Top 25 Watch (real thread)

[AppStFan1]

I think we also need to be realistic about how the South Carolina game will be perceived. That team is going to have a real hard time getting to six wins even if they do beat us. If we want NY6 consideration, then we can't expect people to look at that as Little Ol' App taking on some Goliath and consider it a "good loss" if we lose to them.

South Carolina is on same level as Louisiana, UNC, Troy, etc in my mind right now. It is a game we are not suppose to win normally but this year we should win it. I said in preseason that 12-1 heading into bowl games is the worst that should be accepted. We had many who said 2-3 losses should be expected. Go read what I said in preseason. Anyone who knew what we had felt that way. With that said, South Carolina is not as good as I even thought they would be. We absolutely should beat them. I'm looking for a double digit win in Columbia.

[AppStFan1]

Good list earlier; here are the games I'll be keeping closest tabs on:

#20 UVA @ Miami (Friday)
#23 Memphis @ Temple
#1 Bama @ #24 Texas A&M
Washington St. @ #18 Arizona State
#25 Cincinnati @ Houston
Texas Tech @ #22 Baylor
#10 Penn State @ #17 Iowa
Louisville @ #19 Wake
Nebraska @ Minnesota
Washington @ Arizona

In the "no upset please" category:

Michigan State @ #8 Wisconsin
USC @ #9 Notre Dame

Finally, a Hawaii upset at Boise State would obviously help everyone else in the NY6 race, but I won't be holding my breath for that one.

So for NY6 purposes, if we run the table, and maybe even with a "good" loss against South Carolina, If Boise State gets upset in the MWC championship game and if 2-loss UCF wins the AAC, then we'd most likely be in right? I know there are other scenarios...but this one would work I think.(?)

South Carolina will not be a good loss. If we are healthy we should expect a win in Columbia.

We have to win out for sure but come November we need to start checking scores for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati if they don't lose this month. I just doubt anyone in the AAC goes undefeated so I'm not real worried now. I think Boise State is the one we will have to worry about. MWC not as deep at the top as they have been. I could see Boise State running the table.

[John-N-Houston]

Good list earlier; here are the games I'll be keeping closest tabs on:

#20 UVA @ Miami (Friday)
#23 Memphis @ Temple
#1 Bama @ #24 Texas A&M
Washington St. @ #18 Arizona State
#25 Cincinnati @ Houston
Texas Tech @ #22 Baylor
#10 Penn State @ #17 Iowa
Louisville @ #19 Wake
Nebraska @ Minnesota
Washington @ Arizona

In the "no upset please" category:

Michigan State @ #8 Wisconsin
USC @ #9 Notre Dame

Finally, a Hawaii upset at Boise State would obviously help everyone else in the NY6 race, but I won't be holding my breath for that one.

So for NY6 purposes, if we run the table, and maybe even with a "good" loss against South Carolina, If Boise State gets upset in the MWC championship game and if 2-loss UCF wins the AAC, then we'd most likely be in right? I know there are other scenarios...but this one would work I think.(?)

South Carolina will not be a good loss. If we are healthy we should expect a win in Columbia.

We have to win out for sure but come November we need to start checking scores for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati if they don't lose this month. I just doubt anyone in the AAC goes undefeated so I'm not real worried now. I think Boise State is the one we will have to worry about. MWC not as deep at the top as they have been. I could see Boise State running the table.

Clear thinking AppStFan1.
Won & Oh!

[bigdaddyg]

next three weeks will say a good bit:

Boise- Hawaii and at BYU
SMU- Temple, Houston and Memphis
Memphis- Temple, Tulane then SMU

As far as Boise goes we probably need FSU to implode so that the win by Boise over them becomes less impressive.

[Rick83]

Good list earlier; here are the games I'll be keeping closest tabs on:

#20 UVA @ Miami (Friday)
#23 Memphis @ Temple
#1 Bama @ #24 Texas A&M
Washington St. @ #18 Arizona State
#25 Cincinnati @ Houston
Texas Tech @ #22 Baylor
#10 Penn State @ #17 Iowa
Louisville @ #19 Wake
Nebraska @ Minnesota
Washington @ Arizona

In the "no upset please" category:

Michigan State @ #8 Wisconsin
USC @ #9 Notre Dame

Finally, a Hawaii upset at Boise State would obviously help everyone else in the NY6 race, but I won't be holding my breath for that one.

