I'm having a difficult time locating information as to why OKSt is #13 and getting..

[RougeDawg]

All this love?

They went 8-5(5-4) last year in one of the weaker of the BCS conferences. They were 6-1 at home and 1-4 away from T Boone's House. They did not beat a team with what would be considered an average SEC defense.

We have at least an average SEC defense and our offense can move the ball on just about anybody. Why all this love for OKSt? Why is everyone predicting a blowout? Don't say end of last year, because Wilson and Crew apparently took their ball and went home after the Alabama game.

I personally think we have the better overall team, but everybody else thinks we absolutely suck. We return a large group of starters and just about every backup (I believe). I just don't see the gap in perception between the two teams.

[HancockCountyDog]

All this love?

They went 8-5(5-4) last year in one of the weaker of the BCS conferences. They were 6-1 at home and 1-4 away from T Boone's House. They did not beat a team with what would be considered an average SEC defense.

We have at least an average SEC defense and our offense can move the ball on just about anybody. Why all this love for OKSt? Why is everyone predicting a blowout? Don't say end of last year, because Wilson and Crew apparently took their ball and went home after the Alabama game.

I personally think we have the better overall team, but everybody else thinks we absolutely suck. We return a large group of starters and just about every backup (I believe). I just don't see the gap in perception between the two teams.

I completely agree, if we show up against the bears and Russell doesn't pull a Tony from Blue Chips against NW, we are probably the team ranked in the top 15 heading into this game. Those two games have simply warped the public's perception of what Mullen has been building at MSU.

[TrueMaroon]

I completely agree, if we show up against the bears and Russell doesn't pull a Tony from Blue Chips against NW, we are probably the team ranked in the top 15 heading into this game. Those two games have simply warped the public's perception of what Mullen has been building at MSU.

^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^


Its amazing how much people are down on us for the way we finished the year.

If we dont collapse after 7-0, and just had the same record but with spaced out losses, I think the spread would be smaller.

[Bully13]

I dont understand the ok st love but the confidence we have in our team at this point may be premature. Im not buying the crash of last year. I think we were just not that good from the get go. In fact many times last years Team looked weaker than *cough**cough**cough**cough**cough**cough**cough* first. Heres to hoping for a turnaround.

[Bubb Rubb]

^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^


Its amazing how much people are down on us for the way we finished the year.

If we dont collapse after 7-0, and just had the same record but with spaced out losses, I think the spread would be smaller.

I get what you are saying but the fact is that we didn't beat a team worth a crap last year. Until we do, this is how our team is going to be perceived. I agree with the opinion that we are more talented than them. I think they're a middle-tier team if they played in the SEC, and we would probably be a top four team in their conference. There's just a lot of media perception lining up with an Okie State blowout. The best way to overcome it is to actually show up and win a game like this.

[smootness]

Just goes to show you what bowl games mean in regard to people's predictions for the following year. It's like the NCAA Tournament in basketball. Every year, you see a team who was a 9 seed that went to the elite 8 the year before get a bunch of hype preseason, and then after they start playing again you realize they were really just a 9 seed.

[CadaverDawg]

I think Brad Edwards said it best on the radio this morning.....

When asked about the Ole Miss/Vandy game he said he expects a Vandy win bc they return most of their team and are playing at home. He said Ole Miss is only favored because there is a hype about them due to their recruiting class last year. But as he says, those freshman are not going to be the difference in beating Vandy more than likely.

And then he said he expects Oklahoma State to win bc they have two great QB's, and because he just doesn't know what to expect from MSU. He said if we can get some defensive stops early in the game we can win the game, but he said all we really have to base anything on is last year, so it's hard to predict MsU to beat a great offensive team after what we did against great offensive teams like A&M last year.

It's just that we are an unknown when it comes to what we will bring defensively this year. If we are as good as we think we can be defensively, the media (and myself) will be eating a lot of crow when it comes to preseason predictions. However, if all of this preseason juice gets squeezed in the opener, we could lose a lot of games this year against our schedule. So my guess is that the media is doing the same thing I am....which is not expecting things to be drastically better until we see it with our own two eyes against someone other than ourselves in a scrimmage. Until that happens, Im not getting sucked in to the wool after the lack of relentless effort I saw last year. Hopefully I'm wooly as hell after Saturday though.

[Johnson85]

All this love?

They went 8-5(5-4) last year in one of the weaker of the BCS conferences. They were 6-1 at home and 1-4 away from T Boone's House. They did not beat a team with what would be considered an average SEC defense.

