Saturday in Review 10/3/09

Another week, another round of games. This week was disappointingly normal, at least relative to the last few weeks. So let's take a deeply sarcastic look at the old ball games.

#3 Alabama-38, Kentucky-20

'Bama is 35-2-1 against Kentucky all time. While I imagine the numbers in basketball look similar (minus the tie, of course) in favor of Kentucky, it makes one wonder why people think the SEC is a conference that has no compare.

Look, I agree that the SEC is the best conference in the country. With LSU, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Auburn they have a high number of very good football teams. Still, the Kentuckys and Vanderbilts of the conference ensure that there are still bad games. Plus, since at least one of the "good" teams has a down year every year (oh, how quickly we forget how bad Florida was in 2003...) it is a bit of an overstatement to claim that the SEC has 5 national championship contenders every year. This year they have Florida and Alabama. LSU might upset Florida in Death Valley this coming Saturday, but mark my words they will not go undefeated and they will not go to a title game, since their loss will either come this week or at Alabama in November.

Oh, well. Time for further analysis of other games, since I didn't watch this one, nor do I care.

#4 LSU-20, #18 UGA-13

6 points in the first 45 minutes, then a touchdown, then 20 points in the final 3 minutes. It was like a brief history of the game of football.

LSU won in a game that they frankly shouldn't have, but the real highlight of this game was the unnecessary celebration penalties handed out to both squads. While I am inclined to agree that celebrations in the NFL are over the top and silly, I disagree with the "put down the ball and look at the ground while you walk not-too-fast-but-not-too-slow back to the sidelines" stance that the NCAA takes with its players. Georgia and LSU's celebration penalties are prime examples. The NCAA's rule states that celebrations shouldn't call attention to the individual, but to the team. OK, I get that, and I get the purpose behind it, but does that mean that all 11 players have to run up to the man who scored the touchdown and give a group hug? Is chest slapping illegal, since one does it to oneself? If so, how come D-linemen and linebackers get to do it whenever they hit a QB? Let the college kids celebrate a little. If they make it to the NFL then they'll get to anyway. Might as well give the less-talented some opportunities as well...

Also, can someone please explain how LSU and Georgia scored so much in the last 3 minutes while slowly going nowhere for the first 57? Since this happens fairly regularly (See the Virginia Tech/Nebraska game from 2 weeks ago) one must wonder why teams don't just stay in the no-huddle 2-minute drill the whole game.

UC Davis-16, #5 Boise State-34

Jeez, man. Boise State, who will probably not make the national title game unless lightning strikes each individual BCS-eligible school twice (in a literal sense), decides to schedule a cupcake instead of an actual opponent. I have a suggestion. Let's pretend that the Cincinnati/Miami (OH) game never happened and that Boise and Cincy faced off. I think we can all agree that would be A) more interesting and B) make it so the Broncos could get into the National Title game without divine intervention.

#6 Virginia Tech-34, Duke-28

How on Earth did Tech beat Miami in just about every facet of the game last week, then narrowly escape Duke this week? Sure, I know the theory that you "play to the level of your competition," but how do you explain Virginia Tech's crushing of Marshall with that theory?

Methinks that the Devils watched some game film and did their homework against Virginia Tech. Otherwise it's a bit difficult to explain the 327 passing yards that Tyrod Taylor had, compared to the small number of rush yards that the Hokies got.. As for Duke, they had one of the most unbalanced offenses ever and they still managed to keep the game very close. Parity, I believe, has created situations that once would have seemed bizarre. Aside from truly and utterly awful football programs (read: Florida International) Division 1-A (or FBS if you're one of the 3 people in the country who actually calls it that) is incredibly close-run. Yes, the Southern Cal's of the world will beat the UAB's of the world more often than not, but upsets are happening with much more regularity thanks to the addition of gimmick offenses and the long-standing tradition of overlooking teams.

As for analysis, it would seem that talk of the Hokies returning to the National Title picture is a bit premature, since Duke came uncomfortably close to winning on Saturday. The Devils, meanwhile, have had a rough go of things this year after some improvement the last 2 years. This good performance may be a sign indicating a return to improvement. Or, it could have been a fluke. We'll see.

#7 USC-30, #24 Cal-3

So does anyone remember when Cal was the 6th ranked team in the country? Yeah, that was a great joke on the part of the AP voters. Seriously, hilarious stuff.

Southern Cal, it would seem, is still atop the PAC-10 for now. They performed well on the road in a performance that really cemented them as the favorites in the conference, and they seem to only have Oregon left as a real obstacle. (No, I don't include Notre Dame on that list. When Charlie Weiss shows up at my house with a crowbar and beats the crap out of me, then I will begin thinking of Notre Dame (and their coach) as a threat)

#8 Oklahoma-20, #17 Miami-21

Miami emerges victorious from its 4th straight matchup against a ranked team, and 3-1 overall during that span (admittedly, the first one was Florida State). The Hurricanes are on a downhill run from here with only one ranked opponent left on the schedule and a 1-AA cupcake game next week. If the right teams win/lose, they're very much in the hunt for an ACC Championship

As for the Sooners, they can still hope for the Big 12 championship, but they are out of the National Title picture (Yeah, who thought that sentence would be typed after 4 games). OU has beaten basically no one (Best win: Tulsa) and they still have some seriously tough games on the schedule (Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma State are all ranked, and Texas Tech is a threat at home.) The Sooners might soon turn into spoilers instead of contenders, though chaos in the Big 12 is always fun to watch. I'm sure we all remember last year's 3-way tie for the South Division.

#9 Ohio State-33, Indiana-14

The Buckeyes continue to benefit from being one of the few good-to-OK teams in the Big 10 + 1. Indiana isn't very good, and they haven't been for a while, so we can't really chalk this up as a Buckeye victory so much as business as usual for the Hoosiers.

The Buckeyes have put up impressive numbers and still have the potential to go to the Rose Bowl or (if the chips fall right) into the National Title. Indiana has potential to go, frankly, nowhere.

#10 Cincinnati-31, Miami (The bad one. I mean, Ohio)-13

Cincinnati continues it's rise to the top of the Big East. In fairness, that's like rising to the top in a bucket of filth. Sure, you're on top, but look at what else is in the bucket.

It doesn't help that the rest of the Big East is fairly mediocre. I venture to say that the best team in the Big East would struggle against the 4th best team in the SEC. I'd also venture that the Big East will get up to 6 teams (probably more like 5) into the bowls. Finally, I'd venture to say that Boise State could beat all of those teams combined...

SMU-14, #11 TCU-39

TCU continues to move up in rankings and standings. They basically have to crush all their foes for the remainder of the season. SMU, meanwhile, was once a relevant team on the college football landscape. It's remarkable, however, that the death penalty that they received 22 years ago is still crushing the football program in University Park, Texas.

TCU, for their part, is working well to be a BCS buster. They still have tough games against Utah and BYU, but they stand the best chance of representing the Mountain West during this coming Bowl Season.

#12 Houston-41, UTEP-58

Mark my words, it is a good thing that this happened. Why? I will explain in simple terms below:

Logic tells us that an undefeated Houston would make either a BCS bowl (unlikely) or a semi-major bowl. They "proved" themselves against an overrated Oklahoma State squad and a Texas Tech team that is in repair. As a result, they became media darlings and grabbed headlines as a potential BCS buster. Reality came into play this week on the road at UTEP. The same UTEP who, just last week, lost to Texas by 57 points. The relevance, you ask? Well, if lightning had struck just right (and in college football it often does) then you have Houston playing Texas or Virginia Tech or Miami or USC or Penn State in a big-time bowl, losing by 43, then 100 stories about how the BCS busters are irrelevant to an actual college football discussion. Best that this happened now, rather than in January.

Arkansas State-21, #13 Iowa-24

Remember my lampooning of the "play to your competition" theory that I did up above? Yeah, I take that back. Iowa's the only team I can think of that will beat the #5 team in the country by 11 on the road then nearly lose to a Sun Belt opponent at home. Throw in the near-loss to Northern Iowa during week 1, and you have a team that would probably take a pro team to overtime one week, then lose to the Stevie Wonder Institute for the Blind the next. Iowa seems to be a good school, and the Big 11 Championship game may just come down to the Iowa/Ohio State showdown at the Horseshoe in November.

#15 Penn State-35, Illinois-17

You know, sometimes I wonder how Ron Zook does it. He recruited the team that won Florida's national title in 2006-07, he's had some danged awesome talent come through Illinois, and his team has been fairly awful with the exception of 2007's Rose Bowl effort. Zook has to do some serious work in order to keep his job, especially since everyone is aware of his recruiting prowess and his lack of coaching prowess.

Penn State, meanwhile, recovered from their loss to Iowa, but thanks to the lack of a conference championship game, the Nittany Lions will need Iowa and Ohio State to screw up. Look for JoePa to wind up in, like, the Alamo Bowl.

