was more so against the 2-2 UNC team we see this year that got spanked at home by James Madison, blew a 20 point 2nd half lead to Duke, and only has wins vs Charlotte and NC Central as opposed to the 9 win Drake Maye led team.
Bowl win last year...
- Thread starter The Bell Tolls for Thee
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Yeah comparing teams from the current year to previous years makes sense.
Yeah comparing teams from the current year to previous years makes sense.
Your sentiment was true back when the starters during the season played the bowl games. You can say it makes no sense to compare a program's team led by upperclassmen, some of whom are currently getting NFL work, to the following year when underclassmen are in leadership positions. However, if that is your stance, you can't ignore when most of those upperclassmen skip out on the bowl and the team that actually played is mostly by those underclassmen which are currently faltering. The only logical reason to say comparing current teams to teams of years past doesn't make sense is the same logic that says the UNC team WVU played last year was not the same as the UNC team that won 9 regular season games. It is just a fact that the starting line up for the UNC team WVU played in the bowl game looks much more like the current UNC starting line up than the UNC starting line up in game 12 for the Tarheels of last year.
It makes no sense. You have players graduating, you have the portal, coaching changes, injuries, etc. If WVU played Washington right now they very well may win, does that mean WVU beat the same runner-up from last year or just an average team this year? You're trying too hard to make WVU look even worse, they don't need your help.
Let's say all those guys that are no longer on the Washington team that made the playoffs last year had left BEFORE the playoffs. Would you still say the team that played them in the playoffs played to same 2023 Washington Huskies team that the 12 regular season opponents did? You wouldn't because you know it is not true. Well the exact same reason you said you can't compare year to year applies when 20 of the better UNC players, including a first round NFL draft pick QB, do not play and a freshman QB plays instead. The transfer portal and the opting out of bowl games culture has made it possible for the shift you used to see between seasons happen before the bowl game.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone try harder to overthink an obvious flaw in logic. But you win.
I don't see it as over thinking. You and I are saying the same thing about how teams within a program can vastly change from year to year. The only difference is that I say the change can and does happen between regular season and bowl game now. Not all programs of course. The 2 deep for UNC this season is closer to the 2 deep WVU played in the bowl than the 2 deep UNC employed for most of the 2023 regular season starting at the QB position. Think 2018 when WVU got spanked by Syracuse in a bowl with Jack Allison at QB instead of Will Grier.