SB Nation User Blog: ragnarok

Hey, join us for another episode of the California Golden Blogs Podcast. In this episode, we have...

ragnarok — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:03:33 -0000

Hey, join us for another episode of the California Golden Blogs Podcast. In this episode, we have a long discussion on the merits (or demerits) of the football program, talk about how to evaluate coaches (and which ones we should FIRE NOW!), then end on a more cheerful note with some discussion of our awesome men's basketball team.

PLUS! Find out what the Chief Justice is cooking!

CGB Top 25 - Week 10

ragnarok — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:09:19 -0000

Are you bored by the 2009 Mythical National Championship Race? I'm certainly bored by it. 'Bama/Florida vs. Texas seems almost a certainty at this point, as no reasonable challenger has emerged in the weakest Big XII in recent memory, and the only reasonable challenger in the SEC (LSU) has been vanquished by both Florida and Alabama. *Yawn* Get me an 8-team playoff, stat!

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama	1
2	Florida	1
3	Texas
4	Cincinnati	1
5	TCU	3

Welcome to the Top 5, TCU! You still have to get by the Utes this weekend, but at this point, your BCS credentials look pretty solid (undefeated with road wins at BYU, Clemson and Virginia). Not great, but solid, and in this mediocre season, solid will get you everywhere.

6	Boise State
7	Georgia Tech	3
8	LSU	1
9	Miami (Florida)	5
10	Pittsburgh	2

Not only do we not penalize LSU for losing to Alabama, we actually push them up a spot into the huge vacuum created by Iowa and Oregon's demise. Miami finds itself back in the Top 10 almost by default, and Pitt? Well, why not. Their next three games are Notre Dame, @ West Virginia, and Cincinnati, so we'll soon find if their inclusion this high in the poll is justified.

11	Oregon	7
12	Iowa	5
13	Southern Cal	2
14	Ohio State	2
15	Utah	2

To every voter who voted USC higher than Oregon this week: you suck. You really, really suck. You should have your voting privileges revoked. Seriously. Yes, the Ducks lost a huge letdown game at a pretty decent (6-3) Stanford team, but they eviscerated USC just the week before. Just seven days prior! And it's not like USC did anything special last weekend, needing a pick-six to get by Arizona State 14-9. Without that, they lose to a mediocre Sun Devils team 9-7. Did you even watch that game? Was it past your bedtime?!? Jeebus. Even talking about this makes me angry.

16	Arizona	1
17	Houston	1
18	Brigham Young	2
19	Oklahoma State	2
20	Penn State	7

Oh, Penn State, what have you done this year to deserve to be ranked? Let us count the ways. 8 wins, but their best win might be over 6-4 Northwestern. Or perhaps 7-2 Temple. Temple is your best win?!?!? They lost 21-10 to Iowa at home, and then 24-7 to Ohio State at home. They miss Wisconsin this year, and have yet to play Michigan State. And no, wins over Syracuse, Akron, and Northern Illinois aren't impressing anyone either.

Last week's ballot
21	Virginia Tech	1
22	Oregon State
23	Stanford
24	Wisconsin	1
25	Navy

Finally, some more teams. Hard to leave out the 'Furd after they hang half a hundred on Oregon. Oregon State looked pretty good in beating down the Bears (even without much from Quizz, Canfield was nearly perfect), and Navy always gets my vote for beating Notre Dame. Always.

Dropped Out: Oklahoma (#19), California (#23), Notre Dame (#24).

If you're near the bottom of the poll and you suffer ignominious defeat, you're going to drop out. It's just that simple.

Cal vs. Murray State Basketball Preview & Open Thread

ragnarok — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:38:31 -0000

Cal's Men's Basketball team opens its season tonight at home vs. the Murray State Racers. Now, since "Murray" is not one of the Fifty United States, it would be pretty easy to overlook them, especially given that Cal has been consistently ranked in the Top 20 of preseason basketball polls, and is looking forward to a pair of tough games in Madison Square Garden next week for the Coaches v. Cancer Classic. This, I believe, would be a mistake.

Murray State (located in Murray, Kentucky) has long been a power in the Ohio Valley Conference, winning the league a record 20 times, though they haven't won it since 2006, finishing second each of the last three years. They're also picked to win the league again this year, the 13th time in the last 21 years they've been tabbed as the preseason favorite. Looking at their roster, it's not hard to see why.

The Racers return four starters, including their top three scorers, from a team that went 19-12 last year. Ken Pomeroy rated them the 137th best team in the country last year, ahead of teams like Rutgers and Oregon. Pomeroy also notes that last year's team's strengths included offensive rebounding and defending the three-point shot. Our only common opponent from last year was Missouri, whom they lost to by 11, instead of the 27 Cal fell by (both games in Columbus, MO).

