SECond Best

I went to "school" in South Carolina, so I am more than aware of the fervor in which SEC fans tout their conference. Bigger, faster, stronger, deeper, better, they all say. I heard it, and hear it, year in and year out. Nevertheless, that doesn't make me understand it anymore than I understand quantum physics or why girls convulse over Twilight.

Gamecock fans, and maybe its because I was surrounded by them for four years, seem the most prone to this SEC bravado. With each passing 6-6 or 7-5 campaign they continually fall back on bragging about how superior their conference is to the rest of the nations. How their shortcomings in the win column are because the SEC is so danged tough and how that if they were in any other conference they'd be competing for championships. USC fans are not alone in this line of thinking though. From Athens to Oxford and Knoxville and all over the Southeast its a common rallying cry that the SEC is second to none.

With two mediocre SEC teams beating the two teams that will meet for the ACC Championship next weekend, fans of the conference are puffing out their chests. Well, time to peg them back down to size. At the expense of getting  barred from ever returning to Dixie, here are X reasons why the SEC circle jerks have got to stop.

First and foremost, in sports, you should be cheering on your team, not your conference. This phenomena only seemed to begin within the past decade as the BCS started to weigh in strength of schedule.Who cares what the other teams are doing, they are supposed to be your rivals, your enemies. Worry about your own teams record.
MLC: This is a terrible point to make.  The entire college football concept is predicated on matching equally-finishing teams from different conferences in nationally televised bowl games.  We have to include conference comparisons in order to decide who the best teams are to put into these bowl games and eventually decide who the best team in the country is.  The system is flawed, but conference comparisons are as intrinsic to modern day football as shoulder pads and helmets.  If there were no conference comparisons, you and I would not even have this fake second job that we enjoy so much...at least not as it relates to college football.

Yes, conference comparisons serve a purpose, but my point was more such that SEC fans, more than any other fan base in the country, really get off to touting their own conference. Maybe this has something to do with demographics and the fact that in reality, college football is more important in the Southeast than it is anywhere else. Professional sports just aren't as prevalent and have never big as big a deal in the South and thus college football fills that void. The Pac 10 and Big XII and other conferences love their teams just as much and are just as passionate, but its not the only show in town. It isn't as "do or die" as it is in Dixie. When I watch post-game reactions after non-conference games outside the SEC I  see fans more excited for their teams victory, not hollering about their conference. Earlier in the season I suffered a real conundrum when Va. Tech played Alabama to start the season. It was a tale of two evils: on one hand do I root for the team I have hated my life, whose fans I despise, or do I root for a team who plays in the SEC. I actually rooted for VT solely because I knew that if Bama won I would be constantly reminded via all forms of social media at just how dominant the SEC is. If Va. Tech had won I would have gotten annoyed by a bunch of Tech fans thinking they were destined to win every game, but never would they have start taking about the ACC this and the ACC that. Strength of schedule and thus conference comparison is important, just shouldn't be a bragging point and a fallback point for mediocre teams that litter the SEC landscape this year.

The best team in the country doesn't come from the best conference. Quite simply this isn't the case in any sport and I don't understand why people think this is the case in college football. Last year in college basketball everyone raved about the Big East and how incredible the conference was. Not one of their teams made it to the finals.
MLC: That's not always the case.  Sometimes it is.  Sometimes is isn't.  Also, comparing a 16-team basketball conference to a 12-team football conference when the college basketball postseason is composed of a playoff (basically) and the college football postseason is composed of one out of conference neutral site game is not a good argument.  Besides, despite LSU's obvious downfalls as a two-loss team, it's tough to argue that the SEC was not the best conference in college football in 2007.  And I honestly can't say for sure whether the Big XII was the best when Oklahoma won the title in 2000 or when Nebraska won it in 1997.  I will agree that the best team doesn't always come from the best conference, but not that it never comes from the best conference nor that it cannot come from the best conference.

