Desert Sapper's Blogistan

Yet another year of crappy BCS games (only KU v. Va Tech was worth watching).  Yet another year of the ratings tanking on the Championship game.  Yet another year of my Sooners falling to pieces in a BCS Bowl.  Time to rant.

I feel like before I begin my rant, I should at least mention a few decent non-BCS bowls. 

1.  Capital One Bowl (Formerly known as the Florida Citrus Bowl).  Michigan 41 - Florida 35.  This was arguably the best of the lot.  Florida gave the Wolverines everything they could handle; mostly due to four turnovers, Tim Tebow, and Percy Harvin.  The Big Blue seniors pulled it out for Lloyd Carr for the first time in their four years in Ann Arbor.  Big, emotional win.  Positive: Michigan seniors finally winning a bowl game.  Negative: Incoming Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez (formerly of alma mater WV) stating that he and his wife could keep the same color scheme in their house, thanks to the similarity between the colors of WV and UM.  Sort of an insult to injury thing, don't you think there, coach?

2.  Gator Bowl.  Texas Tech 31 - Virginia 28.  Tech managed to do what it has done many other times before:  overcome.  The Raiders were down 28-14 in the fourth quarter to the Cavs, but managed to overcome that deficit, some critical penalties, and a fumble to pull it out on a last second Alex Trlica Field Goal.  Positive:  Tech pulling out a last second victory over a more talented UVA team.  Negative:  Howie Long's kid (Chris Long, who had his number retired in the last home game of the season against Va Tech) lost a heartbreaker in his last collegiate game.

3.  Pointsettia Bowl.  Utah 35 - Navy 32.  Surprisingly, this game was very exciting, with a 50 point second half, coming down to the final minute, and suffering from a questionable call.  With Utah up 28-25, Jerome Brooks caught a 3-yard pass from QB Brian Johnson and fumbled while diving for the corner of the end zone. The ball bounced off the pylon out of bounds. The Refs could have (and probably should have) called it a Navy touchback, but the call on the field withstood review.  Not that it mattered too much.  Navy stuffed Ute RB Darrell Mack on the next play to turn the ball over on downs.  But instead of the 20, they were on the 1.  Which led to Navy turning the ball over on downs four plays later at their 9.  Which ultimately led to a Utah TD anyway.  Navy scored a TD in response.  They even recovered the onside, but Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada threw a pick to Ute safety Joe Dale to seal it.  Positive:  What an exciting end to a hard-fought game!  Negative: As new Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said after the game, ''More than anything, I feel for our seniors. I'll coach again.''  So while the Navy seniors lost their second straight Bowl (2005 Car Care Bowl), the Ute seniors won their 4th straight bowl (some of them, the redshirt seniors have 5 bowl rings). 

4.  Armed Forces Bowl.  Cal 42 - Air Force 36.  Tedford benched DeSean Jackson and Robert Jordan for a quarter for an unknown team disciplinary problem.  Gee, that'll teach 'em coach.  Air Force proceeded to build a 21-0 lead in that same expanse of time.  As soon as Jackson hit the field he caught a 40 yard acrobatic TD, and Jordan finished with a team-leading 148 yards and a TD on 6 catches.  Air Force rallied late, but failed to score a 2 point conversion (not really sure why 4 points is better than 6) and recover a late onside kick.  The game nearly ended brilliantly, especially after starting AF QB Shaun Carney (also the Falcons' leading rusher on the day) went down with a knee injury on a play that could have put the Falcons ahead.  Positive: Tedford punished his leading receivers for team disciplinary issues.  This shows courage.  Negatives: Tedford only punished his leading receivers for a quarter.  This shows that he was only doing it for the press.  Air Force QB Shaun Carney got injured.

5.  Independence Bowl.  Alabama 30 - Colorado 24.  No, it wasn't for anything particularly grand.  A winning record, perhaps, but not much else.  But the Buffaloes, down at one point 27-0, rallied inspiringly behind QB Cody Hawkins, only to fall short in the end.  With enough time left, who knows?  Maybe Colorado would have even ended the season with a winning record.  Positive:  Two mediocre teams really managed to make it a battle in the closing minutes.  Negative:  Colorado started the game as flat as a pancake.