Your game information is as follows:

California Golden Bears (0-0) vs. Murray State Racers (0-0)
Monday, Nov. 9, 8:00 p.m., Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, Calif.
Radio: KFRC 1550 AM TV: ESPNU

After the jump, we'll take a look around Murray State's roster.

Image via image.cdnl3.xosnetwork.com

6' 4" Senior Forward Danero Thomas was their leading scorer last season with more than 12 points per game; he also grabbed more than 4 boards per game, and led the team in both blocks AND steals. Their leading returning 3-point threat, he bucketed just under 30% of his attempts, a far cry from Robertson or Randle.

Image via image.cdnl3.xosnetwork.com

6' 2" Junior Guard Isacc Miles was second on the team in scoring last season, as well as tied for the team lead in assists. The Creighton transfer is also worth watching from behind the line, though like Thomas, he made less than 30% of his attempts from long range. Miles also owns the only triple-double in school history, going off for 13 points, 10 boards and 11 assists vs. Tennessee-Martin.

Image via image.cdnl3.xosnetwork.com

6' 7" Sophomore Forward Ivan Aska led the team in rebounding and was third on the team in scoring during an outstanding freshman year that saw him named Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year. He shot better than 50% from the floor last year, and I'd bet that a huge percentage of those shots came within a couple feet of the basket.

Image via image.cdnl3.xosnetwork.com

6' 9" Senior Forward Tony Easley is the Racers' other inside scoring threat. He only averaged 6.7 ppg last year, but shot better than 60% from the floor when he did decide to take a shot. The team's second leading rebounder and shot-blocker, I'm curious to see how well the shorter Jamal Boykin guards him.

Image via image.cdnl3.xosnetwork.com

6' 6" Junior Forward Jeffery McClain is not especially tall, but at 230 lbs., is still able to throw his size around. He started every game last year, and put up more than 6 points and 5 boards per game.

Image via image.cdnl3.xosnetwork.com

6' 8" Senior Center Georges Fotso is a big (240 lbs.) body inside. Averaged a point per game last year.

Overall, this team seems to spread the scoring around pretty well. Leading scorer Thomas averaged just 12.5 per game, but two others averaged better than 10, and four more averaged more than 6 last year. The rebounding load was similarly shared. They're not particularly tall (no one comes closer than 6" to Max Zhang), but do have six guys on the roster 6' 6" or taller.

However, a couple of key players ARE gone from last years' team, including point guard Kevin Thomas and leading deep threat Tyler Holloway (his 60 3-pointers last year were more than the next two guys, Thomas and Miles, had combined). Without true perimeter threats, I'd expect the Racers to attack the basket pretty consistently, so the Bears' defenders better be prepared to keep their men in front of them and try and contest the entry pass. Without a dominant big man, I'm not sure the Racers can exploit the Bears' biggest weakness to its fullest, but I'd be surprised if they can't find some success inside. I expect a good challenge, however, and there certainly appears to be enough talent on this roster to pull and upset if the Bears come out sleepwalking.

Finally, a couple quotes from Monty and Randle:

They're one of those dangerous teams that people don't know about out here," Montgomery said. "They've got really good athletes, they really know how to play, and they're very confident. So it's a little bit scary."

"If you look ahead, you're just setting yourself up for an upset," senior point guard Jerome Randle said. "We have to get past these two games, then worry about Syracuse."

Murray State, coached by one-time Cal aide Billy Kennedy, won't be easy.

Led by senior Danero Thomas, a preseason All-OVC pick and the leader of a three-guard alignment, the Racers attack off the dribble more than they shoot the 3-pointer.

"They're real good off the point of attack, which is a concern for us," Montgomery said.

CGB Top 25 - Week 9

ragnarok — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:11:35 -0000

It's a good thing I have two rational, reasonable cohorts to help compile this Top 25 every week; this week, their votes helped to temper my own outrageously reactionary vote: Oregon at #1.

Yes, our final ballot has Oregon at a much more reasonable #4, below three undefeated powerhouses (Florida, Alabama, Texas), but my uninhibited exuberance is the reason they're so high in the first place. Perhaps I'll rethink my vote next week, but for now, Oregon's dismantling of one of the greatest college football dynasties of our time has me completely rethinking what it means to be #1.

