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Around the NCAA: No, You’re Overrated!

Of course General Conference weekend has to be on a really fun weekend for football!

Oh well, I wouldn’t trade it. Joking aside, Conference is worth the time and attention investment, every time- and this conference was no exception!

Now let’s look at some of the headlines you and I missed!

 

SEC! SEC!

Some SEC teams beat up on each other like they often do and will continue to do this season. Don’t worry though, a 2-loss SEC team would easily get into the CFP over a 1-loss Big 12 Champ*.

(*The “One True Champion” that isn’t actually a champion. Get a conference championship game, people! BYU to the BIG 12!!)

Florida Gators: this was all we knew of the swamp creatures at the beginning of the season:

Now they’re beating teams that beat Alabama at home! The SEC East is theirs to lose now, which of course they will.

Somewhere Urban Meyer smiles eerily.

BYU Football Loyal Cougars

Jeff Hanisch/USA TODAY Sports

By the way, don’t worry too much about Coach McElwain, he learned from the angry best but still has a long way to go.

 

Everyone already wrote Alabama off, “the end of a dynasty,” they declared…then the Tide crashes into Athens, Georgia and stomps on the bulldogs. Roll Tide!

Now who actually wins the SEC, that is anyone’s guess (Hint: it’s NOT Vanderbilt).

 

Clemson Tigers

One of the favorite pastimes of Clemson Football is being overrated, which is actually required in ACC bylaws: all teams must finish each season at a point below their highest ranking during said season (FSU was formally reprimanded in 2014 for winning the whole darned thing!). It’s not that the Tigers are a bad team, they are usually a pretty good team, they just, through no fault of their own, get a bit inflated in the polls. Kind of like Tim Tebow, lobster, and 3D movies.

So while Clemson is sitting pretty right now, the Tigers won’t have the luxury of a hurricane to play in each week and they probably have the toughest part of their schedule ahead. Besides, last week’s opponent Notre Dame is a fellow card-carrying member of the Perennially Overrated Club, and this year is no exception.

 

Yewtah!

Speaking of overrated…does anyone really believe the Utes are the fifth-best team in the country?  Yewt-bashing aside, is that really where they belong?  Remember in, what was it, 2010?  When the Utes were 8-0, #5 in the AP poll, and TCU came to town and exposed them?  I remember asking my Bishop at the time (a Ute alum, big fan, and all around good guy- they do exist!!) if he REALLY thought his team was top 5?  He answered honestly and said no.  And he was right.

And so that’s my question now, Ute fans (and we know you’re reading this), do you really think Utah is a top 5 team?  Do you REALLY think there are only 4 better teams in the country?  Personally, I see the Utes losing to at least one California team and one AZ team, and still probably punching their ticket to a decent bowl game.

And Urban Meyer again smiles in creepy satisfaction:

BYU Football Loyal Cougars

Kyle Robertson/Dispatch

With all these supposed overrated teams, who, if anyone is underrated? I’m glad you asked. One of the California teams is going to win the PAC-12. I don’t know which yet, but whichever one it is, they are underrated. Either Stanford or USC is my guess.

I think Oregon is a Top-25 team, and Michigan is probably going to challenge ALL of the B1G. I also think Oklahoma could win the Big 12 title, but the Sooners will need to run through Baylor and TCU to get there. And I think Georgia is also better than its ranking.

There you have it, no solid football analysis, just random impressions. Which is basically what most polls are anyway, right?

 

Awards

Now for the “Aerial Banner of the Week” award. This one goes to whatever Miami fan has enough money to blow on this bit of excellence:

BYU Football Loyal Cougars

SBNation.com

I’d say I’m surprised we haven’t seen a similar one for Bronco/Anae, but Mormons are cheap, you know, with all them kids and trips to Disneyland and all. Money doesn’t grown on trees!

 

#Ponderize

Speaking of money trees, what’s with this “ponderize” controvsersy? So Elder Durrant’s son wanted to make a few bucks from his conference talk. So he was already prepared to do so. I’m sure he got to read it ahead of time, and knew it would be a home run (Which it was by the way). How is this different than any other video, book, keychain, bracelet, framed vinyl-lettered quotation or conference-themed cookbook that you might buy at Deseret Book? Many of which are stemmed from conference talks by the way. Sounds like more people just looking for stuff to get upset about.

 

So ponderize on these things, and let me know: who do you think is over or underrated?

7 Comments

  1. Doug

    October 8, 2015 at 10:24 am

    Chris. I like your site. I’ve had some time to ponderize some of your topics. The Durant’s ponderizing stunt had to be nipped right away. Perception is reality. The fact that they reserved 3 different websites before his talk just seems wierd and uncomfortable to me. But what’s the difference in selling CTR rings and other items is definitely an interesting discussion. It just seems wrong to me and I think there was definitely a lapse in judgement.

    As far as the Utes only time will tell. You are just bitter because they beat the ducks and the Cougars once again were over hyped. ?. Hope you and your family are doing well.

    • Chris Allen

      October 8, 2015 at 10:30 am

      Thanks Doug. We’ll see if the Utes can actually pull it off. How about them BSU Broncos though!?

  2. Jay

    October 8, 2015 at 10:35 am

    re: ponderizing merchandise. Intent matters. I’d like to think that when someone gives a GC conference talk, their focus is 100% on spiritual upliftment. When we now know that Durrant’s son and Durrant himself bought domains in anticipation of the talk, it shows that they had some intent aside from pure spiritual service — money making. Obviously not the their entire intent, but it was there.

    Also, we’re a church that talks a lot about the value of having a non-paid clergy. We’ve all had a million lessons about those benefits — when you stand to make money on your sermons, it can impact the sermons. Therefore, I’ve always been taught, it’s a generally bad idea for religious leaders to profit off of their religious service — their service should be purely about helping others and about truth. When profits (or potential profits) come into play, people behave differently.

    Oh, and I actually do object to all of those other examples you listed. I don’t like the idea of anyone making a profit off of the gospel. If you bring in some money and it goes to further service, great. But making money off the gospel seems absolutely wrong to me.

    • Jay

      October 8, 2015 at 10:37 am

      And re: the Utes, I think they might actually be that good. But at this point, who can really say? I mean, they can’t play everyone, so maybe we never find out. But at this point, no one has exposed any real weakness in their team. No close calls so far.

      • Chris Allen

        October 8, 2015 at 11:39 am

        As for the Utes, like I said just just random pontificating about rankings. There is no REAL way to tell who is the best. It’s that way with just about any sport. Call it a hunch that Utah loses at least two this season.

        • Jay

          October 8, 2015 at 11:51 am

          Seems inevitable that they will, but I also thought they would have by now…

    • Chris Allen

      October 8, 2015 at 11:37 am

      Good thoughts, I suppose best to stay clear of that priest craft line. I guess it just doesn’t really bother me too much considering the relatively small amounts of money it would have brought in. Now, when they someone starts hawking products from the pulpit, then I’ve got a problem.