betED.com - The View from the Couch - by Gavin McDougald!
December 5th, 2007 - Drop the ?Ya? but?s?
Notre Dame should be pissed. How is it possible that the 3-9 Irish were excluded from a post-season appearance this year when everything else in the BCS was so messed up?
Let's start at the top. LSU and Ohio State will face off for the BCS Championship.
That is despite the fact that the computers tell us Virginia Tech is the best team in college football, and that the Harris Poll says both Oklahoma and Georgia are #1.
Our eyes tell us something completely different. Looking at the final College Ball standings there was only one undefeated team in the nation, Hawaii, and they didn't even get a sniff. Unbeaten, they ended the season ranked a lowly 12th, but they were unbowed.
Standing out in a season that will be forever defined by spectacular losses, Hawaii managed to go 12-0 and thus qualified for an automatic BCS bowl after coming back from a 0-21 deficit to beat Washington 35-28 on Saturday night.
Amazing game. Amazing record. However, college football is the only sport in the world where it is possible for a team that goes undefeated through a season to have no shot at a title.
There's never been a college football season such as this. Unpredictable and even sometimes silly it managed to be both completely entertaining - and completely frustrating at the same time.
It all started when Appalachian State upset Michigan. From the predictor's point of view, it all went straight to hell from there. In a matter of weeks USF went from nowhere to #2 while Oregon went from #2 to unranked. Less than a month ago Ohio State and LSU were the two top teams in the standings. Their route to stay on top was circuitous to say the least.
In every weekend since November 10th, either the #1 or #2 team lost. In the last two weeks, two #1s and two #2s both lost. Ohio State went from #1 to #7 and back up to #1 in the span of two games.
Of the top 10 teams in the BCS standings just a month ago, nine have since lost, the Georgia Bulldogs being the only exception. Georgia could and perhaps should have strolled to the National Title game however; they didn?t qualify for their own conference championship game.
So are LSU and Ohio State really the two best teams?
If this season has proven anything, it is this: No one in college football can actually tell if one team is better than another team.
So why isn't Hawaii, whose perfect record at least demonstrates they could be the best, getting its title shot when LSU, who lost not once but twice, is?
Because the powers that be decided, based on the strength of Hawaii's schedule, that they weren't worthy.
Ya? but they never lost!
Ya? but they say their non-conference opponents included weaklings such as Northern Colorado, Charleston Southern and UNLV. And they did have that built-in greatest home field advantage in all of sports. Opponents have to travel a minimum of 2500 miles, and when they land, they are in frikin' Hawaii! The party town benefit showed up in their games against Boise State and Washington.
Ya? but they went undefeated! Both Ohio State and LSU can't make the same claim.
Ya? but says LSU coach Les Miles, the Tigers had only ?lost in overtime.? He failed to mention that those OT losses were at the hands of Kentucky and Arkansas, neither of which had a sniff at the post-season.
Ohio State didn't beat a team ranked in the top 20 and lost at home to an unranked opponent.
Ya? but Buckeyes quarterback Todd Boeckman says, "We played our schedule, and we won every game but one. Everyone else has a loss, too."
Ummm, not so much.
Since this is a sport without a playoff system, standings should decide who gets in a Championship Game and who doesn't.
Therefore, by acclimation, we sports fans should declare the Hawaii Warriors' match-up in the Sugar Bowl game against Georgia as the true BCS Championship game.
Ya? but should the Bulldogs be there?
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
Bet on NCAA Football Bowl Odds at betED.com here!
December 5th, 2007 - Drop the ?Ya? but?s?
Notre Dame should be pissed. How is it possible that the 3-9 Irish were excluded from a post-season appearance this year when everything else in the BCS was so messed up?
Let's start at the top. LSU and Ohio State will face off for the BCS Championship.
That is despite the fact that the computers tell us Virginia Tech is the best team in college football, and that the Harris Poll says both Oklahoma and Georgia are #1.
Our eyes tell us something completely different. Looking at the final College Ball standings there was only one undefeated team in the nation, Hawaii, and they didn't even get a sniff. Unbeaten, they ended the season ranked a lowly 12th, but they were unbowed.
Standing out in a season that will be forever defined by spectacular losses, Hawaii managed to go 12-0 and thus qualified for an automatic BCS bowl after coming back from a 0-21 deficit to beat Washington 35-28 on Saturday night.
Amazing game. Amazing record. However, college football is the only sport in the world where it is possible for a team that goes undefeated through a season to have no shot at a title.
There's never been a college football season such as this. Unpredictable and even sometimes silly it managed to be both completely entertaining - and completely frustrating at the same time.
It all started when Appalachian State upset Michigan. From the predictor's point of view, it all went straight to hell from there. In a matter of weeks USF went from nowhere to #2 while Oregon went from #2 to unranked. Less than a month ago Ohio State and LSU were the two top teams in the standings. Their route to stay on top was circuitous to say the least.
In every weekend since November 10th, either the #1 or #2 team lost. In the last two weeks, two #1s and two #2s both lost. Ohio State went from #1 to #7 and back up to #1 in the span of two games.
Of the top 10 teams in the BCS standings just a month ago, nine have since lost, the Georgia Bulldogs being the only exception. Georgia could and perhaps should have strolled to the National Title game however; they didn?t qualify for their own conference championship game.
So are LSU and Ohio State really the two best teams?
If this season has proven anything, it is this: No one in college football can actually tell if one team is better than another team.
So why isn't Hawaii, whose perfect record at least demonstrates they could be the best, getting its title shot when LSU, who lost not once but twice, is?
Because the powers that be decided, based on the strength of Hawaii's schedule, that they weren't worthy.
Ya? but they never lost!
Ya? but they say their non-conference opponents included weaklings such as Northern Colorado, Charleston Southern and UNLV. And they did have that built-in greatest home field advantage in all of sports. Opponents have to travel a minimum of 2500 miles, and when they land, they are in frikin' Hawaii! The party town benefit showed up in their games against Boise State and Washington.
Ya? but they went undefeated! Both Ohio State and LSU can't make the same claim.
Ya? but says LSU coach Les Miles, the Tigers had only ?lost in overtime.? He failed to mention that those OT losses were at the hands of Kentucky and Arkansas, neither of which had a sniff at the post-season.
Ohio State didn't beat a team ranked in the top 20 and lost at home to an unranked opponent.
Ya? but Buckeyes quarterback Todd Boeckman says, "We played our schedule, and we won every game but one. Everyone else has a loss, too."
Ummm, not so much.
Since this is a sport without a playoff system, standings should decide who gets in a Championship Game and who doesn't.
Therefore, by acclimation, we sports fans should declare the Hawaii Warriors' match-up in the Sugar Bowl game against Georgia as the true BCS Championship game.
Ya? but should the Bulldogs be there?
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
Bet on NCAA Football Bowl Odds at betED.com here!