 

So, now that you've heard about the good bowls, let me rant about the abomination called the BCS.  As I see it, the other bowls match teams of perceived equal strength, in an effort to produce the best game possible.  This year, it worked for the most part.  The BCS, on the other hand, took the best bowls and turned them into a disgrace, all for the sake of creating a big money 'championship game' which pits the beauty pageant winner of the #1 vote vs. the beauty pageant winner of the #2 vote.  The rest of the so-called major bowls get one headliner and one crap-shoot of a team.  So we saw Illinois get dismantled by a good USC team instead of a good UGA team playing a good USC team.  We saw UGA dismantle Hawaii, when UH and Illinois would have matched up well.  I'm not sure what to say about OU, and that Fiasco Bowl against WV, but KU and WV deserved to play, as did (in my opinion) OU and Va Tech.  Ohio State got trounced in what amounted to a home game for LSU, but I expected that, as I noted in my post before the bowls.  LSU's BCS games consist of 4 Sugar Bowls, all four of them wins.  So what do I think should happen?  An 8 team playoff.  I really don't care how you do it.  Take the top 8 from the BCS, take all of the 6 major conference champs and the two highest ranked wildcards, whatever.  Maybe take the top 8 conference champs.  All I know is, we need to have a playoff like every other real sport, with the higher seed hosting the game, and determine bowl matchups and a championship matchup from that format.  For those that missed it, here is the plan I proposed out of boredom before the bowls started:

The champions of all Major Conferences are invited to play (ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big XII, Big East, Pac 10).

Two at-large teams (who must be either independant or the champion of their respective conference) are invited to play.

The games are played at the home of the higher ranked team (based on the BCS poll).  Two weeks of games seed the teams for the bowls, with the championship alternating among the four BCS sites.  Games start after everyone takes their final.  So you have something like this in 2007:

15 December 2007

Game 1 BYU (Mountain West Champs, BCS #17) @ Ohio State (Big 10 Champs, BCS #1)

Game 2 Hawaii (WAC Champs, BCS #10) @ LSU (SEC Champs, BCS #2)

Game 3 West Virginia (Big East Champs, BCS #9) @ Va Tech (ACC Champs, BCS #3)

Game 4 USC (Pac 10 Champs, BCS #7) @ Oklahoma (Big XII Champs, BCS #4)

 

22 December 2007

Game 5 BYU/tOSU winner v. USC/OU winner

Game 6 UH/LSU winner v. WV/Va Tech winner

 

1 January 2008

Game 5 loser v. Game 6 loser in Orange

Game 4 loser v. Game 2 loser in Fiesta

Game 3 loser v. Game 1 loser in Rose

 

2 January 2008

Game 5 winner v. Game 6 winner in Sugar

 

The pageantry continues, because the Major Bowl game matchups are decided before Christmas (also allowing hype).

You are only talking about 2 more games than what teams already play and the home crowds get to see an extra big matchup or two.

It won't mess with the bowl games we already have in the dead period (between 20 december and 1 January), except that you have two games in addition to the three bowls on that day (and the major networks get two big matchups to air).

It doesn't mess with the academic integrity, given most schools have finals before these playoffs would start.

Everyone still makes a ton of money and it is more evenly distributed (ie; no TWO BCS games for the BCS conferences...but the little guys get a shot at the dough if they manage to make it up high enough AND win their conference).

Fans get a real champion.

I felt like it bore repeating, especially after the results of the BCS Bowls.  Yes, you might have some blowout opening round games.  Big deal.  At least it would allow you to seed out the bowl games to have something more competitive.  And it would allow a champion.  After the bowls, I think I can see how it might have played out:

Ohio State probably would have romped on BYU in the shoe

LSU would have probably clobbered Hawaii in Baton Rouge

West Virginia would have probably beat Va Tech in Blacksburg (great matchup, though)

USC would have probably clobbered OU even in Norman (at least from the way the Sooners played West Virginia)

 

So in the second round, I figure

USC beats Ohio State in the shoe in a close one (100,000 bucknuts make it close)

LSU beats West Virginia in Baton Rouge

 

