Ranking our 2015 schedule, toughest to worst, in May .....

[Pervis_Griffith]

There is lots of time to kill between now and when summer practices start, so I figured it's time to ratchet up some off-season football talk.

Let's rank next year's schedule, toughest to easiest ....

1. Florida State ..... until they stumble, gotta put them at the top. Like without Winston begins, so maybe they drop a bit.

2. Clemson .... we hung with them there, but they're loaded with talent. And while we did a very good job containing DeShaun Watson before he got hurt, he's a very talented kid, who will be tough to stop.

3. Auburn ... pre-season top 10 team, in Atlanta game 1. A tough season opener for sure. But they arguably lose as much as we do. And some recent secondary losses can't be good for them. I don't know about you, but a Will Muschamp Defense isn't nearly as intimidating to me as it was BEFORE the 2013 Sugar Bowl.

4. NC State .... year two for Jacoby Brissett. Year 3 for Dave Doreen, who took Northern Illinois to the Orange Bowl (which got us to the Sugar Bowl -- MAJOR props to him for that). 8 and 5 last year. And they should improve off that record.

5. Pittsburgh ... Pat Narduzzi takes over, who was rumored to be on the short list for Tom Jurich when re-hiring Petrino. The former Michigan State DC has a nice reputation as an assistant, and I thought he would make a good head coach when we were considering him to lead our program, but we'll see. I admittedly don't know much about the Panthers, but they went bowling last year, playing a wild one against Houston. Their former coach was hired at Wisconsin, so you'd expect the cupboard isn't totally bare for Narduzzi.

6. Boston College ... Year 3 for Steve Addazio, and two straight 7 and 5 seasons. Tyler Murphy led the Eagles last year, with an upset of USC and close calls against Florida State and Clemson, but he is gone. Replacing him will be paramount.

7. Virginia ... Mike London survived the hot seat, even after only posting a 5 and 7 record. Dude has some talent. If he doesn't get results this year, I'd expect him to be toast. Since they beat us last year (many would argue we beat ourselves, but hey, that's the way the ball bounces), I'd hope we'd be out for some pay back this year.

8. Kentucky ... I was tempted to put Houston here, but am afraid my bias against UK would show too much. UK hasn't proven anything under Stoops yet. And I have my doubts they ever will. But we'll see. New offensive coordinator for the putty tats to adjust too as well. Ironically, the offense showed improvement in year two of Stoops, and not the defense, which is what Stoops is supposedly known for.

9. Houston ... A dangerous non-power 5 team to play for sure. They'll be jacked to play us, as we were when outside the power 5 conferences trying to earn respect. Hiring Ohio State assistant Tom Herman to take over for Tony Levine (former U of L assistant) pushes them down a bit. Assuming new schemes and all that goes with that, they return quite a bit of personnel, and sandwiched between Auburn and Clemson on our schedule, this game concerns me. It also sucks that they are a 12 noon start time ... our crowd will be slow to get in football watching shape.

10. Wake Forest ... maybe the Deacons should be higher on this list. But it is May after all. Year two of Dave Clauson. And they could make some noise. 3 and 9 last year, although they fought us tooth and nail. So who knows.

11. Syracuse ... Year 3 of Scott Shafer tenure. After a bowl winning campaign in his first year, the orange stumbled to a 3 and 9 record his next. Vegas puts the over/under for games won for the Cuse in '15 at 4.5.

12. Samford .... not Stan, but Sam ... ford. Enough said.



What say you?? How would you rank these foes in strength?

 

[zipp]

I'd put Houston ahead of LPT. Maybe Wake as well if they get their offense untracked. Otherwise, it's pretty spot on...

 

[American Male]

Swap Clemson and Florida State and move SUCK to 10th!!!

 

[Guardman]

There is lots of time to kill between now and when summer practices start, so I figured it's time to ratchet up some off-season football talk.

Let's rank next year's schedule, toughest to easiest ....

1. Florida State ..... until they stumble, gotta put them at the top. Like without Winston begins, so maybe they drop a bit.

2. Clemson .... we hung with them there, but they're loaded with talent. And while we did a very good job containing DeShaun Watson before he got hurt, he's a very talented kid, who will be tough to stop.

3. Auburn ... pre-season top 10 team, in Atlanta game 1. A tough season opener for sure. But they arguably lose as much as we do. And some recent secondary losses can't be good for them. I don't know about you, but a Will Muschamp Defense isn't nearly as intimidating to me as it was BEFORE the 2013 Sugar Bowl.