So for NY6 purposes, if we run the table, and maybe even with a "good" loss against South Carolina, If Boise State gets upset in the MWC championship game and if 2-loss UCF wins the AAC, then we'd most likely be in right? I know there are other scenarios...but this one would work I think.(?)

South Carolina will not be a good loss. If we are healthy we should expect a win in Columbia.

We have to win out for sure but come November we need to start checking scores for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati if they don't lose this month. I just doubt anyone in the AAC goes undefeated so I'm not real worried now. I think Boise State is the one we will have to worry about. MWC not as deep at the top as they have been. I could see Boise State running the table.

When I said "good" loss, I meant a close down to the wire loss on their home field. I don't hold the same contempt for South Carolina's team as you do and I would think the CFP committee, who we know loves the SEC, would see our taking them to the wire in Columbia as a sign of strength. South Carolina will likely not make it to a bowl this year but their schedule is tough playing four top ten teams including the top three Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama.
I think a lot of people kind of wrote South Carolina off when they lost to UNC thinking UNC was terrible, but now we know UNC actually has a pretty good team and they only lost by four points.

[AppStFan1]

Good list earlier; here are the games I'll be keeping closest tabs on:

#20 UVA @ Miami (Friday)
#23 Memphis @ Temple
#1 Bama @ #24 Texas A&M
Washington St. @ #18 Arizona State
#25 Cincinnati @ Houston
Texas Tech @ #22 Baylor
#10 Penn State @ #17 Iowa
Louisville @ #19 Wake
Nebraska @ Minnesota
Washington @ Arizona

In the "no upset please" category:

Michigan State @ #8 Wisconsin
USC @ #9 Notre Dame

Finally, a Hawaii upset at Boise State would obviously help everyone else in the NY6 race, but I won't be holding my breath for that one.

So for NY6 purposes, if we run the table, and maybe even with a "good" loss against South Carolina, If Boise State gets upset in the MWC championship game and if 2-loss UCF wins the AAC, then we'd most likely be in right? I know there are other scenarios...but this one would work I think.(?)

South Carolina will not be a good loss. If we are healthy we should expect a win in Columbia.

We have to win out for sure but come November we need to start checking scores for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati if they don't lose this month. I just doubt anyone in the AAC goes undefeated so I'm not real worried now. I think Boise State is the one we will have to worry about. MWC not as deep at the top as they have been. I could see Boise State running the table.

When I said "good" loss, I meant a close down to the wire loss on their home field. I don't hold the same contempt for South Carolina's team as you do and I would think the CFP committee, who we know loves the SEC, would see our taking them to the wire in Columbia as a sign of strength. South Carolina will likely not make it to a bowl this year but their schedule is tough playing four top ten teams including the top three Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama.
I think a lot of people kind of wrote South Carolina off when they lost to UNC thinking UNC was terrible, but now we know UNC actually has a pretty good team and they only lost by four points.

I don't think South Carolina is garbage but let me ask you a few questions.

1. Do you think we are a top 25 team? Should we be ranked?
2. Do you think South Carolina is a top 25 caliber team and should be ranked?
3. Do you think UNC is better than South Carolina since they beat them?

If your answer is yes, no, and yes...which I would expect it to be....then we should indeed defeat them. I know what you mean a close loss and the voters will give us credit for beating a SEC team. Here is my point. If we think we are a top 25 caliber team and we believe we could be a legit NY6 selection then we need to beat South Carolina. If we lose one game, even in double overtime by 2 points, we will not reach our biggest goal. We can still win the SBC without it but we have no business in a NY6 game if we can't beat them.

UNC is a pretty solid team. I actually hope South Carolina wins their next 4 games and comes in to ours cocky. It would be even better to beat them if they have wins over ranked teams and are ranked coming in. A win over a 4-5 SC team will not get us much movement in the eyes of those picking the CFP unless we beat them as bad as some ranked teams did.

