Hope you'll consider this idea. The overall point is made towards the end.

Swaye said:

Dennis_DeYoung said:

Appreciate all who take the time to read.

I was thinking more about this last night. Some background as to how I got here...from reading posts of others, it seems like the board is split into two camps. You have one camp that maintains such high expectations for this year's huskies that anything short of a blowout or near perfection is considered a failure. You have another camp (this includes the mods) who remind everyone ad nauseam that we should be happy to have a program in such great shape and find their mouse hovering over the "downlike" button anytime a comment isn't all rainbows and sunshine. Of course there are also some who have the unique ability to stay optimistic while also finding constructive things to point out, but that nuance seems harder to find recently.

But perhaps the high expectations from Camp One are unrealistically high, and thus, the excuses for the team's inconsistency made by Camp 2 are unnecessary. Consider the following:

While very good and likely the class of the pac-12, can the Huskies confidently beat any of the following teams?

-Alabama
-Clemson
-Georgia
-Oklahoma
-LSU (beat Auburn)
-Auburn (they already did)
-Penn State
-Ohio State
-Florida
-Texas
-Notre Dame
-Texas A&M
-Miss St. (beat Auburn)

Objectively, it's hard to make the case they can, at least confidently. Not with the way they're playing. Not with the teams they've beat and how they've beat them. Thus, regardless of where the AP or Coaches polls have the Huskies sitting at, they are realistically no better than a #15-20 ranked team. It shouldn't matter if the Coaches Poll has them ranked 7th. Can most agree?

So what's the point? The point is that the expectations placed on this team are unnecessarily high. We're critiquing the play of this team as if they're a legitimate 7th ranked team with the ability to make it to the CFP, when in reality, they don't punch at this weight. Stated differently, would you be so upset, so frustrated, so confounded if this team were ranked #20? Likely not. Being ranked #7 conjures the highest of expectations (whether justified or not).

I'll take a top-15 team any day. And I'm even more excited about the trending of this football program with its recruiting prowess over the past couple years. Top-15 means better recruits. And we develop players second to none. Our coaching staff is one of the best in the country. All signs point to the Huskies becoming a bona-fide elite team in the next few years.

Until then, it may serve everyone best to temper expectations, but also keep in mind we're getting there.

If we can all agree on that, perhaps we'll find more common ground.

Go Dawgs!

If you had actually written this I would have driven to South Carolina and shot you.

DerekJohnson said:

TierbsHsotBoobs said:

Dennis_DeYoung said:

Appreciate all who take the time to read.

I was thinking more about this last night. Some background as to how I got here...from reading posts of others, it seems like the board is split into two camps. You have one camp that maintains such high expectations for this year's huskies that anything short of a blowout or near perfection is considered a failure. You have another camp (this includes the mods) who remind everyone ad nauseam that we should be happy to have a program in such great shape and find their mouse hovering over the "downlike" button anytime a comment isn't all rainbows and sunshine. Of course there are also some who have the unique ability to stay optimistic while also finding constructive things to point out, but that nuance seems harder to find recently.

But perhaps the high expectations from Camp One are unrealistically high, and thus, the excuses for the team's inconsistency made by Camp 2 are unnecessary. Consider the following:

While very good and likely the class of the pac-12, can the Huskies confidently beat any of the following teams?

-Alabama
-Clemson
-Georgia
-Oklahoma
-LSU (beat Auburn)
-Auburn (they already did)
-Penn State
-Ohio State
-Florida
-Texas
-Notre Dame
-Texas A&M
-Miss St. (beat Auburn)

Objectively, it's hard to make the case they can, at least confidently. Not with the way they're playing. Not with the teams they've beat and how they've beat them. Thus, regardless of where the AP or Coaches polls have the Huskies sitting at, they are realistically no better than a #15-20 ranked team. It shouldn't matter if the Coaches Poll has them ranked 7th. Can most agree?

So what's the point? The point is that the expectations placed on this team are unnecessarily high. We're critiquing the play of this team as if they're a legitimate 7th ranked team with the ability to make it to the CFP, when in reality, they don't punch at this weight. Stated differently, would you be so upset, so frustrated, so confounded if this team were ranked #20? Likely not. Being ranked #7 conjures the highest of expectations (whether justified or not).

I'll take a top-15 team any day. And I'm even more excited about the trending of this football program with its recruiting prowess over the past couple years. Top-15 means better recruits. And we develop players second to none. Our coaching staff is one of the best in the country. All signs point to the Huskies becoming a bona-fide elite team in the next few years.

Until then, it may serve everyone best to temper expectations, but also keep in mind we're getting there.

If we can all agree on that, perhaps we'll find more common ground.

Go Dawgs!

I wish you would have died in the car accident.

fuck off