Could an ISU all-star team win it all?

[CyJack13]

2001 Miami was an amazingly talented team. However, some of those you listed were not real contributors.

Roscoe Parrish did not play on the 2001 team. (Freshman yr, redshirt)
Kellen Winslow had 2 catches. (He was a freshman)
Vernon Carey wasn't a starter. (Sophomore)
Antrel Rolle played sparingly - 8 tackles (Freshman)

This goes back to Ted's point. The ISU team would be almost all seniors. Take Kellen Winslow vs. Mike Busch. If they were both seniors, sure Winslow is the better player, but Winslow as a Fr. vs Busch as a Sr. - Busch is better.

But the reason they didn't play much was because the guys ahead of them were so talented. Shockey was the best tight end in the country that year. Winslow may very well have been better than Busch as a freshman but just wasn't better than Shockey.

[RandomFan]

But the reason they didn't play much was because the guys ahead of them were so talented. Shockey was the best tight end in the country that year. Winslow may very well have been better than Busch as a freshman but just wasn't better than Shockey.

False, Daniel Graham.

[CyJack13]

False, Daniel Graham.

False, Shockey was the first tight end drafted.

[RandomFan]

False, Shockey was the first tight end drafted.

Daniel Graham won the John Mackey Award.

Also, back to the Busch vs. Winslow debate. I find it hard to believe you could rank a freshman with 2 catches ahead of a senior 1st team All-American.

[Tedcyclone]

But the reason they didn't play much was because the guys ahead of them were so talented. Shockey was the best tight end in the country that year. Winslow may very well have been better than Busch as a freshman but just wasn't better than Shockey.

okay so now we have drifted into would ISUs all ever team be the best team that ever played... the org debate was would they win the national title... so maybe in 01 it would have been a good game against miami... So and maybe against the 05 Longhorns it would have been a decent game... So i still say 9 out of 10 years that All Senior Laden All ISU team with NFL players that are seniors playing at back up at every position would be favored to win it all...

and yes it would still be the best team of all time.

[ISUFan22]

This "we almost went undefeated in '05" madness needs to stop. Period. We fielded a very similar team in '06 and got murdered. Yes, we lost defensive stars - but our offense continued to make our defense look much, much worse. The '05 team was not as good as many think it was.

Our schedule that season was very soft. The defense put our "potent" offense in great positions very often and inflated the perspective of how good the offense was.

Also, almost going undefeated doesn't mean we did it. Almost only counts in horseshoes, archery, hand grenades and nuclear warfare.

[RandomFan]

This "we almost went undefeated in '05" madness needs to stop. Period. We fielded a very similar team in '06 and got murdered. Yes, we lost defensive stars - but our offense continued to make our defense look much, much worse. The '05 team was not as good as many think it was.

Our schedule that season was very soft. The defense put our "potent" offense in great positions very often and inflated the perspective of how good the offense was.

Also, almost going undefeated doesn't mean we did it. Almost only counts in horseshoes, archery, hand grenades and nuclear warfare.

The fact that we were that close to winning every game in '05 with such a weak offense is kinda the point. Put Seneca Wallace and Troy Davis on that team and you're telling me we aren't in the Big XII championship, at worst?

And to call the '06 team similar is pretty questionable. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I believe we returned 3 Defensive starters: Curvey, DeAndre Jackson and Shawn Moorehead. And Jackson missed half the season when he tore his ACL.

So we went from a weak offensive team with a stingy defense, to a weak offensive team with an inexperienced (and far less talented) defense. How were those two teams similar, other than the weak offense?

[JUKEBOX]

This "we almost went undefeated in '05" madness needs to stop. Period. We fielded a very similar team in '06 and got murdered. Yes, we lost defensive stars - but our offense continued to make our defense look much, much worse. The '05 team was not as good as many think it was.

Our schedule that season was very soft. The defense put our "potent" offense in great positions very often and inflated the perspective of how good the offense was.

Also, almost going undefeated doesn't mean we did it. Almost only counts in horseshoes, archery, hand grenades and nuclear warfare.

That's the point. The team wasn't spectacular, but the schedule almost allowed them to be undefeated.

[TedKumsher]

Not in football.
Basketball possibly.

Uhh . . . We were practically a "blarge" away from a NC with a "normal" team. All-star would clearly be capable.


And as for football -- of course we'd have a shot. Not against everyone else's all star teams, but against the normal teams . . .