Washington State-6, #16 Oregon-52

Oregon is looking good ever since their loss to Boise to kick off the year. They'll be tested on Halloween when USC comes to town.

As for Washington State, they've been fairly bad these last few years. They're not too good this year either. There, there's your analysis.

Utah State-17, #20 BYU-35

Utah is a boring state.

#21 Mississippi-23, Vanderbilt-7

Mississippi's bounce-back game came at an opportune time, especially when one considers the game they have next week against Alabama. 'Bama is a good football team, and it doesn't look like Ole Miss has much of a chance. Their lone prayer is that the home crowd shuts down Bama's offense, since Mississippi's QB Jevan Snead is the most overhyped player who's won nothing this side of Matt Ryan (yeah, it was unnecessary. Who cares?). Personally, look for Mississippi to play in the Gator Bowl or something similar. They're not going to factor into the BCS.

Vandy is...Vandy. That's the best way I can put it.

#22 Michigan-20, Michigan State-26 (OT)

Dear Michigan,

We all knew this was coming. I told you so during my last 2 letters. You're not a bad football team, you're just not a title contender. Now, take note that you've still not beaten anyone who is legitimately good. You've beaten Notre Dame, who is still overrated, and you've beaten no one else of any consequence whatsoever. Heck, you've only played 2 schools outside the state of Michigan.
I'll continue. Your weasel coach has proved his "worth" by making 2 programs go downhill quickly. Your lust for quick wins led to a schedule that any decent 1-A team could turn into a BCS berth. Sure, you play some tough teams, but I venture to guess that middle-of-the-road Mississippi could have made it this far without going to overtime or losing to Michigan State. I hate to see you go from the Top 25, however, as writing these letters allows me to vent my spleen. It also allows me to use phrases like "vent my spleen," something that people don't get to do enough in this modern college football environment. Oh well, I'll see you again next week since you play Iowa, who happens to be ranked because they actually beat some decent schools.

Sincerely,
Bones

#25 Georgia Tech-42, Mississippi State-31

Apparently Mississippi State has mastered the art of sticking with teams at home. Now all they have to do is A) learn to actually win at home or B) stick with teams at home and on the road. Either way, they'll eventually upset someone, allowing me to vindicate the waste of space and time that these three sentences have become.

Georgia Tech, meanwhile, marks their return to the Top 25 with a victory over an SEC foe. That looks good for the ACC, even if they're only beating Mississippi State. It's better than losing to William and Mary...

Tales from the Bottom 95

So UVa notches their first win. Against UNC. So...what happened to Carolina? They go from "real competitor" to "We lost to who?!" in the span of 2 weeks. I'm curious to hear how Butch Davis can vindicate his salary when he can't even beat UVa. (NOTE: I will never eat those words, even if Carolina can beat Virginia Tech. Know why? Because even if you do beat Tech, you still lost to FRIGGIN' UVA! They lost to William and Mary!)...Louisiana Tech thumped Hawaii Wednesday night. Relevance? Well, does anyone remember when Hawaii was the new Boise State?...Boy, Colorado is bad...Clemson started last year in the Top 10. This season they have lost to Georgia Tech and TCU (not bad losses) and Maryland (apocalyptically bad loss). Maryland has been a punching bag this year. What changed? My theory: Ralph Friedgen promised to eat a player for every loss this season. They didn't believe him at first, but has anyone seen the backup kicker for Maryland recently? Didn't think so...Only 19 of the Top 25 played this week, and yet I still post on Wednesday. Sad, eh?...Auburn beat Tennessee in an ugly game, but it looks like the Tigers' offense is infinitely better than last year's version...

Rankings Rant

Let's take a look at the Top 25, and everything that's wrong with it...


First off, you won't hear any complaints from this blogger about the Top 5. However, if I had one, it's that Boise State and Bama are ranked too low. Yeah, you read that right. Guess I should explain...

The Top 5 teams in college football have currently played a grand total of 2 ranked teams. Not just currently ranked teams, ranked teams period. (If you really want to stretch it, LSU played Washington who managed to get ranked, then promptly flamed out) #17 Miami has played 3 ranked teams, and beat two of them! Miami has one loss (to current #6 Virginia Tech) and yet they're in the bottom half of the poll. Florida has played nobody, yet they sit atop the poll because they are the defending national champions. I agree that they should be ranked, and ranked highly, but they have not proven themselves to be the best team in the country, especially with that pedestrian performance against Tennessee.

If rankings are supposed to prove who can beat whom, then Boise and Bama need to be higher.

Moving down the poll, I'm not entirely sure how Southern Cal vaulted back up into the #7 slot. They got beaten by Washington, fell to 12, then jumped up 4 spots for Penn State, Cal, Ole Miss, and Miami's losses. My question is simple: Why did they leapfrog Oklahoma to move up 5 spots? OU's loss came earlier (traditionally meaning they should be ranked higher until they lose again) against a team that was ranked, unlike USC's loss. Plus, BYU is still ranked, unlike Washington. It doesn't make any sense to me to see the Trojans above the Sooners, but I guess that's why I'm not a voter.

Cincinnati is in the Top 10 for the first time in school history. This is fairly meaningless, but I guess it's good for the Big East to have a Top 10 team. They certainly don't deserve it, since they've played no one, and I doubt they could beat the 110 teams ranked below them, but since they have an incredibly weak schedule, there's a real chance they could wind up with a BCS bid before it's all said and done.

Houston is ranked too low for my tastes. They beat the then-#5 team in the country, are undefeated, and are still ranked below Oklahoma, who was beaten by the then-#20 team in the country. How's that work?

Iowa should probably be ranked higher as well. They, Kansas, and Michigan are the lowest-ranked undefeated teams. The reason Iowa should be ranked higher? Because they beat #5, unlike Kansas and Michigan who have played a gaggle of nobodies.

Question: Why did Miami fall so hard? They got badly beaten, yes, but they also beat 2 ranked schools. Their hard fall teaches schools the wrong lesson: They shouldn't schedule hard teams because losing leads to low rankings. Even if they go undefeated from here on out, I doubt that Miami will make the National Championship game because of 1 Saturday in September.

Nothing else too egregious in the Top 25 this week, we'll wait for next week...

Saturday in Review 9/26/09

Ah, another glorious day in college football. An overview of the highlights shall commence.

#1 Florida-41, Kentucky-7

Look, I appreciate a good football story as much as the next guy, but the Tim Tebow overload is approaching ridiculous proportions. Yes, he's one of the best ever at the college level. It goes without saying that he's important to his team. But having to hear about how he took a separate flight to the game because the flu is spreading around Florida is not that interesting.

Also, while I pity him for getting knocked out of the game, one must wonder why he was still in the game! I mean, seriously, the score was 31-7 when Timmy got hurt. Since he was feeling bad (at least according to the media) he should have been taken out when they jumped out to that ridiculous 1st quarter lead. Instead, Urban "I have no soul" Meyer opted to leave him in and show Kentucky a thing or 2 about football. I feel little sympathy for Florida, and none at all for Meyer. You're crushing an inferior team, so there's no point in having your theoretically ailing starter out there.

In conclusion, aside from 1 player playing sick and then getting hurt, this game was about as dull as dirt. Let's move on.

UTEP-7, #2 Texas-64

Food for thought: Texas' nonconference schedule features the following teams: UL Monroe, Wyoming, UTEP, and Central Florida. They play in a conference that is beginning to look more and more overrated as the weeks go on.

Conclusion: If, for some reason, the Longhorns lose to any of their conference foes, their national title shot may be totally done. Simple reason: 4 of their wins (assuming they beat UCF, which they should) will come against the cupcake-iest of cupcakes. So, beware, Longhorn fans. The eyes of the BCS computers are upon you.

Arkansas-7, #3 Alabama-35

A good SEC team crushes a not-so-good SEC team. In this battle of the evil coaches, the truly evil Nick Saban beats the lesser of 2 evils Bobby Petrino. Other than their 1st game against Virginia Tech (which they won by 10), Alabama really doesn't have much of a challenge game until they play LSU later this year. They might run into some trouble against Mississippi, who'll be trying to prove that the loss to South Carolina was a fluke, but my money's on Alabama to make it back to the SEC Championship, and maybe contend with Florida for a slot in the national title game.

Iowa-21, #5 Penn State-10

Well, dang. Looks like no JoePa national title this year. Which is sad, because he seems like a nice old fellow who harmlessly wanders the sidelines, wondering where his pizza is. Still, I think we might have safely eliminated the Big 10 + 1 from contention for the national title with this loss. It's sort of a pity and sort of a good thing, as sending a Big 10 team to the title game would inevitably lead to 700,000 stories about how Ohio State and Penn State had done poorly and so on...

As for Iowa, after barely escaping from a 1-AA team in their opener, they've proven that they're a real contender in the Big 10. Time to see if they can hold up under that scrutiny, or if they're destined for another season of mediocrity. Those Michigan and Ohio State games should help prove whether they're real or not.