[Rick83]

Good list earlier; here are the games I'll be keeping closest tabs on:

#20 UVA @ Miami (Friday)
#23 Memphis @ Temple
#1 Bama @ #24 Texas A&M
Washington St. @ #18 Arizona State
#25 Cincinnati @ Houston
Texas Tech @ #22 Baylor
#10 Penn State @ #17 Iowa
Louisville @ #19 Wake
Nebraska @ Minnesota
Washington @ Arizona

In the "no upset please" category:

Michigan State @ #8 Wisconsin
USC @ #9 Notre Dame

Finally, a Hawaii upset at Boise State would obviously help everyone else in the NY6 race, but I won't be holding my breath for that one.

So for NY6 purposes, if we run the table, and maybe even with a "good" loss against South Carolina, If Boise State gets upset in the MWC championship game and if 2-loss UCF wins the AAC, then we'd most likely be in right? I know there are other scenarios...but this one would work I think.(?)

South Carolina will not be a good loss. If we are healthy we should expect a win in Columbia.

We have to win out for sure but come November we need to start checking scores for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati if they don't lose this month. I just doubt anyone in the AAC goes undefeated so I'm not real worried now. I think Boise State is the one we will have to worry about. MWC not as deep at the top as they have been. I could see Boise State running the table.

When I said "good" loss, I meant a close down to the wire loss on their home field. I don't hold the same contempt for South Carolina's team as you do and I would think the CFP committee, who we know loves the SEC, would see our taking them to the wire in Columbia as a sign of strength. South Carolina will likely not make it to a bowl this year but their schedule is tough playing four top ten teams including the top three Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama.
I think a lot of people kind of wrote South Carolina off when they lost to UNC thinking UNC was terrible, but now we know UNC actually has a pretty good team and they only lost by four points.

I don't think South Carolina is garbage but let me ask you a few questions.

1. Do you think we are a top 25 team? Should we be ranked?
2. Do you think South Carolina is a top 25 caliber team and should be ranked?
3. Do you think UNC is better than South Carolina since they beat them?

If your answer is yes, no, and yes...which I would expect it to be....then we should indeed defeat them. I know what you mean a close loss and the voters will give us credit for beating a SEC team. Here is my point. If we think we are a top 25 caliber team and we believe we could be a legit NY6 selection then we need to beat South Carolina. If we lose one game, even in double overtime by 2 points, we will not reach our biggest goal. We can still win the SBC without it but we have no business in a NY6 game if we can't beat them.

UNC is a pretty solid team. I actually hope South Carolina wins their next 4 games and comes in to ours cocky. It would be even better to beat them if they have wins over ranked teams and are ranked coming in. A win over a 4-5 SC team will not get us much movement in the eyes of those picking the CFP unless we beat them as bad as some ranked teams did.

You and I view the world differently and I'm not going to hold that against you but I don't have to engage. I do find it hard to believe you're actually an App fan at times and not some troll since you try to kill any excitement or positive feelings about our program. I know that you will respond to this so I'll let you have that last word...

[EastHallApp]

Good list earlier; here are the games I'll be keeping closest tabs on:

#20 UVA @ Miami (Friday)
#23 Memphis @ Temple
#1 Bama @ #24 Texas A&M
Washington St. @ #18 Arizona State
#25 Cincinnati @ Houston
Texas Tech @ #22 Baylor
#10 Penn State @ #17 Iowa
Louisville @ #19 Wake
Nebraska @ Minnesota
Washington @ Arizona

In the "no upset please" category:

Michigan State @ #8 Wisconsin
USC @ #9 Notre Dame

Finally, a Hawaii upset at Boise State would obviously help everyone else in the NY6 race, but I won't be holding my breath for that one.

So for NY6 purposes, if we run the table, and maybe even with a "good" loss against South Carolina, If Boise State gets upset in the MWC championship game and if 2-loss UCF wins the AAC, then we'd most likely be in right? I know there are other scenarios...but this one would work I think.(?)

South Carolina will not be a good loss. If we are healthy we should expect a win in Columbia.

We have to win out for sure but come November we need to start checking scores for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati if they don't lose this month. I just doubt anyone in the AAC goes undefeated so I'm not real worried now. I think Boise State is the one we will have to worry about. MWC not as deep at the top as they have been. I could see Boise State running the table.

