BCS National Championship Game Thread

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

A penny means 0?

[Guest Legalise Drugs and Murder]

But hey, they beat 2 of the final top ten teams and lost to another. That says UNDISPUTED NATIONAL CHAMPION TO ME!

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

I think the title should be split, because Florida dominated the #1 team and Boise State was the only undefeated team in Division 1A. I don't see what's unreasonable about that. What is unreasonable is that Boise State is not even #2 or #3, but #5 at the end of the year. There's a lot to like about college football in terms of what happens on the field, but the whole thing is such a mickey-mouse operation that it really hampers my enjoyment. That and there's no team I care about, of course.

[Guest Legalise Drugs and Murder]

I like watching the games themselves, but I couldn't possibly give a shit who wins the "title" under this or past systems.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Final Coaches Poll

TEAM PTS PVS

---- --- ---

1. FLORIDA (63) (13-1) 1,575 2

2. OHIO ST (12-1) 1,435 1

3. LSU (11-2) 1,418 4

4. USC (11-2) 1,345 7

5. WISCONSIN (12-1) 1,328 5

6. BOISE ST (13-0) 1,275 9

7. LOUISVILLE (12-1) 1,270 6

8. AUBURN (11-2) 1,119 10

9. MICHIGAN (11-2) 1,092 3

10. WEST VIRGINIA (11-2) 1,012 12

11. OKLAHOMA (11-3) 849 8

12. RUTGERS (11-2) 841 17

13. TEXAS (10-3) 791 16

14. CALIFORNIA (10-3) 716 19

15. BYU (11-2) 615 20

16. ARKANSAS (10-4) 592 13

17. WAKE FOREST (11-3) 535 15

18. VIRGINIA TECH (10-3) 494 14

19. NOTRE DAME (10-3) 485 11

20. BOSTON COLLEGE (10-3) 388 23

21. TCU (11-2) 339 24

22. OREGON ST (10-4) 206 25

23. TENNESSEE (9-4) 202 18

24. HAWAII (11-3) 152 NR

25. PENN ST (9-4) 142 NR

Final AP Poll

 

TEAM PTS PVS

---- --- ---

1. FLORIDA (64) (13-1) 1,624 2

2. OHIO ST (12-1) 1,492 1

3. LSU (11-2) 1,452 4

4. USC (11-2) 1,389 8

5. BOISE ST (1) (13-0) 1,383 9

6. LOUISVILLE (12-1) 1,338 5

7. WISCONSIN (12-1) 1,288 6

8. MICHIGAN (11-2) 1,145 3

9. AUBURN (11-2) 1,112 10

10. WEST VIRGINIA (11-2) 1,035 13

11. OKLAHOMA (11-3) 933 7

12. RUTGERS (11-2) 884 16

13. TEXAS (10-3) 772 18

14. CALIFORNIA (10-3) 697 20

15. ARKANSAS (10-4) 677 12

16. BYU (11-2) 673 19

17. NOTRE DAME (10-3) 553 11

18. WAKE FOREST (11-3) 551 15

19. VIRGINIA TECH (10-3) 407 14

20. BOSTON COLLEGE (10-3) 353 23

21. OREGON ST (10-4) 291 24

22. TCU (11-2) 279 25

23. GEORGIA (9-4) 204 NR

24. PENN ST (9-4) 183 NR

25. TENNESSEE (9-4) 181 17

[Slayer 0]

A penny means 0?

A penny means one vote

[HarleyQuinn 0]

So Boise State finishes undefeated AND beats a very good Oklahoma team but gets slotted 6th and 5th behind two teams with 2 losses on their resume? No wonder I don't care about these ranking systems...

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Florida Gators: 2006 Power Ranking Champions.

 

I can't take college football seriously when preseason rankings mean something.

[snuffbox 0]

Has anyone offered a good reason why college football cant have a playoff/tournament to decide a real national champion?

[iggymcfly 0]

It was posted a while ago. Something about how the Big Ten was worried that the money would be distributed too evenly between mid-majors and major conferences.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

So Boise State finishes undefeated AND beats a very good Oklahoma team but gets slotted 6th and 5th behind two teams with 2 losses on their resume? No wonder I don't care about these ranking systems...

 

Because Boise State beat a 2 loss team by 1 point in overtime. Combine that with the perception that they only ran up the undefeated record because they played in a shitty conference, and you get disrespect towards Boise State. LSU beat a highly touted Notre Dame and USC beat a team that was previously undefeated before facing the #1 team (as of entering the title game) and also beat Notre Dame. Their wins are going to be more impressive than Boise State. Not that I agree with the sentiments, but I assume that's why LSU and USC are ranked ahead, besides name value.