#6 Cal-3, Oregon-42

I don't know that I've ever seen a Top 10 team beaten in such a complete manner by an unranked school. Cal's "supercharged run offense" looked beyond pathetic in a fairly mediocre performance against Oregon, the same team that was pretty well handled by the Boise State Broncos.

Jahvid Best, pimped by ESPN last week as the greatest RB in college football, was held to 55 yards. I could feed you more statistics, but that one explains the most. Oregon didn't show any mercy, and unlike that Boise State game, they managed not to punch anyone.

Also: Next week Southern Cal plays California in the battle of the disappointing PAC-10 teams!

#7 LSU-30, Mississippi State-26

LSU barely escaped with their #7 (and now higher) ranking intact. MSU should have won this game, but they decided to get too cute down on the goal line. I appreciate the idea of a play-action pass on 3rd and goal, but LSU did a good job of sniffing out the trick play. Hats off to LSU for playing tight defense, but one wonders what the Mississippi State coordinator was thinking. MSU ran for 151 yards, and you really have to ask why they didn't just run it 4 straight times down on the goal line...

In other news, life will get interesting for LSU when they go to Georgia next week followed by a visit from Florida into Death Valley. If they can get out of that exchange 1-1, consider it a major victory for the Tigers. If they somehow get out 2-0...they might turn into national title favorites.

#8 Boise State-49, Bowling Green-14

I'm fairly sure I don't have to review this game. Boise's itching to prove that they're national title contenders, and this demolition of Bowling Green is a byproduct. Since Boise's in a non-qualifying conference AND they have already played the real big threat on their schedule (Oregon), you're going to see blowouts like this for the remainder of the year. Know why? Because they need to show voters and computers that they can beat up on cupcake teams just like the big boys always do.

It's sad, but I hope the Broncos do weasel their way into a title game. Even if they lose, the outcry from the auto-qualifiers could create the case for...well, you know.

#9 Miami-7, #11 Virginia Tech-31

The Hokie defense showed up, and Jacory Harris went from Heisman candidate to middle-of-the-road ACC QB. Mr. Harris isn't a bad quarterback, he just isn't the second incarnation of Matt Ryan (meaning he might win an ACC Championship, unlike Mr. Ryan). Miami was touted and Tech was ignored by ESPN and the rest of the sports media, but the tables turned on that miserably rainy day in Blacksburg, much to this blogger's delight.

What really got me was that the Miami defense which was so good at shutting down Georgia Tech's running attack last week looked pretty crummy against the Virginia Tech run attack. Tech's not a mystery team, Tyrod Taylor only threw for 4 completions and 98 yards, while the running back stable ran for 272. I'm curious how that happened, since Miami held Georgia Tech to 95 yards last week.

To conclude (since I could go on all day about this), Virginia Tech is on top of the ACC this week. They still have some trap games approaching, and in the crazy conference on the coast, it seems that anyone can lose on any given week. Miami, meanwhile, should shoot whoever made their schedule, since they face Oklahoma next week. If the Hurricanes can win that one, they'll be looking at a downhill run toward the end of the season. Where things will get interesting is if Georgia Tech beats Virginia Tech who beat Miami who beat Georgia Tech. In that case, I vote for a coin flip...

Washington State-6, #12 Southern Cal-27

A nifty, if unconvincing, return to the Trojans' winning ways. Matt Barkley came back (and Pete can use that as an excuse for why they lost last week) and the Trojans beat a lesser team. I didn't see this game, and frankly I don't think I missed anything.

In a serious note, let's all send well-wishes and prayers toward Southern Cal running back Stafon Johnson who was badly hurt in a weightlifting accident. It's a reminder of how dangerous even the training that these kids go through can be. Plus, it's a reminder that no matter how important football may seem, or how much we may hate certain schools, football is still just a game.

Get well soon, Stafon.

Illinois-0, #13 Ohio State-30

Well, looks like FireRonZook.com might get started back up. Illinois has been fairly mediocre this year, and while Illini fans aren't anywhere near as crazy as Gator fans, they will only take so much abuse. And a 30-0 loss is pretty bad.

As for Ohio State, it looks like they're still top dogs in the Big 10 + 1 for now. If they can beat Penn State in Happy Valley on November 7, we'll be looking at another Rose Bowl trip for Columbus' favorite nuts. Ohio State is a strong football team, and they can stick with the competition in big games. The key, however, is beating the competition, something they have not done recently...

Fresno State-20, #14 Cincinnati-28

A close game that was never really thrilling, this was an example of how Fresno State is this close to being a powerful threat to the BCS. At present, they're Boise State Lite: Not strong enough to actually beat big schools, but not weak enough to be considered a cupcake game. Fresno has arguably the craziest schedule in D-1 football, and they deserve to be commended for it. Their conference is admittedly weak, but they have a nonconference schedule that is quite a threat. Mind you, their lone cupcake is also their lone win, so we mustn't laud the Bulldogs too heavily just yet.

As for the Bearcats (What the heck is a Bearcat? Seriously, a Virginia Tech Hokie fan is asking what your mascot is. This should tell you something. Friggin' Ohioans...) they looked pretty good against a good team, and as far as this season is concerned, they look like the top of the Big East. That's not that major of a statement.

#15 TCU-14, Clemson-10

A few years ago this would have come as a major shock. Now, it's more of a common occurrence: a school from a mid-major beating a BCS conference school. In this case, last year's uber-disappointing Clemson squad follows up a fairly handy win over Boston College with a loss against a small conference foe. Clemson is performing better since unceremoniously deposing Tommy Bowden, but it still isn't a return to greatness. They're 2-2 with the wins coming against BC and Middle Tennessee State. BC was picked to fall and fall hard by most pundits, and Middle Tennessee State isn't exactly a superteam. It remains to be seen if Clemson can beat anyone who is a real threat. They'll get their chance on October 24 when they go to Miami.

As for TCU, they can crash the BCS party only if they go undefeated. Other than 2 (bad) ACC foes, they do not play any BCS schools, and their conference is fairly weak. The "prove it" games will come at BYU and when Utah comes to town. If this conference wants to send someone to the BCS bowls, they will have the other teams throw their games against TCU and let the Horned Frogs go undefeated.

Grambling-6, #16 Oklahoma State-56

Oklahoma State continues to "bounce back" from the loss against Houston by playing these little nobody schools. It's a little sick that they get to move up in the polls by beating up on crummy schools while Miami will surely fall below them after playing its 3rd (and soon to be 4th) ranked team in a row. Sorry, Cowboys, I'm less than impressed.

Texas Tech-28, #17 Houston-29

Speaking of Houston, they played Texas Tech this week. Texas Tech has had a rough go of things recently, playing Texas and then Houston on the road back-to-back. Mind you, last year with Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, this would have been an upset. This year, methinks that we're looking at a down team. Look for Texas Tech to make one of those obscure little bowls that get played in early December and that have sponsors like Big Al's House of Staplers.

As for Houston, they're in the buster discussion, and this close win at home really helps. Beating a team that lost to Texas by 10 looks really good on the schedule. The Cougars perform well against their foes, and their schedule is getting easier. Houston could, potentially get themselves into a very big bowl if the chips fall right. Otherwise, look for them to make it into a semi-major bowl. Like the Cotton Bowl...

South Florida-17, #18 Florida State-7

Will the real Florida State please stand up? I think that this team right here was the real Florida State, personally. Their ranking was based entirely on good preseason position and a single win over a top-10 ranked team. Lest we forget, this is a Seminole team that needed a 4th Quarter comeback to beat Jacksonville State.

South Florida hasn't played anyone that good yet, and they really won't this season. Their only 2 ranked opponents left are Cincinnati and Miami. A win against Cincinnati on the 15th of October would virtually cinch the Big East for the Bulls, so that's one to circle for those of you who look forward to undeserving teams in BCS bowls!

Colorado State-23, #19 BYU-42

Utah is a boring state.

Southern Miss-28, #20 Kansas-35

This was a great one if you like defense-free football. In a statistical touch, both of the second-longest winning streaks in the country got snapped this week. Southern Miss and Ole Miss both had 8 game streaks leading into this week, and neither made it out of the week with a win.

Kansas, meanwhile, looks to cruise to 6-0 until a showdown on the 24th with Oklahoma. A win there would certainly shut the Sooners out of the National Championship discussion, and potentially put the Jayhawks into it. But Kansas' schedule doesn't get any easier after that with Texas and a resurgent Nebraska team on the board.

Arizona State-17, #21 Georgia-20

Georgia is an alright SEC school and Arizona State is an alright PAC-10 school. Therefore, I am not going to discuss this game any further.

