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Post by FUBeAR on Sept 15, 2015 22:11:01 GMT -5
So, here goes.... Have fun with all the insults........ Oops....almost forgot...  |
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Post by bear38 on Sept 16, 2015 10:00:37 GMT -5
WCU guy comes on our site and asks us to insult him..... Almost sounds like the beginning of a joke.
No insults, but I do question his football sense. He was clearly impressed with VMI's last minute FG victory over Morehead St and unimpressed with Mercer's blowout win over Stetson. It is interesting that Morehead St and Stetson tied in the Pioneer League last year at 3-5. The Massey Composite FCS (ave of 20 computer rankings) today have Stetson ranked 113 and Morehead St ranked 116. Neither ranking is one to write home about, but you've got to question VMI's ability to only win by 3 points last Sat.
Don't get me wrong. I like Al Cobb, VMI's QB. They have a good offense. But to give up 40 points to Morehead St. raises some big questions about VMI's defense.
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Post by bear38 on Sept 16, 2015 10:04:24 GMT -5
Since I mentioned the Massey FCS Composite Rankings, for what ever it is worth, here is how 20 computer rankings see the SoCon (national rankings).
1. Samford (12)
2. UTC (15)
3. Citadel (25)
4. Wofford (28)
5. WCU (53)
6. Mercer (58)
7. Furman (60)
8. VMI (92)
9. ETSU (112)
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Post by bear38 on Sept 16, 2015 10:26:09 GMT -5
He was clearly impressed with VMI's last minute FG victory over Morehead St and unimpressed with Mercer's blowout win over Stetson. Actually, I was more impressed with VMI's loss to Ball State, than their win over Morehead State Once the Bears beat a decent (good) FCS team (like Wofford), I'll become a believer. Your AD has done a remarkably good job of scheduling out of conference games for four years that the Bears could (should) win. Once you start winning those SoCon games, it'll be a game changer for me. This year maybe? I don't know, but until you prove that wrong, you'll be the underdog in your SoCon matches. I will say this, if the Catamounts continue to play the way they played in Charleston, you can pick up your first win in Cullowhee this season. Maybe we can get Mars Hill or another planet school on the schedule. |
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Post by wcugrad95 on Sept 16, 2015 10:42:24 GMT -5
Although I actually already believe Mercer has the coaching and talent to be more than competitive in the SoCon, I think "The Cats" is referencing your overall out-of-conference schedule the past 2 years. I fully understand as a start-up program going that route - I would do the same thing. And I also agree that it makes a whole lot more sense to pickup wins against schools like Davidson or Stetson (that "count" towards your FCS wins) versus playing Mars Hill or Brevard like WCU has done the past several seasons - although we typically do that to play a local school and have what we hope to be a relatively easy win. But I'd say given we play 2 FBS schools (many years - not just this one), comparing our OOC schedules is not something Mercer would want to do.
2014 - WCU played University of South Florida, Brevard, Catawba (one of Speir's ex-coaches is the Head Coach there now), Presbyterian, #1 Alabama - 2 "easy" games, 2 assured losses, and a Presby team that beat us and gave plenty of teams fits
Mercer played Reinhardt, Stetson, Ave Maria, Austin Peay, and Warner (schools I would bet most decent GA high schools would beat) - mostly non-scholly schools that pretty much guaranteed you 5 wins
2015 - WCU plays Mars Hill, Tennessee, Presbyterian, and Texas A&M - 1 easy game, 2 assured losses, and a game against a comparable SoCon team
Mercer plays Austin Peay, Stetson, Tennessee Tech, and ETSU - again an OOC schedule that you should go undefeated against
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Post by wcugrad95 on Sept 16, 2015 10:47:00 GMT -5
And again, I would do the same thing if I were in Mercer's shoes. The way WCU played at Citadel last Saturday, I can see us having plenty of struggles all season if our Offense doesn't find itself soon. And this weekend versus a Tennessee team coming off a loss is going to be ugly. So not sure I would condone playing multiple FBS teams each year. For me, the better balance is one of those "money" games, at least 1 "easy" game, then games against good FCS competition that will let you know how good you actually are.
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Post by BearDownMU on Sept 16, 2015 11:04:57 GMT -5
I think our scheduling last year was a combo of wanting to get wins, wanting to have some confidence with the team considering they were still pretty much all sophomores and freshmen, and also making good on agreements for home and home/two game commitments from year 1.
