"Official" 2007 College Football Thread

[slightly shotgunned]

So...

1.LSU

2.Kansas

3.Missouri

4.WVU

5.Ohio State

6.ASU

7.Oregon

8.Georgia

9.VT

10.Oklahoma

Prediction: Once Lloyd Carr announces his "retirement" Monday the media immediately starts up with their never ending Les Miles to Michigan talk. LSU gets distracted and loses focus and the SEC title game. Missouri beats Kansas. Oklahoma beats Missouri. Ohio State then moves past one loss Kansas into a title shot against West Virginia and the whole Michigan/Florida argument from last season starts all over again only this time it's Kansas vs. Ohio State. And I spend the month of December defending my team and arguing against a playoff.

It's just the way this season has been playing out and it's just my luck.

that's what i'm hoping for. nothing like seeing osu choke in a bcs championship. btw. do you want to just start that playoff talk now and get it over with?

[HatManTC]

So...

1.LSU

2.Kansas

3.Missouri

4.WVU

5.Ohio State

6.ASU

7.Oregon

8.Georgia

9.VT

10.Oklahoma

Prediction: Once Lloyd Carr announces his "retirement" Monday the media immediately starts up with their never ending Les Miles to Michigan talk. LSU gets distracted and loses focus and the SEC title game. Missouri beats Kansas. Oklahoma beats Missouri. Ohio State then moves past one loss Kansas into a title shot against West Virginia and the whole Michigan/Florida argument from last season starts all over again only this time it's Kansas vs. Ohio State. And I spend the month of December defending my team and arguing against a playoff.

It's just the way this season has been playing out and it's just my luck.

that's what i'm hoping for. nothing like seeing osu choke in a bcs championship. btw. do you want to just start that playoff talk now and get it over with?

they are just so horrible in their BCS apperances..

Won 1999 Sugar Bowl

Won 2003 Fiesta Bowl*

Won 2004 Fiesta Bowl

Won 2006 Fiesta Bowl

Lost 2007 BCS National Championship Game

oh wait. just one loss. judging by that statement you would think The Ohio State University had a history of lossing Bowl games. you must be confussing us with that school up north that wears the corn color and blue.

[slightly shotgunned]

So...

1.LSU

2.Kansas

3.Missouri

4.WVU

5.Ohio State

6.ASU

7.Oregon

8.Georgia

9.VT

10.Oklahoma

Prediction: Once Lloyd Carr announces his "retirement" Monday the media immediately starts up with their never ending Les Miles to Michigan talk. LSU gets distracted and loses focus and the SEC title game. Missouri beats Kansas. Oklahoma beats Missouri. Ohio State then moves past one loss Kansas into a title shot against West Virginia and the whole Michigan/Florida argument from last season starts all over again only this time it's Kansas vs. Ohio State. And I spend the month of December defending my team and arguing against a playoff.

It's just the way this season has been playing out and it's just my luck.

that's what i'm hoping for. nothing like seeing osu choke in a bcs championship. btw. do you want to just start that playoff talk now and get it over with?

they are just so horrible in their BCS apperances..

Won 1999 Sugar Bowl

Won 2003 Fiesta Bowl*

Won 2004 Fiesta Bowl

Won 2006 Fiesta Bowl

Lost 2007 BCS National Championship Game

oh wait. just one loss. judging by that statement you would think The Ohio State University had a history of lossing Bowl games. you must be confussing us with that school up north that wears the corn color and blue.

what is with osu fans not reading ALL of a previous post before responding? ok, since you obviously didn't catch this, my ENTIRE comment was referring to last year and only last year. i'm sure infrared got it, since it was kinda an inside joke, but next time, judge your jump a little better if you want to jump in.

[infrared41]

For Michigan fans everywhere!

"Bud Light presents Real Men of Genius"

(Reaaaaal Men Of Genius) Today we salute you, Mr. Delusional Michigan Fan. (Mr. Delusional Michigan Faaaaaan!) Season after season, year after year, you try to justify your absurdly high preseason ranking. (Clutching at straws!)

Season after season, year after year, you scramble to make futile

attempts at damage control when the Wolverines lose to a grossly inferior opponent. (How'd Northwestern score fifty fouuuuuur?)

