The BCS is Dead….Long live the BCS!
The SEC is Dead…Long live the SEC!
Why do I make the two proclamations above when both were vilified and
hated more than anything in recent college football memory? I’ll get to that in a minute.
FSU and Auburn gave us one for the ages Monday night. I truly enjoyed watching an SEC team get
schooled by an ACC team that at one point in time was probably a better “SEC”
team than most of the teams in the SEC. Bowden
had teams that were made up of superstars and he made those players believe
they could win. And there was a time
when I hated the Seminoles…but not last night.
Last night they did exactly what I wanted and what I believe the college
football world needed them to do. They
de-throned the SEC.
Auburn was worthy, but it is readily apparent now, especially after the
lackluster showing in all the bowls, that the SEC is not the conference of
dominance it once was a couple of years ago.
However, that may not stop the newest chapter of College Football and
the the powers that be to look at the SEC in some sort of ongoing wonderment.
Monday night, the game started out with most fans thinking, “Here we go
again. An over rated ACC team that
didn’t play anybody is going to get blown out of the NC game.” But I had watched quite a few of FSU’s games
this season. They simply didn’t look
like the same team. Nerves on offense
and horrendous defense. That wasn’t the
team I was watching before. (Again –
Something about long lay-offs taking teams out of their rhythm.) and then Fisher grew a set when the Tigers
least expected it and called for the fake punt with about 3 minutes to go in
the first half. That led to a Seminoles
TD over a stunned, but still angry Tiger defense.
Then, in the 2nd half, finally, the real Seminoles showed
up. And with a vengeance. The defense held Auburn to 0 points in the
third quarter and looked like the defense they had been all year. They were surely the fastest team in the 2nd
half made especially clear with a 100+ yard kick off return (That was Karma’s
way of saying, “The Party’s OVER Auburn”) and Winston validated himself as the
Heismann Trophy winner with a scoring drive in the last 1:19 that had a little
bit of everything. And just like that – The
SEC domination of football is gone. And
I think that’s a good thing.
So, getting back to my original point, why the proclamations?
There’s a variety of reasons:
While the BCS has ended its “Death Grip” on football and Monday Night’s
game was a great salute to that era and the BCS finally getting it right, I
think we are heading for a time when a handful of fans will look at what the
new “Football Committee” hands us and be as pissed if not more pissed off with
what we get in the final 4 teams. This
year, we would have had Auburn and Alabama in the “Final 4” and while there’s a
good chance that neither would have made the final game, there was certainly a
possibility if the seeding was left the way it fell out of the national
rankings. Yes, we could have had an SEC
final game. With Aburn at 2 and Alabama
at 4, the 1-4 matchup would have played and the 2-3 matchup would have
played.
FSU vs. Bama
MSU vs. Auburn
I hate playing what if’s and looking at all the scenarios…but if two
teams from the same conference make it to the final 4, they should be forced to
play in the semifinals and not let the two meet up in the final. However, my guess is the committee will be
“steered” to allow just that sort of thing to happen if the two “best” teams
happen to be in the same conference.
Okay – I’m rambling a little, but my point is, right up to the day they
played the Iron Bowl, everyone KNEW that Alabama was going to win another NC. Then, Bama couldn’t even beat an inbjury DECIMATED
Oklahoma team that was a double digit DOG in the Sugar Bowl. The other SEC teams had poor showings against
“Weak” B1G opponents in other bowls as well – not to mention that another ACC
team, Clemson, beat LSU at last year’s Chi-Fil-A bowl and Georgia earlier this
season. So, is the SEC that good? I don’t think so….And that perception needs
to change and the SEC has to stop playing 4 non-conference games against
unworthy opponents. The SEC needs to
truly play “Difficult” games and improve its SOS. That should end this final ballot every season with 7 SEC teams in the top 15 of the nation and then, and only then, will the college
football world be ready to believe two teams from anyone one conference can
play for the National Title.
I guess what I’m saying is this:
I was actually starting to like the BCS and some of the tweaks they had
made. Now, don’t be surprised when we
have that 1st season where two teams from the same conference – any
conference – make it into the final 4 and meet up in the final game. Nobody’s gonna’ like it. But this is progress…And I’m all for that and
the end of the “Bowl Model” as we know it.
Just expand this sucker to get some of the play-off games on home fields
baby…and look out for those season ticket sales then!
One more little comment from the Title Game: LOVED the ESPN2 open dialogue of all the
guests that were invited to speak live on what was happening on the field. I really felt more informed and understood a
WHOLE lot better what teams were doing and how they were doing it. IF you didn’t flip back and forth, no worries. Rumor has it that there was significant
viewership on the Deuce and that picked up as the game wore on. I’m sure we will see the format again. In fact, ESPN News also had coaches on and I
didn’t see any of that, but heard it was also a big winner in the ratings. So, people are starting to figure out that no
one likes to listen to Brent Musberger…..
