Boycott Auburn Football?

Boycott Auburn Football?

Ok, that sounds foolish, you can’t boycott a university can you?

Maybe.

I realize many times we go overboard on things we think are important, while others may not see it that way. I agree to that, but I also believe that there are times you have to speak your mind, and address issues that seemed to be worth addressing.

If you read my last blog, I made a comment about how Auburn University has been under fire by noted alum Charles Barkley, as he accused his alma mater of using race to pick their new head coach. Charles Barkley said that Auburn had just as equal a chance to hire Buffalo head coach, Turner Gill, but refused, going for Gene Chizik, who has won only 5 games in two years with Iowa State.

He was not the only person to speak out against the move, many other people, some in the professional world of sports, have given a strong opinion of Auburn and the decision they made. In my last blog, I talked about how people can make a strong voice of opinion against this university, but before I do, let me do this:

There was a question of how Auburn could “spin” this story to get as much damage off them as they could, some folks said there is nothing Auburn could have said, because there was no argument that Turner Gill SHOULD have been that coach. I will play devil’s advocate because in truth, there is some credibility in the hire.

If Auburn wanted to (and perhaps what they should have done), they could have explained to the press that even though Turner Gill would have been an excellent hire, the reason why they went for Gene Chizik was because he actually does have a history with Auburn in the past. Gene Chizik was the defensive coordinator for Auburn back in 2002 to 2004, and in that time accomplished many goals, including going to the Capital One Bowl, the Music City Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. For two years his defense was amongst the best in the nation, and he received Broyles Award in 2004, given to the best assistant coach in the nation. In 2004 that same Auburn team went 13-0, won the SEC, and beat Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl and finished #2 in the polls.

See folks, if Auburn had come out and shared this with the public, and people like noted alum Charles Barkley, THEN I could not argue that in truth, they may have gotten the best man for the job. Yes, Turner Gill won the MAC Championship this year, while Gene ends a second season of losing, but if you are looking for a spark to keep the Auburn alum and rich boosters happy, sometimes you have to hire “in the family” to keep some happy.

And I will be honest, I would not argue with that IF that is what they did, or if this was the reasoning of their hire…but that isn’t what we heard, was it? In fact, Auburn never said anything, as if hiding in shame for closing another door of opportunity to another African American coach.

Now I say this in light of also finding out that Ron English will become the 5th head coach in the NCAA Division I because Eastern Michigan recently hired him….

Hmmm, same old formula… team in the gutters, desperate so they hire an African American to help them. How many winning seasons EMU had since 1989...one? Two?

I wish Ron English well, but it clearly is an uphill battle, but at least the MAC recognizes that man should not be judged on color, but rather merit.

But back to Auburn…

I would have been willing to buy the background of Chizik if Auburn chose to justify that, but that by saying nothing, it seems that Auburn had shown their “true colors”…and that is truer than it seems.

So how do you change the attitudes of universities that clearly do not want to give an African American or any minority a chance? Schools like Auburn have NO problem recruiting black kids from high school, and in fact take them in great abundance. You sit there and cheer for them in the stands while swearing by your team colors every Saturday, and every Fall season becomes a holy time to you when your Tigers take to the field.

But deep inside, you don’t care one bit about the person that plays for you, especially if he is black. Once he has played his years and moves on, you look for the next black kid to uphold your sacred sport. After all, they were chosen only to play for you, never to coach or lead…they are not smart enough (as a fool would say).

So how do you change this kinda attitude? I mentioned before, the way to do it is to hit them in the place the most covet. In this case, Auburn University covets football more than anything else. Rich alum give millions of dollars to Auburn to support football, and most of them hide like cowards behind a racist cloth, making puppets of the Athletic Director and heads of the university.

So I say make them aware that these kinda “cloak and dagger” methods cannot be tolerated. I say, boycott Auburn University.

You say that’s just stupid and it will never work? I disagree, in fact, if put in motion, it would put the fear of God in Auburn University.

I say again, if you want to make a REAL statement on colleges who refuse to hire black coaches, hit them in recruiting. For example, I know some read my blogs, but if for some strange reason a national media got hold of this and ran it, or if somebody spread the word to boycott Auburn University, that would create a major fear that Auburn would lose the ONE thing that would embarrass even the cowards that hid behind closed doors…recruits.

I guarantee you, if the word got out to high school kids playing football that Auburn does not recognize equality, do you think they would play for that school? If parents with prospective children got word that Auburn does not care about black kids, do you think they would send their children to such a “school of higher learning”?

Charles Barkley was asked what could be done about it. Coach Mike Tomlin was asked what to do about it, the answer is right there. Sometimes talking to people that see color of skin first is not productive, because they will not listen. Charles and Mike both understood that just talking about it is only a start, but unless Auburn University starts to really look at the mirror and see that they should have hired the best man for the job instead of what the “good ole boys” wanted, this could have been avoided.

I promise you this…if Charles Barkley said “boycott Auburn Football” , I guarantee you that inside of a week, there would be some major changes in the entire university. If some of those sports celebrities even uttered that idea, I promise you Auburn University would have to have a crisis meeting to fix the problem.

If you want to make Auburn listen, and I say this also to all those other teams in the SEC, since they are incredibly slow to hire black coaches in football anyway, I say press the word to boycott the school, and especially the football program. Let Auburn football fall apart while the Tigers go 3-9 or 2-10 or a few very bad seasons, I promise you they will hire more fairly next time. That does not mean they HAVE to hire a black head coach, because next year, or 3 years from now, or 5 years from now, there may be a great candidate that isn’t black. But I bet you they’ll go the extra mile to show the nation that they did take all the steps necessary to give a black candidate a fair shot.

While I’m at it, some thumbs down to some other schools. Kansas State fired Ron Prince, a black head coach, and rehired Bill Snyder…now, I know he was a good coach, but you STILL should have interviewed other candidates. Thumbs down to Florida State, naming a coach for the future, and thus ignoring a chance to even interview anybody else. And shame on you Texas, for naming a guy EIGHT YEARS in the future. Way to dodge the idea of interviewing or even giving a shot to African American prospects.

I can’t get mad at Washington, but to me it seems like the standards for a black head coach are much shorter than those that are white. Today Arizona is in a bowl, and Mike Stoops is the head coach…somebody tell me, how does he keep his job for what, five years, with a losing record every year, and they run out Tyrone Willingham after what, 15 minutes? How about Sylvester Crooms, who was kicked out this year. I guarantee you they would have fired him last year, after only 3 years, were it not for the fact that they did win 8 games.

There is a way to change this…hit these football programs right where it hurts… recruits. If the word got out to boycott Auburn for unfair hiring practices, or schools like Notre Dame that didn’t give Willingham a fair shot like everybody else in Notre Dame Football HISTORY, and schools like that, you would force schools to become more aggressive to give African Americans a chance.

Boycott Auburn Football? In 2008? Sure, why not, it might as well be today, since Auburn seems to continue to live in 1968, or 1958, what’s 40 or 50 years to people that refuse to change?

Cowards of SEC Football

Cowards of SEC Football

Today I am enjoying the college football bowls, and watched Wake Forest defeat Navy in a very good game, and between that game and the New Mexico Bowl, there was a segment where the guys in the studio talked about the Auburn Football mess.

And that is the best word for it…MESS.

I saw what Charles Barkley (one of my favorite players) said on it, especially as he is an Auburn alum, and what the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers also said about it. Desmond Howard made a comment that seems to be right on the money, in that the fact that all these people have spoken against Auburn, and the university has said literally nothing, it seems to prove that their silence is their answer on a very bad decision.

To recap, Auburn got rid of their head coach, Tommy Tuberville, and went looking for a new coach. Amongst the people they “interviewed” was an African American head coach, Turner Gill, who coached Buffalo University, and had recently won the MAC Championship, defeating previously undefeated Ball State.

But Auburn decided to choose Gene Chizik, who was 5-19 in two years at Iowa State. Now, compare again, 5-19 and two losing seasons, against a man who just won the MAC Championship…what’s the difference? Color?

Likely.

This is a shameful way to do business, and sadly it screams of the undertone of many so called “Americans”, especially in NCAA football. Anyone who thinks college football isn’t managed by “good ole boys” is delusional. And yet, the entire conference is also at blame. The SEC ought to be ashamed of themselves and the stand they apparently believe in.

Let me take you back to about 2001 and explain.

On ABC one Saturday I was watching halftime of a football game, and John Saunders was interviewing the SEC Commissioner on the lack of African American coaches in the SEC. In fact, in the HISTORY of the SEC, there has never been a black head coach. WHY?

This was what John Saunders talked to the SEC Commissioner about, and you are not going to believe the answer he (commissioner) gave. Not quoting him word for word, but I can say with great confidence that what he said boiled down to this:

“Well, that’s just the way it is here”

The Commissioner of the SEC, the head of this collection of southern colleges and universities, is saying that the reason why they don’t have a black head coach is because that’s just the way it is…absolute ignorant and foolish to say in light that we live in a time where this should not be an issue…especially in the “good ole” USA.

It looked like John Saunders seemed upset at how this guy was apparently not too worried about the situation, almost shrugging his shoulders about the entire affair. I watched that in disgust, seeing how some people can be so stupid.

A year or so later, about 2002 or so, I remember seeing more about this, and I remember making a joke to my brother about it. I cannot remember the exact words I said, but I will put it this way, in how I think I said it to him:

“You know what the SEC is going to do, don’t you? They are taking a lot of shots because they don’t have a black coach, and what they are going to do is have a secret meeting with all the SEC schools. They are going to try to get this monkey off their back by telling the SEC that the team with the worst record should just go out and hire a black man, so that they will get this color monkey off their back”

I believed at that time that Vanderbilt would have been the team, since they were usually at the bottom of the conference, but we believed that the SEC was going to make it a high priority to hire a black head coach, not because it was right, but because it gets the racial monkey off their backs.

Turns out they seemed to do that by hiring Sylvester Crooms. Now, am I saying he was not the right man for the job, no, not at all, but I think we all knew he was living day to day there. Mississippi State won the National Title WHEN?

The last time Mississippi State was in the top ten was WHEN?

We’re not talking about a powerhouse team, we are talking about a team that was in the gutter. And it’s like some say, the only jobs an African American coach can get are teams that are far past gone. It just seemed the “right” fit for Mississippi State, with the blessings of the SEC, to hire Mr. Crooms, knowing that after 3 years, they were likely going to fire him anyway. I strongly believe Mississippi would have fired Crooms LAST year except that he managed to win 8 games…can’t fire him for that unless you wanted to create a national racial scandal. But this year they had enough condemnation to get rid of him.