When I said "good" loss, I meant a close down to the wire loss on their home field. I don't hold the same contempt for South Carolina's team as you do and I would think the CFP committee, who we know loves the SEC, would see our taking them to the wire in Columbia as a sign of strength. South Carolina will likely not make it to a bowl this year but their schedule is tough playing four top ten teams including the top three Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama.
I think a lot of people kind of wrote South Carolina off when they lost to UNC thinking UNC was terrible, but now we know UNC actually has a pretty good team and they only lost by four points.

I don't think South Carolina is garbage but let me ask you a few questions.

1. Do you think we are a top 25 team? Should we be ranked?
2. Do you think South Carolina is a top 25 caliber team and should be ranked?
3. Do you think UNC is better than South Carolina since they beat them?

If your answer is yes, no, and yes...which I would expect it to be....then we should indeed defeat them. I know what you mean a close loss and the voters will give us credit for beating a SEC team. Here is my point. If we think we are a top 25 caliber team and we believe we could be a legit NY6 selection then we need to beat South Carolina. If we lose one game, even in double overtime by 2 points, we will not reach our biggest goal. We can still win the SBC without it but we have no business in a NY6 game if we can't beat them.

UNC is a pretty solid team. I actually hope South Carolina wins their next 4 games and comes in to ours cocky. It would be even better to beat them if they have wins over ranked teams and are ranked coming in. A win over a 4-5 SC team will not get us much movement in the eyes of those picking the CFP unless we beat them as bad as some ranked teams did.

I... actually agree with this post? Mostly, anyway.

A top 25 (or better) team could certainly lose at South Carolina without it being a shock. With that said, if, say Texas A&M were playing in Columbia Saturday, I expect they'd be favored. I don't think a close loss there would mean we're a fraud or anything, but I also don't think it should serve as some sort of validation of top 25/NY6 status. And in terms of the NY6, it would be tough for us to overcome (as would any other loss) just because our overall SoS isn't up to par with the AAC and MWC teams.

[Rick83]

So for NY6 purposes, if we run the table, and maybe even with a "good" loss against South Carolina, If Boise State gets upset in the MWC championship game and if 2-loss UCF wins the AAC, then we'd most likely be in right? I know there are other scenarios...but this one would work I think.(?)

South Carolina will not be a good loss. If we are healthy we should expect a win in Columbia.

We have to win out for sure but come November we need to start checking scores for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati if they don't lose this month. I just doubt anyone in the AAC goes undefeated so I'm not real worried now. I think Boise State is the one we will have to worry about. MWC not as deep at the top as they have been. I could see Boise State running the table.

When I said "good" loss, I meant a close down to the wire loss on their home field. I don't hold the same contempt for South Carolina's team as you do and I would think the CFP committee, who we know loves the SEC, would see our taking them to the wire in Columbia as a sign of strength. South Carolina will likely not make it to a bowl this year but their schedule is tough playing four top ten teams including the top three Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama.
I think a lot of people kind of wrote South Carolina off when they lost to UNC thinking UNC was terrible, but now we know UNC actually has a pretty good team and they only lost by four points.

I don't think South Carolina is garbage but let me ask you a few questions.

1. Do you think we are a top 25 team? Should we be ranked?
2. Do you think South Carolina is a top 25 caliber team and should be ranked?
3. Do you think UNC is better than South Carolina since they beat them?

If your answer is yes, no, and yes...which I would expect it to be....then we should indeed defeat them. I know what you mean a close loss and the voters will give us credit for beating a SEC team. Here is my point. If we think we are a top 25 caliber team and we believe we could be a legit NY6 selection then we need to beat South Carolina. If we lose one game, even in double overtime by 2 points, we will not reach our biggest goal. We can still win the SBC without it but we have no business in a NY6 game if we can't beat them.

UNC is a pretty solid team. I actually hope South Carolina wins their next 4 games and comes in to ours cocky. It would be even better to beat them if they have wins over ranked teams and are ranked coming in. A win over a 4-5 SC team will not get us much movement in the eyes of those picking the CFP unless we beat them as bad as some ranked teams did.

You and I view the world differently and I'm not going to hold that against you but I don't have to engage. I do find it hard to believe you're actually an App fan at times and not some troll since you try to kill any excitement or positive feelings about our program. I know that you will respond to this so I'll let you have that last word...

