Soxbadger

And hunter is a negative. Im sorry but half of you are claiming you want to rebuild, and Hunter would have made that so much harder. Spending money just to spend is not good business.

Pratt, How does biggest loser's have anything to do with where a team is going to finish in its division? Does that mean Orioles are the biggest losers because they have an aging veteran team thats going no where in a division that has the 2 top spending teams? Maybe Im old fashioned, by when I hear "Biggest loser of the winter meeting." It means: A) The team made a horrific trade or signing. B ) The team failed to get a realistic target. In terms of A, I think the Carter Quentin trade was a steal for the Sox. In terms of B, I dont consider Hunter at his contract a realistic option, nor do I consider trading for Cabrera realistic either. In fact had the Sox signed Hunter to that contract I would have been much more willing to label them the biggest loser. As it is, the fact they missed on Hunter I think is a win. /shrugs That does not mean I think the Sox will win the division, but it does mean if you just take the Winter Meetings by themselves its impossible to call the Sox the biggest losers. But then again I like my journalism with a little integrity and research.

Yes but none of that really makes the Sox the biggest "losers". IF the article was "team with the greatest expectations that did the least" then sure the White Sox could be the top candidate.

Can the Griese era end?

Well I think it means that just because you went to a better school does not mean that you will get a better job. It increases your chances, your opportunities, but you can go to a lesser ranked school and still get to the places you want to be in life.

Well if you are going to grad school then the reputation of your undergraduate program matters more. If your just going for a degree, then its not as important as networking etc. I was going to go to a type of grad school regardless (turned out to be law school) and the Dean said one of the most attractive things about my resume was the school I went to. Of course I didnt really get amazing grades in college (just a regular 3.0) but it was the school I went to that tipped the scales when they decided whether or not to accept me and give me a partial scholarship. Well and the LSAT, but whatever hehe.

lol I wasnt going to post but after some one started bashing Wisconsin I guess Ill have to. Of the schools you listed, Wisconsin and Illinois are the top 2 in terms of education. Wisconsin business school is very competitive, I believe you need a 3.2 to stay in the program (my roommate was business/finance). The reason I would say not to go to Wisconsin is the money. Its the most expensive on the list, but in my opinion, the best on the list as well. I had the choice of Illinois v Wisconsin v Michigan (I didnt even consider schools like Minnesota or Missouri because they were just not strong enough academically which was my #1 factor), my safety schools were Penn State, Iowa, and Indiana. I wanted to go to a big school because I went to a very big high school. I wanted to go to a school that had a good football team. My parents wanted me to try schools like Grinnell, but I never even visited. Money is the key factor against Wisconsin. They are not going to give you a dime, Indiana, Iowa, etc were offering me money, but the schools that I really wanted to go to of course were not, because as some one said they get so many applications they honestly dont care. The people they give academic scholarship's to spurn schools like Harvard etc to go there, so they arent exactly hurting for quality applicants. I would say the biggest thing for Wisconsin is the atmosphere. There is no other campus that you listed like it. Madison is a city, and the school area is starting to be rebuilt and become absolutely amazing. Although it means that you lose things like the movie theater where you could drink beer at etc, it is really becoming nice. After I visited Madison there really was no choice to be made, compared to others it just blew them out of the water. But to each there own and money does play an important role. If I had to pay for my own college over a certain point and Madison was beyond that, I dont know what I would have done. But its an amazing college experience, one of the most unique in all of the United States.

Rotoworld is saying AZ is trying to land Haren with a Conor Jackson/Gonzalez combo. Perhaps why they were interested in Carter

I like it, could prove to be a nothing trade but as of right now Quentin is way closer to doing anything at the MLB level and plays a position of need. If the Sox still sign a CF an outfield of Quentin, CF, Dye would be a vast improvement over where we were this year with Pods, Owens, Dye.

If OSU lost to NU instead of Illinois they wouldnt be playing for the NC game either. And that sucks about Mizzou, KU should not be anywhere near a BCS game. They should be getting a beat down by Arkansas, but unfortunately all that KU basketball power got them a little gift in football. Because if you switched the basketball programs I guarantee that MU is going to the BCS over Kansas. Now theyll get to play VT to prove to all the Big 12 haters in the world that they belong. Best case scenario for KU, worst case scenario for MU.

I think more people believe Georgia is a better team than USC, and would be complaining more if OSU destroys LSU and Georgia hammers their team. USC lost to Stanford at home, thats like OSU losing to NU. you just have no claim when you lose to one of the worst teams at your own house. USC should worry about its own opponent Illinois at this point. They beat the team playing for the NC on the road, might not be such a great idea to start overlooking them and worrying about arguing that you should have been in the NC.

Should have been a td why? They showed the replay he was clearly short...