1 January Bowl matchups (in my opinion):

Ohio State v. West Virginia in the Orange

Oklahoma v. Hawaii in the Fiesta

Va Tech v. BYU in the Rose

LSU v. USC in the Sugar for the championship

 

If it makes better sense to everyone to keep the Pac 10/Big 10 matchup in the Rose (which, contrary to popular opinion has only been around since 1947 -- before that it was the Pac 10 vs. all takers*), we can do that.  The Cotton Bowl can host the fourth BCS bowl.  I just can't imagine why the Rose has to be so selfish in all this.  The grandaddy may have been the first bowl, but the game wasn't even played there from 1902-1916 in favor of chariot races.  Yippee.  From 1916-1947, one Big 10 team (Ohio State in 1921) played.  With that in mind, Illinois could have played Arizona State in the Rose Bowl, and BYU and Va Tech could have played in the Cotton.  Believe me, once Jerry World is complete in Arlington, the Cotton Bowl will seem like a pretty nice venue for a bowl game.  Maybe the nicest out there.

I'd be okay with just taking the top 8 of the BCS, too (although that means some non-conference champs in the mix for the national title).  My bottom line is just that I want to see a real system to determine a champion, and a real matchup in the bowls.  Look at the matchups in round 1:

By the BCS,

#8 KU @ #1 tOSU
#7 USC @ #2 LSU
#6 Mizzou @ #3 Va Tech
#5 UGA @ #4 OU

Wow.  How can we not go for a playoff like this?  These would be EXCITING games to watch.  Who's on board?

*The matchup of the Big 8 in the Orange existed since 1954, but that was broken in favor of the ACC in the Orange and the Big 8 (now Big XII) in the Fiesta by the BCS.  I'm still miffed about that, but don't get me started.

So now we wait.  The bowls start next week, but is the Poinsettia Bowl really something we just can't miss?  This wait is what prompts so many to start arguing the merits of a playoff system, and I can't say that I necessarily disagree.

The bowls have a brilliant history, marked by great games, great tradition, pageantry, and more.  They represent the greatness of allowing so many teams to end their season with a win, and 5 teams as BCS Bowl game winners (with one winning the 'national championship' on the field after a game of #1 in the polls vs. #2 in the polls). 

The playoffs have a history, as well.  A history in what was once called Division 1AA football (now called the 'Football Championship Subdivision' or FCS).  There, the teams lineup, just as in every professional league, for a playoff, that ends with a championship on the field.

The FCS has a true champion, but no pageantry.  Arguably, the FBS (formerly known as Division 1A) is exactly the opposite.  All pageantry, but missing a true champion at the end.

Sure, LSU and Ohio State deserve to play for the championship.  Arguably, so do all the other conference champions this year.  Nobody has really stood head and shoulders above the rest this year.  So here we are in the age old argument.  Playoffs v. Bowls.

Some have said they can coexist.  Have the bowls, then play a 'plus 1' game.  That sounds nifty, but what happens when we have a year like this? 

Ohio State, LSU, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, USC, and even West Virginia and Hawaii have a claim for a shot at the title.  So who gets to play in the 'plus one'?  The winner of Ohio State-LSU, I'm guessing.  Maybe the winner of OU-West Virginia.  But if USC, Hawaii, and Va Tech all win, then what?  They're all conference champs.  They all have similar win-loss records (only Hawaii is undefeated).  So you have 5 teams that all deserve to play in the 'plus one' and you get the same beauty pageant that you have right now.  Two will play.  Three will be left to flap in the breeze. 

So I say this.

Keep the bowls.  Yes, keep them.  But have a playoff, too.  Make the decision like this...

The champions of all Major Conferences are invited to play (ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big XII, Big East, Pac 10).

Two at-large teams (who must be either independant or the champion of their respective conference) are invited to play.

