"The day after Alabama's dominant win over Notre Dame
in last year's BCS National Championship, Bovada released 2013 national title
odds. Alabama was an obvious favorite at 5/1, and Oregon, Ohio State, LSU,
Texas A&M, and Florida rounded out the top five. Tied with Florida at 14/1:
Florida State. And tied with Georgia Tech and Iowa at 200/1: Auburn. College
football always plays out just like we expect, doesn't it?" (SBNation.com,
05 Jan 2014).
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| Yahoo! Bowl Pick 'Em Contest 2013-14 |
And that pretty much sums up the final season of the BCS
system. Of course, we now have another system to whine about, and college
football would not be the same without some whining. But the final BCS season worked out OK and the bowl season
was fantastic. Well, except for my inability to predict the winners (see
picture).
BYU and Georgia shared the same bowl fate - a loss. And for
the same reasons: sluggish play. Neither looked excited or prepared to be
there. Both had chances to win down the stretch but couldn't execute. Poorly
prepared and a disappointment to fans. BYU made zero halftime adjustments being
content to stick to the hurry-up offense and maintain their #2 ranking as the
team that runs the most plays...failing to recognize that running the most
plays does not win games. Oddly enough, both teams are pre-pre-season ranked by
USAToday in the Top 25. Georgia because they "should be healthy"
again and BYU because they have a "light schedule".
Texas A&M vs Duke was a great final show for Johnny Football.
Duke owned the first half and surprised us all. But A&M coaching made the
right adjustments at halftime which resulted in one of the best comebacks of
the season.
Oklahoma over 'Bama was the surprise of the bowl season.
Yahoo! noted that 95% of respondents bet on 'Bama to win (as did I). Where has
Oklahoma been all season? Who was that QB? Where was that speed and those
receivers and that play calling all season? How did they not win the Big 12?
They are ready for next year. And Saban will come back waaaay upset after
losing two in a row for the first time in five years. Last time that happened
(also in the Sugar Bowl against an unsuspecting Utah team) 'Bama started their
reign as kings. (Hey...did Saban really hire Kiffin? Was he on crack?).
And, of course, the title game. High powered offense Florida
State over Auburn and their unforgettable worst-to-first season of miracle
plays. What a great game and ending to another fantastic season. At half it was
as I predicted: the soft schedule FSU had all season was catching up with them
and they were no match for an Auburn team who worked their way to the top. But,
alas, I was incorrect again. For FSU coaching made adjustments that worked
(including using towels to hide play calling). Got to hand it to coaching
staffs like FSU and A&M that can go into half-time losing and bring out a
completely different team.