Back once more, with the seething anger you want!

Hello, dear reader(s). Just a quick heads up on some things:

ONE: Sorry for the lack of bowl rundown. Between my work computer going into the shop, my home computer breaking, abject laziness, and the fact that I'm not paid by anyone to do this, there was really no way it was getting done. Which is a pity because I finished 17-17 in my bowl picks. Yeah! In your face! Flipping a coin would have given you roughly the same results as my crappy bowl predictions!

TWO: Gotta do a rundown of the destruction of conferences, specifically the Big 12's dissolution and the parts of that conference heading to conferences that make no sense for them to join. Texas in the Pac-10? Nebraska in the Big 10, which now has 12 teams AT LEAST?! What the heck is this?! (I'm getting ahead of myself, football blogging season has just started.)

THREE: I'll try to do something involving the coaching carousel around the country. Plenty of fun to be had there, especially at Notre Dame, Cincinnati, UVa, Tennessee and Southern Cal.

FOUR: Speaking of Southern Cal...

It seems vaguely appropriate that the team that I despise with all of the enthusiasm I can muster has finally been punished for their misdeeds. Vindictive of me? Sure, but let's all be honest with ourselves: Almost every program in major college sports that has a legitimate shot of winning a championship cheats. Virginia Tech probably does. Florida almost certainly does. Iowa State probably does not, but Iowa State has a horrible football team. The issues I have with the University of Southern California are not relative to what they've done with recruiting, because in modern college football recruiting violations are so prevalent as to be utterly unremarkable.

No, what I hate about Southern Cal is their attitude. The idea that somehow they have "earned" their place among college football's elite simply by virtue of location. The concept that 100% of their players go on to have illustrious professional careers simply because they spent 4 years snuffing out inferior conference competition, mediocre non-conference competition, and one good team per year in their bowl game. The idea that Pete Carroll is some sort of brilliant coach because he took an historically good program in a rich recruiting ground and kept winning with it. The way people describe their program as having "swagger." The way the media panders to them, and the rare occasions that the media does acknowledge that Southern Cal isn't the greatest football team in the country they are immediately accused of "East Coast Bias." The "Bush Push," which was illegal, this call against Virginia Tech's Josh Hyman, which is still the single worst offensive pass interference call in football history. Pete Carroll's hair. Lane Kiffin leaving Tennessee in a horrible state after one mediocre year to coach the Mustard and Ketchup. That, among a host of other reasons, is why I hate Southern California.

Now that you have a decent comprehension of where I stand, here's some analysis: The NCAA sanctions were not harsh enough. In this case, the school had been thumbing its nose at the NCAA for years and lying to its recruits, telling them to come to the school, telling them that they were in the clear from NCAA sanctions. These recruits should have the right to transfer to another school, perhaps one that will give them the opportunity to play in a bowl game during one of their first two years at school. Plus, consider the seniors and juniors who, having missed their chance to jump to the NFL like their coach (more to come on that) are stuck spending the last years of their college career with no chance of going to a bowl or of hoisting a national championship trophy. Even if Southern Cal runs the table the next two years (they won't, but work with me here) they will still not be able to play for a national title. Aside from making the school money, the next two seasons will have little to no meaning. The athletes should have the opportunity to leave. If college football is "about the kids" as the NCAA is always so quick to claim, then the kids should be given a chance to give meaning to the 2010 and 2011 seasons. (NOTE: In the time since I typed this, it's come out that Juniors and Seniors will be allowed to transfer without the required one year of "sit out" time. Mind you, these are the Juniors and Seniors who led Southern Cal to their worst season since 2001, so...) (Plus, the Freshmen and Sophomores are still getting screwed...)

The school needs to be stripped of 5 seasons of post-season participation. That way no athlete who was in any way tainted by this scandal can play for the tainted school that tainted them. Tainted. Fun word to type.

Seriously, though, the hiring of Lane Kiffin was a horrible choice for a variety of reasons. One of the ringleaders of the circus that led to this whole affair is now back in charge of said circus. Kiffin's paying his atonement in the form of sanctions during his first two years, yet the school's punishment needs to be elevated, the better to teach boosters and crazy fans who write blogs about football an adequate lesson.

I know that sounds like the harshest of mentalities to take, but think about it: Most college athletes, even from big-name schools, don't go on to have illustrious careers. Most of them don't go on to have careers at all! For all the hype that its players get, USC football's pro track record is no better than many other schools around the nation. If you don't believe me, go to the local Wal-Mart and talk to John David Booty. If he's not working today, try finding Todd Marinovich.

The most egregious bit is that the man who built this monster is escaping basically scot free. I am, of course, referring to the Silver Fox: Mr. Peter Clay Carroll. Pete has gotten away with the murder of Southern Cal football, and he's not even sorry about it! Here's a video from his YouTube channel. (Which, by the way, PETE CARROLL has a YouTube Channel?! I could write a whole post just about that!) Watch that video and come back. I'll wait here...



