Another year, another SEC champion (that's three in a row; first time that has happened since 1978-1980...also the SEC). And plenty more of the "who's really #1" and "out with the BCS" controversies we all enjoy and that provide us with more than enough water cooler fodder. And, yes, maybe it really is time to break out the torches and pitchforks now and make our stand against the BCS.
Congrats to Nathan for wining the pre-season picks contest. (OK...Gomer actually scored higher but Gomer failed to follow the un-written rules). Seven of us beat the Sports Illustrated experts and nine of us beat out the AP and Coaches pre-season polls. And if you can't wait to start thinking about next year: click here.
Congrats to Robert (me) for winning the bowl pick-em contest (by a slim margin).
TITLE GAME
Florida deserves the national championship. Held the highest scoring team in NCAA history to only 14 points even while throwing two interceptions and committing numerous penalties -- not their cleanest game. A national champion with a loss has become the norm (two losses last year), but the Ole Miss win over TT in the Cotton Bowl and top 25 final ranking makes Florida's one loss not so bad. Oklahoma looked a little like 'Bama did in the Sugar Bowl...surprised and rattled.
What about Utah, USC and Texas? Utah really has the only legitimate argument...having taken down four ranked teams, including a former #1 and the team that beat USC. USC may only lay claim as one of the top teams in the land at the end of the season, but only behind Utah and Texas (who was simply a victim of the Big 12 tie rules). Personally, I think a Texas-Florida match up would have been better.
FINAL BOWL COMMENTARY
The PAC-10 bowl record, 5-0, seemed not possible after a dismal season. I thought they must have played a bunch of patsies...until I looked closer. I stand corrected...hand it to the Pac-10 for stepping up in the bowl games. Four of the five games were against ranked teams and the other against an up-and-coming Miami team. A bowl season like that should set up the PAC-10 for a more challenging season in 2009.
The Big-10 on the other hand, who somehow got seven teams into bowls, had four games against ranked teams, lost all four plus two others. Sad. It's got to be tough to be a Big-10 fan these days. (And how did the ACC get 10 teams into bowls? Winning only four? The BCS has some conference re-aligning to do).
BCS BASHING...continued
Again...college football needed a new system and the BCS has been OK at filling that need. But now it needs a makeover and something needs to be done. The BCS will fail - it's only a matter of time (I'm guessing 2014 will be the last BCS year). By then, we will have had numerous proposals that will result in a better, but not perfect, system. Per an article I came across:
The BCS isn't fair, but dismissing it at this point to crown a champion out of spite wouldn’t be fair to Florida or Oklahoma, who didn’t do anything wrong. Texas has no one to blame but itself. Its own conference commissioner, Dan Beebe, is one of four chief roadblocks to a better system. Ditto for USC and its Pac-10 commissioner, Tom Hansen. Just last spring the SEC brought forth a plan for a progressive plus-one model to crown a champion. Commissioner Mike Slive and his staff worked two years on devising it and it was the first internal, comprehensive plan anyone has even attempted to put in front of the suits that make the decisions.
Four of them – Beebe and Hansen, along with the Big Ten’s Jim Delany and the Big East’s Mike Tranghese – didn’t just reject the plan, they voted against even allowing discussion or study of it. They feared it would be too successful.
Tranghese and Hansen even retired soon after the vote, which means they didn’t allow their successors the chance to consider the future of college sports they will now lead. It was a particularly egregious act.
If Texas wants to complain, then badger not just Beebe, but the UT administration that employs him. Same for USC. Both school’s leadership determined the BCS was the way to go; it’s too late to change your mind for this season.
Utah has less blame. As a member of the Mountain West it has little to no power. The Utes are so disrespected that some of the voters in the BCS’ own determining polls admitted never seeing the Utes play a game this season before dismissing them. Utah is understandably frustrated, but it needs to use that emotion to work to the overthrow of the BCS.
For the full article click here.
FINAL THOUGHT ON BYU
From a blog on espn.com we read: "Of all the final rankings, BYU's is dubious. It lost to every good team it faced this season (with the exception of Air Force) and made a name for itself by beating up on teams such as UCLA and Wyoming." As much as I like my alma mater, the coach, the team and going to the games I can't say I disagree with that statement. BYU needs to plant some passion seeds, cultivate them all spring and summer and reap them in the fall.
11 January 2009
04 January 2009
Bowl Commentary
OK...there are still three bowls left (really only two) but let me get a few things off my chest...
LAS VEGAS BOWLEhhh...not much new to talk about...BYU failed to play all four quarters, showed no passion, no real progress from 2007. They (and we all) started the season with high expectations, they never beat a ranked team and they let the TCU loss get to them and they simply could not go on after that knowing that the "Quest for Perfection" was now impossible. There is a lot of potential returning in the fall but we'll stop on that note.
SUGAR BOWLI've learned never to use the word "impossible" when it comes to predicting college football - but I'm pretty sure I used the "improbable" in some form or another when discussing the Utes chances of beating Alabama. This game just stole the show from the rest of the BCS bowls.
Absolutely astonishing and completely unexpected. An all and out rout. A highly ranked, formerly #1 team from a "real BCS" conference was just trounced by the MWC champion. I would have bet my remaining 401-k (OK...that's not saying much) along with my first born against Utah squeaking out a win, much less completely dominating 'Bama on both sides of the ball. Unbelievable. Utah was all over 'Bama start to finish and just "...stepped on their face with a hobnailed boot and broke their nose." Utah obviously put together a near-perfect game plan, executed the plan to a T, did not let the media talk get to them and 'Bama...well, 'Bama believed the media hype, walked in over-confident and un-prepared for a team that was not only hungry, but also ready to eat.