Speaking of that Clemson team:
Remember the egg they laid in the Orange Bowl a couple of years
ago? Well, they redeemed themselves and
did all Michigan fans a favor in the process by beating ohio in what will go
down in history as “How NOT to finish a game in the final seconds” or “DON’T
THROW THE BALL IN THE FINAL SECONDS TO THE GUYS IN THE OTHER UNIFORMS!” I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen
it with my own eyes….Last seconds, two interceptions and the suckeyes go down….Why
Miller was on the field after being banged up is beyond me…But Urban can deal
with the Suckeye fan base as to why he made that call….
Urban Meyer looked great at the post game news conference. It appears to me that his heart problems all
came back at once.
Here’s an interesting tidbit that I
learned about yesterday:
Las Vegas
Odds of:
Florida State
winning National Title: 14 to 1
Auburn
Winning National Title: 200
onwards up to 500 to 1
Number of
Lottery Tickets held for each school at different Sports Books in Vegas:
FSU: Indeterminate. Many bets at various amounts for these
odds. There are many happy FSU fans and
bettors out there this morning/week.
Auburn: about a dozen bettors had made the pre-season
speculation bet, according to Vegas reports.
But there is One Auburn Moron that is going to wish he had hedged his
bet. He didn’t. That’s just plain dumb….
ESPN – There will be many nervous Auburn
fans Monday night as they watch their Tigers take on Florida State
in the Vizio BCS National Championship, but Mark Skiba is an odds-on favorite
to be among the most skittish. That’s because Skiba’s $100 bet has turned into
a possible $50,000 payday — if the Tigers win the title. Last January, Skiba’s
father was on vacation in Las Vegas when, while visiting the Paris Hotel on the
Strip, he placed a $100 bet for his son on Auburn to win the title game at
500-to-1 odds.
When Skiba went public with
his ticket last month, many fans contacted him on Twitter to give
advice. Most told Skiba they would place a sizable bet against his own team to
guarantee a payday. Skiba had planned on doing exactly that. But as Monday’s
game approached, he backed off. With Florida State becoming more and more of a
favorite, it meant that Skiba would have to bet even more money against Auburn
to balance out the action. So with the consult of his high school buddy,
accountant Brian Burnett, who is an Alabama alum, the two made the trip to Las
Vegas for the game but decided to let the bet ride.
So, while the
FMQ finished with the worst record ever in the 5 years I’ve be fantasy betting
college, you can bet that if I was ever reckless enough to throw a $100 on a
500 to 1 longshot and I had a $50K payday coming…well, there would be a very
large bet made on whoever was on the other side of that wager. Even if I cut it in half, that’s still better
than nothing….
The Pre-Season Review
I completely
blew it on the final Top 10 and Michigan.
I always like to think that I can foresee the future and the up and
comers, but I will be honest and I only had FSU as a potential “Dark Horse” in
the pre-season.
And Auburn
wasn’t anywhere on my list. Other Total
Misses: Sparty, Michigan, and Florida,
in that order. I didn’t have Sparty
anywhere in my sights and I had Michigan and Florida way over-rated.
Is the rest
of the Pre-Season worth reviewing here and now?
Nah…I’ll save if for another day.
The Hot Seat
It’s
OVER! The readers have decided and
various photos of Brooklyn Decker will adorn the side bar for the rest of the
off season! It was an exciting end to
the voting and I actually enjoyed the play-off format. Expect it to be in for next year also!
In one
interesting note, Charlie Strong decided to take the offer from Texas and will
be wearing Burnt Orange next season. While
this was somewhat surprising (I figured Franklin was the number 1 guy), Strong
makes sense for Texas. McCombs doesn’t
think so – If you don’t know who he is, you soon will as he has come out
against the Charlie Strong hire. And if
Strong fails early….well, let’s just hope he doesn’t fail for his sake. The other potential near hire if Franklin to
PSU. I’m curious if Franklin will
actually work at PSU due to the fact that if the loyalists hated mild mannered,
easy going O’Brien….They’re gonna “LOVE” Franklin…Welcome Rich Rod to State
College.
GONE LIST:
- LANE KIFFIN
- Paul Pasqualoni
- Treadwell
- Carlson – Valpraiso….(I know, not exactly on my
radar, either.)
- Ron English – Eastern Michigan.
- Mussman – North Dakota
- David Christianson – Wyoming
- Mack Brown – Retired…..
