Vandy really needs an Oklahoma loss since Oklahoma has a far better resume with wins against Michigan and Alabama/Tennessee on the road. They also would greatly benefit from an Alabama loss but the committee loves Alabama and they have the head to head so I could see them pulling the ol’ bullshit move of putting 3-loss Alabama in over Vandy. I doubt Oklahoma loses but Alabama is live to lose @ Auburn IMO. They also realistically need Texas Tech to beat BYU in the conference championship assuming both win this week (which they should). You get the most chaos if Notre Dame and/or Miami loses. They desperately want Miami in out of the ACC but they have a hard path to the conference championship game. A lot of moving parts but Vandy needs some chaos.
See, this is why college blows. It's not like they have divisions et. They have a few "conferences" that shit all over everyone. The fact you had to say "committee" ends it for me. Committee my ass. When I start to see a playoff that ranks the teams by pure record alone, not about who beat who I'll give some credence. If you have 4 or 5 undefeated teams they can sit there and talk "strength" of schedule but, in reality, how do you determine that? One person's idea of strength is different than another and because the teams change so fast and almost overnight you can't put a finger on it. Hell, if you have 4 teams who are undefeated, I'd rather have a damn coin toss to see who ranks where. It would be a lot more equal than what it is now. Blows me away, with all the intelligence in the world, this system, while not as bad as the bowls, still sucks balls.
It’s a shitty system but there’s not a better way to do it. James Madison will finish 12-1 after they win Saturday and then their conference championship. If North Texas wins out they’ll finish 12-1 as well. You can put one in (they are required to), but both those teams shouldn’t get in the playoffs over even a 9-3 Vandy, Tennessee or Alabama. They’ll just be wildly less competitive in the grand scheme of the tournament. 12-2 Boise State with home field advantage on the Smurf turf and a bye week proved that to us last year. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2024-12-31-boise-state.html They really probably need to expand to an even 16 teams, give each major conference two automatic-bids, the G5 1-2 bids and then 6 at large.
Have you ever heard them discuss possibly two different championships? Or, maybe adjust who qualifies as DI, DII, DIII and on and on? I have no problem with a DIV and DV. Heck, shorten the playoffs for DI and DII teams, have a run between those two then a College "Super Bowl" with the winner of DI and DII going at it. Now THAT would be something I would sign up for. Hey, if they want to get paid to play football then who gives a crap about how many games they play. Let them ball out! Think of the $$! Yeee hawwwww!!! Ok, I know I know...I went overboard a little.
Warmed up later on. Overall not a bad performance. There was awful pass, which should have been picked off. Reminded me of his pick against Penn State. Saw his guy and just threw to the right side without realizing there is a DB to undercut. Seems like a bit of a pattern there. He did have some good throws later though and did well overall, but the start was a bit rocky as you said.
Yeah they might hang 100 I think he’s gotta mean the FCS, previously known as Div 1AA? Even that would be a blowout. The game last year would’ve been Ohio State vs North Dakota State whose only D1 game was a loss to 9-4 Colorado. Ohio State would cruise but division 2?!!? Hell nah, that’s like part time football kids taking on an NFL farm team. They don’t even have scholarships at that level
Arch is growing on me. Mendoza further solidified my belief that he is not worthy of a trade up. If we pick 4th and he is there I would think twice to draft him.
Arch just doesn’t have a NFL arm. The ball floats where ever he throws it. There were a couple throws they were marveling at on the broadcast because he threw from the left hash to outside the numbers on the opposite side of the field. Those are intercepted in the NFL with the velocity he threw them at last night. And if he doesn’t have a clean pocket where he can step into throws everything ends up at the receivers feet.