So it seems that the SEC got their wish, they hired a black head coach to silence the critics, and not he’s out, so maybe another 10 years or so they may hire another African American coach. The good ole boy system is back in place, and it is business as usual.

Now, I have nothing bad to say about Gene Chizik, none at all, in fact, was he not on the same Auburn team when they went undefeated several years ago as a coordinator? I will not say anything against Gene, and I truly wish him well, it must be very hard for him to take this job under these circumstances. But this is the ugly mark of proof that racism is as alive today as it was back when the Tangerine Bowl told Buffalo that they could play in the bowl IF they rejected the black players on their team.

Stupid idiots, I am glad there is no more Tangerine Bowl….

But the Auburn problem still exists, and it seems that Auburn has gone into hiding, hoping to let some water run under the bridge.

Someone asked how to stop this kind of racial hiring, and there is something that can be done. Something that, if done, would put the fear of God into any college or university that is indeed hiring men based on color, rather than merit…

Boycott the school.

Think I am kidding…think about this…

In a place like Alabama, football is almost a religion, so schools like Auburn rely heavily on football season, and the desire to have a great team. Yet we know that at least half the players on any team are African American…

What if somebody like Charles Barkley said to the national public, “Don’t send your children to Auburn” or tell parents of African American kids, “Don’t send your son to play football for Auburn”.

If people started to boycott Auburn University, and if wise parents were determined NOT to send their children to a “school of higher learning” that makes decisions based on race, I guarantee you that the university will make changes. Not because they care, but because of FEAR.

Fear of losing football games.

Let Auburn regress back to the days of segregation and see how many games the Auburn Tigers will win without the talent of African American kids on the football team. Imagine those kids going to say…Alabama? Or UAB, or other southern schools?

If you want to make a STRONG point in that racial discrimination is NOT allowed in this country, not now, and not ever, then hit Auburn or any SEC school (or any NCAA school) where it hurts…sports. Take away the recruits by boycott and I PROMISE you they will sing a new song of gospel harmony.

Look at Notre Dame, when they got rid of Willingham, and got bad press about possible discrimination, they went into damage control and did what????

Hired Tim Brown, a former Notre Dame football player, and Heisman Trophy winner, to help with recruiting…oh, did I mention Tim is black?

Notre Dame knew that if they didn’t do something to offset the negative press of firing a black coach, their recruiting would suffer heavily. The same will happen to Auburn unless they change their tune.

I’m telling you, if parents or people called to boycott from Auburn Football, by sending recruits to other schools, it will hit Auburn right in the mouth. And I say this sadly, because I LIKED Auburn, especially when they had Bowden on the team as the head coach, and went undefeated but were not eligible for a bowl. I LIKE the Tigers.

But I do not like what they are doing, and I fear it may be by design. I am not saying to go out and hire any black head coach for the sake of hiring them, I am saying compare merits, and hire the BEST MAN FOR THE JOB.

Not by color, but by merit. Be a man Auburn, not a coward.

California vs Miami in the Emerald Bowl

Emerald Bowl

Miami (Fla) vs. California

Am I right, or is there only four bowls in the great state of California? Texas has I think 5 bowls, Florida seven and California has four, making almost half of all the bowls this year.

And this bowl involves two BCS conferences, both located on opposite ends of the nation. Miami from the ACC and California from the Pac-10...quite possibly the two furthest teams apart on post season if you don’t include Hawaii (but don’t quote me on that).

This is a strange matchup, because in years past when you think of Miami, you think of a National Powerhouse, a team that always factored in the National Championship, but in years of late, that has not been so much the truth. But in rebuilding, you see that there is some evidence that this team has promise.

And what of California? Granted much of the East Coast don’t get to see Cal much, and because of that there is a lot of “east coast bias” against Pac-10 teams, but this is a credible team. Let’s look at the resumes of both schools and see how each team got to this very spot.

Let’s start with California, out of the Pac-10. Most times when you talk of this conference, most people think only of USC and their dominance of the conference. It just seemed that California knew that they had to play a few teams outside the West Coast to gain some early respect, and did so by having Michigan State visit them, and defeating them 38-31. This was a strong win already, and was enhanced just a bit by crushing Washington State, a conference foe, 66-3.

But it was the cross-country trip to Maryland where they learned that they were not unstoppable, especially the record of football games (college and pro) of West Coast teams traveling to the East Coast. In a loss to Maryland 35-27, it seemed that Cal was going to have to rely on the strength of the Pac-10 to keep the credit it had earned.

A win vs. non-conference foe Colorado State seemed to prepare the Golden Bears for their second conference win against Arizona State at home. They were looking pretty good at 4-1 until they loss their second road trip to Arizona 42-27. But one conference loss isn’t bad at all, so there was still hope.

Their next game vs. UCLA was a good test, because at the time many didn’t know what UCLA team was going to show up, and it worked in Cal’s favor, stomping the Bruins 41-20. But NOW things were going to get tough. California had three straight games against three ranked conference foes…the entire season for the Golden Bears would be decided in this strip of time.

The first game vs. then #24 Oregon gave Cal great hope, beating the Ducks at home, 26-16. But the next two games were away, and Cal already had 2 losses on the road…they would get two more, losing to then #7 USC 17-3, and then to #23 Oregon State 34-21.

At 6-4, the slumping Golden Bears had already qualified for a bowl but needed to gain momentum before the post season. This came with the final two games against slumping Stanford and winless Washington, both of which California defeated with little problem.

Half of the teams California played are in a bowl, and nearly all of those were ranked some time this season. Cal defeated two of those six, but played well against teams like USC, Oregon and Oregon State.

On the other side, Miami comes from the competitive ACC, and started out a little rocky. An early win against Charleston Southern didn’t mean much, but the loss to state rival Florida, then ranked #5, was important. Losing 26-3 meant that there was much work for this Miami team to be recognized as a top 25 team.

This seemed to be what Miami was trying to do when they went to Texas A&M and captured a win 41-23, but was lost the next two games in conference play. In two embarrassing HOME games, Miami lost to UNC 28-24 and to state rival Florida State 41-39. At 2-3, there seemed to be a lot of concern for the Hurricanes.

But the season didn’t go completely south, as the team found courage in non-conference game, in Central Florida, winning 20-14. It was the spark the Hurricanes needed, as they went on to win four straight conference games. Beating Duke 49-31 was pretty much expected, but the win against Wake Forest 16-10 gave the team hope.

Miami would go on and play two close games vs. Virginia and Virginia Tech, but would beat them both. At 7-3, they were already qualified for a bowl…it’s just as well since they lost their two remaining games, one to Georgia Tech 41-23, and then to NC State 38-28, both being road games.

At least 7 teams on Miami’s schedule will be in a bowl, so there is no doubt that this team had a very difficult season. And further, it wasn’t like they were blown out too many times, this is a team that can hang in there.

So, who has the better chance to win? Strength of schedule always plays a part, but to me it seems that California is closer to making that next step, Miami can get there, but maybe not this year. Maybe close, who can tell, but I like this matchup. I say California by a field goal, but as I said before, who can tell…..

Wisconsin vs Florida State in Champs Bowl

Champs Sports Bowl

Wisconsin vs. Florida State

This is one of seven bowl games played in the state of Florida, and it seems obvious that a Florida team would be in it. I mean, a lot of these bowls were created with certain regional teams in mind, but at the same time, many bowls are held out of the “cold zones” to entice fans of northern states to come on down and “warm up” a bit.

No sin in that, especially when you have an entire conference like the Big 10 up there. Those guys deserve some of that warm sunshine or warmer temps too, right? Thus the game we have, Wisconsin vs. Florida State.

This is a good matchup, between BCS bowl teams, and is actually a very interesting story within itself if you look at the resumes of both teams. Let’s start with Wisconsin out of the Big 10.

There was a lot of talk that the Big 10 would have a team in the National Championship, and there was much talk that Wisconsin would be a top 10 team for sure. There were high expectations as the team started out 1-0 by beating Akron 38-17, then capturing their second win against Marshall 51-14. Everything was working smoothly for this team, and it seemed this might be the second best team out of the Big 10.

A trip to Fresno State, then ranked in the top 25, and a win there, gave a lot of weight to the Badgers team as they were now 3-0, looking for more wins as they entered the conference schedule. With lowly Michigan on the ropes, it should have been an easy win to start the conference season right.

Nope.

In a stunning game, Wisconsin lost to Michigan 27-25 and may have lost more in their spirits. An embarrassing loss lead the Badgers into two more top 25 matchups back to back, neither of which they could overcome. A loss to then #14 Ohio State 20-17 and then a loss to then #6 Penn State 48-7 broke their spirits. In three conference games back to back to back, they lost them all, dropping to 3-3. No BCS hopes, perhaps no BCS bowl either.

And it got worse as they lost to Iowa 38-16 as it seemed that Wisconsin hit rock bottom. Whatever goals this team had, they were gone. All that was left was to TRY to get to a bowl, to salvage a disappointing season.

This turnaround started with a win over Illinois, but was stopped again with a loss to top 25 foe Michigan State 25-24. At 4-5, Wisconsin needed at least two more wins to become bowl eligible, with only 3 games left. It seemed they started to get it together, with a win over Indiana 55-20 and then Minnesota 35-32 to finally qualify for a bowl. Their final game against Cal-Poly seemed to show the problems the Badgers still had, barely beating this team in OT 36-35.

Five teams were ranked throughout the course of the year, but Wisconsin beat only one, that being Minnesota. But there were several close games, proving that this team can compete. We shall see.

Florida State used to be the king of the ACC, dominating it every year and sweeping their conference foes away like dust. It was always the “big” game against Florida that was larger than the conference itself, even though Florida was from the SEC. But things have changed for this team, not many being good.

There was no great expectation for Florida State to win it all, but maybe to challenge for the ACC title. But the way the Seminoles went about it seemed… odd.

The first game of the young season pitted them against Western Carolina University…MY old stomping grounds, and they were pulverized 69-0...ouch. But here is something odd… most teams play ONE Division 1AA team… but Florida State scheduled two in a row. Playing UTC and beating them 46-7 made it look like FSU was scoring without measure. Some were even talking of their greatness.

But this came down to earth quickly on the first REAL game, against Wake Forest, where they lost 12-3. Amazing, they scored over 100 against lesser foes but could only manage 3 against a real Division I foe.