But wait, didn't Boise State beat Oregon already this season? And not in a flukey manner, either. Shouldn't they be above the Ducks? I disagree. Boise beat an Oregon team, but not this Oregon team. Oregon is a much, much better team over the last six weeks compared to the first three, after Jeremiah Masoli learned to throw the football and the running game opened up. I'd favor this Oregon team over Boise by at least a touchdown, maybe a good bit more. Frankly, Boise State's overall body of work (which includes not just who they've beaten but how they beat them) is just not as impressive as Oregon's run through a much tougher schedule.

And how can I rank Oregon above the other undefeateds? In particular, Florida and Alabama have played SEC schedules, and Texas has bullied its way through the Big XII. So? The Gators at least have a win at LSU (currently ranked No. 9 in the BCS standings), a 13-3 defensive struggle that only a defensive coordinator could love. Alabama's best win is over No. 23 Virginia Tech, and Texas' best wins are over Oklahoma State and a surprisingly beatable Oklahoma. Good records, worthy of the Top 5, but none of those teams has a win as good as Oregon's. Can you discount the loss to Boise? No. But I've been waiting all year for one team to really impress me, to really show that it was the #1 team in the land, and while Texas' dismantling of Oklahoma State might impress those who thought the Cowboys were really good in the first place, I submit that no performance this year has been impressive as the Ducks' win over USC. And it's not a fluke -- Oregon has looked this good for six weeks now. Had the Ducks scheduled Charleston Southern, like Florida did, or Wyoming, like Texas did, or Florida International, like Alabama did, instead of Boise State, would you then try and argue that the Ducks didn't deserve to be #1?

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Florida	1
2	Alabama	1
3	Texas	1
4	Oregon	4
5	Cincinnati	2

A little shuffling at the top, while Cincy drops two spots to make way for the much more impressive performances put up by Texas and Oregon last weekend. I guess beating Syracuse by three touchdowns just doesn't do it anymore.

6	Boise State
7	Iowa
8	TCU	2
9	LSU
10	Georgia Tech	1

In no way do I think Iowa is the 7th-best team in the country, but they somehow keep winning. Not only do they overcome 5 interceptions (and 6 total turnovers) to mount a 4th-quarter comeback to beat Indiana, but they somehow managed to cover the 17-point spread. Amazing.

11	Southern Cal	6
12	Pittsburgh	6
13	Penn State	2
14	Miami (Florida)	1
15	Arizona	2

The king is dead! USC tumbles after being completely pantsed by the Ducks last Saturday night, and while I wanted to drop them further, it's hard when teams like Pitt and Penn State still lack an impressive scalp amongst all those wins they've racked up. Heck, Arizona cracks our Top 15, and their best showing so far was only losing by 10 at Iowa!

16	Ohio State	6
17	Utah	3
18	Houston	1
19	Oklahoma
20	Brigham Young

Oh yeah, these teams. They're better than the teams below them, I guess. Maybe. I don't know why Ohio State suddenly jumped six spots; they still have yet to impress me this year, and blanking New Mexico State doesn't prove anything.

Last week's ballot
21	Oklahoma State	7
22	Virginia Tech	10
23	California
24	Notre Dame	1
25	Wisconsin

Well, as much as I didn't want to, everyone else in CFB sucks so much that I really had no choice but to vote for our Bears. They were hardly impressive down in Tempe last weekend, but a win's a win's a win. Their best win this season? Perhaps. UCLA, Minnesota and Maryland ain't impressing anyone these days.

Dropped Out: South Carolina (#16), Central Michigan (#21), Mississippi (#23), Navy (#24).

I'm sorry I ever voted for South Carolina -- Spurrier's offense has looked putrid at times this season, and I shouldn't have drawn conclusions from the few bright spots. Ole Miss is winning the 'most overrated team' award this year, and Navy repaid our confidence in them from last week by losing to Temple. However, that's 'bowl eligible Temple', in case you missed it. Crazy.

Pac-10 Bowl Eligibility Update - Week 9

ragnarok — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:01:54 -0000

More photos » by Greg Wahl-Stephens - AP

Oregon State's James Rodgers (8) runs in the winning touchdown against UCLA during the final seconds of the second half of Oregon State's 26-19 victory over UCLA. The loss dropped the Bruins to 0-5 in the Pac-10 and nearly finishes their hopes at reaching a bowl game. (AP Photo/Greg Wahl-Stephens)

Browse more photos »

The Pac-10 is a big mess, especially in the middle. After nine weeks of play, nine of the ten teams still have shot at reaching the magical six-win plateau and making a bowl game. While most will focus on the race for the Pac-10 title and the Rose Bowl berth that goes along with it, I thought it might be more interesting to look at all the other mediocre teams in the middle of the Pac. The stakes may not be as grand, but for coaches whose job security may swing one way or the other depending on if they can garner a bowl bid, the struggles in the middle are no less important.

