Thoughts I have no objective evidence for but I think are true

[Sparrows2]

* it is easier to recruit when you put 3 guys in the first round of the draft and an alumnus is the starting QB for the Dallas Cowboys
* you still have to outwork the other guys, the percentage payoff is much greater tho
* it matters that ole miss has a journalism school and we dont. People make friends in their careers. If you were a out of state journalist and you only heard the ole miss side of things about Mississippi college football. You would by the propaganda also until you actually saw the facilities, 3 guys drafted, Dak playing for Dallas and 10 bowl games in a row
* not all lawyers cheat but those who do are the best cheaters. They get paid for knowing exactly where the line is and the unethical ones make their pay telling people how to cross the line with minimum risk
* I very much like the idea of reducing football scholarships by 10 or so and giving those scholarships to baseball. Would improve competition in both sports and be title 9 neutral
* College football is all about QB, keeping him upright and defense. Rules changes in the last 10 years dictate that. You can win other ways but the odds are against it.
* Sabans run is closer to the end than the beginning
* someone is going to get fired out of this group for not being able to recruit well enough
Saban, Smart, Dabo, Willie, Mullen, Malzahn. Doesn?t matter how many games they win. Those schools fans care about recruiting as much or more than winning. They would prefer to lose with studs than win with over achievers

[Lord McBuckethead]

* it is easier to recruit when you put 3 guys in the first round of the draft and an alumnus is the starting QB for the Dallas Cowboys
* you still have to outwork the other guys, the percentage payoff is much greater tho
* it matters that ole miss has a journalism school and we dont. People make friends in their careers. If you were a out of state journalist and you only heard the ole miss side of things about Mississippi college football. You would by the propaganda also until you actually saw the facilities, 3 guys drafted, Dak playing for Dallas and 10 bowl games in a row
* not all lawyers cheat but those who do are the best cheaters. They get paid for knowing exactly where the line is and the unethical ones make their pay telling people how to cross the line with minimum risk
* I very much like the idea of reducing football scholarships by 10 or so and giving those scholarships to baseball. Would improve competition in both sports and be title 9 neutral
* College football is all about QB, keeping him upright and defense. Rules changes in the last 10 years dictate that. You can win other ways but the odds are against it.
* Sabans run is closer to the end than the beginning
* someone is going to get fired out of this group for not being able to recruit well enough
Saban, Smart, Dabo, Willie, Mullen, Malzahn. Doesn?t matter how many games they win. Those schools fans care about recruiting as much or more than winning. They would prefer to lose with studs than win with over achievers

I agree with all of them. I would add Tenn to the last one though.
Sabans run is getting close. Shit he is like 72 years old.

*Moorhead is going to prove he is better than Mullen at recruiting.

*My nephew will be the qb in the class of 2026. Mark it. 5*. I threw the ball with him in the back yard, dude can spin it and it comes in fast. 8th Grader. Private School in Memphis.

[BuckyIsAB****]

Saban is never getting fired. Dabo is never getting fired. Smart is doubtful, the other 2 it could happen.

College football, and any level of football is about who can block and who can tackle. Thats what it all comes down to. Who can run the ball and who can stop it. QB is important but so is every other position on the field. Its the greatest sport ever made because it is the ultimate team sport. Give me elite trenches and tackling and you can have Tom Brady and I like my chances

[FriarsPoint]

Saban is never getting fired. Dabo is never getting fired. Smart is doubtful, the other 2 it could happen.

College football, and any level of football is about who can block and who can tackle. Thats what it all comes down to. Who can run the ball and who can stop it. QB is important but so is every other position on the field. Its the greatest sport ever made because it is the ultimate team sport. Give me elite trenches and tackling and you can have Tom Brady and I like my chances

Agree with everything. Except the Brady part. This ain?t the NFL. A dynamic QB means the world in the NCAA.

[BuckyIsAB****]

Agree with everything. Except the Brady part. This ain?t the NFL. A dynamic QB means the world in the NCAA.

Give me elite trenches and tackling and you can have Trevor Lawrence and I like my chances still

[R2Dawg]

Agree with everything. Except the Brady part. This ain?t the NFL. A dynamic QB means the world in the NCAA.

