NOTES: Our Pecan Park Eagle interest in the polls this year, of course, is heightened by the UH 33-23 win over OU, last Saturday’s # 3 ranked team going into the season openers. We regret that we cannot behave as cool as some people who have been there before. We have been there before, but it’s been a very long time – and never previously on the foundation of a movement at UH to sustain our university progress for Tier One dedication at both the academic and athletic levels of high achievement. This time, UH has the tactical mind-set, the money, the administration, the infrastructure improvement, the coaching, the competitive coaching salaries that shall continue to rise, the athletes, the ethical winning culture, and last, but not least, the kind of power politics support that was missing when the SWC disbanded and we ran into political forces working against us when we only had very scattered unfocused political support working for us. On that long lost battleground, UH was the proverbial guy who took a knife to a gunfight – and we all know how those encounters usually turn out.
No matter how this season turns out, all we have ever worked to achieve in athletics at UH is now tangibly possible. And that position can only be strengthened by our admission into the Big 12 in the near future. If the Big 12 somehow miscalculates, and does not invite UH, then we shall become the Houston and Texas recruiting anchor prize that awaits the SEC, the PAC 12, or the ACC that does see our university’s value to every other conference school that understands the value of having a first rate program located in the nation’s 4th largest city as a prize to them all.
Those 71,000 fans who showed at NRG last Saturday were mostly Cougar fans. If you don’t believe me, you should have been there to hear where the loudest crowd roars originated on that 109-yard Cougar TD run on that failed OU filed goal attempt. And shortly thereafter, when the Sooner fans started to bail early and head for their cars, you should have seen how packed the stadium remained in Cougar Red.
The Eagle takes no special joy in the agony suffered by most of the visiting OU fans who journeyed here, only to have their high hopes destroyed in a game that began in the morning of the season’s first day. We spent a lot time talking with a great almost clear of middle age OU fan sitting behind us throughout the game. He never manifested a single agony or superstition that we haven’t seen among some Cougar fans in all the parts of seven decades we’ve been watching UH football.
When the Cougars took a 19-17 lead right before half time, our OU friend tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I hate to say it, but losing the lead right before half time is a bad sign for us Sooners. – We usually lose when that happens,” he added.
When UH converted a failed OU FG attempt that would have given the Sooners a 1-point 20-19 lead into a UH TD and a 9-point UH 26-17 lead (a 10 point swing), our Sooner friend added, “What did I tell you? – I just knew that something like this was going to happen. I tried to tell my friends in Oklahoma City that coming down here to play UH wasn’t going to be a waltz, but they didn’t want to believe me. Bet they do now.”
Sorry, Sooner Fan, even if we never meet again. The “Joy of Victory” requires an even weightier “Agony of Defeat” blanket to fall all over the other side. It’s a Yin and Yang thing.
As for what these polls actually mean, it’s only an “in the neighborhood thing” after one game. If you doubt that, take a look at how differently the AP and Coaches Polls shown below treat that “Game for the UT Ages” win over Notre Dame on Sunday night. AP places UT where we think they should be, at least, at #11, just outside the Top 10. The Coaches Poll, however, ranks UT, who beat Notre Dame at # 20, behind # 12 TCU, who beat South Dakota State, a sub-level NCAA big boy small college team.
UT also finished a spot behind #19 Baylor, who also beat up another small college warm up game foe to earn their spot – and to say nothing about the fact that once defeated OU earned the #13 place in the Coaches Poll.
If you really care to jaw-drop a few “whaaats?” along the way, check out all four of the new polls shown on this link:
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/9/6/12808468/ncaa-football-rankings-2016-week-one
Check out that S&P+ Poll. It’s based on a lot of computer projections and variables not included in the others. This one doesn’t include UH or UT, but it does include the two teams they beat. Oklahoma is still listed at # 6, even though they lost to UH. Notre Dame is shown at as the # 17 team, even though they lost to UT.
Altogether now: “Whaaaaaaaaaaaat??????”
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Two Important NCAA College Football Polls, Week of 9/06/2016
Associated Press Poll, 9/06/2016, Going into Week # 2
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Alabama
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Clemson
-
Florida State
-
Ohio State
-
Michigan
-
Houston
-
Stanford
-
Washington
-
Georgia
-
Wisconsin
-
Texas
-
Michigan State
-
Louisville
-
Oklahoma *
-
TCU
-
Iowa
-
Tennessee
-
Notre Dame *
-
Ole Miss *
-
Texas A&M
-
LSU *
-
Oklahoma State
-
Baylor
-
Oregon
-
Miami (FL)
* These 4 asterisked schools remain in the Week 2 Top 25 Poll, even though they each lost their opening games. The other 21 schools were all winners.
SCHOOL COLOR TYPE was used to highlight the 5 schools from The Lone Star State that made up 20% of the Top 25 National School Poll after all games of Week # 1.
Coaches Poll, 9/06/2016, Going into Week # 2
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Alabama
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Clemson
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Florida State
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Ohio State
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Stanford
-
Michigan
-
Houston
-
Michigan State
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Georgia
-
Iowa
-
Washington
-
TCU
-
Oklahoma *
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Tennessee
-
Louisville
-
Wisconsin
-
Oklahoma State
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Ole Miss *
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Baylor
-
Texas
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Notre Dame *
-
LSU *
-
Oregon
-
Texas A&M
-
Florida
* These same 4 asterisked schools included by AP remain in the Week 2 Top 25 Coaches Poll, even though they each lost their opening games. The other 21 schools were all winners.
SCHOOL COLOR TYPE was used to highlight the 5 schools from The Lone Star State that made up 20% of the Top 25 National School Poll after all games of Week # 1.
____________________
Bill McCurdy
Publisher, Editor, Writer
The Pecan Park Eagle
Houston, Texas
The Pecan Park Eagle 
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