itiswhatitis

7 - 2 and you know the bowl invites are growing. At least one more win and they will be playing in a respectable bowl game this year. It is still going to be hard to get win #8. The bucket game can go either way in this rivalry. The other 2 games? A puncher's chance? We'll see.

After a couple of days to digest what happened Friday night, I think I've come to this conclusion: What a first half beat down by the Miners.....on themselves! I can't recall seeing any Miner team with so many mistakes in one half of football. 5 turnovers at the half??? The tipped pick 6 I get but so many fumbles! On the Mater Dei side of the field I was REALLY impressed with their defense. It is definitely championship caliber. Wasn't too impressed with their offense, but maybe they were playing it close to the vest in this game after the first quarter. Pretty crazy when you are up 14 - 0 and haven't even got a first down yet. Best of luck to Mater Dei in the rest of the tournament. Expecting you to represent the south!

Well here we are! Other than a few rivalry games at the end of the season, I am calling this "Separation Weekend". LSU and Bama, Iowa and Wisconsin, Penn State and Minnesota, and Baylor and TCU (yes, TCU). I mention this game because Baylor is undefeated and TCU is at home. I would not sleep on TCU. Other than a road loss at Iowa State, they've been in every game. It wasn't that long ago, they were really good. I could see this as an upset this week. Ohio State is playing Maryland so that should be a solid "W" for the Buckeyes. Unless, they look ahead to Penn State and Michigan they should win easily. So after this weekend, there should be some separation at the top of the standings. Clemson is about the only top 4 team that should coast into the National playoffs. Georgia helped itself yesterday with their win over Florida. Win out and get to the SEC title game and win that? The Bulldogs could sneak in depending on what happens this weekend. I think the LSU/Bama winner this weekend will make one of the top four spots in the playoff regardless whether they win the SEC title game. If Georgia wins out, they will replace the loser in the top 4.

Miners finally catch a break. They take over on the Mater Dei 24 after a bad snap on a punt with 59 seconds left in the half. One play, 24 yard TD pass Goodman to Houser. Score is now 30 - 7, Mater Dei with the lead..

Linton totally out of the game and still in the first half. Last I heard it was 21 - 0 Mater Dei and Linton has committed 5 turnovers! The first play from scrimmage was a pick 6 and Linton has lost 4 of 6 fumbles. Don't know who got off of the bus, but it sure as hell wasn't the Miners.

They were? Gee Wally, go figure. Nice to have that information. Forget about Cindy. What I can't wrap my mind around is: if you want to push being like Ohio, aren't there "points" a team has to be awarded to qualify for the tournament? Aren't those points won from conference wins? So would a conference win in the CIC, or HC would carry more weight than a win by a team in the Patoka Lake Conference or the White River Conference? How do you make those equitable? (Notice I did NOT use the word "fair"?) Or is a conference win just a conference win in general? And are teams awarded points for "good" losses too? If we are talking conferences, again I have to ask, "what about independents"? Or would a team like Cathedral just be invited because of their SOS? OH wait, you did mention win/loss and SOS didn't you? So why not just use the Sags to rank all 320 teams and then have a cutoff at a certain number? Don't even mess with having classes any more. Just take the top 160 or whatever and place them in divisions (I am being serious for suggesting it). I would think that would make things more equitable/interesting having teams regardless of enrollment, but closer in the Sag ratings, play each other in the tournament. Yes, more equitable. Right now the current Sags show that Lewis-Cass is ranked 32nd in the state rankings. For example, let's say the top 32 teams are division one. In that example, Lewis-Cass would be the last team in Division one. Their Sag ranking says they would play against mostly 6A teams. If they are so good to be ranked so high, then isn't that who they should be playing in the tournament? Their tournament competition should match who they play during the season, no?

Cinderella a myth? I don't think you could convince the 2005 Northwood team to give back their state trophy because they actually didn't win it. No way a 3 - 6 team can win the state championship because Cinderella doesn't exist. So you would force your fairness on someone else who doesn't behold through your eyes? I look at it like the movie, 12 Angry Men. If it hadn't been for the ONE, they would have executed the guy. Indiana is THE ONE in regards to the other 49. I never said it would be something that everyone would love. It's obvious by posts on this forum that not everyone loves the all in either. What? I get no points for my other post and suggestion for a playoff? Gee thanks for noticing, Mr. Counselor..

And that is a Canadian team. As a people, they are illiterate and know nothing about proper speech/grammar (eh?). And don't encourage him. The next thing you know, he'll want Nowlin's job as Mayor of the GID.

I only have one head. Why would I want 4 hats? LOL

I've said all year that the Warriors defense has been good and a main reason they have had a good year. There have been other years when North Knox has had a stud running back or two but didn't have the defense to go with the offense. This year I believe they are a more balanced team and one of the most balanced that I can recall. VL only scored 12, Sullivan only scored 15, and the Miners only scored 28 to give some examples of how much they have improved And that 28 by the Miners is the most they've given up all year. I know Forrest Park just shutout Tell City so I am expecting this game tonight to be low scoring and a defensive battle. Still picking the Warriors to get the win.

I watched part of the first half, then fell asleep. LOL

No problem. For what it's worth here are the state rankings for strength of schedules of the 4 teams: Mater Dei - 128thth Linton - 181sr Forrest Park - 243rd North Knox - 261st. Here are the teams' rankings in the Sags (state and class) Linton - 80th in state and 6th in class Mater Dei - 89th in state and 7th in class North Knox - 139th in state and 16th in class Forrest Park - 213th in state and 37th in class

North Vermillion's SOS is #226 and South Putnam's SOS is #218. They are almost equal. So much for South Putnam's "tough schedule". West Vigo is the 39th ranked team in 3A and that is a "quality" win? Mama's done snapped her wig! North Vermillion by at least 3 scores.