To help with this analysis, I went through the remaining games and made a few simplifying assumptions. First, that WSU loses out. Not an unlikely scenario. Then, USC and Oregon both win out. I could certainly see either or both of those teams losing, especially on the road, but let’s make this simple (and more difficult on the remaining teams).

The other seven Pac-10 teams are more difficult to sort out. It seems as though Arizona, Cal, and Oregon State have begun separating themselves from the other four, and my guess is that those four finish 3-4-5 in the conference in some order. Cal has already reached bowl eligibility, while the other two already have five wins with Washington State still left on the schedule. The other four (Stanford, UCLA, Arizona State and Washington) all have bowl-eligibility odds that stretch from long to longer. I think one of them gets to six wins, but zero teams getting there seems more likely than two. Here’s what’s left (records listed assume a W vs. WSU, L vs. USC/Oregon), in order of likeliness of bowl eligibility:

• Cal – 6-2, with home games vs. Arizona and OSU, road games @ Stanford and UW. Cal is now just playing for bowl positioning, with an outside shot at 10 wins and a really nice season. Lots of games that should be close, with the toughest remaining opponents at home. They should do no worse than a split, and could win all four.
• Oregon State – 6-4, with home game vs. UW, road game @ Cal. The Beavs just need to beat Wazzu to get to six wins. Even if they can't do that, they should be favored to beat UW at home.
• Arizona – 6-4, with road games @ Cal and ASU. The Wildcats can get to 6 wins just by beating Wazzu. Fail to do so, however, and they then need either beat Oregon at home or Cal, ASU, or USC on the road. Not an easy closing slate.
---
• Stanford – 5-5, with home games vs. Cal and Notre Dame. Toss in a home game vs. Oregon and a visit to USC (their only remaining road game), and that’s a brutal closing slate. Lots of home cooking, but Stanford might not be favored in any of these games.
• UCLA – 4-6, with home games vs. UW and ASU. Unless they can upset USC, the Bruins' only shot at the postseason is to beat Washington and Arizona State at home, then WSU in Pullman. After an 0-5 start in Pac-10 play, the Bruins need a win in the worst way. Their next three games are probably the easiest conference games on the schedule, but there is no longer any room for error.
• Arizona State – 4-6, with home game vs. Arizona, road game @ UCLA. I could see the Sun Devils winning both remaining toss-ups, but I could also see them losing them both. If they want to get to a bowl, however, they need to either win both, or somehow upset either USC or Oregon.
• Washington – 4-5, with a home game vs. Cal, road games @ UCLA and OSU. Pulling the upset over USC was huge for the Huskies, but unless the Huskies can learn to win on the road, it won't be enough to extend their season past final exams. And hosting Cal at the end of the season won’t be easy, either.

If all these teams listed can just hold serve at home, the Pac-10 will get seven teams to six wins and bowl eligibility. However, both Stanford and UCLA are still on extremely iffy ground, even at home. I’ll split the difference and say six Pac-10 teams get to six wins.

Critical Game this week:

Washington @ UCLA. Both these teams badly need a win if they hope to reach a bowl, and the winner is far from assured of getting there. The loser, however, can pretty much start planning its winter break vacation. A UCLA loss would mean they would start the conference 0-6, 3-6 overall, and have to sweep @WSU, ASU, and @USC to get to six wins -- not going to happen. A Washington loss leaves the Huskies themselves at 3-6, with games @ Oregon State, vs. Washington State, and vs. California to close the season -- can you see the Huskies winning all three? This is pretty much a bowl contention elimination game.

Other matchups:

Oregon @ Stanford. While the Ducks try to avoid a road letdown after a HUGE victory at home, Stanford takes the first of four cracks at the magical six win plateau. They sit at 5-3 right now, but face Oregon, @USC, Cal and Notre Dame to close the season. All four of those teams are currently ranked.

Washington State @ Arizona. The Wildcats should have no trouble securing their sixth win of the season, which is good, because the closing slate - @Cal, Oregon, @ASU, @USC - is about as tough as it comes. Still the Wildcats only have one conference loss, and as they have yet to play Oregon, they are the other team besides the Ducks who still controls their own Rose Bowl destiny.

Oregon State @ California. The Bears are already at six wins, while the Beavers are at five with a game vs. Wazzu left to play. Neither team looks like a Rose Bowl contender, so this game has mostly bowl placement implications. The winner might have a shot at the Holiday Bowl, while the loser looks like they're Las Vegas Bowl-bound, at best.