Here is why people think the SEC is the best and here is why they are wrong. On paper, the conference has 4 of the last 6 National Champions. This is all well and good until you actually, you know, remember those seasons and that the BCS sucks instead of just spewing out facts. LSU won the Crystal Trophy in 2003 despite Southern California being #1 in both the Coaches and AP polls. The Trojans were somehow left out of the game but were still awarded the AP National Championship, thus split champions. When Florida beat Ohio State in 2006 who knows who the best team in the country really was as the season long assumption of the dominance of the Big Ten was laid to rest with a thud. Another example in the danger of conference hyping. LSU won the next year despite having 2 losses and literally backing into the title game. And last year a one loss Florida beat Oklahoma by the same margin a one loss Texas did. Am I really supposed to believe that any of these 4 teams was definitively the best in college football? Of course not.
MLC: No arguments here, just an addition: the SEC has really spotty quarterback play all over the place.  LSU's quarterback Jordan Jefferson sucks and spikes the ball with one second remaining.  Jevan Snead at Ole Miss was a total disappointment this year. Ryan Mallett was surprisingly good, but then again he had to transfer to Arkansas to get into the SEC.  The guy that Arkansas actually recruited is now a third stringer at USC (and I mean Soutrhern Cal for all of you stupid 'Cocks...notice the apostrophe).  South Carolina's Garcia is weak. Does anybody know who plays QB for Kentucky?  Mississippi State? Vanderbilt? Joe Cox at Georgia has proven to be poor man's Joe Tarashinski (and that's really embarrassing).  Alabama wins despite Greg McElroy.  No thank you to Tennessee's Jonathan Crompton.  Auburn's Chris Todd is actually pretty good, turning in 21 TDs to only 6 INTs.  Well done Chris Todd! And that leaves us with only Rev. Tim Tebow, who is not so much a quarterback as fullback who can throw wobbly passes to really fast receivers.  I give you the quarterbacks of the SEC.  We can build on this.

In any sport if a team with a mediocre record beats a better team in the regular season does it really ever matter? Only reason it matters in college football is that there isn't a playoff and for the most part, teams don't play twice. Doesn't change the fact that Clemson and Georgia Tech are better football teams and having better seasons than USC and Georgia despite this weekends losses. I understand USC and UGA fans should be proud that they upset their in-state rivals, but I am sure their fans would much rather have a conference championship and BCS bid than a 7-5 season.
MLC: I can't really agree with this one either.  Shitty Georgia, who was blown out by your whipping boys Tennessee, dominated one-loss Georgia Tech, the head and shoulders best team in the ACC (despite getting worked by my Canes) from start to finish in Atlanta.  Now that's just as much a home game for Georgia as Georgia Tech, but you get my point.  Mediocre South Carolina was clearly the superior team against Clemson. These beatings underscore what many already knew: the ACC is not a good football conference this year and has not been for quite some time.  Two mediocre SEC teams beat the two best teams that the ACC has to offer (theoretically).  Whether or not the fans of South Carolina and Georgia would rather play in a BCS game or have a 7-5 record is irrelevant.  They'll have a 7-5 record and still be better than the eventual ACC champion, which doesn't say as much about the SEC as it does the SEC.

I'll stick with my guns here. Georgia Tech and Clemson had both already wrapped up their spot in the conference championship game. They both knew that the course of their season would be decided in that game. Now, did they want to lose their rivalry games? Of course not. But they weren't playing with the same degree of intensity that their opponents UGA and USC. That game was the end of their mediocre seasons and held the ONLY redeeming aspect of lost expectations. It was a much, much bigger game for the Dawgs and Cocks and not surprisingly they won. Big whoop. After next weekend either Clemson or Ga. Tech and their fans will be conference champs, be playing in a BCS bowl, and most certainly will have forgotten the results of their game against their rival. 

Don't give me that SEC defense crap. Just because the Tide and Gators have great defenses, doesn't mean the rest of the conference should infer they do.
MLC: I've already touched on this, but I'll repeat it: the SEC's quarterbacks are terrible from top to bottom.  It's embarrassing that we'll be watching either Tebow or McElroy play a really good quarterback (Colt McCoy) in the national title game.  I predict that the gap in ability and talent at the qurterback position will be one of the most glaring discrepancies in the 2010 BCS National Championship Game.  Keep in mind that this does not necessarily mean that Texas will beat Florida or Alabama.  Remember: that throwing full back (Tebow is not so much a running quarterback as a throwing full back) for Florida is still pretty good at scoring touchdowns whichever way he can.

