Congress Wants to Fix the BCS?
May 2, 2009 by cbuck215 · Leave a Comment
Congress has been dealing with the worst economic crisis in our time. Today they took timeout to tackle one of the President’s extra curriculum ideas, changing the BCS bowl system to a playoff system. Representative Joe Barton of Texas is introducing a bill to say that the BCS cannot claim a champion without it coming from a playoff system. Congress held hearings on Friday, May 1st discussing the current BCS bowl system with several members on both sides of the debate.
As much I appreciated congress tackling steroids in baseball and putting professional athletes to a character test to be held accountable for destroying the integrity of the American past time. I don’t think it is appropriate for congress or the President to intervene in sports to change the rules. The Mountain West Conference has hired a lobbying firm to lobby Congress for changes to the BCS system. I am not sure how much money each college of the conference has contributed to this effort, but I think there are more productive areas that the money could be contributed to and be more beneficial to the student-body of the MWC.
The big boys do own the BCS, the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big Twelve, the SEC and Pac Ten have automatic bids to the five BCS Bowls, the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Orange Bowl and the National Championship Game. Selections are made According to computerized polls and the Associate Press Bowl and the Coaches’ Poll creating a score that fills the automatics bids. I don’t appreciate computers trying to decide by the numbers what people can decide by using history and experience, but it doesn’t bother me that in this case that the BCS system has tried to compare the two to create competitive games for not only the opportunity to make money, but also to provide the fans with an exciting experience. I probably come off as being bias being a fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes. That has participated in the last 2 out of 3 national championship games and has made numerous BCS appearances that to popular opinion have been because of the university’s reputation to sell tickets not always providing for a competitive game.
The system works. The BCS does the best it can to create a competitive game and the most competitive games are going to come from where the best players go. That is going to be to the biggest conferences because that is where the best athletes are going to find the biggest showcase of their talents to furthering their careers in professional football. On the outside it looks like there are only a select few schools that get the most money, but if you look at recruiting and the players involved the best players go to the biggest schools that are in the biggest conferences. You can’t make everyone happy, there are going to be schools and players in smaller conferences that always feel left out in a bowl system where there are approximately 36 bowls for schools with a .500 record or better can play in and get a share of money from the sponsors involved or a playoff system that pools more money together eliminating several bowls that could not compete against the viewership of a playoff.
Another part of the argument is what would happen to the exciting regular season which in many ways is a playoff for the teams competing in the toughest conditions. Playoffs often don’t go down to the wire deciding on when matchups are decided. Once the winner of a conference is declared the spot is filled. This will lead to some of the most historic games in history being played noncompetitively. Imagine the Ohio State vs. Michigan game being played by their third and fourth string players to preserve the first string for the playoffs. Conferences and coaches alike are going to be challenged how to play the student athlete in a longer season that could create more opportunities for injury to amateurs trying to further their careers.
Gene Bleymaier, Athletic Director for Boise State, noted that his school’s football team went undefeated several times , yet never got a chance to play for the national championship under the BCS. I understand the argument, but have little sympathy for a team that doesn’t play a top twenty five team except for maybe once or twice every other season. Boise State is a good football team and they did put together one team that beat a good Oklahoma team, but they will not do this on a regular basis. It is pure numbers. The 16, 925 undergraduate students Vs. Ohio State University’s 34, 479 undergraduate students (numbers provided by www.yahoo.com/education) cannot always bring in the top high school athletes in the country. This is not only about money, but also the student athlete. The larger universities benefit more students and this is going to decide for most football players where they are going to play football. The current bowls not only work for the market and sponsors involved, but also for the exposure of the football players involved. The undefeated seasons for Boise state has let them play in a bowl game each of those seasons. If there was a playoff the possibility that they would compete with other undefeated teams for a much more limited opportunity and increased pressure to win more than just one playoff game exist. You can beat Oklahoma once, one time in a season. Can you do it three times in a row? In a playoff it will become much harder for those schools to compete. In the current bowl system you can have the satisfaction that you collimated your winning season with the opportunity to win your final game against a school that on-paper you could beat or competitively play against in a highly publicized game. In a playoff a small school will eventually meet someone that outweighs them by a lot and though David might slay Goliath some-of-the-time it doesn’t happen enough to justify them getting the opportunity every time.
