College Football: Which BCS Bowls Are Compelling?

For the next two weeks, college football fans will be left to their own devices. This is it. It’s over. Oh sure, there’s the NBA, NHL and NFL – keep yourselves busy with those sports while you go nuts – but it’s not college football. Start your official mourning.

Until January 1st, we won’t be blessed with any real outstanding bowls, except for the Poinsettia Bowl (TCU v Boise State), Champs Sports Bowl (Florida State v Wisconsin), Emerald Bowl (Cal v Miami), Holiday Bowl (Oregon v Oklahoma State) and Chick-Fil-A Bowl (LSU v Georgia Tech).

Our reward for watching all of the lesser-compelling bowls? The BCS Bowls. The biggees. The cream of the crop bowls. Or are they?

Here are the BCS Bowls and their cases for why they are compelling, or why they are not. See if you agree with the verdicts.

 

The Allstate Sugar Bowl (Alabama vs. Utah)

Quick, whichever team wins will make a strong case for… what? Think about that for a minute. The Crimson Tide had their hearts broken after losing the SEC Conference Championship Game to the Florida Gators. Still reeling, they now face the Mountain West champs, the Utah Utes.

If Bama wins, everyone will say “Big deal, the Utes didn’t belong here because they don’t play in a BCS conference.” If the Utes win, everyone will say “Told ya, the Tide were overrated to begin with, and this just proves that point.”

This Sugar Bowl may have a winner, but not in the PR dept. It’s anti-climatic, doesn’t prove anything and except for a possible “We belong here” case for the Utes, won’t bolster the Utes’ case for playing in the NC game (after all, they are playing the second place SEC team) and will not have resolved anything. No matter who wins.

Verdict: Not compelling

 

The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Texas vs. Ohio State)

Holy smokes, this bowl is going to need a shrink on hand to tend to all the psyches of these teams’ players. Let’s look at what story lines are involved here.

You’ve got one ticked-off Longhorns team who feels they should have represented the Big 12 South in the Conference Championship and gotten a possible shot at the NC. Instead, they have to watch a team they beat – Oklahoma – get that shot when both the Sooners and the Longhorns have the same amount of losses. Think there’s a bit to prove on the field here?

On the other hand, you have the Ohio State Buckeyes, who are making their yearly saunter into a BCS Bowl with a bit of a chip on their shoulders- they are tired of hearing “over rated”, tired of “0-11″ (even though that record is against the SEC and they are now playing a Big 12 team), and tired of hearing how they haven’t recently deserved to be in BCS Bowls.

The end result? If Texas beats the nuts out of Ohio State and Florida beats the boom out of the Sooners in the NC, we could have another split championship. How many heads will roll if the Buckeyes are in the preseason top ten rankings next year? If Ohio State beats Texas, then the Buckeyes will have restored some dignity, finally shut up the naysayers and proved that Texas got what it deserved.

Verdict: Very compelling

 

The Rose Bowl presented by Citi (USC vs. Penn State)

The last few Rose Bowls have been duds, in part because the Rose Bowl did not get their traditional No. 1 Pac-10 champ vs No. 1 Big Ten champ; Ohio State went to the NC game two years in a row. This year, it’s a bit different. Big Ten Co-champ Penn State has only loss, a hiccup against Iowa, while the Pac-10 champ, USC, also had one hiccup against Oregon State.

Both teams have strong cases for being in the NC but unfortunately, their respective conferences’ strength took a nose dive in the public opinion polls. Here is their chance to prove that their one-loss records are just as worthy as Oklahoma’s and Florida’s. Both teams have very good D- USC is No. 1 and Penn State is No. 5. This game will expose which team truly has the better D, and which team’s statistical rankings in college football are legit and which are a result of playing in a soft conference.

Throw in a possible last game for HC Joe Paterno and definite last game for USC OC Steve Sarkisian, two of the best linebackers in the nation (Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga) playing against Linebacker U, two strong-armed and mobile quarterbacks (Daryll Clark and Mark Sanchez), superb rushing from both teams, and you’ve got a heckuva match-up, probably the second best of the BCS Bowls.