#22 North Carolina-7, Georgia Tech-24

Well, the Yellow Jackets did really well in their bounce back game. UNC looked fairly hapless against the same Georgia Tech defense that Jacory Harris ripped apart last week. This was a strange game, frankly, in that UNC apparently ignored the film on Georgia Tech and let the Yellow Jackets run all over them. Georgia Tech ran for 317 yards, exactly 300 more than UNC ran for. That's pathetic on Carolina's part. I mean, it's OK to run for almost nothing if you're throwing the ball well, but Carolina didn't pass well either. In short, the Sticky Feet got fairly well smacked around by the same bugs that got squashed last week.

Indiana-33, #23 Michigan-36

Dear Michigan,

Hi, it's me again, I wrote you last week. You're still playing mediocre foes and barely beating them. Your current signature win is against perpetually overrated Notre Dame, you have not left home yet, and your team is still climbing in the rankings. I am not sure how you pulled this off, but I applaud this uncanny ability to pull wool over voters' eyes. I look forward to seeing you in a BCS or semi-major bowl while teams with actual tough schedules get shafted and sent to the Big Al's House of Staplers' Wagon Bowl in Paducah, Kentucky.

Sincerely,
Bones

#24 Washington-14, Stanford-34

So...Washington...your ranking was based on wins against Idaho and Southern Cal. You play Stanford the next week and what happens? You lose. To Stanford. Take note, the Cardinal aren't an awful team by any stretch of anyone's imagination. But the Huskies aren't the 24th best team in the country, they just beat a good school and got rewarded for it with 1 week back in the Top 25. Back to mediocrity!

UL Lafayette-0, #25 Nebraska-35

I guess Nebraska felt like they had to crush the Ragin Cajuns. I'm not sure why, but they ripped up the smaller school on offense and defense, leading to a rather uninteresting conclusion to the Top 25. And now...

Tales from the Bottom 95:

Pity about Wake Forest dropping a late one to BC, though Riley Skinner went from hero to zero in a very short amount of time...Rutgers beat mediocre Maryland...Auburn's offense which was so bad that it got last year's coordinator AND coach fired has scored at least 37 points in every game thus far. They haven't played anyone who's really GOOD yet, but it's a start. This week at Tennessee should actually tell us more...Notre Dame went from being "back" to barely edging out Purdue this weekend. Sure it was a good comeback, but against a team that lost to Northern Illinois, it's not that major of an accomplishment...Tennessee beat Ohio. That would have been impressive if it was a different school with Ohio in the name. As is, it's just a win over a lesser school as UT begins their run of 4 straight games against SEC foes this week against Auburn...

That's all for now, see you Thursday/Friday!

Thursday in Review?

Wow, I'm actually doing my job. Heck, let's take a look at the game. Singular...

#4 Ole Miss-10, South Carolina-16

Well, here we have another case AGAINST pre-season rankings. Sure, Ole Miss had the nations second-longest winning streak during their meteoric rise to #4, but they didn't beat anyone who was overwhelmingly good during that time period.

Please don't get me wrong, the victory over Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl showed just how overrated the Big 12 was last year, but other than that Ole Miss didn't do that much. (Yes, I know they beat Florida in the Swamp last year. That was not, however, part of the 8 game win streak, so it doesn't count as part of the argument)

Mississippi is not a bad football team, they just weren't the 4th best football team in the country. Frankly, I would take most of the top 15 over them in a neutral sight game.

South Carolina, meanwhile looked good on defense and mediocre on offense. They kept Jevan Snead off his game for the entire game. Wow, that was a redundant sentence.

Oh, and Steve Spurrier is still a total jerk.

Saturday in Review 9/19/09

Wow. What a day to make the first full Saturday in Review of the year. May as well get crackin'. We'll do the usual (Top 25 rundown with news on the Bottom 95 underneath) Let's start at the top:

Tennessee-13, #1 Florida-23

Well, I'll admit that this one surprised me more than a little. I figured we'd be talking about who would replace Lane Kiffin since he got eviscerated in Gainesville. Instead we saw a Florida team that looked a bit vulnerable, a decent Tennessee defense, and a surprisingly close game. Most disturbing for the Gators was how Tim Tebow was contained by a team that no one really considers a threat in the SEC. Sure, he ran for 76 yards and threw for 115, but it was Tennessee. I'm intrigued to see the Gators in Death Valley against LSU when October arrives.

As for the Vols, they ran a hyperconservative offense and kept it close. I'm not sure if they can win with "exciting" (read: spread offense) football this year. I'm also not sure they have to. I'll be the first to admit that Virginia Tech has built their reputation on conservative football. (NOTE: This week proved that Tech can be exciting, see below) I wish Tennessee luck, and I think we might see their hideous, Construction Zone Orange colored font on our countdown this year.

Final note from this game: Tennessee's QB Jonathan Crompton is the most hated man in Knoxville. Tim Tebow is Superman in Gainesville. Tebow had 115 yards, 1 INT, and 1 lost fumble. Crompton had 93 yards and 2 INTs. Seriously, kids. The only difference (at least in this game) was marketing. Just a thought...

Texas Tech-24, #2 Texas-34

This one wasn't surprising. A good team beat a not-as-good team by a reasonable margin. Heck, you don't even need me to review it. I will now use this space for personal expostulation...

If I saw that ad with the GameDay Crew and Mack Brown singing again...I would put an axe through my TV. It was funny at first. One time. After that, it got irritating, and now it's outright infuriating. I get it. You don't freestyle. Please cut it out. Aaaand let's move on to the upset of the day...

#3 USC-13, Washington-16

This game isn't too surprising, even though it's an unranked team beating a highly ranked one. Sure, Washington was winless last year, but having your opponent's former offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator on the sideline has to help...

As for Southern Cal, this sort of defeat happens on a regular basis. It's almost expected of them. The one (read that one, not 2) year they won the national title this millennium was the one year they went undefeated in conference. I really can't wait for the articles claiming that they would have won with Matt Barkley and how this game means nothing and how they should be national champs. Can't wait.

North Texas-7, #4 Alabama-53

I refuse to review this. It's a cupcake game that a team of Bama's caliber has no business playing.

Temple-6, #5 Penn State

I wonder, do teams feel obligated to play one another because they're in the same state? Because this is another one of those matchups that shouldn't happen. After all the crap the Big 10 + 1 have taken for their ability (or lack thereof) to win nonconference games, one of the 3 best teams in conference chooses to face the powerhouse that is Temple?!

Also, the night this game happened, a friend of mine and I text messaged one another regarding the possibility of a Penn State National Title. Here's what we got (all errors are [sic] in advance):

Wes: i'm hoping penn state runs the tables lol
Me: Haha. JoePa!
Wes: where am i?? wheres my pizza
Me: Sir, we just won the national title.
Wes: i need my ensure! get outa my way.....stupid confetti
Me: Sir, we need a shot of you and the trophy.
Wes: my hip!
Me: Sigh... I'll get the stretcher...
Wes: hahahahah we just role played them winning the natl championship....if it happens itll happen just as we said

I agree completely. Also, for continuity purposes: Utah is a boring state.

SE Louisiana-6, #5 Ole Miss-52

(See Bama review, replace "Bama" with "Ole Miss." Move on.)

Florida State-54, #7 BYU-28

Seriously, BYU. You get a shot at running the table and getting into the BCS, and instead you decide not to play defense at home against a team that nearly lost to Jacksonville State last week at home! This really hurts those of us who were hoping for a BYU-Boise State-TCU-Utah-Houston showdown in the BCS this year. It also hurts the argument for a playoff.

However, it DOES help that this makes the ACC look good. No articles about how awful the conference is this week. Just articles on how much better BC would be with Matt Ryan. I'll accept that.

#8 Cal-35, Minnesota-21

Hmmm. This one's problematic. Cal won, and went on the road to do so. Still, I think it's fair to say that the Golden Bears aren't a dominant team. From what I saw, USC will give them trouble, but the good news is that the Bears play them at home. The bad news is, aside from Jahvid Best, Cal looked quite underwhelming against a Minnesota team that stuck with them up until the final moments of the 4th quarter

UL Lafayette-3, #9 LSU-31

This in-state "rivalry" is another excuse for an easy win without being an official "cupcake" game. LSU is a National Championship contender just about every year, while UL Lafayette is normally at the bottom of the worst conference in Division 1-A football. LSU shouldn't play them, and they shouldn't annually get to smack Tulane around in the ultra-one-sided Battle for the Tiger Rag. Try scheduling some real teams for a change. If you lose the games, but are still a good team, then you can make the case for a playoff.

#10 Boise State-51, Fresno State-34

Wow...defense optional football. 987 total yards of offense. (Comparison Stat: Tennessee and Florida combined for 533 yards.) Boise looks like the last, best hope for an undefeated team to crash the BCS this year. Boise's schedule is pretty easy (only real threats: at Tulsa and at Hawaii in consecutive weeks during October) and almost all of the other BCS busters were cut out of the picture during this early upside down week of football.

