COLLEGE FOOTBALL 2007

[FiddySicks]

Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnnd Rutgers does what I thought they would do. They wasted all of our time.

Ok so ima say this, but damn its hard. I WILL pull for Kentucky to beat tennessee next week, IF it hurts the Gay Tors. Oh God id take a kick in the nuts at this point if it meant Florida was knocked out of National Title contention. GO ARKANSAS!!!!! SOOOOOOIEEEEEEEE!!!!!! Or whatever......

[Epiphanic]

Well darn. Rutgers' loss the ultimate BCS-hating dream. Sure I could argue that Boise St. should go to Glendale, but arguing for Rutgers is more persuasive. The interest is fading fast. :'(

[floydnimrod]

I saw this Cincinnati win coming sonce Monday

Am I shocked? No.

GGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOO CAAAATTTS!

[infrared41]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but from the sublime statistics department...

Net Total yards (omitting all plays of 30 yards or more)

Ohio State- 356 yards (63% of Gross Total Yards)

Michigan- 298 yards (75% of Gross Total Yards)

Net Score (Omitting all scoring from plays of 30 yards or more)

Ohio State- 21 (50% of total score)

Michigan-32 (82% of total score)

Ohio State was exposed a bit on the defencive side of the ball, as they basically coughed up 32 points on 300 yards, which means that teams do not need the big play option to move to ball and score on Ohio State if they have an efficient offence, like, say Southern Cal, Arkansas, Michigan, or even Louisville. Sure, Ohio State can counter with Smith and Ginn, but apart from the 2 big TD runs, and Ginn's big TD pass, Ohio State chewed up a lot of yards with not a lot to show for it. So if Ohio State comes up short in a shootout in Glendale in January, don't be shocked.

Interesting stats. Meaningless but interesting. Last time I checked plays of 30 yards or more still count.

Here are a few more stats for you to consider.

Michigan scored 39 points, had three takeaways, ...and lost the game.

Michigan's average rushing yards allowed per game 29. Antonio Pittman's rushing total? 126 yards. I'm a liberal arts major so my math isn't the best but I think Pittman ran for about 4 games worth of rushing yards yesterday against the impossible to run against Michigan run defense.

If any defense was exposed on Saturday it was Michigan's. The question all week was whether or not Ohio State could score enough points on the much vaunted Michigan defense to win. I'd say 42 was plenty.

I'm not saying Ohio State's defense wasn't spotty at times yesterday but they came through when they had to. Great teams win despite turning the ball over three times and giving up 39 points. Pretenders score 39 and lose.

The stadium in Glendale has a dome so I think our parade will be just fine.

Bring on The Trojans.

[buzzcut]

Coaches poll is out....and USC is now #2, but only by 16 votes over Michigan.

[WJMorris3]

Offbeat thought...

The Ohio Lottery winning Pick 4 number last night?

4-2-3-9

With $2.2 million in payouts. That's just kinda creepy.

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Rutgers loses 30-11 and USC is starting to pull away.

...and you guys thought Rutgers should play for the Championship

.... now it's Boise State that should play for the chmapionship

Ah yes, AND why not throw these teams in the mix...

NCAA Division II Football Standings

1 Grand Valley 1 (11-0)

2 Northwest Missouri 2 (11-0)

3 North Alabama 3 (10-0)

4 NC Central 4 (11-0)

(Ignore the D-II part) they are still undefeated!!!

Too bad Arizona State isn't that good, isn't it?

[TFoA]

Michigan is still #2 in the BCS. I told you, if it was a close game, they'd still be #2. But USC is only 7 hundreths of a point behind.

[WJMorris3]

Time to look at it yet again.

TITLE GAME: #1 Ohio State (Big Ten Champ) v #2 Michigan (At-large/AQ)

Rose Bowl: #3 USC (Pac-10 Champ) v #4 Florida (At-large/AQ)

Sugar Bowl: #6 Arkansas (SEC Leader) v #5 Notre Dame (At-large/AQ)

Orange Bowl: #16 Georgia Tech (ACC Leader) v #11 Boise State (At-Large/AQ)

Fiesta Bowl: #13 Texas (Big XII Leader) v #14 Rutgers (Big East Leader)

Explanations:

Texas is considered the Big XII leader by virtue of their win over Oklahoma.