True on the trenches part. College football is won on the line. NFL somewhat but the talent level is more even in the NFL on the line. College QB if good enough can narrow the gap on most teams and if lines are not worlds apart, an elite QB can be the difference. We've been good enough on both lines several times in MSU history but short at QB or some other key spot to keep us from winning big. We are inching closer to competing for championships though.

[MetEdDawg]

Mullen will get fired because of inability to recruit and attrition of players for discipline.

His class ranked #9 this past year. Pretty good right? Eliminate 2 4 stars that for sure aren't making it to campus. Still a couple more not 100% in yet either.

So with just those 2 gone their class reranks at 13 and that's if no others don't qualify. That puts him behind Georgia and Tennessee in recruiting. In 2018 they finished 14. He's gonna have to finish Top 10 if he wants to consistently challenge Kirby.

[Jarius]

Mullen will be Florida’s version of Mark Richt. He is going to win 9-10 games a year and keep his job there for a long time but he will never win the big one that Florida wants because he does not recruit well enough. They will run him off eventually and it will be controversial because he will never field a bad team.

[msstate7]

Mullen will be Florida’s version of Mark Richt. He is going to win 9-10 games a year and keep his job there for a long time but he will never win the big one that Florida wants because he does not recruit well enough. They will run him off eventually and it will be controversial because he will never field a bad team.

Not a bad analogy. I do think Mullen could hit big every 3-4 years though... he was close here in 2014, and he will have more overall talent at Florida.

[Tbonewannabe]

Give me elite trenches and tackling and you can have Trevor Lawrence and I like my chances still

If your Oline is good enough to keep the QB upright then a QB can be a huge difference. Dak got us to 9 wins in 2015. I would say that almost any other QB in MSU history wouldn't have won more than 6-7. We actually had more experience everywhere else in 2016 and we won 6 games.

[MetEdDawg]

Not a bad analogy. I do think Mullen could hit big every 3-4 years though... he was close here in 2014, and he will have more overall talent at Florida.

Problem is he has Bama lite in his division. And even though Mullen will have better talent than he did here he will always get out coached over the course of 60 minutes by better coaches. He can beat some teams better than his. But coaches that are better than him are always going to beat him. And I think Kirby is better than he is.

[Tbonewannabe]

Mullen will be Florida’s version of Mark Richt. He is going to win 9-10 games a year and keep his job there for a long time but he will never win the big one that Florida wants because he does not recruit well enough. They will run him off eventually and it will be controversial because he will never field a bad team.


If he doesn't beat UGA or play in the SEC Championship game then he won't coach out his contract unless he starts recruiting at a high level. UF was recruiting at a top 5 level under Urban and that is what they expect. McE was being ran off for winning 10 games and recruiting around top 15. His last year he shit the bed but most of their fanbase wanted him fired before that.

[BrunswickDawg]

If he doesn't beat UGA or play in the SEC Championship game then he won't coach out his contract unless he starts recruiting at a high level. UF was recruiting at a top 5 level under Urban and that is what they expect. McE was being ran off for winning 10 games and recruiting around top 15. His last year he shit the bed but most of their fanbase wanted him fired before that.

Remember too that a lot of UF fans felt like Mullen held them back under Urban and hated his offense. They want Spurriers Fun and Gun. and they were saying that when they were winning the SEC and NCs - what will they think about Dan not winning the SEC and NCs?

[msstate7]

If he doesn't beat UGA or play in the SEC Championship game then he won't coach out his contract unless he starts recruiting at a high level. UF was recruiting at a top 5 level under Urban and that is what they expect. McE was being ran off for winning 10 games and recruiting around top 15. His last year he shit the bed but most of their fanbase wanted him fired before that.

Eh, I don't know about that with McE. Here's his trend...
2015: 10-2
2016: 8-4
2017: 3-4
See the trend?

He was an off HC, and here's his ranks in sec at total offense...
2015: 12th
2016: 14th
2017: 13th (7 games)

McE was horrible. Mullen is a vast improvement

[msstate7]

Remember too that a lot of UF fans felt like Mullen held them back under Urban and hated his offense. They want Spurriers Fun and Gun. and they were saying that when they were winning the SEC and NCs - what will they think about Dan not winning the SEC and NCs?

