Week 15: The BCS....aaarrrgh!!!

Here we go again. Like I've said before, in 1998 college football needed something better and the BCS stepped in and tried to fix it. It was better... sometimes. But we are still way off the mark and we are all more than ready for a better fix (Hey...how about a playoff?).


After today's BCS rankings and the bowl selections we see this from Yahoo!'s Pat Forde: "There is not a single scintilla of doubt that a playoff would be the best way to end this – or any – college football season. Sixteen teams, eight, four – whatever. Any of the above would beat the fraudulent BCS system we are stuck with in America...Bowls have to make business decisions, not necessarily football decisions. That’s why Virginia Tech gets rewarded and Boise State gets shafted." Read the entire, well-written article here.


But I really like the opinion of Dan Wetzel (also from Yahoo!) who could see this year's melee coming a few days ago when he wrote: "...the BCS is not a system designed to choose a championship match-up. It is merely a tool to stave off the inevitable playoff bowl directors fear will cut into their millions in tax-free profits, a casino-style distraction to placate the masses....It is a total disaster of a system. No one who cares about the game would ever invent such a thing....BCS executive director Bill Hancock likes to refer to the formula as “one part science, two parts art.” It’s actually just a wholly formed insult to intelligence."



And his take on the formulas: “It’s just nonsense math. And that’s if the nonsense is accurate. The truth is, no one knows. Five of the six computer rankers protect their formulas, claiming proprietary rights to their algorithms. They refuse to share the formula with anyone, including the BCS, which, as such, is incapable of checking on the accuracy of the rankings. Repeat: Absolutely no one has any idea if the weekly BCS standings are true. No one. And they don’t seem to care. Only Wes Colley makes his formula public, which allows outside review. Last season, his rankings twice were found inaccurate because of improper data entry. Some of the scores he used weren't up to date....So those final rankings Sunday might be correct. Or they might not."


And his finale: "The current formula is nothing more than nonsense math and an unsound popular vote that gets polished up by television. Anyone who cares about college football should demand something better. If we can’t get a playoff, can they at least stop insulting our intelligence? Can we at least get some attempt at sanity?"


A G R E E D ! !  Read the whole article here.


EndZone: The Games
UCLA never really had a chance. Houston just wasn't ready...a little too over-confident. Boise and TCU made statements in their games...that fell on the deaf ears of the voters and BCS formulas. Georgia went into their game with only half a tank of gas and receivers with two-left hands. LSU was stuck in 1st gear but came out after the half in 5th gear and stayed there, but can you really give a #1 ranking to a team that went an entire half with 12 total yards of offense and zero 1st downs? And OSU made a great statement but it just wasn't enough (dang it...I really am not excited about that Tiger-Bama re-match). (And...BYU in its meaningless game did well).

Week 14: Rivalry Week

This week saw some great rivalry games with all the tradition and animosity of years past but it also brought in the era of re-aligned conferences that breaks some traditional rivalries and starts new ones.

OK...I suppose. But I have always enjoyed the tradition of college football so it just wasn't the same this Thanksgiving weekend without the BYU - Utah game. The state of Texas likely said good-bye to the Texas - Texas A&M rivalry. And one of the oldest rivalries that dates back 120 years originally incited by one state terrorizing the other during the Civil War, Missouri and Kansas, also came to an end. Sure...many rivalries are still in place (for now) but we'll miss the ones that are ending. The end of an era...but hopefully the start of new rivalries that can last a few generations.

LSU beat down Arkansas which just strengthened their #1 spot. I was hoping that Arkansas would pull off the win and bring some chaos into the BCS. Even if LSU loses to UGA next week (LSU is a 2-touchdown favorite) they may still get it to the big dance...without winning their conference! Alabama has their spot sealed up unless OSU makes a huge impression on voters next week against OK. That means, yes, that their will be two SEC teams playing for the national championship securing a 6th straight and unprecedented BCS title for the SEC. Though I am an SEC fan even I disagree with doing that. I like a title game that showcases conference champs that have never or rarely meet. I'd much rather see that than a re-match.

Hey 'Bama...remember this? “Any team that does not win it’s conference championship game should not play in the BCS title game.”-Nick Saban 08 Dec 2003

Bad, Bad Karma
LSU's QB Jordan Jefferson did a "un-button your shirt to expose the Superman symbol" end zone celebration after running in for a TD against Arkansas (and did not get flagged BTW). Classless. May it come back to bite you against the Bulldogs next week. UGA may not have the quality wins but they have won 10-straight and are a confident, resurgent team that looked impressive in their win against GaTech.

Utah...what was that? After making a good showing in the PAC-12 you drop a home game to Colorado? Ouch!

ENDZONE: Tradition - Spirit - Honor ?
The BYU slogan this year has been "Tradition Spirit Honor". It shows up everywhere...even on the field (I have not seen another team actually put a slogan on the field). They have three giant banners with these words hanging outside the stadium for all to see. The words, however, are at the bottom of the banners, somewhat hidden by the trees, below the picture of a player. At the top? In letters as big if not bigger than the slogan are teh logos of corporate sponsors. That is what it's come to. Place the money at the top and the tradition at the bottom. Sure, colleges need money and corporate sponsors. But when money and advertising become the prioirty then it takes away from the tradition, spirit and honor that true fans value muchmore than the company that is donating.