4. NC State .... year two for Jacoby Brissett. Year 3 for Dave Doreen, who took Northern Illinois to the Orange Bowl (which got us to the Sugar Bowl -- MAJOR props to him for that). 8 and 5 last year. And they should improve off that record.

5. Pittsburgh ... Pat Narduzzi takes over, who was rumored to be on the short list for Tom Jurich when re-hiring Petrino. The former Michigan State DC has a nice reputation as an assistant, and I thought he would make a good head coach when we were considering him to lead our program, but we'll see. I admittedly don't know much about the Panthers, but they went bowling last year, playing a wild one against Houston. Their former coach was hired at Wisconsin, so you'd expect the cupboard isn't totally bare for Narduzzi.

6. Boston College ... Year 3 for Steve Addazio, and two straight 7 and 5 seasons. Tyler Murphy led the Eagles last year, with an upset of USC and close calls against Florida State and Clemson, but he is gone. Replacing him will be paramount.

7. Virginia ... Mike London survived the hot seat, even after only posting a 5 and 7 record. Dude has some talent. If he doesn't get results this year, I'd expect him to be toast. Since they beat us last year (many would argue we beat ourselves, but hey, that's the way the ball bounces), I'd hope we'd be out for some pay back this year.

8. Kentucky ... I was tempted to put Houston here, but am afraid my bias against UK would show too much. UK hasn't proven anything under Stoops yet. And I have my doubts they ever will. But we'll see. New offensive coordinator for the putty tats to adjust too as well. Ironically, the offense showed improvement in year two of Stoops, and not the defense, which is what Stoops is supposedly known for.

9. Houston ... A dangerous non-power 5 team to play for sure. They'll be jacked to play us, as we were when outside the power 5 conferences trying to earn respect. Hiring Ohio State assistant Tom Herman to take over for Tony Levine (former U of L assistant) pushes them down a bit. Assuming new schemes and all that goes with that, they return quite a bit of personnel, and sandwiched between Auburn and Clemson on our schedule, this game concerns me. It also sucks that they are a 12 noon start time ... our crowd will be slow to get in football watching shape.

10. Wake Forest ... maybe the Deacons should be higher on this list. But it is May after all. Year two of Dave Clauson. And they could make some noise. 3 and 9 last year, although they fought us tooth and nail. So who knows.

11. Syracuse ... Year 3 of Scott Shafer tenure. After a bowl winning campaign in his first year, the orange stumbled to a 3 and 9 record his next. Vegas puts the over/under for games won for the Cuse in '15 at 4.5.

12. Samford .... not Stan, but Sam ... ford. Enough said.



What say you?? How would you rank these foes in strength?

I think that PG has it about right. One has to be mindful of the venue of these games. I think Clemson will be a very tough opponent, perhaps the toughest, but the Cards get Clemson here. So that's why Florida State has to be considered the toughest, even though they will have a drop-off.

One could rank the Auburn game anywhere from 1 to 3. I think #3 is about right.

I would move up both Houston and Kentucky. Both just a tad up.

Houston is becoming highly credible.

Kentucky will use everything they have, and more, within rules and not, to try to win this game. No matter what anyone says, Kentucky is getting better. And that should be considered a good thing -- at least by most rational fans. We want them to get better, and we want to continue beating them. That will healthily raise our SOS.

And just so the not-so-sports-minded people understand --- Samford actually has a good little program! Yes the Cards will likely beat them handily.

It is really kind of interesting -- the Cards could lose the first game (Auburn), and then if they were to go undefeated after that, they would almost certainly be pegged to play in the CFP. A tall order, for sure, but not unlike what Ohio State pulled off last year!

 

[fredburgcard]

Bottom to top and considering where the game is being played:

12 Samford
11 Syracuse
10 Boston College
9 @Wake Forest
8 @Kentucky
7 @Pitt
6 Virginia
5 Houston
4 @NC St
3 Clemson
2 Auburn
1 @Florida St.

 

[ajgcardman]

There is lots of time to kill between now and when summer practices start, so I figured it's time to ratchet up some off-season football talk.

Let's rank next year's schedule, toughest to easiest ....

1. Florida State ..... until they stumble, gotta put them at the top. Like without Winston begins, so maybe they drop a bit.

