Tag archives for BCS

Turnovers and Injuries Doom Texas

I’ve been disappointed in a lot of things in my life, there was Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the guy with the big feet…well you get the point. But never had I experienced what was close to outright sports depression as when I saw Colt McCoy get knocked out of the BCS title game.

To say that I was a little bummed is like saying Porky Pig has a slight speech impediment. Forget about staring at his hot ass all night long, I was mostly bummed because I was being cheated out of what I thought would’ve been one of the best college football championship games ever played.

Garrett Gilbert is cute

Garrett Gilbert is cute

With Colt McCoy, Texas and Alabama were even. Without Colt McCoy, game plans were altered on both sides and the BCS title game turned into a snoozer for the better part of an hour. Alabama turned extremely conservative offensively and Texas backup QB Garret Gilbert tried to overcome nerves solely on the strength of his rocket arm.

Side note: Gilbert’s really cute and he’s gotta cannon for an arm, however, I’ll still take Colt’s ass.

Back to the game, with McCoy getting x-rays on his injured shoulder, Gilbert completed just one pass in the first half. With Alabama playing not to lose for most of the third quarter, the game was about as exciting as waiting for your partner to orgasm after you’ve completed yours. And then the unexpected happen.

Gilbert faked a short route, looked off a defender and delivered a rope to a streaking Jordan Shipley who caught it in stride and raced for the end zone. Suddenly, down only 24-13, these steers had some fight in ‘em. On Texas’ next possession Gilbert took something off the ball and floated another TD pass to a wide open Shipley, and with a 2-point conversion the Longhorns trailed 24-21.

Texas got the ball back again down by three, deep in their own territory with just a few minutes left in the game. Could a true freshmen quarterback who couldn’t hit the broad side of a drag queen in the first half really rally his team from an 18-point deficit against the #1 team in the country at the Rose Bowl?

Hells No!

Mark Ingram kisses the crystal ball

Mark Ingram kisses the crystal ball

A sack from Gilbert’s blind side, a fumble and the game was over, Alabama wins the national championship. Turnovers, the one factor you can’t predict, decides the game.

There was the controversial interception on a shuffle pass, which was returned for a TD in the closing minute of the first half for Alabama, and there was the fumble at the end of the game which stood out, however Texas turned the ball over a total of five times.

In the end, it was as Texas head coach Mack Brown had predicted in his pre-game ABC interview, “whoever wins the turnover battle will win the game.”

Alabama won the game 37-21 and the turnover battle by three.

Congress and the BCS or Not

Why is Congress wasting time and money even talking about the College Football National Championship format? There are some sports issues they should be involved in like Concussions, Title IX and maybe Gambling. It all boils down to a couple of members are not happy because “their” school did not get invited. What about free enterprise?
Do we actually want Notre Dame playing in this every year (even this year) because the Pope may tell Catholic members of  Congress they should not vote for a bill unless ND is assured one spot. Or more Liberal members may not vote for a bill that would allow Florida State or Illinois a seat at the table because they are using Native American mascots. Oh and if a school is in a state that recognizes equal marriage or gives partner benefits that does not agree with DOMA- they may have to comply with that too.

I know some of this sounds far-fetched but look at all the absurd laws and amendments that Washington has passed over the years on both the left and right. Let the state legislatures in Alabama (not this year but in the past), Idaho and Utah or where ever fans feel slighted pass proclamations declaring them National Champs. Arguing about who is Number 1 is half the fun.  However, I am not advocating that some type of playoff should not be put in place but I want Congress to stay out of College Football!

Gators Remain On Top

Either the SEC is really deep or Florida and Alabama have confused the 2009 college football season with the NCAA basketball tournament. Florida and Alabama seem satisfied with surviving and moving on to the next game versus beating up on the inferior competition as they’ve done in years past. Both struggled but squeaked out wins versus below average SEC foes to remain at #1 and #2 respectively in this weeks BCS poll.