People seem to fail to realize that conference supremacy ebbs and flows like the tide. From 1999-2003 the conference didn't have a team even make the BCS title game. In 2004, an undefeated Auburn team didn't even receive a vote for a share of the national championship because the conference was nationally perceived as being weak. I'll concede that the conference has been deeper the past couple of years than most anyone else, but that doesn't change that the conference still loses its fair share of big games. Florida and Tebow lost to a Michigan team which had lost to Appalachian State earlier in the season 2 years ago in the Outback Bowl. Last year, Ole Miss, the team that gave Florida its only loss, had just lost to a mediocre ACC team in Wake Forest (but that Ole Miss team did also take advantage of the Cotton Bowl dominate a Texas Tech team that beat Texas and was ranked number two at one point in the season. Texas Tech had bigger aspirations all season than winning the Cotton Bowl. I don't blame them for having a lackluster game against a streaking team). Speaking of the ACC, South Carolina lost to Clemson and preseason #1 Georgia lost at home to Georgia Tech last year as well. In the Sugar Bowl, one loss and mighty Alabama lost to the mid-major Utah Utes (Insert TCU in the 2010 Sugar Bowl, same result). So, yeah, the SEC was deep last year, but your not as good advertised.
MLC: How can you argue that Clemson beating South Carolina and Georgia Tech beating Georgia is anywhere close to relevant when you just made the opposite point in a previous paragraph? You literally just wrote that those wins were more or less aberrations this year, so why did they matter last year?

Ah, because football is situational my friend. As I stated earlier, Clemson and Ga. Tech had bigger things in the back of their mind while their opponents had only to concentrate on their rivals. Last year, with no team destined for a huge bowl, the game was equally important for both teams. It was all 4 teams seasons. Just not the case this year.

That brings us to this year.

This weekend undefeated Alabama meets undefeated Florida for the chance to play for the national championship. The game has all the makings of an instant classic: Heisman hopeful vs. Heisman hopeful, stifling defense vs. stifling defense, and Saban v. Meyer (may Satan curse them both). It should also speak volumes to the state of the SEC in 2009. Two undefeated teams. The rest of the conference has six (SIX!) 7-5 teams! This is the definition of mediocre. The conference IS Alabama and Florida. That's it.
MLC: I disagree that 7-5 records make these teams mediocre.  This means that there is parody in the SEC.  Each team is just as good as the other, except for Alabama and Florida, who are better than the rest.  The truly glaring falsehood and a major chink in the armor of these SEC teams is the weak out of conference schedules they ALL play.  Of the 12 SEC teams, four (4) of them played ranked nonconference teams from power conferences.  Mississippi State and Georgia both played Georgia Tech. Georgia also played Oklahoma State.  Alabama played Virginia Tech.  South Carolina played Clemson.  That's it.  Mississippi State also played Houston, but whatever.  The rest of their schedules are filled with always tough powerhouses like Louisiana-Monroe, Lousiana Tech, Western Kentucky, Miami (OH), and Florida International.  Oh, and don't forget Western Carolina.  Watch out for those fesity Catamounts.

So the SEC...they're all as good as each other and better than the worst 25 teams in the country.  Other than that we have no proof of anything else, really.

And unlike previous seasons there is a conference out there that, despite not having a national title contender, that is drastically deeper and better than this years SEC.

The Pac-10. And its not even close. (On this, we agree)

The SEC East's second best team, Tennessee, lost at home to a UCLA team that is currently EIGHTH in the conference. The same Tennessee that played Florida close in Gainesville and came within a Cody blocked FG away from beating the Tide in Tuscaloosa. Bowl eligible Georgia barely won at home against an Arizona State team that is second to last in the conference. LSU, second in the SEC West, struggled mightily to beat a 4-7 Washington team. Unlike fans down South, I've watched both conferences play. (It should be noted here that Newman has hated Tennessee all year long, including one memorable tweet that read something like "I don't want to live in a world where Jonathan Crompton is good.")

