UvT Sports: College Football Final and the BCS

Every college football season is another opportunity to make the BCS system look ridiculous. When you have more than two undefeated teams it makes them look bad. When you have a few teams on the outside of the national championship looking in, it makes them look bad. This season everybody lost, so the teams at the top have changed more than Beyonce during one of her concerts.

Which brings us to today.

You knew something wasn’t right when the “number one team” in the country is a three point underdog going in to the Big 12 Championship game. But even I didn’t expect it to be this bad. Let’s be realistic. We all know that Mizzou v. West Virginia would have been the lowest rated championship game ever. It would have been fun to watch all the commentators try hype up such an awful game for an entire month. Don’t get me wrong, I like a sports Cinderella story as much as the next guy, but we’ve had some really BS teams in the top spots this year. Boston College? The USF Bulls? Missou, Kansas, and West Virginia?

I didn’t watch the games, but I think the BCS planted Tim Donaghy at the games to make sure things “turned out right”.

So here we go, we find out the Bowl matchups tonight and the AP rankings already have Ohio State and LSU in the top two spots. Yeah, people are voting for the game they want to see. Let’s see, I guess the “computer” was wrong when it had the Georgia Bulldogs at #4 and LSU at #7 when the Dawgs weren’t even in the SEC championship game. Sorry Georgia, it’s not looking good. Ohio State got to sit on the sidelines for the last two weeks of the season and watch teams lose around them. That doesn’t quite seem fair, does it? So let me get this right, in the SEC not playing is a bad thing, so LSU jumps (5 spots? when else has that happened?) but in the Big Ten it is a good thing. Great, Ohio State last played on November 21. The national championship game is January 7th. Ohio State has almost two months off before the game. What else? Ohhhhhh, the game is being played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Nice.

All this proves is that there needs to be a playoff system. I know the BCS likes the cash, intrigue developed in the current system, and they continue to say it is a fair system. In reality, how great would it be to see the top 8 teams in a playoff? Look at these teams, Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, Georgia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Mizzou, and Kansas. Maybe the undefeated Hawaii gets a shot to test themselves against respected programs since it appears that everyone thinks their record is complete BS. Florida is right there on the edge. Give the teams that worked hard a shot at it. Seriously, there is nothing Hawaii could have done better, they don’t deserve a sniff at it? Next year they will be rewarded with a ranking in the high teens while perennial favorites like Michigan, Florida, USC, Texas, and Cal get right back to where they are every year. Plus, think of the drama of March Madness, teams earn it with every game. The underdog schools build a following by showing their heart on the field. The national favorites get a few weeks where everyone gets to see how good they are on a national stage so by time they hoist the trophy everyone knows what they can do.

This season has been a debacle for the BCS, it is time for a change. No one wants this.

-Brock

—————UPDATE———————

Well, the results are in. This is a joke. Look, if you are just going to make the games you want to see at the end of the year, throw out the whole system. Don’t get me wrong, LSU v. Ohio State is exactly the game I want to see, and the only thing that makes sense at this point. So get this. Georgia goes in to the weekend at number 4 in the BCS. Then #1 and #2 lose. That makes them number two going into the championship game, right? That is how it happened the other thirteen weeks of the season, right? That is how Boston College, South Florida, Kansas and all of those jokers got to be #2, right?

Not this week, this week when two of the three teams in front of you lose, you come back out of the week at number FIVE. That’s right, they didn’t play and lost a spot. Ohio State didn’t play and got right up to #1. That means VA Tech jumped up three slots for beating number 11 Boston College. LSU jumps five slots to number two, and Oklahoma also jumps up five to number 3…but they beat the number one team in the country so they deserved it, right?  Meanwhile #9 Kansas gets in while #6 Mizzou drops out completely, that sucks.

Yeah, look at it, read it again. None of it makes sense. But no one will remember it by time Kirk Herbstreit and Corso talk about it for a month. We got the game everyone wants, that’s the whole point, right?

Right?