Inevitably, you'll bring up the past, and boast of National Championships won 40 years before you were born. (Those were the daaaaaays!) You will point out that you have more wins than any other program as though that is relevant to the current season. (Been playing since the 1870s!)

Go on, ignore that home loss to Ohio State in the regular season finale and continue to believe that you'll defeat your bowl opponent with striking ease. (We'll win by thirteeeeeeey!)

So crack open an ice cold Bud Light, oh Emperor of Excuses, and take comfort knowing that when you don't finish in the top 25, you'll be back to number three when the preseason polls come out next year. (Mr. Delusional Michigan Fan!)

[WJMorris3]

Alright, just to get us out of the OSU/Michigan argument...

In an attempt to avoid a potential headache at the end of the regular season, the commissioners of the six BCS football conferences have voted to expand the pool of BCS at-large candidates from 14 to 18.

The new rule goes into effect only if there aren't enough teams among the top 14 of the final BCS standings to fill 10 slots in the BCS National Championship Game, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Rose Bowl.

The new rule was approved by commissioners for the 2007 season and will be announced by the BCS on Tuesday.

"The commissioners voted that in a case where there wasn't enough teams in the at-large pool, they would expand it by four," said Charles Bloom, associate commissioner of the SEC and BCS media coordinator. "If there were enough teams to fill the BCS from the pool of 14, it wouldn't be expanded."

Under the current BCS rules, champions of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10 and SEC conferences receive automatic berths in the five BCS games. The top two teams in the final BCS standings will play in the Jan. 7 BCS National Championship Game at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

Teams from the five non-BCS leagues (Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt and WAC) receive an automatic BCS berth only if they finish in the top 12 of the final BCS standings, or in the top 16 and ranked ahead of a champion from one of the six BCS conferences. No more than one such team from the non-BCS leagues can receive an automatic berth in one season.

The new rule doesn't change the qualification requirements for non-BCS teams, Bloom said.

If no team from a non-BCS league meets the criteria, then the four BCS at-large spots can be filled by teams that won at least nine games and finished in the top 14 of the final standings.

But here's the potential problem this season: Only two teams from one BCS league can play in BCS bowl games.

There are currently four Big 12 teams, three SEC teams and three Pac-10 teams ranked in the top 14 of the BCS standings. Two ACC teams and one team from both the Big Ten and Big East are among the top 14.

If the season ended now, there would be enough eligible teams to fill the 10 BCS spots.

But each of the ACC teams (No. 8 Virginia Tech and No. 14 Boston College) would be in danger of falling out of the top 14 if they lose again. The Hokies play No. 16 Virginia Saturday. The winner of that game faces the Eagles in the Dec. 1 ACC championship game in Jacksonville, Fla. Boston College finishes the regular season at home against Miami on Saturday.

Two teams from non-BCS leagues have a chance of reaching the top 12 in the final BCS standings. Hawaii, one of two unbeaten teams left in major college football, plays No. 19 Boise State at Aloha Stadium on Friday night. The No. 15 Warriors might move into the top 12 if they beat the Broncos and Washington on Dec. 1 and finish 12-0. But the Broncos, who would finish 11-1 by beating Hawaii, might not jump seven spots to No. 12 in the BCS standings, even after beating the unbeaten Warriors.

The teams which would figure to benefit most from the rules change include No. 17 Illinois, which finished its season with a 9-3 record, and No. 20 Connecticut, which would move up in the rankings if it upsets No. 3 West Virginia on Saturday. The loser of the ACC championship game also might be eligible for a BCS at-large berth under the new rule.

[rams80]

I think Illinois fans just became huge Boise State and Virginia fans.

[rams80]

Suigintou calls my server "junk".

[infrared41]

that's what i'm hoping for. nothing like seeing osu choke in a bcs championship. btw. do you want to just start that playoff talk now and get it over with?

what is with osu fans not reading ALL of a previous post before responding? ok, since you obviously didn't catch this, my ENTIRE comment was referring to last year and only last year. i'm sure infrared got it, since it was kinda an inside joke, but next time, judge your jump a little better if you want to jump in.

