No Logic in 2007 Season

I'm sure we could all come up with a few others...but here is a short list by rivals.com. The rest of the "Strange Days" article can be found here.

And, SI's list of top 10 upsets of 2007 can be found here.

============================================================
NON-CIRCULAR LOGIC
Everyone remembers those 7th-grade math problems: If "X" is greater than "Y" and "Y" is greater than "Z," then "X" is greater than "Z." Well, not necessarily. Take a look at these results.


Florida 59, Tennessee 20 on Sept. 15; Tennessee 35, Georgia 14 on Oct. 6; Georgia 42, Florida 30 on Oct. 27.

California 31, Oregon 24 on Sept. 29; Oregon 55, Washington 34 on Oct. 20; Washington 37, California 23 on Nov. 17.

Clemson 24, Florida State 18 on Sept. 3; Florida State 27, Boston College 17 on Nov. 3; Boston College 20, Clemson 17 on Nov. 17.

West Virginia 31, Rutgers 3 on Oct. 27; Rutgers 20, Pitt 16 on Nov. 17; Pitt 13, West Virginia 9 on Dec. 1.

Texas Tech 35, Texas A&M 7 on Oct. 13; Texas 59, Texas Tech 43 on Nov. 10; Texas A&M 38, Texas 30 on Nov. 23.

Illinois 27, Penn State 20 on Sept. 29; Penn State 27, Iowa 7 on Oct. 6; Iowa 10, Illinois 6 on Oct. 13.

East Carolina 52, UCF 38 on Oct. 6; UCF 47, Marshall 13 on Nov. 3; Marshall 26, East Carolina 7 on Nov. 10.

Missouri 36, Kansas 28 on Nov. 24; Missouri finishes ahead of Kansas in the Big 12 North; Missouri finishes ahead of Kansas in the final BCS standings; Kansas gets an Orange Bowl invitation and Missouri goes to the Cotton Bowl.

BCS Mess 2007

Bryan Burwell, St. Louis Post-Dispatch said it best:
"Of course it doesn't make sense. You know it, I know it, even the doofuses who continue to perpetrate this idiotic Bowl Championship Series system have to know just how fatally flawed and hopelessly messed up their multi-million dollar scam is."

My take? The BCS was a good idea...at first. College football needed something better (at least, everyone was clamoring for something better - little did we know). But as we've seen over the years the BCS system simply does not work. Sometimes, rarely, when the "right" teams win and lose, then the system appears good. But this year has got to be the year that we all agree that the system is broken and must be fixed because we don't want to see this again.

A couple of links to other BCS mess articles that I liked:

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,695233334,00.html

http://www.fannation.com/blogs/post/84940?new=true

Week 14 - 2007

Wow! What a weekend of unbelievables! Here's my list of unbelievables:
#1: Both the #1 and #2 teams lost.
#2: UW goes up on Hawaii 21-0 in the 1st quarter and still loses 35-28.
#3: Tennessee let the SEC Championship slip away with two critical mistakes down the home stretch.
#4: This years championship will be another Big 10 - SEC battle (not the Pac-10 - SEC many wanted to see). Is OSU scared or happy to be seeking some redemption?
#5: The Championship bowl will feature a 2-loss team (LSU).
#6: There are three 4-loss teams in the top 25; all from the SEC.
#7: BYU got no respect in the polls for going undefeated in their conference.
#8: Pitting 10-2 BYU against 6-6 UCLA...who they already played three months ago...who they play again in nine months? C'mon...give BYU a worthy opponent and mix things up a little.
#9: Although Hawaii finally got some poll respect this week for being the only undefeated team in the nation you must wonder if it was really enough respect. Should they be playing center stage with OSU? We'll find out when they play UGA in the Sugar Bowl 01 January.

But is the list above any wonder when we have seen 13 top five teams lose to unranked teams, four different #1 teams, and two, count 'em two #1 teams who lost at home in November?