But it seemed to wake up the Seminoles as they began a four game winning streak. Rebounding against Colorado at home 39-21, then winning two away games against Miami 41-39 and against NC State 26-17 had them in the right direction. A big win over Virginia Tech brought the Seminoles to 6-1, and 3-1 in conference play. They were now being mentioned as one of the elite ACC teams to beat.

Florida State then fell into a checkered finish, wining one, losing the next to finish the season. A tough loss to Georgia Tech away 31-28 led to a win over troubled Clemson 41-27 before repeating the trend, losing to Boston College 27-17 in their home, and then winning against ranked Maryland 27-3. The final game of the season, against Florida, wasn’t much of a battle, losing 45-14, but the Seminoles did manage to qualify for a bowl, and have a pretty good season.

At least eight teams on FSU’s schedule will be in a bowl, and at least 6 were ranked this year, this was a very tough schedule, excluding the two Southern Conference teams at the beginning of the year. The Seminoles had a very tough season, playing through the very competitive ACC and playing a potential National Champion.. They are quite battle tested.

Of the two teams, one could argue that Wisconsin has underachieved, even though they did play a tough schedule, but Florida State’s schedule was, in my opinion, a bit harder. Coming out of the ACC with just a few losses is not bad, but one wonders if this team is as good as the record. We have not seen the Florida State of old, but then again, where has Wisconsin gone?

In a game in Florida State’s…well… state, I think the Seminoles are favored, but not by any large stretch of the imagination. We will see if Wisconsin can start to regain the respect they had at the beginning of the year. I think this will be a very nice game to watch, with Florida State slightly favored. We shall see.

UNC vs West Virginia in Car Care Bowl

Meineke Car Care Bowl

West Virginia vs. UNC

So it seems that West Virginia has to return to the state where they were embarrassed earlier this year…

Two teams with identical records, both 8-4. One team was destined for greatness this year, but fell short, another team snuck up on their conference, only to fall at the end.

This is actually a pretty good matchup that makes sense on several levels. Because this bowl takes place in Charlotte, NC, it makes it super-easy to invite an ACC team since all four teams qualified for a bowl (Wake Forest, NC State, UNC and ….oops…not Duke).

But it also makes some sense for West Virginia, since they have actually been in the state earlier this year, losing to ECU. So a return trip isn’t so bad, and not so far away for the Mountaineers.

So as they say in boxing, let’s look at the “Tale of the tape”

West Virginia comes in with great expectations, but losing a great running back. How would they start the season, being a team that could possibly make a major BCS bowl, or dare we say, the National Championship?

The win over Villanova 48-21 was the usual “tune up” and it was expected that the next couple of games would be the same…but not quite.

A stunning loss in Greenville to upstart (and eventual Conference USA Champs) East Carolina crippled their National Title hopes very early…and a second loss to Colorado destroyed any hope of it at all.

Now 1-2, this looked like a team in turmoil and disarray. Unless West Virginia find a way to get their team back on track, there was no hope of even fighting for a conference title and that coveted BCS Bowl birth. Already there were words spoken of how soft the Big East was, as well as the ACC…some had mentioned the desire to leave out such teams if they cannot keep a team in the top 10...

(foolish words, most spoken by even smaller conferences who happened to have a team ranked high off very weak schedules….)

But West Virginia began to pull it together, beating Marshall (what happened to THAT team) and the third win of the year over struggling Rutgers. It would appear that their wins and losses corresponded to their away and home games. They lost to Colorado and ECU away, and all other games were at home. Perhaps that trend will continue…

Wins over Syracuse and Auburn (incidentally both teams ended up getting rid of their coaches) pulled the West Virginia record to 5-2. But they needed to validate this new direction of winning by beating a quality team…away from home.

That win came when they defeated Connecticut 35-13, as the Huskies were currently ranked at the time. This was a signature win, and at 6-2 the Mountaineers were flying high…

Until they lost to Cincinnati, at home, in overtime, 26-23.

West Virginia managed to split the next two away games, beating suffering Louisville and losing to ranked Pittsburgh, before ending the season with a win over South Florida, at home 13-7.

Of the four losses, the one to Colorado is not well tolerated, but losing to ECU (Conference USA Champs), Cincinnati (Big East Champs) and Pittsburgh, are very quality losses…if you have to lose. Six teams will be in a bowl off this schedule, and West Virginia beat half of them.

The Tarheels of UNC won’t have to travel so far to get to Charlotte, and come in bringing an impressive 8-4 record, although it seemed they choked down the stretch.

( I say this being a Tarheel fan…)

The ACC was perhaps the MOST complex conference in Division I. Many claim it was “soft” but that isn’t true, there were numerous great teams. I am not saying they are the best, because they are not, but from top to bottom, they had more to offer than any other conference.

UNC started out strong, beating McNeese State, although barely, and then got a surprising win vs. Rutgers on ESPN…BIG. A 44-12 beat down set the Big East back a few years with that embarrassing loss. So now things were looking good for UNC with Virginia Tech coming off an embarrassing loss to ECU, surely they can run the record to 3-0?

Nope. Back to earth with a 20-17 loss, although it was a great game.

Now 2-1, some thought this might be a good year for the Tarheels, and a big win AT Miami was the beginning of three straight wins. And at the moment, UNC had 2 conference wins, which is always good.

But it wasn’t until UNC knocked off UCONN while they were ranked that had people looking at Chapel Hill as a possible power in the ACC this year. And when they beat storied Notre Dame, there was some national attention placed on the Tarheels. No, this was not a BCS Championship team, but hey, a BCS Bowl??

It was expected that UNC would win at Virginia because the Cavaliers were having such a bad year… but that’s why you have to play every game. In over time UNC lost to Virginia 16-13, and brought the team back to earth again, and reminding them that they were not going to sweep the ACC schedule.

But this team was not about to fold the tents, there was a conference they could win, and they wanted it. Two great wins over Boston College and then ranked Georgia Tech had UNC the talk of the ACC with a 7-2 record, but both losses coming from their conference.

Already qualified for a bowl, perhaps the team got overconfident when they traveled to Maryland, and lost 17-15. But surely they would be able to beat lowly NC State, a team that needed to win all their remaining games just to qualify for a bowl…

But alas, the Wolfpack crushed UNC in their own house, 41-10. Something was going on with the mindset of the Tarheels, and it seemed that once they secured post season, they relaxed. This was NOT the way to finish a season, and they had to get it together against Duke…I mean, surely they can beat Duke..

Even at Duke this should have been an easier game, but UNC wins only by 8 points, and limps into post season against West Virginia.

NINE of the 12 teams on UNC’s schedule will be in a bowl, a very strong schedule. But is this team “burned out”? To be sure, they overachieved, and West Virginia may have underachieved; will we see the balance of that in this bowl game?

This is a very good game to watch, and I think West Virginia has an advantage, being a more veteran team with a great quarterback. But West Virginia has already tasted defeat in the state, and UNC is practically home…how will this play out…

Florida Atlantic vs Central Michigan in MC Bowl

2008 Motor City Bowl

Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan

The MAC gave the nation a nice ride with Ball State, but there were several other teams that had pretty good records, one being Central Michigan. Their reward is the post season, and a game near home against one of 200 different Florida teams in Division I…

(just kidding, there are only 149 division I teams in Florida)

This bowl game matches up a team from the Sun Belt vs. a team from the MAC, and on paper, this really looks like a tough game for Florida Atlantic. But for sake of argument, let’s look at the resumes of both teams:

As mentioned, the Sun Belt gives Florida Atlantic to this bowl. Consider that in the FBS (Division I), there are 11 conferences and 4 independent teams. Of those conferences, the Sun Belt is almost nationally known as the least of the FBS conferences. If there was a second weakest, it would be a nice debate between Conference USA and the MAC.

And from this Sun Belt Conference comes a 6-6 team, Florida Atlantic Owls. The started out the year against then #11 Texas, losing big (52-10). But that was to be expected.

Their first win of the season came against UAB, which is a decent win for this team against a Conference USA team. But the next four games would be quite brutal…

A shutout to Michigan State, 17-0, then a big loss to Minnesota 37-3 before a third away game loss in as many weeks to Middle Tennessee State 14-13.

Things were not looking good for the Owls, now 1-4, and all losses away. It seemed that what they needed was some “home cooking”. But that was not to be, losing to Troy at home 30-17. Now at 1-5, the season for the Florida Atlantic Owls looked bleak. Already two games down in conference, only one win, what was there left to play for?

But this is a team with resolve, and showed that in the next game…and several after that.

Turning things around, the next win was on the road, beating Western Kentucky 24-20, then beating Louisiana-Monroe 29-28. The winning continued with a victory over North Texas 46-13, and against Louisiana-Lafayette 40-29. All of a sudden things were turning around for the Owls, and were now 5-5 with 2 games remaining.

They would split games, losing to Arkansas State before winning in overtime against Florida International 57-50. But it was enough, they were going bowling. Six teams on the schedule will be in bowls, and the Owls went 1-5 against them.

So what of Central Michigan?

An 8-4 team out of the MAC, this team faced many tough challenges throughout the season. A win against Eastern Illinois started the season as expected until they ran into then #2 ranked Georgia, losing 56-17.

Two away games were split as the Chippewas won against Ohio 31-28, but turned around and lost to the Big 10 foe Purdue 35-25. With a record of 2-2, they were doing fine, as whispers around the conference began to swell about Ball State….

But Central Michigan would then go on an incredible SIX game winning streak, dispatching every team in their way, regardless of what conference they came out of.

Buffalo fell to the Chippewas 27-25 as did Temple (Owls…interesting…) 24-14. The winning continued as Central bests Western Michigan 38-28 and raising their record to 5-2, and starting to get a little attention as well.

Three away games added to the greatness of this team, beating on the road, Toledo by one point, Big 10 foe Indiana by 3, and Northern Illinois in overtime by 3 points. It had all set up a HUGE game at home, with ranked Ball State (and conference rival) coming to their house.

But alas, it was not in the Chippewas’ favor, losing 31-24, and then losing the final game of the year to Eastern Michigan 56-52. Half of the season was faced playing teams that would eventually go to a bowl, so just as Florida Atlantic, they are battle tested.

But who is in favor? It kinda seems obvious.

Remind me where they are playing again…Detroit? As in MICHIGAN?

