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Balogun was in on goal. He beat the defender and was about to score.
No red card. No penalty. No yellow card. No foul. No review.
The bizarre thing is that Fox Sports showed a replay that began just AFTER the defender let go of the arm. So weird. How could the officials miss this? And how could the TV crew miss it as well? @USMNT
Notre Dame now has the best win of the season among all teams in the playoff picture. They beat #1 by 7. Either the Committee puts them at #1 or it is just more evidence of their corruption. And I don’t care that they pulled that bullshit and stuck them down at #11. The Committee wanted to eliminate ND with 2 losses so they could stick an extra 3-loss SEC team in the playoff. Well…it didn’t work. Notre Dame is the #1 football team. #1 FPI. #1 FEI. #1 Efficiency. #1 Sagarin. And now they beat #1 by a touchdown despite having most of their defense out injured.
The ACC refs have called a penalty on Notre Dame at every critical juncture. This is how officials manage an outcome.
ESPN:
"The SEC is so powerful this year. We aren't saying they weren't last year...but they are back."
So, what is the proof?:
ESPN: "They are losing a lot of games to each other. Literally every game has a winner and a loser. This is proof of SEC strength."
ESPN is explaining to America that one team has to win the Texas-Missouri game. And that means that one of the teams has to be great. And it won’t reflect badly on the loser. They actually started the coverage by explaining that this isn’t an elimination game. Oh no. Because the loser will only have 3 losses. lol. Meanwhile, the same company (ESPN/Disney/ABC) explained at the start of BYU-Utah that BYU is out if they take a loss to the #3 Utes because that would give BYU 2 losses. They aren’t even trying to hide it anymore.
BYU with the pick 6.
- Review team gets on the horn with ESPN. What should we do here, boss? ESPN: BYU needs to lose this game to make way for a 3-loss SEC team. Call it back.
- ESPN on a second line with the on-air team. Say he "didn't make a football move". They all crack up.
There are four kinds of possible outcomes in an SEC Conference game (according to how the Committee describes the various results):
- Great Win: Beat any team in the top 1/3 of the conference.
- Quality Win: Beat any team in the bottom 1/3 of the conference.
- Good loss: Lose to any team in the top 1/3 of the conference.
- Neutral loss - Lose to any team in the bottom 1/3 of the conference. It is a gauntlet, you know.
Some resulting realities:
- Any game involving any team in the top 1/3 of the conference will result in a Great or Quality Win.
- Any game between two teams in the top 1/3 will result in a Great Win and a Good Loss.
- Many great wins and quality wins are guaranteed. There is no avoiding that.
- Once you get your head around no losses being bad losses, you need to put 3-loss SEC teams in the playoff. That is what the Committee is coordinating now.
Two-loss SEC teams are currently ranked #5, #7, #10, #13 and #14. Alabama and Texas have already basically been guaranteed playoff spots, even when they take their 3rd losses.
You have to hand it to them. They let everyone know what they were planning a few months ago. Nobody should be surprised.
No team has been elite this season. Here are the top 12 in the rankings and games where they underperformed.
1. Miami (8–0)
- Florida State: Won 43–35 at home; allowed 35 points to an unranked opponent.
- North Carolina: Escaped 38–35 against an unranked team, winning by just 3.
2. Georgia (7–1)
- Auburn: Lost 27–24 at home to an unranked team.
3. Utah (8–0)
- Colorado: Barely escaped 27–24 against an unranked opponent.
- Houston: Won just 21–13 at home against the current No. 17 team.
4. Indiana (8–1)
- Northwestern: Won just 29–23 at home against an unranked team.
- Nebraska: Escaped 20–17 against an unranked opponent.
- Michigan: Struggled offensively, winning 13–6 against an unranked team.
- Minnesota: Won just 23–16 at home against an unranked opponent.
- Ohio State: Lost 19–15 at home to the current No. 12 team.
5. Alabama (6–2)
- Georgia: Lost 20–17 at home to No. 2 Georgia.