I know this year we wanted to make sure we had no non-D1 games on the schedule and the games still be manageable.
I have no idea what the OOC looks like next year, but we do play Ga Tech. And then Auburn in 2017. So I think the Athletic Department is "wading into the pool", and I think that is the right move.
As far as "Power Rankings" go, it matters little, as this will sort itself out in head-to-head matchups. I just think it's funny when anyone considers historical context in a Power Ranking. It's supposed to be about an eyeball test with this seasons players and how they look at that moment. Which is why my own personal power ranking would be completely different. To me, Samford is a clear #1 based on this year's performance and the eyeball test. Chattanooga is only #2 (or still #1) in a lot of people's rankings because of pre-season guessing and what they did last year, which doesn't matter at all now. We have game film. To me, the Citadel is a clear #2. They destroyed an FCS team (albeit a really bad one) and had a convincing conference win against another school that everyone put into the upper tier of the conference.
If people we really trying to do these without historical bias, they would look different than they tend to, I think.
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Post by bear38 on Sept 16, 2015 11:49:25 GMT -5
But I'd say given we play 2 FBS schools (many years - not just this one), comparing our OOC schedules is not something Mercer would want to do. Well nobody is talking about your overall out-of-conference schedule for the past 2 years. We ARE talking about the first two games of 2015 which is all anybody has at this point to discuss the current power rankings. So far in 2015, WCU has been very unimpressive. A win against Mars Hill and a big loss at Citadel. If It were my team with that performance, I might be a little hesitant to go on someone elses' fan board and try to stir up crap. But that is just me. |
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Post by FUBeAR on Sept 16, 2015 13:22:59 GMT -5
He was clearly impressed with VMI's last minute FG victory over Morehead St and unimpressed with Mercer's blowout win over Stetson. Actually, I was more impressed with VMI's loss to Ball State Once the Bears beat a decent (good) FCS team, I'll become a believer. So...in your football wisdom, you give VMI a big 'thumbs up' for a 2 score LOSS to a MAC Team that LOST to an FCS team (which was handily knocked out in the 1st round of the playoffs by a SoCon team) in 2014 and at the same time you refuse to be a 'believer' (whatever that means) in a Mercer team that is currently undefeated playing an FCS-only schedule, returns almost everyone (and brings in another scholarship class) AND beat VMI last year AND, in 2014, barely lost to each of the top 3 teams in your Power Poll...by an average margin of defeat of 4.67 points. Altitude sickness must be a BEAR to overcome, I guess... |
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Post by chez23 on Sept 16, 2015 14:48:14 GMT -5
MU has to play a strong OOC schedule and should get 1-2 FBS teams a year...helps the program to be seen as well as pays some bills. As theyg et beat up by the FBS clubs they will leanr how to play more effectivley at that level. Only way to get better and recruit better is to play better programs.
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Post by wcugrad95 on Sept 16, 2015 15:04:36 GMT -5
But I'd say given we play 2 FBS schools (many years - not just this one), comparing our OOC schedules is not something Mercer would want to do. Well nobody is talking about your overall out-of-conference schedule for the past 2 years. We ARE talking about the first two games of 2015 which is all anybody has at this point to discuss the current power rankings. So far in 2015, WCU has been very unimpressive. A win against Mars Hill and a big loss at Citadel. If It were my team with that performance, I might be a little hesitant to go on someone elses' fan board and try to stir up crap. But that is just me. Certainly am not trying to stir up crap - I even said I felt Mercer was already to the point of being more than capable in the conference right now. I did clearly state WCU was very unimpressive last week and we need to turn things around quickly or face a very long season. My comments were directly tied to you bringing up Mars Hill like we play a cream-puff schedule, which is not true. I have also stated in other posts that I don't think polls (and especially "power rankings") make any sense until there have been 3 or 4 games played and teams have been seen playing against more comparable competition - or better yet until they have played head-to-head. I just don't see how you could compare how "good" a win against an inferior opponent is compared to a really good opponent. For example, is Chatanooga really not so good because they didn't destroy the same Mars Hill team or are they actually really good because they were beating Jacksonville State late in the game (who this past Saturday took Auburn to overtime)? At this stage of the season, if all we did was look at numbers, that would mean WCU is 18 points better than Chatty because we beat Mars Hill by a wider margin - and I have never bought into trying to compare scores across opponents like that. BearDown's "eyeball" test right now makes more sense until we know more. So far, the team that has seem to make a statement is Samford. The rest of the conference appears to need some more games to figure out. |