Central Michigan may be considered the 4th best team in the MAC, following Buffalo, Ball State and Western Michigan. Florida Atlantic was the fourth in a weaker conference, this could be a blow out. The Chippewas have seen owls before, and beat them before, this could be a repeat…but then again, that’s why they PLAY the game.

Notre Dame vs Hawaii in Hawaii Bowl

2008 Hawaii Bowl

Hawaii vs. Notre Dame

In a bowl game that has a lot of people shaking their heads, this will be kinda interesting. This is a bowl that features two teams that have people asking, “what happened to these football programs?”

One team had huge success only a year ago, and has fallen off big time, the other known for winning, that has fallen off in the last several years. This is one of those bowls that was specifically made for Hawaii, and one that most any team would LOVE to take.

So how do these two teams stand up to one another. In most situations, it would be an easy guess to think that the great and powerful Notre Dame would be able to beat Hawaii…but is that true this year?

From the WAC comes Hawaii, a team that just last year enjoyed the best year EVER!. 12 wins, one loss, and that was in the bowl game. This team made history for the island and in the NCAA as one of a very few and select teams to go undefeated in the regular season. But turmoil came out of paradise when the head coach felt that he was not given enough support in recruiting, and decide that he would be better off somewhere else.

This story shocked the islands as they realized too late that because they never took care of the coach as they should have, and apparently held back on funding while ignoring his pleas for help. So after the best season Hawaii ever had, he decided to go in a new direction, and left for SMU. Personally, I side with the coach, and wish him well.

But in the wake, there was left a football team that was left in ashes, after such a wonderful season. So let’s look at the resumes of these two teams and see who has a chance of winning this bowl game, starting with the 7-6 Hawaii Warriors.

After coming off that historic season of 12-1, the season started rough losing to Florida 56-10. They were able to rebound for a moment, beating Weber State36-17 before the wheels came off the season.

A loss at Oregon State and a conference loss to San Jose State crippled the team only 4 games into the young season. All hopes of any BCS repeats were gone, but most folks knew that was the case from the end of last year.

At 1-3, the Warriors were playing for pride now, and a hope that they can qualify for a bowl. Strange to say even though the WAC conference games were quite young. But things seemed to change when they defeated then ranked #22 Fresno State 32-29 in overtime. Beating this team meant that there was still some shot for the WAC Championship.

Beating Louisiana Tech helped further the cause, but the ride ended when they lost at Boise State by 20. With two losses in the conference, it would be impossible to win the conference title, so they were back to just trying to qualify for a bowl. A close win over Nevada and a loss to Utah State put them in dire straits, needing 6 wins to qualify, but were currently 4-5.

Was it then fortune that Hawaii would play three of the worst teams in the Western US in New Mexico State, Idaho and Washington State? Three wins from those three teams gave the Warriors a 7-4 record and now qualified for a bowl. All that remains was to play Big East Champions Cincinnati, who were currently ranked, to prove that this team didn’t fall off the face of the earth.

But that was not to be, as they lost in a close game, and fell to 7-5.

Hawaii has had a very tough year, and if I am correct, 8 of the teams they have played will be in post season…a very tough season for any team. But of those teams, Hawaii was only able to beat 2 of them. They are 5-2 on the island, and 2-4 away, so the advantage seems to be with them at home on this bowl….

Now for Notre Dame…oh boy….

This is a football team in near complete disarray. Once revered as one of the greatest college football organizations in the history of the sport, we have seen a complete collapse because of lack of commitment to real coaching, and giving in to rich alumni. Whatever the rich people want, they seem to get, even if it completely oversteps the boundaries of what is ethical or competitive.

There seems to be an air of superiority of this team, which is technically in the Big East in everything EXCEPT football, as they seem to like to stay independent. This same mentality seems to be the downfall of this team as they have suffered numerous underachieving seasons under three different head coaches. And yet, they still have not figured out how to get back into the National Title hunt.

Coming in with an embarrassing 6-6 record, this team started out with a win vs. San Diego State and captured their first win of the year 21-13. You’d think the great Notre Dame would win that by a larger margin, but there it was. It was followed by a second win over equally failing Michigan 35-17, which had some to wonder if Notre Dame was really back, or if Michigan was really that bad.

The first true test was against Michigan State, since the first two games was at home, now the Irish had to travel to prove their record, and thus got their first loss 23-7. No matter, there was still time to make the BCS since as an independent they had special privileges should they win 8 or more games…

Adding wins over Purdue and Stanford, both being home games, started to get some people voting Notre Dame in the bottom of the top 25 at 4-1. If they could go and beat currently ranked UNC in Chapel Hill, then surely they must be respected…

But they lost 29-24, and were quickly flushed out of the elite teams of the nation. It seemed at the time that Notre Dame was only beating bad teams at home, and losing to good teams away. That trend had to change if they hoped to get in the BCS, or even qualify for a bowl.

This was easily cured by going to hapless Washington and beating the former coach of Notre Dame, and curing the illness of losing away games. Now at 5-2, the Irish were still looking decent for maybe a BCS bowl.

But now they had their first REAL test at home…playing a ranked foe in Pittsburgh, and it showed the underside of Notre Dame as they lost 36-33 in overtime. A tough match but it still seemed to prove that the schedule of Notre Dame was favored for them, and that they could not win the “big” games. This was further proven when they went away to play ranked Boston College and lost 17-0.

Now at 5-4, Notre Dame needed only one more win to qualify, but also needed to prove to the nation that this was not a team that only won against “cupcakes”. To this point, beating undefeated Washington said nothing, and the home games were against lesser foes. They needed a quality win.

This was partly achieved when they won at Navy 27-21...although they almost choked up that game as well. So now at 6-4, Notre Dame was certainly in a bowl, and now had a chance to go 8-4 and get a top 25 ranking, as well as possibly compete in a BCS bowl.

But they forgot to finish the season, and completely overlooked Syracuse, losing 24-23. Now the critics were out in full force, citing that Notre Dame was clearly not an elite team, and the criticisms caused major talk about the head coach’s job. Some thought the only thing that could salvage this year was to win the last game…over USC.

Yeah, right. They lost 38-3 and were ran out of California on a rail.

Even though half of the teams Notre Dame played will be in a bowl, Notre Dame only beat 1 of them, and the teams they also beat has a total of 14 wins (outside Navy), meaning the teams this team beat had an average of 2 and a half wins…not quite top 25 caliber.

So who has the advantage? Neither team is having a good year, but I think this bowl was a reward to Notre Dame, and a chance to sell the alumni tickets to the islands. Always rewarding the rich I see, but these bowl games are businesses. Can I see Notre Dame losing? Yeah, because they have shown nothing all year. But Hawaii has been equally disappointing. This game might actually be competitive for awhile, but if I had to pick, I might say that Notre Dame has a slight advantage since Hawaii could be in awe of the fading aura that is Notre Dame. But it could work against Notre Dame too, as teams that travel to paradise often forget the job they came to do. Notre Dame by a field goal maybe….

The 2000 New Orleans Bowl, Troy vs Southern Miss

2008 New Orleans Bowl

Southern Mississippi vs. Troy

Correction to make: I made an earlier blog about the New Orleans Bowl featuring Boise State vs. TCU, I was looking at two different bowls and that is incorrect, they (Boise State and TCU) are not playing in the New Orleans Bowl, rather the Poinsetta Bowl. Don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote that blog, wasn’t paying attention.

Anyway, the actual bowl features Southern Mississippi and Troy, although perhaps it would have been better if they did have Boise State and TCU.

Neither of these two teams saw the top 25 all year, so there isn’t a lot of “star power” involved in this bowl, but it is still worth watching. Let’s compare the resumes of these two schools, shall we?

Troy comes out of the Sun Belt Conference, perhaps the weakest of all Division I football conferences, not to take away from any of those teams. An 8-4 record overall, and 6-1 in conference, this team started out with a win over Middle Tennessee State. Their second game was supposed to have been against then #7 LSU, but a hurricane set that date back. We certainly hope that all is well with all those who still live in that area, as it changed the dates of many football games, as well as the lives of those in that area.

Troy picked up the season with a lop-sided win over Alcorn State before losing their first game of the year to then #13 Ohio State. Even in loss, this was not bad in losing only by 18 points. But the schedule didn’t get any easier, facing Oklahoma State and losing 55-24. This was before the rest of the nation started to see how powerful the upper class of the Big 12 were.

As Troy got into the conference schedule, they racked up 3 wins over Florida Atlantic, Florida International and North Texas, bringing their record to 5-2. Not bad, and close to qualifying for a bowl already.

The Trojans would be brought down to earth with a conference loss to Louisiana-Monroe, by a single point. Troy would rebound, winning against Western Kentucky before the make up game against ranked LSU, and lost only by 9 points.

Troy wrapped up the season with two more wins, allowing only 12 points total in those two games, while scoring 83. This team proved that it is worthy of being the Sun Belt Champions.

This team has played 3 major teams, and although lost to them all, did play well against Ohio State and LSU…keep an eye on these Trojans…

Southern Miss comes from Conference USA with a 6-6 record overall, and 4-4 in conference play. This is a team that is supposedly going in a “new direction” after getting rid of the best coach they ever had.

Pardon me folks, but I don’t understand how the alumni of Southern Miss could possibly think that this is BETTER than what they had. This is what happens when a school gets too arrogant about what they think they should be accomplishing, and when they listen too much to rich alum…case in point, Notre Dame.

Anyway, the Golden Eagles started off their season defeating Louisiana-Lafayette before losing to then #9 Auburn…who knew Auburn would crash the way they did?

Southern Miss feasted on a Sun Belt team to bring their record to 2-1 before losing to a disappointing Marshall team. At 2-2, nobody would be talking about Southern Miss in the top 25 this year, but there was still some possible hope to compete for the Conference USA Championship, and at least to make a bowl.

But when it rains it pours in Mississippi, as that loss to Marshall was the first of FIVE straight losses…so much for that new direction the fired their former coach for….

Southern Miss lost to UTEP by three in overtime, loses to ranked Boise State by a couple of touchdowns, loses to Rice in a high scoring game by 5 and to Memphis by 6. In that 5 game losing streak, they allowed almost 180 points, gaining almost 115. It was becoming apparent that Southern Miss had no “D”.

But offense they did have, and showed it on the next game against UAB, winning 70-14, in an attempt to get back on track and to a bowl game. At 3-6, they needed to win out just to qualify. A close win vs. Central Florida put them at 4-6 and the hopes were starting to rise. A lot rode on the next game against ECU, a game they could not afford to lose.