The BCS should stay the way it is. They can always tweak the computers and the polls to accept the current trend to create the best opportunity for everyone involved that can competitively play against each other. The worst thing about the argument is that everyone is forgetting the players that are involved on the field. Everyone is just squabbling over their piece-of-the-pie and since the little brother feels like it is only getting table scraps they are crying. This isn’t an argument that our President should be trying to get involved in. There are much more important matters that require his attention. We should just continue to let the players decided this on the field.
Who are the nation’s greenest units?
March 17, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
The ESPN bloggers are getting into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit by breaking down the least experienced units in college football. Some highlights below, with links to the full reviews….
BYU offensive line: The Cougars will have to fill four of the five starting spots on the offensive line, but do have some depth there since several players received playing time due to injuries and some shuffling last year.
Boise State wide receivers: Boise State lost its three starting receivers, including Jeremy Childs, who left early for the NFL. Childs led the team in receiving yards and receptions last year and now quarterback Kellen Moore is going to have to break in some new playmakers.
Louisville: The biggest bunch of newbies are at quarterback, where there are four candidates for the job but not one who’s seen any significant playing time at this level.
South Florida: Look no farther than the offensive line, where four of five starters need to be replaced.
Oklahoma offensive line: The departure of starting center Jon Cooper, tackle Phil Loadholt and guards Duke Robinson and Brandon Walker means that Sam Bradford will have an inexperienced group protecting him next season. Trent Williams moves to left tackle and Bob Stoops likes his incoming talent, if not its early work habits.
Texas defensive line: The major question dogging the Longhorns’ national title hopes will be rebuilding a defensive front that loses All-American defensive end Brian Orakpo, defensive tackle Roy Miller, defensive tackleAaron Lewis and defensive end Henry Melton from last season.
Texas Tech offensive line: New quarterback Taylor Potts will be relying on a retooled offensive line protecting his blind side after left tackle Rylan Reed, left guard Louis Vasquez and center Stephen Hamby all departed from last year.
Alabama: The Crimson Tide are replacing three-year starter John Parker Wilson at quarterback, but losing the threesome of Andre Smith, Marlon Davis and Antoine Caldwell on the offensive line leaves the biggest void. They were at the crux of just about everything Alabama did on offense last season.
Georgia: Much of the focus this spring will be on Joe Cox and the quarterback position, but the Bulldogs’ most glaring weakness is the lack of a dominant pass-rusher from the defensive end position. They’ve got to find somebody who can consistently get to the quarterback.
LSU: Jordan Jefferson started the final two games at quarterback last season as a true freshman and enters 2009 as the favorite to win the job. His main competition will come from another true freshman, Russell Shepard, who graduated early and is going through spring practice.
GEORGIA TECH — Having lost three of four starters on the defensive line, it’s easily one of the greenest groups in the whole conference.
MIAMI – The Canes are still young everywhere, but remember quarterback Jacory Harris has only started two games and his backups have no collegiate experience.
NORTH CAROLINA — The Tar Heels lost their top three receivers and will be counting heavily on inexperienced players to replace Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster.
Arizona State — QB: Combined starts of the five candidates to replace Rudy Carpenter at quarterback? Zero.
Oregon – DT: Both starting defensive tackles are gone and this unofficial depth chart shows 14 combine tackles for seven potential replacements.
Oregon State — DE: Sackmasters Victor Butler and Slade Norris and their 41.5 combined sacks over the past two seasons are gone. Sophomore Kevin Frahm and senior Ben Terry, who split two sacks between themselves in 2008, are in.
Ohio State’s offensive line — Don’t be shocked if Ohio State enters 2009 with three sophomores (Mike Brewster, Mike Adams, J.B. Shugarts) and a transfer (Justin Boren) on its starting line.
Penn State’s defensive ends — Jerome Hayes should be back from another knee injury, but Penn State will be on the lookout for a proven pass rusher after losing Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans and Josh Gaines.
