Troy is coming in about a 6-point favorite over BG

[BGGrad01]

Phil Steele's preview magazine is the only one that I ever read. He has Troy at preseason #31. Only 4 Big 12 schools ahead - Texas, OU, Ok St., and Nebraska. No other Big 12 schools in the top 40. I'm not saying they would compete for a spot in the title game if they were in the South, but they would win their share of games against the bottom feeders of the Big 12.

In the last 5 years, they've been spanked a couple times in road games (at Ok. St. last year), but Troy has won both of its home games over the last 5 years against Big 12 teams (Mizzou and Ok. St.). The rest of the Sun Belt would struggle to win games, but Troy is a solid program. Much like the MAC - the bottom is as bad as it gets, but the top could compete.

[hammb]

Troy State is a better football program than Iowa State, and I don't care what conferences they play in. If my kid has a sholarship offer to both of those schools I'm telling him to step back and realize that he's likely not a 5 star prospect, but still has the opportunity to play D1A ball and get a free education. I'd want him to choose the school that best fit his needs & desires, but I would absolutely point out that Troy State is a far better football program (right now) than Iowa State. He could either go and play for championships and bowls in a lesser conference or get drilled in a better conference. I suppose that is up to the individual, but if you put the two teams on the same field I think Troy would win 9 times out of 10.

As to getting to the NFL, neither is a hotbed for producing NFL talent, but both have a fair number of players in the league. Troy has more, and definitely has the better star power with 2 of the best pass rushers in the league (Umenyiora & Ware). Given the short time that Troy has been in 1A I think it's fair to say that Troy will continue to produce more NFL talent than Iowa State.

Oh and so as to not just pick on Iowa State Baylor has fewer NFLers than Troy does as well, and again they don't have nearly the star power that Troy has produced either.

Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but Troy State is a better football program than Iowa State & Baylor, and that's PROGRAM, as in year to year. On any given year they're probably better than a couple other Big 12 teams as well. Sorry to break your Big12 bubble...

[pawardspider]

Hi Falcon Nation. First let me tell you that I am a Richmond Spider that have a deep profound respect for Clawson. Secondly, I also have some knowledge of Troy being that I try to make a game or two each year. I do not know your program but plan to follow and support you due to our old coach. Do not under estimate Clawson by any means. He is an offensive guru. He has a complicated but simple offense. And it works if the guys buy into it.

Troy is good and should be better this year. Clawson knows their QB well. He played under him for two years at Richmond. He has a cannon of an arm. I do believe that Coach C will come with a good game plan to contain some of that arm. I would not look for any miracles this year but you will see some outstanding play calling. He has some tricks in the bag. I wish you well on his debut and I know you weill be pleasantly surprised at how well he manages the game.

[TG1996]

But...he...offense...Tennessee...uh... Wyoming... um....

Thanks for stopping by! I think most of us are excited by a fresh face on the sidelines and Clawson's HC resume speaks for itself.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

I think I am proving my point that some of you are delusional based on the responses to my posts on this. If any of you (or your sons were offered scholarships at Troy vs. Iowa State, none of you would choose to play in the Sun Belt conference. My main point is that if we fall below Troy and the Sun Belt, it is going to be a sad sad day for BG and Mac football.

You're showing even less CFB knowledge than usual here, and that's saying something.

We ARE below Troy. So is Iowa State. Clearly.

[h2oville rocket]

Oh and so as to not just pick on Iowa State Baylor has fewer NFLers than Troy does as well, and again they don't have nearly the star power that Troy has produced either.

Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but Troy State is a better football program than Iowa State & Baylor, and that's PROGRAM, as in year to year. On any given year they're probably better than a couple other Big 12 teams as well. Sorry to break your Big12 bubble...

I had no idea ( I don't follow college football that much) that Baylor was in a BCS league. Agree with Hammb here-Baylor, Iowa State and maybe Colorado are pretty low on the totem pole. I'd love to see UT beat Colorado and BG barely lose to Missouri on the road . And any time Troy plays a Big 12 team I'll be pulling for them.

[MarkL]

The most important factor to a solid program is consistency. A sucky program can produce a good team (Indiana 2007) and a great program can produce a sucky team (Michigan 2008), but consistent great or terrible teams and consistency or inconsistency in coaching lead to a solid or sucky program. Larry Blackeney has been around Troy for their entire time as a 1A program plus some and been both consistent as a coach and consistently produced good teams. On the other hand, Iowa State has consistently produced mediocre to bad teams and is on yet another head coach, and Baylor has not been a good program since before the days of the Big 12 and have seen far too many coaching changes. No consistency. So yes - Troy is a better program, though fewer people will notice a good Troy team than a good I-State or Baylor team.