2. Clemson .... we hung with them there, but they're loaded with talent. And while we did a very good job containing DeShaun Watson before he got hurt, he's a very talented kid, who will be tough to stop.

3. Auburn ... pre-season top 10 team, in Atlanta game 1. A tough season opener for sure. But they arguably lose as much as we do. And some recent secondary losses can't be good for them. I don't know about you, but a Will Muschamp Defense isn't nearly as intimidating to me as it was BEFORE the 2013 Sugar Bowl.

4. NC State .... year two for Jacoby Brissett. Year 3 for Dave Doreen, who took Northern Illinois to the Orange Bowl (which got us to the Sugar Bowl -- MAJOR props to him for that). 8 and 5 last year. And they should improve off that record.

5. Pittsburgh ... Pat Narduzzi takes over, who was rumored to be on the short list for Tom Jurich when re-hiring Petrino. The former Michigan State DC has a nice reputation as an assistant, and I thought he would make a good head coach when we were considering him to lead our program, but we'll see. I admittedly don't know much about the Panthers, but they went bowling last year, playing a wild one against Houston. Their former coach was hired at Wisconsin, so you'd expect the cupboard isn't totally bare for Narduzzi.

6. Boston College ... Year 3 for Steve Addazio, and two straight 7 and 5 seasons. Tyler Murphy led the Eagles last year, with an upset of USC and close calls against Florida State and Clemson, but he is gone. Replacing him will be paramount.

7. Virginia ... Mike London survived the hot seat, even after only posting a 5 and 7 record. Dude has some talent. If he doesn't get results this year, I'd expect him to be toast. Since they beat us last year (many would argue we beat ourselves, but hey, that's the way the ball bounces), I'd hope we'd be out for some pay back this year.

8. Kentucky ... I was tempted to put Houston here, but am afraid my bias against UK would show too much. UK hasn't proven anything under Stoops yet. And I have my doubts they ever will. But we'll see. New offensive coordinator for the putty tats to adjust too as well. Ironically, the offense showed improvement in year two of Stoops, and not the defense, which is what Stoops is supposedly known for.

9. Houston ... A dangerous non-power 5 team to play for sure. They'll be jacked to play us, as we were when outside the power 5 conferences trying to earn respect. Hiring Ohio State assistant Tom Herman to take over for Tony Levine (former U of L assistant) pushes them down a bit. Assuming new schemes and all that goes with that, they return quite a bit of personnel, and sandwiched between Auburn and Clemson on our schedule, this game concerns me. It also sucks that they are a 12 noon start time ... our crowd will be slow to get in football watching shape.

10. Wake Forest ... maybe the Deacons should be higher on this list. But it is May after all. Year two of Dave Clauson. And they could make some noise. 3 and 9 last year, although they fought us tooth and nail. So who knows.

11. Syracuse ... Year 3 of Scott Shafer tenure. After a bowl winning campaign in his first year, the orange stumbled to a 3 and 9 record his next. Vegas puts the over/under for games won for the Cuse in '15 at 4.5.

12. Samford .... not Stan, but Sam ... ford. Enough said.



What say you?? How would you rank these foes in strength?

C'mon, PG, don't you know it's still baseball season?

OK, since you are a fellow sec 225er, I'll play:

Top Shelf - I just hope we're competitive with a chance in the 4th
1. @FSU
2. Auburn

Next level shelf - tough games, but we should have a chance at a "W"
3. Clemson
4. @ NC State

Middle shelf - have a feeling these will be 50-50 games:
5. @Kentucky
6. @Pitt

Lower Shelf - games I think we should win, but could be in dogfight if don't play well:
7. Virginia
8. Boston College
9. Houston
10. @Wake Forest

Bottom Shelf - no way we lose these:
11. Syracuse
12. Samford

Wake & Cuse are kind of tweeners between bottom shelves, but put them where I did because of game location. I think @Pitt and @Ky get nod over VA, BC, & Houston because of location as well, but all 5 should be comprobable.

KY at #5 might surprise many here, but their offense will likely be better, too many athletes there now not to be. Their defense has more questions than our offense, but I kind of feel like they'll be serviceable there because their HC is a defensive guy (similar to how I feel about our offense with BP).

 

[zipp]

...KY at #5 might surprise many here, but their offense will likely be better, too many athletes there now not to be. Their defense has more questions than our offense, but I kind of feel like they'll be serviceable there because their HC is a defensive guy (similar to how I feel about our offense with BP).