The fact Florida fans were pushing urban to change his offense proves they're morons. I do think they should have10 wins a year at Florida in the regular season regularly though, so Mullen has to find a way to win 2 out of 3 vs LSU, FSU, and Georgia

ETA... urban won 2 natties out of 4 years with Mullen while at a P5 school (florida). Urban has won 1 out of his 9 years at a P5 school (Florida x1, Ohio st x8*) without Mullen. I'm not dumb enough to say Mullen was the secret to urban's success, but Mullen clearly wasn't an anchor on him.

*urban went undefeated year 1 at osu, but they weren't eligible for postseason

[BrunswickDawg]

The fact Florida fans were pushing urban to change his offense proves they're morons. I do think they should have10 wins a year at Florida in the regular season regularly though, so Mullen has to find a way to win 2 out of 3 vs LSU, FSU, and Georgia

ETA... urban won 2 natties out of 4 years with Mullen while at a P5 school (florida). Urban has won 1 out of his 9 years at a P5 school (Florida x1, Ohio st x8*) without Mullen. I'm not dumb enough to say Mullen was the secret to urban's success, but Mullen clearly wasn't an anchor on him.

*urban went undefeated year 1 at osu, but they weren't eligible for postseason

Oh, I agree completely that UF fans are morons. I was just reminding people that hey are morons, and already have a history of Dan hate. When you have that history, it can mean that it won't take much to rekindle the fires. One disappointing event could send things into a tailspin quickly with the jorts crowd.

[msstate7]

Oh, I agree completely that UF fans are morons. I was just reminding people that hey are morons, and already have a history of Dan hate. When you have that history, it can mean that it won't take much to rekindle the fires. One disappointing event could send things into a tailspin quickly with the jorts crowd.

Gotcha

[BuckyIsAB****]

Mullen wants no part of Kirby IMO.

[BuckyIsAB****]

If your Oline is good enough to keep the QB upright then a QB can be a huge difference. Dak got us to 9 wins in 2015. I would say that almost any other QB in MSU history wouldn't have won more than 6-7. We actually had more experience everywhere else in 2016 and we won 6 games.

Our OL in 15 was one of the worst we have had. Rufus Warren at LT was abysmal and the defense was starting to fall off that year. The OL was better in 16 but thanks to Mullen mailing it in and pouting like he normally did we had an awful defense and a mismanaged team that won 6 bc of the talent at QB, RB and OL

[msstate7]

Mullen wants no part of Kirby IMO.

Outside of saban and dabo, who does?

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

* it matters that ole miss has a journalism school and we dont. People make friends in their careers. If you were a out of state journalist and you only heard the ole miss side of things about Mississippi college football. You would by the propaganda also until you actually saw the facilities, 3 guys drafted, Dak playing for Dallas and 10 bowl games in a row


Funny how it goes both ways. One of Forward Rebels talking points was that they needed a PE major so they could place coaches around the state for recruiting.

[Jack Lambert]

Mullen will be Florida?s version of Mark Richt. He is going to win 9-10 games a year and keep his job there for a long time but he will never win the big one that Florida wants because he does not recruit well enough. They will run him off eventually and it will be controversial because he will never field a bad team.

Florida will not give him the Richt treatment. Hell they just ran off a coach who won the SEC east two times. Mullen will not win the East.

[1bigdawg]

Florida will not give him the Richt treatment. Hell they just ran off a coach who won the SEC east two times.

And they ran him off after winning the SEC East in his only two full seasons. I know he has a history there, but I could not believe Mullen would take that job.

[msbulldog]

And they ran him off after winning the SEC East in his only two full seasons. I know he has a history there, but I could not believe Mullen would take that job.

Yeah, it's kinda of unbelievable Mullen left us making as much money as he was and had a damn near guaranteed job for as long as he wanted it. I guess he isn't all that smart, huh?

[Sparrows2]

Funny how it goes both ways. One of Forward Rebels talking points was that they needed a PE major so they could place coaches around the state for recruiting.