[Flipper]

Yep...the best team we've had in the last 10 years was the 2002 team...they were probably good enough to be the 4th-5th best Big 10 team that year...

As the 2003 team would have been.

Whoops...I meant to type 2003 there...the 2002 team was good, but the 2003 squad was better...

[JoeFalcon]

Darn.

What's the fun of seeing the Big 10 humiliated every year if people don't perceive them as automatically superior any more?

[Ineedbotox]

Typical responses from those of you with a serious non-bcs inferiority complex....

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Typical responses from those of you with a serious non-bcs inferiority complex....

Typical response from somebody who has nothing of substance to bring to a conversation.

[Ineedbotox]

The truth hurts J4H. You might disagree with the substance, but so be it.

BTW, how did Jacobs do in that Heisman race anyhow?

[hammb]

The truth hurts J4H. You might disagree with the substance, but so be it.

BTW, how did Jacobs do in that Heisman race anyhow?

Truth does hurt. Troy is far & away a better football program than Baylor or Iowa State. I have no inferiority complex. I know that BG will never be OSU or UM or Oklahoma. I know that we'll never have the financial advantages that playing in a BCS league brings.

I also am smart enough, and watch enough football, to know that being in a BCS league does not automatically make one superior to all nonBCS leagues, which is pretty much what you're trying to argue. You could not be more off base in your assessment of the various programs in this discussion. Something tells me had your husband not played football for one of the lousy BCS programs we're talking about this discussion would be completely different.

[Ineedbotox]

My main points:

1) The Sun Belt Conference sucks;
2) We used to have a pretty good Non-BCS football program that was competitive with BCS teams;
3) If we lose to a Sun Belt team, then we are need to quit pretending we are competitive.

I would much rather be comparing our team to BYU, Utah, or TCU, than worrying about whether we are better than Troy.

As for my BCS slant, or Baylor Slant, you are right. I'm biased. But I will tell you, I think you are all crazy if you say Troy is a "good football program." It may be better than BGSU, and you can say they may have more success over lower ranked BCS programs. Still, in the grand scheme of "good" major college football programs, Troy is not one of them. Also, I think you are all full of it if you think a kid would rather play for a team like Troy over a team in the Big 10, Big 12 or SEC with a losing record.

Sheesh, disagree with me if you want, and discredit me for being a girl and married to a football player. Still, some of you are deranged. Can we not agree on one thing: WE NEED TO BEAT TROY!

[hammb]

1. I agree. On the whole the Sun Belt Sucks (but so does the MAC).
2. I think we are still a team that can compete with, and occasionally beat mid tier BCS programs, but I don't think our program is nearly what it was a few years ago. '02-'04 nobody wanted to play us. In recent years I don't think BG inspires that same fear.
3. I don't necessarily believe that the MAC is all that superior to the Sun Belt anymore. It sucks, but that's the way things have gone. Also I think you're selling Troy a touch short by lumping them with their conference brethren. They are a better program than the rest of that conference.


I think you're a touch behind the times on Troy. No, they are not a great program, but they aren't as far away from TCU & BYU as you seem to think. They're very close to that level, while still a few notches below the Boise & Utah level programs.

Troy is a tough test. Off the top of my head, I think I'd put them in the top 10 of nonBCS schools. I'm not sure I'd put any MAC teams in that top 10. Yes, I think it's a game we can win, but I disagree with how you say it's a game we should automatically expect to win. Any other team in the Sun Belt? Fine, I agree, but Troy is pretty good. If you look over the past few years most of their losses are coming to SEC teams or the like, and usually not the bottom feeders in those conferences either. They are a program on the rise.

As to your final comment that's your opinion and your statement is totally closeminded. I may even be inclined to give you that a majority of kids would rather play for a middling BCS team than a program like Troy (or BG), but to act like it never happens? You're way off base. BG gets recruits every year that have had offers to places like Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa, etc. I guarantee you that Troy is bringing in kids that have offers from Vanderbilt or SC. There aren't many kids who turn down offers at the best schools to play in a nonBCS league, but every year there are dozens of recruits who turn down bottom feeder BCS programs to play at a nonBCS program. Just looking at last year's recruiting class, I see a number of kids who turned down SEC & Big 12 offers to go to Troy. It can, and does, happen.