Here for the Wins

The argument can also be made for Notre Dame and Miami.

I gave my reasons subsequent to Kevin’s initial post. Rather than being so arrogant and stating there was zero logic there perhaps you should inquire as to what my logic is before making such a declaration. And the point you are making is not one that applies only to a 24 teams playoff. Sure, this year I’d rather be in than not. And you can certainly track my posts to reflect that. I am an old man now. So many years ago, the last time I played a game of football I never knew, never thought it’d be my last. It was. There are emotions associated with that. So I’m not going to call a bowl game or any game meaningless. But you go ahead. And as a fan, I’ll look forward to it and cheer the Horns on. Additionally on the season ticket holder bit, I feel the need/desire to be there for all the big games. The more games you have the more pressure from a financial and time perspective. Perhaps you have more of those resources than I do, perhaps less. I have no idea. But I’ve already gone through the exercise of attempting to manage this thought process last year. Adding another layer does not help that but also just expands the issues on the selection process. These dudes can’t handle 12. They won’t be able to handle doubly thst.

It’s expensive enough as it is. You’re also getting into family time. I’ve missed maybe 5 home games in 30 years, one being Clemson for that very reason. The 24 teams devalues the regular season. You only play 12 games so we may be in the midst of a debate as to whether we schedule tough teams. I care little about a team that loses 4 games (or 33%) getting a shot at an undefeated. So there’s a possibility that we shelve the marquee games. If so, I’ve now lost one of the best reasons to have tickets. Even if you get that one back in the postseason, you may be paying for an extra throwaway game early on. All in favor of shuffling the chairs on the Titanic. The more teams you allow in, the more debate will ensue. Not just who is in but the seeds. Those seeds determine who gets byes, who gets home games, who get the James Madisons. All those factors will get teams hyper focused on manipulating their schedules to maximize their opportunities.

As a season ticket holder, 24 teams is terrible. You’ll still have the same issues anyway. You haven’t heard the seeding complaints yet. Why does such and such get the 11 seed or 12 seed to play. Thats a massive benefit.

The above reproach official deemed he was pushed out. Even though they did not show much of a push. I request you look back in memory banks to 2021 OU when our defense came out. They converted 3rd down on such a play. Jacoby jones got hurt that drive then a TD. It was bs.

Are they acting as instructed?

He may not be quite prepared for the pressure. Really, he can’t win no matter what he does. i do not see the justification for having Ole Miss in front of the Aggies. That could be incredibly significant in that one gets the 11 seed the other gets the 10. I’m not completely certain that Oregon deserves it either. But pushing the Aggies down to 7 and Vandy at 14 diminishes those two wins slightly. There is bad information out there. Saban just said Miami kicked Notre dames ass. Kicked the game winner with 1 minute left. They outgained them by 25 yards. Miami got two turnovers in scoring position. They got 1 first down and 3 points. For a game at home, that’s not ass kicking. But the world views it as such now.

Texas led Vandy for 59:45 of the game. For 55 minutes they couldn’t even tie the game. They only had 4 snaps in the entire game to tie it up. If they call the interference on the overturned TD, there’s a good chance we win by 2-3 scores.

Money is the cause of much of this no doubt. But fans have clamored for playoffs for decades. With that those with the most power were never going to be satisfied getting shorted their seats at the table and their dollars. People are complaining about the top 12, but it’s also the seeding that matters too. That won’t change. If you expand it to 16, you’re introducing more into the argument. And you still have the issue of too many teams with too few games in unbalanced schedules. With 16, you’ll have to do something with the conference championships because now there’s no byes. Right now you get people arguing over Miami versus Notre Dame because they won a coin flip game late on a FG in the first game of the year. Is it the best 12 teams or those with the seasons? I’d say Texas and Notre Dame are both top 12 right now based on the available information. Theres more of a debate whether Notre Dame and Texas have had one of the 12 (or 10) best seasons. In my opinion they have. With each attempt to get the playoffs right, you give away something that was meaningful over the 100 plus years of college football that made it a special thing. Bowl games and conference championships meant something. You know what season was perfect? Texas-USC. Last year Ohio State didn’t even win their conference but were national champs. Not making the conference championship likely helped that effort. The super conferences are the only way to get this consistent. You can schedule as you like in non-conference cause advancement is not dependent upon it. You can then somewhat balance the conference schedules. Then the divisions within the conference determines who advances. It sounds terrible, but that’s the path.

Forgetting? No. I’d wager people are unaware, don’t care. I wasn’t aware. I’ve paid quite a bit of attention, but you’re the first I’ve known give this any attention. Thing is this year that Texas and Vandy have the potential to make waves, probably more so than many years. So the “win it on the field” mantra isn’t exactly accurate this year.

Fewer games than the NFL, far more unbalanced schedules leads to inconclusive choices.

I think A&M got hosed to keep us out of it. Maybe Vandy too.

Um, lack of understanding?

Other notes or points of discussion. South Florida sent UF reeling. LSU got them at home and Lagway fell apart. Miami got them at their low point. The latter two games on the road. The week off prior to Texas allowed them to regroup and rally like they did last year. Manny was out and Wilson played for the first time. Their top 2 WRs versus us that accounted for 65% of their passing yards did not play versus Ole Miss. Wilson had about 20 snaps versus Georgia. Brown didn’t play versus Georgia. So, yes, their game versus Texas was very different from a timing, location and personnel standpoint.

OU being a lock is a joke. They lost at home. They lost a neutral site. Is Tennessee their 2nd best win? Or Michigan? Tennessee got blown out at home by Vandy. Michigan got handled by OSU at home. Vandy beat most of OUs contenders for 2nd best win. The only metric they have us on is losses. And lost head to head. By 3 scores.

Yet Doc I feel as though you wasted my time. JH, not so much.

I would like to see a good, in depth analysis of home versus away win-loss percentage. As there is some premature, preliminary debate on should Texas schedule the Ohio States or also rans, this would add another discussion point regarding such decisions. That extra loss may cost you an invite to the party, but it certainly is likely to cost you a home game. Actually it’s not the losing of a home game, but it’s giving you an away game rather than a neutral site game. There are references made, but it’s minimally discussed. There are too many teams with them all having unbalanced schedules, playing too few games to be awarding significant advantages based those factors.

Pff shows that we are running man about 10-15% more this year than last. Manny has gone from 17 to 28% for example.

There may be some of this, but there’s the possibility that Georgia went heavy against tendencies which would leave our preparation specific to them moot.

Here’s a little nugget to take however you please. We have led approximately 205 minutes in our home games. We have trailed exactly 0 minutes. In those approximate 205 minutes, we have played roughly 175 minutes in which our opponents never had the chance to take the lead. While Vandy got ugly late in the win, they were down two scores for 57 minutes of that game only running 4 plays in which they could have tied or taken the lead.

Completely agree.

I might buy that he’s outside the house peeking inside. Does that count?

But presumably OU and Vandy are. You’re pretty definitive there about us not being a playoff team.

Maybe. I assumed he gave an excellent interview regarding program management with significant discussion regarding learning from Carroll and Saban but also talk of his previous failures and how he has and plans to overcome those. And certainly lots of talk about offense and offensive philosophy. He has been pretty on point on certain elements of program management too so that shouldn’t get lost.

If we hired Sark because of his OC pedigree, then that’s likely a poor choice. It’s that pedigree that gets his name in the hat, but his main purpose always was and should be overall program management.