I got it. Yeah we might as well go ahead and get an early jump on resuming our annual playoff debate. We can avoid the holiday rush if we start now.

[FiddySicks]

For Michigan fans everywhere!

"Bud Light presents Real Men of Genius"

(Reaaaaal Men Of Genius) Today we salute you, Mr. Delusional Michigan Fan. (Mr. Delusional Michigan Faaaaaan!) Season after season, year after year, you try to justify your absurdly high preseason ranking. (Clutching at straws!)

Season after season, year after year, you scramble to make futile

attempts at damage control when the Wolverines lose to a grossly inferior opponent. (How'd Northwestern score fifty fouuuuuur?)

Inevitably, you'll bring up the past, and boast of National Championships won 40 years before you were born. (Those were the daaaaaays!) You will point out that you have more wins than any other program as though that is relevant to the current season. (Been playing since the 1870s!)

Go on, ignore that home loss to Ohio State in the regular season finale and continue to believe that you'll defeat your bowl opponent with striking ease. (We'll win by thirteeeeeeey!)

So crack open an ice cold Bud Light, oh Emperor of Excuses, and take comfort knowing that when you don't finish in the top 25, you'll be back to number three when the preseason polls come out next year. (Mr. Delusional Michigan Fan!)

Now I really couldn't give two flying :censored:s about either Michigan or Ohio State, but your really starting to get quite annoying. You won, now move on.

[infrared41]

Now I really couldn't give two flying :censored:s about either Michigan or Ohio State, but your really starting to get quite annoying. You won, now move on.

Is that an order? I couldn't give two flying :censored:s about what you find annoying so I guess we're even. And you're not very polite. B*** me.

[Sport]

For Michigan fans everywhere!

"Bud Light presents Real Men of Genius"

(Reaaaaal Men Of Genius) Today we salute you, Mr. Delusional Michigan Fan. (Mr. Delusional Michigan Faaaaaan!) Season after season, year after year, you try to justify your absurdly high preseason ranking. (Clutching at straws!)

Season after season, year after year, you scramble to make futile

attempts at damage control when the Wolverines lose to a grossly inferior opponent. (How'd Northwestern score fifty fouuuuuur?)

Inevitably, you'll bring up the past, and boast of National Championships won 40 years before you were born. (Those were the daaaaaays!) You will point out that you have more wins than any other program as though that is relevant to the current season. (Been playing since the 1870s!)

Go on, ignore that home loss to Ohio State in the regular season finale and continue to believe that you'll defeat your bowl opponent with striking ease. (We'll win by thirteeeeeeey!)

So crack open an ice cold Bud Light, oh Emperor of Excuses, and take comfort knowing that when you don't finish in the top 25, you'll be back to number three when the preseason polls come out next year. (Mr. Delusional Michigan Fan!)

Now I really couldn't give two flying :censored:s about either Michigan or Ohio State, but your really starting to get quite annoying. You won, now move on.

Then you've failed to grasp the concept of the Ohio State Michigan rivalry. Boasting and gloating to anyone who will listen as much as we want when OSU wins is completely warranted. I know they did the same thing during the 90's. Your crazy if you expect us to get off of our high horse after less than a week.

[slightly shotgunned]

that's what i'm hoping for. nothing like seeing osu choke in a bcs championship. btw. do you want to just start that playoff talk now and get it over with?

what is with osu fans not reading ALL of a previous post before responding? ok, since you obviously didn't catch this, my ENTIRE comment was referring to last year and only last year. i'm sure infrared got it, since it was kinda an inside joke, but next time, judge your jump a little better if you want to jump in.

I got it. Yeah we might as well go ahead and get an early jump on resuming our annual playoff debate. We can avoid the holiday rush if we start now.

works for me, i'm all for beating the holiday rush.

before we get started though, i gotta say that its a good thing michigan isn't in the talks for the title at all this year. last year i think anyone reading what i was saying brushed it off as me b:cursing:n because michigan lost to osu and were eliminated from the title game. now that the whole of rankings are seriously messed up, i think the case for a playoff is a little stronger and hopefully i won't pull a manningham with the argument.

alright, since i started last year, i'm deferring to you. fire away.