Thank you for reminding me of forward rebels. Another thing I believe personally without any evidence is a bunch of money was sent to an unsupervised 501c and shortly after that the rebels had a great run in recruiting. I would be interested to know what happened to all that cash that was donated to forward rebels instead of the supervised normal rebel booster club.
Does anyone know whatever happened to forward rebels, if it was a 501c, if it was supervised as other booster clubs and what happened to the money?
The spike in recruiting could have been unrelated or my facts could be wrong

[BuckyIsAB****]

Outside of saban and dabo, who does?

Good point

[msu15]

Not a bad analogy. I do think Mullen could hit big every 3-4 years though... he was close here in 2014, and he will have more overall talent at Florida.

And it was 100% his fault that he didn?t get the opportunity to win the big one in 2014, which circles back to the Mark Richt analogy.

[codeDawg]

Funny how it goes both ways. One of Forward Rebels talking points was that they needed a PE major so they could place coaches around the state for recruiting.

They aren't wrong about that one. It does go both ways. The journalism school is just more obviously impactful.

[Lord McBuckethead]

Seriously guys, Saban will not be doing this much longer. Hell he will be 68 this year. I hope he hangs in there long enough to stink up the place though.

[Jarius]

Florida will not give him the Richt treatment. Hell they just ran off a coach who won the SEC east two times. Mullen will not win the East.

I hope you are right. I hope mullen fails miserably there because even though the narrative that Florida is much easier to win at than MSU is correct I would like for people to realize that what Mullen did at MSU was not some workings of a miracle worker. MSU had advantages under Mullen that no other coach in our history had and it made him look better than he was. He is still a good coach though.

[BuckyIsAB****]

Seriously guys, Saban will not be doing this much longer. Hell he will be 68 this year. I hope he hangs in there long enough to stink up the place though.

He will probably coach till hes 70 and he will win the whole time. Just bite down and hope we beat them one more time before he is done

[RiverCityDawg]

I hope you are right. I hope mullen fails miserably there because even though the narrative that Florida is much easier to win at than MSU is correct I would like for people to realize that what Mullen did at MSU was not some workings of a miracle worker. MSU had advantages under Mullen that no other coach in our history had and it made him look better than he was. He is still a good coach though.

Well, he did just walk into Florida and in his first year had a better season than any he had here. I'd say the narrative that Florida is a much easier place to win is pretty secure and actually was before he ever showed up.

[Jarius]

Well, he did just walk into Florida and in his first year had a better season than any he had here. I'd say the narrative that Florida is a much easier place to win is pretty secure and actually was before he ever showed up.

I know. I just said that.

[Tbonewannabe]

Well, he did just walk into Florida and in his first year had a better season than any he had here. I'd say the narrative that Florida is a much easier place to win is pretty secure and actually was before he ever showed up.

The thing with Mullen was always recruiting. UF is a lot easier to recruit to than MSU along with the state of Florida having more possible recruits. Mullen went somewhere that will help with his deficiency. He probably thinks that he couldn't get the recruits to compete against teams like Bama so go somewhere that naturally gets better recruits. He was probably correct in that he is not a great recruiter and he typically only got high level recruits that had a MSU leaning no matter the coach. I don't blame him for going to UF but the way he was always job shopping in November screwed us out of some really great seasons. We have 2 Sugar Bowls under our belt if he just could have maintained focus through the Egg Bowls.

[thf24]

Give me elite trenches and tackling and you can have Trevor Lawrence and I like my chances still

Which team was better, us 2010 (very good OL, very good defense, limited QB), or us 2015 (below average OL, average defense, elite QB)?

The trenches are very important and if it was 15 years ago I'd completely agree with you, but in today's college game, if you don't have a QB who can make plays against the best defenses then you don't have a chance against those teams (barring extremely favorable circumstances like Alabama 2017).

[TrapGame]

The thing with Mullen was always recruiting. UF is a lot easier to recruit to than MSU along with the state of Florida having more possible recruits. Mullen went somewhere that will help with his deficiency. He probably thinks that he couldn't get the recruits to compete against teams like Bama so go somewhere that naturally gets better recruits. He was probably correct in that he is not a great recruiter and he typically only got high level recruits that had a MSU leaning no matter the coach. I don't blame him for going to UF but the way he was always job shopping in November screwed us out of some really great seasons. We have 2 Sugar Bowls under our belt if he just could have maintained focus through the Egg Bowls.

