Time to get real
October 26, 2007 by Adrian Vender
ASU is #4 in the BCS Rankings… right.
If I choose to buy into the idea that ASU is #4, that means I have to respect that Ohio State is #1 and Boston College is #2. Considering that Boston College basically stole the game last night in the last few minutes and Ohio State has played a powderpuff schedule so far, I won’t give them the credit.
That’s the problem with these polls. What the polls really say is “We kinda-sorta think these are where the teams rank so far”, as opposed to “This is really where the teams will end up”. Considering that the top 2 BCS spots has gone through weeks of musical chairs I can’t rely on what we kinda-sorta think. I can only rely on the idea that we will only ‘really’ know where these teams rank when the regular season ends (for determining the BCS National Championship matchup).
Yes, there is some value to the polls since that’s what we are stuck with. It’s easier for an undefeated #4 team to become #1 than it is for a current #17 (Hawaii) to reach the top, assuming both win the rest of their games. I get that. But enough about the polls.
Here is what’s in front of us… Sun Devil football football is about to get real. Real good or real bad. The more difficult stretch of our schedule is beginning this weekend against the Cal Bears. They are a tough team, with a whole one week stretch of #2 bragging rights. Altogether, the next 5 games involve 3 currently ranked teams (and a Bruins team that nobody can figure out if they’re good or not). Also, when it comes to the rivalry game against the Wildcats, strange things can happen.
I do have faith in this team. They have shown time and time again that they can break through and win the games when it seems like they’re falling apart. A seasoned QB like Rudy Carpenter can handle the pressure when the next few games get real tough. Their speed and half-time adjustments have really set this team apart from the rest.
And if this team wins the next 5, I trust that the polls will accurately determine where the Sun Devils ‘really’ belong. And if they lay an egg, why did we sorta-kinda think they were #4?
Posted in asu sun devils, football, college
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So true. However, somebody has to start at No 1 and 2 and so on. Until we get a playoff system (another topic for another day), this is the best we can hope for.
Fortunately the ‘Devils control their fate; win out and they’ll play for the national title as they should, stumble and they’ll land somewhere short.
Here’s hoping it’s the former or at least they whack U of A!
Looks like they are for real. Great win last night Adrian!
Home game against Cal doesn’t make them real yet. We’ve seen that the Pac-10 isn’t as good as we thought the were! If you want to crown their….. Whoops, I was possessed by Denny for a second.
We’ll see how good ASU is on the road against a real team this weekend. So far ASU has played a very easy schedule at home and they barely beat a bad Washington St. team on the road.
I don’t see ASU winning against Oregon, I see Oregon winning 28 - 13.
Sure, you can’t crown anybody until the end of the season. Pretty difficult to judge the strength of the PAC-10 when they keep beating each other up. Remember that ASU, Oregon, USC and Cal has easily taken care of non-conference play this year.
ASU has definitely had the advantage of playing more home games this year. While they burned Stanford at their turn, WSU was a fine example of ASU’s nagging flaw: Play pee wee football in the 1st quarter, stabilize things in the 2nd quarter and totally own the 2nd half. That’s been fine but you can’t bring that kind of game into Autzen.
Can ASU win at Oregon? If they can avoid sucking it up during the 1st quarter, sure. ASU has proved quite well that they can put a clamp on any team’s offense in the latter stages of the game.
Can we beat the Ducks up there? Yes and no.
The no first. If the teams are about equal in talent and coaching, the home team Ducks should win, indicating that ASU may rightfully end up a 2 or 3 loss team, ranked about #14.
The yes. If ASU is better than most think, we can win there and springboard into Championship contention.
No predictions from me. Just hope.