[infrared41]

that's what i'm hoping for. nothing like seeing osu choke in a bcs championship. btw. do you want to just start that playoff talk now and get it over with?

what is with osu fans not reading ALL of a previous post before responding? ok, since you obviously didn't catch this, my ENTIRE comment was referring to last year and only last year. i'm sure infrared got it, since it was kinda an inside joke, but next time, judge your jump a little better if you want to jump in.

I got it. Yeah we might as well go ahead and get an early jump on resuming our annual playoff debate. We can avoid the holiday rush if we start now.

works for me, i'm all for beating the holiday rush.

before we get started though, i gotta say that its a good thing michigan isn't in the talks for the title at all this year. last year i think anyone reading what i was saying brushed it off as me b:cursing:n because michigan lost to osu and were eliminated from the title game. now that the whole of rankings are seriously messed up, i think the case for a playoff is a little stronger and hopefully i won't pull a manningham with the argument.

alright, since i started last year, i'm deferring to you. fire away.

And hopefully I won't come off as an Ohio State fan pimping to keep Michigan out of the title game. My team is sitting at #5 with a "slim and none" shot at the title game and I still don't want a playoff. My argument this time around is simply this. If we had a playoff would anyone even care about Missouri-Kansas, USC-ASU, West Virginia-UConn, The SEC title game, The Big 12 title game, etc.?

In closing, we have already had 12 weeks of playoff football. It started with Appalachian State knocking off Michigan and rolled right along with USF beating Auburn and West Virginia, Stanford knocking off USC, Kentucky beating LSU, Colorado beating Oklahoma, Illinois beating Ohio State, and so on and so on. Now let's look at what those upsets would mean if there were a 16 team playoff. And let's not kid ourselves, any 16 team playoff is not going to include all 11 D-1 conferences. It's going to be poll (read: Money) based because there's no way TV or the big school conferences are going to let Central Michigan take a playoff spot away from Georgia or USC etc. So here's how it would look if we had a 16 team playoff based on the polls and the current BCS formula.

Your 16 playoff teams if the season ended today...

BCS Standings

1. LSU 10-1

2. Kansas 11-0

3. West Virginia 9-1

4. Missouri 10-1

5. Ohio State 11-1

6. Arizona State 9-1

7. Georgia 9-2

8. Virginia Tech 9-2

9. Oregon 8-2

10. Oklahoma 9-2

11. USC 8-2

12. Florida 8-3

13. Texas 9-2

14. Boston College 9-2

15. Hawaii 10-0

16. Virginia 9-2

Almost every top 5 team that was upset along the way is included in that list. The NFL has a playoff. Tell me what happens if New England loses to Miami or Pittsburgh in the next couple weeks? They still win their division by 4 games. If the Colts win out and The Patriots lose twice what happens? Nothing. The NFL will finally get interesting with about three games to go. Up to that point it's the 27 versions of the Arizona Cardinals playing each other while The Patriots, Steelers, Packers, Cowboys, and Colts wait around to see where they're seeded.

NCAA basketball has a tournament. If UNC loses twice to Duke this year, finishes 3rd in the ACC tournament and still wins 21 games what happens? Probably a number 6 seed at worst.

In College Football every game matters, even the so-called cupcake games (just ask Michigan about that.)

Your move.

[slightly shotgunned]

If we had a playoff would anyone even care about Missouri-Kansas, USC-ASU, West Virginia-UConn, The SEC title game, The Big 12 title game, etc.?

i admire that you stick to your position granted at #5 the chance isn't all that slim since somewhere somebody is going to lose and if its the right people, you're right back in it. this season, it wouldn't surprise me.

