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"2nd Class" vs ESP5N 7-0 in Bowl Games

UCFhonors

Todd's Tiki Bar
Feb 20, 2010
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Who would have projected this?
0-3 SEC
Army - Missouri
UCF - Florida
Houston W - Auburn

0-1 Pac 12
Utah St - Oregon St


E Carolina W - BC forfeit
Air Force W - Louisville
SMU W - Virginia forfeit
Cincinnati - Alabama

This is why you should never accept any 2nd class pejorative. It's disrespectful and un-American. I refuse to use any term designed to put us or others down as 2nd class citizens.


#UCFacts
 
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The inverse of this is true as well. The SEC is regarded as the best football conference..Why? Sure they are good ,but it's really 2-3 trans. That are good and the rest are average at best .Their out of conference schedule is largely cup cakes and they justify it by saying ,well ,we are the SEC and we play a tough schedule that's why we schedule the Citadel and Western Carolina..

Yet their circular logic and circular media puppets keep pushing it and their fans lap it up. You know, it just means more . They put themselves on a pedestal and this bowl season it just means more to watch their teams lose one after another and it means more that UCF toppled the first domino.. If we ever get a legitimate playoff system I predict parity happens even more abd the SEC will one day just mean less .
 
The inverse of this is true as well. The SEC is regarded as the best football conference..Why? Sure they are good ,but it's really 2-3 trans. That are good and the rest are average at best .Their out of conference schedule is largely cup cakes and they justify it by saying ,well ,we are the SEC and we play a tough schedule that's why we schedule the Citadel and Western Carolina..

Yet their circular logic and circular media puppets keep pushing it and their fans lap it up. You know, it just means more . They put themselves on a pedestal and this bowl season it just means more to watch their teams lose one after another and it means more that UCF toppled the first domino.. If we ever get a legitimate playoff system I predict parity happens even more abd the SEC will one day just mean less .

100!

The more you did into this, the more then all become super clear.
- Conferences are judged by the top 2-3 teams.
- the sec inflates their W/L records with super favorable scheduling ie FCS opponents and extra home games. Only playing tough OOC games on neutral sites close to their town or easy travel destinations
- All conferences will have a natural bell curve.
- bias ranking justify media bias and confirmation bias
- then misunderstanding of SOS is used for confirmation bias. When in actuality SOS is just your opponent's w/l %. There is divergence at the beginning of the season. But as more games are played everyone's SOS is around .500 as math and statistics says it will always be. It's beyond retarded to hard rank such as small difference. Then claim #50 and #7 SOS is somehow justification to exclude or include teams.

I UCFeel like UCFans should all have to learn these UCFacts.

Oh and recruiting rankings are more BS than preseason Top 25 click bait.

Too much of FBS has been handed over to be controlled by media companies. I could go on how the bowls are just controlled by the media ie ESP5N. Especially when you understand the inner workings of the bowls committees.

#UCFacts
 
It's not about traditions, it's about the heart.

Not taking anything away from these bowl victories but the love of money is rotting this and all sports nowadays. NIL, NFL draft position, schools that expect to win every year because of the money they are pouring into their program, etc. Money isn't evil but how you use it can be or can sacrifice everything for it.

You can't escape the heart and motives behind it all. Stay faithful...

Happy New Year!
 
Also, I don't think those cancelled games officially count as forfeits. Either way, they shouldn't be used in any type of argument to prove conference superiority.
 
Truly think the SEC is doodoo this year. Even Alabama and Georgia seem surprisingly fragile. Really don't understand how we still have 2 SEC teams in the playoffs in a year having more teams in the big 12 and B1G passing the eye test better than alabama until the last game of the season.
 
The AAC was 2-10 vs. the "P5" during the regular season. 3-10 if you include Cincy's victory over Notre Dame.
That's just more bias. The lower P5s won't schedule us. Tough G5's don't get to beat up on Vandy and Duke every year. Most P5/G5 matchups are one-and-done mismatch warmup games at places like Alabama. It doesn't do much for the P5/G5 win/loss records.