- Ellerson- ARMY
- Ogeron – Resigned….
- O’Brien – Left for Texas (NFL)
- Strong – Louisville. Left for Texas Longhorns
Hot Seat Rank – Getting Serious as
this is the time when the Carousel gets fire up!
- My feeling at this point is, if you haven’t been canned by January 1, you are probably safe for this year…
HIRED LIST:
- USC –
Sarkisian
- Washington – Petersen
- Dave Clawson – Wake Forest
- Bryan Harsin – Boise State
- Chris Creighton – Eastern
- Bob Diaco – UCONN
- Jeff Monken – Army
- Charlie Strong - TEXAS
MAJOR OPENINGS:
PSU – If you
didn’t see the last blog entry, check it out.
Following a legend anywhere you go is going to be tough, no matter what
the prior guy did at the end or how bad he was.
His legend is usually too big to overcome. Paterno Loyalists made life hell for
O’Brien. Expect a “Paterno” coach to be
in at PSU on the next go-around. If not
a Paterno guy, and I know I keep bringing his name up to the chagrin of Vandy
Fans everywhere…Franklin?
Louisville – They
are going to wish Charlie was still there in a couple of years…..
RECRUITING
Because I
have received a couple of emails and a phone call regarding the recent
recruiting class, here’s where everyone is at according to Rivals at this point
in time:
Rank
|
School
|
Total
|
5-starCommits
|
4-starCommits
|
3-starCommits
|
Avg
|
Points
|
#1
|
24
|
4
|
13
|
7
|
3.88
|
3007
|
|
| #2 |
21
|
1
|
15
|
5
|
3.81
|
2710
|
|
#3
|
33
|
2
|
15
|
15
|
3.59
|
2587
|
|
#4
|
29
|
0
|
15
|
12
|
3.45
|
2508
|
|
#5
|
20
|
2
|
10
|
7
|
3.65
|
2431
|
|
#6
|
18
|
1
|
13
|
3
|
3.78
|
2399
|
|
#7
|
23
|
1
|
13
|
9
|
3.65
|
2315
|
|
#8
|
28
|
1
|
11
|
16
|
3.46
|
2276
|
|
#9
|
21
|
3
|
10
|
7
|
3.71
|
2199
|
|
#10
|
20
|
0
|
11
|
9
|
3.55
|
2144
|
|
#11
|
16
|
1
|
10
|
5
|
3.75
|
2014
|
|
#12
|
23
|
0
|
7
|
15
|
3.26
|
2004
|
|
#13
|
23
|
0
|
9
|
13
|
3.35
|
1973
|
|
#14
|
23
|
0
|
6
|
16
|
3.22
|
1926
|
|
#15
|
18
|
1
|
6
|
10
|
3.39
|
1895
|
|
#16
|
29
|
1
|
5
|
17
|
3.07
|
1854
|
|
#17
|
21
|
1
|
3
|
15
|
3.14
|
1787
|
|
#18
|
25
|
0
|
5
|
18
|
3.12
|
1786
|
|
#19
|
20
|
1
|
5
|
11
|
3.2
|
1777
|
|
#20
|
27
|
0
|
7
|
15
|
3.07
|
1763
|
|
#21
|
17
|
0
|
7
|
9
|
3.35
|
1709
|
|
#22
|
17
|
0
|
10
|
7
|
3.59
|
1691
|
|
#23
|
19
|
0
|
5
|
13
|
3.28
|
1687
|
|
#24
|
16
|
1
|
6
|
8
|
3.44
|
1684
|
|
#25
|
20
|
0
|
6
|
14
|
3.3
|
1683
|
Why did I put
this in here even though I have vehemently said that I really don’t care about
recruiting at all and until I see the players on the field I do not have an
opinion on any of this one way or the other?
Don’t panic if you “heard” that Michigan’s recruiting class isn’t in the
top 10. They currently only have 16
commits and there are more coming. As
the number of commitments goes up, so does the ranking. What I would be more concerned with (but even
then, it doesn’t upset me that much) is that most of Michigan’s commits right
now are of the 3 star variety. But, all
will be revealed on February 8th – National Siging Day, for those
that get excited about that kind of thing…..Again, it doesn’t mean much and I
should remind you: Denard Robinson was a
three star recruit. ‘Nuff said.
FMQ
Ugh….the FMQ
had his worst performance EVER! It
started sliding downward and this year, the Bowls didn’t save us. Very few favorites came home or even covered
making it even more difficult.
It was
clearly the year of the dog and I will perform and more extensive analysis at
some point. But here’s the chart:
Better luck next season? Better System!
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