Fresno, meanwhile, has one of the toughest schedules in football, and they should be applauded for it. Even if they lose every single one of their 7 road games, they at least have the backbone to play these foes, many of whom are outside of their own conference. By comparison other teams' crappy schedules (click those words for some truly amusing scheduling) should be torn up and redrawn, not rewarded with bowl games.

#11 (Really?) Ohio State-38, Toledo-0

Look, I know I pick on the Buckeyes. Some might say too much. These people are from Ohio, though, and they don't count.

Seriously, though, Ohio State is a great example of what's wrong with the BCS: It rewards teams that are the top dog in a seriously weak conference. Ohio State is sitting pretty at #11 (and moving up!) because they play no one! They played USC close, which is admirable, but a loss is a loss. Ohio State's other nonconference games: Navy (barely won), this thrashing of Toledo, and New Mexico State. If they win their conference, they go to the Rose Bowl. Heck, if the chips fall right, they can still easily go to the national title game! So...yeah, you might say this bothers me.

Tulsa-0, #12 Oklahoma-35

While I pity the loss of Sam Bradford, it really happened at the best possible time for Oklahoma. Their games after the QB went down were against Idaho State and Tulsa. The big question is: Who will start for OU when they roll into Miami on October 3? Really, it doesn't matter: Big 12 teams don't respond well to teams with actual defenses, which is why Nebraska will soon be back atop that conference. As you can tell, this game interested me about as much as last year's Oklahoma v. Tulsa grain growing competition. Riveting TV...

#19 Nebraska-15, #13 Virginia Tech-16

A great finish in a game that, frankly, should not have been that close. Tyrod Taylor made an amazing final throw, but he was allowed to do so because the Nebraska D-line committed the unforgivable sin of standing there while he scrambled. Had the lineman taking Taylor down as he threw the ball simply run forward when he was clear (about 2 seconds before he actually did run at the QB), then Tech's got 4th and goal instead of a relatively easy touchdown.

Nebraska's offense was killed by some decent defense and some bad officiating. Before the real Midwestern griping begins, allow me to state that the officials were from the Big 12, not the ACC or another conference. So Nebraska has no one to blame but themselves. Shoulda paid higher.

#14 Georgia Tech-17, #20 Miami-33

Miami's defense looked nothing short of amazing in quashing the option attack of Georgia Tech. While far too much attention is lavished on Miami's (good, but not great) quarterback, their defense forced Georgia Tech into doing the only thing that they are incapable of doing: Throwing the football.

When a specialist team like the Yellow Jackets is forced to become "normal" the results are usually not pretty. It would be like forcing Texas Tech to run the football: Unpleasant for the offense, and easy for the defense.

As for Miami, they scored easily on a team that's middle-of-the-road on defense, which does bode well. Still, I won't buy into the hype that "The U" is back until they win a tough road game at Virginia Tech this coming week. If that happens, however, then I'll be aboard the Miami train right until it inexplicably crashes against Central Florida or Duke. Remember, kids, they are an ACC team...

Texas State-21 (I don't even know their colors...), #15 TCU-56

TCU, in trying to prove they can hang with the big boys, has decided to schedule like the big boys. That is to say, they schedule an opponent they can crush early in the season so that they only have to win 5 real games to make a bowl. Know what? So long as the system that rewards such scheduling is in place, you'll see this repeated every year. I have a suggestion to fix it: It starts with "p" and ends in "layoff."

Rice-24, #16 Oklahoma State-41

Oklahoma State bounced back nicely from their practically inexplicable loss to Houston last week. In fairness, when your whole nonconference schedule is played at home and 3 of the 4 opposing teams aren't in BCS conferences, it would be nice not to have to look at this as a bounce-back game. Still, good to see that 50% of the time a Big 12 team can beat a Conference USA foe. Let's see how they do against 1-AA Grambling State in this coming week's cupcake bakeoff in Stillwater.

#17 Cincinnati-28, Oregon State-18

Now, I didn't watch this one, but judging from the score, I do have an observation:

Cincinnati should be ranked higher than Southern Cal. Why? Because they can win at Oregon State, something the Trojans seem to be incapable of doing...

#18 Utah-24, Oregon-31

It was a bad day for the BCS-buster demographic. Scratch that, it was a horrible day for the BCS-buster demographic, a fact that makes me a bit sad, if unsurprised.

The Utes needed to win this game to: A) Make the case they were as good as Boise and thus deserving of a BCS bid and B) prove they can beat BCS teams in their own home stadiums, something that teams from automatic qualifying conferences are expected to do week in and week out. It's an unpleasant fact, but many times these giant killer teams only play the big boys once a year (admittedly the big schools' cowardly fault) at a major stadium, and then again at a neutral site. Having been to a bowl game I will say this with 100% confidence: it is much easier to beat a big school in a bowl than it is to beat them at their place.

Let's use a big school on the mend as an example: Tennessee. The Vols have not been a real threat in college football for a few years, yet I still venture that many teams pause before thinking they can face 102,000 fans in Neyland Stadium with ease. UCLA came in last week and won at Neyland because they face teams with large fan bases and are used to the environment. If Boise, TCU, Utah, Houston, and BYU rolled into Neyland to play Tennessee, I think maybe 1 of them comes away with a win (Boise). Move the game to a neutral site, and I think the number jumps to 3 of the smaller schools getting the win. Move the games to the smaller schools and force UT to play there, and I think 4 of the smaller schools win (Houston, I'm pretty sure is a fluke) (NOTE: I've been wrong before...) And the sad fact is, that's using a crummy school as an example. Go into a decent school and you might be seeing a buster beat-down

In conclusion, if you want to make the BCS, you have to prove you'd make it in a BCS conference. It's that simple, and Utah failed the test. Alabama lost 1 conference game last year and got shut out of the championship, as did Southern Cal. If you want to hang out with them, you must be willing to suffer the same fate for losing.

Oh, and Utah is a boring state.

Duke-16, #22 Kansas-44

Kansas fans, don't get too excited. Congrats on your 4th victory all-time against the ACC (<-Not sarcasm, as the last ACC win came against Virginia Tech), but to be fair you beat friggin' Duke. Not that major of an accomplishment. #23 Georgia-52, Arkansas-41

Just one question: When did the "defense first" SEC turn into the Big 12? I'm just kidding.

This is one game between 2 teams square in the middle of the conference: Neither as bad as Vandy or Mississippi State, neither anywhere near as good as Florida or Alabama. This score is what statisticians call an outlier: it's an exception rather than a rule.

East Carolina-17, #24 North Carolina-31

I saw a stat on how few points Carolina had allowed early on during this game. It said they had allowed 9 points per game thus far in the season, as well as having one of the top ranked defenses in the nation.

My problems with this statement:
They have played 2 teams.
These 2 teams are the Citadel (1-AA Southern Conference) and UConn (Big (L)East)
They barely (as in, shouldn't have) won one of these 2 games
Using 2 games as an "assessment tool" for how well your season will go is totally idiotic. By this logic, the NFL's Drew Brees will throw, like, 700 TD passes this year and half the NFL and college football teams will not win a game.

As a totally unrelated note: I'm sure ECU's quarterback Pinkney has been playing college football for, like, 9 years. Just an observation.

East Michigan-17, #25 Michigan-45

Dear Michigan,

I appreciate that you're a storied program with loads of talent, pro alumni, and recruiting violations, but until you beat someone other than overrated Notre Dame I refuse to believe that you are "back" on the football landscape. Also, please quit insulting my intelligence by playing 8 home games. That's just ridiculous. Heck, even Ohio State had enough backbone to schedule USC.

Sincerely,
Bones

Tales from the Bottom 95 (or, random thoughts and opinions about everyone else.)

First off, UVa finally has a chance to win a game, and they successfully blew a 4th quarter lead. I look forward to seeing Al Groh get out of this one...Boston College's decision to get rid of Jeff Jagodzinski has worked out really well. The team looks flaccid, got killed in its first real game, and Jags doesn't have a job anymore. The rest of the ACC, I'm sure, appreciates it...Speaking of ACC, Maryland has really looked awful this year. Barely beating a 1-AA school last week, then losing to Middle Tennessee State this week...Note that I didn't drink the "Notre Dame is back" Kool-Aid, and they're proving why again. Barely beating MSU at home, not a good sign...Everyone paid attention to Cal sort of nudging itself past Minnesota, but the other Pac-10/Big 10 + 1 matchup actually went the way of the Midwestern team. Good job and a good win for the Iowa Hawkeyes...Syracuse beat Northwestern in the "Who cares?" Bowl this week...Vandy lost to Mississippi State in the battle for the SEC cellar...Vandy's lone win? My alma mater: Western Carolina (0-3)...Auburn seems to have found something they lost last year: an offense...West Virginia, meanwhile, is reeling without Rich Rodriguez and Pat White. They're probably the second or third best team in their conference, which would be good news if they were in any BCS conference but the Big East...

