two pretty good LBs. Their DBs aren’t anything of concern. How do you get up, as a player, for a coach that tried to quit on you in the middle of the night? This team has beaten Southern Miss, Ohio, Ole Miss (lol), and Murray State. Now they have to come on the road against an unfamiliar opponent, get excited and win with far inferior talent across the board? Right. Barion Brown didn’t play against Murray State, so I’m curious how seriously he’s injured. If he can’t go, they have Key at WR and Wilcox at TB as playmakers, which is not saying much. I expect Texas to win in a yawner, 31-3.

I don’t give a shit if you’ve known the broad for 38 hours or 38 decades. If she’s too good for black car service, she’s a nightmare for life. If she likes black car service, get a grip and use Uber Black and it will be a far better treat for her than your old ass doddering around Rainey Street trying to locate her before Nicole disappears you for good.

Get a fucking spine and then download the Uber app for the woman and send her on her way. This thread should be deleted as it weakens us all.

Far be it for me to interfere with creative disruption.

Pretty sure it is “Battered Aggie Syndrome”.

You worry too much.

I can't imagine how the math isn't pretty compelling to Disney. 8 additional conference games versus 16 pointless games, mostly against FCS schools, that usually wind up on ESPN+. That's got to be worth at least another $32M for the conference, if not substantially more. Couple that with removing paying cupcakes to play you at home and the financial value seems easily there for the 16 teams.

We can all quote disappointing and embarrassing losses from the last 25 years of UT football. It's a menial and pointless exercise, and you guys should have better shit to do. Good grief.

Based on all of the shit out there regarding Cook at this point, I'll be very encouraged if he winds at ATM or some other rival.

You are having trouble processing what Lincoln Riley could be selling to a QB compared to Collin Klein?

Oh, they care about money because they're not idiots. Nothing is free any more in CFB and Texas isn't delusional or poor either.

Plenty of us knew the Arkansas idiots would consider that game a jihad experience, but that allegedly wasn't a pervasive theme inside of the program at the time. Sarkisian pushed back on feedback about it being a special game to Arkansas and paid the price, including feedback from the powers that be around the program. He'd coached against them at Bama and didn't respect much about their program. Go back and look at clips during that game and he's got a 1000 yard stare and looks to be in a state of shock, just like his shitty QB at the time. No doubt he and the program didn't understand that rivalry. That said, there's no comparison with ATM. That game is "in your face" for everyone, and the schools are separated by a few hours of driving. We all hear about it all of the time, it's a constant drumbeat of forecasts and discussions nationally with guys like Doering picking ATM already, and there isn't a big money player who is going to get pushback from Sarkisian about this game who isn't going to snap him back to reality, real fast. I'm not worried about Sarkisian or the team being ready for this one. He has spoken about ATM as a force to be thwarted as an existential threat to roster acquisition and management for the last 3 years in private conversations. The OU game and the Arkansas game will always be driven by emotions, often wild ones. The ATM has never really felt that way. The better team on paper just usually wins. I'd love to see Texas win the next two games while ATM chokes on the road against Auburn and the match-up is 10-1 vs 8-3, but if ATM wins out as well, it will be a top 10 matchup and one of the most hyped games of the season. It's not sneaking up on anyone either way.