This^^^

Mullen is a class A jerk. He had it made here if he just kept on coaching and not job shopping every November. Rumor is he bolted b/c Cohen was the new sheriff in town and actually expected him to recruit better and not job shop every Egg Bowl.

[Tbonewannabe]

This^^^

Mullen is a class A jerk. He had it made here if he just kept on coaching and not job shopping every November. Rumor is he bolted b/c Cohen was the new sheriff in town and actually expected him to recruit better and not job shop every Egg Bowl.

I think there is some evidence of that since Cohen didn't give him his annual extension after the 2015 or 2016 season, I can't remember which. Prior to that Mullen was bumped out to 4 years every year.

[RiverCityDawg]

I think there is some evidence of that since Cohen didn't give him his annual extension after the 2015 or 2016 season, I can't remember which. Prior to that Mullen was bumped out to 4 years every year.

Not true. Cohen became the AD in November of 2016 and gave Mullen an extension in early 2017.

I don't think Cohen had anything to do with him leaving, he'd been looking for years and finally decided he was leaving regardless. Would have been UT if Stricklin didn't come calling at the 11th hour.

[BuckyIsAB****]

Which team was better, us 2010 (very good OL, very good defense, limited QB), or us 2015 (below average OL, average defense, elite QB)?

The trenches are very important and if it was 15 years ago I'd completely agree with you, but in today's college game, if you don't have a QB who can make plays against the best defenses then you don't have a chance against those teams (barring extremely favorable circumstances like Alabama 2017).

2010 team was way better than 15. Not really close. 10 played a tougher schedule, Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Bama, were all top 10 level teams that year. Those were our losses and 2 of them we should have won.

2010 team could probably rush for around 200 on that 15 team and that 15 OL aint blocking Fletcher Cox or Boyd. No chance

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

2010 team was way better than 15. Not really close. 10 played a tougher schedule, Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Bama, were all top 10 level teams that year. Those were our losses and 2 of them we should have won.

2010 team could probably rush for around 200 on that 15 team and that 15 OL aint blocking Fletcher Cox or Boyd. No chance

Yep. '15 lost 3 games to worse teams than any we lost to in '10. I don't see any way he can imply '15 was better

[BuckyIsAB****]

Yep. '15 lost 3 games to worse teams than any we lost to in '10. I don't see any way he can imply '15 was better

That 10 team was damn good. Really really close to being one of the best ever. Arkansas and Auburn that year got damn lucky to beat us and they were both elite

[thf24]

2010 team was way better than 15. Not really close. 10 played a tougher schedule, Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Bama, were all top 10 level teams that year. Those were our losses and 2 of them we should have won.

2010 team could probably rush for around 200 on that 15 team and that 15 OL aint blocking Fletcher Cox or Boyd. No chance


Yep. '15 lost 3 games to worse teams than any we lost to in '10. I don't see any way he can imply '15 was better

You guys are remembering the 2010 season too fondly. #16 SOS vs. #10 in 2015. Week 2 Auburn wasn't the same team that won the NC that year, and we stole a bizarre win from Florida wandering in the post-Tebow wilderness. Maybe the gap isn't as big as I made out, but I'll maintain the point that great QB play is just as important as in the trenches to be competitive against top teams.

[BuckyIsAB****]

You guys are remembering the 2010 season too fondly. #16 SOS vs. #10 in 2015. Week 2 Auburn wasn't the same team that won the NC that year, and we stole a bizarre win from Florida wandering in the post-Tebow wilderness. Maybe the gap isn't as big as I made out, but I'll maintain the point that great QB play is just as important as in the trenches to be competitive against top teams.

The entire SEC west was great besides OM that year. 2015 auburn and LSU were garbage compared to the 10 teams. We beat one on the road and lost to LSU at home bc of Mullen waiting till halftime to realize he couldnt run inside zone with Holloway and that OL. That should have been a dub. 2010 UK was better than 2015 UK and Mizzou. 2010 we played UGA and UF beat both of them.