That's all for this week! See you soon with a Rankings Rant!

Unfortunate timing...

As you well know, posts on this blog are generally glacially paced to begin with. Unfortunately, yours truly had to have hernia surgery last week, so I missed the first 2 weeks of the blog season, though I did watch the game. Here's a recap of some reactions I had (many while on painkillers):

First off, good job by BYU and Houston. I don't think (see previous post) that there were BCS-employed snipers in the stands, trying to off the players. Seriously, an excellent job by the little schools that could, and a rather pathetic showing by the Big 12 during this first 2 week period (this includes the first half of that Texas-Wyoming game).

Secondly, Ohio State did pretty well in the "Collision in Columbus" game vs. USC. Problem was...USC had a running game. Not a quarterback who proved to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. If I were USC's running back, I would be seriously ticked off at the media and my own coach. "Great job by Matt Barkley," say the sports pundits. Yeah, great job of handing the football to his teammate. Woo.

The Virginia Tech-Alabama game didn't go so hot for the Hokies. Sure, the score was close, but the yardage sure wasn't. Tech bounced back and thrashed Marshall, so this week's game against Nebraska should be informative of Tech as a football team.

Speaking of the ACC...the conference looked dang bad on opening week. 2 losses to 1-AA teams, a loss for the best team in the conference, and a thrashing of Maryland at the hands of California. UVa has looked nothing short of horrific during it's first 2 games. As a Hokie fan, I'm not too bothered by it...

Aaaand that's it. Might try a review of the Thursday night Miami-GT

Back to having a purpose!

Well, it's finally here! September 3 is the start of the college football season, and I'm pleased to note that, even though it's the first week of the season, there are some actual games!

Oregon and Boise State match up tonight in a battle on that hideous blue turf. Plus, South Carolina is about to go against NC State in a matchup of....uh....football teams!

Either way, football of the college variety has returned, and with it profoundly stupid sportswriting! Mr. Wilbon, take it away! Wilbon, who's awesome on PTI (<-Honestly not sarcasm), opens up this article with some stuff about why he's cheering for Boise State. I have no problem with this. Heck, Boise holds a soft spot in everyone outside of Oklahoma's heart. They're the team that's helped hurt the BCS. It's great. I agree with Wilbon for 3 whole sentences. Then, the idiocy begins in earnest:

College football hates party crashers

No, the BCS hates party crashers. College football loves them. For crying out loud, upsets and trick plays are some of the best viewing there is. Yeah, ratings are lower. The school's in Idaho, what do you expect? This article could get ugly...

The powers that be — that would be the people who run the BCS — want you to focus on the ACC, Big East, Southeastern Conference, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pacific-10 and divert your eyes from those little giant killers, notably Boise State, Texas Christian, Utah and Brigham Young.

Number of wins for these "Giant Killers" against BCS conference foes during the 06-08 seasons:
TCU: 5 (2 wins against Stanford and Baylor each, and 1 against Texas Tech.)
Utah: 5 (Michigan, UCLA, Louisville, Oregon State, Alabama)
BYU: 5 (Oregon, Arizona, UCLA (twice), and Washington)
Boise State: 3 (Oregon State, Oklahoma, Oregon)

Look, I appreciate good, upstart football, but this isn't giant killing. It's like beating up on Goliath's little brother. It's just not that impressive to beat Oregon State, a now-mediocre Michigan, and other teams scribbling at the bottom of their BCS-bound conferences. (Hawaii sucked, remember?)

They certainly don't want you to remember that the Mountain West was 6-1 against the Pac-10 last season and that three teams from the Mountain West (Utah, TCU and BYU) were all ranked above the ACC champion (always overrated Virginia Tech) going into the 2008 bowl season.

OK, first off, you're an idiot. "Always overrated" I guess is slang for "willing to play nonconference foes that don't suck." Seriously, if legitimate BCS schools scheduled Stanford, Baylor, and UCLA over and over again, they'd be accused of padding the schedule (*cough* Tennessee *cough*). And, as App State and Michigan proved, rankings (other than that #1 and #2 in the computer) are near meaningless. It doesn't matter if you're #3 or #30, you're going to a bowl, but it's not the national championship. Therefore, most of America won't care.

Teams from the Mountain West aren't going to a National Championship game. Not under the current system. Lobby for a playoff, don't grasp at straws!

The Broncos, voted 16th in the coaches' poll but a top-10 team in some preseason forecasts, are ranked high enough to have a chance to be No. 2 in the BCS ratings at the end of the regular season, but only if they beat Oregon impressively to start the season.

Or do. Either way.... Moving on, here in a country with a growing deficit, a terrorist threat, and a raging healthcare debate, Wilbon then stumps for some good ol' fashioned Congressional hearings. Let's see the argument:

[Inquiries] might not be out of the question given the increasing annoyance in legislative circles with some of the systematic inequities — like the ACC getting $18.6 million last year from BCS games while the Mountain West got $9.8 million, even though Mountain West teams were so much better than the ACC teams.

OK, couple of things here. 1) Where's your evidence that the MWC schools were better than the ACC. When did the conferences play one another?! The good MWC schools did well. The crappy ones did crappy. Same in the ACC, but I'll take Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech over Boise State and BYU any day.

As for the money thing...yeah, I'm in favor of a playoff. Don't drag Congress into it. This system is already unfair: Big schools take in more money than little ones by virtue of size alone. Once again: Idaho...not the center of the universe.

There's then some spotlighting of talented players from the little schools and some whining about the National Championships won by BYU and others, but it's time for this post to end.

In conclusion, college football's back, and I can't wait for the first Saturday in Review!

When Sports Journalists Try to Rhyme, No one wins...

Take for example this post at the Sporting News titled "College football teams in line for a decline in '09." (lack of capitalization earns a [sic].)

Now, this article is almost 2 weeks old. So I'm sure on other college football blogs it's already been ripped to shreds. Especially by foaming BC and Arizona fans. But fear not, my peers, I shall take a looksie at it and see what I can see:

First off, Dave Curtis has Rice as his top team to decline this season. Look, while I appreciate the dark horse pick as the "biggest decline" Rice wasn't exactly a headline grabber last season. Heck, they never even got into the inevitable "BCS Buster" conversation. We might look back on this article and go "Wow, Dave Curtis was so right about Rice!" More likely, however, we'll forget this article and Rice and Dave Curtis unless he writes something totally egregious.

Curtis' next pick is Boston College. His logic is pretty good on this one, and I can't really rip him too badly except for one detail: "A first-to-worst fall is in play for BC." So you're telling me BC's going to finish last in a conference that includes Duke, UVa, and NC State? I doubt this very, very highly.

He's picked Texas Tech to plunge, but come on man! With that offense in a league that literally stopped playing defense sometime around 2002...The Red Raiders probably won't be in contention for the Big 12 South thanks to Oklahoma and Texas. But are they going to lose to Houston? Or Baylor? I have a hard time buying into either of those theories.

Arizona...I'll give them this one. Though the PAC-10 still looks mediocre. Yeah, they were undefeated in bowls. I still hate them. What's this post about again? Oh yeah. Some old article. Let's continue...

Utah's been picked to "plunge" which really isn't fair. I mean, yeah, if they lose one game then this season is worse than the last. I'm not sure that warrants a spot on the "decline" list. Maybe it's just me, but I can totally see the Utes dropping 1 game and still making it to a semi-major bowl. They only really have to worry about Oregon, TCU, and BYU.

Matt Hayes's picks look remarkably similar. BC's at the top of his list, probably due to a lack of Matt Ryan.

Tulsa: (See argument on Rice. Replace "Rice" references with "Tulsa" and "Dave Curtis" with "Matt Hayes" and you basically have what I was gonna type here. Yeah, I'm lazy, get over it)

Missouri is poised for a fall thanks to the loss of Chase Daniel (Yeah, I liked him to win the Heisman last year. I was wrong. My apologies. I will not make this mistake again. My 2010 Heisman winner: Matt Ryan). They also lost a whopping 22 seniors. Good luck, Tigers. I think Mr. Hayes might be right on this one.

Guess what? Arizona appears again. Blah de blah de blah. There. It's the same thing as what Dave Curtis typed, only longer and dealing more with the concept that "momentum" somehow carries from December to the next September.

And then comes Minnesota. Now, while I am totally opposed to ever agreeing with a sportswriter about anything...he's right. Minnesota stank last year, but playing teams like Montana State, Florida Atlantic, and Purdue (rim shot) got them into a bowl. Which they lost by 21. Sooooo, let's just say that I'm not going to disagree with Mr. Hayes on this one.

Well that's all for now. Time to get some coffee

Brief, halfhearted post follows...

The preview magazines are out. I fail to see any relevance these things have to reality. Last year Clemson was, and I quote (I can't remember the magazine that said this...I'm a bad semi-journalist), "the top team in a mediocre ACC."