USC @ Arizona State. The Trojans will bounce back from their loss in Eugene, I'm almost certain of it. I can't recall the last time USC lost back-to-back games. Then again, I can't recall the last time USC lost by more than three touchdowns. ASU could really, really use this win, but I just don't see it happening.

CGB Top 25 - Week 8

ragnarok — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:34:50 -0000

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama
2	Florida
3	Cincinnati
4	Texas
5	Southern Cal
6	Boise State
7	Iowa

A couple of near-upsets at the top ('Bama nearly gagged at home vs. Tennessee on the 3rd 4th Saturday in October, Florida let Mississippi State hang around far too long, USC got into a surprising shootout with Oregon State, and Iowa pulled another rabbit out of its hat to top Michigan State and stay perfect), but the CGB voters are unmoved. In a pure power poll, you might see Texas or Cincinnati climb to the top, but despite a couple blowout wins, neither did enough to overcome relatively weaker overall résumés.

8	Oregon	2
9	LSU	3
10	TCU	3
11	Georgia Tech	2
12	Virginia Tech	1
13	Miami (Florida)	5

Miami loses in overtime to Clemson -- not an unpardonable sin, especially given their overall record this year, but not someone a Top 10 team should be losing to -- and they drag fellow ACCers Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech down with them. Unless some craziness happens, I have a feeling all three of those teams will be rather tied at the hip this season. Oregon, LSU and TCU are the beneficiaries; TCU, in particular, finally put up a good win in clobbering BYU on the road (although Florida State already did that this year, and look where they are now...)

14	Oklahoma State
15	Penn State	2
16	South Carolina	4
17	Arizona	1
18	Pittsburgh	1
19	Houston	2

Texas Tech and BYU lose -- and badly -- to tumble out of our poll. Everyone else gets to move up! Nothing really interesting to say here. None of these teams have really impressive résumés at this point, which is the main reason Miami didn't fall further.

Last week's ballot
20	Utah
21	Central Michigan	2
22	Ohio State
23	Mississippi
24	Navy
25	Notre Dame

Utah, Ole Miss, and Navy are welcomed back to our poll. I really tried hard not to vote for Ohio State, only a week removed from losing to Purdue(!), but there really wasn't anyone else. I really wanted to stop at 20 teams, but the ballot calls for 25, so here are some teams. Enjoy.

Dropped Out: Texas Tech (#15), Brigham Young (#16), Arkansas (#24).

Texas Tech and BYU both lost, and lost hard. Tech was especially embarrassing, getting blown out by a previously hapless Texas A&M squad. Meanwhile, Ole Miss beat Arkansas to claim the Razorbacks' position near the bottom of our poll. Whoo.

On Moderation

ragnarok — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:53:28 -0000

Us Marshawnthusiasts absolutely love running the California Golden Blogs. As an outlet to satiate our own addictions to Cal Athletics, we find it essential, and we totally dig interacting with all of you commentators on a daily basis. But there is one part of this gig that I'll admit none of us are particularly enamored with: moderation.

When we moved to SBNation from our old Blogsome site, we left our moderation policy intentionally open-ended. Our site membership agreement consisted of a single statement:

In general, act as though your mother might read this blog -- CBKWit's mom does!

We thought something broad and loosely-defined would be better than listing a whole bunch of rules telling people what they could and couldn't do. Also, we were lazy, and didn't want to deal with it. Truth be told, we'd much rather all of our commentators got along with each other, expressing their passion for Cal Athletics in a manner that doesn't offend anyone, but as this site's readership has grown (and it has grown significantly over the past couple months), it's become obvious that site is in need of some light moderation.

I initially posted a link to the following community guidelines in the DBD last week, so if you saw it then, there's nothing new here. I've also posted a permanent link to the CGB Community Guidelines page on our left sidebar, under the 'About Us' section. If you have specific concerns about the content of the guidelines I have written up, please let us know; we don't want to be inadvertently discouraging legitimate discussion. If you have more general concerns about the need for any kind of moderation whatsoever, well, that's too bad. This site has grown big enough to the point where some moderation of and between commentators is necessary; rest assured, however, that CGB's mods are going to try and be really unobtrusive in our moderation, only breaking it out when necessary.

I'm not going to be throwing new ideas at you people, however. First of all, they're all pretty basic; your kindergarten classroom probably had something similar written on colored construction paper taped next to the door. Also, they're not new ideas to CGB; instead, I've attempted to gather and codify the loose set of moderation policies that have already been in use on this site. The basic overarching principle here is one of respect: we want this site to be as welcoming to as many Cal fans as we possibly can. We know we can't please everyone, and we definitely don't want to stifle the unique mixture of intelligent banter and irreverent inanities that we've created here, but this is our best shot at a compromise.