But lose they did not, defeating the eventual Conference USA Champs and then beating lowly SMU to qualify for the bowl they now have.

At least 5 teams will be in a bowl, but ECU was the only one that the Golden Eagles defeated. So having said all this, who has the advantage?

Most people don’t think that the Sun Belt can really compete with the other conferences of the Division I, but one has to look at the fact that Troy has played some very tough competitors…they could be battle tested against a team such as Southern Miss. No doubt they Trojans won’t be intimidated, but they still have to win.

Southern Miss has had a “rebuilding year” and it might be that way for years to come. Their only real credits this year was scoring 70 on a 4-8 team, and beating ECU, who would go on to win the conference title. You almost want to say that this Southern Miss is playing a good Division IAA team, but we know from recent history that those teams have talent too… ask App State. But Troy is division I, and with their record, they may well prove that they, as well as the Sun Belt, belong exactly where they are, in Division I, or the FBS, or whatever they are gonna call it.

I think Southern Miss may win, but to be honest, I am pulling for Troy. We will see.

Boise State vs TCU in New Orleans Bowl

2008 New Orleans Bowl

Boise State vs. TCU

Now this ought to be good!

The New Orleans Bowl will feature two very good programs, and in my opinion one of the best matchups outside the BCS. Undefeated Boise State vs. TCU out of the Mountain West, with two losses.

Before I begin, I want to say that I STILL think Boise State should not have taken this game. The non-BCS conferences always whine about how they are not getting respect from the BCS conferences…well, why don’t you PLAY one in a bowl? TCU is a great team, I will not argue that, but refresh my memory of which conference they come from…and ask yourself if that is a BCS conference or not?

Anyway, this is still a great matchup, who has the advantage? Let’s look at some resumes:

Boise State comes from the WAC, and have been the only team worth talking about from the entire conference. Their season started against Idaho State and continued when they defeated Bowling Green and then shocked people with a win over #17 Oregon.

It was then that people started looking at the chances of the Broncos busting into the BCS, but the season was still very young. The Broncos of Boise State gave up only 17 points the next three games, winning over Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss and Hawaii, pulling their record to 6-0.

Three more conference games were no match for Boise State, crushing San Jose State, New Mexico State and Utah State, and anybody else with a “state” in their name. At 9-0 there were serious talks about whether this team could, or should get into the BCS. But there were some major factors. One, Utah was still undefeated, and two, the strength of schedule counted against them. Sure they beat Oregon, but is that ALL you beat?

As if trying to impress voters by running up the score, Boise State continued to crush foes, putting over 145 points in the final three games over Idaho, Nevada and Fresno State. A perfect 12-0...but alas, no room for them in the BCS.

Almost half the teams that Boise State beat will be in a bowl, and they beat them all…but what they cannot shake is that the strength of schedule was incredibly low, and what certainly kept them from jumping over Utah.

So what of TCU; are they any better?

Wasn’t it several years ago when MWC and WAC were actually one conference, a SUPER conference? Perhaps if they had never broken up, they could be in the conversation for a BCS Championship. As it stands, TCU represents the Mountain West, finishing second, behind undefeated Utah.

TCU started out very hot, scoring over 120 points in their first three games, although it was against New Mexico, Stephen F Austin and Stanford. There were early talks that this MIGHT be the team to watch out for, and the Horned Frogs continued to stoke the fires by beating SMU 48-7

The big test was against Oklahoma…and the test ended with the Sooners winning by 25 points.

With National Title hopes smashed, TCU still had a chance at a BCS bowl if they won out. They defeated San Diego State and Colorado State before a big game vs. BYU. This was a HUGE game because it could potentially decide who would get that BCS bowl. In the end, it was TCU, proving how great they were by beating BYU 32-7.

So that BCS bowl hope was still alive as they continue to mow down conference foes Wyoming and UNLV. Then came the big game vs. Utah…a major game that had all the implications on it for national exposure and prominence. In a surprisingly low scoring game, TCU lost by only 3 points… but it might as well been 30.

With BCS bowl hopes dashed, they could only finish as best they could, beating a good Air Force team to end the season. Five teams TCU has faced will see post season, losing only to undefeated Utah and potential National Champion Oklahoma… not a bad two to lose to.

So, who wins?

On strength of conferences, I would rank the MWC as the best conference outside the BCS conferences. I might put the WAC second, just slightly ahead of Conference USA. That means that I think TCU’s record is better by competition than Boise State, but not by much.

The BEST team Boise State has faced this year was Oregon…the BEST team TCU faced was Oklahoma AND UTAH. And here is something else… outside of Oklahoma, NOBODY has scored more than 14 against TCU. This team gives up about 10 points a game, a pretty good defense that has seen very tough competition.

Even though Boise State has a great offense, their defense can be exposed. A narrow win over Nevada could have been a sign of a weakness, but this Boise State team has scored bunches of points over their foes.

I personally think TCU has the advantage because of strength of schedule, and has played tougher opponents than Boise State. A number of Boise State’s wins were against below par teams, but who can question the fact that they DID win those games? I mean, that is what you are supposed to do, right?

This will be a classic game, one that I just cannot miss. I think TCU wins this, but I wonder if it will be a shootout or a close game. Both teams are good in defense, but we are going to see true colors if they play to the level of their past schedule. I got TCU by 10 points.

BYU vs Arizona Pioneer Bowl

2008 Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl

BYU vs. Arizona

You know, it must be pretty hard to sell tickets for a football game in LAS VEGAS…

I mean, I could think of 500 other things I could do instead of going to a college bowl game, but that is just me.

Anyway, this year’s Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl is kinda interesting. It puts together a Pac-10 team against a Mountain West team, which is actually a pretty interesting matchup.

From the Mountain West, we have BYU, who once was talked about a possible undefeated season, which has fallen slightly from grace, and Arizona, from the BCS Conference of the Pac-10. What are their credentials, and who shall win? Let’s look at some resumes.

The MWC has 5 teams that qualified for a bowl, and BYU is the third best out of the conference. In fact, they had a very good year, making noise as a possible undefeated team, and even a chance of forcing the BCS’s hand to put them in a National Championship if they had gone undefeated.

Their 6-2 record is blemished by only TCU and Utah, who are very good teams. Their first win over Northern Iowa was nothing to really put stock into, but then wins over not one, but TWO Pac-10 teams raised interest. When BYU beat Washington and UCLA, there was serious talk that this team was a force to be reckoned with…

Who knew how those same two Pac-10 teams would fall in the gutter?

A shutout on conference foe Wyoming, a win over Utah State from the WAC and another win over New Mexico gave this team a 6-0 start, and the sports media starting singing praises. It was quite possible that BYU was going to certainly be in a BCS bowl, and maybe, just maybe, challenge for a National Title.

Then the dream ended at TCU.

A 32-7 pounding proved that although BYU was good, they were not great enough to remain undefeated, and from there fell from grace. There would be no chance for a national championship for them, and now there was a race to see which non-BCS team would be the one to get that valuable BCS bowl bid. With TCU losing to Oklahoma, and BYU losing to TCU, it seemed that they had to fight to get that BCS spot.

BYU added three more wins, all over lesser foes like UNLV, San Diego State and Colorado State, before facing Air Force and beating them, leaving that last game of so much importance…against Utah. But it was not to be.

Four teams that was on BYU’s schedule will be in a bowl, and the Cougar’s record against them was 2-2. About par for the course, although I give BYU more credit than that.

From the Pac-10, we have Arizona, who was the least of the conference’s teams to qualify for a bowl. At 7-5, the Wildcats went 5-4 in conference play. Two quick wins over Idaho and Toledo were quickly forgotten when Arizona lost to New Mexico.

Three games in, and they were already in trouble.

And as if taking a cue from BYU, they also played UCLA and Washington, defeating them both. Even at 4-1, it wasn’t that impressive. It got worse when they faced and lost to Stanford and fell to 4-2.

Arizona needed a “signature win” to get back on pace, and they found it with a great win over then ranked California. The win put them at 5-2, just one win shy of qualifying for a bowl. But that would have to wait another week, as they lost to USC, only by one possession. There was still signs that this team could still get it together, and they showed it the next game, beating Washington State.

But the season didn’t end so well via the state of Oregon, as Arizona lost to both Oregon and Oregon State back to back. The Wildcats were able to salvage the season in a final win over Arizona State and limped into the post season.

Four teams on that schedule will be in post season, and Arizona’s record against them is 1-3, beating only California, although a good win.

So, who is better?

Well, for BOTH teams, beating UCLA or Washington means nothing since both of those squads stink this year (sadly spoken as a Bruin fan). But I have to wonder if BYU is more battle tested against strong foes than Arizona. Take away California, who else has Arizona beaten of quality? We know BYU lost to Utah and TCU, and has not defeated a ranked foe this year.

This is almost an even fight, but I can’t help but think the game favors BYU, who is quite familiar with the Pac-10. I think BYU wins this by two touchdowns…but we shall see.

2008 St. Petersburg Bowl

2008 St. Petersburg Bowl

Yeah, I know this has a longer name, but I am getting a bit sick of these sponsors and these long names. So I am just calling it the St. Petersburg Bowl, one of several bowl games played in the state of Florida.

It’s also another regional bowl, featuring teams close to the area. In this case, we have from the Big East, South Florida, and from Conference USA, Memphis. If you had to rank the bowls, this one is kinda where it is, near the bottom. If you were actually ran the bowls from the least desired up to the BCS bowls and the national championship, this bowl would be somewhere near the bottom. Why do I say that?

This bowl features a team from Conference USA that is 6-6, barely qualifying for a bowl, and South Florida with a 7-5 record and having a disappointing season. It was just last year where they were ranked almost the top team in the nation, and fell from grace. Even this year there was promise, but it never materialized.

But this is a nice matchup. Let’s look at both teams’ resume.

Memphis: As we said earlier, a 6-6 record, barely qualifying for a bowl in the soft Conference USA. Yeah, we know ECU beat West Virginia and Virginia Tech, but Memphis didn’t.

There is a strange pattern with this team, going by 3, 2 and 1. Memphis started out the season losing three straight, to Mississippi, Rice and Marshall. They then WON three games straight, over teams like Nicholls State, Arkansas State and UAB.

They then LOST two games in a row to Louisville and ECU, before switching around and winning two games over Southern Miss and SMU. It just seems like it was right for this team to then lose to Central Florida and win their final game vs. Tulane. Perhaps the best win of the year was against Southern Mississippi, who also finished 6-6.