Take Zook from Illinois? That would work out nice for Wisconsin lol

Im not saying Michigan cant recruit, Im saying that Les Miles has a much easier time recruiting from LSU, than he would from Michigan. And yes I know before Saban LSU wasnt that great, but does that really matter? LSU is now a preeminent SEC team. Miles barely has to leave his backyard to recruit at LSU, at Michigan he would be forced to recruit nationally and beat out teams like USC, OSU, Florida etc for almost every single recruit. In Louisiana he has homefield advantage, and then he can select a few recruits from outside of the state to compliment his class. Also the draw of NO should not be devalued, Ann Arbor is a nice college town, but not really the Big Easy. Im just saying Carr had to work much harder to get those 8th rated recruiting classes than Miles did. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...1/1056/SPORTS08 Almost every media outlet is reporting Miles has agreed to a new contract with LSU, id say its a 10% chance hes at Michigan if even that. Of importance:

Hes not going to Michigan. The point was to see who would pay the most, Michigan or LSU. Now its being reported that LSU and Miles will agree to a new contract. My guess is that he leveraged the UM job for a huge pay day at LSU and gets to keep the much easier job.

Thats just not really true. LSU has much more in state talent http://lsu.rivals.com/commitlist.asp?school=37 10 in state 3 star or higher players. In 2007, LSU had 11 3 star or higher in state committments Compared to Michigan who has 3 in state committments and 3 Ohio commitments. in 2008. In 2007 5 in state commitments.... I really dont see how he could possibly have the same success because once he leaves LSU, the next LSU coach will get all his old recruiting areas and maybe Miles can pull 1-2 players a year from there but that still would leave him way short of what he was being given, let alone all the Texas, Florida players who go to LSU because of New Orleans. I just cant see Miles doing as well when hes going to have to compete with Tressel, Zook, Weiss, for the same talent every year and not have as much in his own state to play with.

I dont understand why Michigan would want Miles or why Miles would want to go to Michigan. Ive watched every LSU game this year, and Miles does some things that would make Michigan fans hang themselves en masse. And Miles will have a much harder time recruiting at Michigan.

Danman, That site is exactly what Im talking about why RPI SOS is worthless. Big 10 and SEC both post the highest percentage of wins OOC. Yet Big East and Big 12 are rated higher because in those 2 divisions you have teams like UConn, WVU, and Cinci who beat a bunch of bad teams and only lost to eachother. That makes all of their RPI and SOS go up, eventhough it proves nothing.

415 first time, 505 second time 83 correct 9 wrong This is with my laptop though so the keys are a little different would be interesting to see ona regular key board

Danman, It wasnt a Big 12 versus Big 10 comparison, it was a response to: Thats just not true, and a sentiment like that makes me believe that the person who said it has never watched any college football. As for comparing Missouri it was to show: How can you use the Big 10 not doing well in bowl games a premises for believing that OSU should not be in a bowl game when Missouri has done nothing in bowl games to warrant selection. I didnt bring up bowl games, a Missouri fan did as a reason why OSU should not be in one. And your right its ridiculous to compare Missouri, its also ridiculous to use "we scheduled Illinois" as a reason why you have a stronger schedule than any big 10 team. Right now Illinois is Missouri's best victory, whats funny is that for the top Big 10 teams going into this season they considered Illinois an automatic victory. In the end I feel that if the season ended today OSU v Missouri should be the NC Title game. I have less respect for the Big East than the Big 12 and I think conference power should play a role when 3 teams have the same record.

Rock, I swear I already posted both Indiana and NU run types of spread offenses. They must be the Big 10 champs right?