[snuffbox 0]

It was posted a while ago. Something about how the Big Ten was worried that the money would be distributed too evenly between mid-majors and major conferences.

 

I'm asking for Good reasons. Reasons that actually explain why this nonsense is good for the sport. Bullshit money excuses spat forth by millionaires who don't do much to earn the cash don't count.

[Black Lushus 0]

snuff, I think that's all your going to get for answers.

 

oh yeah, they also throw out the bullshit "affects the student athletes classes" line as well.

[snuffbox 0]

Yeah. I didn't think there were any actually good reasons for the current setup.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Has anyone offered a good reason why college football cant have a playoff/tournament to decide a real national champion?

Academics, too many games for the kids, breaking up tie-ins, endangering the BCS conferences/God's Team. Good reasons? No. Either do what the rest of the damned NCAA does to handle football playoffs, or drop this mid-major shit and just make the BCS Six/God's Team compose a separate Division 1A+ or something so that The Only Teams That We're Told Matter only play against fellow Only Teams That We're Told Matter, and the extent of schools like Wisconsin's cupcake scheduling will have to be Illinois, Northwestern, and Vanderbilt, rather than Eastern Illinois or Florida International or wherever-the-fuck, and even though that doesn't address postseason stuff, at least it takes a little bit of the figure skating out of the football.

[The Man in Blak 0]

There's no real good reason for the current system, in regards to competitive balance, but there's a lot of reluctance between the larger universities to dissolve the bowl system for a playoff brackets, when the bowl matchups are basically a license to print money in their respective cities. The playoff is probably feasible, although it could be tricky; you could essentially be shifting controversy from the final season rankings to the playoff seeding / choices (similar to college basketball), in addition to issues with scheduling. The risk doesn't outweigh the current reward of the bowl system for the BCS conference schools, as far as I can tell.

 

All that being said, I think the BCS actually didn't do a terrible job. Yes, I know Boise State is undefeated and, thus, there's a lot of outrage about their placement, but their shining win in bowl play was an overtime win, in which they scraped by a two loss team (Oklahoma) that was the champion of a weak conference. You can argue that SOS needs to factor less in the calculation, but the reality is that, with so many college teams in the spectrum playing unbalanced schedules, strength of schedule is basically the only compass you've got in a very stormy and uncertain sea. Boise State has earned respect and renown for their program and I would anticipate that they'll attract a stronger schedule for next year, and a new opportunity to prove themselves amidst high expectations.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Because Boise State beat a 2 loss team by 1 point in overtime. Combine that with the perception that they only ran up the undefeated record because they played in a shitty conference, and you get disrespect towards Boise State. LSU beat a highly touted Notre Dame and USC beat a team that was previously undefeated before facing the #1 team (as of entering the title game) and also beat Notre Dame. Their wins are going to be more impressive than Boise State. Not that I agree with the sentiments, but I assume that's why LSU and USC are ranked ahead, besides name value.

 

I need to type faster. Or be less articulate, either one.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Yeah. I didn't think there were any actually good reasons for the current setup.

 

It's better than the system before the BCS was, where there wasn't even a #1 vs. #2 game at all, and it was nothing but a vote and every bowl was an exhibition. At least with the BCS you have a championship game, whether you agree with who is in it or not, it's better than it used to be.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

And another thing: as if it's bad enough that BCS schools are allowed to gorge themselves on mid-majors, how the fuck can a 1A team schedule a 1AA team? I was watching my one quarter of Northwestern football for the year and they were playing New Hampshire, a school not just on the wrong side of the glass ceiling, but a completely different division. And I think Northwestern still lost.

[snuffbox 0]

Wisconsin, despite regular season scheduling, has won 2 consecutive bowl games over vaunted SEC teams.

 

Czech, would your God's Teams proposal only include the SEC, some of the Big 12 & Pac 10, Ohio St, and Michigan?

 

An 8 team National Championship tournament would be wittled down to the Finals within December...vacation time...leaving basically the same dates at the end for bowl games with Conference winners, tournament runner ups, and smaller schools. Two teams playing for the National Title get a couple weeks to prepare while other teams Bowl it up, not a month or more to atrophy, and play about the same date as this year.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

I was derisively referring to Notre Dame. I guess BYU is Human-Promoted-To-God's Team? Unfortunately, all the magic underwear in the world can't get them their own broadcast deal with The National Broadcasting Company.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

And when low seeds/wild cards win championships or advance farther than expected (The Steelers and Cardinals being two examples in the past year), they are wrote off because anyone can "get lucky" a one game playoff or a short series, and people start bitching about wild cards and how there are too many post season entrants. Besides, in an 8 team bracket, which would probably be determined by a vote anyway, numbers 9, 10, 11 and whatnot will be complaining anyway.