The Pac 10 is just better. It has 5 teams that are 8-3 or better. Two weeks ago Arizona came within an OT of all but clinching the Rose Bowl berth. However, with that loss the Wildcatss, despite winning this weekend, are now the conference's sixth place team.

Before SEC fans gag on their grits, allow me to clarify again. Best doesn't mean the Pac-10 has the most outstanding teams. It has the most outstanding competition, which is even better.

Out West, you never know what's going to happen. Down South, you know what to expect.

Florida will win. Alabama will win.

All meaningful drama has been on hold until the SEC Championship Game Dec. 5. Otherwise, the season's been a sideshow where fans just wait on Lane Kiffin's mouth to rev up or Les Miles' brain to freeze.

Face it, boys. It's a down year for almost every team outside of Gainesville and Tuscaloosa. The Pac-10 doesn't have a super team, but it has a half-dozen good ones. And if you want to get technical, as I said, UCLA thumped Tennessee and Arizona State almost beat Georgia in Athens. And lest we forget, Pac-10 also-ran USC (how funny is that?) beat Big Ten champ Ohio State on the road. Let's see the fifth-place SEC team do that.

The SEC is like an auto company that has two great cars and a bunch of clunkers. The Pac-10 can roll out a line of impressive models. Oregon is the flashiest, but it still must beat Oregon State this weekend to win the league crown.
MLC: The SEC has ten used Nissan Altimas and two Aston Martins.  The Pac-10 has 8 Lexuses, a used Geo, and a Yugo (Washington State is the Yugo).  What I mean by Lexuses is that these cars look nice and everybody recognizes them as impressive, but once you get inside it's just a gussied up Nissan (Fact: Lexus is the luxury version of a Nissan).  The Pac-10 teams are not vastly better than the SEC teams, they're just slightly better, but they're all slightly better.

So SEC fans a little advice. Stop using selective memory, actually watch games outside your conference, and start taking more pride in your own teams instead of wasting your breathe ballyhooing your rivals. And don't forget that no matter how you spin it, this year your conference is, quite simply, second best.

Sweet Redemption and Rivalry Week

I've been puffing my chest out a little this week, I won't lie. I've also had a little bounce in my step, well metaphorically at least (it's hard being perky going to work at 8 in the morning surrounded by odd smelling people on the subway). And deservedly so. The weather in New York is unseasonably warm, a much needed Thanksgiving at home looms close, I'm getting paid to sit at a desk and type this (sort of), and my college picks weren't a complete embarrassment. Following a few weeks of some questionable picks, which saw my jarringly bad selection of Georgia over Florida, I was feeling like Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, but then Stanford obliterated USC and I was finally able to get out of the red with a 4-2 record that moved me back to a respectable 4 games over .500 on the year. I feel like I know a little something about college football game. Now that I have just jinxed myself, on with the picks...

#9 Ohio State at Michigan

Big Ten frenzy culminated three years ago this week when the Buckeyes and Wolverines were the consensus #1 and #2 teams in the country. The game in Columbus turned into a shootout, which the Buckeyes won, and gave the illusion that these teams were indeed the nations best. Fans and sports pundits alike started to seriously entertain the notion of a rematch in the title game. Alas, thankfully for everyone there was not. Ohio State got embarrassed by Florida in the title game and Michigan got blown out by Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl.

The conference's image has yet to make a proper recovery from that disastrous bowl season and its only hope is a less than inspiring Rose Bowl bound Ohio State team that struggled to put away a depleted Iowa team last week in the Horseshoe. Jim Tressell continues to, sorry for the pun, play things to close to the vest. The coach played for overtime at home with over two minutes left and the ball, running it three straight times for little gains. Also, why recruit an incredible athlete like Terrelle Pryor if all your going to do is give him the ball to hand off? I haven't seen a worse waste of talent since Kate Beckinsale in Whiteout. (Begin rant) Come on Kate, you are easily one of the hottest women on the planet. You can do better than this shit. Find a manager who will put you in something, that, you know, people will want to see (End rant). Tailor your offense to Pryor's strengths for crying out loud and maybe you won't lose to two teams like Purdue.