LPT's defense last year was about the same statistically as the year before under Stupes and the year before that under Joker. That tells me most of what I need to know about Stupes' coaching ability. (Analogous to The U of L offense making no improvement under Petrino from year to year.)

And they lost their two best defensive players off of that team, one a first-round draft choice--which for them is a once-in-a-generation player. (Analogous to Teddy for us.)

Their offense is a wildcard under a new OC. They'll criticize Brown, but no one knows what this new guy is gonna accomplish.

LPT's recruiting has been better ranking-wise. But it needs to be a helluva lot better than U of L's to offset the significant advantage that U of L has in coaching. Lexington has never been a problem for the U of L football team to win at; in fact, the opposite could be argued.

If this final game is anywhere close to a 50-50 contest, it will be because it's a rivalry game. My guess is that after this past season, the trend will revert back to it being a U of L laugh-er.

LPT Football: Alwasy good of for a few laughs...

 

[Pervis_Griffith]

LPT's defense last year was about the same statistically as the year before under Stupes and the year before that under Joker. That tells me most of what I need to know about Stupes' coaching ability.
LPT's recruiting has been better ranking-wise. But it needs to be a helluva lot better than U of L's to offset the significant advantage that U of L has in coaching. My guess is that after this past season, the trend will revert back to it being a U of L laugh-er.

Interestingly, unless he makes dramatic improvement this year as a coach (which I guess he could, but he really hasn't shown anything in his first two years), the toughest Cayuts team we may face in the near future is the one that is coached by Stoops' successor, who just may be able to take the assembled talent and DO something with it.

 

[The Public Enemy]

Bottom to top and considering where the game is being played:

12 Samford
11 Syracuse
10 Boston College
9 @Wake Forest
8 @Kentucky
7 @Pitt
6 Virginia
5 Houston
4 @NC St
3 Clemson
2 Auburn
1 @Florida St.

12. Samford
11. Syracuse
10. @ Wake Forest
9. Virginia
8. @ Kentucky
7. @ Pittsburgh
6. Boston College
5. Houston
4. @ North Carolina State
3. Clemson
2. @ Florida State
1. Auburn

 

[ajgcardman]

LPT's defense last year was about the same statistically as the year before under Stupes and the year before that under Joker. That tells me most of what I need to know about Stupes' coaching ability. (Analogous to The U of L offense making no improvement under Petrino from year to year.)

And they lost their two best defensive players off of that team, one a first-round draft choice--which for them is a once-in-a-generation player. (Analogous to Teddy for us.)

Their offense is a wildcard under a new OC. They'll criticize Brown, but no one knows what this new guy is gonna accomplish.

LPT's recruiting has been better ranking-wise. But it needs to be a helluva lot better than U of L's to offset the significant advantage that U of L has in coaching. Lexington has never been a problem for the U of L football team to win at; in fact, the opposite could be argued.

If this final game is anywhere close to a 50-50 contest, it will be because it's a rivalry game. My guess is that after this past season, the trend will revert back to it being a U of L laugh-er.

LPT Football: Alwasy good of for a few laughs...

If they win less than 5 games then I will agree with you, Zipp. I do believe the jury is still out on Mr Stoops & staff. But I think they'll be a little better because they'll be better offensively. I think you may be understating their squad a tad...imagine that.

Their QB is big, has a big arm, runs well, and can make all the throws. If and when he improves his footwork and decision-making, they take a considerable step forward. He is no longer inexperienced, and will now either do it or not. If he gets knocked out, all bets are off on them. What will help him most are several WRs with some skills that were frightfully green a year ago, and a legitimate RB, who might be the first one they've had in over 10 years. I think their offense will take a considerable step forward, but their defense will be porous enough to keep their squad a mediocre one. But these days, mediocrity = bowl season.

Although I listed their game as 5th toughest, I see almost no difference today in them, Pitt, UVA, BC and Houston. I don't expect any of those teams to be really bad, nor do I expect any of them to be really good. Here are the reasons I ranked the UK game ahead of them as toughest:

1) rivalry game, and Stoops has proven he can prepare his team for this game with a sound defensive game plan; in both years, we struggled mightily to move the ball against them early on. Eventually, after some in-game adjustments talent won out.
2) Pitt & Houston are breaking in new coaches, new 1st-yr coaches.
3) we play BC and UVA in PJCS; yes we have a good record at CWS, but Petrino teams clearly play better at home, and there is 5 yrs of data to support that.
4) the UK game is at end of season; the biggest questions I have about our team is our depth, and many of those guys will have to be in the rotation by then.

