Biggest surprise and biggest disappointments

[HottyToddy]

I will be there for the first time. Can not wait!!! It's a relief not to be packing up for LSU again lol.

 

[rivercitybirdie]

i agree it's harsh for msu to be in that list... but i used another power rating source and compared end of last season to now and again MSU showed one of the bigger falls...

anyway, it's just meant to give an idea of some teams that have done much better vs. much worse. definitely some teams i don't agree with but it's quantitative not subjective.

 

[Albatross]

Surprised in VT.

 

[GoSooners]

I have a feeling that UAB is seriously undervalued, and possibly La Tech too. But right now as much as I hate to admit it, I only know about 25% about this season and what these teams are really capable of doing.

 

[GoSooners]

i agree it's harsh for msu to be in that list... but i used another power rating source and compared end of last season to now and again MSU showed one of the bigger falls...

anyway, it's just meant to give an idea of some teams that have done much better vs. much worse. definitely some teams i don't agree with but it's quantitative not subjective.

Totally disagree about Michigan St. I still think they are a very good football team. There haven't been very many non-conference teams come into Autzen and come out smelling like a rose...parden the pun

 

[rolltide]

biggest surprise to me is my Blazers. I absolutely love their aggressive play calling as they hit 5 deep bombs on MSU saturday. They weren't intimidated by the dogs at all but simply couldnt get off the field in 2H as MSU just too big up front. can't say i've been excited about uab football, ahemm, ever .... but HC and OC are really impressing me. We have no defense at all but will put up plenty of points

Pitt 2-0 isn't a surprise at all. i keep touting their offensive line as it really is THAT good...well, was that good. two guys got carted off on Friday night.

biggest disappointment is UCLA. just another media creation (or more specifically, espn creation) of what a playoff contender looks like when, in reality, they are far behind stan, usc, and oregon...and maybe even some others in the P12

next biggest would be Texas as all horns fans around here thought strong would turn it all around. NOT!

 

[rivercitybirdie]

biggest disappointment is UCLA. just another media creation (or more specifically, espn creation) of what a playoff contender looks like when, in reality, they are far behind stan, usc, and oregon...and maybe even some others in the P12

i have a theory that fading the biggest darling team (or maybe 2 biggest ones) in the top 15-20 would be a fairly consistent winner. i think it will work really well.

 

[HottyToddy]

I believe Michigan State is damn good football team. That game was a game of swings and Oregon came out on top.. I believe Oregon is as good as ever and MSU went toe to toe at a top 5 toughest place to play in CFB...

 

[rivercitybirdie]

i played UAB quite a bit the last couple of years to no avail.. and of course, now they do well when i haven't bet yet this season (and i think i would have been OFF them anyway)

 

[GoSooners]

i played UAB quite a bit the last couple of years to no avail.. and of course, now they do well when i haven't bet yet this season (and i think i would have been OFF them anyway)

I have that gut feeling that Bill Clark is one of those Hugh Freeze type of coaches that may not be there long. So I can see a couple years of success at UAB to build his resume, then he'll move on to bigger things.

 

[rivercitybirdie]

for fun, i'll grade them (top of my head) for week 3. they weren't picks but i am interested in them as fade material (and play the improved teams)... EDIT: so starts out 0-8 from the top. ends up 8-10 i think. 7-9 really as bg/indiana played each other. like i said, i did it from memory so might be slightly off.

worst ATS.......

Vanderbilt L

UNLV L

S Methodist

Florida St

Utah State L

Texas Tech L

LA Lafayette L

Troy L

Fresno St L

E Michigan L

S Carolina W

Kansas L

Bowling Grn W

Colorado W

Northwestern

Houston W

Indiana L

New Mexico

Fla Atlantic W

Syracuse W

Washington W

S Mississippi W

 

[rivercitybirdie]

7-11.... not good....

hey, i like the topic.... here are the best ATS teams so far. i figure that's a good indication vs. expectations...

best ATS teams after 2 weeks (almost all have played 2 games.... i think texas state is one that's only one game.. basically cover per game)..

Texas State L

Texas A&M L

UAB L

GA Southern W

Florida L

LA Tech W

BYU L

Pittsburgh L

W Virginia W

Memphis

Notre Dame L

Temple

TX El Paso W

Mississippi W

TX-San Ant L

N Mex State L

W Kentucky L

Baylor W

Georgia L

California

Virginia W

 

[rivercitybirdie]

have a source i like better for this week (i know these power ratings were worked on before the season.... versus not sure about others. often just last season's ending)...

twenty most improved....

Georgia Southern

La Tech

UAB

West Virginia

Virginia

Texas A&M

Baylor

California

E Carolina

WKU

N Mexico St

Appalachian St

Boston College

UMass

Memphis

Kentucky

Texas St

UTEP

Mississippi

Tennessee

twenty most deteriorated (worst at bottom)..

New Mexico

S Carolina

Utah St

Ball St

UCLA

Northwestern

UNLV

Bowling Green

SMU

Kansas

Iowa

USF

Houston

E Michigan

Wake Forest

Texas Tech

Fresno St

Kent St

Troy

Vanderbilt and just to make it more interesting....... most improved/deteriorated of top 40 start of season... best: Texas A&M Baylor Mississippi BYU Missouri LSU Utah

worst at bottom:

Washington

Oregon St

Maryland

Michigan

Florida St

S Carolina

UCLA

again, i don't agree with every team but they are statistical power ratings.....

 

[rivercitybirdie]

have a source i like better for this week (i know these power ratings were worked on before the season.... versus not sure about others. often just last season's ending)...

twenty most improved....

Georgia Southern W

La Tech L

UAB

West Virginia L

Virginia W

Texas A&M W

Baylor W

California W

E Carolina W

WKU

N Mexico St W

Appalachian St L

Boston College W

UMass L

Memphis W

Kentucky

Texas St W

UTEP

Mississippi

Tennessee

twenty most deteriorated (worst at bottom)..

New Mexico L

S Carolina L

Utah St L

Ball St W

UCLA

Northwestern

UNLV L

Bowling Green L

SMU L

KansasW

Iowa W

USF

Houston W

E Michigan L

Wake Forest W

Texas Tech

Fresno St W

Kent St

Troy L

Vanderbilt W and just to make it more interesting....... most improved/deteriorated of top 40 start of season... best: Texas A&M w Baylorw Mississippi BYU l MissouriL LSUL Utah W

worst at bottom:

WashingtonL

Oregon StW

Maryland W

MichiganL

Florida St L

S Carolina L

UCLA

again, i don't agree with every team but they are statistical power ratings.....

so i'll tally them up in the next entry....

 

[rivercitybirdie]

most improved 10-4.... most deteriorated 7-8 (playing on them)..... top teams most improved 3-3... top teams most deteriorated 2-4...

I graded and tallied quickly. so could be off a bit... I think NW played. gotta find them

 

[rivercitybirdie]

NW L... so 7-9 backing disappointing teams

 

[United]

Biggest surprises for me are Utah, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Penn St, A & M.

Biggest disappointments are Michigan, UCLA, Ohio St, CF to name a few.

 

[Greenbacks]

I agree with the poster above on Texas A&M...Still very good without Johnny football.

Clemson is bad...already 2 losses...with more to come.

 

[Greenbacks]

I will add Wisconsin....pretty good team

 

[bukis1]

Not sold on ND as they've played 3 terrible teams rice-mich and Purdue. Ohiostate did lose a 2 time MVP Qb 2 weeks before the season which sure didn't help but they still should be playing better. Fsu didn't look very good without Winston though. My biggest surprise is a&m