Rutgers is considered the Big East leader because they have fewer losses against one loss teams than West Virginia or Louisville.

By rule, the at-large bids must include #2 Michigan (top 2), #11 Boise State (top 12 and non-BCS), #5 Notre Dame (top 8 and is ND), and #4 Florida (#4 and #3 not an at-large).

National title game takes #1 Ohio State and #2 Michigan.

Rose Bowl gets #3 USC, Sugar Bowl gets #6 Arkansas, Orange Bowl gets #16 Georgia Tech, and Fiesta Bowl gets #13 Texas, per contractual obligations.

Since the Rose Bowl lost Ohio State to the title game, they have the first choice of remaining teams. They take #4 Florida.

Then the Sugar Bowl has a selection. They take #5 Notre Dame.

The Orange Bowl then takes #11 Boise State.

Finally, the Fiesta Bowl takes #14 Rutgers.

[NJTank]

You can not say BCS without BS

[Seadragon76]

I guess with two weeks left, I could for fun look at the conference races.

Here goes nothing...

ACC: Georgia Tech has already secured a spot in Jacksonville in two weeks for the ACC Title Game. But, the opponent won't be decided until this upcoming weekend when Boston College plays at struggling Miami on Thursday night and Wake Forest heads up to take on Maryland. The situation is simple for the Eagles: Win and hope Maryland wins to take the tiebreaker. If they lose and Maryland wins, the Terps head on, or if Wake wins, then the Demon Deacons head to Jacksonville.

Big XII: With Nebraska already clinching the North, it's down to Oklahoma and Texas in the South, with all the Longhorns needing is a win over archrival Texas A&M to win the division. Oklahoma, on the other hand, needs a win over Oklahoma State and pray for an upset.

Big East: It's a three horse race between Louisville, Rutgers and West Virginia with the final clash, Rutgers and West Virginia, being two weeks off. So, for now, it's time for warm-up games before the clash at Morgantown.

Big Ten: Ohio State won the game and the Big Ten title. That's all you need to know.

Conference USA: Houston nailed home field advantage for the C-USA Championship Game by holding off a hapless Memphis team. Now, who heads to Houston is still a guess as Southern Miss leads East Carolina by a half game with the Pirates holding the tiebreaker if Southern Miss should lose their final game. This can be avoided if the Eagles beat Marshall next week, though.

Mid-American: It's settled as the Ohio Bobcats face the Central Michigan Chippawas in two weeks at the MAC Championship Game in Detroit's Ford Field. The winner will probably return to Detroit for the Motor City Bowl down the road.

Mountain West: BYU's convincing win over New Mexico gave the Cougars the conference crown and a bowl trip somewhere.

Pac-10: USC's win over Cal clinches the fifth conference crown for the Trojans, who have national championship aspirations as well.

SEC: Get ready for a showdown in Atlanta as Florida and Arkansas square off in two weeks as a possible shot at National Championship hangs in the balance for both teams.

Sun Belt: MTSU went out of conference to get smoked, but that's okay because they hold a game and a half lead over Troy and they're two up on defending champ Arkansas State.

WAC: Boise just needs one more win to not only clinch the WAC crown, but to assure themselves a BCS bid.

[Squeaks4]

Too bad Arizona State isn't that good, isn't it?

ASU is terrible, what does that have to do with Rutgers being overrated? Sour grapes maybe? If you are such a huge Rutgers fan, how'd ya like that Insight.com bowl game lost to ASU last year?

[HatManTC]

Big Ten Bowl assignments:

Ohio State - BCS National Championship (unofficial)

only thing that makes it unofficial is they are just waiting for the invite to arrive in the mail.

