Fear The Chorizo

Need a td on this drive Horrible holding call on that screen to taylor, too

Hornibrook can't even accurately get screen passes completed...they are leaving huge plays in the field because their qb can't hit an open man. Run the dang ball...

This was the worry I had with a team that could spread the Badger d out and limit their blitz ability....Wisconsin's defense can't generate a pass rush, and osu has too much on the outside for everyone to cover. They are exposed to give up huge plays - barret missed a few more or this game would be over already

I can see barrett getting this first snap and handing it off, then making way for the freshman. That way barrett gets a big ten title game start to his name. I don't care how minor the surgery is, doctors were cutting on his knee less than a week ago. He won't play much, if at all.

I think OSU's other issue is they have a banged up/gimpy O-line, too. I don't think Barrett finishes this game - they'll see how he responds and wind up going to their freshman QB, who would be a much better running option than Barrett and has similar arm talent...although with Wisconsin's blitz scheme, I'm sure Meyer would rather have Barrett making reads in the passing game if he's healthy enough to do so. Great...so if Wisconsin does win we'll get to spend 4 weeks hearing all about how the only way they won was because OSU had a gimpy/inexperienced qb

Part of the reason college football hardly catches my attention (and many others... you list the NFL as losing ratings but fail to mention that their ratings kill college football) is due to the fact that in reality there are about 5 teams that enter the year with a legitimate opportunity to win it all. How is that any different than the NBA, NFL, or MLB? Sometimes the actual teams slightly differ due to injuries, but by and large everyone knows what teams are going to be vying for a championship before each season starts. The past few seasons the NBA wastes 2 months-worth of playoff games just to get to the final two teams everyone knew were going to compete for the title anyway. Hockey seems to be the outlier when it comes to championship contention prognosticating. MLB playoffs are pretty random by nature, but the regular season marathon tends to weed out undeserving teams. With hockey, you could squeak in as an 8 seed, watch your goalie stand on his head for 2 months, and win the Cup. College basketball is another example of watered down quality - the tourney is exciting for its format, but they can get away with the setup because they can play so many more games over a few weeks than football. And nobody wants to watch a 1 seed play a 16-seed for longer than 30 seconds. I also think perspective is important in why the 4-team CFP was implemented...the whole goal of it was to ensure that the best team in the country would get included in the group of 4 and at least have its fate decided on the field in a playoff format. There were several years where the BCS system likely didn't have the best team included in the final 2. Expanding the field to 4 makes it very difficult to leave out the best team in the CFP...when the argument strays towards who the 4th team in should be instead of who should be the top 2, that system is probably operating as intended. Even with a year like this, with no truly dominant team that's head and shoulders above the rest, I don't think there will be any debate as to who the 1st three teams will be plugged into the CFP following results of this weekend's games.

Bama's 2018 schedule includes OOC juggernauts Louisville (in orlando, couldn't possibly expect them to play in Louisville!), Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, and The Citadel...bye week before LSU (again) and Citadel game the week prior to the Iron Bowl...SEC East conference games against Tennessee and Mizzou. Mightaswell have the committee plug the Crimson Tide into the top spot for the early November 2018 CFP rankings - sheesh! I'm curious, for the SEC interconference scheduling, is that on a rotating basis or do they intentionally keep the Alabamas and Georgias of the world from playing each other until a potential conference championship matchup?

Agree about needing to win. Disagree about the resume. The weak Alabama resume is much stronger than the UW resume at the moment & UW will not have a top 10 win unless it beats the Buckeyes. As I have said, I want the Big 10 champ in the final 4 (regardless of winner) but I worry about the madness of the final weekend/ rankings.. Just curious, where's alabama's top ten win? They've beaten 5 bowl eligible teams, wisconsin has beaten 6 so far in a conference that actually plays each other 9 times. And please don't call fsu a top ten win.

Yeah, how is 4 loss, qb-less and coachless miss state still in the top 25? Because Alabama, I guess.