Many will argue that the strength of schedule was incredibly low, and they have no real quality wins in the entire year. Very few teams on Memphis’ schedule will see post season, which makes the Tigers seem like a longshot to win this bowl.

So let’s look at South Florida’s resume:

South Florida started out like a house on fire, beating everybody in their way. Wins over Tennessee-Martin, then Central Florida, and the big win over ranked Kansas had the Bulls on their way. Knocking of Florida International and then NC State seemed to be good wins as they ran the record to 5-0. They looked like the Big East Champs after a month and a half.

Then Pittsburgh came over and ended the dream. South Florida tried to recover by knocking off basement-dwelling Syracuse, but it was never the same. They would then lose THREE straight, losing to Louisville, Cincinnati and Rutgers, before finding themselves in time to beat Connecticut before losing to West Virginia. What started out so great didn’t end so well, but they still qualified for a bowl.

Seven teams on South Florida’s schedule will be in a bowl, of those, South Florida beat 3 of them. This is still a good team, but they folded much like they did last year. They started out great, and shook the college world, then fell hard from grace.

Of these two teams, I think South Florida has a very strong upside and should be the easy favorite to win this one, especially in their home state. The Bulls have played and beaten quality teams. Consider that the best team Memphis beat was a 6-6 Southern Miss, while South Florida beat Kansas and once ranked Connecticut. To me it looks like a lop-sided game.

But Memphis has this thing about beating teams with “south” in them. They beat Southern Miss and SMU (Southern Methodist U), so maybe South Florida has their work cut out for them….

Hey, don’t laugh, didn’t ECU beat VIRGINIA Tech and West VIRGINIA? I mean, there’s some funny stuff going on here. But we will see when they play December 20th. Big East vs. Conference USA, an interesting matchup.

2008 New Mexico Bowl

2008 New Mexico Bowl

To many folks on the East Coast, this game is a question mark. We all heard of the “East Coast Bias” meaning that many on the eastern part of the US rarely hear about stuff on the west coast. Time zones and conference affiliations play a part in that.

So now you’ve got the 2008 New Mexico Bowl, played in…where else, Albuquerque, New Mexico, featuring Colorado State and Fresno State. Colorado State comes in as lowest Mountain West Conference team eligible for a bowl, while Fresno State limps in as the 5th out of 6 eligible teams out of the WAC. This game will be the second of 4 bowls on December 20th, and follows the Eaglebank Bowl. So, what do we know about these two teams, and who is favored?

From the MWC we have Colorado State, coming in at 6-6. This year has been pretty tough for the Rams, starting with the state rival loss to Colorado. The Rams were able to right the ship for a moment, beating Sacramento State and Houston, before losing to California in an away game. Interesting set, 2 wins at home, two losses away.

A third win at home vs. UNLV would be the last they would see for awhile, with big games vs. ranked foes TCU and Utah, losing both of those. There was a brief air of hope when they defeated San Diego State, but was quickly dashed when they faced and lost to BYU and then Air Force.

At 4-6, Colorado State needed to win their last two games just to qualify for a bowl, and they were able to do just that with wins over New Mexico and Wyoming, putting themselves in a position to get to the bowl they now have.

While there are several teams on Colorado State’s schedule that will see bowls and have been ranked, only Houston lost to Colorado State. They defeated the 4 worst teams in the conference, along with said Houston and Sacramento State. Many will severely question the strength of this team in the upcoming bowl.

But what of Fresno State?

The Bulldogs come in 7-5, and having a very tough season as well. Many thought this would be one of the two best teams out of the WAC. Scheduling Rutgers and Wisconsin seemed to be very tough games to start the season, and all seemed well when they traveled across the country to beat Rutgers. But a home loss to then top ranked Wisconsin raised an eyebrow or two. But that was seen to be a hard game to win anyway, I mean, Wisconsin seemed to be poised to fight for the Big 10 Championship.

Who knew?

Fresno State built some ground by beating Toledo and UCLA, both away. This was quickly becoming a team people were talking about. That loss to Wisconsin was only by 3 points, they could easily be 4-0 and possibly ranked. But then came the overtime loss to Hawaii, which cut the Bulldogs out of any BCS chats. They would have to try to shoot for lower goals with 2 losses.

With two games versus basement teams in Utah State and Idaho, the record improved to 5-2 and it seemed Fresno State was making a comeback, until the two game slide to Louisiana Tech and Nevada. Two conference losses punched a hole in their hearts, and was making it hard for the Bulldogs to even qualify for a bowl. Now at 5-4, the Bulldogs had to concentrate on just making a bowl…any bowl.

During the course of the year, many were building the Fresno State vs. Boise State as the “BIG” game, but with Fresno State struggling to just make it to a bowl, and Boise State trying to get in the BCS, they were worlds apart. Even though Fresno State beat New Mexico State and San Jose State, these were two teams at the bottom of the conference. Sure, Fresno State was now qualified for a bowl, but could they justify the season with a win over highly ranked Boise State?

Nope. They lost 61-10.

So Fresno State plays two teams that have been ranked sometime this year, and lost to them both. Only one team, Rutgers, will see post season of the teams Fresno State has played. This spells out a team that just didn’t have it this year.

And so you have the New Mexico Bowl, with two teams that have had a rough season, and both probably lucky to even BE in a bowl. Yet with all the difficulties they have had, this is still a time of hope. This is a bowl where you get to make one more statement, either that of success or failure. Nobody wants to go out a loser, so you can believe both Colorado State and Fresno State will bring their best to this game. If there were several other games on at the same time, I MIGHT not watch this. Not out of disrespect, but because there would likely be a better game on. But unless the Eaglebank Bowl goes too long, this bowl will be the only one on. I will watch it and enjoy it.

Good luck Fresno State and Colorado State.

2008 Eaglebank Bowl

2008 Eaglebank Bowl

One of the first bowls of the season features a game with a team that was slated long ago for this bowl. The Eaglebank Bowl was one of just a couple of games where half of the matchup was already decided…if they qualified for a bowl.

That team was Navy. The only other bowl with a specific name on it would have been any bowl in the state of Hawaii, because you KNOW the home team would have been invited unless they were going to a greater bowl.

So we have Navy vs. an ACC foe in Wake Forest. Hmm, interesting. Anyway, let’s look at these two teams, and who may win.

Wake Forest comes in off the strength of the ACC schedule, but at the same time, underachieving in the season that could have been. Wake Forest won big in their first game vs. Baylor, then knocked off Mississippi… interesting, an ACC team beating a Big 12 and SEC team back to back…

But I digress…

When Wake Forest knocked off then ranked Florida State, people started singing hymns about the Demon Deacons. But there seemed to be questions about the offence of Wake Forest.

Then comes Navy, beating the Deacons in their home 24-17. YEP, these two teams have already met before. So I guess you wonder why they would match up a bowl of two teams that have already played? Let’s think about that later.

After Wake Forest defeats a troubled Clemson, they lose two straight away games before rebounding against Duke. Another home game win vs. Virginia before losing again on the road to NC State. Tack on one more loss to Boston College before Wake Forest finds themselves again to beat Vanderbilt at the end of the season.

I think 5 of those teams had been ranked during the course of the year, and to their credit, Wake Forest is 3-2 against those teams. Other than Baylor, Duke and Virginia, I think all those other teams are in bowl season too. This proved to be a tough schedule for Wake Forest, and to come out of it 7-5 is actually quite impressive.

Now, for Navy…

This team has no conference to call home, so we are going off the strength of an independent schedule. One of only 4 independent teams in the nation, Navy started off with a win vs. Towson before losing two in a row to Ball State and Duke….

You lost to DUKE?????

Both games were away games, and we now know that Ball State turned out to be pretty good this year. But losing to Duke in football…wow. This put Navy behind the curve to qualify for their own bowl unless they turned things around. And turn around they did.

Their next 3 games were very tough, and yet, Navy won all three. Beating Rutgers when they were down was opportunistic, but knocking off ranked Wake Forest….

Wake Forest? Isn’t that who they are playing in a bowl…

And a third win against Air Force put the Midshipmen at 4-2, and looking pretty good. Then comes ranked Pittsburgh to hand Navy their 3rd loss of the year. I remember personally blogging about whether this team could actually make the bowl, because there were some concerns.

With 5 games left, only Notre Dame seemed to poise any problems, even though they were having major issues (ha!). Navy won their next two games vs. SMU and Temple, which should have been the case anyway. While they had every opportunity to beat Notre Dame, they slipped, losing that one.

The Midshipmen rebounded by not only beating, but shutting out their last two opponents (Northern Illinois and Army).

Six teams on the Navy schedule should see a bowl, and of those six, Navy split it 3-3. A decent schedule, with a few “cupcakes” mixed in.

So, who wins, and why make this matchup anyway?

I think Wake Forest has a good chance to win this game with great defense, but has had a very hard time with the “O”. It will be interesting to see how Navy’s offence is going to match up against a very stout Wake Forest team. On merit of a very competitive conference, I believe Wake Forest has a pretty good chance of evening the score on Navy, but the last game showed who was better…did Wake Forest learn from that?

Now, why make this matchup? Navy certainly had other teams they could have played, right? This could be dangerous because a Navy team that has already beaten Wake Forest could be misled to think that it could be done twice in the same year. That could spell problems.

Why pick Wake Forest? Well, we know that this bowl will be in Washington DC, and if you factor in that bowls are looking for the closest teams to make traveling minimal, then you’d have to keep it mainly in the Maryland, Virginia and NC area. You don’t want teams traveling too far, and you have to ensure that tickets can be sold. Right of the top of my head, you’d have teams like Virginia Tech, Maryland, ECU, UNC and NC State on that list. Well, we know Virginia Tech was not available, neither UNC. With ECU being the Conference USA Champs, they have bigger aspirations. So between the remaining 3 ACC teams, I supposed it was based on where those teams or schools selected. Seems kinda odd to go to a bowl vs. a team you have already played, but hey, if that is what Wake Forest and Navy wants, so be it.

I think that Wake Forest will come looking for revenge, and if Navy isn’t careful, they will get it. But I am still not convinced of Wake’s offense, which may prove fatal when they fall behind. I will give it to Navy, 28-17.

2008 Orange Bowl

The Orange Bowl 2008

As the Bowl season starts, I wanted to take a look at some of the bowls and what kinda matchups we may be looking at.