I was a little harsh challenging your App fan-hood...sorry about that. It's OK for us to disagree on whether we should be ranked or if we're going to be good enough for a NY6 invitation or the the other things we tend to view differently. Please accept my apologies...

[bigdaddyg]

So for NY6 purposes, if we run the table, and maybe even with a "good" loss against South Carolina, If Boise State gets upset in the MWC championship game and if 2-loss UCF wins the AAC, then we'd most likely be in right? I know there are other scenarios...but this one would work I think.(?)

South Carolina will not be a good loss. If we are healthy we should expect a win in Columbia.

We have to win out for sure but come November we need to start checking scores for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati if they don't lose this month. I just doubt anyone in the AAC goes undefeated so I'm not real worried now. I think Boise State is the one we will have to worry about. MWC not as deep at the top as they have been. I could see Boise State running the table.

When I said "good" loss, I meant a close down to the wire loss on their home field. I don't hold the same contempt for South Carolina's team as you do and I would think the CFP committee, who we know loves the SEC, would see our taking them to the wire in Columbia as a sign of strength. South Carolina will likely not make it to a bowl this year but their schedule is tough playing four top ten teams including the top three Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama.
I think a lot of people kind of wrote South Carolina off when they lost to UNC thinking UNC was terrible, but now we know UNC actually has a pretty good team and they only lost by four points.

I don't think South Carolina is garbage but let me ask you a few questions.

1. Do you think we are a top 25 team? Should we be ranked?
2. Do you think South Carolina is a top 25 caliber team and should be ranked?
3. Do you think UNC is better than South Carolina since they beat them?

If your answer is yes, no, and yes...which I would expect it to be....then we should indeed defeat them. I know what you mean a close loss and the voters will give us credit for beating a SEC team. Here is my point. If we think we are a top 25 caliber team and we believe we could be a legit NY6 selection then we need to beat South Carolina. If we lose one game, even in double overtime by 2 points- man that would really suck to lose in double overtime giving up a safety after starting on the other guys 25 yard line!!!, we will not reach our biggest goal. We can still win the SBC without it but we have no business in a NY6 game if we can't beat them.

UNC is a pretty solid team. I actually hope South Carolina wins their next 4 games and comes in to ours cocky. It would be even better to beat them if they have wins over ranked teams and are ranked coming in. A win over a 4-5 SC team will not get us much movement in the eyes of those picking the CFP unless we beat them as bad as some ranked teams did.

You and I view the world differently and I'm not going to hold that against you but I don't have to engage. I do find it hard to believe you're actually an App fan at times and not some troll since you try to kill any excitement or positive feelings about our program. I know that you will respond to this so I'll let you have that last word...

[AppStFan1]

So for NY6 purposes, if we run the table, and maybe even with a "good" loss against South Carolina, If Boise State gets upset in the MWC championship game and if 2-loss UCF wins the AAC, then we'd most likely be in right? I know there are other scenarios...but this one would work I think.(?)

South Carolina will not be a good loss. If we are healthy we should expect a win in Columbia.

We have to win out for sure but come November we need to start checking scores for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati if they don't lose this month. I just doubt anyone in the AAC goes undefeated so I'm not real worried now. I think Boise State is the one we will have to worry about. MWC not as deep at the top as they have been. I could see Boise State running the table.

When I said "good" loss, I meant a close down to the wire loss on their home field. I don't hold the same contempt for South Carolina's team as you do and I would think the CFP committee, who we know loves the SEC, would see our taking them to the wire in Columbia as a sign of strength. South Carolina will likely not make it to a bowl this year but their schedule is tough playing four top ten teams including the top three Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama.
I think a lot of people kind of wrote South Carolina off when they lost to UNC thinking UNC was terrible, but now we know UNC actually has a pretty good team and they only lost by four points.

I don't think South Carolina is garbage but let me ask you a few questions.

1. Do you think we are a top 25 team? Should we be ranked?
2. Do you think South Carolina is a top 25 caliber team and should be ranked?
3. Do you think UNC is better than South Carolina since they beat them?