Alabama is 5th, but in reality the only way they should have a chance at making the playoff is if Oklahoma loses. If Miami beats clemson, they should go in over bama. If osu beats wi, they should go in also. If ga beats auburn, Georgia leapfrogs bama. Then again, it is the.crimson tide...I'm sure there are boosters offering committee members an island as I type this to nudge them up a notch next week

I think teams that can throw the ball without needing to run and spread out WI's defense would be the most difficult for them to beat. Without blitzing, I don't think the Badgers' pass rush is that dynamic, and Oklahoma's offense has enough weapons that can kill blitzes. If healthy, Oklahoma, Auburn, and Georgia would probably be the Badgers' toughest opponents from a matchup standpoint. If a team can score against WI's D, the Badger's offense just isn't consistent enough to keep pace. OSU is jekyl and hyde - they can be dynamic, but if Barrett is inaccurate passing the ball I can see them struggling to score points. WI's secondary is good enough to turn them over a few times, too. Aside from that 59-0 drubbing, Wisconsin has been very competitive against OSU, and they've lost games they should've won more recently than that 2014 conference championship game. Of the teams vying for a CFP spot, I think Miami is the weakest by far - I would be surprised if they are competitive against Clemson this weekend. Auburn has injury issues in their backfield, and will have their hands full against a Georgia team looking for payback on a neutral field. I see Clemson, Georgia, and Oklahoma winning their respective conference title games - and the Big 10 title game to me is a toss-up.

Notre Dame, Washington State, and Miss St will drop below UCF in tonight's CFP rankings, getting them closer to the top 10 heading into championship weekend. If UCF beats ranked Memphis again to finish undefeated, there are four conference title games pairing 8 teams currently ranked in front of UCF this weekend, meaning 4 of those teams will lose again - plus USC could lose against Stanford. Does that vault UCF all the way up to #6 by jumping over a pile of 3-loss or inactive teams? Probably not, but it'd get them right near that #6 ranking. Currently there's zero chance for a non-power conference to make the 4 team playoff. Under a 6-team playoff scenario, I would like to view conference title games almost as play-in games most years - meaning that for a conference to field more than their conference champ, the 2nd or 3rd team would have been inactive during conference championship weekend (like Alabama or Penn State this year). During seasons where certain power conferences are way down and may only deserve 1 or even 0 teams in the playoff, a quality non-power conference team would have a very good shot at getting into the field of 6. An undefeated UCF will have victories over 3 ranked teams (2 vs Memphis, 1 vs S. Fla). It's unfortunate they had to cancel the GT game due to a hurricane, because that could've given their resume 2 wins against power 5 conference teams. During the BCS era, Boise State would've made a 6 team CFP playoff field a couple times.

For example, if you look at the first CFP rankings this year vs the AP and coaches polls, you will see that the CFP rankings differed because they removed the bias associated with the early season AP and coaches polls.The AP and coaches polls in successive weeks actually changed to more closely mirror the CFP rankings. While that is true, the reason the AP and Coaches polls changed near the top in successive weeks was to conform more to the CFP rankings, not based on results on the field - which means they're still all trying to form a consensus to make it easier for questionable decisions made by the powers that be to look correct. IIRC, the BCS had the exact same effect on AP/Coaches polls once those rankings started coming out midseason. For example, Wisconsin cruising to a road victory at Indiana should not have led to them dropping several spots in the AP poll that week - only reason they dropped was for the AP poll to more closely match their CFP ranking. And I'd still argue that the starting point for evaluating all teams are the preseason polls, no matter what the CFP committee says. If both the AP and Coaches Polls weren't issued until early November, those voters would also have 2 months-worth of games to watch to establish an opinion of who's actually the best-looking teams during the current season - not just adjusting preseason rankings based on when teams lose games. The committee has just enough rules and standards supposedly in place that they always have an excuse for propping up less deserving teams and keeping more deserving teams on the outside looking in - particularly when the almighty dollar drives them. Teams that have national followings simply have many more chances to be in the playoff conversation. 2-loss Auburn is in the conversation of being the top-ranked team because of home wins against Alabama and Georgia. Both those teams were ranked #1 at the time, yes, but how good were they considering their best win between them was a 1-point road victory at Notre Dame in week 1 - particularly since the Irish have been destroyed twice since then? I'd argue Alabama and Georgia were ranked #1 based on perception/SEC bias more than reality. I still think moving to a 6-team playoff is the way to go - I don't like 8 or 16 teams, because it waters down the regular season, makes conference championships meaningless, and gives too many teams a shot at a national title that shouldn't be in the conversation. A 6 team playoff would give every power 5 conference a legitimate shot at getting a deserving team in the playoff (spots wouldn't be guaranteed for each conference champ, but at least there'd be room for everyone to get into the dance if they deserve it), plus non-power 5 conferences would know that there's at least a sliver of hope the 6th spot could go to a deserving team (central FL this year, boise state years ago). Additionally, conferences that are perceived to be very strong will have more chances to get multiple teams in. The top two teams would get a bye, with teams #3-6 playing each other the week of Christmas. Then the semifinal and championship rounds could be held the same dates they currently are. That setup gives the perceived two best teams the advantage (similar to an NFL conference playoff format), but gives a better selection of teams a shot at winning it all by winning playoff games.