The games are played at the home of the higher ranked team (based on the BCS poll).  Two weeks of games seed the teams for the bowls, with the championship alternating among the four BCS sites.  Games start after everyone takes their final.  So you have something like this in 2007:

15 December 2007

Game 1 BYU (Mountain West Champs, BCS #17) @ Ohio State (Big 10 Champs, BCS #1)

Game 2 Hawaii (WAC Champs, BCS #10) @ LSU (SEC Champs, BCS #2)

Game 3 West Virginia (Big East Champs, BCS #9) @ Va Tech (ACC Champs, BCS #3)

Game 4 USC (Pac 10 Champs, BCS #7) @ Oklahoma (Big XII Champs, BCS #4)

 

22 December 2007

Game 5 BYU/tOSU winner v. USC/OU winner

Game 6 UH/LSU winner v. WV/Va Tech winner

 

1 January 2008

Game 5 loser v. Game 6 loser in Orange

Game 4 loser v. Game 2 loser in Fiesta

Game 3 loser v. Game 1 loser in Rose

 

2 January 2008

Game 5 winner v. Game 6 winner in Sugar

 

The pageantry continues, because the Major Bowl game matchups are decided before Christmas (also allowing hype).

You are only talking about 2 more games than what teams already play and the home crowds get to see an extra big matchup or two.

It won't mess with the bowl games we already have in the dead period (between 20 december and 1 January), except that you have two games in addition to the three bowls on that day (and the major networks get two big matchups to air).

It doesn't mess with the academic integrity, given most schools have finals before these playoffs would start.

Everyone still makes a ton of money and it is more evenly distributed (ie; no TWO BCS games for the BCS conferences...but the little guys get a shot at the dough if they manage to make it up high enough AND win their conference).

Fans get a real champion.

The end.  My $2.50 ($.02 after taxes).

SHAZAM!  Buster Douglas KO's Iron Mike Tyson...Oh, Wait, Wrong Sport... 

Well, well, well.  Another week of top 10 teams going down.  USC went down to a gutty Stanford club in the Coliseum, Wisconsin predictably lost to an upstart Illini team, and Florida came out on the short end of the stick in Baton Rouge.  South Florida struggled against FAU, while Ohio State and BC dominated Purdue and BG respectively.  The Stanford Cardinal's performance in LA is the stuff of legend, beating everybody's unbeatable team, in their house, on two amazing 4th down conversions.  Simply put, what college football is all about.

Oklahoma won the Red River Shootout last weekend, catapulting them up to #6 (and consequently dropping the Longhorns to #23), while Mizzou blasted the Cornhuskers to jump up to #11.  Mizzou is undefeated, and a bit of a surprise, while the Sooners were expected to be undefeated (granted the win in Dallas), and are a bit of a surprise the other way.  The loss in Boulder was painful for the Sooner nation, but the team bounced back against Texas and now faces a Mizzou team that put on an even bigger show against the depleted Husker D than did USC a few weeks ago.  Will the Tigers move on to 6-0, or will the Sooner Schooner triumph in Norman?

Purdue lost some legitimacy when they got trounced at home by the Ohio State University last week.  Michigan lost a lot of legitimacy when they lost at home to Appalachian State (a point of fact that has been beaten into the Big Blue fan base for weeks now).  Will Big Blue reclaim the big house, or will the Boilermakers step up?

LSU travels to Lexington to take on a surprisingly tough Wildcat team.  The Tigers have looked positively unbeatable this year, and manhandled the same Gamecocks that thrashed UK last week.  Andre Woodson has shown himself to be a legitimate candidate for the Heisman trophy (among other things).  Glenn Dorsey (LSU DT) has been spoken of as a potential candidate for the *gulp* Heisman trophy.  Dorsey is as dominant as any D-Lineman I've seen in years.  I doubt anybody will give him serious Heisman consideration down the stretch, but that doesn't mean he's not legitimate.  It just means the Heisman is an overinflated award that doesn't go to the BEST player in College football.  Will Woodson establish his claim to the Heisman in a game for the ages, or will Dorsey make another big statement on the national stage?

Colorado beat Oklahoma.  Yes, they lost big on the road to ASU, and yes, they lost close to a tough FSU D, but they did more to reestablish the Big XII North than any other team in the Big XII.  Except, that is, for the team they play this week: K-State.  K-State has beaten Texas two years straight.  These two teams combined to beat the two perennial National title contenders of the Big XII South.  Cody Hawkins has shown how well a freshman can play in his father's offense.  Big Josh Freeman and Ron Prince have reinvigorated what was once the best team in the Big XII North.  K-State stumbled against Kansas last week, while Colorado buried Baylor.  Will the Buffs step up, or will purple power prevail?