Anyways, before Ohio State gets a shot at the Pac-10 champion it first travels to Ann Arbor. The only way this game is even close is if the Buckeyes have a letdown after earning their trip to Pasadena last week. However, eleven manikins could do as good a job as Michigan's defense at this point in the season. It doesn't matter how many hours Rich Rodriguez is making his team practice, that defense is atrocious. It will continue to be so.

And so will the Big Ten.

Ohio State 37, Michigan 14

#10 LSU at Ole Miss

Anyone who saw Rebels tailback Dexter McCluster torch a very good Tennessee defense for over 300 total yards must have all been thinking the same thing as me: Where the hell has this guy been all season? Not only did McCluster look like an absolute stud shifting and sprinting his way around the Vols, he also looked like a carbon Darrien Sproles copy and the type of back that can thrive in the NFL these days.

Needless to say I was curious to find that through Ole Miss first six games the senior had a grand total of 164 yards rushing.

164 yards!

He's had 591 in his past three. Not surprisingly, his numbers have gone up with an increase in touches. So congratulations are in order for coach Houston Nutt for letting his best offensive player waste away for half a season.

Unfortunately for a very banged up and very overrated LSU team, Nutt won't be ignoring him any more.

Ole Miss 28, LSU 17

#11 Oregon at Arizona

The Pac 10 really is the wackiest, not too mention deepest, league in America. I have no idea who to pick in these games. On one hand you have Oregon who destroyed USC and then got soundly beat by Stanford. A Stanford team that had already lost to Arizona. But then Arizona lost to California last week and has also lost to Washington, who have also beaten USC. So yeah, I don't really know how to pick this one. I think I'll go with Oregon, but that's purely based off of the fact I have never seen Arizona play. Needless to say, I'm not that confident.

Oregon 42, Arizona 31

California at #14 Stanford

I have already done my whole Pac-10 spiel, so let me offer up some stats that, in the wise words of Kenny Powers, will "fuck you up with the truth."

Stanford RB Toby Gerhart #7 2009 Stats

262 Attempts

1395 Yards

5.3 Yards Per Carry

19 Rushing Touchdowns

8 Receptions

87 Receiving Yards

0 Fumbles Lost

Alabama RB Mark Ingram #22 2009 Stats

194 Attempts

1297 Yards

6.7 Yards Per Carry

10 Rushing Touchdowns

25 Receptions

225 Receiving Yards

3 Receiving Touchdowns

0 Fumbles Lost

Now I am not going to delve into who is having the better season, but just trying to illustrate to you how good Gerhart has been for the Cardinal this year. It would be a disservice for him not to be a finalist for the Heisman.

Stanford 38, Cal 35

Kansas State at Nebraska

The Big XII North has been so bad the second half of this decade that its potential winner, Kansas State, won't even make a bowl game unless it beats Nebraska on Saturday. II don't see it happening. Nebraska, aside from a complete no show against Iowa State, has been the best team in the division all year and deserves to win it.

Their reward for  a divisional crown?

Getting slaughtered by Texas.

Nebraska 17, K-State 10

Connecticut at Notre Dame

I am more worried about Charlie Weiss suffering the same fate as UGA XII than losing his head coaching job. That might change with a loss here. I am 0-3 when I pick Notre Dame to win. Naturally, I'll pick them again.  

UConn 28, Notre Dame 31

#13 Penn State at Michigan State

Akron, Syracuse, Temple, Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Northwestern, and Indiana.

What are the two things all these teams have in common?

1. They make up all of Penn State's 9 victories this season 
2. They all suck

Michigan State sucks too. It is in the Big Ten. I just thinks it sucks a little less than the teams listed above. Especially at home.

Michigan State 24, Penn State 17 

Eulogy for Uga

Dog's are generally regarded as man's best friends. In UGA VII's case he had  nearly 93,000 of them every Saturday Between the Hedges and every day from the countless other Bulldog fans scattered around the nation.