100% agree - LSU has gone from unranked 3 weeks ago to rated near the top #15, jumping multiple 2 and 3 loss teams that didn't lose games either. Who did LSU beat during that time? Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas A&M - horrible teams with 15 wins total, of which 9 came against cupcakes outside the SEC. The only reason LSU keeps climbing is to bolster what is now Alabama's best win. And with how the schedule plays out, Bama gets a bye every year before facing LSU and before the Iron Bowl against Auburn - since the SEC schedules Mercers of the world the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

That's why the system is still broken - SOS, eye test, perceived conference strength, etc. all are still a product of poorly constructed preseason top 25 rankings by the AP and Coaches Poll. If they want to keep the 4-team CFP system, I think the AP and Coaches polls shouldn't issue rankings until early November as well. To me, the CFP rankings start with the current top 25 as an initial benchmark, and evaluate everything else from there. The flaw in that line of thinking is that where teams start the season ranked sets the precedent for everything else. The SEC has no incentive adding a 9th conference game or scheduling quality OOC opponents from other power 5 conferences at true road game settings when the preseason AP poll had 6 of their teams ranked in the top 25, including Tennessee and Florida. All they need to do is have most of their teams hold serve against OOC cupcakes and they'll always have 2-3 teams within striking distance of the top 4 come conference championship saturday. Teams lose so many players due to graduation and the NFL, and gain so much talent via true and redshirt freshmen coming in, that a preseason ranking is shortsighted - it basically amounts to which programs have had the best perceived recruiting classes and tends to reward previous year's success without considering who's still on the team. I'd be really interested in how different the AP, Coaches, and CFP rankings would look if they were all initially issued the first tuesday in November. By then everyone would have understood that FSU and the SEC east were largely garbage this year, the SEC overall is down aside from the top 2-3 programs (lessening SOS's for those teams), Wisconsin's OOC slate this year actually wasn't that cupcake-y, and the Big 12 essentially can't play defense.

Also, skeptics continue to point out the drubbing wisky took in 2014 at the hands of osu as some sort of recent comparable that automatically means the buckeyes will dominate this saturday....my guess is there are maybe 10 players total left on both squads from that game, and most all of them had insignificant roles in that game. They also fail to mention the ot game between the same teams last season that the badgers probably should have won...I think it's pointless to argue past years matchups on college football because there is so much turnover in rosters due to graduations, the nfl, and influx of younger players. However, a game from only 1 tear ago seems to be a better measuring stick than one played in 2014, which the badgers had a different coach. That osu team was absolutely loaded with NFL ready talent, too...I think this year's osu team is talented, but they are more inexperienced at key spots (ie, they don't have 15 guys who will be playing in the NFL next year)

Already there are stories circulating about how both Auburn AND Georgia are going to jump over WI this coming tuesday - that isn't too much an issue since they play each other in the SEC championship, so if WI beast OSU they'll jump back over the team that loses and get into the top 4. The key is seeing where Alabama gets slotted next week - based on the conference title pairing this week, wherever Alabama is ranked this week should be the high water line for where they finish since they are done playing. No way should they move up due to teams losing in front of them, because teams ranked right behind them will have won their conference title games. As long as Bama is ranked below 4, the Badgers truly control their own destiny. I think you'll see Clemson 1, OKLA 2, Aub 3, WI 4, Ala 5, Ga 6, Miami 7, OSU 8, Penn State 9, and TCU 10. IMO Alabama, Miami, and OSU should be ranked a bit lower than that, but this is what I think the committee will do.