JV I am a quarterback whisperer and one of the best college QB evaluators. You are absolutely wrong. Arch is the best Manning ever and Mendoza has bust written all over it. Now kidding aside, anybody seen @Sundayjack - We need him badly
Didn't like anything I saw from him last night. I would think 10 times before drafting Mendoza - even if he's there when NYJ is OTC without trading up. Granted he has flashed in games vs Illinois, Michigan St. & Wisconsin --- but he also hasn't done anything great vs the rest when you look at his game log. We'll see in the upcoming championship + playoff games. I get it - we need a QB. And 70%-80% of the time, the franchise QB will be top 5-10. But I'm so burnt from the Zach Wilson pick #2 overall while guys like Penei Sewell, Patrick Surtain & Micah Parsons are still on the board that I am always tempted to BPA. And trading down a couple spots to get a guy like Arvell Reese/Keldric Faulk, acquiring additional picks & waiting until 2027 might be my preferable way to go.
I didn't see anything yesterday to move the needle on Mendoza one way or the other. That near pick he throw was concerning, because it was the exact same thing as what he did against Penn St. See his guy flash, then throw to him regardless of DB being there to intercept, as he did not even see him. Other than that, I thought he was fine. Locked onto a read for a bit long, and usually there is an opportunity to throw there. There was at least one time he had to make multiple reads, nothing open, he scrambles to his right and throws for 6 yards - made something out of nothing. This certainly wasn't his finest performance, but was not bad. Not enough for me to knock him off top 5. From here on out there should be some good games coming, most likely Ohio St and then play-offs. That's when I think we will know a whole lot more.
Indiana has had an easy schedule. Pretty disappointing that we haven’t gotten to see Mendoza vs Ohio State, a legit defense or Michigan another good defense. I don’t care how he does against Maryland, Purdue or UCLA This new Big 10 that includes every team in the world is a joke and robbed us of what they should’ve had on their schedule
You like Faulk? I’m going to key in on him if he plays tonight. I think he has a very high floor as a solid defensive end but he looks slow and lacks explosiveness. The ceiling seems like Arik Armstead which isn’t bad and he’s a good run defender but he didn’t jump off the screen at me the way Reese, Bain, and some other guys have.
It feels like Mendoza doesn't really see the field well. I'm no QB guru but some things are obvious. The more I see (I've gone and watched 2 full games on YouTube) the more I hold to my original belief that this kid is barely a 1st round pick let alone anywhere near the top 10. No way in hell a top 5 pick. I'm also NOT a supporter of burning major draft capital to move up just because a guy is maybe the best of a horrible crop. THAT is how we ended up with Zach Wilson and I simply have no appetite for that. If the/a kid falls to our slot and they absolutely "must" then go for it. Personally, hell, I'd rather roll the dice on a mid-round guy just for competition sake. You NEVER know. But that's just me. However, what I DO know is this team can ill afford to blow extra draft capital on a guy at the expense of the rest of the team. I'm going to call it, Indiana and this kid get rolled by one of the more "legitimate" programs. As well, I too am not sold on Manning. They've squeezed two HoF guys from that family and, depending on how Eli falls over the years, they may have 3. That gene pool has been tapped. As @Jonathan_Vilma said, and I agree, Manning doesn't appear to have an NFL arm. Having said that, what do we do in the short term. 2026 isn't here yet so I'm not about to speculate too much on who will be in the draft then. What do we do? If we can't get a 1st round QB then my plan would be to get a guy in the 3rd-ish. @Jonathan_Vilma has shared a couple that look very interesting. Which means we need to go into 2026 with the mindset of drafting competition in the middle rounds and picking up a vet. Question really is, what vets might be available, worthwhile bringing in and how much to spend. Thoughts? I'm cool with keeping Fields only IF he agrees to move from QB to "athlete" or whatever. Let's face it, the kid is a GIFTED runner and, if he wants to hang in the league, this would be an avenue. If not, don't let the door hit you where nature split you! I'm cool with keeping Taylor on as a backup but the price has to be right. I don't know why they bother with Cook if they aren't going to get him playing time in a lost season. Does anyone have an idea as to the status of Wentz? He was playing well before he went down. Although, from the looks of J.J., Minnesota may try to keep him. I can't remember a time where even the backup QB pickings have been so slim.
Save every 2027 first round pick we have to get Jeremiah Smith. Go QB in 2026. This message brought to you by the route he just ran for a TD.