[footballfiji]

I think West Virginia should go ahead and jump on a chance to go to the Gator bowl. It's the biggest non-BCS Big East Bowl and they are effectively eliminated from the Big East.

If they beat Rutgers than Louisville goes to the BCS because of the tie-breaker (WVU lost to UL)

If they lose to Rutgers, then Rutgers goes.

sad.

[slightly shotgunned]

is it just me, or should the national title game be osu vs. michigan?

i mean, what are the arguments for the other top teams in the country and how do they outweigh the fact that michigan's only loss comes to ohio state in columbus by 3 points? if you look at just the losses of the top 10 teams in this week's poll here's what you'll find:

#3 USC - lost 33-31 @ Oregon St.

#4 Florida - lost 27-17 @ then #11 Auburn

#5 Notre Dame - lost 47-21 to then #11 Michigan

#6 Arkansas - lost 50-14 to then #6 USC

#7 West Virginia - lost 44-34 @ then #5 Louisville *where they dropped to like, 10th or something crazy like that...how i don't really understand.

#8 Wisconson- lost 27-13 @ then #6 Michigan

#9 Louisville - lost 28-25 @ then #15 Rutgers

#10 LSU - has two losses so they don't get to play. sorry tigers fans.

how is it that USC, the only team in the top 10 to lose to an unranked team, is #3 with a legitimate shot at the national title game? oregon state is a team they should have beaten and they didn't. and if "every game is a playoff game" in college football, shouldn't a loss to an unranked team eliminate you from the nation title game?

...or am i the only one that thinks so?

[KevinMcD]

is it just me, or should the national title game be osu vs. michigan?

i mean, what are the arguments for the other top teams in the country and how do they outweigh the fact that michigan's only loss comes to ohio state in columbus by 3 points? if you look at just the losses of the top 10 teams in this week's poll here's what you'll find:

#3 USC - lost 33-31 @ Oregon St.

#4 Florida - lost 27-17 @ then #11 Auburn

#5 Notre Dame - lost 47-21 to then #11 Michigan

#6 Arkansas - lost 50-14 to then #6 USC

#7 West Virginia - lost 44-34 @ then #5 Louisville *where they dropped to like, 10th or something crazy like that...how i don't really understand.

#8 Wisconson- lost 27-13 @ then #6 Michigan

#9 Louisville - lost 28-25 @ then #15 Rutgers

#10 LSU - has two losses so they don't get to play. sorry tigers fans.

how is it that USC, the only team in the top 10 to lose to an unranked team, is #3 with a legitimate shot at the national title game? oregon state is a team they should have beaten and they didn't. and if "every game is a playoff game" in college football, shouldn't a loss to an unranked team eliminate you from the nation title game?

...or am i the only one that thinks so?

I think it should be OSU vs. Michigan. The only way it should be different is if USC KILLS Notre Dame and KILLS UCLA. Or if Arkansas or Florida looks VERY impressive in their two remaining games. Notre Dame should not go. They lost to Michigan at ND Statdium. It should be OSU vs. Michigan and will be since the BSC and FOX want ratings which Ohio St and Michigan would give.

[HedleyLamarr]

Michigan shouldn't get a rematch unless Southern Cal, Florida, and Arkansas all lose. If Michigan and Notre Dame are the lone significant 1-loss teams left, then Michigan should play Ohio State again. The only way I could support a non-conference winning (excluding independents, of course) team in the BCS National Championship game is if their conference winner is in the game as well, AND all the other BCS conference winners have more losses than the at-large team.

A 1-loss USC (conference winner) or a 1-loss Florida or Arkansas (either will be the conference winner) deserves the opportunity to play for the National Championship ahead of Michigan.

It should be OSU vs. Michigan and will be since the BSC and FOX want ratings which Ohio St and Michigan would give.

The game will get decent ratings, regardless of who plays Ohio State.

However, since it'll be a rematch, the curiousity of the matchup is gone since they've played already, and the ratings won't be as great.