Wisconsin Bowl Results: Cap One: Wisconsin 17- Arkansas 14. Cap One: Wisconsin 24- Auburn 10 Outback : Wisconsin 21- Georgia 24 Music City: Wisconsin 14- Auburn 28 Alamo Bowl: Wisconsin 31- Colorado 28 Sun Bowl: Wisconsin 21- UCLA 20 Rose Bowl: Wisconsin 17- Stanford 9 Rose Bowl; Wisconsin 38- UCLA 31 Composite Results: Wisconsin versus SEC 2-2, Wisconsin versus Pac 10 3-0, Wisconsin Versus Big 12 1-0 Ohio State: Lost to Florida Beat Notre Dame Beat Oklahoma State Beat Kansas State Beat Miami Lost to South Carolina Lost to South Carolina Beat Texas A&M Composite: Versus SEC 0-3, versus Big 12 3-0, Versus ACC 1-0, Versus Indpendent 1-0 Michigan and this is where the whole Big 10 losses in bowl games comes from: Rose Jan. 1, 2007 USC Loss Alamo Dec. 28, 2005 Nebraska L, 28-32 Rose Jan. 1, 2005 Texas L, 37-38 Rose Jan. 1, 2004 USC L, 14-28 Outback Jan. 1, 2003 Florida W, 38-30 Florida Citrus Jan. 2, 2002 Tennessee L, 17-45 Florida Citrus Jan. 1, 2001 Auburn W, 31-28 Orange Jan. 1, 2000 Alabama W, 35-34 (OT) Citrus Jan. 1, 1999 Arkansas W, 45-31 Rose Jan. 1, 1998 Washington St W, 21-16 Yes they have lost the last 4. But before that they were 5-1. Composite: SEC 4-1, Pac 10 1-2, Big 12 0-2 Missouri History: Sun Dec. 29, 2006 Oregon St Loss Independence Dec. 30, 2005 South Carolina W, 38-31 Independence Dec. 31, 2003 Arkansas L, 14-27 Insight.com Dec. 26, 1998 West Virginia W, 34-31 Holiday Dec. 29, 1997 Colorado St L, 35-24 Holiday Dec. 23, 1983 BYU L, 17-21 Tangerine Dec. 19, 1981 Southern Miss W, 19-17 Liberty Dec. 27, 1980 Purdue L, 25-28 Since 1980 Missouri is 3-5.. I can keep getting more stats, but I think it speaks for themselves. The Big 10 is one of the best conferences every year, the top teams generally win their bowl games unless they are mismatched. A lot of times the Big 10 gets 2 BCS teams which means that their lower teams get paired with much better teams from other conferences. For example last year Michigan who was #2 in the Big 10 was matched with USC who was #1 in the Pac 10.On the other hand, Big 12 generally only sends 1 to the BCS so then they get to play "weaker" teams from the other conference. Nebraska (Big 12 #3) was matched with Auburn (Sec #4) and lost. Texas (Big 12 #2) barely beat Iowa (big 10 #5), Oklahoma (Big 12 #1) lost to a WAC member. Texas Tech who was 4-4 in big 12 play, barely beat Minnesota who was 3-5 in big 10 play and their only victories came against MSU (only beat NU in big 10 last year), NU, and Indiana. Outside of 2 games, where are all these "blow outs"? Its pretty clear that the records of OSU in bowl games versus Missouri speaks for itself, I dont know if you just have an axe to grind against the Big 10, or you just dont watch a lot of Big 10 football. But the facts dont really agree with your sentiments.

According to SOS, Missouri's schedule was stronger than LSU's. How can that even be possible? Well here is another one that puts LSU higher http://gberatings.com/sos/ Just goes to show that SOS is a joke because its based on who your opponent beat. I mean in this one (compared to the other site), Penn State moved up, Wisconsin moved down. Which is really hard to understand because the majority of the opponents they play are the same. And any team would have a hard time beating LSU, I know some LSU fans though and they were concerned about OSU..

Yeah Wisconsin Capital One was kind of not going to happen from the get go. I think both sides did not want 3 years in a row of the same bowl game. Cap one is slightly more prestigious than Outback, but im pretty sure Wisconsin did not want Alamo. Still get Florida, still get New Years day. It actually makes a lot of sense, the only way Wisconsin can do better is if Illinois goes to the BCS and Cap One Selected them over UM and PSU. If Illinois did not make the BCS, Illinois goes to Cap One, and Wisconsin could potentially have dropped lower than Alamo. As it stands Wisconsin gets a guaranteed New Years day game against a SEC opponent.

You? Im not an OSU fan. And yes you have a better SOS, if Wisconsin, Illinois, PSU, Michgain played Kansas's schedule they would bump OSU to have a higher strength of schedule. Unfortunately they dont have the benefit of being in the Big 12. Kansas had the 102 ranked SOS, thus leading them to having a great record and improving everyone on their schedule's SOS. Oklahoma had a ranking of 98. Wisconsin SOS 57, Michigan 42, Illinois 51, Penn State 63 Do you really think if Kansas played any of Illinois, Michigan, or Penn States schedule that they would only have 1 loss? Can you really in your heart of hearts believe that Kansas would be the 2nd best team in the Big 10? Take of your Missouri blinders for a second and just look at the facts. The Big 12's best teams had remarkably easy schedules. Thus when they win all the games they are supposed to they get high rankings. Then the other Big 12 team beats on the teams that only beat nobodies, thus improving the strength of schedule of the other team even though there really is no reason. How does beating Kansas (SOS 101), Oklahoma (SOS 98), Illinois (SOS 51) Compare to beating, Wisconsin (SOS 57), Michigan (SOS 42), Penn State (SOS 63) If Kansas or OK play in the big 10 they face remarkably harder schedules, they most likely do not go 10-1 and 10-2 respectively and therefore Missouri's SOS would take a major hit. Once again, who has the Big 12 beat outside of Illinois on the first game? Here is the site for SOS I used (just a generic one i found) http://teamrankings.com/ncf/27powerratings.php3