**Official** #3 West Virginia vs. #5 Louisville 7:30 EST ESPNHD

[Brackis]

"The third-ranked Mountaineers and fifth-ranked Cardinals have the national spotlight to themselves on Thursday night, with each hoping to keep their BCS title hopes alive.
Louisville and West Virginia are both 7-0, including 2-0 in the Big East, and are two of six remaining unbeaten teams in Division I-A. "

Brohm v. White
Slaton v. Random Louisville back you is probably almost as good as their hurt back Bush

Offensive shootout?
Cold wintry defensive battle?
A comedy of errors?

WHO WILL WIN?!!? Make your score predictions here, and simulchat during the game to complain about replay decisions or play-calling

 

[amish]

i'm going to pick 'comedy of errors' or louisville starting out decent and then pissing it all away.

 

[SP33Demon]

Let's get it on baby!!

Prediction: WVU 41, UL 31

 

[Drakkon]

WV should win but will fall to Rutgers in their final game thus their "contender" mark will be lost - 24-17 WV

All we can hope for then is a Michigan state victory over Ohio and a loss to Indiana, and Louisville beat rutgers, making like 10 teams with 1 loss

Anything to finally throw this whole BCS system out of whack and get us to a playoff system so college football can last well into feb

 

[wyvrn]

WV will beat LV by exactly 1 TD.

But who cares since I'll be at the Mavs - Spurs game

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
WV should win but will fall to Rutgers in their final game thus their "contender" mark will be lost - 24-17 WV

All we can hope for then is a Michigan state victory over Ohio and a loss to Indiana, and Louisville beat rutgers, making like 10 teams with 1 loss

Anything to finally throw this whole BCS system out of whack and get us to a playoff system so college football can last well into feb

here here!

 

[Feldenak]

I'm expecting a combination of a comedy of errors and offensive shootout...does either team play defense?

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: Feldenak
I'm expecting a combination of a comedy of errors and offensive shootout...does either team play defense?

Louisville allegedly has a very good run D. We'll find out tonight just how good.

 

[spidey07]

GO CARDS!!!

I'm wearing my black. There's a ton of parties for this game and everybody is flying their flags.

As far as who wins? It's a toss up. Louisvilles home field advantage should give them the edge.

51-45, Cards.

 

[BrokenVisage]

UWV all the way! If this game was played in West Virginia it would be a blowout, instead I'd look for the score to be something like 38-21, Slaton with 3 TD's and 230 yards.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: SP33Demon

Originally posted by: Feldenak
I'm expecting a combination of a comedy of errors and offensive shootout...does either team play defense?

Louisville allegedly has a very good run D. We'll find out tonight just how good.

Ranked 8th in run D. Not too shabby at all. Should hold WV rushing to much lower than they are used to.

 

[dullard]

Looks to be a good game. Unfortunately, I'll miss it. I rarely ever make predictions on scores as it often just leads to ridicule when you are wrong. But I'll take a shot at this one.

Louisville: 34
West Virginia: 31

 

[Turin39789]

I'm going to go ahead and tip the win to louisville for this one. My drunk uncle will be there, and if nothing else he will be the deciding factor.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Geez, the sad thing is this will bump both teams strength of schedule up to like 70!

 

[Brackis]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Geez, the sad thing is this will bump both teams strength of schedule up to like 70!

Anyone know where to find their actual S.O.S?

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Brackis
Anyone know where to find their actual S.O.S?

There are several good ways to rank SOS, and several very bad ways to rank SOS. For example, the way the BCS used to rank it can be easilly proven to be a very bad way of ranking SOS. The BCS formula could actually be proven without a doubt to gave a higher SOS score to a team that played an easier schedule than another team.

That said, Sagarin has in my opinion one of the good ways to rank SOS. West Virginia: #89, Louisville #70. I won't say Sagarin is the best method (because best is undefined) but it is certainly fairly accurate. After this game, Louisville should be in the mid 40s and West Virginial in the mid 60s.

 

[AnyMal]

I know nothing about football but I live in Louisville, so.. Go Cards!

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: Brackis

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Geez, the sad thing is this will bump both teams strength of schedule up to like 70!

Anyone know where to find their actual S.O.S?

CBS Sportsline Rankings

WVU : 86
Ville: 67

Some other top 10 teams:

Florida: 1
Ohio State: 9
Michigan: 8
Tennessee: 11
USC: 6
Cal: 3

I know it's the age old 'you can't help who you play!' argument. Exactly, tell that to the 1 lost teams who have ridiculous schedules compared to playing teams like Eastern Washington.

Here is what I don't get. Rutgers has a SoS of 58 and they are ranked #12 yet are also undefeated. Boise State is undefeated with a SoS of 73.

 

[Syringer]

WVU wins 55 - 49

Slaton runs for 220 yards.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: Brackis
Anyone know where to find their actual S.O.S?

There are several good ways to rank SOS, and several very bad ways to rank SOS. For example, the way the BCS used to rank it can be easilly proven to be a very bad way of ranking SOS. The BCS formula could actually be proven without a doubt to gave a higher SOS score to a team that played an easier schedule than another team.

That said, Sagarin has in my opinion one of the good ways to rank SOS. West Virginia: #89, Louisville #70. I won't say Sagarin is the best method (because best is undefined) but it is certainly fairly accurate.

Yup, it looks in line with the CBS SoS rankings (not sure how they derive their numbers) so I'd say an average between the two has such a small variance that either can be considered as good as the other.

 

[Alkaline5]

Originally posted by: Brackis

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Geez, the sad thing is this will bump both teams strength of schedule up to like 70!

Anyone know where to find their actual S.O.S?

Official NCAA Schedule stats. Currently Louiville's is 77 and WVU's is 97. Along with Boise and Rutgers they are the only teams in the top 25 that have not played another currently ranked team yet. (Which goes a long way to explain their undefeated status.)

 

[Thraxen]

Going to be a good night. I'll be at our weekly poker game and we'll have the game on... poker, football, food/drink, friends... hard to beat.

I think I'm going to pull for Lousiville, although I don't really have a great dislike for either team. But I think West Virginia will win.

Mountaineers: 31
Cardinals: 27

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: Brackis

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Geez, the sad thing is this will bump both teams strength of schedule up to like 70!

Anyone know where to find their actual S.O.S?

CBS Sportsline Rankings

WVU : 86
Ville: 67

Some other top 10 teams:

Florida: 1
Ohio State: 9
Michigan: 8
Tennessee: 11
USC: 6
Cal: 3

I know it's the age old 'you can't help who you play!' argument. Exactly, tell that to the 1 lost teams who have ridiculous schedules compared to playing teams like Eastern Washington.

Here is what I don't get. Rutgers has a SoS of 58 and they are ranked #12 yet are also undefeated. Boise State is undefeated with a SoS of 73.

You're forgetting that where you start in the rankings is a huge factor of where you're ranked now (like Rutgers). I don't know where RU started the year, but I do know WVU was a top 5 team after beating the SEC Champs and have since only moved up. RU was starting from way way back when the season started.

 

[woowoo]

Originally posted by: Brackis


WHO WILL WIN?!!?

The respective sports marketing companies....

And the consession vendors.

Gonna be a cold night at Papa Johns.

 

[xboxist]

I spent the first 22 years of my life living near Ann Arbor. I've spent the last 5 living in Louisville.

U of M needs to crush OSU by like 28 pts. so that the Buckeyes fall hard in the BCS standings. A Louisville win tonight might make it a Michigan vs. Louisville championship. That way I'll have a good night no matter who wins. Still hoping the maize and blue win it all...

/hail to the victors