My point in this little mini-post is simple: These magazines tell us practically nothing. Preseason rankings only serve to get people prepared for what should happen, not what does. Another example was #5 Michigan being upset by Appalachian State. Now, that was an upset. Still. I do not deny that. However, 2 years later, with Michigan 12-13 in the two seasons since that loss, it's fair to say that Michigan was not the 5th best team in the nation in 2007. So...let's not hail these preseason magazines as shining examples of utter brilliance. Not yet, at least...

I can't believe I'm typing this one...

Rick Reilly is right. It hurt to type that, but if you read the column, then this moron is far worse than Reilly's drivel ever will be.

The Doldrums and the Schedules

A while back (meaning "February") I posted on how the 2 weeks leading up to the Super Bowl are the most boring in all of football. I stand corrected.

Look, I love college football. Love it. But, seriously, why do we care about any of this? I'm glad to see Tony Franklin got a job, but do we really need to know where he stands on religion? I care on a personal level, but not on an entertainment level. And entertainment is why I would read a college football blog in the first place...

Meanwhile, schedules have been out for a bit. Nothing's terribly different from the last few years: A few good nonconference games coupled with atrocious 1-AA cupcakes. Let's take a look at some of the intriguing matchups while we're here, shall we?

Ohio State, perpetually overrated as they are, looks to open with a win against Navy. They'd best pray for bad weather when USC shows up in Columbus, or we'll see a repeat of last year's demolition in LA.

Since we're on the subject of a team I hate with a passion, it was pretty refreshing to see the USC Trojans not being hailed as an invincible juggernaut in this article from Yahoo/Rivals news. Still, I have a problem with their schedule being treated as though it's a challenge. The teams USC is playing that might be "threats" aren't exactly high-class football squads: Notre Dame beat Hawaii and people treat them as though they're back to being a perrenial power in college football. Trust me, they're not. Ohio State is in a conference that's not that good, and they probably don't stand a chance against the Trojans. Oregon might be a tough road game, but I'm not gonna say they can beat the Trojans. In fact, I would be totally unsurprised to see the USC Trojans go undefeated and play in the title game. Their biggest pitfall? Honestly, probably the road game at California.

NC State (a bowl team last year only because there are 753 bowls) has 8, count 'em, 8 home games on its 12 game schedule. All 4 of the road games are going to be tough, so I guess the 'Pack feels the need to pad its schedule with the home crowd at their back. Since 3 of their home games are pretty much guaranteed wins (Murray State, Gardner-Webb, and Duke) the 3rd most popular school in North Carolina only has to beat 3 other teams to be bowl eligible. Sad, isn't it?

Speaking of 8 home games, anyone else notice that two of last years awesomely underachieving teams (Auburn and Michigan) are on the cowards list of travel-wary teams? Now I know that schedules are made years in advance, but it's nice and convenient that these two schools on the rebound are going to have friendlier schedules than most other teams.

Hats off to Georgia, who has to play a tough non-conference schedule in addition to their murderous conference. (Yes, they have Tennessee Tech one week. They also have the defending national champs the week before.)

Negative points to Nebraska (who starts off a season in which they could grab headlines playing tough teams and proving that they're back) by playing one non-Sun Belt conference member in their first 4 games. Yes the non-member is a tough game at Virginia Tech, but it's a little sad to see a team with a shot at a powerful opening statement opt instead to play 3 mediocre schools and one good one.

Crazy schedule of the year award goes to Georgia Tech who plays 3 games in 12 days. Admittedly, 1 is against Jacksonville State (no colored letters for 1-AA teams yet), but the other 2 are against conference foes who are definitely worthy of attention. If the Jackets win all 3 games, you can bet that'll be a confidence boost that will help their season. I wouldn't be surprised to see Georgia Tech win the ACC this season

Aaaaand that's all for this (the first post with content in quite some time). We'll see you later, hopefully someone will write something stupid soon!

Rick Reilly Redux

Sorry for not posting, but if you look at the title of the blog, technically I'm off the hook until September-ish (Florida DB arrests notwithstanding)

Now...on to an article review from our friends at ESPN...Yes, I (as a baseball fan) am being baited

Still, let's go through this for some nuggets of stupidity:

We'll put in a pitch clock.

Yes. This is a great way to shorten games. Except the rapid-fire pitches will be less well-placed, leading to more hits, and thus EXTENDING the game. Or we'll end up with pitchers forcing pitches, and getting hurt. Either way, this measure is nothing short of utterly stupid.

Oh, and this brilliant idea isn't given a corresponding penalty. What do you do when your pitch clock is violated? My suggestion is simple: kill the pitcher. Murder that slow-pitching sonofagun. He deserves it.

Reilly's second point ("Players must sign autographs") I'm totally fine with. It hurt me to write that. Let's keep going.

3) We'll bring in Olympic testing. Saying "baseball players cheat" is like saying "wolves like hamburger." In the Small-Balls (Blogger's note: This is not funny) era, nobody -- not the players, not the owners, not the writers -- tried to stop it.

I think I've said this before. If I haven't, lemme say it now: Steroids are NOT a baseball-only problem. The NFL had this problem. Freakin' cycling has almost been ruined by it. There are GOLFERS who were juicing! Why on Earth are we still harping on this like baseball is the only sport where players tried to give themselves an unfair advantage?! Jeez. Let's keep moving on...

4) If you're 0-for-4, the crowd picks your at-bat music. Is it my fault if they choose "Nothing From Nothing" by Billy Preston?

Oooo. An obscure reference to a song from 1974. Clever?

5) The National League will get the DH. No more pitchers swinging a bat at a ball the way Paris Hilton swings a shovel at a moth.

No. No no no. You, Mr. Reilly, are one of those idiots who is RESPONSIBLE for the "Small-Balls" (your words, not mine) era. Because you mistake high scores for excitement. While it's a sabermatrician's nightmare, the sac bunt is still exciting. There's strategy in 1-1 games where you have to decide to pull or leave in a pitcher when he comes up to bat in the 7th. But no, let's get rid of that and replace it with one more homer every 3 games. Great idea...

6) We'll fine more players. The NFL fines guys $5,000 for not having their socks right. Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin got a $25,000 fine for shoving a guy. But often, Selig yawns when pitchers throw 95 mph retaliation beanballs. You want to brain a guy just because he stood in the box after his moon shot? Okay. We'll fine you until your kids end up in public school.

OK, yeah, you shouldn't throw at peoples' heads. Given. And the No-Fun-League fines people for uni violations. Also true. So are you going to fine baseball players for straight billed caps? Different sock types? Sure, my argument against this is flimsy, but so is his. Let's move on. My bad.

Point 7 is valid (and actually should be in place, since rainouts need to be the umpires domain)

8) Balls that hit the foul pole are foul. Duh.

Stop. The pole's an indicator of where "foul" is. So cut out your ignorance please.

9) A prospect won't be allowed to enter an MLB farm system until he's the age of a college sophomore, just like in the NBA.

*sigh* Look. The NBA is not the end-all be-all model of a sports agency. Many good baseball players don't speak the English language, but you expect them to go to a 4 year university and FURTHER cheapen the college experience. Colleges don't have unlimited scholarships, and the scholarships given to people like Derrick Rose take away from students who'll legitimately add to a university.

Schools shouldn't let people who don't meet academic standards into school. Frankly, that system needs an overhaul anyway, without adding a host of new illigetimate "students" to the mixer.

As for the "age" bit, that's a travesty too. If you're 16, don't speak English, but wind up in the US because you have 98 mph heat, then you should be able to play. What good will 3 years here do you if you can't play college or minor league baseball? It's just a thought.

Point 10 is typical Reilly sarcastic nonsense. Every sporting event features "that *%$& idiot on his phone during the game." Get over it. And fire yourself, Rick.

I hear the FJM guys screaming in the distance

While watching the Braves/Astros Spring Training game today, John Kruk went on a good ol' fashioned anti-sabermetrics rant. He kept repeating, "Baseball players" as though it was a mantra of some sort.

Because numbers tell you NOTHING about how a baseball player plays baseball. Derek Jeter is apparently a baseball player. Never mind that he has been called the worst fielding shortstop in baseball (Link!). He's got grit and heart and stuff.

Guys like Jimmy Rollins. They're baseball players. I mean, statistics say he's good, but it's the heart and guts and stuff that REALLY make him good.

A-Rod...he's not clutch. Statistics say that he's the best player in baseball. But he doesn't have heart and guts. He's crap. Shouldn't even be in the league.

Look, to deny that there's a psychological aspect of the game is stupid. Plain, outright, stupid. But it's just as stupid to think that there's some sort of quotient for heart. If a guy's good at baseball, why complain that numbers indicate it? Who cares what he looks like? *sigh* I miss the Fire Joe Morgan guys. They could have done this much better than me.