- Tennessee: Lost decisively, 26–10, to the current No. 13 team.
6. Kentucky (7–1)
- Alabama: Crushed 45–17 at home, losing by 28.
- South Carolina: Barely escaped 35–34 against a three-loss team.
- LSU: Needed a one-point victory, 35–34, at home against the current No. 14 team.
7. Texas (6–2)
- Oklahoma: Lost 27–24 to an unranked opponent.
- Florida: Lost 27–24 at home to a three-loss team.
8. UCLA (8–0)
- Purdue: Allowed 38 points in a 52–38 home victory against an unranked opponent.
- Oregon: Won only 17–15 against the current No. 23 team.
- Wisconsin: Managed just 17 points in a 17–7 home victory over an unranked team.
9. BYU (7–1)
- TCU: Escaped 17–10 against an unranked opponent.
- UCF: Lost 39–31 to an unranked team.
- Arizona State: Won just 27–20 at home against an unranked opponent.
10. Ole Miss (6–2)
- Louisville: Escaped 41–38 at home, allowing 38 points.
- Florida: Blown out 52–28 by an unranked team.
- Texas: Lost 34–27 to the current No. 7 team.
11. Notre Dame (7–1)
- BYU: Lost 28–24 away to the current No. 9 team.
12. Ohio State (6–2)
- Texas: Lost 24–23 to the current No. 7 team.
- USC: Lost 30–18 to the current No. 20 team.
#11 Notre Dame is a 5.5 point favorite over #1 Miami on Saturday. No team outside the top 10 has ever been a favorite over a #1 team in the playoff era (and going back at least 50 years).
The issue, of course, isn't that the bettors are disrespecting Miami. The issue is that the Committee put ND at #11. They want a 2-loss ND out of the playoff discussion because they plan to put multiple 3-loss SEC teams in the bracket. That is why they stacked the rankings with so many 2-loss SEC teams and placed some of them so highly. Basically, Alabama is getting a spot now if they take a third loss. They are even getting a spot if they take a 4th loss in a conference title game.
So, the explanation for why this weekend is the first time a #1 team has ever been an underdog to a team outside the top 10 is that the Committee wants to put multiple 3-loss SEC teams in the playoff. There. I explained it for you.
The College Football Playoff Committee just guaranteed a playoff spot to Alabama if they get their 3rd loss in the regular season and their 4th loss in a conference title game.
Top 15 QBs in Heisman odds - CJ Carr has the most 90+ QBR game performances so far (4 of 5 games). Keelon Russell and Julian Sayin both have three. Carr is also the only QB that is among the leaders in Passing TDs, Interceptions and Sacks per game. See the Per Game "green cells". Key: Green-Excellent. No Color-Good. Yellow-Not great. Red-Bad. @NDFootball @AlabamaFTBL @OhioStateFB
Last season, Notre Dame was way up on Pitt in November. Pete Narduzzi kept his starters in and threw five times on the last possession. They scored a long passing TD with 0:00 on the clock. ND won by 22, rather than by 29. Then Miami played Pitt. Miami had a big lead. Did they rest their starters? Nope. Carson Beck was slinging it until the end. Miami scored on a long Beck throw on 2nd and 3... with 21 seconds to go...winning by 31 rather than by 24. Then, ESPN and the rest of the media went to work...chanting that Miami had beaten Pitt by more than Notre Dame did.
ND is not taking their foot off anyone's neck this season. Sorry, but not sorry.
I remember Colin Cowherd, for example. He was saying the ND and Miami had 4 common opponents, but Miami had outscored the other team by more in 3 of 4 games. Well, ND blew out all 4 of those teams by margins of 22, 29, 29 and 63. But Pitt scored with 0:00 on the clock. Otherwise, it would have been 2-2 rather than 3-1. Keep in mind that these were all blowouts AND ND's total margin of victory across those games was 15 points MORE than Miami's... I know it seems ridiculous, but this stuff matters in today's environment... in a sport where there is so much money at stake and the Committee members have huge interests in supporting teams in their own conferences.