The same people would care about those games that care about their teams playing in the Chic-Fil-A bowl year after year. do you mean to tell me that you would stop caring about the michigan-osu game every year just because there was a playoff system? you wouldn't stop caring and neither would any other fan of their team. I don't care about mizzou-kansas because i'm not from that area and the outcome doesn't effect me or my team. its the same way with any other game around the country. with a playoff system instead of that watch at #2-#6, it'd be around #15-#20 (just throwing out numbers really), and so even though the games you mention wouldn't be as magnified, Texas-Texas A&M, Boise State-Hawaii, Virginia Tech-Virginia, Uconn-West Virginia, Florida State-Florida, Oregon-Ucla, Georgia-Georgia Tech and others all become HUGE games because we're not talking a bid to the Cotton bowl or the Outback bowl or the San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, we're talking a shot at a national title. tell me you wouldn't watch those games then if you don't already now.

we have already had 12 weeks of playoff football. It started with Appalachian State knocking off Michigan and rolled right along with USF beating Auburn and West Virginia, Stanford knocking off USC, Kentucky beating LSU, Colorado beating Oklahoma, Illinois beating Ohio State, and so on and so on.

i hear this all the time and the more i watch how the rankings go down, the less of it i believe. by the logic of 12 weeks of playoff football, Hawaii and Kansas are 1 & 2. unless, of course, its a round robin playoff if you're from a certain conference or have a 'winning tradition'. Kentucky beating LSU didn't hurt LSU all that much since other teams lost as the season wore on. USC would still be number 1 had they only lost once and we all know it. the reasoning thrown here? tougher schedules. the reason that shouldn't matter? you said so yourself in defense of osu when they were given the number 1 ranking earlier in the season, who really plays anybody? a ranking is simply a number until the end of the season (ask michigan, texas, and usc) so you can easily line up against app. state and get beat. that's why you can't decide who wins based on what a paper or a computer says. upsets happen all the time, so who's to say that Virginia wouldn't beat LSU in a playoff?

Now let's look at what those upsets would mean if there were a 16 team playoff. And let's not kid ourselves, any 16 team playoff is not going to include all 11 D-1 conferences. It's going to be poll (read: Money) based because there's no way TV or the big school conferences are going to let Central Michigan take a playoff spot away from Georgia or USC etc.

Looking at this year, there's no way cmu gets in with 5 losses on their record over ANY team. so no, don't just give it to conference winners, i'm pretty sure a mid-major school would have to be undefeated or at least have no conference losses in order to get in, but don't shun them out either if their record justifies them. (hawaii...even though they have a 'weak' schedule, its not all that easy to line up beat the guy in front you game in and game out.)

NCAA basketball has a tournament. If UNC loses twice to Duke this year, finishes 3rd in the ACC tournament and still wins 21 games what happens? Probably a number 6 seed at worst.

In College Football every game matters, even the so-called cupcake games (just ask Michigan about that.)

if nothing else, amend that argument to 'every ranked game in the big 10, pac 10, sec, big 12, acc, and big east matters', and i'll agree with you. Tell me the miami(oh)-ohio game means anything at all except to those two schools. tell me that BYU-Utah is of any consequence to the final bcs standings. BC-Miami(fla). Hawai'i-Boise State. Virginia Tech-Virginia. or any other game that doesn't involve the top 5 schools (excluding osu since they aren't playing). the difference between those examples you used and college football is that there are 12 regular season games not 16 or 25-30. the margin for error there is a lot smaller since there are over 100 schools fighting for spots. losing once or twice wouldn't guarantee a major team a spot and would probably eliminate a mid-major school. since you already posted 1-16 here's 17-25:

17. Illinois 9-3

18. Tennessee 8-3

19. Boise State 10-1

20. Connecticut 9-2

21. Wisconsin 9-3

22. Clemson 8-3

23. South Florida 8-3

24. Cincinnati 8-3

25. BYU 8-2

aside from boise state, every team there is has one too many losses. uconn at 10-1 is probably higher same for all schools on this list. so it wouldn't be as simple as lose 2 and get in, it'd be lose 2 and pray to your god that your schedule strength was better than the other 100+ schools with 2 losses (since i can already see you saying that schools will just load up on cupcakes)...and that at least 16 other teams lose 2 games. how exactly would that devalue each game and what coach is going to tell his players 'guys, we've got a playoff system now. get lazy out there because we can finally lose some games'?

and i remember (vaguely) you saying something about how some rivalries would die out in a playoff system. i'm of the belief that if...say...michigan was winning titles year after year, you'd hate them a little more wouldn't you? having to see them raise the trophy, hearing about them being the defending champions all year long. don't you think that would keep it going? if neither team were in contention that year, think they won't play hard so that maybe they didn't make it to the playoffs, at least they beat michigan? or if one team was on the bubble, or if both were, or if one could ruin the others chances? same rules would apply everywhere and would make non rivalry games, like wvu-uconn, interesting to more than just people from the area.