We already know that and have been saying that. MD plays a tougher schedule than Linton. To say that Linton's Schedule is weaker this year, isn't a true statement. Other than Boonville, it's the same one they played last year. Now if you want to say some teams on Linton's schedule are "down" this year, that's different. I don't recall seeing any Linton posters saying that the Miners schedule it comparable to MD's. Good luck to the Warriors tonight.

Baylor tried to lose last night against West Virginia. They won (17 - 14) but didn't look very good doing so.

I've always liked the all in because it is unique. I've liked the fact that the "little guy"(regardless of class) still has a shot. It may be like hitting the lottery type shot in some cases, but the shot is still there for them. I have softened my stance somewhat and wouldn't be opposed to a qualifier as long as it was equitable. And that is where I have a problem. I've yet to see anyone propose something that would be fair across the board to everyone. One problem is you can't use conference play as part of the equation. That doesn't cut it due to it being impossible to line them all up as equals not to mention there are independents. I am keen to the idea of using the Sags (or something similar) to rank the teams and then take the field from there. No more classes. They could be put into divisions instead or something similar. There are some bigger schools that could then compete with smaller schools and vice versa without getting their brains bashed in and or proving they belong against bigger competition. I'm just not sure what you could use fairly with ranking everyone. But I believe it would help to improve Indiana football. It isn't just about the smaller enrollment schools. There are 3A, 4A, and 5A teams that don't have very good programs in comparison to the other members of their respective classes. So, just get rid of the classes. That kind of thought process is intriguing to me. Bobref - if you read this, please don't have a heart attack over my change-in-attitude towards a qualifier. LOL

If half of the liquor was left, it COULDN'T have been anyone from Linton.

Coach Weber always wore shorts too when he coached at Linton. I'm standing watching a game in November with insulated everything on and a heavy Carhart jacket and he's in shorts. LOL

Yeah they've been mollywhopping pretty much everyone. Was especially happy to see them beat up the Badgers. Got tired of the broadcasters yammering on about how Wisconsin's defense was #1 nationally in this category and that category. "They've only given up 197 total yards per game!" Ohio State had 431 total yards. LOL Also was glad they FINALLY shut up about Taylor and the Heisman. He ain''t gettin' it now is he? LOL I think he had less than 60 yards for the game. The Buckeyes did the same thing the last time Wisconsin had an "all world" RB. He had only 69 yards and the Buckeyes blew them out of the stadium. What was it? 59 - 0? Something like that. As I said, I would hope that Day is at least in the conversation. You know how some of those dweebs are: "Well he did win it with Meyer's recruits. We'll give it to Saban instead. He had to win games with a backup quarterback. We'll wait and see if Day can win with players he recruited." What a joke!

I think I would have waited until after next weekend to make that comment. Well at least in Minnesota's case. If they beat Penn State, I wouldn't call that "fool's gold". Can't say for Baylor, I'd have to look at their schedule.

ESPN kinda owns the SEC. They are the same way with the Patriots. Bias, bias, bias. Got sick of it and stopped watching ESPN. The Patriots could be 0 for the season and they would STILL get al of the storylines on ESPN newcasts. Made me sick. I think the Big 12 lost their shot in the final four when Oklahoma lost. You could be right calling Baylor but they need a lot of help. Still several games left and the conference title games. Thinking Clemson is a lock by default. It is them and everyone else in the ACC. So they will stay in the top four. I don't think they will be the top team in the final four though. Now I have to keep an eye on two teams: Minnesota AND Baylor.

I remember the Sectional championship game in 1998 at North Daviess. The wind was blowing pretty strong that night. Thank goodness there was no precipitation. The temperature bottomed out during the day. By game time the wind chill was 17 below zero! What a raw night that was.

Wow, bold call (Baylor). I'm thinking if LSU beats Bama during the season, it won't matter if LSU loses the SEC title game. They will still get in the playoffs. Maybe not as the top seed, but they will still get in. Now if they win the SEC title game also, I think that might push Bama out (believe it or not). I guess that could open the door for a team like Baylor, but several things will need to happen. The pollsters do have that SEC bias, so maybe they'd keep a one loss Bama. The preseason polls come out and 3/4 of the SEC teams are ranked. LOL Go figure. Pollsters love the SEC.. They just have to have a #1 vs #2 matchup somewhere during their season. They won't get it this year in the SEC title game (thank goodness!)

I would agree about Penn State. I watched their game against Michigan. They are a good team. However, I don't see them winning in Columbus. They won't have all of those home fans wearing white. I've heard it said the Buckeyes are the most complete team in America. I think that's a pretty good assessment. I've watched all of the Buckeyes games this year. They've had a couple of slow spots here and there but in the end, they've bashed just about everyone. Their closest game was against Michigan State and that was a 24 point win. And we all know how they just dismantled Wisconsin. Offense, defense, and special teams, they are just a machine. It's funny how good they are this year and it is also Day's first year as a head coach. If they win it all, I wonder if he'll get Coach of The Year? I would think his name should at least be in the conversation. Right now I'd say it's between him (Day) and Fleck at Minnesota for B1G coach of the year. If I were voting, I'd vote for Fleck. But there are still 4 more games to be played and the B1G title game. But I did say "right now" so today I'd vote for Fleck. LOL

Sounds like the kicker that Scecina had back in 2011. Dude kicked like a mule! Linton had zero yards on kickoff returns that night. He also hit a field goal from about a mile and a half away. LOL Okay, I exaggerated that one. I believe it was from 45 yards out. I think he went to Illinois on scholarship after high school. Can't recall his name though. He was a weapon.