That's what makes the sudden news of the passing of Georgia's beloved mascot so sad. The four-year-old Bulldog had served as the school's mascot for less than two years before unexpectedly succumbing Thursday to heart problems (to the Charlie Weiss and Mangino's of the world, take note). The 56-pound dog, nicknamed "Loran's Best," was known as a laid-back mascot who seemed oblivious to crowd noise during boisterous games and would sit patiently as excited fans snapped photos of him. He often roamed the sidelines in a shirt with a 'G' stitched on it, sometimes resting on a bag of ice to cool off in his customized dog house.Georgia will play with a heavy heart and no mascot tomorrow against Kentucky.

UGA VII was the latest in a line of dogs owned by the Sellers family that has served as the team's emblem for the last 54 years. An interim dog will be in place for the Georgia Tech season finale on November 28 in Atlanta and will also represent the team in their bowl game but won't necessarily become UGA VIII. A thorough search for a worthy heir will commence as soon as possible.

UGA VII is dead, long live UGA VIII.

Clear Forecast for BCS and Picks Redemption

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

JoePa

"Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good."

Joe Paterno

I think you know Joe Paterno has been at Penn State a long time, but I don't think you truly appreciate that. I know this because until just now I didn't really appreciate it. I've always seen Joe Paterno the caricature, not Joe Paterno the man. I saw the goofy, signature glasses and listened to his distinguished and unique voice. I didn't really give him second thoughts beyond that. He was just Joe Paterno, the coach at  Penn State. I didn't know any different.

Well, neither has my father nor most likely most of your parents at that. The man is 83 and in his 60th (60th!!!!!) consecutive season of coaching the Nittany Lions. Not only does he know a thing or two about football (he the all-time winningest coach in the sport), but he is also a respected mentor who strives to make his players better students, men, and human beings. Even in 2009  his team is 6-1 (41-10 since 2005) and competing for a Big Ten title. Just incredible.

If you love college football, hell, if you love sports, read this incredible and visually evocative Sports Illustrated piece so that you can fully understand just how special Joe Paterno is. 

The Worlds Largest Cocktail Party and More

Earlier this decade, due to sensitivity about consumption of alcohol by college students, officials changed the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, to the official, and ever so creative, Florida-Georgia/Georgia-Florida game. Additionally, in May 2006, the Southeastern Conference asked the three networks which broadcast SEC football games not to use the moniker World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party anymore because it conveyed  a message regarding consumption of alcohol that the schools didn't desire.

This is the equivalent of the owner of a strip club telling people to not call it by that moniker anymore because the name suggests that the place is going to have a lot of naked and semi-naked women dancing and doing suggestively lude acts. It's called a strip club because that's what happens there. If you've ever been to a Georgia-Florida game, or any college football anywhere in the country, or wait a minute, any college in the country save BYU (Mormons are weird), then you know exactly what happens there.

A lot of drinking that's what.

The Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is an awesome name for an awesome rivalry. SEC officials be damned, the Sporting Dudes use common sense and will call it such.

I got the chance to go to the game last year and see first hand the hundreds of thousands of people who turn up by car, boat, bus, and RV to tailgate and cheer on their teams. The thing is not just a game, its an event. People who aren't even fans come from all over just for the experience itself and to see things such as people riding motorized coolers. The atmosphere is incredible, the weather usually extremely pleasant, and the SEC women even better. I can only imagine how much wilder it will be this year since it falls on Halloween. Needless to say I am a little bitter to be sitting here in an office in New York, a place with neither pleasant weather or women.

On that note, it's Halloween, somethings crazy is bound to happen. On to the picks.

#1 Florida vs. Georgia (3:30 P.M.)

This game is the Bulldogs season. At 4-3 they really have nothing else to play for other than spoiling their arch-nemesis perfect record and run at a consecutive national title. Coming off a bye week and going against a Gators team that had to fight hard to beat Arkansas and Mississippi State this would seem like the perfect opportunity.

