CFB Playoff Standings, week one spitballing

Just a thought on what I expect.

First off, I hope y'all are voting in the Mumme Poll. I'm glad those guys do that work over there. Because this year it will be especially interesting to see how things match up. On one hand, we have no idea what to expect with this new committee making the decisions. On another, that's kind of where we've been for quite sometime - in the dark.

Next, although I've always figured this would eventually morph into an eight team playoff and then into something even more disastrously ridiculous. But it's interesting now on the eve of the first "rankings" to get that decisive feeling of impending doom. Weiszer and Fletcher discussed it some on their podcast yesterday, but it's at least somewhat conceivable that a two loss Georgia team beats an undefeated Miss State in Atlanta this December, thereby creating the first big monkey wrench for the CFB Playoff system.

Joy.

With those broad strokes out of the way (and after poring over this week's rankings and Mumme Poll), here's what I expect: Miss State, FSU, Alabama and either Notre Dame or Oregon. I had Auburn just ahead of Oregon for the fourth spot on my ballot. But there's no way the committee will have three SEC teams. I think even two is a stretch; but they can get away with it if they so desire as eventually one of those two will represent the West division.

As for Oregon vs Notre Dame, how much weight does the close, moral victory in Tallahassee weigh for the Golden Domers? Personally I see the Seminoles as a flawed team surviving on chum, but they're undefeated and that's always so irresistibly sexy.

With all that being typed, they'll probably come out with TCU, Michigan State, Kansas State and Ole Miss. Again, joy.

Hating Florida is our most important hobby, episode five

I saw a snapshot of the righteous rant below being shared on social media the other day. It rang very familiar, and sure enough it was part of Tyler's lead up to last year's installment of the WLOCP. I'll follow suit and share the grand finale below, but please click through to enjoy the full effect.

Get your heads right, Dawgnation, we have one week until it is good versus evil. Right vs. wrong. Our way vs. all that is unholy. Decently dressed vs. whatever the hell it is they try to pass off as clothing. Bourbon vs. 4Loko. REM vs. Sister Hazel. Herschel vs. Douche 3:16. Red and black vs. orange and blue. Coke vs. Pepsi. BBQ vs. barbecuing. 

Really, it is a battle for the very soul of America.

And all that got me to thinking...

You can't do the gator chomp and be 100% American. Maybe you can stretch it up over 60% or so. But never, ever completely there.

You can't wear jorts and pee standing up.

You can't block your own teammate and have an IQ above 59.

You can't be a florida fan and recall any facts relevant to college football prior to 1990.

You can't wear a scripted helmet and tackle DickSamIV.

You can't admire Steven Orr Spurrier and also gain entrance into Heaven. (choose wisely)

You can't have a daughter with legs the size of California Redwoods AND keep her off the pole.

Butch, perhaps bricks are too slow a way to strategize?

Vol Nation's head brick mason is being called out (h/t AHD) for not playing their young sophomore quarterback after Joshua Dobbs' led Tennessee to 17 consecutive points against Alabama.

You might have been wondering what if UT had turned to Dobbs instead of Peterman when Worley missed parts of the third and fourth quarter with an injured elbow in a 35-32 loss to Georgia.

You also might have been wondering what if UT had given Dobbs a series or two when the offense had gone stagnant in a 10-9 loss to Florida.

Dobbs was hardly perfect against Alabama. He lost a fumble. He threw an interception.

But he rushed for 75 yards, completed 19 of 32 passes for 192 yards, and brought a dead offense back to life.

Along the way, he sometimes made one of the best defenses in the country look bad.

He made his head coach look worse.

In Jones' defense, Dobbs was hardly stellar last season:

Season	G	Att	Comp	Pct	Yards	Long	Efficiency	TD	INT	Sacked	Yards/Game
2013	5	121	72	59.5	695	43	103.29	2	6	7	139.0
2014	1	32	19	59.4	192	28	124.15	2	1	1	192.0
TOTAL	6	153	91	59.5	887	43	107.65	4	7	8	147.8

But sounds like a lot of HillBillys are wondering why he was being saved for future seasons. Especially when Nathan Peterman was the second option:

Season	G	Att	Comp	Pct	Yards	Long	Efficiency	TD	INT	Sacked	Yards/Game
2012	0	0	0	–	0	0	–	0	0	0	–
2013	4	23	10	43.5	45	15	42.52	0	2	2	11.3
2014	5	19	10	52.6	49	14	74.29	0	0	2	9.8
TOTAL	9	42	20	47.6	94	15	56.90	0	2	4	10.4

Bricks sometimes crumble despite a man's best efforts.

Gator Hate Check, 5 days

Nothing worked in 2002. At least offensively. So we just messed around and got Zook'd.

That was a better talented Georgia team going up against an inspired and determined Florida one. That's a sobering thought, is it not?

Muschamp remembers the dark days

Sometimes I wonder how many of us have forgotten. But the former defensive back under Goff remembers...

On #Gators blowout 52-14 win of Bulldogs in '94 game in Gainesville, Ex-UGA DB Muschamp on what happened: "Georgia had me covering.''
— David Jones (@DaveJonesUFbeat) October 27, 2014

WLOCP ticket update

They've dropped since last week, as expected. I'm sure a lot of people are planning to just go down and deal with scalpers to try and save money. But if you want to be sure of what you're getting, you can get in as low as $74 through the blog's broker right now. That's in the corner upper deck on Florida's side, section 430. The cheapest on Georgia's side of the stadium are going for $84 in section 321. Neither one of those are much over face value.

If you were to follow Travis' plan and load up on those Florida sections, there are plenty available. Like he mentioned, it'd be nice to show the disparity in the fan loyalty with giant pockets of red.

And like I said, I'm less concerned with how you get there and where you sit than I am in the idea of you just being there with me. Go Dawgs!

Double digit favorites? Please.

Last night news spread that Georgia had opened up as a double digit favorite in this Saturday's renewal of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Dean Legge was quick to point something out:

This is the first time Dawgs are double-digit fav. over UF since '92. Gators were double-digit favorites 9 times over UGA last 22 yrs.

— Dean Legge (@Dawg_Post) October 27, 2014

That should provide some frame of reference (especially for some of you who are new to this series' history) for how this game has gone for Georgia. I've got a post coming on one particular Georgia blowout, but the battle on the St. John's is usually a close one.

Legge also points to something else of significance. Even though the series is skewed in Georgia's favor (and once was heavily skewed that direction), recent history has been all Gators. Until....2011, which began the current three game Dawgs win streak.

We really need to set our minds right y'all. I know, betting lines are set to encourage wagers. And this line had to be somewhat inflated to encourage bettors to have some faith in Will Muschamp's team. But we don't need a team or a fan base heading down to Jacksonville with too much bravado.

You can't lose what you never had Mike.

National football officiating guru/consultant/tv personality Mike Pereira is incensed over some questionable calls and "a mystery man" being in the communication loop in Southeastern Conference stadiums.

I sure hope Mike Slive told him the line forms at the rear.

Gator Hate Check, 6 days

Before he got into murdering folks he was less than impressed with our 2009 vintage of fake juice.

"Thank you sir may I have another?!?" **

Good stuff as usual from BassinDawg. Will Richt deliver the final blow for the Muschamp era?

**with apologies to Chip Diller