• W-L: Wins and Losses
• (%): Winning Percentage
• W_c-L_c: Conference Wins and Losses
• W_w-L_w: Wins and Losses against teams with a winning record
• W₂₅-L₂₅: Wins and Losses against Associated Press Top 25 teams from the final AP Poll of that year
• M(W): Single season highest wins
• M(L): Single season highest losses
• H%: Home winning percentage
• A%: Away winning percentage

Continue Reading “2004-09 Aggregate Wins, Losses, etc…” »

BEAMER FACE.

Continue Reading “BEAMER FACE” »

Continue Reading “Vanity License Plates” »

Boom Statistics! That’s how Michael Scott would introduce this post. To be a little more descriptive the table below is a breakdown of every* 1a school’s record over the last 5 (2004-2008) seasons. I wasn’t able to find a summary of the data like this anywhere so I created it myself.

My, maybe interesting, observations.

• USC is THE elite program in college football. The numbers speak for themselves.
• Boise State is head and shoulders above the WAC, but their 55-9 (38-2) record looks weak when you see they are only 4-5 against the AP Top 25. The same can be said for WVU’s 50-13 (26-8) and 5-7 and Wisconsin’s 47-17 (26-14) and 5-12 records.
• The Georgia Road Warriors
• Boston College is #12 in wins over the last 5 years, yet both coaches went looking for greener pastures.
• Tulsa, Navy and Hawaii all have won more games than Florida State.
• Texas has the National Championship (USC’s only out of conference loss), but Oklahoma runs the Big 12.
• Kansas has an abysmal 32% away winning percentage.

The full table is after the jump. Continue Reading “By the Numbers 2004-2008″ »

A Sooner fan held this up during the Oklahoma rout of Missouri. This is just a huge fuck you from Oklahoma to Texas.

Joe Pa looks a little too much like a vampire right? That’s because its not a costume.  How else can you explain his longevity and energy at 80, I mean 8000, years old. Continue Reading “What’s Your Coach Going to be for Halloween?” »

mgoblog appropriately labeled this game Cripple Fight 2008 because thus far this year neither Michigan or Notre Dame has done anything to distinguish themselves from pop warner teams.  However I am actually interested in this game and I know these guys are too.

What are the implications for the Irish…

Notre Dame has everything to lose.  The Irish are coming off what can positively described as a shaky performance against San Diego St a team most expected them to hang 40+ on.  The Domers not only need a win but an easy looking win.  The offense needs to look crisp and play mistake free.  Vigo Clausen needs to step up (cut his hair) and play like the all world player the Irish have been expecting him to become. New assistant head \ linebackers coach Jon Tenuta needs to leave his mark on the defensive side of the ball.  If the Irish want to even have a chance at finally beating USC the defense is going to have to get exponentially better and stopping the Rich Rod spread is a good first test.

What about Michigan?

As bad as Notre Dame has been if Michigan can pull off the upset it will be the first marquee win for the Rich Rodriguez Wolverines.  Last year everyone thought replacing Lloyd Carr was the right move, but it can be hard for a program to just change the way they’ve been doing things for 10+ years, just ask Bill Callahan and Nebraska.  If Rodriguez can get this win it will go a long way in saying I was the right guy for this job.

I hate the Big Ten and Notre Dame why do I care?

I actually think this will turn out to be a very good football game.  I think Notre Dame will play much better than last week on both sides of the ball.  But there is something about this Michigan team that makes me think they will hit their stride this week.  I don’t know why, but a Weis sized gut call is making pick Michigan 31-24.

Last year I wrote about how to be a College Football Fanatic. This year I ask does your team have a new head coach, have they graduated 80% of last year’s starters, are they on probation, are you guaranteed to lose 5 games and play in a Christmas week bowl, did your Heisman hopeful get thrown off the team for possession of marijuana or are you simply Notre Dame fan? If you answered yes to any of these questions chances are your season is going to be wasted building for the future.  But, that doesn’t mean you have to take any shit from anyone about the state of your program.  Follow these rules and before you know it your program will be winning meaningful games again.

1. Avoid Mondays at the office.  The only thing more satisfying than winning is not letting that jerk ass rival school graduate co-worker of yours be able to rub your face in a loss. On Tuesdays spit in his or her coffee.
2. Fabricate detailed and complex stories as to why your team has no noticeable play makers.  ”We did have this stud runnin’ back from Easterly all signed, but he got a better offer to join a cult instead… Actually yah that was him on Dateline last night.”
3. You favorite phrase should be, “Just wait until we until we recruit the right players for the system.”
4. You lost to the less talented out of conference school because they wanted it more and not because you suck!
5. Pretend the goal of the game isn’t to score more points than the other team, but to complete a full four quarters of play.  Once you convince yourself of that you will have an unstoppable dynasty on your hands
6. Bowl games are an irrelevant reward for the players.  The 6 hard fought wins that got you there are what really matters.
7. Change the conversation early and make it personal.  ”Hey Jerry, wow your boys got their asses kic…” “Isn’t your wife is cheating on you with Chuck?”
8. Horrible officiating is the only reason why you are on that long losing steak.
9. If you lose to your rival school do not be gracious and do not congratulate. Try to not acknowledge the loss. If some douche bag points it out tell them you didn’t see the game, don’t believe them and will check the score out for yourself later, which you will obviously never do.  If you had the misfortune of being at the game black out the memory with copious amounts of Southern Comfort.
10. Most importantly never under any circumstances admit your program is in a transitional or rebuilding year. This is admitting defeat and an open invitation for someone to eat your lunch.

The University of Arkansas will file a waiver on behalf of recent transfer Ryan Mallet.  They are hoping the NCAA will allow Mallet to play immediately and not sit out the mandatory academic year. Mallet had committed to play football for the University of Michigan in 2007 and when called upon to step in for an injured Chad Henne he played well.  However, his Michigan career was over the day Rich Rodriguez was hired as Michigan’s next coach.  Mallet was a 5 star recruit and now the most he could’ve hoped for is being a stop gap until Rodriguez recruited a spread quarterback.

The thing that aggravates me the most about Mallet’s (and similar) cases is how the NCAA fails to realize the athlete is more tied to the coach than the university.  When a recruit signs his letter of intent he commits to play for a university and the university commits a scholarship to him. This needs to be changed.  A recruit should be allowed to to leave his commitment without penalty if the broker leaves.  After all it is the coach that sells the recruit on the university and ultimately helps to determine his future via scheme and playing time.

Last February Mallet signed his letter of intent with Michigan because Lloyd Carr told him he would be the future after Chad Henne.  Rich Rodriguez didn’t have to honor anything guaranteed / said / promised by Carr to any player and rightfully so.  Is it fair the Mallet either stayed at Michigan to waste his talent or sit out of football 18months?  No it is not.  Big time football recruits go to college because they have to in order to make it to the NFL.  Their college education may not be academic, but they should be able to leave for the best opportunity like any other student.