Edit: occasionally you get lucky when a P5 goes down in ability between when they get scheduled and when the game is played. Also, I have a lot of respect for the P5s that come to our house when we have a chance of winning: Texas, BC, SC, NCST, Pitt, Stanford in the Bounce House era (I'm sure I forgot some).
 
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That's just more bias. The lower P5s won't schedule us. Tough G5's don't get to beat up on Vandy and Duke every year. Most P5/G5 matchups are one-and-done mismatch warmup games at places like Alabama. It doesn't do much for the P5/G5 win/loss records.
I don't totally disagree, but anyway you look at it 2-10 is bad.

The American was a straight up bad conference this year. There were 5-6 teams that were just pathetic. Luckily we're taking two of the good ones with us to the Big 12, and it's no longer our problem. But the AAC was bad this year and will only get worse.
 
Truly think the SEC is doodoo this year. Even Alabama and Georgia seem surprisingly fragile. Really don't understand how we still have 2 SEC teams in the playoffs in a year having more teams in the big 12 and B1G passing the eye test better than alabama until the last game of the season.
Every school in the nation is fragile. The only school not to take a loss still had close calls against bad teams. 2 Loss P5 teams aren't going to jump 1 loss P5 teams. Taking a 2 loss Ohio State team that didn't even play in conference championship would be a far more unusual decision. And Baylor still has the worse loss out of all the contenders losing to a 5-7 TCU team, while also having 2 losses.

Michigan and Cincinnati can show SEC sucks. I just wouldn't be confident in betting against Saban.
 
Playing devil's advocate. The AAC was 2-10 vs. the "P5" during the regular season. 3-10 if you include Cincy's victory over Notre Dame.
That's just more bias. The lower P5s won't schedule us. Tough G5's don't get to beat up on Vandy and Duke every year. Most P5/G5 matchups are one-and-done mismatch warmup games at places like Alabama. It doesn't do much for the P5/G5 win/loss records.

Edit: occasionally you get lucky when a P5 goes down in ability between when they get scheduled and when the game is played. Also, I have a lot of respect for the P5s that come to our house when we have a chance of winning: Texas, BC, SC, NCST, Pitt, Stanford in the Bounce House era (I'm sure I forgot some).

Both are UCFair arguments.

#UCFacts
 
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I am still somewhat of an SEC guy. I know some don't want to hear that they have better players, but the NFL backs me up on that. I would say it was a down year for that league as a whole. Florida and Auburn weren't that good. I still think the SEC is going to get some wins. I like Arkansas over Penn State. I like Ole Miss over Baylor. Although, in that game, for the first time in my lifetime, I will be rooting for the Big 12 over the SEC in that game, future conference mates. It will be weird for me to root against the SEC in the near future
 
I like what UCF Honors is getting at, the illusion that the SEC has all the best players. But comparing our wins in bowl games against the SEC isn't exactly a fair examination of the real facts. The real facts are that the AAC #2 beat the SEC West #6. Not the SEC #6, but the SEC west #6. The AAC #3 beat the SEC East #6. Not the SEC #6, but the 6th place team in the SEC East. So our #2 and #3 teams beat the #11 and #12 teams in the SEC. Cincy, our #1 was beaten by the SEC #1 Bama. Bama had better players and it showed at the line of scrimmage. Good G5 programs have good skill players. And Kudos to Cincy, their corners did a hell of a job against Bama. But football at its most basic point will always be won and lost in the trenches. As good as Cincy is at the skill spots, they don't have the DL to hold up against the likes of a Bama, Georgia, tOSU, etc..., nor do we. Look at those guys on the front of Bama and Georgia. We don't have anybody that could block those guys. We also don't have but maybe one who could play on their DL. But to be honest, it isn't a G5 vs P5 argument. It is more of a discussion about upper echelon schools and everybody outside the top 5. Top 5 schools are dominant on the DL. That is why I keep saying we need to get more impact players on the DL in the portal or in recruiting. A dominant DL means you can drop 7 in coverage and still get home. But the real trick is finding 5 guys up front on the OL who can maul the opposing D. When you have both of those, you are almost unbeatable (Bama, Georgia, tOSU).

