First bowl projections are out
- Thread starter Las Panteras
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Doing bowl projections before the season begins seems very reasonable to me. Not at all guesswork.
Absolutely
Could start a trend too
How about the 2020 projections? 2021?
Why even bother playing the games?
I’m going on a limb and predicting bama vs Clemson in NC game.
And what makes it any different than predicting rankings or standings or records or heisman favorites or ...
Trevor Lawrence is a fool to play the next 2 years. He is the #1 pick in 2021. Why play for free?
What else is he gonna do? Take a year off from football?
Well, nothing and that’s precisely my point. That’s not a prediction, it’s something approaching a random guess. Just because those ridiculous things have been normalized doesn’t mean we have to allow all ridiculous things to be normalized, right?
There’s absolutely nothing to it.
It’s like guessing how many jellybeans are in the jar at the county fair. That’s fine. I’m sure there are people that are really into that type of thing. However, I think giving it credence or legitimacy is just plain ridiculous.
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DVY, I think you may be looking too deep into this man. It’s for entertainment. No different than 2020 mock nfl drafts that are already out.
Of course it’s a guess, a prediction based on the unknown. No one is selling this as scientific analysis.
They're guesses but not unreasonable ones. Pitt did play Navy in a similar bowl recently after all. It is well known what types of programs we are, the range of W-L capabilities each school has, and the set of bowls we'd have at our disposal. Picking us in the Orange or the playoff, or bowls not accessible to ACC or ... or whatever conference Navy is in... now, those would be total witless guesses.
Don't worry about it.
If they're predicting now that PITT is in the Military Bowl there's a 97.75432% chance we won't be.
They rarely get the Top 25, Top 10, or CFP teams ( except for Clemson & Alabama) right at this time.
For once, you may actually be right about something
The pacific pro league starts next year
Lawrence would be the perfect candidate to leave school and play in this league.
I wouldn't blame him. I don't know anyone who would play for free when there's at least a token payday.
Leaving Clemson to go play in the Pacific Pro league would be the worst career advice ever, in the history of mankind.. id recommend taking up heroine before i'd recommend a person like Lawrence leaving early to go play in this league..
I don't know that you're wrong but I seriously doubt it hurts his draft stock so long as this coming season isn't a bust. Nick Bosa more or less tanked on OSU last year and what did it cost him?
Guys like Lawrence at places like Clemson are getting paid, rest assured. Better than some dubious semi-pro league that isn't operating yet for sure.
we are comparing apples to oranges here. SMF it basically suggesting Lawrence sits out two years before going pro (I don't think he redshirted). I mean that's ridiculous..
With bosa, or a lot of players now, I kind of see them not rushing back after injury, if their team is out of the playoffs especially. Someone that is expected to be drafted the following year, maybe gets hurt mid season, they COULD come back and play in last few games or just shut it down and get ready for draft? I definitely see that as a smart move.
these players sitting out meaningless bowl games? Absolutely, without a doubt. personally, I hope they do cause I want to see younger players regardless. But just quitting college football for a year (or two) and working out on your own or with a trainer, for a year plus? That's career suicide..
Two years? Yeah, not a good call. One? Eh, there's not much difference. Assuming the kid lights it up again this fall, he could basically claim he had a groin issue out of camp the following summer that needs time off to heal and yield the offense to the next 5* in waiting. Nobody at Clemson will care and the NFL doesn't seem to care. That was all my comparison to Bosa was suggesting. If the Pacific league throws a pile of cash in his lap for one year, he can go and see. Check out if necessary (stupid groin). Somebody in the NFL will still make him rich. There's always someone ready to throw a wad of cash at a QB with potential.
If that was the case, he'd be even more inclined to leverage the possibility.
I'm not suggesting it's even on his mind. I'm just questioning the merit of bothering with an unpaid season when an injury could devastate your career earning potential. The NFL seems to get this.
sitting out a year after two very good years at Clemson COULD pay off. going to an XFL or pacific league, playing under inferior coaches with inferior players is just plain idiotic move. I could possibly see a player putting in two good years and sitting out that 3rd year in college to "prep" for the next year's draft.
Lawrence is playing with some of the best college football players on the planet.
He's really good and they help him be really good!
He should continue to do what he's doing because it's working!
He's really good and they help him be really good!
He should continue to do what he's doing because it's working!
Look, I'd tell the kid to sit but the original premise was if he wanted to play and get paid. Personally, I think the rule that forces these kids to wait is stupid and serves only to pacify college coaches and keep the NFL's free minor league system intact.
limiting an adult (These college players are adults) to pursue a career in a professional league is absurd. I agree with you. one and done rules or 3 years from high school graduation (with football) is beyond insane that this is even allowed to be a rule.