Purdue’s wide receivers — New coach Danny Hope made wide receiver a peak priority in his first recruiting class after losing Greg Orton and Desmond Tardy, who combined for 136 receptions and 1,596 yards last year.
Wisconsin’s defensive line — The Badgers lose three multiyear starters (Matt Shaughnessy, Mike Newkirk and Jason Chapman) and don’t return many proven players aside from ends O’Brien Schofield and Dan Moore.
And — of course — everyone’s favorite green unit:
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Florida, Oklahoma odds on favorites for 2009
March 10, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
The Wiz spotted BodogLife’s updated odds for the college football season. Long story short… it looks like the Gators and Sooners are the early picks, followed by USC, Texas, and Ohio State.
Here’s the complete rundown:
Alabama 22/1
Arizona 100/1
Arizona State 150/1
Arkansas 150/1
Auburn 150/1
Boise State 100/1
Boston College 100/1
California 60/1
Cincinnati 90/1
Clemson 60/1
Colorado 100/1
Florida 7/4
Florida State 30/1
Georgia 50/1
Georgia Tech 50/1
Illinois 80/1
Iowa 75/1
Kansas 75/1
Kansas State 175/1
Kentucky 125/1
Louisville 150/1
LSU 20/1
Maryland 200/1
Miami 35/1
Michigan 120/1
Michigan State 100/1
Missouri 90/1
Nebraska 55/1
North Carolina 45/1
North Carolina State 100/1
Notre Dame 30/1
Ohio State 17/2
Oklahoma 5/1
Oklahoma State 50/1
Oregon 20/1
Oregon State 100/1
Penn State 35/1
Pittsburgh 60/1
Rutgers 125/1
South Carolina 100/1
South Florida 80/1
Tennessee 100/1
Texas 8/1
Texas A&M 150/1
Texas Tech 60/1
UCLA 150/1
Utah 125/1
USC 5/1
Virginia 100/1
Virginia Tech 20/1
Wake Forest 80/1
Washington 200/1
West Virginia 75/1
Wisconsin 100/1
Field (Any Other Team) 20/1
And remember… entertainment purposes only… of course.
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Final Grades: A look back at the preseason AP poll
February 16, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
It’s time to pay the piper. Here’s a look back at the 2008 pre-season AP poll contrasted against the final 2008-2009 AP poll.
2008 AP College Football Poll Comparison – Preseason vs Final Poll
| TEAM | FINAL RANKING | PRESEASON |
| Florida | 1 | 5 |
| Utah | 2 | NR |
| USC | 3 | 3 |
| Texas | 4 | 11 |
| Oklahoma | 6 | 4 |
| Alabama | 6 | NR |
| TCU | NR | NR |
| Penn State | 8 | 22 |
| Ohio State | 9 | 2 |
| Oregon | 10 | 21 |
| Boise State | 11 | NR |
| Texas Tech | 12 | 12 |
| Georgia | 13 | 1 |
| Ole Miss | 14 | NR |
| Virginia Tech | 15 | 17 |
| Oklahoma State | 16 | NR |
| Cincinnati | 17 | NR |
| Oregon State | 18 | 22 |
| Missouri | 19 | 6 |
| Iowa | 20 | NR |
| Florida State | 21 | NR |
| Georgia Tech | 22 | NR |
| West Virginia | 23 | 8 |
| Michigan State | 24 | NR |
| BYU | 25 | 16 |
The big standout poll flops are Georgia (P-1 F-13), Ohio State (P-2 F-10), Missouri (P-6 F-19) and West Virgina (P-8 F-23). And — of course — the teams that never even made it to the final poll, including LSU, Clemson, Auburn and Wisconsin.
The Cinderella stories of Utah, TCU, Boise State, and Alabama surprised pollsters and fans alike. (Outside of Alabama, of course, who always expects the Tide to be #1… and they’re not afraid to tell you about it, as well. Still, I suspect there were more than a couple of surprised Bama fans out there this season when the Crimson Tide rose to the top of the polls.)
The biggest surprise for me was how many of the teams were actually ranked consistently from pre-season to final poll. That shocked me, actually. I have long advocated not doing any polls at all until the fourth week of the season, but there’s enough balance between the good & bad of the pre-season poll to suggest that *some* of the pollsters might actually put some thought into this whole thing.
