That Wisconsin team beat a injury riddled team in the Orange Bowl. Miami did not have adequate depth last year and played the bowl game without Mark Walton, Ahmmon Richard, Christopher Herndon IV, all #1 players at their position and 2 second team All ACC linebackers in Perry and Gordinier. The players that replaced them were good players but young and inconsistent. Don't underestimate Miami becasue they lost to LSU early. LSU is proving that they are better than people thought they would be.

I’m not underestimating Miami because they lost to LSU. I don’t believe in Miami because they haven’t proven to me they are trustworthy. How many games did they just barely scrape by last year? There was a stretch of 4 games I believe where they won by a total of 8 points or something like that. Then they start off this year with a loss to LSU where it wasn’t as close at the final score indicated. But not only does Miami need to prove something to me, Mark Richt has to prove something to me as well. Right now I have no reason to think Miami is a good team.

I’m not underestimating Miami because they lost to LSU. I don’t believe in Miami because they haven’t proven to me they are trustworthy. How many games did they just barely scrape by last year? There was a stretch of 4 games I believe where they won by a total of 8 points or something like that. Then they start off this year with a loss to LSU where it wasn’t as close at the final score indicated. But not only does Miami need to prove something to me, Mark Richt has to prove something to me as well. Right now I have no reason to think Miami is a good team.

 

But you have reason to believe that Wisconsin is?

I'm still trying to understand how Wisconsin "manhandled" Miami last year. It was a 27-24 game with 7:45 to play when Wisconsin scored the final points of the game....

I'm still trying to understand how Wisconsin "manhandled" Miami last year. It was a 27-24 game with 7:45 to play when Wisconsin scored the final points of the game....

They physically dominated the game in typical Wisconsin fashion.

But you have reason to believe that Wisconsin is?

I’ve just seen this thing from Wisconsin before. Wisconsin has an identity. Miami doesn’t. Miami still has to show me who they are because I don’t know. What has Miami done to prove they are a good team? Neither team has done anything this year, all Wisconsin has done over the years is show us that this who they are. I know what to expect from Wisconsin the rest of the year. Could the wheels fall off and they lose 4-5 games? Sure. But I doubt it because that’s not who Wisconsin typically has been. Would anyone be surprised to see Miami lose 4-5 games? Probably not, because we have no precedent of recent success to manage our expectations of them.

But you have reason to believe that Wisconsin is?

 

Based on previous years, apparently... Not this year though, their loss to BYU doesn't count against them.

Based on previous years, apparently... Not this year though, their loss to BYU doesn't count against them.

When did I say that? I said one loss doesn’t define a team. Of course the game counts against them, but am I supposed to think that since they lost that game that Wisconsin is somehow a horrible football team? 1 game is supposed to tell me that? Outliers don’t exist? Bad games don’t happen? Good teams can’t struggle to get up against inferior opponents? These things that are ingrained in the fabric of the sport, I’m just supposed to ignore because they lost 1 game? That doesn’t make any sense to me. Agree or disagree that Wisconsin has been a consistently good football team for a long time?

When did I say that? I said one loss doesn’t define a team. Of course the game counts against them, but am I supposed to think that since they lost that game that Wisconsin is somehow a horrible football team? 1 game is supposed to tell me that? Outliers don’t exist? Bad games don’t happen? Good teams can’t struggle to get up against inferior opponents? These things that are ingrained in the fabric of the sport, I’m just supposed to ignore because they lost 1 game? That doesn’t make any sense to me. Agree or disagree that Wisconsin has been a consistently good football team for a long time?

 

You've said numerous times in this thread that Wisconsin losing to BYU doesn't mean they aren't better than Miami. That, in effect, means you don't think it "counts" against them in that argument.

 

How good Wisconsin has been in the past (against a traditionally weak schedule, mind you) could not be more irrelevant to their performance this season. If you are going to continue to cling to that because you refuse to accept that to this point in 2018, you can't make an argument that they are better than Miami, I can't help you. Your bias is glaring.

You've said numerous times in this thread that Wisconsin losing to BYU doesn't mean they aren't better than Miami. That, in effect, means you don't think it "counts" against them in that argument.

 

How good Wisconsin has been in the past (against a traditionally weak schedule, mind you) could not be more irrelevant to their performance this season. If you are going to continue to cling to that because you refuse to accept that to this point in 2018, you can't make an argument that they are better than Miami, I can't help you. Your bias is glaring.

So past seasons don’t matter when evaluating teams? How are we supposed to set expectations without precedents? Wisconsin has played a traditionally weak schedule, but they’ve generally backed those weak schedules up with wins in a bowl game. Again, I know what to expect out of Wisconsin and it’s going to take more than one loss for me to change my mind on who they are. They are a good football team who plays a physical brand of football and will win 9-10 games. That’s who Wisconsin is year in and year out. Why should that stop now?

So past seasons don’t matter when evaluating teams? How are we supposed to set expectations without precedents?

 

Past seasons absolutely don't matter when evaluating teams during the CURRENT season. Seriously?

 

You set expectations using the previous season... You know, pre-season expectations, before we have actual games played THIS year to adjust the expectations...

So past seasons don’t matter when evaluating teams?

 

Lamar Jackson played for Louisville the past two seasons... I guess I should expect UofL's QB to run wild over most everybody they play this year and put up 30 points a game.

Past seasons absolutely don't matter when evaluating teams during the CURRENT season. Seriously?

 

You set expectations using the previous season... You know, pre-season expectations, before we have actual games played THIS year to adjust the expectations...

So let me ask you this, what do you expect out of Wisconsin the rest of the year?

So let me ask you this, what do you expect out of Wisconsin the rest of the year?

 

I think they lose 3 more.... @ Iowa, @ Michigan, & @ Penn State

The ACC?

 

The ACC is the weakest of the power conferences for now IMO. Clemson is by far the best team and they aren’t playing as a top four team IMO. Could change though.

Lamar Jackson played for Louisville the past two seasons... I guess I should expect UofL's QB to run wild over most everybody they play this year and put up 30 points a game.

The expectations were different though. The expectations for Wisconsin are different. The players don’t make the program at Wisconsin, the program makes the players. They are going to have a good running back, a great offensive line, great linebackers. They are also going to lack a dynamic QB and lack speed on the outside. They will fail to beat elite teams because they lack those things. So one game against BYU changes that? It shifts our expectations of a program that has shown that attrition doesn’t matter, players leaving doesn’t matter, coaches leaving doesn’t matter. That seems like a dramatic leap that I’m not willing to make.