To participate in this thread, the a WAG theory applies to some extent. But I think I've explained my reasoning, and I feel its sound, considering the circumstances.

 

[HedleyLamarr]

It all turns on the offensive line play. Without all the drive killing mistakes, last year, we might have been12-0 in the regular season. We lost several guys from that group, so this year's line is a huge question mark. If they play well, we might win nine again. If not, it's going to be a long year. Auburn and @FSU are toughest. Clemson, @NCSt will be favored but winnable. I'd put @UK fifth, because they are getting better and it's a rivalry. The rest, we should win, unless the line just stinks. Go Cards!

 

[cardstud1]

If they win less than 5 games then I will agree with you, Zipp. I do believe the jury is still out on Mr Stoops & staff. But I think they'll be a little better because they'll be better offensively. I think you may be understating their squad a tad...imagine that.

Their QB is big, has a big arm, runs well, and can make all the throws. If and when he improves his footwork and decision-making, they take a considerable step forward. He is no longer inexperienced, and will now either do it or not. If he gets knocked out, all bets are off on them. What will help him most are several WRs with some skills that were frightfully green a year ago, and a legitimate RB, who might be the first one they've had in over 10 years. I think their offense will take a considerable step forward, but their defense will be porous enough to keep their squad a mediocre one. But these days, mediocrity = bowl season.

Although I listed their game as 5th toughest, I see almost no difference today in them, Pitt, UVA, BC and Houston. I don't expect any of those teams to be really bad, nor do I expect any of them to be really good. Here are the reasons I ranked the UK game ahead of them as toughest:

1) rivalry game, and Stoops has proven he can prepare his team for this game with a sound defensive game plan; in both years, we struggled mightily to move the ball against them early on. Eventually, after some in-game adjustments talent won out.
2) Pitt & Houston are breaking in new coaches, new 1st-yr coaches.
3) we play BC and UVA in PJCS; yes we have a good record at CWS, but Petrino teams clearly play better at home, and there is 5 yrs of data to support that.
4) the UK game is at end of season; the biggest questions I have about our team is our depth, and many of those guys will have to be in the rotation by then.

To participate in this thread, the a WAG theory applies to some extent. But I think I've explained my reasoning, and I feel its sound, considering the circumstances.

I would be very skeptical of UK, BC. Clemson is here...but N

There is lots of time to kill between now and when summer practices start, so I figured it's time to ratchet up some off-season football talk.

Let's rank next year's schedule, toughest to easiest ....

1. Florida State ..... until they stumble, gotta put them at the top. Like without Winston begins, so maybe they drop a bit.

2. Clemson .... we hung with them there, but they're loaded with talent. And while we did a very good job containing DeShaun Watson before he got hurt, he's a very talented kid, who will be tough to stop.

3. Auburn ... pre-season top 10 team, in Atlanta game 1. A tough season opener for sure. But they arguably lose as much as we do. And some recent secondary losses can't be good for them. I don't know about you, but a Will Muschamp Defense isn't nearly as intimidating to me as it was BEFORE the 2013 Sugar Bowl.

4. NC State .... year two for Jacoby Brissett. Year 3 for Dave Doreen, who took Northern Illinois to the Orange Bowl (which got us to the Sugar Bowl -- MAJOR props to him for that). 8 and 5 last year. And they should improve off that record.

5. Pittsburgh ... Pat Narduzzi takes over, who was rumored to be on the short list for Tom Jurich when re-hiring Petrino. The former Michigan State DC has a nice reputation as an assistant, and I thought he would make a good head coach when we were considering him to lead our program, but we'll see. I admittedly don't know much about the Panthers, but they went bowling last year, playing a wild one against Houston. Their former coach was hired at Wisconsin, so you'd expect the cupboard isn't totally bare for Narduzzi.

6. Boston College ... Year 3 for Steve Addazio, and two straight 7 and 5 seasons. Tyler Murphy led the Eagles last year, with an upset of USC and close calls against Florida State and Clemson, but he is gone. Replacing him will be paramount.