...OK, so raise your hand if you believed that. If you raised your hand, then I am shocked. Because I did not know that you read this blog, Mr. Carroll. If you did not raise your hand, then you have a brain stem. "The University didn't know, we didn't know." Look, man, I'll buy that you don't know a tailback has a history of robbing stores. I'll buy that you can't keep tabs on 100 athletes at the same time. But the player at the crux of this debate is REGGIE FRIGGIN' BUSH! One of the best running backs in college football history, certainly one of the best to come through Southern Cal. If you're not keeping tabs on the recruitment of your highest profile player then you are a horrible, horrible coach. This denial is amazing. If Pete flames out at the NFL coaching level, he could easily have a career in politics. Never once during the 2 minutes of drivel you have just watched did Pete actually apologize or take responsibility for his actions. We do get an "I feel terrible" around the 1:50 mark, but that doesn't count.

In conclusion (though this topic may get revisited between now and August) this just shows the dark side of college football. Drugs have withdrawal symptoms, addiction, and life-ruining powers. College football has recruiting. Here's hoping that the season arrives soon...

Final Rankings Rant (of the '08 season)

Not sure why I didn't post this earlier...let's look at what's egregious in college football's final rankings!

So someone in the AP honestly thought Southern Cal deserved to be ranked over Utah and Florida? Really? Utah who, you know, BEAT Oregon State (yeah, Penn State did, too, and USC killed them. USC also played a home game for its bowl, so shut up).

Texas didn't get any #1 votes at all which surprises me, given that we've had to hear their griping for quite some time. I guess Ohio State sticking with them was a mark of shame or something? It really doesn't make that much sense. Also, was it just me or did the Big 12 look hideous in all of its big bowl games?

Sliding down...Alabama is 6th?! How is that possible? How can you lose 2 straight and still be in the top 10. If Alabama was in the Big East (or Big 10, or PAC-10, or ACC, or any non-BCS conference...) we'd have to tolerate all of the "Overrated! Easy non-conference schedule!" articles. Instead, they sit pretty at #6. I guess it's because their losses are to the #1 and #2 teams in the country. Still...2 straight losses generally doesn't equal a top 10 finish.

It's good to see TCU in the top 10. They deserve it, and its pretty awesome to see a small conference team in the final top 10 again. Wait, positivity?! What the heck am I doing?!

How is Ohio State still in the Top 10? A well played game against Texas, a spanking at the hands of USC, and a loss to Penn State gave them a 10-3 record, which is respectable if one doesn't look at where their wins came from (a sample: Youngstown State, Ohio, Troy, Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, and like 3 legitimately good teams). Once you look at that...this really isn't a top 10 team. Top 25, possibly, but not Top 10.

Texas Tech slides to 12, and frankly they should have slid further. I do have a question, though, how is TT still ranked higher than the team that JUST BEAT THEM?! Mississippi might not be the 14th best school in the country, but they proved, head to head, on the field that they were better than Texas Tech.

Nothing else is too terrible in the bottom half of the poll, though I must ask voters how BYU got enough votes to be 25th, while the team that beat them (Arizona) only got 4 points in the poll! The PAC-10 had a horrible regular season, including a winless team, a terrible out of conference schedule, and a friggin' 1-6 record against the MWC. Then they win every game in the bowl season, and look pretty dang good doing it. (I hate admitting that.) So BYU should NOT be ranked above California.

Aaaaand that's all I got.

Varia 12/1/08

Well, we're back! Just a side note, the actual site called collegefootballreview.com is actually a defunct website which hasn't been updated since 2006. For spite, and no other purpose, I would now like to point out the last article on there. It reads as follows:

No doubt about it, The Ohio State University is the #1 team in the country. The are the real deal and have it going not only on offense but defense also!

I wonder if we could get that domain name...on the grounds that we'd type more intelligent gibberish. Let's move along...

Considering how few good games there were recently, it's unsurprising that there's not been much action on here. I mean, I could write you an in-depth review of the Virginia Tech/UVa game, but does anyone really want to read that? I mean, UVa sucks. No offense.

Which I guess brings me to a point. College football needs a playoff. There is no reason that the winner of the ACC Championship (even if it's my beloved Hokies) should go to a BCS bowl, while Texas, Texas Tech, or Oklahoma will get left in the cold. It's simply inconceivable! The ACC was a middle-of-the-road conference this year, the PAC-10 has only one half-decent team, and the Big East was horrible. Of those three conferences, only one team really should go to a major bowl (and that one team, USC, would get killed by Oklahoma, Texas, or Texas Tech)

Seriously, does anyone want to see the Cincinnati/Boston College game? No. Get more Big-12/SEC teams in there this year. Next year the ACC will be a competitive and good and fun conference. This year the conference isn't that good, and that's OK! Neither is the PA(theti)C-10! Honestly (I can't believe I'm about to type this) I say that, if the system must stay the same, we should send Utah and Boise State to the BCS bowls. Seriously.

As for the Big 12...wow. Texas got screwed, Oklahoma got lucky, and Texas Tech has the misfortune of being the new kid on the block.

I could keep going, but time is short, and our predominant reading audience has ADD. So...yeah, we'll see you later.