What stands out to you and where do you stand on pre-season polls — sacrosanct or sacrelidge?
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Jumping Ship: Who’s leaving early for the NFL?
January 21, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
The good folks at ESPN’s data center have the updates on which college football underclassmen are leaving school in search of huge bags of money a career in the NFL. Here’s the updated list, with a few notable talents highlighted.
Asher Allen CB 5-1 198 Georgia
Chris Baker DT 6-2 298 Hampton
Kenny Britt WR 6-4 215 Rutgers
Eben Britton OT 6-5½ 310 Arizona
Donald Brown RB 5-10 210 Connecticut
Everette Brown DE 6-4 252 Florida State
James Casey TE 6-4 245 Rice
Jeremy Childs WR 6-0 196 Boise State
Glen Coffee RB 6-1 198 Alabama
Austin Collie WR 6-2 206 BYU
Emanuel Cook S 5-10 203 South Carolina
Jared Cook TE 6-5 243 South Carolina
Michael Crabtree WR 6-3 214 Texas Tech
Andrew Davie TE 6-5 266 Arkansas
Nate Davis QB 6-1¾ 217 Ball State
Vontae Davis CB 5-11⅞ 203 Illinois
Josh Freeman QB 6-5½ 238 Kansas State
Shonn Green RB 5-10¾ 233 Iowa
Percy Harvin WR 5-10¾ 187 Florida
Darrius Heyward-Bey WR 6-1⅞ 203 Maryland
P.J. Hill RB 5-11 236 Wisconsin
Greg Isdaner OG 6-4 322 West Virginia
Ricky Jean-Francois DL 6-3 289 LSU
Paul Kruger DE 6-5 265 Utah
Jeremy Maclin WR 6-0 198 Missouri
Sen’Derrick Marks DT 6-0⅞ 289 Auburn
Aaron Maybin DE 6-3½ 250 Penn State
LeSean McCoy RB 5-11 205 Pittsburgh
Gerald McRath LB 6-3 220 Southern Miss
D.J. Moore CB 5-10 184 Vanderbilt
Knowshon Moreno RB 5-10¾ 207 Georgia
Captain Munnerlyn CB 5-9 185 South Carolina
Hakeem Nicks WR 6-1 215 North Carolina
Kevin Ogletree WR 6-2 189 Virginia
Jerraud Powers CB 5-9 191 Auburn
Mark Sanchez QB 6-2½ 225 USC
Andre Smith DT 6-4⅞ 341 Alabama
Sean Smith CB 6-2½ 212 Utah
Matthew Stafford QB 6-2½ 235 Georgia
Brandon Williams DE 6-5 246 Texas Tech
Chris “Beanie” Wells RB 6-1 235 Ohio State
Of course, it’s worth mentioning a few standout players who are not going pro this year:
Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma
Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida
C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson
Greg Hardy, DE, Mississippi
Equally notable, FSU S Myron Rolle will leave the Noles, but isn’t going to the NFL… yet. Rolle accepted a Rhodes Scholarship and will study medical anthropology at Oxford. Rolle was expected to be a top 50 or better pick, but will instead look to enter the 2010 NFL draft.
The NFL Draft is scheduled for April 26th and 27th in New York City.
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Who will be the 2009-2010 BCS National Champion?
January 21, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
While memories of Tebow hoisting the trophy may still be dancing through your head, the pundits can’t help but look ahead to the 2009-2010 BCS National Championship.
With more returning starters than USC or Oklahoma, the early favorites of the talking heads are the Florida Gators and Texas Longhorns.
Here’s a breakdown of the pundit pre-pre-preseason projections, with click-through links to their full lists.