• Please treat each other with respect. When you disagree with another commentator, please do so without personal attacks, instead relying on the force of your arguments to carry the day. Note that we moderators can tell the difference between playful joshing and vicious invective; as long as everyone's having fun, we won't stand in your way.

• Please extend the same philosophy when commenting on other articles written around the web or elsewhere. If you want to take a particular ESPN personality to task for his or her general lack of understanding of quarterbacking, football, logical reasoning and a basic grasp of the English language, by all means, be my guest. Just don't descend into simply calling them a douchebag, however. Attack the argument, not the arguer.

• No slap fights, please. Many CGB commentators have shown themselves extremely adept at engaging in reasoned debate on any manner of topics, and we have no desire to limit such discussions. Occasionally, however, topic subthreads have descended into commentators spouting unjustified opinions and mindless talking points at each other in an uncivil manner, making everyone else around them uncomfortable. These slap fights add nothing to CGB, and the moderators will henceforth be making a greater effort to quash them as they crop up.

• Content that is overtly racist, sexist, or otherwise objectionable to decently-educated members of society will not be tolerated.

• Posting large, potentially risqué images could get people people in trouble if they were seen viewing such images at work. If you're thinking of putting up a hilarious image that you would hesitate to show to you boss, grandmother, second-grade teacher or rabbi, please instead simply provide a link, and clearly label it as NSFW (Not Safe For Work). People who feel safe checking out your racy images may do so at their own risk, and everyone else gets to skip on by.

• No spamming, please.

• Finally, within the comments section of main page posts, please try and stay on-topic. We understand that comment threads may veer off into tangentially-related topics; this is how conversations naturally evolve, and we think this is perfectly fine. However, if you want to talk about something completely unrelated to the topic at hand, the Daily Bear Dump is your place for free-form inanity and open discussion on whatever topics you like; please take any off-topic discussions there, thanks.

So, what happens if you violate the above guidelines? Well, moderators will initially try to quell any disruptions before they become big problems. We may end up deleting offending posts, though if we do, we will also leave a note explaining why some comments were moderated. You may get a private message from one of us, telling you where you crossed the line and that you should knock it off. Repeat offenders may be subject to sanctions, possibly including Hydro's legendary Banhammer, though we've yet to have to do that to anyone, and I'd hate to have to start.

Finally, I just want to say that CGB has had no problem with 98% of the commentators on the site, and few problems with the rest. For the most part, you guys have made our jobs easy, and I don't want you to feel like we're laying down some sort of odious new restrictions on you. Mostly, I just want to make sure that all of us are on the same page regarding what we expect of commentators on this site, so that when issues do arise, there's no confusion, and no one feels persecuted.

You stay classy, CGB, and thanks for stopping by. Go Bears!

CGB Top 25 - Week 7

ragnarok — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:34:12 -0000

Anyone else having trouble filling out the bottom of their ballots? I keep waiting for teams to impress me, and for the most part, they're just not doing it. It really makes me want to start filling out a Mumme Poll ballot instead.

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama
2	Florida
3	Cincinnati	2
4	Texas	2
5	Southern Cal	2

Yep, still SEC at the top. Did Florida look flawed in fumbling around with Arkansas at home? You bet they did. Still, their season at this point is at least as impressive as Cincinnati's or Texas', and LSU on the road is a better win than anything either the Bearcats or the Longhorns can boast.

Rank	Team	Delta
6	Boise State	2
7	Iowa	2
8	Miami (Florida)	3
9	Georgia Tech	6
10	Oregon	3
11	Virginia Tech	8

So, Georgia Tech beat Virginia Tech at home to vault the Yellowjackets into our top 10. Of course, we now have exhibit #3257 as to why the associative property doesn't apply to football: Virginia Tech already has a home win over Miami, who has a home win over Georgia Tech. You want to try and sort those three teams out? Be my guest. Be sure to back up your argument with convincing evidence.

Elsewhere, Boise stumbles a couple spots after it struggles to put away Tulsa on the road, while Oregon moves up a few spots after soundly defeating the ever-fearsome BYE.

Rank	Team	Delta
12	LSU	2
13	TCU	5
14	Oklahoma State	9
15	Texas Tech

What's Oklahoma State doing in the Top 15? A nice thrashing of Missouri sure helps, but I submit to you that it's mostly because all of the teams below them have been even less impressive than the Cowboys. On the whole, the Big XII has really failed to impress so far this year (Texas might be really, really good, though I don't know how you could tell...).

