Death to the BCS.
I may have to forfeit my GRITS (Girl Raised In The South) card for saying this, but college football is really starting to piss me off.
I mean, come on--Ohio State versus Florida in the National Championship game? Seriously?
There are mountains of angry editorials about yesterday's BCS announcements (two of my personal favorites can be found here and here), but you don't have to be a paid sports journalist to understand why the current system sucks a big fat one.
My disdain for the Florida Gators is fairly well-publicized. However, when it comes to the post-season, I'll root for a rival team any day of the week and twice on Sunday--IF the team actually deserves its bowl placement. After all, I was crushed when the 2004 Auburn Tigers--the team I hate more than any other in the NCAA--were snubbed from the national title hunt. They were undefeated, and they had strength of schedule in their corner, but yet they didn't get a chance to vie for the championship. It was wrong then, just like it's wrong now for Michigan to be left out of the fight.
You could argue that Florida has strength of schedule, and I would agree--I've preached many a time about the stoutness of the SEC and its many storied teams and traditions. However, strength of schedule is only one factor in the national championship decision. Florida's only loss was doled out by a fairly lackluster Auburn squad (I mean, they lost 37-15 to Georgia, for goodness sake), and the Gators didn't exactly win handily over Tennessee, Vanderbilt, or South Carolina. Michigan's only loss came against the number-one-ranked, undefeated, national championship favorite, and it was only a three-point game. Hello? Dr. Obvious?
Don't even get me started on Urban Meyer's blatant campaigning or certain coaches' abstention from voting. The fact is, Ohio State is the number one team in the country, Michigan is the number two team in the country, the National Championship game is supposed to pit number one against number two, so, thus, ergo, Ohio State should be playing Michigan in the National Championship game. Florida should be playing Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, end of story.
It will be somewhat cathartic to watch Chris Leak (cough, big weepy vagina, cough cough) get pounded by the Ohio State defense on January 8, but I'll still have to put up with four hours of that annoying Gator chop. Fuck you, BCS pollsters.
Oh, well--at least Georgia got a bid to the Chick-fil-a bowl. Go Dawgs!
I mean, come on--Ohio State versus Florida in the National Championship game? Seriously?
There are mountains of angry editorials about yesterday's BCS announcements (two of my personal favorites can be found here and here), but you don't have to be a paid sports journalist to understand why the current system sucks a big fat one.
My disdain for the Florida Gators is fairly well-publicized. However, when it comes to the post-season, I'll root for a rival team any day of the week and twice on Sunday--IF the team actually deserves its bowl placement. After all, I was crushed when the 2004 Auburn Tigers--the team I hate more than any other in the NCAA--were snubbed from the national title hunt. They were undefeated, and they had strength of schedule in their corner, but yet they didn't get a chance to vie for the championship. It was wrong then, just like it's wrong now for Michigan to be left out of the fight.
You could argue that Florida has strength of schedule, and I would agree--I've preached many a time about the stoutness of the SEC and its many storied teams and traditions. However, strength of schedule is only one factor in the national championship decision. Florida's only loss was doled out by a fairly lackluster Auburn squad (I mean, they lost 37-15 to Georgia, for goodness sake), and the Gators didn't exactly win handily over Tennessee, Vanderbilt, or South Carolina. Michigan's only loss came against the number-one-ranked, undefeated, national championship favorite, and it was only a three-point game. Hello? Dr. Obvious?
Don't even get me started on Urban Meyer's blatant campaigning or certain coaches' abstention from voting. The fact is, Ohio State is the number one team in the country, Michigan is the number two team in the country, the National Championship game is supposed to pit number one against number two, so, thus, ergo, Ohio State should be playing Michigan in the National Championship game. Florida should be playing Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, end of story.
It will be somewhat cathartic to watch Chris Leak (cough, big weepy vagina, cough cough) get pounded by the Ohio State defense on January 8, but I'll still have to put up with four hours of that annoying Gator chop. Fuck you, BCS pollsters.
Oh, well--at least Georgia got a bid to the Chick-fil-a bowl. Go Dawgs!
posted by bettyjoan @ 12/04/2006
11 Comments:
At 5:24 PM,
I-66 said…
Must...
Destroy...
Nittany Lions...
At 7:02 PM,
I-66 said…
And while I'm thinking about it...
PLAYYYYYYYOFF... PLAYYYYYYYYYOFF... PLAYOFFF... PLAYOFF...
At 7:48 PM,
bettyjoan said…
I-66: Amen on both counts. I couldn't believe that UGA was slated to Penn State--hasn't Joe Pa been losing all season? Oh, wait. So have the Dawgs. Growl.
At 8:10 PM,
ejtakeslife said…
I am so angry at the BCS. Not like we didn't see this coming, but as a Wolverine, I am truly pissed.
At 8:30 PM,
bettyjoan said…
Grrr...my previous comment should have said "slated to play Penn State."
EJ: I figured you weren't happy about this turn of events. Though I'm sure you'll enjoy watching Michigan make mincemeat out of those granola-eaters from Southern California. :-)
At 2:00 AM,
The King of New Orleans said…
The one thing that doomed Michigan: They had their chance against Ohio State, and they lost. Very few people want to see a rematch.
Though I would have loved to have seen Michigan make it. Not only would Michigan have had a much better chance of wining, but LSU would have made it to the Rose Bowl, and LSU would have had the chance to take out their aggression based on some deep-seated ill feelings towards Southern Cal that have been building since '03. LSU folks are not happy to be going to the Sugar Bowl (though they should be. Notre Dame is traditionally a weak bowl team).
At 10:13 PM,
ejtakeslife said…
King: Exactly the problem with the BCS... if they were trying to determine a true championship, it wouldn't matter who audiences or coaches wanted to see play one another. I have a feeling that Urban Meyer wouldn't have had such problems with a re-match if it'd been his team playing OSU on on the third Saturday of November.
But you can feel good that at least LSU isn't going to the "Papajohns.com Bowl."
At 6:52 PM,
bettyjoan said…
King: I didn't think LSU had THAT good of a season--I mean, what's bad about the Sugar Bowl? It's BCS, it's basically home turf, and it gives them a chance to whoop the most overrated team in college football history.
EJ: When I saw that there even WAS a Papajohns.com Bowl, I nearly peed myself. Come ON.
At 11:28 PM,
roonie said…
Dude, OSU was just afraid to see Michigan again in the championship. They know they'd get their asses beat. I hope OSU bites it.
At 1:18 AM,
The King of New Orleans said…
Papajohn's.com Bowl, in Birmingham (first year). Hey, if Papa John's sponsors the game, maybe they should move it to Louisville (and Papa John's Stadium).
LSU really wanted to go to the Rose Bowl. The game there would have given them a presence on the west coast, which always helps in recruiting (and LSU needs no help in Louisiana). The Rose Bowl is more prestigious than the Sugar Bowl, and I also suspect that the LSU fans were looking forward to a week off from work. And there's also the whole "the city is still a wreck after the hurricane" thing . . .
At 8:34 PM,
bettyjoan said…
Roonie: See, normally I would also hope that OSU would bite it. But Florida as National Champions? Blech!
King: I suppose the Rose Bowl/recruiting argument is fair enough.
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