Our 2015 O would look a lot like it did vs Bama that year against our 2010 defense. Our 2015 D aint stopping Relf and Ballard all game not to mention Bumphis. 2010 had Banks, Whitley, Broomfield, Charles Mitchell, Wade Bonner, Jay Hughes, Jamerson Love, Zach Smith all just in the secondary. I love Dak, Ross and Bear Wilson but idk if they can top that.

The Late great Chris Smith, Leon Berry (pre injury), Arceto Clark, Bumphis, Brandon Heavens, Jameon Lewis, Marcus Green, Malcolm Johnson... Not a bad receiving group either. And 10 could undoubtedly run the ball 10x better. Better on the OL, Brignone, Lawrence, Clausell, Tobias Smith Gabe Jackson.... and DL...Cox, Boyd, Ferguson, Pernell McPhee, Kaleb Eulls, the late great Nick Bell.... Cam Lawrence, Matt Wells, KJ Wright, Chris White, Deontae Skinner at LB. That 15 OL is in bad shape against that group.

2010 was a damn good group. That was just one class for Mullen recruiting too, for all the shit Croom got he had some pretty good players left for Mullen

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

You guys are remembering the 2010 season too fondly. #16 SOS vs. #10 in 2015. Week 2 Auburn wasn't the same team that won the NC that year, and we stole a bizarre win from Florida wandering in the post-Tebow wilderness. Maybe the gap isn't as big as I made out, but I'll maintain the point that great QB play is just as important as in the trenches to be competitive against top teams.

1) I reallly hate the "that team got WAY better after we played them" logic. It's too subjective and hard to research. At the end of the day Auburn was 14-0, I think that's a loss ofr either the '10 or '15 team.

2) SOS really isn't a good metric. For example A&M plays the #1, #2, and #3 teams in the country and @LSU yet their SOS is #11. Why? Because SOS takes the average ranking of the teams on your schedule. So you can play the #1-6 team and the #124-130 and you'll have the same SOS ranking as a team that plays the #59-71 teams. Some SOS calculations weigh upper tier games heavier, but they all let some FCS cupcake drag it down far more than it should.

3) All that said, let's look at the resumes for each team. I'm going to use Final AP rankings: '10 lost to #1, #8, #10, and #12. Finished #15, with wins over #19 A&M and a Michigan team that was #17 when we played them. Almost beat Auburn and Arkansas. '15 lost to #1, #10, #16, and unranked A&M. Finished unranked, no team we beat finished ranked, and NC State wasn't ranked when we played them. Almost beat LSU.

I really don't see how you can say '15 was better. '10 had better wins, better loses, and was more competitive in those loses than '15

[BuckyIsAB****]

1) I reallly hate the "that team got WAY better after we played them" logic. It's too subjective and hard to research. At the end of the day Auburn was 14-0, I think that's a loss ofr either the '10 or '15 team.

2) SOS really isn't a good metric. For example A&M plays the #1, #2, and #3 teams in the country and @LSU yet their SOS is #11. Why? Because SOS takes the average ranking of the teams on your schedule. So you can play the #1-6 team and the #124-130 and you'll have the same SOS ranking as a team that plays the #59-71 teams. Some SOS calculations weigh upper tier games heavier, but they all let some FCS cupcake drag it down far more than it should.

3) All that said, let's look at the resumes for each team. I'm going to use Final AP rankings: '10 lost to #1, #8, #10, and #12. Finished #15, with wins over #19 A&M and a Michigan team that was #17 when we played them. Almost beat Auburn and Arkansas. '15 lost to #1, #10, #16, and unranked A&M. Finished unranked, no team we beat finished ranked, and NC State wasn't ranked when we played them. Almost beat LSU.

I really don't see how you can say '15 was better. '10 had better wins, better loses, and was more competitive in those loses than '15

A lot of that is true but we didnt play A&M that year. They werent in the SEC at that time

[TrapGame]

Not true. Cohen became the AD in November of 2016 and gave Mullen an extension in early 2017.

I don't think Cohen had anything to do with him leaving, he'd been looking for years and finally decided he was leaving regardless. Would have been UT if Stricklin didn't come calling at the 11th hour.