I think that is the area where coach Gus will attack next. The recruiting cycle of 22-23 I think we will see him sign some nasty OL and DL. The year after that, as we enter the Big 12, I think he will pull down a top 40 recruiting class.
 
I like what UCF Honors is getting at, the illusion that the SEC has all the best players. But comparing our wins in bowl games against the SEC isn't exactly a fair examination of the real facts. The real facts are that the AAC #2 beat the SEC West #6. Not the SEC #6, but the SEC west #6. The AAC #3 beat the SEC East #6. Not the SEC #6, but the 6th place team in the SEC East. So our #2 and #3 teams beat the #11 and #12 teams in the SEC. Cincy, our #1 was beaten by the SEC #1 Bama. Bama had better players and it showed at the line of scrimmage. Good G5 programs have good skill players. And Kudos to Cincy, their corners did a hell of a job against Bama. But football at its most basic point will always be won and lost in the trenches. As good as Cincy is at the skill spots, they don't have the DL to hold up against the likes of a Bama, Georgia, tOSU, etc..., nor do we. Look at those guys on the front of Bama and Georgia. We don't have anybody that could block those guys. We also don't have but maybe one who could play on their DL. But to be honest, it isn't a G5 vs P5 argument. It is more of a discussion about upper echelon schools and everybody outside the top 5. Top 5 schools are dominant on the DL. That is why I keep saying we need to get more impact players on the DL in the portal or in recruiting. A dominant DL means you can drop 7 in coverage and still get home. But the real trick is finding 5 guys up front on the OL who can maul the opposing D. When you have both of those, you are almost unbeatable (Bama, Georgia, tOSU).

I think that is the area where coach Gus will attack next. The recruiting cycle of 22-23 I think we will see him sign some nasty OL and DL. The year after that, as we enter the Big 12, I think he will pull down a top 40 recruiting class.
I agree that the top of the SEC is generally the best there is in terms of talent and depth - not unbeatable but, on paper, they’re at the top. however, what I really dislike is there is rarely any mention of how average the mid/lower half of the league can be. Those top teams get credit for playing such a tough schedule when they have 7-8 home games and barely travel. Alabama lost to a team that ended the season 8-4. Including last night and the championship game, they played 6 teams with > 0.500 win pct.

Now give those loaded teams with more resources than ANYONE else and their talent opportunity after opportunity in the playoffs where they get 4 weeks to prepare and they do well…weird! Sure, the SEC losses are for their teams that didn’t do as well, but those teams still do have resource superiority over many of the teams they lost to, so I don’t think they should get a pas for it.
 
I like what UCF Honors is getting at, the illusion that the SEC has all the best players. But comparing our wins in bowl games against the SEC isn't exactly a fair examination of the real facts. The real facts are that the AAC #2 beat the SEC West #6. Not the SEC #6, but the SEC west #6. The AAC #3 beat the SEC East #6. Not the SEC #6, but the 6th place team in the SEC East. So our #2 and #3 teams beat the #11 and #12 teams in the SEC. Cincy, our #1 was beaten by the SEC #1 Bama. Bama had better players and it showed at the line of scrimmage. Good G5 programs have good skill players. And Kudos to Cincy, their corners did a hell of a job against Bama. But football at its most basic point will always be won and lost in the trenches. As good as Cincy is at the skill spots, they don't have the DL to hold up against the likes of a Bama, Georgia, tOSU, etc..., nor do we. Look at those guys on the front of Bama and Georgia. We don't have anybody that could block those guys. We also don't have but maybe one who could play on their DL. But to be honest, it isn't a G5 vs P5 argument. It is more of a discussion about upper echelon schools and everybody outside the top 5. Top 5 schools are dominant on the DL. That is why I keep saying we need to get more impact players on the DL in the portal or in recruiting. A dominant DL means you can drop 7 in coverage and still get home. But the real trick is finding 5 guys up front on the OL who can maul the opposing D. When you have both of those, you are almost unbeatable (Bama, Georgia, tOSU).