Colt McCoy leads the Longhorns to a rout of Missouri

Colt McCoy leads the Longhorns to a rout of Missouri

On the other hand, Colt McCoy completed his first 11 passes and reconnected with his roomie and BFF, Jordan Shipley, 7 times for 108 yards and 2 TDs in the Longhorns 41-7 rout of Missouri. The Longhorns remain at #3 with a stellar defensive performance.

Even with a 54-9 win over Hawaii, Boise State could not keep the computers from penalizing them for their soft schedule. The Broncos slid from 4th to 7th and allowed Iowa, USC and TCU to move ahead of them.

Iowa survived a scare at Michigan State when quarterback Ricky Stanzi completed a TD pass as time expired, keeping the Hawkeyes unbeaten. As it stands now Iowa is in the lead to receive the annual Big 10 Rose Bowl beat down at the hands of BCS #5 USC or possibly Oregon. The Trojans flexed their muscle this week by racking up 227 yards on the ground against Oregon State.

Texas Christian moved up to #6 by crushing 16th ranked BYU in Provo. The win seriously elevates the Horn Frogs into BCS national title game contender talk. A win against Utah and if another upset or two takes place ahead of them, the Frogs will warrant serious consideration.

Cincinnati at #8 is the lowest rank undefeated team and behind them LSU and Oregon round out the Top 10.

Complete Poll

Gators at top of BCS poll

The first BCS college football rankings (shown below) are out and humans and computer are in agreement, it’s Florida #1 and Alabama #2. I don’t consider the AP coaches poll cause there’s no accountability built in and a number of coaches don’t actually vote in it. It’s pretty clear that if the Tide and Gators are both undefeated going into the SEC championship game then the winner of that game gets a BCS title game slot.

After their hard fought Red River Rivalry victory Texas is ranked number three in the first BCS poll and appears to have the inside track on facing the SEC champion. The Longhorns average computer ranking is sixth so if they continue to win out there’s not much chance of another school catching them. If they can start the BCS at #3 with a lower computer ranking than Iowa, Cincinnati and Boise State then regardless of what happens around them they are in a good position to play in the BCS if they win out.

Strength of remaining schedule may vault the Trojans over Boise St and Iowa.

Strength of remaining schedule may vault the Trojans over Boise St and Iowa.

Boise State at #4 is enjoying their highest ranking ever but with no tough opponents left on the schedule the only way they move up is if others lose.

Cincinnati at #5 with games left against Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Connecticut could conceivably stay ahead of Iowa and USC.

The computer rankings, which take into account strength of schedule, has USC as #11 (BCS rank #7). This means that a one-loss Trojan squad would leap frog Iowa and Boise State whose remaining schedules aren’t nearly as tough as USC.

Is Ohio State over rated? The average computer ranking for Ohio State is #32 while the both polls have the Buckeyes at #17 (BCS rank #19).

Something to think about — Is it possible that even after the SEC championship game is decided that Alabama and Florida could end up #1 and #2?

1 Florida 6-0 .989
2 Alabama 7-0 .959
3 Texas 6-0 .891
4 Boise St 6-0 .808
5 Cincinnati 6-0 .787
6 Iowa 7-0 .787
7 USC 5-1 .770
8 TCU 6-0 .714
9 LSU 5-1 .708
10 Miami (FL) 5-1 .627
11 Oregon 5-1 .585
12 Georgia Tech 6-1 .570
13 Penn State 6-1 .498
14 Virginia Tech 5-2 .495
15 Oklahoma State 5-1 .404
16 Brigham Young 6-1 .299
17 Houston 5-1 .266
18 Utah 5-1 .251
19 Ohio State 5-2 .222
20 Pitt 6-1 .201
21 Wisconsin 5-2 .118
22 Arizona 4-2 .114
23 West Virginia 5-1 .111
24 South Carolina 5-2 .104
25 Kansas 5-1 .097