I don't Mullen could intimidate Cohen like he could Loafers.

[thf24]

1) I reallly hate the "that team got WAY better after we played them" logic. It's too subjective and hard to research. At the end of the day Auburn was 14-0, I think that's a loss ofr either the '10 or '15 team.

Normally I hate it too, but look at common quality opponents and when we played them. They beat Arkansas by 20 and LSU and Alabama in close games. We lost to the former in OT and got blown out by the latter two. Given that disparity, I think it's relevant and fair to say that we benefited from a early season meeting and it wouldn't have been a 3 point game had we played in November.


2) SOS really isn't a good metric. For example A&M plays the #1, #2, and #3 teams in the country and @LSU yet their SOS is #11. Why? Because SOS takes the average ranking of the teams on your schedule. So you can play the #1-6 team and the #124-130 and you'll have the same SOS ranking as a team that plays the #59-71 teams. Some SOS calculations weigh upper tier games heavier, but they all let some FCS cupcake drag it down far more than it should.

Fair enough.


3) All that said, let's look at the resumes for each team. I'm going to use Final AP rankings: '10 lost to #1, #8, #10, and #12. Finished #15, with wins over #19 A&M and a Michigan team that was #17 when we played them. Almost beat Auburn and Arkansas. '15 lost to #1, #10, #16, and unranked A&M. Finished unranked, no team we beat finished ranked, and NC State wasn't ranked when we played them. Almost beat LSU.

I really don't see how you can say '15 was better. '10 had better wins, better loses, and was more competitive in those loses than '15

Didn't play A&M in 2010. We weren't competitive against LSU in 2010, almost beat them in '15 as you said. Our best '10 win was against a Florida team without an offensive identity that outgained us by over 100 yards, not even putting up 250 ourselves and completing only four passes. 2010 was a great, fun season, but I'm still not seeing how it was so obviously cut-and-dry better.

[BuckyIsAB****]

Normally I hate it too, but look at common quality opponents and when we played them. They beat Arkansas by 20 and LSU and Alabama in close games. We lost to the former in OT and got blown out by the latter two. Given that disparity, I think it's relevant and fair to say that we benefited from a early season meeting and it wouldn't have been a 3 point game had we played in November.



Fair enough.



Didn't play A&M in 2010. We weren't competitive against LSU in 2010, almost beat them in '15 as you said. Our best '10 win was against a Florida team without an offensive identity that outgained us by over 100 yards, not even putting up 250 ourselves and completing only four passes. 2010 was a great, fun season, but I'm still not seeing how it was so obviously cut-and-dry better.

On the road in the swamp against urban meyer. Beat UGA and Richt at home. Those 2 are better than anything 15 did. Also beat OM on the road, beat one of the better teams UK has had. Beat Michigan like an absolute drum when they had one of the best offensive players in the history of their school

[msstate7]

On the road in the swamp against urban meyer. Beat UGA and Richt at home. Those 2 are better than anything 15 did. Also beat OM on the road, beat one of the better teams UK has had. Beat Michigan like an absolute drum when they had one of the best offensive players in the history of their school

I'm not getting in this either way, but I do wonder what you see in that Kentucky '10 team. They were 6-7 (2-6 sec)

[BuckyIsAB****]

I'm not getting in this either way, but I do wonder what you see in that Kentucky '10 team. They were 6-7 (2-6 sec)

Randall Cobb for one. They also had close losses at top 10 SC, top 10 Auburn. Beat Lville, made a bowl game. They were better than the 15 UK and Mizzou teams we beat

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

I don't get pointing out we didn't play A&M in '10.. all that means is we played a 3rd East team instead of 2. Lets compare the '10 East schedule to the '15 east+A&M schedule:

'10 was Kentucky, UGA, @ Florida. All finished unranked

'15 was kentucky, @ Mizzouri, @A&M. All finished unranked

I'm not really seeing how that '15 schedule is harder.

Moreover, the fact remains that both teams went 9-4, one of them only lost to top 12 teams, the other lost to 2 teams lower than that, one of which was unranked. One team had a ranked win, the other didn't. One finished top 15, the other NR. I'm kinda shocked this is even a debate