If Fox wants to bring in the ratings, they'll need a mystique matchup, and thus be cheering for Florida or USC to face Ohio State.

[Epiphanic]

If every college football game is a playoff game, then neither, USC, Florida, Rutgers, Arkansas, nor Notre Dame deserves a shot. It can only be Boise St. They, and OSU are the only unbeatens left.

Game. Set. Match.

[OB33]

how is it that USC, the only team in the top 10 to lose to an unranked team, is #3 with a legitimate shot at the national title game? oregon state is a team they should have beaten and they didn't. and if "every game is a playoff game" in college football, shouldn't a loss to an unranked team eliminate you from the nation title game?

So losing to a 7-4 Oregon State team equates to a playoff loss but a game that decides the Big Ten Championship and a guaranteed spot in the BCS Championship doesn't?

I'm not saying that I don't think Michigan isn't the number 2 team in the nation, I think that they've shown that all year, the problem is that they already had their shot and showed they'd couldn't be anything more than number two. Imagine if something like this had happened during this year's World Series. After winning the NLCS Bud Selig tells the Cardinals that the Tigers will be playing the Athletics for the World Series because the A's had a better record in a more dominant league, despite the fact that the Tigers already beat the A's. Would that be right? Would it be fair? Would it provide as much excitement as a match-up between two teams that hadn't met yet? I think the clear answer is no. Not to mention that the Cardinals ended up beating the Tigers, which just goes to show that even if a team doesn't appear to have a shot they still have probably have a better shot at winning than a team that already tried and came up short.

Also, if you factor in the strength of a team's loss you also have to factor in the strength of its wins, should USC win out they would have wins over Arkansas, Nebraska, Oregon, UCLA, and Notre Dame which I think weighs as well if not better than Michigan's 5 best wins Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Penn State, Central Michigan, and Minnesota.

And just to argue epiphanic's point, Boise State beat Oregon State 42-14. Makes you think.

[infrared41]

i mean, what are the arguments for the other top teams in the country and how do they outweigh the fact that michigan's only loss comes to ohio state in columbus by 3 points?

From 1984 to 1996 The AFC won exactly zero Super Bowls. During that time it was the common opinion that the NFC Championship game was the defacto Super Bowl because everyone knew that the two best teams in the NFL would be in the NFC Title game. My question to anyone using the "two best teams" argument is this.

Using your own logic, wouldn't it have been more "fair" to give the loser of the NFC title game during the aforementioned era another shot at the winner since we all "knew" that the best two teams met in that game and not in the Super Bowl?

Using a different sport let's take a look at the recent MLB season. Was there any question that the "two best teams" in baseball were in the American League? Why should Detroit have to beat the Yankees twice? Wouldn't it have been "more fair" to give the Yankees another shot at Detroit? We all "knew" that St. Louis was not even close to the second best team in baseball. Did I mention that St. Louis is now being sized up for World Series rings?

The point is this. Michigan had their shot. They lost. Dallas didn't get a second shot at the 49ers in 1994. Indy didn't get another shot at Pittsburgh last season. Pittsburgh won and headed for Denver despite the fact that Indy was the "better" team. Detroit beat the Yankees. The Yankees went home. The Cardinals beat The Mets. The Mets went home. Ohio State beat Michigan. End of subject. Believe me, nothing would please me more than to kick Michigan's ass again for the National Championship but it shouldn't happen.

It's not fair to USC, Florida, Arkansas, and even Notre Dame to give Michigan another chance. Why should Michigan be given a second chance while the other one loss teams don't get a first chance? I don't care about who beat whom and all the other contortions that everyone wants to go through to find a way to make a rematch happen. Until there's a playoff (and hopefully there never will be) this is the way it works.

And yes I would feel the same way if the shoe were on the other foot and Michigan had won.

The truth is that under the current system the only team truly getting screwed is Boise State. They're undefeated and they're BCS eligible. If they win out it should be them in Glendale to face The Buckeyes on Jan. 8th.

GO BUCKS!