Please Fire Rick Reilly

Mr. Reilly's new column on ESPN.com (remember, highest paid sportswriter ever) features a sarcastic "giving back" of MVP awards to the players who finished second to 'roiders during the infamous "Steroid Era" of baseball.

This, I have no problem with. I mean, it's a decent concept. The problem is, Reilly's assuming that all these other players weren't on steroids. This is not a good thing to do, as we've learned that NO ONE should be trusted during this era in baseball.

Also, in defense of the game of baseball (and totally off the subject of Reilly): It is absolutely ludicrous that baseball is the game being picked on by the sportswriters and the public. To say that baseball is tainted is ridiculous. The game is being treated differently on the basis that steroids help people more in baseball than in other sports.

Really? Because, and I'm young so I might be way off, I thought that being stronger than your opponent conferred a slight advantage to a football player. I was way off.

The MLB's steroid rules dictate suspensions and fines. The NFL says, if you're caught (which basically requires you to go into a crowded room and shout: "SOMEONE SHOULD STICK A NEEDLE IN MY BUTT!!!! I LOVE DA 'ROIDS!!!!") you don't get to go to the Pro Bowl. Wooo. Wow, what a punishment! I'd hate to make, say, 1 million dollars a year (Shawne Merriman, anyone?) and miss out on $45,000 for the Pro Bowl.

So please, someone stop the madness. Baseball players aren't clean. They weren't clean. Neither were football players. Cyclists weren't clean for crying out loud. Make it stop!

Further Super Bowling

If you're reading this, then I've been captured and eaten by cannibals, please send my belongings to President Obama, who, apparently is supposed to be thanked for everything that happens, including Super Bowl victories. Also, if you are reading this, then you know I'm a sarcastic jerk, and we should all just go down a line and try restarting this paragraph.


Ahem...

If you're reading this, then you watched the Super Bowl. You know all about the Steelers, the Cardinals, the commercials that were good, the commercials that were bad, the 3D commercials, and Springsteen's crotch. Given that, would there be a point to reviewing this game?

No, since it's the most watched sporting event there is every single freakin' year.

In fact, the only really egregious thing to me is James Harrison not being tossed from the game for assaulting a Cardinals player. (Well, that and Harrison's 100 yard touchdown run which was impressive. Less so because it featured some holding and a pretty flagrant clip that would have been called on a kickoff or punt return. But, hey, I'm not a Cardinals fan, so whatever.) The NFL needs to crack down on this sort of thing. Fining Harrison will be completely ineffectual. I mean, the man makes how much a year? It's absurd to think that fining him for about a quarter's worth of "work" will do anything to him.

PS to the NFL rules change committee: Change the "roughing" rule. Please. There is no reason Pittsburgh should have gotten 8 tries inside the 10 to score during the 3rd quarter of the SUPER BOWL!

PPS to ESPN: Please fire Rick Reilly, as reading his articles causes me to question if there is justice in the world. If you do not believe me, please watch this video which you have put on your website's own front page.

It is not about the "right team" winning, sir. It's about who scores more points during the game. The only time the "right team" doesn't win is if, somehow, they score more points and don't win the game. I do not care which fan base cares more. If UVa scores more points than Virginia Tech, then the right team wins the game. If Arizona had scored more points than Pittsburgh, then the right team would have won the game! This inane crap about having a good fan base/"family" is utterly bizarre. The Cubs have a great fan base. Does this mean that the "wrong" team has won the World Series every year since 1908?! In conclusion, please, please quit ruining sports journalism. Thank you.

Super Bore!

While I understand that Americans' addiction to football is something that is not new, I really wonder where our priorities as a nation lie when it comes to Super Bowl week. I mean, we are given a feast of college and professional football stories from roughly mid-August to late January. And then...for 2 weeks we're given crumbs.

Why do we have this avalanche of information on the Cardinals and Steelers? There is more unimportant writing out there about these two football programs than a normal human can fathom. Heck, ESPN even spoofs itself on this topic. Mind you, they do that and still shovel this crap down our throats until everyone wants to watch the game for the ads, rather than to see if Kurt Warner can recover from being old, or if Larry Fitzgerald's hair is actually a living organism, or some stupid jargon about the Steelers.

And after that we'll have to wait for several months (and doubtless 7 trillion stories about Michael Vick, Pacman Jones, TO's ego and everything else that's wrong about the NFL) to get more crack, I mean, football into our systems.

On a totally unrelated note, tune in on Sunday for the CFR 24 hour Super Blog! I'm gonna write for 24 hours about the Super Bowl experience in Cullowhee, NC! Isn't that amazingly awesomely great?*






*Answer to this question: No.

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.

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!

News: BC Defensive Coordinator fired for saying "hi" to man in Detroit Lions Shirt

Not really. Just pointing out, however, that the firing of Jeff Jagodzinski is a simply idiotic maneuver by the Boston College Eagles. Had he gotten the Jets job, yes, he would be axed. Duh. But to throw him out for interviewing?! That's insane!

Look, the ultimate goal of any good football coach should be to succeed at the highest level. There's probably thousands of high school coaches out there right now who would LOVE to win a Super Bowl. If Jagodzinski winds up in New York, he'll have that chance! Of course he's going to interview! If you're a fry cook at McDonald's, and the local Burger King has an interview for a manager position, you'll interview! It's a better job!

He had time left on his contract and is, I quote ESPN here, "a long shot" for the Jets job. He took the team to 2 ACC Championship Games (albeit with players he didn't recruit...) and had a pair of good seasons. With all that knowledge, how are you going to fire the guy?

So, in conclusion, good luck to Jagodzinski, since he might need it. If he can't get the Jets job, maybe he can get a position somewhere else. I mean, he did get near Matt Ryan, which automatically qualifies him for CEO positions in most businesses.

Texas/Ohio State mashup/matchup/thing

Oh, it's 2009. Oops. See, real sportswriters have an advantage over bloggers in that bloggers have jobs that don't entail writing and aren't paid. That said, I will not be attempting to review the previous bowls, though I would like to say that going to Miami for the Orange Bowl was pretty awesome.

But now, for the review of the Fiesta Bowl....

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Texas-24, Ohio State-21

The Buckeyes have nothing to be ashamed of here, as this is the best bowl that they've played in recent memory. Plus, were it not for an absolutely, shamefully bad "roughing" of Colt McCoy on the first of Texas's 3rd quarter scoring drives, we might have seen a different final score.

If there's a rule in college football that must be amended, it's the 15 yard roughing the kicker penalty. 99 times out of 100 that flag is thrown because the kicker treats a defender's accidental tap as if it were a gunshot wound. If there's a second rule that should be amended, it's the 15 yard roughing the passer penalty.

Quarterbacks need to be protected. To deny that would be, well, stupid. But QBs ARE football players. Getting hit is a part of the friggin' game, just as much as it is for any other player at any other position! When you release a football and are hit 3 seconds later, of course it's roughing! The defender had time to stop. When you're hit half a second later, it's not roughing, because the defender couldn't stop. And, back to the Texas/OSU game, when you're NOT hit in the head, it's NOT illegal contact!

Meanwhile, the Big 12's performance in Bowl games has been shoddy at best. Thus far, the conference's only bowl wins have come against the Big 10 (2 close ones and Kansas's crushing of Minnesota) and the ACC (Nebraska's comeback against Clemson). Since football pundits (including me) spent all season talking about who was better, Big 12 or SEC, I think we've gotten our answer...

As a side note, PTI was talking about the Texas/OSU matchup and felt the need to rip the Orange Bowl. Allow me a moment for rebuttal:
The Orange Bowl featured the champion of a muddled, highly competitive conference who everyone wrote off as crappy (Virginia Tech of the ACC) and an upstart squad who had the best season in school history (Cincinnati of the Big East). Now, we had to put up with fawning and "oooh"s and "ahhh"s over the Fiesta bowl, which featured a 2 loss Ohio State team against a just-shafted out of the title game Texas. Cincinnati had two losses! AND the Big East had a winning bowl record, compared to the 1-6 Big 10! Texas Tech finished in a 3-way tie (with Texas!) for first in the conference, and lost its bowl to an SEC team that was 4th in its conference! Virginia Tech finished in a 4-way tie for first in its conference and beat a Big East team that was first in its conference!

So let's play a little reversal. Let's put Ohio State and Texas Tech against one another. Seems fair. There would be so much hype surrounding these two teams, and if Texas Tech won? Well, then we'd have to put up with news that the Big 12 was superior and that the ACC and Big East certainly didn't deserve to be in such a prestigious bowl.

Am I saying that Cincy or Virginia Tech deserved a BCS berth? No. But if you're going to market the wonder of an Ohio State/Texas matchup, you'd best not bash a Virginia Tech/Cincinnati matchup. Especially since, inevitably, we are going to have to tolerate a spate of "USC is the REAL national champion!" articles in the coming future.

I, for one, look forward to mocking them...