Premature Bowl Talk

[APPdiesel]

I don't think it makes it look better or worse. Because there's still the perception of "Clemson is elite, App is up and coming, they handled their business that day". We're over analyzing everything because we're fans. Bowl selection people look at the W-L column. They're not gonna go back, watch the tape, say to themselves, "wow App looked pretty good against Clemson in the 1st quarter". They'll look at the final score and move on.

[hotrod2001]

I don't buy this "clemson winning makes us look better" argument everyone wants to spit. No one...and I mean no one on a bowl selection will go back and look at that game any closer than the score, and the score makes it look like we got curb stomped by a great team. Giving them a half decent game is all that would've mattered.

twitter.com/diesel933

And that curb stomping doesn't look better if Clemson wins out (or close to it) than if Clemson poops the bed and ends up 8-4? (Not that I think that will happen.) Of course our loss looks better if Clemson wins than if Clemson loses.

The Clemson game is irrelevant. It's not like we only lost by a field goal or something, we lost decisively to a P5. The only way to polish the turd is that the loss wasn't as bad as what GASO did at the hands of WVU.

[appchicago]

I don't think it makes it look better or worse. Because there's still the perception of "Clemson is elite, App is up and coming, they handled their business that day". We're over analyzing everything because we're fans. Bowl selection people look at the W-L column. They're not gonna go back, watch the tape, say to themselves, "wow App looked pretty good against Clemson in the 1st quarter". They'll look at the final score and move on.

My point is that "Clemson is elite, App is up and coming" is preferable to "Clemson isn't as good as advertised, so App stunk it up against a so-so team." Maybe it won't help us with a bowl, but I think we're all better off if Clemson proves to be a world beater, no?

[EastHallApp]

I get what you're saying appchicago. I'll feel better knowing we couldn't hang with a national contender than I did when we all realized how bad Michigan was last year after they stomped us.

[APPdiesel]

I don't think it makes it look better or worse. Because there's still the perception of "Clemson is elite, App is up and coming, they handled their business that day". We're over analyzing everything because we're fans. Bowl selection people look at the W-L column. They're not gonna go back, watch the tape, say to themselves, "wow App looked pretty good against Clemson in the 1st quarter". They'll look at the final score and move on.

My point is that "Clemson is elite, App is up and coming" is preferable to "Clemson isn't as good as advertised, so App stunk it up against a so-so team." Maybe it won't help us with a bowl, but I think we're all better off if Clemson proves to be a world beater, no?

I get what you're saying and don't disagree. My point is really that while Clemson winning makes US feel better about it, it doesn't mean much to anyone else when looking at our record. So we're basically saying the same thing.

twitter.com/diesel933

[appvette]

I think some of you are trying to define what it takes to accomplish certain goals but it is typically relative to how other teams do which changes each year. So, in some years Clemson's record might not matter but other years, our selection in a certain bowl might come down to something like that as the tie breaker.

[MtnDevil95]

I think at best, the Clemson beat down is less likely to be held as a strike against us should Clemson make it to the CFP. A loss is a loss, but if Clemson falters through the second half then that loss becomse a "bad" loss. It's either neutral or a negative, but there's no way that loss ever becomes a positive.

Going forward, if we cover the spread in a money game, or manage the (OT) designation on the record for the money game L, then that could end up being a positive from a loss. At least until we usurp the likes of Boise State as a G5 that the pundits think should beat P5 teams regularly.

[appchicago]

I think we're all on the same page here. I never said (and I don't think anyone has meant) that the loss would ever be positive, especially when it was a throttling. But I do think it's fair to say that a thumping from a team that's making national waves is vastly preferable to a thumping from a middle-of-the-pack P5.

tl;dr: If you're going to beat the tar out of us, Tigers, I'd rather you win out. Even if just to make us feel better.