With the it being a week until VT plays at Pitt I was thinking about what outcomes this weekend could help VT. Unfortunately uva is on a bye too as well and so they can't lose this weekend.
My thoughts on the impactful outcomes:
- Obviously the biggest outcome that would impact VT would be if Duke could beat GT. Would help the cause of VT winning the coastal for GT to get an ACC loss.
- ECU beating the tar out of South Florida mainly for perception of VT. It's a nationally televised night game, some national pundits could see how good ECU is and give maybe some credence for VT being ranked later on in the season.
- Miami beating Cincy so that there is more interest in the VT vs Miami Thursday night game. A Miami team with a losing record would take a lot of shine off the national spotlight.
- Penn State losing to Michigan to take some away some recruiting momentum of James Franklin. Michigan is a dumpster fire that will lose a few more games anyways.
- Mizzou beating UGA. This is mainly for recruiting purposes since UGA is still in running for Josh Sweat.
- Even though I would normally like to see VT's strength of schedule look better I think UNC losing its 4th straight game by a good bit against Notre Dame would help VT more long term recruiting wise especially Jalen Dalton deciding between VT vs UNC.
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My thoughts - HokieJoe - you posted this at 3:15am??
I think Duke has a shot to beat GT. Duke's offense has the potential to put up a lot of points against a GT defense that can be well below the stellar level. I like the Dookies over the Bees.
Had to get up and work with offshore team but then got to a logjam that I had to wait on a couple things so had some open time to just ponder college football. #consultantproblems
I was wondering if a late night project was the reason, or thought you may have been on the west coast. Well done, sir.
Re: 4 and 5 - I truly doubt that any isolated loss has any lasting effect. We saw that with our own games against ECU and GT. It's the game day atmosphere that has the biggest impact. Now UNC losing to VT was another matter, but that's because the UNC fans were looking for any excuse to bail, and they did so in large numbers at halftime. That makes a horrible impression. VT fans, despite losses, have shown great intensity and loyalty to the team.
Personally, I just want anybody to beat Notre Dame. Other than the Stanford win, which was a close one, there's nothing impressive about what they've done. Every year, people want to hop on the ND bandwagon. Some talking heads throw them in the top 4 for the playoff. If you ask me, they lose at least 2 games, likely 3 with tough games at FSU, ASU, and USCw. I wouldn't mind if UNC started that trend now the week after we beat them.
Its always a good day when ND loses. Almost up there with LOLUVA
Idk I root for LOLUVA when we don't play them. VA Pride, ACC Pride, and it makes it that much sweeter when we kick their ass.
Anybody on our schedule that does well gives us more legitimacy on a national level.
I'm gonna puke.
Who let Mike London get an account on here?
If anyone knows of a better reason for the new moderator to try out the -10 leg downvote than this, I will give them a leg
I do think that having the downward trend scenario effects programs some. UNC losing a game isn't that big scenario but UNC losing 4 in a row starts to cast negative light on a program. Penn State losing a game to the dumpster fire that is now Michigan for a second loss in a row helps take away some of the positive recruiting momentum of an up and coming program.
I really only think those kinds of scenarios are fair to judge at the end of a season. Everyone knows PSU is in flux a bit, rebuilding with a new head coach after a huge amount of turmoil. They still have great tradition and a great fanbase. Their situation is not unlike our own. Agree about UNC, and I think they're going to nosedive. That is huge, because it shows that the program is not being handled well, despite past recruiting success and clearly talented athletes on the field. That would be a major recruiting turn-off.
Have to agree with this. The kids know that maybe one or two teams nationally go undefeated. So losses are expected. Some of the actual losses aren't expected but losses nonetheless. Of course some of the wins aren't expected either. Anyways, I agree that the game day atmosphere has a lot more to do with the recruitment than the outcome of the game. And against ECU and GT those games were down to the wire so it wasn't like they saw a team that was just getting routed on the field and give up. There was fight in the team and the fans until the last minute. Plus there was a thread a while back that had the recuits talking exactly to this point of that the losses don't mean too much in the big scheme of things but they still mentioned the game day atmosphere was great. When UNC starts booing their team going into halftime and start fleeing the stadium that shows a lot more than UNC just losing the game.
Right, that was Tim Settle that said that. He was here for the GT game. Something to the effect of "losses happen to everyone, but those fans were crazy." He had a great time. Everyone started saying the sky was falling and we would lose recruiting momentum, but the next day we got a 3* QB. No signs of slowing down. As far as I've seen, these recruits are not short-sighted. Winning the game makes their visits more fun, but a loss isn't necessarily a death knell.
I'm hoping for total chaos. It may not help VT directly, but if no one is undefeated, it makes the playoff conversation more interesting.
Syracuse over Florida State
Duke over Georgia Tech
UNC over Notre Dame
Texas A&M over Ole Miss
USC over Arizona
Then there's TCU/Baylor and Auburn/Miss St, which will guarantee someone getting a loss.
(Now, I'm not saying I'm expecting any of that to happen, just that those are the outcomes that would thin out the undefeated herd.)
Even if FSU and ND win this weekend, they face each other, so one is guaranteed to lose.
I bet ND beats FSU in not a super close game.
And all the Mississippis play all the Alabamas, too. Egg Bowl.
FSU / ND should be awesome, I can't wait for that one.
IF we were to have a back door shot at the playoffs we'd need to face an undefeated FSU.
Or essentially everyone else in college football to have 4 losses. A guy can dream, right?
One down. Thanks Duke.
Franklin lost Wimbush yesterday to ND.
Carolina beating Notre Dame can only enhance our strength of schedule, right?
It'd make the UNC game a
qualitywin over a team who pulled off a massive upset.