Gameday Notes

A couple of notes:

First, it's nice to have Gameday back. Is it me or does Fowler seem more opinionated this year? I like it.

Are Herbstreit and Corso both obligated to defend the ACC? They sound like delusional fans. What happened to the not so fast my friend set up of the show? It used to be that Herbstreit would offer an opinion based on some sort of analysis and Corso would then offer the other side of the debate based on whatever is available. What happened to that? I liked that.

Instead, both seem to be pushing an agenda. Corso's insinuation that draft picks in the past three years can serve as proxy for talent and therefore for league strength is a logical nullity, a non sequitur and almost completely irrelevant to the conversation or debate. Why choose three years? Why not four, two or five? Because the numbers probably aren't nearly as favorable in those time frames. And even if they are, what does that mean? The relevant numbers are the ACC's record against top 25 and top 10 opponents as well as their abysmal BCS record. Why even make the argument?

The reason they are throwing in whatever ridiculous or irrelevant stats is to hype tonight's Alabama - Clemson game as an ACC-SEC clash. Well, these teams are indeed from these conferences but to suggest that this game is some sort of a barometer of relative conference strength isn't entirely accurate. Clemson is largely assumed to be the ACC's strongest team, by a long shot according to some. Alabama is the SEC's 5th or 6th best team. A Clemson win (which I think will happen) will not prove that the ACC has arrived; that the ACC is ready to compete with the SEC or even that Clemson is among the nation's elite. It will show that Clemson is a legitimate top 25 team and suggest that perhaps Alabama is not. Remember that whenever Spiller gets a first down and the announcers try to imply the era of SEC dominance is over.

Other thoughts:

I understand why Spiller is lightning, but why is Davis thunder? He's not that hard-nosed of a runner. Shouldn't someone nicknamed thunder be a bruising between the tackles runner?

Is there anything Tebow of Nazerth can't do? Doesn't anyone else think its odd for a grown man surrounded by college girls in Gainesville, Florida to decide to spend his time in the Phillipines giving pre-pubescent boys circumcisions?

This Southern Cal news is interesting, but ultimately we're talking about whether USC wins by 20 or 40 points. If Southern Cal gets held under 50 points, it will be a heroic effort by Virginia all around.

Update: Awful Annoucing noticed, too:

"Are we on MSNBC? It sounds like someone emailed you the talking points. And you're going down. Why do you want to defend the ACC? Valid points but..."- Chris Fowler
"Didn't ESPN sign with the ACC?"- Lee Corso

Hahaha. Corso is not openly admitting to hyping crappy conferences so people will still watch. Good to know.

Clemson delenda est.