Rivals.com
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. USC
4. Oklahoma
5. LSU
Highest Projected non-BCS: #9 – Boise State
Mark Schlabach (ESPN)
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. USC
4. Oklahoma
5. Alabama
Highest Projected non-BCS: #8 – Boise State
Dennis Dodd (CBS Sportsline)
1. Florida
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. Alabama
5. Virginia Tech
Highest Projected non-BCS: #15 – Utah
Mr. College Football Tony Barnhart (Atlanta Constitution-Journal)
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. USC
4. Alabama
5. Oklahoma
Highest Projected non-BCS: #17 – TCU
Bruce Feldman (ESPN)
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Oregon
5. Virginia Tech
Highest Projected non-BCS: None in Top 10
Matt Hayes (Sporting News)
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Alabama
5. Ole Miss
Highest Projected non-BCS: #18 – BYU
So… if you believe the pundits… go ahead and book your reservations now, Gator & Longhorn fans. But… then again, that didn’t work out too well for Georgia fans last year, so… maybe just watch the games, first.
PS – On a side note, let me just say that I am glad to be back in the saddle. It’s nice to see the community has grown to the point where our contributors have taken over with amazing, self-generated content. Keep these great posts coming because… there is no off-season, boys.
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Big Ten bowl wrap-up with Jim Delany, Part II
January 12, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg
Here's the second half of my bowl wrap-up interview with Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. For Part I, click here.
Given that these things tend to be cyclical, do you see a four- or five-year stretch of winning records on the horizon for the Big Ten?
Jim Delany: That's what we came out of. We had four or five years where we had done pretty well. If you look at the history of it, you can break it down by 20 years, 10 years, five years. People don't get to where they've got without having some success along the line. To whom much is given, much is expected, and we have amazing universities, amazing fan bases, amazing resources. We have very good coaches. It's more the surprise if you go on a four-year, five-year period where you're not competing at the very top. And having said that, I don't think it's as far down as many think. If you want to pick out LSU, Florida and USC and say, 'Did we get beat good?' I'd say, 'Yeah.' I'd also say, 'Did anybody else play them at that level?' They're beating everybody pretty good.
You've had four consecutive seasons of getting multiple teams in BCS bowls. Given the recent struggles, are you still confident that it will continue next season?
JD: You have to look at each year on its own merits. If you have a team in the Top 10 and they're going to travel well, they could go. We don't have a situation where the top eight teams go. We have a situation that is different. A lot of people were complaining that Utah wasn't [No. 1]. Well, if it wasn't for the BCS, Utah wouldn't have been in a major bowl. Nor would have Boise [State in 2007]. Nor would have Hawaii [in 2008]. The BCS made those venues available in ways that were never available before. So rather than criticize it, I look at it as, 'Hey, we've opened up the system.' People might say, 'The Rose Bowl should be opened up and anybody should be able to go.' And I would say, 'That's something that was built over 60 years, and I don't think that's going to happen.' I look at it as hey, we've played some great football teams. We've been competitive in some cases, we've won some games and we've gotten beat pretty soundly in some others. Those are the facts. If you can't be honest enough about the facts, you're not being realistic. And you have to be realistic. They have been really, really good, and we haven't had a team at the level that Florida played at, at the level that LSU played at and the level that USC played at. At all other levels, we've got teams that can play, and at a particular time and place, we can climb back up. I'm optimistic and resilient about it.
You mentioned USC, LSU and Florida and not having a team quite at that level right now. Do you think a team isn't far from that in the Big Ten?
JD: It's hard to know because wherever Florida was this year, they weren't there last year because we beat them. And LSU, the year before they won it, we beat them. So I don't think that there is a big gap between playing at what I would describe as super elite level and at a very good level. Penn State had four or five losing seasons and coach [Joe] Paterno said, 'We're just a few players away.' Well, he was correct. I look at Ohio State with Beanie Wells and Terrelle Pryor and they were certainly all Texas could handle, but without them, they really weren't capable against USC. So I really don't think it's far, but who's to say? We've got a half dozen of our 11 teams, they have young staffs, new staffs, that are building programs. I think Michigan will be back quickly, Illinois is on the upswing, Michigan State's on the upswing, Iowa, Northwestern, Minnesota. Having played on three teams that went to Final Fours and never won a national championship, I can identify with how good Ohio State is. They're a very, very good college football team. It's more a sign of the times when somebody can be that good, accomplish that much, win at Texas, play Texas tough this year, do a lot of really good things, and people can only find out, if you're not [No.] 1, you must be no one.
