Forget BCS ... here are most intriguing games
Posted: Sunday, December 07, 2008 8:07 AM
The regular season is over? Already? Doesn’t it seem like yesterday that Utah, Cincinnati and Boise State were unranked, and LSU and ASU were thought to be contenders? Time flies when you’re having fun. The Washington Huskies probably won’t agree, but this season was too short.
SO HERE IT GOES: Unless their wacky computers get hit with a virus originating from an area between the states of Oregon and Wyoming, the anticlimactic Bowl Championship Series announcement Sunday evening will feature the following matchups.
BCS national championship game: Florida vs. Oklahoma
Sooners finally share a field with a team that can play defense. Isn’t it more shocking than ever that the Gators lost a bowl game to Michigan last season?
Rose Bowl: Penn State vs. USC
Trojans won’t mind playing in Pasadena next year, but this fourth consecutive “trip” is a letdown. Rose Bowl stadium is only four years older than Joe Paterno.
Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs. Texas
Gunning to add to the Buckeyes’ recent postseason problems, the Longhorns cling to dream of somehow coming up with a split national championship.
Sugar Bowl: Utah vs. Alabama
Urban Meyer taking on the Utes would have been interesting, but we’ll have to settle for Nick Saban bashing them into submission.
Orange Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
Surely you’ve got better things to do on New Year’s Day than watching this snoozer. Spend time with the family and start 2009 off right.
MADE FOR TV BOWLS: The BCS was created to bring the top two teams in the country together and fairly re-organize the rest of the big bowls. Often times -- including this season -- that process doesn’t result in the most intriguing set of games. If we were given the 10 teams listed above and the power to play matchmaker, we’d opt for the pairings below. This set of games probably would result in a split national title, and although that’s not satisfying to most, it’s probably more appropriate than what we’ll eventually end up with.
Florida vs. USC -- admit it, this is really what you all want to see ... Tim Tebow against Pete Carroll’s defense.
Texas vs. Oklahoma -- because the last time apparently wasn’t good enough, let’s settle this on a neutral field ... again.
Penn State vs. Alabama -- an anniversary tribute to the classic 1979 Sugar Bowl ... in basically the same uniforms.
Ohio State vs. Cincinnati -- it’s easy for Mardy Gilyard to say the Bearcats are the best team in Ohio ... harder to prove.
Utah vs. Virginia Tech -- the only thing separating the ACC from the MWC this season was a couple thousand miles.
LESS HYPED BUT MAYBE MORE IMPRESSIVE: Oklahoma, which took care of Missouri, 62-21, Saturday night, has scored more than 60 points in five consecutive games, setting an all-time college football record. The previous mark of four games in a row was shared by a handful of ancient teams, most recently California’s 1920 squad. That’s setting some kind of standard.
However, we’re wondering if Florida scoring at least 30 points in all of its nine games against SEC opponents is a more impressive accomplishment. Certainly the defenses in the Big 12 pale in comparison to those in the SEC. And furthermore, the Gators scored 42 or more points in five of those nine league games.
PHOTO FINISH FOR HEISMAN: Here’s how we see this trifecta -- Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford. Most of the ballots will feature these three quarterbacks in various orders, all of which can be easily justified. The thinking here is that if you are seeking to identify the “most outstanding college football player in the United States in 2008,” which is exactly what the simple instruction is, Tebow is your man for the second year in a row.
Last season, it was about his stunning stats, accounting for 32 touchdowns through the air and 23 on the ground. This year, it’s as much about his unique leadership skills as it is his athletic gifts. After losing to Ole Miss, 31-30, on Sept. 27, Tebow made it clear that he was going to make sure that no one was going to out work him or his team. He backed that up in grand style. Clearly the heart and soul of the Florida Gators, he’s 60 minutes away from carrying them to their second national title in the past three seasons.
For the last couple weeks, much of the debate regarding the Heisman race has revolved around tedious statistical comparisons between McCoy and Bradford. Rather than splitting those hairs (and votes), we prefer to make a value judgment based on how unique and effective they are in relation to their team. McCoy “out-Tebows” Bradford in that regard, but he can’t surpass the Man of Steel himself.
The more we think about it, the clearer it gets. No one compares to Tebow as a “football player.” There are better passers and swifter runners, but it’ll likely be years, if not decades before we see another one like him.
TOO MANY BOWLS: While examining the list of 6-6 teams below, please understand that only four of those teams will not go bowling to close out their mediocre seasons. If this isn’t proof that 34 bowl games is too many, what is?
Arkansas State
Bowling Green
Colorado State
Florida Atlantic
Fresno State
Kentucky
Louisiana-Lafayette
Memphis
North Carolina State
Northern Illinois
Notre Dame
San Jose State
Southern Miss
Vanderbilt