I think that is the area where coach Gus will attack next. The recruiting cycle of 22-23 I think we will see him sign some nasty OL and DL. The year after that, as we enter the Big 12, I think he will pull down a top 40 recruiting class.
Absolutely. The biggest difference from the top teams typically boils down to DL and DL depth.

Most FBS teams have 300+lb OL, but the DL is a different story. The top teams typically have the biggest and most talented DLs …and depth.

I believe our 2017 team had the best DL in our short history. We were big, athletic and deep.
 
Absolutely. The biggest difference from the top teams typically boils down to DL and DL depth.

Most FBS teams have 300+lb OL, but the DL is a different story. The top teams typically have the biggest and most talented DLs …and depth.

I believe our 2017 team had the best DL in our short history. We were big, athletic and deep.
Trystan hill was a beast. We had pittman who was a great G5 a beast. Shaq will never be valued as such, but he was essentially a matchup nightmare. We also had a shutdown corner in Hughes
 
2017 DL was very good.

Pittman & Trystan were great for us. Tony Guerad was very underrated & very productive. Joey Connors in the rotation too. AJ Wooten had several tackles and a forced fumble in the Peach Bowl.

All those guys except for Wooten were 300lbers.
 
That's just more bias. The lower P5s won't schedule us. Tough G5's don't get to beat up on Vandy and Duke every year. Most P5/G5 matchups are one-and-done mismatch warmup games at places like Alabama. It doesn't do much for the P5/G5 win/loss records.

Edit: occasionally you get lucky when a P5 goes down in ability between when they get scheduled and when the game is played. Also, I have a lot of respect for the P5s that come to our house when we have a chance of winning: Texas, BC, SC, NCST, Pitt, Stanford in the Bounce House era (I'm sure I forgot some).

But this argument goes both ways. When an SEC team is playing a G5 school in a bowl it is usually an SEC team that had a bad year, against a G5 school that was at least close to the top of their conference. I mean, Florida, Auburn, and Missouri were a combined 8-16 in conference play, and their Bowl opponents UCF and Houston were a combined 13-3 in the AAC (and Army was 9-4 as an independent so cant really look a conference context for them). I get what you are saying about the regular season, but if that is your argument with regards to the regular season, then I think the inverse has to apply to bowl games. I think if you really want to try and compare conferences it would be comparing the top of each conferences to each other, then the middle, then the bottom. Trying to compare the top of any conference to the bottom or lower middle, no matter if it is a regular season or bowl argument, isnt really a strong argument. (I also dont really think you can take much from bowl games either, but that is a separate discussion).
 
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I like what UCF Honors is getting at, the illusion that the SEC has all the best players. But comparing our wins in bowl games against the SEC isn't exactly a fair examination of the real facts. The real facts are that the AAC #2 beat the SEC West #6. Not the SEC #6, but the SEC west #6. The AAC #3 beat the SEC East #6. Not the SEC #6, but the 6th place team in the SEC East. So our #2 and #3 teams beat the #11 and #12 teams in the SEC. Cincy, our #1 was beaten by the SEC #1 Bama. Bama had better players and it showed at the line of scrimmage. Good G5 programs have good skill players. And Kudos to Cincy, their corners did a hell of a job against Bama. But football at its most basic point will always be won and lost in the trenches. As good as Cincy is at the skill spots, they don't have the DL to hold up against the likes of a Bama, Georgia, tOSU, etc..., nor do we. Look at those guys on the front of Bama and Georgia. We don't have anybody that could block those guys. We also don't have but maybe one who could play on their DL. But to be honest, it isn't a G5 vs P5 argument. It is more of a discussion about upper echelon schools and everybody outside the top 5. Top 5 schools are dominant on the DL. That is why I keep saying we need to get more impact players on the DL in the portal or in recruiting. A dominant DL means you can drop 7 in coverage and still get home. But the real trick is finding 5 guys up front on the OL who can maul the opposing D. When you have both of those, you are almost unbeatable (Bama, Georgia, tOSU).