Oklahoma will go through the same thing now, no doubt.
JD: I think there's something fundamentally wrong with tagging somebody who accomplishes something as much as the Oklahoma team has accomplished. That means there could only be one great program, and everybody else is a loser. And you know what? That doesn't conform to reality. That doesn't conform to my sense of quality. I'm not saying we can't get better, we won't get better, we haven't been better. All I'm saying is there are a lot of good football teams. Congratulations to Florida for winning two of the last three and the SEC. They have clearly demonstrated they're at the top of the heap in this cycle, and they should be recognized for such. But I've always felt the Pac-10 didn't get their due. Everybody was down on the Pac-10. Well, USC was pretty good, they went 5-0 [in bowls]. But again, it's five games. I look around at people that were 4-2, they could have been 2-4. But it is what it is, and I take a little bit of a longer-term view. You have to look at your programs and say, 'OK, what's really going on? Do you like the leadership of your programs?' And in all of my cases, I say, 'Yeah, I do.' They have enough resources to be successful. They have great fan bases and media agreements. So everything's in place, and there's not a lot of difference between winning and losing. You have to tip your hat to those that are at the elite level, but you can't crawl in a hole and start making excuses and self-flagellating. The infrastructure's there to be very good.
We talked about urgency before the bowl season. Is there a new sense of that or an even heightened sense going into the 2009 season?
JD: Our coaches and our players are not immune. They realized that we haven't performed on the big stage as well as we would have liked to. So I think they played very hard. I saw how hard Penn State played. I thought Ohio State played really hard. The [Northwestern] Wildcats, I was really proud of how hard they played. So I don't think it's a matter of urgency because if your players are playing their hearts out and your coaches have them prepared and they lose the game, there's no shame in that. If you're doing it the right way in college sports, while you're disappointed, you get up, you clean your pants off, you go back to spring practice, you continue to recruit, you hope the kids graduate and have a good experience, and you congratulate the people that won the game. That's how I've tried to view it, even though I'd much rather win the games.
Four Big Ten freshmen named FWAA All-Americans
January 8, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg
The Football Writers Association of America today announced its freshman All-America team, which included four players from the Big Ten.
Five of the six BCS conferences – Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, SEC and Pac-10 — placed four players on the list.
Here are the Big Ten honorees:
- Joel Foreman, guard, Michigan State
- Mike Brewster, center, Ohio State
- Jordan Mabin, cornerback, Northwestern
- Philip Welch, kicker, Wisconsin
All four players played prominent roles this fall.
Brewster, a true freshman, moved into the starting lineup midway through the season. Foreman started on a line that helped Javon Ringer finish third nationally in rushing. Mabin tied for the team lead with three interceptions and added eight pass deflections in his first season as a starter. Welch proved to be an excellent replacement for All-Big Ten kicker Taylor Mehlhaff, converting 17 of 20 field-goal attempts.
Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore got the nod over Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor. I was a little surprised that neither of the Big Ten’s outstanding freshman punters — Chris Hagerup (Indiana) and Brad Nortman (Wisconsin) — made the list.
Bet your house on Florida, and other things to discuss;
January 7, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
Lots to discuss, wasting no time here…..
Let’s start off with the big event in sports. Tomorrow night’s BCS National Championship Game, Florida vs. Oklahoma.
There’s only one way to put this. Bet everything you have on Florida right now. It’s going to be a massive blowout. I have about thirty reasons why this will happen, but here’s just the best reasons;
1) The Big 12 has been exposed as EXTREMELY overrated this year
Say what you will about the Big Ten and the ACC and the Big East all sucking, but the Big 12 should be VERY embarrassed with their overexposure and underwhelming bowl performances.