Hand it to Utah...I'm proud of the boys up north (as hard as that is for me to say since I am a fan of the SEC and 'Bama winning this game was my top confidence pick in the bowl pick 'em contest). No other team outside of Florida and Oklahoma can even come close to making an argument for a national title after this (Florida and Oklahoma can only because the powers that be have already decided it must be one of them).
Will Whittingham really vote Utah #1 as he so adamantly stated after the game? By rule, he can not do that. All 1A coaches have agreed to the BCS rules, one of which specifically states that the winner of the title game must be voted in the #1 spot. (This same issue came up in 2003 with Pete Carroll when USC wanted the title because of their dominant BCS bowl win that was not the title bowl).
ROSE BOWLThis turned out as expected...the Big 10 just has not been that strong (even though I really admire Joe Pa and would have loved to see his team take USC down). But I was glad that Sarkisian leaves USC on a good note...really just glad he is leaving USC (it makes it easier for me to rail on them).
Carroll did not waste any time after his team's win to state that USC should have a shot at the title or split title. Sports commentators had to agree. But after the Sugar Bowl I think all that talk went by the way side...and rightfully so. Hey, Utah beat Oregon State and USC didn't. Utah even beat four ranked teams and held 'Bama to fewer points than Florida. Can USC even come close to matching all that?
BEST BOWLS (so far)
The TCU-Boise State game was a great game along with the Vandy-Boston College game. You gotta love those down-to-the-wire games that have you tensing your muscles and holding your breath (and you don't even know it) and you don't even really care who wins. Great match-ups.
The Georgia-Michigan State game displayed a great defensive first half (or poor offensive half) and then Georgia pulled away in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Just a word or two about UGA's season (since I am a fan):
Much like BYU, Georgia started the season with very high expectations, but failed to beat a ranked team (until the bowl game), lacked signs of dominance and showed little consistency. And again like BYU, after their loss to 'Bama, they notably lost some steam. Head Coach Richt won't make any excuses (because he's a better coach than that) so I'll make a major one for him: Georgia had 19 season-ending injuries. By the end of the season they had a 4th string man playing left tackle. (As a comparison, last year Georgia sustained only two season-ending injuries). As a fan, I'll give 'em a break and look forward to next year and just be proud that they still ended up in the top 20.
LAS VEGAS BOWLEhhh...not much new to talk about...BYU failed to play all four quarters, showed no passion, no real progress from 2007. They (and we all) started the season with high expectations, they never beat a ranked team and they let the TCU loss get to them and they simply could not go on after that knowing that the "Quest for Perfection" was now impossible. There is a lot of potential returning in the fall but we'll stop on that note.
SUGAR BOWLI've learned never to use the word "impossible" when it comes to predicting college football - but I'm pretty sure I used the "improbable" in some form or another when discussing the Utes chances of beating Alabama. This game just stole the show from the rest of the BCS bowls.
Absolutely astonishing and completely unexpected. An all and out rout. A highly ranked, formerly #1 team from a "real BCS" conference was just trounced by the MWC champion. I would have bet my remaining 401-k (OK...that's not saying much) along with my first born against Utah squeaking out a win, much less completely dominating 'Bama on both sides of the ball. Unbelievable. Utah was all over 'Bama start to finish and just "...stepped on their face with a hobnailed boot and broke their nose." Utah obviously put together a near-perfect game plan, executed the plan to a T, did not let the media talk get to them and 'Bama...well, 'Bama believed the media hype, walked in over-confident and un-prepared for a team that was not only hungry, but also ready to eat.
Hand it to Utah...I'm proud of the boys up north (as hard as that is for me to say since I am a fan of the SEC and 'Bama winning this game was my top confidence pick in the bowl pick 'em contest). No other team outside of Florida and Oklahoma can even come close to making an argument for a national title after this (Florida and Oklahoma can only because the powers that be have already decided it must be one of them).
Will Whittingham really vote Utah #1 as he so adamantly stated after the game? By rule, he can not do that. All 1A coaches have agreed to the BCS rules, one of which specifically states that the winner of the title game must be voted in the #1 spot. (This same issue came up in 2003 with Pete Carroll when USC wanted the title because of their dominant BCS bowl win that was not the title bowl).
ROSE BOWLThis turned out as expected...the Big 10 just has not been that strong (even though I really admire Joe Pa and would have loved to see his team take USC down). But I was glad that Sarkisian leaves USC on a good note...really just glad he is leaving USC (it makes it easier for me to rail on them).
Carroll did not waste any time after his team's win to state that USC should have a shot at the title or split title. Sports commentators had to agree. But after the Sugar Bowl I think all that talk went by the way side...and rightfully so. Hey, Utah beat Oregon State and USC didn't. Utah even beat four ranked teams and held 'Bama to fewer points than Florida. Can USC even come close to matching all that?
BEST BOWLS (so far)
The TCU-Boise State game was a great game along with the Vandy-Boston College game. You gotta love those down-to-the-wire games that have you tensing your muscles and holding your breath (and you don't even know it) and you don't even really care who wins. Great match-ups.
The Georgia-Michigan State game displayed a great defensive first half (or poor offensive half) and then Georgia pulled away in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Just a word or two about UGA's season (since I am a fan):
Much like BYU, Georgia started the season with very high expectations, but failed to beat a ranked team (until the bowl game), lacked signs of dominance and showed little consistency. And again like BYU, after their loss to 'Bama, they notably lost some steam. Head Coach Richt won't make any excuses (because he's a better coach than that) so I'll make a major one for him: Georgia had 19 season-ending injuries. By the end of the season they had a 4th string man playing left tackle. (As a comparison, last year Georgia sustained only two season-ending injuries). As a fan, I'll give 'em a break and look forward to next year and just be proud that they still ended up in the top 20.
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