First off, thumbs DOWN to Fox for how they shamelessly tried to use suspense in the BCS selection show. Anybody that has been following the college football season even HALF of the season should have already known who was going where, and it was shameless how Fox tried to “keep it a secret” from the viewers as if they were doing the NCAA Basketball Selection show.

It was an insult to any real college fan to have to listen to those dudes sit there and try to play tongue and cheek until they revealed the bowl games…and really, were any of a surprise to any of you?

Now, to anybody who follows my blogs, or read other blogs on the bowls, we all knew that the Orange Bowl was going to feature the ACC Champion, whomever that turned out to be. But we also knew that by default, they would likely have to take the Big East Champion as well. The way things shook out in the BCS meant that the Orange Bowl would likely be the least of the bowls and were kinda stuck with the Big East Champion.

As it turns out, Virginia Tech wins the ACC Championship over Boston College, and Cincinnati wins the Big East Championship (although without a true conference championship…something they need to fix).

So we have Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati, how do they stack up?

Virginia Tech’s resume:

9-4 and in the ACC, perhaps the most competitive conference top to bottom in the nation. A humiliating loss to ECU in their first game of the year, but won 5 straight, including a home win vs. Georgia Tech, and away games vs. UNC and Nebraska.

Back to back away losses to Boston College and Florida State, before rebounding against Maryland. One more loss in an away game vs. Miami before three straight wins, including the ACC Championship against Boston College.

About 8 games were against teams that were ranked sometime during the season, and as many will see a bowl this year. Never blew anybody out, but never got BLOWN out. But here is a problem…Virginia Tech has some issues traveling away from home. Their four losses were all away….hmmmm.

Cincinnati’s resume:

11-2 and from the Big East, going 6-1 in the conference. Started out the season with a spanking of a lesser foe, before GETTING spanked by Oklahoma. Won 4 games in a row, including MAC foes, and conference foe Rutgers. Lost away bad at UCONN before winning six straight, including wins over South Florida, West Virginia and Pittsburgh.

About 5 games were against teams that have been ranked sometime this year, but they beat 3 of those 5. About six of those teams they played this year will see a bowl. This team started out red hot with the points, but cooled down as they eased into conference play. Their two losses came on away games, but also to tough opponents, one by the way will be playing for the National Championship (Oklahoma).

So who is favored?

We could go another 5 pages on more specific details like players, injuries and things like that, but let’s spin this differently. If I was to side for Virginia Tech, I would look at the fact that the ACC has been more competitive than any other conference. I did not say they were BETTER, I said they were more competitive. Virginia Tech learned a lesson in humility when they thought they could just whip up on upstart ECU, and learned a valuable lesson.

This team stumbled early and stated to gain ground when they had two road games against quality teams. Experience plays big in these games, and they have a very experienced coach. But youth often fails when tested on the road, something this team has certainly proven.

If you pull for Cincinnati, you look at the fact that 11 wins is 11 wins. How many other teams can say that? Only Connecticut beat them outside of a potential National Champion, and none of the other Big East teams could say that. Not Rutgers, not West Virginia, not South Florida, and certainly not Louisville. This team has had a magical year, bringing fame to a school that had not seen it in a long time. I remember years ago Penn State hung like 70 or 80 points on this team…but that was many years ago.

But if I had to pick, I think Virginia Tech has the edge. One may question some wins with Cincinnati. Eastern Kentucky? Not a Division 1A school. The three MAC teams they played back-to-back-to-back were a combined 7-17, neither of them having winning records. Marshall finished 4-8. So in the first 5 games, the only team of credit that Cincinnati played was Oklahoma…and lost big.

This screams strength of schedule, which to me immediately moves me over to Virginia Tech. But when it mattered, Cincinnati stepped it up, losing only one more game the rest of the year. And yet, I wonder about VA Tech on the road. Can they win on the road, seeing they lost 4 games in similar fashion? I know they beat Boston College in Florida, which is an away game, and in fact will be going back to that very state, so the advantage seems to be with them.

If you ask me who the better team is, I would say Virginia Tech, and might predict them to win by a touchdown or less. But other things play in here, does VA Tech look at Cincinnati like they did ECU, or are they now disciplined to treat every opponent like a top 25 caliber team? What is the mindset of a Cincinnati team that may just be “happy to be there”?

Lots of things will play out in this Orange Bowl. If I had to predict a score, I would say that if Virginia Tech wins, it might be 24-20. But this could easily be flipped in the Bearcats favor.

Time will tell all….

Ball State vs Buffalo MAC Champs

Ball State loses to Buffalo

Interesting situation…and how things seem to change just when you think you have figured it out.

Going into the MAC Championship, it seemed all to easy to think that Ball State would go undefeated. There were very high dreams for this team only a couple of weeks ago. And nobody thought much about Buffalo, so it would have been easy to just write off the game and assume that Ball State was going to win, and go 13-0.

At least that seemed the idea about 2 or 3 weeks ago.

Consider how things have changed:

In early November Ball State faced and defeated Miami OH and there was talk that IF this team goes undefeated, should they be considered for a BCS Bowl or National Championship. I blogged on these thoughts before, and I felt that even undefeated, they did not deserve a National Title shot, but a BCS…maybe, but only if Utah and Boise State fell off.

Ball State then plays arguably the two best teams in the MAC, in Central Michigan and Western Michigan, and beats them both. So with a trip to the MAC Championship, there was talk about whether they would play Boise State in the Humanitarian Bowl, which was wisely declined.

I mean, come on, I ain’t taking MY team to YOUR house to play ball, especially if you almost never lose there.

But in early October, Buffalo was going through some very tough times. Sure, they had not had a winning season EVER in Division I, but there was some talk that possibly, just possibly, the head coach might be on the verge of losing his job. Foolish talk for a team that had never seen a better than .500 record, but there it was.

Also consider as well that the head coach was one of rapidly declining African American coaches in Division I, thus continuing to prove that sadly college football in division I is run by people who have ethical issues that perhaps they need to get over.

Still, Buffalo was 1-5, and not looking too good. Yet they pulled together a string of wins, FIVE to be exact, to win their division. Yet the argument was that maybe they still didn’t deserve to play in the MAC Championship…because the other division, the West Division, was clearly better. Some even said on ESPN that they ought to change the rules to allow the best two teams in the championship…regardless of which division they are in.

I even agreed as well, to my discredit.

So today Ball State puts their perfect record on the line, against a Buffalo team that seems quite unworthy. And yet…the final score, 42-24...Buffalo wins.

MAJOR congrats to you guys in Buffalo…I bow deeply to your success.

And I also applaud Ball State for their season, and I hope they do not forget that they did in fact have a perfect season by the end of the regular season. Few teams get that high mark.

But could this have been forseen? Maybe, even though I didn’t look at the signs.

Signs?

Well yeah. Two things happened that could have made some impact on this game. We like to think that all things are settled on the field of battle… not always so. Sometimes the battle begins before the men take the field. How so?

One half is on Ball State. This team went from one of the darlings of the NCAA to being kicked out of the BCS…or rather, just denied. I won’t argue that they deserved to be overlooked with teams like Utah and Boise State, but what may have happened here is the team may have felt the bitter sting of rejection. No longer was there a BCS reward, no matter how well they played. The MAC had affiliations and it seemed that Ball State was…sentenced… to a lesser bowl. Perhaps the team had a let down once they realized that for all they did, it was in the NCAA’s eyes, just an average season.

On the other end, did anybody ever look at who Buffalo played? It is true they were 1-5 at one point, but look who they played. Losing to Pittsburgh 27-16 at Pittsburgh, losing AT Missouri 42-21, losing AT Central Michigan 27-25. These are very credible games, and masked the true team that would play tonight.

An overtime loss to Western Michigan in OVERTIME made it look like this team was a failure. And when Buffalo started winning, many argued that it was against teams that were under .500 anyway. So how good was this team if they lost to good teams, and beat poor teams?

Was it possible that they were building some strength. Is it possible that maybe Buffalo had to be tested by the good teams to be prepared for the best of the MAC? And, at the same time, was it possible that Ball State underestimated Buffalo, or maybe, just maybe, lost the edge they had when they realized that no matter what happened, they were not invited to a major bowl?

Who am I to make such guesses, but if those two elements came together, it could have created the result we now have. Buffalo has their best season ever…while ironically so has Ball State. Odd, because didn’t they both start out in 1999 with the worst records they ever had?

At any rate, I enjoyed watching it, and although there is rumors of Ball State playing Notre Dame, and that Buffalo may well go to the International Bowl, I wish them both success. I know the MAC didn’t get as much attention as the WAC or MWC, but to be sure, they gave their fans a great season.

Congrats Buffalo, the new MAC Champions.

Congrats Ball State, for your undefeated regular season.

Prepare ye the bowls!

Prepare Ye The Bowls!

Season’s Greetings to you guys, as we come upon the final turn of the great college football season we have had. I always enjoy this sport because it brings up so much debate about who is the best, and who isn’t. No doubt that college football brings out the best, and sometimes the worst in the fanatics. It is my hope that we learn to temper those emotions to a minimum as we continue to talk about the sport we love.

With only a handful of regular games left, I have yet to see a bowl that has locked in two teams, but there are many stories of potential bowls that have come and gone. The first one was the Boise State vs. Ball State game, one a lot of people figured could be pretty good.

I didn’t agree.

If you read one of my blogs earlier, I said that I didn’t think these two teams should play against each other, because both were trying to earn the respect of the major conferences. You don’t earn that by playing each other, since you BOTH come from lesser conferences. You earn that by playing somebody from the power conferences.

And besides that, Boise State’s proposition was so one-sided that it was a joke. Boise State wanted Ball State to play in the Humanitarian Bowl….which by the way is the HOME FIELD of Boise State, and dare to call it “neutral”. You gotta be out of your minds!

To me, and no disrespect to Boise State, it just sounded too self serving to try to lure Ball State to their front door, and then beat them on their home turf, then use that excuse to claim that they are just as good as the Big 12, Pac-10, SEC, ACC, Big 10 or SEC. No Boise State, that won’t do it. You have to BEAT those teams, not talk about them.

So that bowl ain’t gonna happen, good for Ball State. They deserve every bit of respect as Boise State, and has every right to find leverage for themselves and their fans.

The Humanitarian Bowl matches up the WAC vs. usually an ACC team, in this case you could see Boise State vs. a mid card ACC team. But I have heard that maybe TCU might get the nod, which would be interesting. If so, this would be a decent game, but it still undermines the idea that Boise State should be trying to do. You need to play a power conference team, not a non-BCS team. And granted, TCU is very good, I still think you would have been better off playing a BCS team. We shall see how this shakes out, could you see maybe UNC if they take an ACC? Not sure, since UNC fans don’t travel that well.