Rank	Team	Delta
16	Brigham Young	1
17	Penn State	1
18	Arizona
19	Pittsburgh
20	South Carolina	2

Combined, these five teams have just one win over team currently in our Top 25: Arizona over Central Michigan. The most impressive wins to date for this group are still BYU's win over Oklahoma and ... uh, I guess that win over CMU. Pitt, Penn State and Arizona have yet to even play a team that was ranked at the time of the game. South Carolina's defensive struggle vs. #1 Alabama is probably the best reason to rank the Gamecocks at this point, as that win over no-longer-ranked Ole Miss probably won't carry much weight at season's end. A thoroughly 'meh' group...and we've still got 5 more to go.

Rank	Team	Delta
21	Houston
22	Ohio State	10
23	Central Michigan
24	Arkansas	1
25	Notre Dame
Last week's ballot

Welcome back, Houston. Welcome back, Notre Dame. Welcome, Central Michigan. Somehow, Ohio State is still ranked...don't look at me, I didn't do it. Losing to a previously 1-5 Purdue team could be considered grounds for relegation to Division I-AA, let alone ejection from the Top 25. Arkansas at least displayed moxie in nearly knocking off Florida on the road, which is why they move up in this week's poll.

Dropped Out: Nebraska (#14), South Florida (#16), Wisconsin (#19), Kansas (#20), Oklahoma (#21), Auburn (#24).

And some teams lost, and dropped out of our Top 25. Turns out Kansas wasn't that good in the first place; losing to Colorado is just as bad as losing to Purdue. At least they didn't lose 31-10 on their home field (I'm looking at you, Nebraska...). We probably shouldn't have ranked Auburn last week; the mistake has been corrected, those responsible have been sacked.

CGB Top 25 - Week 6

ragnarok — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:57:34 -0000

If I were in charge of the polls, I think week six is about where I'd have them start. Previous weeks have felt a bit like a sham, making lots of educated (or uneducated) guesses as to who was good and who was not. Even now, it's difficult, but I no longer feel like I'm throwing darts here. Well, with the top half of the poll, at least. In making my own Top 25 this week, I got out a list of about 19-20 teams, and then stalled. Team after team I considered, and they all either had no good wins or multiple bad losses to balance the good wins they had. Heck, I ended up voting for Kansas, despite watching them struggle to put away Iowa State in a game that was long on botched extra points and short on defense, simply because, yes, they're still undefeated, one of just nine still standing.

Anyway, here's what we've come up with. Go here to vote for your own CGB Top 25 for Week 6!

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama
2	Florida	2
3	Virginia Tech	2
4	Boise State	2
5	Cincinnati	1

Boise State falls a couple spots this week, and I suspect you'll be seeing more of that in the coming weeks as teams continue to pile up more impressive wins than the Broncos' sorry schedule affords. Florida passes them by beating LSU on the road, and even Virginia Tech, who defeated Miami a couple weeks ago, has a better résumé.

6	Texas	3
7	Southern Cal	1
8	TCU	5
9	Iowa	5
10	LSU	3

Texas' best win this year is still over Texas Tech. If they're actually Top 5 material, they'll eventually pile up some impressive wins within the Big XII, but for now, they have to sit behind teams with more impressive scalps. TCU and Iowa remain undefeated, though Iowa had to hold on vs. Michigan to remain so. The Hawkeye's wins (Michigan, Arizona, @ Penn State) are by now good enough that it's plausible to overlook their opening-week scare vs. Northern Iowa. Meanwhile, there's no shame in losing to Florida, even at home, so while LSU drops three spots, it's mostly to be passed by undefeated teams.

11	Miami (Florida)	2
12	Ohio State	1
13	Oregon	1
14	Nebraska	5
15	Georgia Tech	5

After Oregon, there's a big points drop-off in our poll; the Ducks garnered 45 points (votes for 10th, 11th, and 12th place), whereas Nebraska, ostensibly right behind them, gained just 31 points (14th, 15th, and 18th place votes). Right now, I do believe the gap between them to be that large. Mainly, though, we start getting into the portion of the poll where there's a whole lot of disagreement. At least the Huskers beat Missouri on Thursday night, because beyond that, only their close loss to Virginia Tech is worth recommending them -- an non-conference slate of Florida Atlantic, Arkansas State, and Louisiana-Lafayette hardly proves anything, other than they're not completely terrible.

