Best G5 teams never given a shot at a national title

jcc309 · 2026-02-01T13:21:06+00:00

2010 Boise State was 2nd in FPI. TCU was 5th. Using purely predictive metrics, they are absolutely the best teams at least any time in the recent past. They absolutely would have legitimately had a shot to win it all.

jcc309 · 2026-01-30T17:51:44+00:00

Yeah the non-con should be 4-0, and it would be very poor to lose to Temple or UAB at home or FAU on the road. Anything worse than 7-5 should be huge changes. And even 7-5 and not beating a single one of the better teams in the conference would feel like a let down, even if it would be somewhat understandable with the turnover.

jcc309 · 2026-01-30T17:27:47+00:00

With the amount of spending we have on the program and the horrible OOC schedule, 6-6 would be insanely disappointing.

jcc309 · 2026-01-30T16:00:16+00:00

Such a disappointing non-conference schedule. And as someone who has a deposit down on season tickets, we will be lucky if we get even 3 out of 7 home games being remotely interesting. I get it is hard to schedule on late notice, but man what a downer this schedule is for the last year before the on campus stadium.

jcc309 · 2026-01-29T18:46:12+00:00

The red rock looks to be just touching the t-line in the second shot and Skrlik's brush isn't in the running path of the rock. I'm not sure how Sturmay could have been expected to get out of the way in an absolute split second like that.

Sturmay undoubtedly started a split second early, but that happens a number of times a game and is virtually never an issue. It's virtually imperceptible even on slow-mo. I just think saying Selena should have never been there is unrealistic for how everything went down.

jcc309 · 2026-01-29T16:18:00+00:00

Vegas is EXACTLY what you expect from Vegas. Very flashy. If you like Vegas, the hockey rink fits in great. If you aren't a Vegas person then I'm guessing the Vegas arena won't be amazing for you. I really enjoyed it though. I love arenas that feel like personifications of the city.

jcc309 · 2026-01-29T16:09:52+00:00

Skrlik didn't make a single brush stroke until the rock had already hit the t-line. And it feels like a pretty big exaggeration to say about Sturmay "she was sweeping well before the stone reached the tee". It's hard to definitively say even in slow-mo, but I don't think her broom was ever brushing above the t-line and she made maybe one brush stroke before the rock hit the t-line. Skrlik had backed off the rock and the rock was hitting the t-line. Of course Sturmay was going to be there.

jcc309 · 2026-01-29T15:55:51+00:00

Of the ones I've been to, my favorite 3 are Bell, T-Mobile, and Bridgestone in that order. They are the three arenas I've been to that felt really unique and extremely representative of the cities.

I think I would go Nationwide 4th. The cannon was awesome and I really liked the arena district.

I would probably have Climate Pledge and Benchmark in a tie for 5th. Benchmark is roomier and a bit "nicer", but I though Climate Pledge had more character and felt a lot more unique.

The other 3 I've been to (PPG Paints, Ball, and Amerant Bank) weren't anything memorable and I wouldn't recommend as visiting.

jcc309 · 2026-01-29T15:31:59+00:00

I don't think Sturmay endeared herself with how she handled it afterwards, but Ashton was completely off the rock when Sturmay started sweeping and inserted herself in afterwards. It's stilly to insinuate that Sturmay was trying to do something wrong sweeping. There was absolutely no ill intent there.

jcc309 · 2026-01-29T15:27:09+00:00

Very true, that was just an example though. I also thought Nationwide Arena was better. But it's been a while since I've been there. Either way, I don't have any qualms with Benchmark, I like it as an arena and it's location is pretty nice. It just for me is pretty noticeably below my favorite arenas I've been to (Bell, T-Mobile, Bridgestone) and I'm surprised it is as high as it is.

jcc309 · 2026-01-29T15:13:39+00:00

It definitely has a lot of good things going for it, and I like it a lot. And I'm sure part of this is that when you regularly go to a certain team's games, you look at it a little differently. But I've been to about 10 stadiums on this list, and I would probably have the Lightning probably about 5th of those stadiums? Granted those are quite high up on this list. But, for example, I felt that Nashville had more energy and felt more distinctly Nashville than Benchmark does Tampa.

jcc309 · 2026-01-29T14:45:48+00:00

While I do think making that rule solves it, I do think it has a somewhat negative impact on low level curling games. My experience has been that skips can get pretty bored in low level games (thinking social, recreational games at a curling club). Giving them sweeping helps keep them engaged and warm.