-Brock

College Football Preview: Michigan v. Ohio State

Wow, I told you two weeks ago that Oregon had a tough one on Thursday night.  It just keeps getting tougher too.  Not only did Oregon have their national title hopes shattered by unranked Arizona, but they also lost their Heisman candidate Dennis Dixon for the rest of the season.  Really tough loss.   Which brings me to the question:

Do the Oregon Cheerleaders have 200 outfit choices too?

Surprisingly decent looking chicks for the Pacific Northwest.

Looking at the matchups today, obviously Michigan v. Ohio State is the big game of the day.  In what could should be Lloyd Carr’s last game and will be Henne, Hart and Big Jake Long’s last game, Michigan should have a punchers chance if Henne and Hart actually start.  In fact, after bouncing on the sidelines like a kid missing his Ritalin last weekend, there is no way Hart doesn’t start today.  I’ve seen him check himself into games before, and today is his day.  With that said, Michigan has to be clicking on all cylinders to beat the Ohio State juggernaut.

The BIGGEST game of the week though is Duke at Notre Dame.

I mean this is the Duke Football Team’s chance to win one for the ages.  To come from the consensus worst team in the nation, winning just 4 games since 2003, and nothing at all last season.  Prior to 2003 they put together a multiple season losing streak, and now we have the chance to take down one of the most storied programs in football history.

Also, it is creeping up again, parity is forcing all the teams that looked like they were going to get frozen out of the National Championship game back into the picture.  Remember when we were about to watch Boston College v. South Florida for the national championship?  Well, now we are about to get Kansas v. Oklahoma, because LSU has to make it through the rest of the SEC and Arkansas to make it to New Orleans.  If they do, they roll, but the door is still open.

-Brock

College Football Roundup: Holy S#it!

Oh man this is great. I woke up Saturday morning to post my weekly predictions for college football when I realized that it was the functional bye week. Hell, Gameday was at a freaking D III school for the pregame talking about museums. Then this happened:

This was supposed to be the off week. Illinois was one of the worst teams in the nation next to Duke last year and they just clipped number 1. Not only that, but Michigan lost to Wisconsin (It seemed like Lloyd Carr was saving the boys for Ohio State next week. He wants to make it to the Rose Bowl), and Notre Dame continues its exercise in futility by dropping one to Air Force making their game against Duke Football on national television next week HUGE. By the way, just for the record, we haven’t done the Brady Quinn watch this season because he uhhhhhh hasn’t taken a snap this season.

Here’s the deal, things had shaken out to the point where LSU and Ohio State were in the top 2, ready to head to the national championship. That is a respectable match-up. In fact, LSU v. Oregon still is. Here’s the thing? Remember about three weeks ago when South Florida was number two in the country, Boston College was #3, and currently unranked Cal had just dropped out of the top 2? Remember that? Well we are one SEC championship loss and one trip up through the PAC 10 away from Kansas v. West Virginia for the title. Sure, I appreciate how much parity there is in college football, but I’m not interested in waiting until January 8 for that game.

That game is going to look like this.

LSU was always the best team in the land and I hope they can hold it together. The next few weeks should be great.

-Brock

Duke beats Northwestern, ones of fans cheer

Oh yes, we almost forgot. Duke beat Northwestern on Saturday.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Duke Sports fan (well, all except Lax who I actively root against and Football who I just don’t even think about), but for me this is not news. The only reason why I’m even raising the issue is because Duke has more wins than Notre Dame right now and yes, those two powerhouse football programs meet in an epic battle on November 17th.

(And no I don’t know who this cat is, but I can only assume he plays for Duke. I like the hard look in his eye though)

Hell, Notre Dame might make a Duke Football fan out of me yet. I’ll say it now, if Duke beats Notre Dame I’ll rock the full Duke Football track suit, a Fubu headband, a whistle around my neck and that varsity jacket some of those cats used to rock around campus…take it all and wear it to work like WHAT.  Go Devils (I think).

– Lake

—————- UPDATE ———————–

Lake my man,

I’m taking that bet all day.  You have to rock the all blue version of the track suit as well as a 1999 Outback Bowl hat (the last time Duke was ranked and went to a bowl game)

By the way….The Big Tenleven must reaaaaaaly suck this year.  What the hell is going on?

-Brock