It would also seem that the Dawgs pitiful excuse for a pass defense (90th nationally) should come under fire against a Timmy Tebow playing his last collegiate game in his hometown and looking to get his stats back up to Heisman levels. You know what, I'll believe it when I see it. The Gators offense has sucked all year aside from beating up on NCAA powerhouses Charleston Southern and Troy (trust me when I say this, my flag football intramural team could have put up significant points against Charleston Southern) You know what the Gators are averaging outside of those two games? 25.8 points per game. You know what they are averaging since Tebow came back from his concussion? Just 21 points per game.

This is not an elite offense, not when all Urban Meyer calls is Tebow, Tebow, Tebow. Defenses, mediocre defenses at that, are catching on and loading up the box and trying to make Tebow beat them by passing. He and the Gators haven't proven they can.

It will catch up to them this week in Jacksonville. A.J. Green and the Dawgs are desperate. The wild (drunken) rumpus will start for UGA fans tomorrow.

Georgia 21, Florida 17

#4 USC at #10 Oregon ( 8 P.M.)

Logically I want to pick the Ducks. They have looked like the better and more complete of the two teams all season . Ever since that season opening loss at Boise State, Oregon has rolled on to beat its opponents by an average of nearly 24 points per game. On the other hand USC has been giving up points and yards like its bailout money. The past two weeks both Oregon State and Notre Dame have stayed in the game til the waning seconds. The game is in Autzen, one of the loudest stadiums in college football. USC is starting a true freshman at QB in Matt Barkley.

Yet, for some reason I feel compelled to pick USC. It just seems like every year when people doubt Pete Carroll and his Trojans they always find a way to win, usually in convincing fashion. And no matter how they've played since, I still can't get the image of that cringe inducing performance Oregon laid on the blue turf of Boise back in September.  My head says Duck, my gut says Trojans.

But then I saw this picture of Duck fans in banana outfits howling. I can't pick against that, I mean, come on. That's completely logical, right?

Oregon 42, USC 38.

#3 Texas at #13 Oklahoma State

Put it this way, if Texas wins this game they are going to go undefeated.

If they go undefeated than they get to play for the national championship. If they are in the national championship than you can bet on the debate to start gaining steam on where Colt McCoy ranks in the history of greatest college quarterbacks.

And, most importantly, you can expect between 5-10 obligatory shots of his family on television during the game. You know who sits with his family? Rachel Glandorf, that's who.

I can't pick against that.

Texas 38, Oklahoma State 28


# 21 South Carolina at Tennessee (7:45 P.M.)

Tennessee is better than their record indicates. Led by NFL guru Monte Kiffin, the defense is elite. Beleaguered quarterback Jonathon Crompton has actually shown signs that he can successfully throw a forward pass the past couple of weeks. They have lost two close games to the #1 and #2 teams in the country. I still have no clue how they lost at home to UCLA though.

And while I think Spurrier is headed in the right direction (it's about time) with the Gamecocks, I still don't know what to make of this team. They only scored 7 points against a laughable NC State squad and lost to Georgia in a shootout. Even Vanderbilt played them close. Their signature win thus far is against an overrated Ole' Miss team.

I expect a motivated and pissed off Volunteer squad to pull this one out.

Tennessee 21, South Carolina 17

#20 West Virginia at South Florida ( 8 P.M.)

If you haven't already, watch WVU running back Noel Devine. He's Darren Sproles. Only faster.

West Virginia 28, USF 10

And I would have predicted UNC beating Virginia Tech last night if I had had the time. You always know its going to be a great holiday season when Hokie fans have already realized their overratedness by November.

Enjoy the games and Halloween. I am sure no matter where we are, Jacksonville to Eugene, many of us will be looking like this come early Sunday:

The Roundup

Another wild weekend in both the college football and NFL worlds. Sure we will chime in with our thoughts on Mount Cody saving Bama's season, Bret Favre's tackling method (hint: it involves falling on the ground awkwardly like you just had a seizure), and other topics of note later. In the mean time enjoy Peter King's Monday Morning QB and Stewart Mandel's College Football Overtime.

B(C)S

Here is my breakdown of the BCS. It sucks. 