...there's more, but i'm exhausted. its been a long day.

[footballfiji]

No. Every game matters. It's not a cliche. It's the truth. It might not matter to you personally but they do matter.

With the NCAA rule that a 7-5 team (no matter what the conference) is worth more than a 6-6 team teams are focused more and more on getting that win #7. Here take this upcoming week for example:

Tuesday Night: Middle Tennessee (5-6) vs Troy (7-3). MTSU desperately needed to win this game to keep any bowl hopes alive. No matter how slim. Troy wins and they are guaranteed SOME bowl (even if it's not the New Orleans bowl)

Thursday Night: USC (8-2) vs Arizona State (9-1). ASU wins, it's one step closer to the Rose Bowl. USC wins and they can start looking at BCS games. Teams like Georgia, Texas, etc who are looking for a BCS at-large bid will be pulling for ASU (and hoping the PAC-10 only gets one bid.) Also, although it's truly a long shot, ASU has an outside shot at the BCS title game if they keep winning.

Friday

Central Michigan (6-5) vs Akron (4-7). CMU wins, it gets a bowl bid. Plain and simple. All those other 7-5 and 6-6 teams will be pulling against them so they can fill their spot. Also it has implications in the MAC title race.

Nebraska (5-6) vs Colorado (5-6). Rivalry game. Also, this could be the final nail in the Bill Callahan coffin and when a coach leaves it affect numerous other teams. Slim bowl hopes on both sides.

Mississippi (3-8) vs Mississippi State (6-5). Rivalry. MSU wins and it's "Hello Independence Bowl". Ole Miss loses and it's "Goodbye Coach O"

Wyoming (5-6) vs Colorado State (2-9). Rivalry. WYO wins they can keep onto slim bowl hopes. CSU wins and Sonny Lubick goes out a winner, like he should.

Toledo (5-6) vs Bowling Green (7-4). Rivalry game. MAC title game implications. Toledo clinging onto bowl hopes.

Arkansas (7-4) vs LSU (10-1). Rivalry. Can Arkansas play spoiler? Can LSU keep it's dreams of the BCS title game alive?

Texas (9-2) vs Texas A&M (6-5). A&M needs to win to keep a bowl chance and keep Coach Fran's job (maybe they'll throw the game because of that). Texas needs to win to keep BCS at large dreams alive.

Boise State (10-1) vs Hawai'i (10-0). Wac title game. BCS implications.

That's just Friday's games. Why do other teams care about these games? Bowls. Plain and Simple. They want the spots that other teams could take.

[slightly shotgunned]

No. Every game matters. It's not a cliche. It's the truth. It might not matter to you personally but they do matter.

With the NCAA rule that a 7-5 team (no matter what the conference) is worth more than a 6-6 team teams are focused more and more on getting that win #7. Here take this upcoming week for example:

Tuesday Night: Middle Tennessee (5-6) vs Troy (7-3). MTSU desperately needed to win this game to keep any bowl hopes alive. No matter how slim. Troy wins and they are guaranteed SOME bowl (even if it's not the New Orleans bowl)

Thursday Night: USC (8-2) vs Arizona State (9-1). ASU wins, it's one step closer to the Rose Bowl. USC wins and they can start looking at BCS games. Teams like Georgia, Texas, etc who are looking for a BCS at-large bid will be pulling for ASU (and hoping the PAC-10 only gets one bid.) Also, although it's truly a long shot, ASU has an outside shot at the BCS title game if they keep winning.

Friday

Central Michigan (6-5) vs Akron (4-7). CMU wins, it gets a bowl bid. Plain and simple. All those other 7-5 and 6-6 teams will be pulling against them so they can fill their spot. Also it has implications in the MAC title race.

Nebraska (5-6) vs Colorado (5-6). Rivalry game. Also, this could be the final nail in the Bill Callahan coffin and when a coach leaves it affect numerous other teams. Slim bowl hopes on both sides.