With Tennessee's loss to LSU, Scott dropped to 4th place behind Blaine and Jason who moved up thanks to Wisconsin sneaking into the top 15 (who saw that coming?). My prediction for our winner? Scott...since BYU will sneak into the top 15 after the bowls (and they should). This is the last week of our contest until the bowls are done although I may post a few comments during the bowl season. And, of course, I'll post my season 2007 review after it's all said and done.

For a complete bowl listing, click here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=bowlsked&prov=st&type=lgns

And, for those of you wishing for a better system to determine the national champion you can reference the link below (it has playoff brackets and all). But just remember, a playoff system would eliminate the poll controversy that provides us plenty of fodder for lunch time conversations.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=dw-playoff112707&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Week 13 - 2007

So goes the season, so goes our contest. Scott moves from worst to first in this unpredictable season (thanks to Tennessee pulling off a 4OT win). Scott has been on the bottom for three weeks straight...then, bam, it's like he pulls off a 4th and 18 from his own 12 yard line with 1-1/2 minutes to go to take the lead! Never say die! But, Tennessee plays LSU Saturday in the SEC Championship game.



Funny how the SEC Championship game is not represented by the highest ranked SEC team (UGA at #4). The Big 12 Championship is represented by the two highest ranked Big 12 teams. And here's a thought: If LSU loses to Tennessee, and Missouri loses to Oklahoma, and West VA falls victim to Pittsburgh (reference the curse of the #2 ranking below), will OSU and UGA play for the BCS title? UGA is a 2-loss team and I've never seen a 2-loss team play for the title.



And after Friday's performance against BSU, why is Hawaii only ranked #11? And why did previously un-beaten Kansas fall from #2 to #7 when the loss was to now #1 Missouri? That's a big drop for losing to Missouri. Is it all timing? Early season losses always play well into the final rank of a team and it could cause even more BCS frustration.

============
Two For Nothing (Brett Edgerton, ESPN.com)
One is the loneliest number? Please. Three Dog Night, it's time you met the 2007 college football season. It's a place where the No. 2 is about as lonely and depressing as it gets.

Since the start of October, the No. 2 team in the AP poll is a mind-boggling 2-6, with the two wins coming against Louisiana Tech and in a miracle rally at Virginia Tech. Kansas is the only one of those snakebitten No. 2 teams whose loss wasn't stunning. The five others all lost to unranked teams (three of them at home). And for a few of them, it didn't end there. South Florida, BC and Oregon all went on to lose their next game, while Cal has fallen off the face of the earth with a 1-5 collapse.

AP No. 2 since Oct. 1
Date, No. 2 Team, Result Nov. 24, Kansas L, vs. No. 4 Missouri
Nov. 15, Oregon L, at Arizona
Nov. 10, LSU W, vs. La. Tech
Nov. 3, Boston College L, vs. Florida St.
Oct. 25, Boston College W, vs. No. 8 Va. Tech
Oct. 18, South Florida L, at Rutgers
Oct. 13, Cal L, vs. Oregon St.
Oct. 6, USC L, vs. Stanford

Week 12 - 2007

First and second place (Robert and Blaine) are within 1 point of each other (51.0 to 51.7) while everyone else is within 2 points (44.1 to 46.2). This is the first time Robert has seen 1st place since mid-season 2004. Jeff comes in at 3rd place ending his season-long drought from a 1st, 2nd or 3rd ranking (everyone else has had at least one).

If BSU pulls off a win in the islands Friday night then we will likely see Lance and Shaun move into 1st and 2nd place. Or, if Tennessee wins this week (they have beat Kentucky 22 straight games) and then pulls one off on LSU, then those with Tennessee in their top 15 will be at the top.

BYU finally gained some respect as they head into rivalry week. BYU is the only newcomer to the top 25 in since Wake Forest and BSU moved in 3 weeks ago. Auburn and Texas Tech move in as the only 4-loss teams in the top 25.