If your answer is yes, no, and yes...which I would expect it to be....then we should indeed defeat them. I know what you mean a close loss and the voters will give us credit for beating a SEC team. Here is my point. If we think we are a top 25 caliber team and we believe we could be a legit NY6 selection then we need to beat South Carolina. If we lose one game, even in double overtime by 2 points, we will not reach our biggest goal. We can still win the SBC without it but we have no business in a NY6 game if we can't beat them.

UNC is a pretty solid team. I actually hope South Carolina wins their next 4 games and comes in to ours cocky. It would be even better to beat them if they have wins over ranked teams and are ranked coming in. A win over a 4-5 SC team will not get us much movement in the eyes of those picking the CFP unless we beat them as bad as some ranked teams did.

You and I view the world differently and I'm not going to hold that against you but I don't have to engage. I do find it hard to believe you're actually an App fan at times and not some troll since you try to kill any excitement or positive feelings about our program. I know that you will respond to this so I'll let you have that last word...

South Carolina will be viewed as a good win because they are SEC but they are still a middle tier SEC team and we should not lose to them.

I'm a realist but I also have high hopes for us because we have the talent.

I only get excited over things that are meaningful and I know that as much as we have done that we could undo the national hype we have with just one loss. I was pumped about our win last night but a loss to ULM or anyone else in the SBC will sting more than the joy of the Louisiana win brings.

[AppStFan1]

South Carolina will not be a good loss. If we are healthy we should expect a win in Columbia.

We have to win out for sure but come November we need to start checking scores for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati if they don't lose this month. I just doubt anyone in the AAC goes undefeated so I'm not real worried now. I think Boise State is the one we will have to worry about. MWC not as deep at the top as they have been. I could see Boise State running the table.

When I said "good" loss, I meant a close down to the wire loss on their home field. I don't hold the same contempt for South Carolina's team as you do and I would think the CFP committee, who we know loves the SEC, would see our taking them to the wire in Columbia as a sign of strength. South Carolina will likely not make it to a bowl this year but their schedule is tough playing four top ten teams including the top three Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama.
I think a lot of people kind of wrote South Carolina off when they lost to UNC thinking UNC was terrible, but now we know UNC actually has a pretty good team and they only lost by four points.

I don't think South Carolina is garbage but let me ask you a few questions.

1. Do you think we are a top 25 team? Should we be ranked?
2. Do you think South Carolina is a top 25 caliber team and should be ranked?
3. Do you think UNC is better than South Carolina since they beat them?

If your answer is yes, no, and yes...which I would expect it to be....then we should indeed defeat them. I know what you mean a close loss and the voters will give us credit for beating a SEC team. Here is my point. If we think we are a top 25 caliber team and we believe we could be a legit NY6 selection then we need to beat South Carolina. If we lose one game, even in double overtime by 2 points- man that would really suck to lose in double overtime giving up a safety after starting on the other guys 25 yard line!!!, we will not reach our biggest goal. We can still win the SBC without it but we have no business in a NY6 game if we can't beat them.

UNC is a pretty solid team. I actually hope South Carolina wins their next 4 games and comes in to ours cocky. It would be even better to beat them if they have wins over ranked teams and are ranked coming in. A win over a 4-5 SC team will not get us much movement in the eyes of those picking the CFP unless we beat them as bad as some ranked teams did.

You and I view the world differently and I'm not going to hold that against you but I don't have to engage. I do find it hard to believe you're actually an App fan at times and not some troll since you try to kill any excitement or positive feelings about our program. I know that you will respond to this so I'll let you have that last word...

Obviously that is a 0.0000001% chance of happening but you get the point! We aren't in a P5 league so we can't even lose one game unless it is to a ranked team, and we don't have anyone ranked or RV left on our schedule. We have no room for error.

[Rick83]

South Carolina will not be a good loss. If we are healthy we should expect a win in Columbia.

We have to win out for sure but come November we need to start checking scores for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati if they don't lose this month. I just doubt anyone in the AAC goes undefeated so I'm not real worried now. I think Boise State is the one we will have to worry about. MWC not as deep at the top as they have been. I could see Boise State running the table.