Verdict: Very compelling

 

The FedEx Orange Bowl (Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati)

Yep, count anyone who watches this game as desperate – including myself – for some football. If this bowl isn’t a perfect example as to why auto-berths should be ditched, then nothing is. Sorta like all the freight companies still charging a 15% surcharge when gas in California is now around .80 a gallon. If no one complains about it, and still pays for it, why should they drop the surcharge?

Back to the four-loss Hokies playing the two-loss Bearcats. There are some feel-good stories behind these two teams- the Hokies are still recovering from their campus shootings and a huge loss of talent on their roster, while the Bearcats are enjoying their first ten-win season in decades. Still, you can’t get past the fact that one of these teams shouldn’t be playing in a BCS Bowl, and the other team is playing because, well, someone has to represent the Big East. The Hokies have great D (No. 7), but dreadful O (No. 107), while the Bearcats have very good D (No. 26), and average O (No. 50). The outcome should be obvious- three and outs, lots of punts and a plethora of field goals.

Verdict: Not compelling.

 

The FedEx BCS Championship Game (Oklahoma vs. Florida)

This has to be compelling, doesn’t it? Of course! It’s the National Championship game, the one game where everyone agrees it reflects the two best teams in the country. Yeah, Ok, we’re not sold either. There are nine teams that all have solid arguments for why they should be in this game, but since this is what we have, let’s just say these are the two best. We don’t have a choice, so deal with it

The Gators suffered a hiccup to, as it turns out, a pretty good Ole Miss team, while the Sooners’ hiccup was against a strong Longhorns team. Both have coaches who have won a BCS Championship, so both coaches know the drill.

But there are two lingering questions in the back of everyone’s mind: did Florida deserve to jump up to No. 2 by winning the the SEC- a conference clearly not as strong as everyone thought it would be – and can Bob Stoops actually game-prep his players to show up in a BCS Bowl?

No doubt, if the Sooners fall apart after a game-changing play- which they are infamous for – the second question will be answered. But if that happens, does it necessarily mean the Gators are the best team, or that they played an opponent who tanked another BCS Bowl?

The BCS hopes both teams will play their best, but as the past couple of Championship Games have shown, one team forgets to show up. And let’s not forget the excuses, either. One team will claim the other team had an advantage because they didn’t have to travel far. One team will claim the refs are biased, one team will claim the other team had an easier path, and one team might have to think long and hard about their head coach’s future if they lose.

Finally, the outcome of this game could cause a split championship.

Verdict: Extremely compelling.

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BCS bowls announced tonight at 8pm

We’ve been taking it for granted recently, but Ohio State is not yet in a BCS Bowl.  We’ll know for sure tonight at 8pm when the official announcement comes out.

If we do get the at-large bid (and everybody expects us to), we’ll have to face one of four opponents – Texas, Utah, Alabama or Florida

The Orange Bowl is already locked in – they get to put the two least undeserving teams of all time in their bowl, Cincinnati and Virginia Tech.  The Bearcats got cocky and needed a massive Hawaii collapse last night to keep from falling to 10-3 in the weakest Big East in a long time.  The Hokies aren’t even in the Top 20.  And the ACC sucked even worse than the Big East.  This game is gonna be ugly.

The Rose Bowl is also locked, as Penn State and USC do battle.  Penn State fans are revved up about this one, and I’ll be cheering for them as a fellow Big Ten fan….but I’ve seen both teams play.  Not so sure you should get arrogant, Lion fans….but best of luck!

That leaves three bowls, the Sugar, the Fiesta, and the National Championship.

Oklahoma is a lock for the National Championship, but who will they face?  #1 Alabama lost, which means Oklahoma is the new #1.  But Texas was #3 and Florida was #4.  Will Texas slide up, or will Florida leapfrog them with their defeat of Bama?  Personally, I think Texas earned the right over Florida, based on each team’s loss.  Texas lost to #7 Texas Tech, Florida lost to unranked Ole Miss.  But I don’t have a vote.  The BCS will probably go with the non-rematch and choose Florida.  But if I were a Big 12 coach, I’d be stacking the deck in the coaches poll, putting Texas at #1 and Florida at #9.