Mississippi (3-8) vs Mississippi State (6-5). Rivalry. MSU wins and it's "Hello Independence Bowl". Ole Miss loses and it's "Goodbye Coach O"

Wyoming (5-6) vs Colorado State (2-9). Rivalry. WYO wins they can keep onto slim bowl hopes. CSU wins and Sonny Lubick goes out a winner, like he should.

Toledo (5-6) vs Bowling Green (7-4). Rivalry game. MAC title game implications. Toledo clinging onto bowl hopes.

Arkansas (7-4) vs LSU (10-1). Rivalry. Can Arkansas play spoiler? Can LSU keep it's dreams of the BCS title game alive?

Texas (9-2) vs Texas A&M (6-5). A&M needs to win to keep a bowl chance and keep Coach Fran's job (maybe they'll throw the game because of that). Texas needs to win to keep BCS at large dreams alive.

Boise State (10-1) vs Hawai'i (10-0). Wac title game. BCS implications.

That's just Friday's games. Why do other teams care about these games? Bowls. Plain and Simple. They want the spots that other teams could take.

i understand what you're saying, but do me a favor and re-read my post and know that i'm saying all of that as "slightly shotgunned wants the bowls abolished" not, "these games don't matter to me so they are irrelevant to everyone else." see, i get that the bowls are historic and traditional and prestigious, i do. but in the end, once all the pageantry dies down from a non-title bowl game, what are you left with? an empty, albeit exciting victory or an embarrassing loss (boise state- oklahoma). those games you mentioned above, the ones from mid-major conferences, mean very little to nothing in the bcs, which is what i'm getting at.

[footballfiji]

I think you are discounting the impact a bowl can have on a program. It affects recruiting, coaching salaries, etc.

I'll give you three examples:

Rutgers. What signified that Rutgers was "back"? (that's arguable, since you have to be something before you come "back"). Their Texas bowl appearance last year. To make it to a bowl, any bowl, shows your program is successful and gives you something to build off of.

Nebraska. What told everyone around the country that Nebraska was in trouble; that they weren't the "Big Red Machine" they once were? Not their record. They've had some so-so records. No, it was their absence from a bowl game. The fact that their bowl game streak was now finished. Consistently making it to a bowl game shows your program is good. Some might say great.

Auburn. I can tell you about this one from personal experience. In 2003, Auburn was ranked in the top-5 of most polls. Too high, in my opinion. Why were they ranked so high? One reason was their bowl win the year before against Penn State. Where they held Larry Johnson in check. That one game contributed so much to the ranking it was ridiculous. There are tons of teams who benefit from bowl wins/bowl upsets/bowl what-have-yous.

Bowls are stepping stones, rebuilding stones, foundations for the future. BCS or not. Bowl matter.

Here's another example. Indiana.

Indiana all year has had a slogan of "Play 13" for Coach Hep. Why "Play 13"? It means play a 13th game. Play in a bowl. Show that your program has arrived. If non-BCS bowls didn't matter, why would Indiana continually focus on "Play 13"?

[slightly shotgunned]

I think you are discounting the impact a bowl can have on a program. It affects recruiting, coaching salaries, etc.

I'll give you three examples:

Rutgers. What signified that Rutgers was "back"? (that's arguable, since you have to be something before you come "back"). Their Texas bowl appearance last year. To make it to a bowl, any bowl, shows your program is successful and gives you something to build off of.

Nebraska. What told everyone around the country that Nebraska was in trouble; that they weren't the "Big Red Machine" they once were? Not their record. They've had some so-so records. No, it was their absence from a bowl game. The fact that their bowl game streak was now finished. Consistently making it to a bowl game shows your program is good. Some might say great.

Auburn. I can tell you about this one from personal experience. In 2003, Auburn was ranked in the top-5 of most polls. Too high, in my opinion. Why were they ranked so high? One reason was their bowl win the year before against Penn State. Where they held Larry Johnson in check. That one game contributed so much to the ranking it was ridiculous. There are tons of teams who benefit from bowl wins/bowl upsets/bowl what-have-yous.

Bowls are stepping stones, rebuilding stones, foundations for the future. BCS or not. Bowl matter.

Here's another example. Indiana.

