Michigan vs. FSU, Orange Bowl, 8pm, ESPN, Game Day - Post Game Discussion

[Hannibal]

The vast majority of OSU fans are like every other fanbase and do bitch.

That might be the right thing to do sometimes.

I watched the PSU-OSU game this year and I never got the impression that the officials were a huge factor. But I do sometimes get that impression with games that I have no emotional stake in, so I think that I'm capable of recognizing when the problem is real and when it's not. Clemson-Pitt was one of those games. The refs handed Pitt that one. It was terrible.

You can only stomach so many of these before you get sick of being told "it's part of the game" or that the expectation of not getting a fair shake should have been baked into your game plan.

[THE_WIZARD_]

fuckin' refs

[SeattleLionsFan]

So it seems like the realistic post season options for M are to go to the playoffs and being beaten badly by Bama, or the Orange Bowl against FSU or Louisville where I think M would be favored by at least a TD.

Which is better?

[iam416]

Do you want to win a national title? You can't win a national title if you don't play in the CFP, so, I mean...I think it's pretty clear...

[hack]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/featu...-for-your-team. Big data suggests we should all be watching Wiz' behavior more carefully, unpleasant as that may be.

Brymer’s data suggest something more insidious. Across the 3,000-odd regular-season and bowl games he studied, a bit less than half of the fouls called were what he terms “discretionary”—holding, pass interference, unsportsmanlike conduct, and personal fouls like roughing the passer. Refs were on average 10 percent less likely to throw discretionary flags on teams that enjoy both strong playoff prospects and winning traditions. Brymer calls these teams “protected flagships.”

Non-neutral information also available at link.

[iam416]

Well, since Ohio State is THE FLAGSHIP, then I guess I stand corrected. When playing lesser squads like Purdue and M, the advantage is clear.

Also, I'd suggest better players are less likely to get beaten and/or need to resort to penalties and such, but I reckon Brymer has already accounted for that in his Ohio State:Purdue comparison. I'm sure he didn't do a basic apples:applies on that one.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Do you want to win a national title? You can't win a national title if you don't play in the CFP, so, I mean...I think it's pretty clear...

That's what I lean towards, but I don't know if sparty's playoff trip set them up better than Ms trip to Florida.

[THE_WIZARD_]

LOL. Arbitrary analysis yet hilarious. Nice. Who determines the "discretionary"? Who determines the "protected flagships". 10%. Fucking hilarious analysis.

What do I think of it? I think what Lou Brown thinks...

[hack]

Noted the use of the word ``flagship''.

[iam416]

That's what I lean towards, but I don't know if sparty's playoff trip set them up better than Ms trip to Florida.

Contrary to AA's doltish metaphors, M wouldn't get pounded by Alabama. They'd lose, but probably in a way that showed they belong.

I mean, look, the entire world knew OSU was the best B10 team last year, but they had giant nothingburger resume, so they had to be left out. M is closer to that than it is to Dantonio's plucky bunch from last year.

[hack]

Michigan pounded two top-ten teams, beat another, and barely lost to a fourth top-ten team, the circumstances of which upset you when they are discussed. That's your "giant nothingburger". Same intellectual firepower that allots 9 minutes to something new to you, in which you think about it only long enough to speculate on a potential problem.

[iam416]

You should perhaps not respond to me at all. But, out of courtesy, I'll explain this statement:

Contrary to AA's doltish metaphors, M wouldn't get pounded by Alabama. They'd lose, but probably in a way that showed they belong.

I mean, look, the entire world knew OSU was the best B10 team last year, but they had giant nothingburger resume, so they had to be left out. M is closer to that than it is to Dantonio's plucky bunch from last year.

To provide context, SLF is worried about M going the way of MSU. My hastily crafted thesis is that M is way better than MSU was last year and would show well against Alabama. I believe that's clear from my first two sentences.

I'm then supporting that point in saying MSU wasn't really that great last year and that the entire world knew OSU was the best B10 team last year. I'm then explaining that they couldn't go to the CFP because OSU had a giant "nothingburger" resume, which they did. I'm then saying -- in an effort to support my hastily crafted thesis -- that I think M is closer to last year's OSU team -- the one I think everyone knew was the best team in the B10 -- than the MSU team that got pounded. Hence, I think M would show well against Alabama even if they lost.

I wouldn't expect to get harangued for saying I think M would do well against Alabama and that they're closer to 2015 OSU than they are to 2015 MSU. I also don't think my post is particularly hard to follow. It requires an ounce of good faith. It's rather plain that's not forthcoming in any circumstance, so why bother?

You win.

[hack]

If I've misunderstood your argument in any way then my apologies. Your conclusion is clear, but your reasoning is a bit less so now than it was before. I get that sometimes things are easy to misinterpret, and I'm all for a forum in which people have the room to clarify something. So if you're looking for ``an ounce of good faith'', you have it, whether you deserve that or not. You sure don't give it in return though. Ideally you could treat others how you would wish to be treated, but if you don't like my posts then don't respond. I'll say what I care to say.

[THE_WIZARD_]

My motto has always been...if you don't have something good to say about someone...let's hear it! Then tell them to shaddup or STFU on a rotating basis.

[hack]

I think that's exactly the right thing to do -- for a person like you.