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Post by bear38 on Sept 16, 2015 16:46:06 GMT -5
Well nobody is talking about your overall out-of-conference schedule for the past 2 years. We ARE talking about the first two games of 2015 which is all anybody has at this point to discuss the current power rankings. So far in 2015, WCU has been very unimpressive. A win against Mars Hill and a big loss at Citadel. If It were my team with that performance, I might be a little hesitant to go on someone elses' fan board and try to stir up crap. But that is just me. - I even said I felt Mercer was already to the point of being more than capable in the conference right now. I did clearly state WCU was very unimpressive last week and we need to turn things around quickly or face a very long season. My comments were directly tied to you bringing up Mars Hill like we play a cream-puff schedule, which is not true. I have also stated in other posts that I don't think polls (and especially "power rankings") make any sense until there have been 3 or 4 games played and teams have been seen playing against more comparable competition - or better yet until they have played head-to-head. I just don't see how you could compare how "good" a win against an inferior opponent is compared to a really good opponent. For example, is Chatanooga really not so good because they didn't destroy the same Mars Hill team or are they actually really good because they were beating Jacksonville State late in the game (who this past Saturday took Auburn to overtime)? At this stage of the season, if all we did was look at numbers, that would mean WCU is 18 points better than Chatty because we beat Mars Hill by a wider margin - and I have never bought into trying to compare scores across opponents like that. BearDown's "eyeball" test right now makes more sense until we know more. So far, the team that has seem to make a statement is Samford. The rest of the conference appears to need some more games to figure out. While I replied to your post, the WCU crap is coming from the first WCU poster not you. I should have been more clear. Apologies to you, but still applies to WCU's whats-his-name. Your post was just a misdirection of the conversation and while it may be an interesting discussion, it had nothing to do with the current state of SoCon football in 2015. I think any current SoCon power poll after 2 weeks is just that. Much can and will change. I think it is fair to point out that VMI's 3 point win over Morehead St is not as good as Mercer's blowout of Stetson. Both teams were 3-5 last year in the Pioneer League and probably are about the same caliber this year. To be fair, the comparison doesn't do much for Mercer. They just did what they were supposed to do. VMI ,on the other hand, beating Morehead St. by a last second FG tells me quite a bit. Again, at this point in the season bringing up Mars Hill (a DII program) is a fair point. They are ranked #326. You actually played them. An opponent that may or may not deserve as much ridicule as Reinhardt (NAIA) that Mercer got for playing them in years 1 and 2 of our new program (although WCU is not a new program). If you recall, my response of bringing up Mars Hill was in relation to the snide comment of WCU's whats-his-name and Mercer's schedule to date. If you are going to put Mercer down for playing (and beating) two lower ranked FCS opponents, you shouldn't expect anything less. |
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Post by bear38 on Sept 16, 2015 17:07:29 GMT -5
Well, I think I figured out why the WCU fans are coming over here. I dropped by their site and the "doom and gloomers" have put a real damper on things. Here is an example ( names redacted):
"This loss will doom the rest of the season. I saw no urgency on the offensive side of the ball. XXXX XXXXXX is terrible and needs to be replaced. I have said this every year since he came to Cullowhee. Coach XXXXX's teams over the past three years have been totally undisciplined with way too many costly penalties in key games. I know the Cheerleaders will get on me for my comments. However, this program has not turned the football corner yet. The UT Game will be a slaughter next week."
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Post by FUBeAR on Sept 16, 2015 17:18:20 GMT -5
......at the same time you refuse to be a 'believer' (whatever that means) in a Mercer team that is currently undefeated playing an FCS-only schedule, returns almost everyone (and brings in another scholarship class) AND beat VMI last year AND, in 2014, barely lost to each of the top 3 teams in your Power Poll...by an average margin of defeat of 4.67 points. Yeah, I think you summed that up rather nicely. As did you...  |
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Post by FUBeAR on Sept 16, 2015 17:22:10 GMT -5
Well, I think I figured out why the WCU fans are coming over here. I dropped by their site and the "doom and gloomers" have put a real damper on things. Here is an example ( names redacted):
"I know the Cheerleaders will get on me for my comments..."Really? Well, the Cats faithful certainly have tossed in the towel if that's all it takes...  |
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