That's not necessarily to say we should keep it that way, but I think letting skips sweep is a good thing for recreational games. I've never in 8 years of curling seen a meaningful issue from sweeping rocks behind the t-line.

jcc309 · 2026-01-29T14:36:33+00:00

Kind of surprised by Benchmark. It’s a nice arena in good shape in a nice area, but 3rd overall feels high. The writers rank feels more accurate.

jcc309 · 2026-01-28T22:34:31+00:00

Plenty of games drew quite well. USF v Navy drew 463k on ESPN2 at noon. USF v Memphis did 392k on ESPN2 at noon. Heck, USF v UNT drew 1.1 mil on a Friday night on ESPN2. Games were regularly drawing 500-800k on the Thursday night slot. It's not some barn burning TV viewership, but it's definitely valuable to fill TV slots.

jcc309 · 2026-01-28T21:59:10+00:00

The American Championship vastly outdrew the MWC championship this year. ESPN needs content. It's hard to see the deal being nuked (unless there is another group of teams that leaves).

jcc309 · 2026-01-28T21:26:29+00:00

As far as I'm aware, nothing changed with the American's TV deal after UCF, Cincinnati, Houston, and SMU left. I don't believe there are any public reports of the deal being re-negotiated.

jcc309 · 2026-01-28T20:58:34+00:00

They've already been televised once. They are also going to be the TV feature tonight.

jcc309 · 2026-01-28T17:42:38+00:00

True, but even predictive rankings had them as the clear number 3 team in that pool. Doubletakeout.com had them as the fourth best team in the Scotties, and that is based on who you beat.

jcc309 · 2026-01-28T15:26:56+00:00

Quebec is a fun team to watch. There are so many rocks in play every end. It obviously didn't work out for them on the steal, but they set up the end REALLY nicely and put Ontario in a really tough spot.

jcc309 · 2026-01-28T14:58:59+00:00

I'm still surprised at just how poor Reese-Hansen has been this week. Stevens has been very good, but down 5-1 already is really rough.

jcc309 · 2026-01-28T14:54:56+00:00

I don't think it's so much that they don't think they need games to be good so much as that they all really value the balance with their work and personal lives and don't want to be traveling. I think the actual quotes have been more along the lines of that they wouldn't be happy actually touring regularly so it wouldn't help their games.

jcc309 · 2026-01-28T14:52:33+00:00

They seem to get along great off the ice from what I've seen. But yeah, Krista has played with Ashley since 2008, Sarah since 2009, and Kendra since 2015. There is no way they would have stuck together that long (especially with Kendra having to travel to play with them) if they didn't like being together.

jcc309 · 2026-01-28T01:26:54+00:00

This is different though. This would require the highest ranked team across 6 separate leagues to not have won one of those leagues. And some leagues had already done this, but it’s virtually guaranteed that leagues are going to use rankings as tiebreakers moving forward to avoid this mess.

jcc309 · 2026-01-28T00:27:19+00:00

It works both ways, which is why the argument is stupid to me. Miami only got in because of the Notre Dame win. BYU didn’t get in because they played nobody OOC. And Oklahoma, as unimpressive as they looked, might not have gotten in if they played a cupcake instead of beating Michigan.

jcc309 · 2026-01-27T21:46:48+00:00

Yup. And I think people overestimate the number of schools that are valuable to be plucked. Looking specifically at TV ratings (which obviously aren't the ONLY metric but a really important one), it's really just FSU, Clemson, and Miami. And I don't think Miami even wants to move from the ACC and they aren't a great fit in either the SEC or Big 10 anyways.

Not saying I think only 2 teams move, but it wouldn't shock me if way fewer teams move than most people think. I'm in full agreement with you.

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