At one point, there were multiple teams from the Big 12 ranked in the Top 10. It was getting ridiculous, and the AP voters and TV announcers ate it up like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. “Every week is like a bowl game in the Big 12″ they would say. Bullshit, I say. They were all pretty average. Here’s how their bowl games turned out;
Texas 24, Ohio State 21 – In a game that EVERYBODY said would be a 20-point blowout, it took a miracle drive, bad tackling, and some questionable officiating to put Texas in the end zone to win the game. Somehow along the way, hitting a Longhorn QB in the shoulder pads became a 15-yard penalty. In the end, the team that cried their eyes out claiming they were robbed out of the title game proved that they did not deserve any titles at all. Texas went in thinking they would run up the score and pick up some first-place votes found themselves without a TD (and only 3 total points) for the entire first half.
Overrated? Texas was ranked #1 in the nation at one point this year, Ohio State was given a 9% chance to win the game. Yes, Texas was overrated.
Ole Miss 47, Texas Tech 34 – Ole Miss is an average SEC team, always finishing in the middle of the pack. Texas Tech was another team looking to destroy their bowl opponent, this time to prove that they should have gotten in a BCS game. Mission failed. Badly. After getting off to a fast start, the Red Raiders proved that they deserved absolutely nothing when they allowed Ole Miss to go on a 38-7 run and blow out their Big 12 foe.
Overrated? Texas Tech was ranked #2 in the nation earlier this year. Ole Miss lost to Vanderbilt and South Carolina…both at home. Yes, Tech was overrated.
Missouri 30, Northwestern 23 (OT) – Despite the wishes of the Big 12’s most popular brother-sister team (otherwise known as Chase Daniel’s parents), Missouri looked like crap against the Big Ten’s 8th-best pass defense. Northwestern should have won this game, but some late miscues handed the game to Mizzou.
Overrated? Missouri was once ranked #3 in the NCAA. Northwestern lost a game by 35 points this year. Yes, Missouri was overrated.
Oregon 42, Oklahoma State 31 - Okie State started off fast, but couldn’t maintain themselves against a rushing attack from the Ducks. Two Oregon players would break the 100-yard mark on their way to 307 yards team rushing. Oregon also racked up a total of 565 yards aginst Okie State.
Overrated? Oklahoma State was once ranked #7 in the nation. Yes, Okie State was overrated.
Nebraska 26, Clemson 21 – In the Gator Bowl, Nebraska was trying to recapture some of their historic greatness, and their prospects were large, playing against a team that only won 7 games in the pathetic ACC….a team so bad, they fired their coach mid-season. And they barely escaped with the win, when a Tigers TD was overturned by instant review.
Overrated? Well, Nebraska was never rated. But they barely beat a bad, bad team.
Kansas 42, Minnesota 21 – The lone bright spot for the conference so far, Kansas doubled up on Minnesota, who were bowling to the shock of everyone not in a Gopher uniform at the start of the season. As the season wore on, Minnesota’s weak schedule was exposed by the Big Ten, and the regular season ended mercifully with a 55-0 Minny loss.
Overrated? Kansas was actually ranked as high as #13 this year. Minny lost a game 55-0. Yes, Kansas was overrated.
The point of all this is simple – the Big 12 was NOT the meat-grinder that the media told us it was over and over and over again. Oklahoma’s not ready for this game.
#2) Florida IS ready for this game
A bad performance by Tim Tebow once this year nearly cost Florida a shot, but they came back in a dominating way. Since their loss in Week 4, they have been unstoppable. Take a look at this;
- Week 5 – 31-point win against Arkansas
- Week 6 – 30-point win over then-#4 LSU
- Week 7 – 58-point win over bowl-bound Kentucky
- Week 8 – 39-point win over then-#6 Georgia
- Week 9 – 28-point win over bowl-bound Vanderbilt
- Week 10 – 50-point win over bowl-bound and then-#25 South Carolina
- Week 11 – 51-point win over The Citadel
- Week 12 – 30-point win over bowl-bound Florida State
- Week 13 – 11-point win over then-#1 and BCS-Bowl bound Alabama
Yeah, they’re ready.
3) The Heisman Curse
Sam Bradford won the Heisman this year. Heisman winners usually suck in bowl games, especially National Championships (we know, we know). Only twice in the past 30 years has the Heisman winner gone on to win a National Championship. No, Tebow didn’t win it the year Florida took the title (Troy Smith won it).