16	South Florida	1
17	Brigham Young	5
18	Penn State	3
19	Wisconsin	2
20	Kansas	5

If the disagreement between Yellow Fever, Avinash and I was evident before, it's even worse lower down in the poll. Not a single team past No. 18 Penn State was even voted for by all three of us (and I really didn't want to vote for the Nittany Lions, but there just wasn't anyone else. And if you thought Nebraska's non-conference schedule lacked punch, it sounds downright meaty when compared to Kansas' cupcake schedule of I-AA Northern Colorado, UTEP, Duke, and Southern Miss, none of whom currently have a winning record.

Last week's ballot
21	Oklahoma
22	South Carolina	1
23	Oklahoma State
24	Auburn	14
25	Arkansas

Here, we picked some teams. You might pick different ones. We could argue over which ones to pick, but it doesn't really matter. None of these teams have demonstrated much at all; Oklahoma's 3-2 record at this point is due to wins over I-AA Idaho State, Tulsa, and Baylor. Woo. And after Auburn lost by 19 at Arkansas, they're lucky to still be ranked.

Dropped Out: Stanford (#16), Missouri (#18), Georgia (#24).

Stanfurd, Missouri and Georgia were not so lucky. All lost, all by multiple scores. I'm still a little ashamed we voted for Stanfurd last week.

CGB Top 25 - Week 4

ragnarok — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:24:11 -0000

After 4 weeks, creating a Top 25 list is starting to get easier -- and a whole lot harder. We've finally got a decent pile of data to work with, but some of that data starts contradicting itself as teams start giving uneven performances. Miami (FL) looked good in winning its first two, but was outclassed at Virginia Tech. Cal erased all memory of its 3-0 start in getting blown out of Autzen Stadium, and did the same Iowa team that needed two blocked kicks to beat Northern Iowa at home actually beat Penn State on the road? Really? Anyway, here's this week's best guesses:

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama	1
2	Boise State	3
3	Virginia Tech	7
4	Florida	2
5	Cincinnati	1

Alabama benefits when Virginia Tech takes out Miami, reclaiming the top spot in our poll. VaTech benefits quite a bit themselves, while Boise State is aided by Oregon's resurgence. I have no idea why Florida jumped Cincy and Texas; probably because I didn't look at last week's ballot when I voted this week.

Rank	Team	Delta

6	Texas	3
7	Houston	8
8	LSU	1
9	Southern Cal	4
10	Auburn	13

Have you compared LSU's résumé to Auburn's? They're remarkably similar. LSU - W 31-23 @ Washington, W 23-9 vs. Vanderbilt, W 31-3 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, W 30-26 @ Mississippi State. Auburn - W 37-13 vs. Louisiana Tech, W 49-24 vs. Mississippi State, W 41-30 vs. West Virginia, W 54-30 vs. Ball State. Other than LSU's willingness to play (and win) on the road, there's not much difference. Is UW a better win than West Virginia? Is playing Miss St at home that much an advantage? Frankly, I can't see much reason why LSU is in the Top 10 while Auburn is unranked.

Rank	Team	Delta

11	Ohio State	3
12	TCU	13
13	UCLA	1
14	Iowa
15	Miami (Florida)	14

TCU jumps as a whole bunch of teams lose. Probably too high, but I'm guessing they'll come down to earth soon enough. That win at Clemson can only be worth so much. Iowa jumps back in our poll after taking out Penn State on the road. Impressive, or was PSU just overrated to begin with? Meanwhile, Miami drops a bunch, especially coupled with Florida State's choke job vs. South Florida, but two good wins still means they can only drop so far.

Rank	Team	Delta

16	Oregon	8
17	Oklahoma State	4
18	Wisconsin
19	Nebraska	1
20	South Carolina

Oregon takes a big leap for obvious reasons. Wisconsin jumps into our poll for mysterious ones, while South Carolina gets a vote of confidence after surviving an ugly win over Ole Miss. Blame Avi for that one; I didn't think either team merited Top 25 consideration.

Rank	Team	Delta

21	Georgia
22	Michigan	2
23	Oklahoma	6
24	Missouri
25	South Florida
Last week's ballot

Michigan almost lost to Indiana. At home. That's almost a fireable offense right there; what they're still doing in the Top 25 is a mystery to me. South Florida beats FSU to debut in our poll, but how much is that win worth? The Seminoles looked great in beating BYU the week before, but nearly lost to Jacksonville State the week before that. Will the real Florida State please stand up?

Dropped Out: California (#8), Penn State (#9), Florida State (#11), Washington (#16), Brigham Young (#19), Mississippi (#22).

I don't think I really need to explain why most of these teams dropped out of our poll, but it's probably worth noting that BYU dropped because Florida State gagged vs. South Florida and their non-Matt Grothe quarterback. If I don't vote for FSU, I certainly can't vote for BYU at this point, road win over Oklahoma or not.