We know that Navy is in the Eaglebank Bowl, or some call the Constitution Bowl, or whatever they are gonna call it. Because they are playing in Washington DC, and supposedly slotted against an ACC team, think Maryland, or maybe Wake Forest. But didn’t they already play Wake Forest? If so, then what about NC State? Hmmmm

The New Orleans Bowl seems to have already slotted Southern Mississippi against somebody from the Sun Belt. Southern Miss may never see the success they USED to have since they fired their former coach, who did nothing but give that team WINNING seasons and a great graduation rate. Shame on you Southern Miss. And playing a Sun Belt team will likely be one of the least watched bowls this year. Good luck on that.

(NOTE: No offense to any Sun Belt teams, in fact I wish you well)

It goes without saying that a bowl in Hawaii will certainly HAVE Hawaii in it as long as they qualify. So we know they will be playing somebody, and likely a team from the PAC 10. This actually is a eye-pleasing bowl, because who DOESN’T want to be in Hawaii? But because this isn’t one of the bigger bowls, we could be looking at a low seed Pac 10 team going there. Possibly California, if not then Arizona. The Pac-10 has almost half of its teams not qualified, so the pickings may be slim. It may be possible that the Hawaii Bowl could take a Big 12, or MWC team.

Rice will take the Houston Bowl, which is convenient for them and Conference USA, as they will likely play a team in the Big 12. This is interesting because since the Big 12 is so top heavy, you would hate to see a potential blow out. I mean, if Oklahoma State or Missouri plays Rice, I can see a 50-10 score real easy. If they take a Big 12 team, and to keep it competitive, the only teams I could see going might be Nebraska or Kansas, but rumor has it that Nebraska is going to play Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A bowl, formerly the Peach Bowl. Rice vs. Kansas? Still a potential for a lop-sided game, I wonder if the bowl will consider a Sun Belt team, or a Colorado State out of the Mountain West?

As mentioned, Georgia Tech is going to the Peach Bowl…and while I am at it, it sucks when businesses change the name of a bowl to fit their own selfish promotions… but that is business.

Georgia Tech plays in this bowl, and it is possible they could play a SEC team. If so, then one might consider an LSU, Mississippi or South Carolina team, but there is talk that maybe Nebraska has accepted the bid. That would actually be a nice matchup, one I would be willing to watch. Odd because bowls try to pick based on locale and potential of tickets to be sold, so Nebraska must have promised to sell a lot of tickets for the event.

There is a lot of juggling that may happen in the next few days, because bowls have conferences in mind, and some of them may not be able to fulfill it. For example, the SEC is almost guaranteed a spot in the National Title, as well as another BCS Bowl. That’s two teams right there. But if I am correct, the SEC also has ties to the Capital One Bowl, Outback Bowl, Chick-Fil-A Bowl, The Music City Bowl, The PapaJohns Bowl, and The Independence Bowl. That means a possible 8 spots for the SEC. I am not sure if the lesser bowls are willing to take a 6-6 team like Vanderbilt or Kentucky unless a bowl like the Music City, which is in Tennessee, takes a team like Kentucky or Vanderbilt. We will see.

The Mountain West could have as many as 5 spots, since Utah is going to be in the BCS, while TCU, BYU and Air Force are certainly assured a good bowl. Yet we have heard that TCU could take the bowl against Boise State, which would leave a gap for the MWC. Only 5 teams in this conference qualified for a bowl, so if TCU takes the Humanitarian Bowl, then that would leave an at large spot available.

The Big 10 has 7 teams eligible, but we know Penn State is going to the Rose Bowl, and there is talk that maybe Ohio State could be a second team in a BCS (not quite sure how, unless they are bringing lots of fans). But there are enough slots for the Big 10 to fill, from the Motor City Bowl, which matches up a Big 10 against a MAC, on up to the bigger bowls such as the Rose. The appealing thing about the Big 10 is that most bowls are played in warmer climates, like Florida, New Orleans, Atlanta and California. The Big 10 would be welcome to come out of the cold and into the warmer confines. For that reason I might imagine the Motor City Bowl being the least desired of the conference, but not ignored.

There is so much more to consider, but we must wait one more weekend…who will go where, who will be left out? We will all know these things soon.

The Big 12 Football MESS

The Big 12 MESS

In a year where people are whining about playoffs in college football, we all have answers… I mean, we all think we are gurus on sports, thus the world of sports blogging.

But we have a mess with the National Championship, and it is all in thanks to the Big 12. I say that not in a bad way, because believe me, they have been the most compelling conference to watch this year. Several very good teams made this a heck of a ride this season, but alas it has brought problems.

Right now, the argument is whether Oklahoma or Texas should represent the Big 12 in the National Championship vs. the likely winner of Alabama vs. Florida. The problem here is that the #1 team in Alabama comes from the SEC West, while Florida, currently #4, comes from the SEC East.

That sounds fine, because you have the best of two sides fighting it out for all the marbles. But the Big 12 is different.

Missouri is the best team in the Big 12 North, and is guaranteed a spot in the Big 12 Championship. But the Big 12 South has a three way tie…Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. Two teams will be left out and denied a chance at the National Title.

And so the BCS polls have decided that Oklahoma is SLIGHTLY better, even though Texas beat them. But if Texas had been seen as the favorite, then Texas Tech could have argued, since they beat the Longhorns.

In either case, Missouri gets a spot that they really don’t deserve.

“How can you say that!”

Because the Big 12 Championship is supposed to pit the two BEST TEAMS of the conference…not the best on both sides. This is where the arguments of finding the best teams ought to begin… in house.

Don’t start whining about the NCAA having to have playoffs until ALL the BCS conferences establish a CHAMPION out of their own conference. The system is flawed because the conferences are flawed. The Big 12 should have some plan to fix such a problem, so that it does not create chaos with this kinda situation.

So how do you solve it? The answer is a little simpler than the current situation. It is actually one I heard on one of the ESPN games. One of the guys was arguing that conference championships ought to be with the two best teams of the conference, NOT the best team on this division vs. the best team of the other division. In fact, the MAC is a perfect example. You have Ball State, Central Michigan and Western Michigan on one side against who?

Buffalo at 7-5? How then is THAT a real Championship?

The same applies with the Big 12. These conferences need to change the championship to put in the two best teams in the conference…regardless of which division they are in. This would then help clear the confusion about who is greater in the conference and may help clear the air about the best teams in the nation.

Now, if we applied that to the Big 12, how would that shape out. Let’s see.

If you argued the contenders to play in the Big 12 Championship, you must include Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Missouri. Nobody’s gonna argue whether anybody else really has a real shot at that championship game. So, let’s examine each of these 5 teams and see which two teams are really the best, and thus SHOULD play in the Big 12 Championship.

What is Oklahoma State’s resume? A 9-3 team in a powerhouse division, losing to Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma. This alone puts them out of the running, but get this…they BEAT Missouri. So right now, I would rank Oklahoma State number 4 of these five, having Missouri being on the bottom.

What then is Missouri’s resume? They are 9-3 too, losing to Oklahoma State and Texas. They didn’t play Oklahoma, but lost to Kansas. This to me makes Missouri the 5th best team in the Big 12, and thus should have NEVER been in the Big 12 Championship. If you are going to have a Championship, then pit the best teams of the conference. This creates a false sense of superiority, because nobody is gonna tell me that Missouri is as good as Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma OR Oklahoma State. They didn’t beat these guys.

So then, what is the resume of Texas Tech, who seems to be on the outside looking in? At 11-1, we know their only loss was a beating to Oklahoma 65-21. They beat Texas at home by 6 and beat Oklahoma State at home 56-20. They lose bad to Oklahoma 65-21 and seemed troubled in beating Baylor 35-28.

This to me secures Texas Tech to at LEAST the third spot. They played 4 ranked teams back to back, winning three but were taken to OT by Nebraska. This shows me this team is good, very good, but not invincible.

Now let’s look at Texas. Similar record at 11-1, but beat Oklahoma on neutral ground by 10. Like Texas Tech, they played 4 ranked foes back to back, beating Missouri big, beating ranked Oklahoma State by 4 and then losing away to Texas Tech.

I rank Texas slightly higher because they crushed the opponents that were not worthy and fought well against those that were ranked. That Texas Tech game was one on the last play, so even though you count that as a loss, it was not a blow out. Nobody blew out Texas, and weaker teams had no chance against them. Even Baylor, a team Texas Tech beat by only 7 points, was crushed by over 20 points. Even though Texas Tech beat Texas, I don’t have a problem ranking Texas slightly higher than the Red Raiders.

This means that unless Oklahoma has a better season than Texas Tech, the Sooners and Longhorns should have met again in the Big 12 Championships. Now, we know they won’t but let’s see where Oklahoma fits in.

Again, same record, 11-1. But Oklahoma has played FIVE ranked teams, or have you forgotten about TCU? They beat TCU 35-10. And no, they did not play 4 ranked teams back to back, but they beat Kansas when they were ranked, and then went and beat both #2 Texas Tech AND #12 Oklahoma State by hanging over sixty….SIXTY on both teams. That folks is dominance.

This team has been a FORCE in every game they played. And they lost only to Texas, but I say that if you erase the losses from Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech, the most dominant team has to be Oklahoma. Now I say this as a Mack Brown fan, since he used to coach UNC, but I see Oklahoma as the better of the two teams, and clearly better than Texas Tech.

But it proves that the two best teams ARE in fact Texas and Oklahoma. If I had to rank the teams in the Big 12 (as conferences SHOULD do) then Oklahoma is first, then Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Missouri and then Nebraska. But what this should mean is that the Big 12 Championship SHOULD have the two best teams in the conference, which should be Texas and Oklahoma, not one or the other.

The failure of this conference to truly produce a champion screws up the National Championship, one the NCAA really needs to look at…or at least the Big 12. To me, I think every conference should strive to have a conference championship and pit the two best teams, not the best team of each division. By doing this, you are taking matters in your own hands of who your best team is, and have a strong push for that team in a National Title.

Now, I also think the Pac-10 ought to consider absorbing 2 more teams, and the Big 10 snatching up one more, and the Big East finding some teams too. Each BCS conference ought to have a conference champion, one that leaves no doubt. Regardless of how the Big 12 ends up, there will be questions that will not be answered.

Anyway, something to think on….