When I said "good" loss, I meant a close down to the wire loss on their home field. I don't hold the same contempt for South Carolina's team as you do and I would think the CFP committee, who we know loves the SEC, would see our taking them to the wire in Columbia as a sign of strength. South Carolina will likely not make it to a bowl this year but their schedule is tough playing four top ten teams including the top three Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama.
I think a lot of people kind of wrote South Carolina off when they lost to UNC thinking UNC was terrible, but now we know UNC actually has a pretty good team and they only lost by four points.

I don't think South Carolina is garbage but let me ask you a few questions.

1. Do you think we are a top 25 team? Should we be ranked?
2. Do you think South Carolina is a top 25 caliber team and should be ranked?
3. Do you think UNC is better than South Carolina since they beat them?

If your answer is yes, no, and yes...which I would expect it to be....then we should indeed defeat them. I know what you mean a close loss and the voters will give us credit for beating a SEC team. Here is my point. If we think we are a top 25 caliber team and we believe we could be a legit NY6 selection then we need to beat South Carolina. If we lose one game, even in double overtime by 2 points, we will not reach our biggest goal. We can still win the SBC without it but we have no business in a NY6 game if we can't beat them.

UNC is a pretty solid team. I actually hope South Carolina wins their next 4 games and comes in to ours cocky. It would be even better to beat them if they have wins over ranked teams and are ranked coming in. A win over a 4-5 SC team will not get us much movement in the eyes of those picking the CFP unless we beat them as bad as some ranked teams did.

You and I view the world differently and I'm not going to hold that against you but I don't have to engage. I do find it hard to believe you're actually an App fan at times and not some troll since you try to kill any excitement or positive feelings about our program. I know that you will respond to this so I'll let you have that last word...

South Carolina will be viewed as a good win because they are SEC but they are still a middle tier SEC team and we should not lose to them.

I'm a realist but I also have high hopes for us because we have the talent.

I only get excited over things that are meaningful and I know that as much as we have done that we could undo the national hype we have with just one loss. I was pumped about our win last night but a loss to ULM or anyone else in the SBC will sting more than the joy of the Louisiana win brings.

Yes, it was a great win last night and I was pumped too, still am actually!

[AppStFan1]

South Carolina will not be a good loss. If we are healthy we should expect a win in Columbia.

We have to win out for sure but come November we need to start checking scores for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Cincinnati if they don't lose this month. I just doubt anyone in the AAC goes undefeated so I'm not real worried now. I think Boise State is the one we will have to worry about. MWC not as deep at the top as they have been. I could see Boise State running the table.

When I said "good" loss, I meant a close down to the wire loss on their home field. I don't hold the same contempt for South Carolina's team as you do and I would think the CFP committee, who we know loves the SEC, would see our taking them to the wire in Columbia as a sign of strength. South Carolina will likely not make it to a bowl this year but their schedule is tough playing four top ten teams including the top three Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama.
I think a lot of people kind of wrote South Carolina off when they lost to UNC thinking UNC was terrible, but now we know UNC actually has a pretty good team and they only lost by four points.

I don't think South Carolina is garbage but let me ask you a few questions.

1. Do you think we are a top 25 team? Should we be ranked?
2. Do you think South Carolina is a top 25 caliber team and should be ranked?
3. Do you think UNC is better than South Carolina since they beat them?

If your answer is yes, no, and yes...which I would expect it to be....then we should indeed defeat them. I know what you mean a close loss and the voters will give us credit for beating a SEC team. Here is my point. If we think we are a top 25 caliber team and we believe we could be a legit NY6 selection then we need to beat South Carolina. If we lose one game, even in double overtime by 2 points, we will not reach our biggest goal. We can still win the SBC without it but we have no business in a NY6 game if we can't beat them.

UNC is a pretty solid team. I actually hope South Carolina wins their next 4 games and comes in to ours cocky. It would be even better to beat them if they have wins over ranked teams and are ranked coming in. A win over a 4-5 SC team will not get us much movement in the eyes of those picking the CFP unless we beat them as bad as some ranked teams did.

You and I view the world differently and I'm not going to hold that against you but I don't have to engage. I do find it hard to believe you're actually an App fan at times and not some troll since you try to kill any excitement or positive feelings about our program. I know that you will respond to this so I'll let you have that last word...