We have at least an average SEC defense and our offense can move the ball on just about anybody. Why all this love for OKSt? Why is everyone predicting a blowout? Don't say end of last year, because Wilson and Crew apparently took their ball and went home after the Alabama game.

I personally think we have the better overall team, but everybody else thinks we absolutely suck. We return a large group of starters and just about every backup (I believe). I just don't see the gap in perception between the two teams.

Pre-season polls are mainly about name recognition and perception of teams generally. Even in the coaches poll, the voters aren't going to know much about what other teams are bringing back outside of the few teams in their conference. So Ohio State probably is overrated.

But you have to remember people think that MSU sucks because we looked like dog shit several times last year in televised games. A&M, Ole Miss, and to a lesser extent, the Gator Bowl, we looked like we could have been the worst team in the SEC. We looked pretty good against LSU. There weren't many other games that mattered as far as perception. Nobody was going to get credit for looking good while beating Arkansas, UK, and Auburn last year or our OOC slate. You can claim that it was all Wilson's fault, but until we actually do something different in the game, a lot of people understandably are going to believe were looked like shit last year because we were a shitty team.

[Political Hack]

play them up. don't play them down.

they should be #1 in the country IMO.

[EAVdog]

Our defense looked atrocious against passing spread teams last year. We all believe, and probably rightly so, that that was a result of poor coaching. Specifically Wilson employing a 3-4 with Cherrington at the nose usually to disastrous affect.

Now why they are picked to win the Big 12, One can only say because Oklahoma and Texas appear to be down. So the media is going to pump up the team that looks like they are the head of the pack in the Big 12. How would it look if the presumptive winner of the Big 12 was pre-season ranked 25 or not ranked at all?

I think this is a winnable game if we've made the right adjustments on Defense and Offense from last year.

[Jack Lambert]

I like being under the radar. They have lost three starting lineman from last year and the starting the starting running back. Early games defense are ahead of the offense. We have the advantage. Our defensive line is experience and they are going to take advantage of their line. I think our o-line is pretty much in tack from last season so we don't have that learning curve. I feel pretty good with our chances. Everyone thinks that this game is going to be won with the passing but I think it’s going to be won by the trenches and we have the advantaged there. Early games advantage goes to the most experience interior positions and we have that advantage.

[bocfarm]

If we win the turnover battle we have a chance if its even or not in our favor we will lose with a good chance of getting steam rolled.

A lot of our fans have a perception that since we're an sec team our defense won't allow 40 points, it's simply not the case. They will score at will imo just need to force some turnovers

[smootness]

If we win the turnover battle we have a chance if its even or not in our favor we will lose with a good chance of getting steam rolled.

A lot of our fans have a perception that since we're an sec team our defense won't allow 40 points, it's simply not the case. They will score at will imo just need to force some turnovers

Totally disagree that it would be a guarantee at that point. And it's not really about our defense. Our offense will put up a lot more points than people think.

[messageboardsuperhero]

To me, this game comes down to turnovers, offensive play calling, and open field tackling.

[AROB44]

Our defense looked atrocious against passing spread teams last year. We all believe, and probably rightly so, that that was a result of poor coaching. Specifically Wilson employing a 3-4 with Cherrington at the nose usually to disastrous affect.

Now why they are picked to win the Big 12, One can only say because Oklahoma and Texas appear to be down. So the media is going to pump up the team that looks like they are the head of the pack in the Big 12. How would it look if the presumptive winner of the Big 12 was pre-season ranked 25 or not ranked at all?

I think this is a winnable game if we've made the right adjustments on Defense and Offense from last year.

Texas was 9-4 last year. Heard Ivan Maisel on the radio the other day and he picked Texas as a team that could go undefeated this year. Dosen't seem they are down any longer.

[HancockCountyDog]

Texas was 9-4 last year. Heard Ivan Maisel on the radio the other day and he picked Texas as a team that could go undefeated this year. Dosen't seem they are down any longer.

Texas is going to stomp a mud hole in the bears. I can't wait for that game.

Hopefully Vandy will get their kicks in tonight.

ANCHOR DOWN BITCHES!!!!

[Political Hack]

Okie State is the greatest team of all time. If we beat them we should immediately be vaulted to number one and declared national champions by Golf Digest. If we lose, well then, of course we did. we should be ranked in the top 25 for just surviving the game.