I'm not trying to be the voice of optimism, but the gap has narrowed dramatically

#26
#26
chatt-townVOL said:
What I mean is the gap between your Power 5, top-dawg, big boy football teams, and the bottom of the barrel, low level of football, G5 and lower teams.

10 years ago FCS App State beat Michigan. The CFB world turned upside down. Today, #13 Iowa lost to FCS NDSU, and I'm willing to bet half of the posters here don't even know about it.

#2 Clemson should have lost to Troy last week. #9 Tennessee should have lost to App State in Week 1. Mississippi State lost to South Alabama in Week 1, at the same time KY lost to Southern Miss, Arkansas (who beat TCU) should have lost to LA Tech in Week 1. Last week Nicholls State gave #9 UGA all they wanted, and again, no one is even discussing it now.

3 years ago we all laughed at Derek Mason because his Commodores barely squeaked out a win against UMass. Florida played UMass to start their season, the score was 7-10 late in the 4th. No one batted an eye.

My point is this: Big time players are realizing they can go to smaller schools and still get NFL contracts. Smaller schools are full of 4-year starters and we're putting them up against true freshmen in the SEC and other Power 5 conferences. Everywhere we look, "booster games" are no longer the walks in the park they used to be. The pups have grown fangs essentially, and if you sleepwalk they know how to bite.

We still know nothing about our team. A lot of good football teams have had needed luck on their side to stay undefeated this season, including us. Some other good football teams have been less fortunate. Regardless of who you play, wins have gotten dramatically harder to come by than in recent years.

Be thankful for 3-0.
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Ok. I don't disagree that the gap has tightened. BUT if that's the case, then the powers that be need to quit limiting the chances of smaller schools to compete. You can't have it both ways. You can't say "XYZ teams are so superior to smaller schools that we need a completely different system to make sure only we play for Championships" while the performances on the field say the exact opposite. You do that, then you will never have a legitimate national championship. Just my worthless opinion.
 
#28
#28
Another possibility is that pretty good coaches from smaller schools move up to SEC caliber programs and become mediocre coaches without doing anything different.
 
#31
#31
Yankee_Vol said:
So what about the Top 10 team that beat another Top 10 team 63-20?
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And the team with the 20 beat down Ole Miss that Alabama had a difficult time putting away.

Absolutely NONE of these top teams have a good defense. IMO, a lot of them have surrendered to the concept of being able to out score their opponent rather than focusing on stopping them.
 
#32
#32
chatt-townVOL said:
Yup. That's another one. Arizona State barely survived UTSA last night.

Also,

-Week 1 Furman gave Michigan State all they wanted
-Week 1 Houston dismantling Oklahoma could be in this conversation
-Week 1 Western Michigan beat Northwestern
-Week 2 East Carolina beat NC State


The list goes on and on and on.

I understand all the snarky responses, but this is hard data I'm using to support my theory. The data is tough to dispute.
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Adds from today:

- # 9 Wisconsin beat a win less Georgia State team 23-17. Georgia State lead 17-13 early in the 4th.
- # 13 Iowa lost to NDSU 23-21
 
#33
#33
chatt-townVOL said:
What I mean is the gap between your Power 5, top-dawg, big boy football teams, and the bottom of the barrel, low level of football, G5 and lower teams.

10 years ago FCS App State beat Michigan. The CFB world turned upside down. Today, #13 Iowa lost to FCS NDSU, and I'm willing to bet half of the posters here don't even know about it.

#2 Clemson should have lost to Troy last week. #9 Tennessee should have lost to App State in Week 1. Mississippi State lost to South Alabama in Week 1, at the same time KY lost to Southern Miss, Arkansas (who beat TCU) should have lost to LA Tech in Week 1. Last week Nicholls State gave #9 UGA all they wanted, and again, no one is even discussing it now.

3 years ago we all laughed at Derek Mason because his Commodores barely squeaked out a win against UMass. Florida played UMass to start their season, the score was 7-10 late in the 4th. No one batted an eye.

My point is this: Big time players are realizing they can go to smaller schools and still get NFL contracts. Smaller schools are full of 4-year starters and we're putting them up against true freshmen in the SEC and other Power 5 conferences. Everywhere we look, "booster games" are no longer the walks in the park they used to be. The pups have grown fangs essentially, and if you sleepwalk they know how to bite.

We still know nothing about our team. A lot of good football teams have had needed luck on their side to stay undefeated this season, including us. Some other good football teams have been less fortunate. Regardless of who you play, wins have gotten dramatically harder to come by than in recent years.

Be thankful for 3-0.
Click to expand...

You mean we gotta worry about Tennessee tech!!!
 
#34
#34
peerless98 said:
I didn't take the OP as making excuses for the Vols. The bottom line is that very few teams can walk through the "cupcakes" on their schedule. The playing field is much more level than it was a few years ago, and it's moving more so in that direction each year. As youth and high school football becomes bigger and bigger business, more and more athletes are being developed. The big boys can't identify and take them all with the current scholarship limitations.
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This guy gets it
 
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