7. Virginia ... Mike London survived the hot seat, even after only posting a 5 and 7 record. Dude has some talent. If he doesn't get results this year, I'd expect him to be toast. Since they beat us last year (many would argue we beat ourselves, but hey, that's the way the ball bounces), I'd hope we'd be out for some pay back this year.

8. Kentucky ... I was tempted to put Houston here, but am afraid my bias against UK would show too much. UK hasn't proven anything under Stoops yet. And I have my doubts they ever will. But we'll see. New offensive coordinator for the putty tats to adjust too as well. Ironically, the offense showed improvement in year two of Stoops, and not the defense, which is what Stoops is supposedly known for.

9. Houston ... A dangerous non-power 5 team to play for sure. They'll be jacked to play us, as we were when outside the power 5 conferences trying to earn respect. Hiring Ohio State assistant Tom Herman to take over for Tony Levine (former U of L assistant) pushes them down a bit. Assuming new schemes and all that goes with that, they return quite a bit of personnel, and sandwiched between Auburn and Clemson on our schedule, this game concerns me. It also sucks that they are a 12 noon start time ... our crowd will be slow to get in football watching shape.

10. Wake Forest ... maybe the Deacons should be higher on this list. But it is May after all. Year two of Dave Clauson. And they could make some noise. 3 and 9 last year, although they fought us tooth and nail. So who knows.

11. Syracuse ... Year 3 of Scott Shafer tenure. After a bowl winning campaign in his first year, the orange stumbled to a 3 and 9 record his next. Vegas puts the over/under for games won for the Cuse in '15 at 4.5.

12. Samford .... not Stan, but Sam ... ford. Enough said.



What say you?? How would you rank these foes in strength?

Only gemmes are Samford, WF, maybe Cuse and Houston! Not BC, UK, FSU, Clemson, NC St., Auburn, Pitt or UVa.

 

[The Public Enemy]

I would be very skeptical of UK, BC. Clemson is here...but N


Only gemmes are Samford, WF, maybe Cuse and Houston! Not BC, UK, FSU, Clemson, NC St., Auburn, Pitt or UVa.

I wouldn't call Houston a gimme game...I expect a win but it will be somewhat fought.

 

[Guardman]

No Gimmes at all.

 

[zipp]

And since ajg mentions QBs, let's nip this $hit in the bud this year before U of L fans start drinking the LPT Kool Aid...

Towles is no better QB than any of our guys. He just gets all of his team's opportunities.

QB--QB RATING
Bolin 178.5
Gardner 136.1
Towles 122.5 (67)
Bonnafon 121.3

Towles was ranked 67th in the country last year in QB efficiency. None our guys had enough snaps to be rated. For reference, Marcus Mariota was highest in the country last year at 181.5.

LPT Football: And he's the best guy we've got...

 

[ajgcardman]

And since ajg mentions QBs, let's nip this $hit in the bud this year before U of L fans start drinking the LPT Kool Aid...

Towles is no better QB than any of our guys. He just gets all of his team's opportunities.

QB--QB RATING
Bolin 178.5
Gardner 136.1
Towles 122.5 (67)
Bonnafon 121.3

Towles was ranked 67th in the country last year in QB efficiency. None our guys had enough snaps to be rated. For reference, Marcus Mariota was highest in the country last year at 181.5.

LPT Football: And he's the best guy we've got...

I never said he was. I simply said that I expect improvement from him this year.

He has great size, arm strength, and can run, but thus far, has lacked the intangibles to be good. But that's not uncommon for young QBs, and not unlike ours. Last year he looked like he had happy feet, had trouble going through progressions before leaving pocket, and was inconsistent with his accuracy. But he has the physical tools to be good, and if he develops in the other areas, he will be effective and his team's offense will take a step forward. To some degree, I expect that to happen, which is all I said. How much, I have no idea.

But anything that even resembles a compliment to any player or coach over there seems to get under your skin. I'm not drinking no Kool-Aid, so Relax.

 

[zipp]

I guess if Towles is not any better than our guys or any younger, his potential improvement relative to his counterparts on our team (and other teams) is sorta irrelevant, isn't it? Why even mention Towles as a factor in their improvement unless it distinguishes LPT from other teams?

And I know for a fact that we had U of L fans in this space last year slurping up the Towles Kool Aid after six games. I know because I had to debate them on these very points. Nobody took names, and it doesn't matter who they are/were. I would just like to see a little better analysis this year from guys I otherwise agree with most of the time.