Indiana all year has had a slogan of "Play 13" for Coach Hep. Why "Play 13"? It means play a 13th game. Play in a bowl. Show that your program has arrived. If non-BCS bowls didn't matter, why would Indiana continually focus on "Play 13"?

i think you're missing my point.

yes, the bowls do mean a lot to schools because they provide some advantages, more money for the program/school, more notoriety, some tv exposure, some prestige, and so on. my point is, wouldn't a playoff system do all of that for more than just the big six conferences. i believe so.

[HedleyLamarr]

i think you're missing my point.

yes, the bowls do mean a lot to schools because they provide some advantages, more money for the program/school, more notoriety, some tv exposure, some prestige, and so on. my point is, wouldn't a playoff system do all of that for more than just the big six conferences. i believe so.

Not really. With a playoff system, only 16 teams get additional exposure. With the current bowl structure, 64 teams get additional exposure. The smaller schools and smaller conferences would get less exposure because they'll likely get left out of the playoff picture, or just one team sneaking in every now and then.

If Division 1-A did go to a playoff system, there is more incentive on "just getting wins" instead of "quality wins", and the big schools would go back to scheduling a strictly-soft non-conference schedule. There's no way in hell they'd risk giving up a sure-win just to schedule a tougher opponent, since the emphasis is just on collecting wins. Georgia wouldn't schedule the likes of Oregon, Colorado, Arizona State, and Louisville if the BCS weren't around. They would want to bring in the Sun Belt and ACC teams to ensure the easy victory.

Also, if there were a playoff system, there would be a ton more controversy about which teams should be in the playoffs or not. The pool of selecting the top 2 teams is usually limited to, at most, 4 teams. If you go to, say an 8-team playoff, suddenly the pool of teams with a legit arguement to be included just got a lot bigger. (Going by the current BCS rankings, 8-10 teams can make a good arguement in getting the last two slots.) Going to a playoff system would cause a lot more problems than it would solve.

Not to mention that, if these playoff games are played at neutral sites, how difficult it will be to sell tickets for a game that's only a week away, instead of having 2-3 weeks or more to plan trips like the bowl system offers.

[infrared41]

Hedley and Footballfiji made great points. I'd just like to say add my reply.

do you mean to tell me that you would stop caring about the michigan-osu game every year just because there was a playoff system? you wouldn't stop caring and neither would any other fan of their team.

It's not so much about "caring" as "meaning" and last year when they were 1-2 coming in the game would have been meaningless if a playoff were in place. There would have been no way that neither team made the playoff last year. So they both come in as virtual locks for the playoffs and Lloyd Carr and Jim Tressel treat us to watching the JV versions of the teams because they don't want to risk injuries. It happens in the NFL every season. Add a playoff to college football and there will be years where the SEC title game is nothing more than glorified scrimmage. So to answer your question, would I care about the OSU-Michigan JV game? Probably not.

Sure there would be years where the game mattered for one team or the other. Take this year for example. OSU would have been in and Michigan would have been playing for their playoff lives. So now we're treated to The equivalent of The Colts at 12-4 and a #2 seed playing the Titans at 8-7 who need the win to get in. OSU rests the starters for the playoffs and Michigan get an easy win. In the grand scheme of things a National Championship is more important than a win over Michigan. How do I know? Because there isn't a bigger OSU fan on this board than I am and I'd want the title more than a win against Michigan. So that game would go from important every year to meaningless most of the time. And eventually no one would care. Kinda like Pats-Colts this year. It really didn't mean as much as it used to when they were in the same division. And as we saw, the game, for all it's hype, will have little influence on the final results at the end of the season

I don't care about mizzou-kansas because i'm not from that area and the outcome doesn't effect me or my team.

Did that stop anyone from watching The Patriots-Colts game? It had no effect on anything. College Football fans will watch for the same reason NFL fans watched the Cowboys-Giants or Colts-Patriots. People will watch for the same reason that someone on this board will start a thread in the next few days bashing the NFL network because they can't watch Dallas-Green Bay next Thursday night. My guess is the person who starts that thread won't be from Dallas or Green Bay. It's a big game. Big football games don't need much to get people interested.

A playoff just doesn't work for college football.