2012 National Title Game Preview

Well, we've sifted through 34 bowls, some good and some bad. We've arrived at the lone game in this crazy postseason that matters: The BCS National Title Game. Let's analyze, shall we?

#2 Alabama vs. #1 LSU

Breakdown: There's not much left to say about the regular seasons these two teams had. Both cruised through their regular season opponents, playing only one close game, that being the time they played each other. Both teams feature suffocating defenses, which complement their bruising rush offense. All the analysts offering reasons why this game will be different than the last one are trying to suck people in because of all the complaints that the last matchup between these two was "boring." This game will be more of the same, and that's not a bad thing! Well, it wouldn't be if Alabama had any business being here...

I can hear the screams of indignation from Tuscaloosa now, so follow me for a moment before you make the effigy: Does anyone remember the 2006 season? The year that Michigan and Ohio State were #1 and #2 after ripping their competition to shreds and playing one another in a pretty close game to end the season? At the end of the year that year, many people (myself included) felt that there should be a Michigan/Ohio State rematch in the championship game. We didn't get our way, and Michigan and OSU both lost their bowl games. So follow me a bit further:

LSU belongs in the national title game. They're the only undefeated team in D-1A (FBS if you hate convenience) and they've beaten 2 BCS-bowl winning teams: Oregon in a neutral site game and West Virginia on the road. Alabama, meanwhile, played only one bowl team in their nonconference schedule: the Penn State team that was beaten fairly badly by Houston. Conference play has to be taken with a grain of salt, because conferences vary wildly in strength. The SEC currently sits at 5-2 in the bowls, while the Big 12 sits at 6-2 and Conference USA is 4-1. Am I saying that the Big 12 is better than the SEC? And that Conference USA is better than both? No. What I'm saying is that Alabama's being rewarded for doing well in its conference, when conference play's value as a tool for analysis is negligible. *Sigh* If only there was a system whereby teams from multiple conferences could play one another in a series of games in a sort of single-elimination tournament, eventually using head-to-head competition to come up with a balanced means of determining a champion. Oh, well, a guy can dream.

Pick: Both these teams play the style of football I like, coupled with individuals whom I detest. Nick Saban is, in fact, the devil, while Tyrann Mathieu may be the biggest a**hole in all of sports. Moral considerations aside, I'll pick LSU based on history. I think they can repeat their win over the Tide and at least give a semblance of legitimacy to the title game. Either way, it's been a great season, and I hope you all enjoyed watching it as much as I did. Thanks for reading these posts, and I'll see y'all in the future!

Bowl Preview: The Big One

Well, we're here. 34 bowls after we started, we have finally arrived at the National Championship Game. And after gems like the Humanitarian Bowl and the Capital One Bowl, as well as slaughters in the Orange Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl, who can wait?! Ironically, despite the fact that this is the only game since December 4th that's mattered, this will be a pretty short post by my standards, as there's only one game to preview. Don't worry, the excruciating posts you can read aloud to put unruly children to sleep shall return at season's end. For now, however, let's take a look at the big show!

January 10, 2011

Tostitos BCS National Championship Game

#2 Oregon vs. #1 Auburn

How they got here: By being undefeated teams from major conferences, because there's no way that an undefeated team from a minor conference could hope to stick with a conference champion from a major conference! Wait a minute...

Should I watch this game: If you actually asked yourself this, go away. Find a blog more your speed. Here's one.

Blogger's Pick: Oregon. The Ducks are, for obvious reasons, known for their prolific offense. 1st in the country, nearly 50 points per game, blah blah blah. You know the friggin' drill. Auburn and Oregon are pretty danged similar, as you know if you've watched anything about this game on any sports network. The lone big edge that either team has is in scoring defense, where the Ducks place 12th. Each team runs the ball well, with rushing offense ranks of 4th for OU and 5th for the Tigers. It is important to note, however, that both teams also rank in the top 15 in rush defense, with Oregon at 15th and Auburn at 11th. Both sides' defenses play against running spread teams in practice, so that makes sense.

The noticeable statistical difference (aside from scoring, which isn't a bad stat, but it's not super reliable) lies in passing defense: Oregon ranks 56th, compared to Auburn's 105th. Neither team passes well, but if Oregon's defense is able to shut down Cam Newton on the ground, then Auburn will have to go to their 67th ranked air attack. Oregon should also have trouble going to the ground against Auburn's strong rush D, but the Ducks' passing attack is more well-suited as a fall-back plan than Auburn's. Throw in the fact that Oregon's defense is pretty much a stone wall in the 4th quarter, and you have a recipe to send that ugly crystal football to the Pacific Northwest.

That's all for the previews. Stay tuned for the various "year in review" articles on this and every other college football blog on the face of the planet! (PS: Bowl predictions stand at 24-10 with one more game to go!)

National Championship blowout!

Well, the national championship came and went. Florida won the game, and in-depth analysis is for losers who get paid to write. So let's review the practically unreviewable (because everyone else beat me to it...)

The most enigmatic play of the whole game, for me at least, was early in the 4th Quarter, when Tim Tebow ran back to pass, and stopped because he heard a whistle. While this has happened before, it's interesting to note to whom it happened. You see, normally when there's a fake whistle, there's confusion amongst, oh, half the players on the field. In this episode, there was one player who was confused, and that was Tebow! The saddest part of this little affair: the commentators took his side, and not that of the other 21 guys on the field!