So the Sugar and Fiesta will decide who gets the remaining four teams.  The Sugar is going to take Alabama, and the Fiesta will choose next.  All the pundits say that the Fiesta will take Texas.  That will leave Ohio State and Utah to be selected….will we face Alabama or Texas?

I want Bama.  We need to get that SEC monkey off our backs.  Let’s beat them down.

And if we can’t have Bama, then I want a shake up and I wanna play Utah, for personal reasons.

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BlogPoll Ballot: Week Six Final

I feel a bit better about this one.

 

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oklahoma	–
2	Alabama	–
3	Missouri	–
4	Texas	–
5	LSU	–
6	Penn State	–
7	Southern Cal	4
8	Georgia	2
9	Florida	4
10	Ohio State	2
11	Brigham Young	4
12	Texas Tech	4
13	Vanderbilt	5
14	Boise State	3
15	Utah	1
16	Oklahoma State	4
17	California	9
18	Illinois	8
19	Virginia Tech	5
20	South Florida	11
21	North Carolina	5
22	Kansas	8
23	Michigan State	3
24	Wisconsin	5
25	Kentucky	1

 

By Way of Explanation
10. Ohio State – While I think the Buckeyes are a top ten team with Beanie, I would agree that results haven’t showed it yet. While few teams have impressive wins thus far, most have looked better against the crappy teams than the Buckeyes. So Buckeyes, please look impressive against Purdue this weekend. Don’t make me look stupid. Oh, and I freely admit: the only reason Florida’s ahead of the Buckeyes is because I wanted to keep the Buckeyes out of the single digits. Anything to avoid the Coulter/Krugman Award Curse.
11. BYU and 12. Texas Tech – Got them out of the top ten and I feel much better for it. Dr. Saturday pushed me over the edge on this one by bringing up Hawaii. Last year, the BlogPoll was more skeptical of the Warriors than the AP or Coaches, and the bloggers were proven right. So until these two teams prove something against quality competition (and they’ll both have shots at it), I’ll try to refrain from illogical exuberance.
17. California – Brian convinced me.
18. Illinois – Two losses to top ten teams. This could be the seventh best team in the country for all we know.
19. Virginia Tech – Hokies, your uninspiring wins over mediocre competition have convinced me! Seriously, I’m not sure why they’re up this high, except that I think North Carolina might be competent and Va Tech beat UNC.
20. South Florida and 22. Kansas - I’m still not sure how to handle these two and Pitt. USF beats Kansas, Pitt beats USF. Therefore, Pitt is the best team, right? But I’ll be damned if I’m raking a team that lost to BG. I thought about making like Mandel and dropping all three entirely, but I still think USF and Kansas are okay teams. But since USF lost and Kansas hasn’t proven much of anything, I dropped both. Like DaytonDogg said in the comments to the preliminary ballot, you’ve got to punish bad losses (though I ignored him on the team he was talking about, USC. It’s my blog, I’m allowed to do dumb things like that).
25. Kentucky – Mandel did convince me on this one, though. They’ve been more impressive than Northwestern and Wake Forest, I think.

Thoughts? All suggestions and criticism will be considered for next week’s ballot.

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Taylor’s Take on the Week That Was in College Football: Week Four

Week Four of the college football season brought few surprises and few great games. There also were a lot of poorly played games (see the ACC).

Here are my thoughts from Week Four.

ACC

Why is Florida State over-hyped every year? Last year the Seminoles were hyped up because of the coaching changes, and they still fell flat on their faces. This year there was mixed speculation, but after beating up on two I-AA teams they found themselves back in the top 25.

All I heard about on the preview shows was their strong quarterback play in Christian Ponder and how the Wake Forest defense needed to be ready. The experts were right about that. The secondary had to be ready to catch all those passes thrown to them by the FSU quarterbacks.

Wake made several mistakes of its own, and FSU could not take advantage. The matchup of two of the best teams in the conference shows how bad the conference is.

Virginia Tech is on its way to another division championship after beating Georgia Tech and UNC the past two weeks. The Hokies should be thanking the refs for both those wins.