[snuffbox 0]

Notre Dame shouldn't be allowed into another Bowl game or, if the NCAA poohbahs wises up, a tournament until they prove that they can actually win a big game.

[Slayer 0]

At least that Big 10 Conference head is honest about the issue being money, rather than the typical talking head fallback excuse of "Is bad for the kids and tradition and stuff!"

[iggymcfly 0]

Anyway, here's my final Top 25:

 

1. Florida 13-1 (3)

2. Ohio State 12-1 (1)

3. LSU 11-2 (4)

4. Boise State 13-0 (6)

5. USC 11-2 (8)

6. Louisville 12-1 (5)

7. Michigan 11-2 (2)

8. Wisconsin 12-1 (12)

9. Auburn 11-2 (7)

10. Oklahoma 11-3 (10)

11. West Virginia 11-2 (14)

12. Rutgers 11-2 (16)

13. California 10-3 (20)

14. Arkansas 10-4 (9)

15. Georgia 9-4 (23)

16. Notre Dame 10-3 (11)

17. Texas 10-3 (18)

18. BYU 11-2 (NR)

19. Penn State 9-4 (NR)

20. Oregon State 9-4 (21)

21. Tennessee 9-4 (13)

22. Wake Forest 11-3 (15)

23. Nebraska 9-5 (22)

24. TCU 11-2 (NR)

25. Georgia Tech 9-5 (24)

 

Close: Virginia Tech (10-3), Texas A&M (9-4), South Carolina (8-5), Kentucky (8-5), Boston College (10-3)

Honorable mention: Hawaii (11-3), South Florida (9-4), Maryland (9-4), UCLA (7-6), Clemson (8-5)

[snuffbox 0]

And when low seeds/wild cards win championships or advance farther than expected (The Steelers and Cardinals being two examples in the past year), they are wrote off because anyone can "get lucky" a one game playoff or a short series, and people start bitching about wild cards and how there are too many post season entrants. Besides, in an 8 team bracket, which would probably be determined by a vote anyway, numbers 9, 10, 11 and whatnot will be complaining anyway.

 

The teams the experts talk about the most don't always win. They rarely do it seems.

 

Unpopular/less hyped teams having the possibility of victory is not a good reason to keep the current system. Sorry.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Notre Dame shouldn't be allowed into another Bowl game or, if the NCAA poohbahs wises up, a tournament until they prove that they can actually win a big game.

In the meantime, I think the Montreal Canadiens should play ECHL teams and then get an automatic berth into the Stanley Cup tournament because They Are The Montreal Canadiens.

[snuffbox 0]

So Notre Dame have dropped like 8 Bowl games in a row, this season got stomped by Michigan, and last season lost to USC...when exactly was the last time they won a big game?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

So Notre Dame have dropped like 8 Bowl games in a row, this season got stomped by Michigan, and last season lost to USC...when exactly was the last time they won a big game?

 

September 10th, 2005- they beat #3 ranked Michigan in Michigan... that's all I got.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Here's a suggestion that might not undermine the bowl system with minimal adjustments to the BCS:

 

Instead of provisioning the National Championship Game to one of the BCS Bowls, create a separate BCS National Championship Game that would be played between the #1 and #2 teams (according to the polls/BCS calculations) following the outcomes of all of the bowl games.

 

You could continue to rotate the adjusted seeding / scheduling between the different bowls - perhaps the game that would have formerly hosted the National Championship could become the "Bowl Championship" or "Road To The Title" (or some other marketing nonsense), with the winner getting a guaranteed seed in the National Championship Game against the newly voted #2 team.

 

The new vote following the bowl games could allow the voters the opportunity to pick a team like Boise State to get an opportunity at the winner of the "Bowl Championship" (in this case, Florida).

 

It would only be one additional game, but it would theoretically be the one game that would tie up all the loose ends, the one game that everybody would like to see. And the additional revenue from having an undisputed (well, as undisputed as you could get in football) national championship game following the bowls should bring in enough money to counteract any prestige lost from taking the "National Championship Game" moniker away from the BCS Bowls.