I was a little harsh challenging your App fan-hood...sorry about that. It's OK for us to disagree on whether we should be ranked or if we're going to be good enough for a NY6 invitation or the the other things we tend to view differently. Please accept my apologies...

I don't take things personal or get mad. I'm not a snowflake.

Just remember, if Boise State is undefeated no matter how good we actually are won't matter. We have to hope that they have 1 loss late in the year at least. I think it is good to be ranked but I don't want to get it for a week and then disappear. My only beef where I think people disagreed is I did not care about the ranking early on and I know that it will indeed happen if we keep winning.

I usually don't get in to hypothetical but serious question. Say we go 13-0, even if a very close win over SC and a couple SBC teams how high could we be ranked? I still think we have a ceiling of about 20 unless we beat a ranked team or get some help from several in the teens losing to us.

[EastHallApp]

I usually don't get in to hypothetical but serious question. Say we go 13-0, even if a very close win over SC and a couple SBC teams how high could we be ranked? I still think we have a ceiling of about 20 unless we beat a ranked team or get some help from several in the teens losing to us.

It is an interesting hypothetical, and I think your ceiling is too low. I think we'd have actually wound up close to 15 last year if we'd beaten GS. (But of course in that case, we actually got some credit for the Penn State loss.)

For comparison, Western Michigan finished the regular season #12 the year they went unbeaten, with a similar resume to what we'd have this year. (That was their AP rank - they were 15 in the CFP, which is always more favorable to the P5 and bigger-name programs.)

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

next three weeks will say a good bit:

Boise- Hawaii and at BYU
SMU- Temple, Houston and Memphis
Memphis- Temple, Tulane then SMU

As far as Boise goes we probably need FSU to implode so that the win by Boise over them becomes less impressive.

Too bad UNC and FSU don't play this year, think UNC would take them.

[Rick83]

next three weeks will say a good bit:

Boise- Hawaii and at BYU
SMU- Temple, Houston and Memphis
Memphis- Temple, Tulane then SMU

As far as Boise goes we probably need FSU to implode so that the win by Boise over them becomes less impressive.

Too bad UNC and FSU don't play this year, think UNC would take them.

I do too. UNC's three losses were by 6, 3, and 1 points. The 1 of course to Clemson, the 6 and 3 to ranked/soon to be ranked, currently undefeated teams. That's an average margin of 3.3 points per loss.
Here's the weird thought; UNC is surprisingly close to being 6-0 with a win over Clemson and would probably be in the playoff discussion at this point if undefeated, with a win over Clemson.

[appgrad95&97]

It looks to me like 20 AP voters have us in their top 25 and 47 don't. I'm interested to see how many new voters we pick up after this weekend.

[AppStFan1]

I usually don't get in to hypothetical but serious question. Say we go 13-0, even if a very close win over SC and a couple SBC teams how high could we be ranked? I still think we have a ceiling of about 20 unless we beat a ranked team or get some help from several in the teens losing to us.

It is an interesting hypothetical, and I think your ceiling is too low. I think we'd have actually wound up close to 15 last year if we'd beaten GS. (But of course in that case, we actually got some credit for the Penn State loss.)

For comparison, Western Michigan finished the regular season #12 the year they went unbeaten, with a similar resume to what we'd have this year. (That was their AP rank - they were 15 in the CFP, which is always more favorable to the P5 and bigger-name programs.)

The reason I said #20 is because I felt like we need help to move much higher. I'm also assuming Boise State is still undefeated and I just don't see a lot of voters putting them a lot higher than where they are now so I don't think they push a 2nd G5 in the top 15. Maybe 17-18 then but I think we will need help late.

This is why I'm not a fan of top 25 talk super early in the season because for G5 teams you need so much to happen to get past a certain point.

Now, I think we could finish in the top 10 only if we go 13-0 and then face a top 10 P5 team in the NY6 and beat them. That is just too much to happen at this point before that even becomes a discussion though.

Voters simply put a ceiling on G5 teams because of SOS and unless you beat a top 10 P5 team you just can't get past that.

[Saint3333]

It looks to me like 20 AP voters have us in their top 25 and 47 don't. I'm interested to see how many new voters we pick up after this weekend.

How many voters included us in prior weeks? Anyone have that intel?