Two crucial, questionable penalties were called against the Yellow Jackets on the Hokies’ final scoring drive. North Carolina then had 14 penalties for 121 yards, while Tech had just four for 21 yards. That sure sounds fair to me.

On top of the refs giving Tech the advantage, the Hokies found luck in both games thanks to injury. Jonathan Dwyer was hurt for Georgia Tech and didn’t play much in the second half, while T.J. Yates of UNC got injured with the Heels up. I guess it is better to be lucky than good.

Big Ten

I am still wondering about the hype surrounding Terrelle Pryor. I know he will be a great player, but throwing four touchdown passes and scoring a whole 28 points against Troy isn’t something to be bragged about—yet he is.

I want him to do something special against a good team like Penn State or Wisconsin before I call him the next Vince Young. Another performance like that against Minnesota doesn’t count.

Penn State continues to dominate early in the season and looks to be the best in the conference. Too bad it has to travel to OSU and Wisky.

I can’t remember the last time a team has been so dependent on a single player at the running back position the way Michigan State is with Javon Ringer. He will likely be worn out for those crucial Big Ten games.

Big 12

There wasn’t too much prime action going on in the Big 12 Saturday. The big game was Colorado’s win over West Virginia. Dan Hawkins looks like he is bringing the Buffs back onto the national stage, especially with the freshman RBs.

Missouri played a sloppy game on offense with three turnovers and gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown. It still won by 21 points and scored 42. The only team stopping the Tigers will be themselves this year.

Big East

Things can’t get much worse for the conference, but at least Louisville beat Kansas State. West Virginia doesn’t look nearly as good as it did under Rich Rodriguez. There is still enough talent to win the pathetic conference, but South Florida might be the current favorite, although it hasn’t looked overly impressive either. How about UConn?

Rutgers has fallen off the face of the earth without Ray Rice, which shows how much he meant to the passing game as well. Mike Teel is a bad QB without Rice.

Some people got on my case about me picking the Cardinals second in the conference, saying how I had no clue about college football. Right now there is nothing that has made me change my mind about that the Cardinals given how bad the conference has looked, but we will see.

Pac-10

The Pac-10 has horribly embarrassed itself the past few weeks, and I don’t hear much about their fans anymore. UCLA’s win over Tennessee was clearly an aberration as the Bruins have looked brutal the past two weeks, losing to an Arizona team that got beat by New Mexico. Ouch!

I am still trying to figure out the second-best team in the conference, but after Oregon’s loss to Boise State, I have no idea. Arizona State is pretty bad after losing two straight home games. California got beat by Maryland after smoking Washington State. Oregon State has already lost to Penn State and a Stanford team that got smoked by ASU.

Right now I am going to go with Arizona because that offense is tough if it doesn’t commit stupid turnovers the way it did at New Mexico.

The non-conference slate goes to show you that defense wins championships, not offense, and all the Pac-10 has is offense (except USC of course).

SEC

All I can think about is Vanderbilt being 4-0, 2-0 in the SEC! It looks a lot better than I thought it would, that is for sure. The win at Ole Miss is a good win, especially with how well the Rebels played at Wake Forest, the best team in the ACC.

I turned on ESPN after Tennessee got beat up by Florida, and I heard the experts say that the Vols got dominated. I was wondering if they were watching the game. UT outgained Florida, kept Tim Tebow in check, and moved the ball up and down the field on the Gators, although at a slow pace.

Florida hardly dominated the game. The Vols just couldn’t tackle on special teams and couldn’t get out of their own way on offense. It had nothing to do with the Gators. If they didn’t self-destruct so much due to poor execution and bad coaching, the game would have been very close and the Vols probably would have won.

Phil Fulmer’s seat is getting hotter the more games that he gets out-coached. Let’s see what Tommy Tuberville does to him this week.

Speaking of the Auburn coach, what another exciting Tiger bowl that took place. I still don’t know how LSU won that game when it looked dead for much of it and had to battle back against one of the best defenses around. All of the talent for LSU, especially on defense, is making up for its struggling QBs.

If this team still had Ryan Perrilloux, we would be talking about another championship. Even so, it still isn’t out of the question. The game with Georgia should be great.

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