|
|
|
Five Thoughts
Week Fifteen
|
|
| .ONE |
After a week full of people assuming that this BCS mess would work itself out, the Kansas State Wildcats went out Saturday evening and did what most thought was near-impossible. On a cold night in Kansas City, Missouri, the Wildcats absolutely demolished Bob Stoops' Oklahoma Sooners...and probably Jason White's Heisman Trophy hopes as well. Just when everyone thought they had the BCS figured out, it was the Sooners, the team everyone though was invincible and just about the only sure-thing in college football this season, who let the puzzle that was nearly put together fall back onto the floor and into a thousand pieces. With three deserving teams, each with one loss, everyone had to go to sleep Saturday night (if you didn't stay up and watch Boise State/Hawaii, which did have a minor effect on the BCS, that is), wondering which two the computers would pick as the best teams in America. And that announcement came late Sunday afternoon....
|
| ..TWO |
Going into the announcement, I felt that it was nearly impossible to argue with whatever numbers the computers spit out. As long as this system is in place, there will always be controversy, and nothing will come out entirely as planned or hoped for. To look at the teams involved, Oklahoma lost only one game. That loss was at a neutral site and against a very good opponent, Kansas State, who is ranked in the top ten, if not higher. LSU's only loss came at home, a definite minus for the Tigers, but it also came against a quality Florida team that came on strong late in the season and tied for the SEC East title. Southern Cal's defeat came on the road, the most impressive location of the three losses, but that was loss was to a Cal team that hovered around .500 all season long. Benefitting the Trojans was that they could also claim it took three overtimes to be knocked off. So if you assigned point values 1-3 for the location and the opponent, with high points being best, I would give these ratings: Oklahoma 5 points (2 for neutral site and 3 for opponent), Southern Cal 4 (3 for location, 1 for opponent), and LSU 3 (1 for location, 2 for opponent). By that formula, LSU is the one left out, but I still claim that it's hard to argue with the final conclusion.
|
| ...THREE |
A big thumbs down to the television network gurus at ABC and CBS. To allow the biggest two games of the weekend, and two of the biggest so far this year, to be aired at the exact same time is inexcusable. With so much riding on each game, the networks deprived college football fans around the country the opportunity to see both games in completion. Of course, today, one could make the argument that both games were over by the third quarter, but no one knew that would happen months ago when these schedules were made out. As two of the kings of college football coverage, it was very disappointing to see such a lack of poor judgement from ABC and CBS this past weekend.
|
| ....FOUR |
Another huge thumbs down to the Orange Bowl selection committee, who selected Miami and Florida State to do battle against each other in Miami. Normally, that would be a very nice in-state rivalry, but these teams have already played once this season in Tallahassee. Like the TV situation, this was another lackluster decision that affects the average college football fan around the country. While the proponents of the current BCS system argue that the bowl matchups are great since they create cross-country matchups we wouldn't normally see, they select two in-state teams to play each other in-state in a matchup that has already been played out this season. Who, other than the fans in Florida, can get all that excited about a rematch of two teams in a game that actually means less now than it did back in October? I know one person who can't....
|
| .....FIVE |
Here and there...
Miami (OH) again showed their prowess in the MAC by destroying Bowling Green at their own field to win the MAC title. The RedHawks will travel to Mobile to take on Louisville in the GMAC Bowl. Can you say shootout?....
Even if you argue against LSU playing in the national title game, you have to give the Tigers credit. After losing to Florida in stunning fashion at home in mid-season, the Tigers bounced back to win seven straight games, including two of the last three away from home against top 20 teams. Think Tiger fans will take over New Orleans?....
At first glance, here are a couple of intriguing non-BCS bowl matchups: Miami (OH) vs Louisville (GMAC), Washington State vs Texas (Holiday), Auburn vs Wisconsin (Music City), and Iowa vs Florida (Outback). Of course, SCS.com will have previews and predictions leading up to all the postseason action. Stay tuned!....
|
|