I am a fan of college hoops and college football and both are too strong to be effected by players leaving early.
What if Vince McMahon gives him a big 1-year contract next year with a nice signing bonus? Why play for free at Clemson?
I join others think players should be able to declare and go pro whenever they want. I even see why some may decide to sit out their final bowls (maybe coming soon, top hoops players will sit out post season tourneys too). The sports certainly would absorb it just fine. Truly, Pitt fans should actually be on the side of it, it is far more apt to be players from blue bloods that we can't get.
But let's avoid the ridiculous woe-is-them charade. The best who remain playing in college, at the blue bloods in particular, are certainly getting "paid". It may always not be outright cash (but often is), not always paid outright to the player (but through payoffs to family etc.). Or homes, cars, bling, phony jobs etc. Even undeserved degrees for fake classes that werent attended (like at UNC).
'Scandals' leak almost every week proving all this. The sloppy one that gets caught is representative of the wide spread occurrences that don't, or happily covered up by the media. And even when exposed, nobody cares. Heck, most feel glad for the kids in question. I certainly do.
The highest level players, the ones we're really talking about here, have a sweet sweet situation whichever way they choose to go.
But let's avoid the ridiculous woe-is-them charade. The best who remain playing in college, at the blue bloods in particular, are certainly getting "paid". It may always not be outright cash (but often is), not always paid outright to the player (but through payoffs to family etc.). Or homes, cars, bling, phony jobs etc. Even undeserved degrees for fake classes that werent attended (like at UNC).
'Scandals' leak almost every week proving all this. The sloppy one that gets caught is representative of the wide spread occurrences that don't, or happily covered up by the media. And even when exposed, nobody cares. Heck, most feel glad for the kids in question. I certainly do.
The highest level players, the ones we're really talking about here, have a sweet sweet situation whichever way they choose to go.
maybe, I know this is hard for some on here to grasp, but maybe some of these guys like playing college football? Winning NCs, playing football in front of 80k fans, I mean it sounds like torture to some of you but maybe he likes it..
And dear Lord, don't forget about Clemson's putt putt golf course and slide they have access too at their football player facility.
I preferred money, booze, and girls to putt-putt and a slide at that age, but that’s just me. Hypothetically, if Vince gives him a 7 figure contract and some other perks then he needs to seriously consider it.maybe, I know this is hard for some on here to grasp, but maybe some of these guys like playing college football? Winning NCs, playing football in front of 80k fans, I mean it sounds like torture to some of you but maybe he likes it..
And dear Lord, don't forget about Clemson's putt putt golf course and slide they have access too at their football player facility.
Yeah, so do college kids. That’s why Clemson built them a slide and mini golf course on campus. To keep the players away from such things.
First point that's not going to happen.
Second point he's getting paid at Clemson, free college, plus fame and notoriety of playing on the top team in college football and each year that he "kills" it at Clemson his future bank account gets larger.
Imagine if he off and does something stupid like instead of playing with the best college football players around be goes and plays in an upstart league and looks like a "bum."
That won't help his future!
Yeah i think too many posters here equate the stuff players have to deal with ... regular conditioning, informal off season practices, early or late sessions during camps or season, or later training table meals, that college athletes have to 'endure,' as similar to something like a hideous or tedious campus or parttime job they might have had to deal with as students.maybe, I know this is hard for some on here to grasp, but maybe some of these guys like playing college football? Winning NCs, playing football in front of 80k fans, I mean it sounds like torture to some of you but maybe he likes it..
And dear Lord, don't forget about Clemson's putt putt golf course and slide they have access too at their football player facility.
This ain't working with the janitorial crew at DLH, or stacking books relentlessly at Hillman library, or long hours at the Book Center cash register checking out jabroney students and their obscenely high priced text books. It's a labor of love for the athletes (and they're with their best friends doing it, in most cases). For the best, they know there are great experiences to come from it... big exciting games, college playoffs or NYD bowls (even if sitting out the final one), tons of fans, glory, hot chicks etc.... and even greater experiences to come after that, when draft day arrives. What a glorious life...
And (as your pics show) at the better programs, they get tremendous perks (some legal, some not) for doing what they love, much more than what these posters got for their drudgery.
That would still be a huge mistake... a few million in a single season with the risks against waiting 1-year to get $30m+ guaranteed. It’s not like he’d spend that year in poverty, any agency would front him plenty of cash against his $20m+ signing bonus.
How is it any more guesswork than preseason top 25 polls that set the seasons playoff race from the start?
I’m not sure that it is, but I’m also not sure that’s super relevant?