Week 13: Yowzza!!

Nobody... and I mean nobody would have predicted a weekend like this. Week 13 was suppose to be the prep week for the in-state rivals for next week. Most of the top teams were playing un-ranked or FCS teams. Four top 10 teams lose...two of them to un-rankled teams and the other two to 14+-point underdogs.

OK State started things off by losing to Iowa State. Then Clemson not only got beat, but got beat down by NC State. Then USC held off the Oregon comeback to win, and Baylor pulled out all the guns on Oklahoma. We now have three SEC-West teams atop the polls. No one could have predicted such chaos...and it could get worse.

What now? What if Arkansas beats LSU and goes to the SEC Championship game...and gets beat by Georgia? If LSU wins both those games and 'Bama holds off Auburn will they really re-match 'Bama and LSU in the title game? If so then "SEC" chants will ring loud and long as they set a record 6-straight BCS titles. And if OK beats OK State in the Big 12 Championship game? Of course, Houston and Boise are sitting back just glad to see these top teams drop while they move up. The next two weeks are gonna be fun! Whew!

EndZone: Bad Call, Bad Ref
Did you see the "intentional grounding" call against USC early in the USC-Oregon game? What was that? Are refs really that textbook? Yes...a blind ref would have called it based on what he heard happened...but I'm pretty sure none of the refs were blind. It was a common QB-Receiver mis-communication where one threw right while the other cut left. The QB was not even pressured and had no reason to intentionally ground the ball. Aarrrgh...when will they learn?

Week 12: You Can't Win 'em All

There was plenty of shake-up in the polls this week and we all knew it had to happen. You can win a lot of games but you can't win 'em all - just ask Boise and Stanford. I still long for the season with a handful of un-defeateds just to see how the BCS would handle it all.

Oregon @ Stanford: Luck just ran out...and I thought it would. I had watched Stanford and I had watched Oregon. I could tell that  Stanford lacked team talent like Oregon had. Andrew Luck is really good but against a much improved Duck defense it would take more than Luck.


TCU @ Boise: The blue men fell just short. It's just sad that it had to happen the same way as last year's one loss. They knew the magic couldn't last forever but they wanted, and deserved, another shot. But it was fun while it lasted and they will remain a force in college football. I was hoping they could pull it off this year...although I didn't really expect them to be able to go un-defeated again.


Auburn @ Georgia: The dawgs got their revenge from last year's ugly battle. They did it as it should be done: on the scoreboard instead of on the field (like Nick Fairly and Chizik did last year). UGA played the most dominant and complete game of football I've seen in a long time. Auburn scored on their first possession and UGA denied them any further celebration. Though I love a good defensive game and typically don't like a huge score spread I think I could have watched another four quarters of this. War Eagle caged.

Idaho @ BYU: Great...now what? BYU rolled over lowly Idaho but the QB that brought BYU back from the brink of what was heading towards a horrendous year (Nelson) broke a rib and collapsed a lung. Heaps did fine but can he handle the rest of the year? A late season QB controversy could be brewing.

Endzone: Joe Pa
I've always liked Joe Paterno. I don't really know why. It probably dates back to the 90s when BYU and PSU played a few games and I was impressed with his sideline presence. And I was always in awe that he had been head coach at the same school since I was a toddler and that he never demanded a high salary like so many other coaches. He just seemed like a really good guy - and I'm sure he is. What happened this past week saddened me as it did many in college football. No one likes to see a legend go out like this. This was not Pete Carroll running before he got caught in his scandal. This was Joe Pa. I'll not judge what Coach Joe did or didn't do. All the press writings are mere speculation IMHO because no one but Joe really knows what happened, what he did and why he did it. Joe Pa - you'll be missed.

Week 11: Near Championship Game

We all have a favorite teams. We all want our favorite team to be #1. But even when we hate other teams we still can't help but watch a great #1 vs #2 match-up. And that is what the college football world did on Saturday night. And any true fan of the game was not disappointed.

You gotta love creative fans.

The LSU-Bama match-up comes along only rarely. Yes, it's a few voters who placed them at the top and with other teams not making the grade we end up down the stretch of the season with a great #1 vs #2 game. Both defenses held up to their billing in this touchdown-less game. The coaching chess match took us to OT where the defenses held up and the Mad Hatter's purple boys all but punched LSU's ticket to the championship game with a final field goal. Great game. Great teams.

What was missing was any trick plays that we have come to associate with LSU. But I think that was the trick. They had various opportunities on 4th and short, punting, field goals and such but the trick was...no trick play. Miles knew the Saban had probably prepared for such and Bama even lined up for such on occasion. I was surprised at Saban's conservative calls in such an important game. IMHO...that was Bama's downfall.

End Zone: Re-Match or Not?
There is already talk of the potential re-match of Saturday's OT game given that the BCS formula could spit out such a result. Let's hope not. They played last year...they just played...they are going to play again next year. Let it go. Maybe the SEC does deserve two teams in the championship game...but if the SEC is so confident then pair them with the likes of Stanford or OSU to prove their point. That is what fans of the game want to see. Heaven forbid that the flawed BCS formula dictate otherwise.