Miami losing yesterday guarantees there will be only one ACC team to make the cfp, and I'd argue that if Miami beats clemson next week there are scenarios where that conference should get left out entirely. Pitt was the first game Miami played outside of Florida in a long time, and they stunk it up. Path is clear and obvious now for the badgers....win out and they are in the cfp - it starts with retaining the axe and beating down the gophers today!

the Brewers were around 150/1 to win the world series prior to spring training 2017...couldn't readily find odds to be one of 5 NL playoff teams. The Brewers are currently 30/1 to win the world series in 2018...meaning a 50/1 chance to just make the playoffs is pretty pessimistic even by Vegas standards.

Sorry, I can't buy a projected 18-win drop for the 2018 Brewers, no matter who comes up with it. Especially because I don't see the NL Central full of dominant teams. The Cubs will be good, but have bigtime pitching concerns with little/no help in their minors. The Cards will be decent, while I expect the Pirates and Reds to continue struggling. The Brewers aren't playing in the NL West or AL East... Kind of a pointless article to begin with - who cares about a pre-hot stove projections?

I think Alabama is in trouble this weekend against Auburn - which sets up a similar scenario when the BCS title game was a rematch between LSU and Alabama. I just don't buy that Alabama is by far away a dominant team this year, even if they've been ranked #1 all season long - if they don't even win their SEC division and get a chance to beat Georgia for the SEC title, they have no business making the CFP.

Badgers still sitting at #5 in the weekly CFP beauty pageant. Miami moves up a spot after struggling at home against apparent powerhouse Virginia - the same team that got demolished by Indiana earlier this year. 3-loss Miss St. somehow jumps 2 spots after squeaking by a terrible Arkansas team, and LSU also jumps up 2 spots because that's pretty much the SEC rule of thumb for teams ranked #10-20....if they win (even against a local community college), they automatically are bumped up 2 spots to support Bama's SOS argument. Funny how the committee finds a way to get South Carolina in their rankings just before they play Clemson - that 31-10 beatdown of Wofford must've really turned some heads... Results of this weekend's games will go a long way to showing whether the committee is willing to entertain leaving an undefeated WI out of the playoff - if Bama loses to Auburn and WI finds both Auburn and Alabama ranked ahead of them next Tuesday with Georgia right behind them, there's a solid chance the Badgers get robbed even if they'd beat OSU. The committee sure seems to be doing everything they can to position the field for including two SEC or two ACC teams in the final 4.

the previous post is a great point - the number of toolsy prospects who haven't developed fast enough to be ready for the big leagues in the Brewers system is getting to be pretty high. Many of these guys currently not on the 40-man were drafted/acquired before Stearns arrived in Milwaukee as well. The Brewers' farm system is about to run out of room at the A+ to AA levels for some of these guys as younger players are promoted. While I don't expect an unprotected prospect fire sale this offseason, I do expect some of these players will be dealt in effort to acquire MLB pitching before spring training. I also think many of their pitchers at this level will be given every opportunity in spring training to earn a roster spot in the bullpen. Sure, there will be some players currently on the 40 man that will be traded/allowed to walk to make room for some of these prospects, but look for them to be thinned out via trade as well - for a few, their perceived value to the Brewers has to be as trade bait. I don't think Stearns is the type of GM willing to lose half a dozen players via rule 5 if he can use them to acquire more controllable talent - particularly if they are blocked at the major league level by young players who've shown they are productive in Milwaukee.

I worry about Arrieta because he churned out a TON of innings for the Cubs in 2015 and 2016, especially compared to innings pitched in earlier seasons of his career. 2017 was probably the correction year where those innings started catching up to him. I'd be very cautious about giving him a contract if the Cubs are willing to let him walk - especially considering their need for quality starting pitching.

A close acc title game with Miami losing is another option. Auburn edging Bama at home and then getting rolled by Georgia is another... I don't think any of these should keep an undefeated wisconsin out...but they could, especially if the badgers somehow wind up playing Michigan state in the conf. title game to remove any chance of a top ten win on their resume.