I think that is the area where coach Gus will attack next. The recruiting cycle of 22-23 I think we will see him sign some nasty OL and DL. The year after that, as we enter the Big 12, I think he will pull down a top 40 recruiting class.
It's fair because the media and coaches put 8 SEC Teams in the Top 25 at the start or early part of the season...which means so many of their conf games come late Sept/Oct are ranked games (after joke non conf games).

So those non conf wins vs the SEC Teams in Bowl Games matter...as the SEC can't have it both ways ("we have the best players/teams").
 
Completely agree. Comparing conferences by bowl wins head-to-head is also nonsense.

I think looking at the bowl wins by conference is just for entertainment purposes. I am someone who doesnt think most bowl games mean anything anymore, outside the playoff games. I think the best measure is honestly to just look at how the NFL views each conference. It obviously isnt perfect because there are always good college players who just dont fit with the NFL for whatever reason, and there are talented college teams who maybe arent coached well or something like that so maybe the team isnt great. But if you look at the makeup of the NFL, to start this season there were 335 SEC players on NFL rosters. The next closest conference was the Big 10 with 266, and then the ACC with 208. No other conference had over 200. The SEC has also had more players drafted in 15 straight drafts. Again, I know this isnt the perfect way to look at it, but I also think it is hard to deny that one conference consistently sending more players to the NFL, is probably the most talented conference in college football.
 
I think looking at the bowl wins by conference is just for entertainment purposes. I am someone who doesnt think most bowl games mean anything anymore, outside the playoff games. I think the best measure is honestly to just look at how the NFL views each conference. It obviously isnt perfect because there are always good college players who just dont fit with the NFL for whatever reason, and there are talented college teams who maybe arent coached well or something like that so maybe the team isnt great. But if you look at the makeup of the NFL, to start this season there were 335 SEC players on NFL rosters. The next closest conference was the Big 10 with 266, and then the ACC with 208. No other conference had over 200. The SEC has also had more players drafted in 15 straight drafts. Again, I know this isnt the perfect way to look at it, but I also think it is hard to deny that one conference consistently sending more players to the NFL, is probably the most talented conference in college football.
How many were from the Big12/PAC?
 
I think looking at the bowl wins by conference is just for entertainment purposes. I am someone who doesnt think most bowl games mean anything anymore, outside the playoff games. I think the best measure is honestly to just look at how the NFL views each conference. It obviously isnt perfect because there are always good college players who just dont fit with the NFL for whatever reason, and there are talented college teams who maybe arent coached well or something like that so maybe the team isnt great. But if you look at the makeup of the NFL, to start this season there were 335 SEC players on NFL rosters. The next closest conference was the Big 10 with 266, and then the ACC with 208. No other conference had over 200. The SEC has also had more players drafted in 15 straight drafts. Again, I know this isnt the perfect way to look at it, but I also think it is hard to deny that one conference consistently sending more players to the NFL, is probably the most talented conference in college football.
I can guarantee that Georgia just wasn't motivated for the SEC title game. They already knew no matter what happened they were in the CFI. Bama had to win to be in.

....isn't this how the game is played?
 
I can guarantee that Georgia just wasn't motivated for the SEC title game. They already knew no matter what happened they were in the CFI. Bama had to win to be in.

....isn't this how the game is played?

The SEC title game is a championship game. That is nothing like a bowl game that isnt for any sort of championship or advancing to another round. You dont typically see guys sitting out championship games, so I dont think you can compare those games to bowl games.
 