Georgia Tech's visit to Miami looked promising before the start of the season.  Now that Miami has lost twice and the Yellow Jackets thrice, it doesn't look as promising.  At the same time, Miami lost to Oklahoma in Norman (by a lot), and lost last week to former Miami head coach Butch Davis and North Carolina.  Time will tell, but Randy Shannon was a player and assistant under Davis and may take some time to adjust to playing his former mentor.  Georgia Tech, on the other hand, has lost two games by a total of 7 points, and got beat at home by Boston College, the current #4 team in the country.  Big wins at Notre Dame and against Clemson have been overshadowed by a muffed punt that led to a TD and a missed field goal last week against the Terps of Maryland.  Will the Canes get back into the ACC hunt, or will the Yellowjackets climb above .500?

Stay tuned, sports fans.  These questions and more will find their answers this weekend.

My Top 10 for this week:

1. LSU

2. The OSU

3. Cal

4. BC

5. USF

6. Mizzou

7. ASU

8. South Carolina

9. OU

10. USC

Oklahoma faces its first road test a week before the traditional showdown in the Cotton Bowl.  Colorado may not be fully back to where they were under Gary Barnett, but coach's son Cody Hawkins is certainly doing his fair share of bringing the Boise State offense to Boulder.  The Sooners, of course, have proven to be the most dominant offensive team in college football through the first four games.  Will Dan Hawkins' Boise trickeration rear its head against the mighty OU juggernaut, or will Boomer Sooner ring loudly in Colorado?

Who in the preseason would have thought that West Virginia and South Florida would mark a meeting of Big East heavyweights?  Probably nobody.  The Mountaineers and their powerful ground game must make the journey to face the same team that knocked off the Auburn Tigers two weeks ago.  Last week, the Bulls stomped a Butch Davis-coached North Carolina Team.  Will the Bulls reign in Tampa, or will Steve Slaton and Pat White declare themselves the class of the Big East once again?

The mighty Cal Bears, who have been touted as 'the only team that can take down USC in the Pac-10', must make the dreaded trip to Autzen stadium to battle the surprisingly tough Oregon Ducks.  The Bears' marquee win was over the Vols in week 1 and the ducks stomped Meechigan in the big house.
Neither victory seems all that impressive in retrospect, but each of these teams is averaging more than 40 points/game.  The Ducks average nearly 50 points.  Will the fluorescent yellow and green ducks have the last quack orm will canard be on the menu for the Bears?

K-State travels to Texas in a repeat of the game that began the Longhorn slide at the end of last season.  You can bet Mack's gang will have it out for the Wildcats.  After dropping the season opener at Auburn, the cats have stomped their last two opponents (one was Division FCS Missouri State, but still).  Texas struggled in their season opener with Arkansas State and against TCU (before pulling away).  Then they nearly got beat by the Central Florida Knights on the road before stomping a mudhole in the Rice Owls. Which Texas team will show up, and will the K-State Wildcats be ready?

The Spartans are 4-0 as they travel to Camp Randall Stadium to take on the equally undefeated Wisconsin Badgers.  Will Wisconsin prove its mettle and stay perfect, or will Michigan State start a new chapter in the Big 10?

EDSBS (that's Every Day Should Be Saturday for you uncultured swine out there) posted this site  with a Google Map linking all the recruits to a given school. As a sooner fan, I naturally gravitated to this site.  For a map nerd boy like me (not to mention an OU nerd boy), it's the perfect site, especially since I'm also a college football nerd boy.  Talk about entertainment for hours.  Boy, I'm starting to scare myself.  I guess going on a business trip and not having a wife to say, 'When are you coming to bed?' on the trip will do that to you.  It's 1 AM (1:17, actually).  Finished most of the work today and just have a little meeting tomorrow before hopefully bumping my flight up and heading home.  Winchester, VA just isn't the happenin' town that the ATL is.  It'll be good to get home.

Not much to say.  I'm going to bed.