If most people can agree that doing a Preseason Top 25 is one of the most absurd traditions in sports, why on earth would anyone want to try to emulate it or even take it one step further?
I just don’t get that.
I understand that by itself it’s not that big of a deal. It’s just more off-season pablum at a time of the year that is dead in the college football calendar.
However, the reason there is a caste system in place in college athletics and especially college football is because mechanisms have been put into place that preserve the status of wealthy elites at the expense of everyone else.
Preseason top 25s are a great way to do that. So are preseason bowl projections.
Someone was saying on here the other day that Michigan has never won a Big Ten title since that league went to its current divisional format. In fact, Michigan has never even played in a conference championship game and those are not a new phenomena.
Also, if you look at the Wolverines’ record against their primary rivals - Ohio State and Michigan State - over the past 10-15 years now, it’s not great. In fact, it’s pretty bad.
However, you would never know that because they’re Michigan for crying out loud and they are in the protected class.
I’m for a meritocracy where you have to earn it every single week of every single year. However, I have found through the years that college athletics is really a limited meritocracy. For some schools, like ours for example, that is true. For others that is definitely not true. I would like for the same standard to be equally applied to everyone and that’s simply never going to happen as long as we insist on maintaining what amounts to an absurd degree of subjectivity in just about every aspect of the process.
If most people can agree that doing a Preseason Top 25 is one of the most absurd traditions in sports, why on earth would anyone want to try to emulate it or even take it one step further?
I just don’t get that.
I understand that by itself it’s not that big of a deal. It’s just more off-season pablum at a time of the year that is dead in the college football calendar.
However, the reason there is a caste system in place in college athletics and especially college football is because mechanisms have been put into place that preserve the status of wealthy elites at the expense of everyone else.
Preseason top 25s are a great way to do that. So are preseason bowl projections.
Someone was saying on here the other day that Michigan has never won a Big Ten title since that league went to its current divisional format. In fact, Michigan has never even played in a conference championship game and those are not a new phenomena.
Also, if you look at the Wolverines’ record against their primary rivals - Ohio State and Michigan State - over the past 10-15 years now, it’s not great. In fact, it’s pretty bad.
However, you would never know that because they’re Michigan for crying out loud and they are in the protected class.
I’m for a meritocracy where you have to earn it every single week of every single year. However, I have found through the years that college athletics is really a limited meritocracy. For some schools, like ours for example, that is true. For others that is definitely not true. I would like for the same standard to be equally applied to everyone and that’s simply never going to happen as long as we insist on maintaining what amounts to an absurd degree of subjectivity in just about every aspect of the process.
I guess I wasn't clear, I think he'd be an idiot to play 2 more years of college football, but only slightly less of an idiot if he played 1-2 seasons in the XFL or Powerful Pacific Football Experience, or whatever the hell it's called. He should play 1 more season of college football then hire an agency and work with a qb trainer (Whitfield or Weinke) for a year before the draft.
A lot of you guys are no fun at all. Sheesh.
Feel happy that someone thinks we can scrape enough together to win 6.
Things can certainly change of course but the core talents of most teams are fairly well known, their schedules are known etc. and thus making predictions even now is not totally unreasonable.
In our case, even if Whipple is an incredible genius and can wrest actual competence out of Pickett, which is our biggest (but not only) big question mark ... Pitt still isn't likely to rise much out of our usual 5-7 to 7-5 range. Even 8-4, depending on how derived and how our peers do, heck, we might still tumble to that middling bowl predicted for us.
As for some of the blue bloods getting unjust high rankings or predictions, it definitely adds pressure to those coaches...in the end, if those teams come up short of expectations, the piper will be demanding...
Anyway, it's just fun
Feel happy that someone thinks we can scrape enough together to win 6.
Things can certainly change of course but the core talents of most teams are fairly well known, their schedules are known etc. and thus making predictions even now is not totally unreasonable.
In our case, even if Whipple is an incredible genius and can wrest actual competence out of Pickett, which is our biggest (but not only) big question mark ... Pitt still isn't likely to rise much out of our usual 5-7 to 7-5 range. Even 8-4, depending on how derived and how our peers do, heck, we might still tumble to that middling bowl predicted for us.
As for some of the blue bloods getting unjust high rankings or predictions, it definitely adds pressure to those coaches...in the end, if those teams come up short of expectations, the piper will be demanding...
Anyway, it's just fun
Honestly, I think a lot of the preseason stuff is to generate clicks or sell magazines. It's like Athalon putting a bumch of B1G teams in their top 15 or something. It's just message board fodder or crap that internet warriors trumpet like it's the truth.