I think looking at the bowl wins by conference is just for entertainment purposes. I am someone who doesnt think most bowl games mean anything anymore, outside the playoff games. I think the best measure is honestly to just look at how the NFL views each conference. It obviously isnt perfect because there are always good college players who just dont fit with the NFL for whatever reason, and there are talented college teams who maybe arent coached well or something like that so maybe the team isnt great. But if you look at the makeup of the NFL, to start this season there were 335 SEC players on NFL rosters. The next closest conference was the Big 10 with 266, and then the ACC with 208. No other conference had over 200. The SEC has also had more players drafted in 15 straight drafts. Again, I know this isnt the perfect way to look at it, but I also think it is hard to deny that one conference consistently sending more players to the NFL, is probably the most talented conference in college football.
As many have already stated, few people (who are football fans and can be objective) would say the SEC isn't the most talented conference. It sure is, especially in the trenches and at LB. But they can't beat their chests yelling out SEC, and say look at all the SEC wins we have, and then bag on teams like UF when we beat those same SEC schools in bowl games (e.g. UF). If they (SEC fans) are saying the team really isn't very good, then they really weren't that good when Bama/Georgia beat them, etc... Like someone said, they start the season with 7-8 teams ranked and then that mindset sticks with too many people (especially voters and the media) throughout the entire season. There should be no polls until 7-8 games into the season. You can't possibly convince me and say that UF team we played was once, honestly, deserved of a #11 ranking. What, because they almost beat Bama (at home)? It's a road conference game and road conference games are tough. Bama lost @Texas A&M. They are the blueprint and they do everything in their power to not schedule true road games.

Florida finished 6-7:
5-1 at home
0-1 vs Georgia (neutral site)
1-4 on the road
0-1 in bowl game (neutral site)

Let's look at another example. Arkansas finished 9-4. Good season. Let's break down their season:
1. Win - Beat 4-8 Rice at home
2. Win - Beat 5-7 Texas at home
3. Win - Beat 3-9 Georgia Southern at home
4. Win - Beat 8-4 Texas A&M at home
5. Loss - Lost @13-1 Georgia
6. Loss - Lost @10-3 Ole MIss
7. Loss - To 6-7 Auburn at home
8. Win - Beat 2-9 Arkansas Pine-Bluff at home
9. Win - Beat 7-6 Miss St at home
10. Win - Beat 6-6 LSU @LSU
11. Loss - Lost @13-1 Bama
12. Win - Beat 6-7 Mizzou at home
Win - They beat 6-7 Penn State in bowl game at neutral site.

So, they finished 7-1 at home (must be nice having 8 home games). 1-3 for away games, and 1-0 in bowl game (neutral site). They beat 2 teams that finished with a .500 or better record. Two, and those teams finished 7-6 and 8-4. They went 2-3 against all competition that finished .500 or better. 0-3 against competition with 9 or more wins. That is going to get them a top 20 ranking when the final AP Poll comes out, and probably a pre-season top 20 ranking in 2022.

This is the same story for probably 95% of programs, including our own. They win at home. They lose on the road. What sets the good (9-10 wins), very good (11-12 wins), and elite (13 wins or more) teams apart is winning on the road (and their bowl game at a neutral site). It's just that simple, so I have no idea how these pundits spend so much time and effort talking about this or that (other than they have to fill in airtime) about a bunch of minutia when this pretty much sums up every season, for every program.

There's no shame in saying, hey, in 2021 UCF was just a good team for being 9-4. They went 7-0 at home, 1-4 on the road, won a neutral site bowl game. They were 2-2 against teams that finished .500 or better. 0-2 versus teams with 8 or more wins.
 
The SEC title game is a championship game. That is nothing like a bowl game that isnt for any sort of championship or advancing to another round. You dont typically see guys sitting out championship games, so I dont think you can compare those games to bowl games.
I specifically heard many, many pundits yesterday saying they didn't think Georgia looked like they had the same fire in the SEC title game as they did in every other game, including the Orange Bowl. I agree with your sentiment. It's BS, but this is the line they all just keep feeding everybody.
 
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The real issue is that there are technically 6 different "leagues" Each has their own media deal, each has its own marketing and merch. They only play each other generally. The SEC top to bottom matched up with other leagues top to bottom is stronger than the AAC, but you will never see it change because they protect their league from competition through major payment to so-so programs which allows those powers to dominate
 
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