4) Oklahoma pretty much sucks at BCS bowl games
For all the whining and crying you hear about Ohio State’s recent bowl losses, you just don’t hear those kind of attacks leveled at the Sooners. And believe me, they’re much worse. In their last 4 BCS bowls, they are 0-4 and have been blown out more than once.
- 2008 – Lost to West Virginia 48-28
- 2007 – Lost to Boise State 43-42
- 2005 – Lost to USC 55-19
- 2004 – Lost to LSU 21-14
If they make it 0-5, we’d better NEVER hear about our own shortcomings again. Especially since they’ll have lost two national championships in that time frame.
Convinced? Call Vegas ASAP.
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Last night, the Cavaliers overtook the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference when Boston lost. The Cavs now have the best record in the NBA.
Tonight, the Cavaliers beat the living daylights out of Charlotte, 111-81. Boston’s loss last night? It was to that same Charlotte team.
The Celtics come to The Q Friday night. It should be insaaaaaane!
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Speaking of the Cavaliers game, there were many highlights to go over. But the best was watching former Michigan Fab-Fiver Juwan Howard get tossed from the game while sitting on the bench.
By the way, did you know that the Fab Five never won a single title in college? No national titles, no Big Ten titles, nothing. Just thought I’d mention that.
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In the “what the hell” category, Boobie Gibson also got a technical foul tonight. For having an untucked shirt. No, I’m not kidding.
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The Cleveland Browns hired their new coach tonight. Eric Mangini, former Jets coach, and former ball boy for the Browns, will call the plays next year.
Makes sense to me. Hell, there were CURRENT ball boys that could have done better with the Browns this season.
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Last week, it was announced that Michigan’s only offensive threat, Sam McGuffie, has left Ann Arbor and will enroll at Rice next year. McGuffie was rumored to have been struggling with depression and on medication. Being closer to home will be better for the kid.
Also better for him will be not having to deal with decapitation at the hands of Ohio State special teams players.
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Finally, in the most laughable news you’ll ever hear, Michigan Head Coach Rich Rodriquez recently said he has “always taken the approach that you should look at each job as your last.”
Yeah, he actually said that. With a straight face, no less.
Story By The Buckeye Battle Cry
13-0 Utah + Barack Obama = playoffs???
January 5, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
Earlier this year, President-elect Barack Obama stepped into the college football controversy known as the BCS, when he publicly called for the college football championship system to include playoffs. A mere 11 days after being elected as the most powerful man in the world, Obama made the call that millions of football fans are begging for.
“If you’ve got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season, and many of them have one loss or two losses, there’s no clear decisive winner. We should be creating a playoff system.”
I don’t know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I’m going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it’s the right thing to do.
I think it’s about time we had playoffs in college football. I’m fed up with these computer rankings and this that and the other. Get eight teams — the top eight teams right at the end. You got a playoff. Decide on a national champion.”
Once sworn into office, Obama could sway the BCS to abandon the current system in favor of a more accurate determination of a champion. If any one man can do it, it would have to be the President of the United States.
But add to that the fact that Utah has just completed its’ second unbeaten season in four years, and you have more reason to change the system. Utah’s biggest detraction was a softer schedule and the fact that very few people outside of the Mormon state got to see them play football. Personally, the only time I saw them play was when they nearly lost to Michigan in the final seconds…..and after the season UM had, I would never have wanted a national championship shot given to a team that barely beat the Wolverines.
But looking back, you can see a better strength of schedule for the Utes, including wins against Oregon State, #12 TCU, and a blowout of then-#14 BYU. Now counter in the destruction of #4 Alabama, and you’ve got a worthy team.
Also, don’t forget that Utah beat Alabama by MORE than Florida did, and the Gators ARE playing for the national championship.
Did unbeaten Boise State deserve a shot? Hell, no. But we didn’t find that out until the bowls. So give 8-12 teams a chance and let’s find out who deserves it and who doesn’t.
So let’s see some action on this Mr. President. It’ll be for the good of the sport, and for the good of the country.
Plus, when you get that playoff system in place, think of the landslide re-election you’ll have when the solidly-Republican state of Utah gives you their vote for President in 2012.
Story By The Buckeye Battle Cry