Since we're talking Tebow, what was up with that taunting penalty at the end of the game? I mean, he's intense and all, and that's great, but there's a HUGE problem with making the Gator chomp at someone. Especially since Timmy's the golden child of college football. Does this action make him a bad guy? No. But we must avoid talking about how wonderful anyone is, lest we turn him into some sort of mini-god. Think I'm overreacting? The following is an actual quote from the Fox announcer: "I think that might be the first think Tim Tebow's ever done wrong!" Watch it, now. That's Matt Ryan's turf.

Networks that handle college football should be the ones broadcasting it. Now, since ESPN is still not in every house in America (dang Amish...), this leaves us with ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox as our networks of choice. Problem is, NBC has an agreement with Notre Dame and no one else, so they're out. Fox doesn't broadcast college football, so they should be out. That leaves CBS and ABC, both networks with experienced college football analysts. Sure, they have their problems, but they at least know what the heck is going on (exception made for Lee Corso...). So who broadcasts four of the five most important games in college football? You guessed it: Fox! Thank you, amateur and (theoretically) unpaid college athletes! Your hard work has earned you massive ratings, which will be auctioned to the highest bidder!

As for the name of the game....why did we have to hear that it was the FedEx National Championship Game presented in High Definition by DirecTV a subsidiary of Pepsi-Cola Corporation, property of Wal-Mart? Seriously, corporate sponsorship kills the fun of things.

And while we're on the subject of corporate sponsorship, what the heck is up with those ads for the "Angry Whopper?" I'm not sure if I should be frightened by this sandwich, or simply freaked out by the bizarre ad campaign/name of the food. Who wants to eat something called an "Angry Whopper"? What's next, black-dyed, ketchup filled, emo fries? Slogan: "Emo fries: They cut themselves and bleed ketchup because no one understands them. Now available at Burger King. Free if you go cry in the corner."

Props to Percy Harvin, Florida's defense, OU's defense (The top 2 teams in the country in scoring finished 24-14. Both sides did well), and Bob Stoops. Stoops, boys and girls, is an excellent coach who doesn't deserve the "big game choker" reputation. That is a stupid label to put on a coach. A player might get nervous and fumble a ball. A coach will not get nervous and punt on 2nd down, and I don't recall seeing anything else particularly egregious from Oklahoma. Other than that stupid wagon, and that's not Stoops' fault.

Finally, a hearty congrats to Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators for being the National Champions. Before the whining begins, know this: Texas and USC are both excellent football programs. Both of their conferences agreed to the current arrangement, and USC profited from this system during the 2004 season when they had to play undefeated Oklahoma instead of undefeated Auburn. Utah has a legitimate gripe as the little man being shut out. They're not in the title picture because when this system was put in place, Utah was not a top-tier team, and thus has no shot at playing in the title unless every other team loses at least 2 games while they go undefeated! Which (cue music) is why we need a playoff!


Side note: As the purpose of this blog (see title of blog) has ended until, like, September, we'll be dabbling in basketball, baseball, pro football, hockey, and potentially poking in on the filthiest part of college football: recruiting.

So keep in touch! All 2 of you!

Saturday in Review: Conference Championship Edition

Nothing on the non-championship games this week. Do you really want another article on how much I hate Pete Carroll? Or how the PAC-10 is right down there with the Big East and ACC but you never hear how much they suck because (Omigosh!) that would require belittling the might of the USC Trojans?

No, you don't want to read that, and I don't want to write it. So let's move on, shall we?

#12 Ball State-21, Buffalo-42
This is like one of those new-wave sports movies where the lovable team loses in the championship game. I hate those sports movies. Imagine Remember the Titans with the Titans losing! Sorry, angry tangent there.

This one here, though, does suck. I really wish the Cardinals had pulled it off, but I think they'll still settle for the best season in school history. Aaaaaand that's about all I got. I didn't watch this game, can you tell?

#25 Virginia Tech-30, #17 Boston College-12
While winning a conference two straight years is certainly something to celebrate, I still don't think Virginia Tech needs to be in a BCS bowl (though they're playing Cincinnati, so cheers for that: 2 undeserving teams in the same bowl!). Still, hard to argue with results, and the Hokie defense looked very good against the Eagles. Then again, BC was working with a redshirt freshman QB, not Chris Crane.

The Eagles will be going to the Gator Bowl to play against Vanderbilt. A reminder to the Eagles: Despite the ACC beating itself up badly this year, the conference has a winning record against the SEC. Duke beat Vandy! So....we expect something good out of you! Call Matt Ryan, he can help. He can do anything...

#20 Missouri-21, #2 Oklahoma 62
Want my review of this game? Look at the dang score! There! There's your review!

Seriously, though, Oklahoma played its way into the national title game, and it'll be good to see them play against the winner of...(drum roll)

#1 Alabama-20, #4 Florida-31
A pretty darn good game by anyone's standards. For 3 straight years now an SEC team has gone to the national title game. It'll be interesting to see if they can win it 3 straight years. This blurb is short because, frankly, I failed you dear readers. I did not watch this game because (don't tell the other bloggers) I have a social life.

But enough about me...College Football Review's BOWL (P)REVIEW™ will be coming up soon! That's right, a sardonic, somewhat poorly written review of all 976 bowl games!

(NOTE: No, there's not that many, it just seems like it. I think my 4-7 high school team is bowl eligible this year)