LPT Football: There's really no argument...

 

[SpotHogCard]

Swap Clemson and Florida State and move SUCK to 10th!!!

Totally agree.

 

[un4getables]

LPT's defense last year was about the same statistically as the year before under Stupes and the year before that under Joker. That tells me most of what I need to know about Stupes' coaching ability. (Analogous to The U of L offense making no improvement under Petrino from year to year.)

And they lost their two best defensive players off of that team, one a first-round draft choice--which for them is a once-in-a-generation player. (Analogous to Teddy for us.)

Their offense is a wildcard under a new OC. They'll criticize Brown, but no one knows what this new guy is gonna accomplish.

LPT's recruiting has been better ranking-wise. But it needs to be a helluva lot better than U of L's to offset the significant advantage that U of L has in coaching. Lexington has never been a problem for the U of L football team to win at; in fact, the opposite could be argued.

If this final game is anywhere close to a 50-50 contest, it will be because it's a rivalry game. My guess is that after this past season, the trend will revert back to it being a U of L laugh-er.

LPT Football: Alwasy good of for a few laughs...

As always Zippy you don't take your red sunglasses off...... First, talent left over from the JOKEr was pathetic, second the second year the new talent was young. BTW we only lost to you guys by 4 at your place and if Mcwilson holds on to the interception we probably win. So you can laugh all you want make the jokes but we will see where we are last game of the year. My prediction 7-5 possibilty 6-6 beating the cards for bowl birth.

 

[zipp]

There was nothing wrong with Joker's recruiting when LPT fans liked him. His last two class were rated on average 2.9 to 3.0 stars per Rivals. That's just a fraction below where Stupes is now.

Statistically, LPT is not much different on the field today than when Joker had the job. In that situation, the number of wins is usually a function of how strong or weak the schedules are. And we know what LPT has tried to do with its football scheduling.

The U of L-LPT games are regularly being dominated statistically by U of L. Until that changes, the beatings will continue no matter the final score.

LPT Football: Same old song and dance...

 

[Toppercard]

1. @FSU
2. Auburn
3. Clemson
4. @ Kentucky
5. @NC State
6. @Pitt
7. Virginia
8. Houston
9. Boston College
10. @Wake Forest
11. Syracuse
12. Samford
Kentucky is still a rival game. It's at the end of the year and they'll probably need it more than us. It's there. Throw out how it looks on paper. It could likely be our toughest game.

Houston This will be like their bowl game, plus they will be hyped on playing a team that left their conference and they will want to prove they are just as good and deserving. I wouldn't be surprised if they go up on us early or we are playing from behind in the second half.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

I think Auburn is the toughest game. First game with a lot of question marks for us coming out of the chute and they are loaded.

FSU is very good. More than likely, we are going in there a substantial underdog but with a couple losses already, they may overlook us. After playing a couple tough teams we'll have been prepped somewhat. I'm not saying we're going to win, but I do think some things line up well for us.

We actually play well on the road, too.

 

[CATFANFOLIFE87]

I can see the argument for NC St at 4. Doeren's team improved as the season went on and while they haven't recruited as well as Stoops they've been respectable and stayed in the same neighborhood. There isn't another team on the schedule that you can convince me is better than UK besides the obvious top 3. Any list putting BC or Houston over UK is driven by hate not logic. Virginia and Pitt will be ok but they don't have the same playmakers UK does. Pitt will be really good under Narduzzi but it won't happen this year. Virginia is going to be awful offensively. Their problem has been at QB and it hasn't changed. I think Virginia has more overall talent than Houston but Houston will be a tougher game for the Cards because Houston will turn it into a shootout. UL will once again lean on it's defense to win games. Petrino will have to rebuild offensive depth so teams that score may present more of a challenge than those that try to get into defensive battles with UL. I'd rank them

1) Auburn- loaded and they add Muschamp
2) Clemson- Watson is the truth, my Heisman
3) FSU- nasty defense but losing Winston hurts
4) UK- young but talent and depth are there
5) NC St- similar trajectory to UK right now
6) Pitt- good team/coach but first year together
7) Houston- new coach but a high powered off.
8) Virginia- London underachieves every year
9) BC- lost 20 SRs in their two deep
10) Wake Forest- walk in the park
11) Syracuse- snoozer
12) Samford- see Wake and Cuse

I think UL goes 8-4 losing the top 3 and one more of the next 3