Aren't you glad you visited this website for such a novel opinion?

But seriously, lets count the number of legitimate national champions since the BCS had its inaugural season.


1998 Tennessee 

JNG: The Vols were a worthy and deserving champion defeating a one loss Florida State team that was actually favored to win the game in the title game. Tee Martin led the team to a 13-0 season which included beating eight bowl teams, including six January bowl teams, four top ten teams and three BCS bowl-bound teams.

MLC: You can't argue with those stats.  The Vols were clearly the best team in the nation that year.  But if you're giving the BCS a pass for the '98 season, you're sorely mistaken.  Let's travel back 9 years and 10 months to December 1998.  Tennessee was the clear number one heading into conference title game week.  Because Hurricane Georges had destroyed Miami in September, UCLA had to travel cross country to play a makeup game late in the season instead of early.  Cade McNown was a Heisman candidate, and the Bruins had only to beat the unranked Hurricanes and they were into the national title game.  But Edgerrin James ran all over the powder blue in Little Havana.  So down goes the number two team in the nation.

No problem, right?  Let's just plug number three in there and go to war in Tempe.  Except that number three was Kansas State.  Quarterback Michael Bishop led a triple option attack that had Bill Snyder's crew undefeated going into the Big XII Championship game in San Antonio.  They had only to be lowly Texas A&M (remember when the Big XII North was good and the South was bad?), and they'd be joining the day-glow orange volunteers on Mill Street in Tempe.  So when Sir Parker (Yes, his name was Sir) beat the Wildcats in overtime, and Dat Nguyn's team won the Big XII, the BCS was thrown into chaos in it's innaugural season.

That left Florida State.  FSU had one loss to NC State on the road, and that was Chris Weinke threw six interceptions in his first ever college start.  Weinke turned out to be a good quarterback, but Virginia's Patrick Kearney broke his neck later in the season.  Weinke was out, and backup Marcus Outzen was in.  How this kid got a scholarship to FSU during the dominant '90s, no body knows.

You can't really back into a title game more than FSU did.  I was at the UVA game when Weinke got hurt, and I was at the title game in Tempe on January 3, 1999.  The score was 23-14.  Rocky Top is the most obnoxious song ever.  It was not a good title game, and so the BCS may have got it right, but it didn't acheive its goal of bringing us a good title game between the two best teams in the country.


1999 Florida State

JNG: Undefeated FSU beats Michael Vick and the undefeated Hokies. Thank God FSU won this game. The thought of having to live in a world where Va. Tech and "National Champion"...well, I can't even imagine. I believe it's in The Bible under Revelations.

MLC: My only argument here would be that the Hokies beat the likes of JMU (1-AA), UConn
(1-AA at the time), and UAB among other lightweights to end up with an undefeated record.  But still, the two best teams, an exciting title game, this was a great year for the BCS.

2005 Texas

JNG: No arguments here. USC and Texas were #1 and #2 nearly all year before colliding in an epic title game at the Rose Bowl. Who can forget Vince Young both throwing and rushing for over 200 yards? Speaking of which, has any truly great college quarterback fallen off the map with such a thud as VY? What's he doing now? Wait, what? He's still playing football?

MLC: No arguments here either.

2007 LSU

JNG: Ah, the media proclaimed "Year of the Upset". An unranked or lower-ranked opponent defeated a higher ranked team 59 times over the course of the season. A record setting 13 unranked teams defeated top 5 teams during the regular season. Michigan lost to I-AA Appalachian State in the Big House to set the tone. Of note, USC went on to lose to a Stanford team ranked 80 spots below them while all West Virginia had to do was beat a 4-7 Pittsburgh team to get to the national championship game...and of course lost. WVU became the last of seven #2 ranked teams to lose during the year. Incredibly, a 2 loss LSU team thrashed a one loss, and SEC favorite, Ohio State for the crystal ball and no one could really be left to argue.

MLC: Can we just bar the Big 10 from being involved in national title games until they prove they deserve it?  Maybe by not getting blown out in the Rose Bowl every year?


JNG: So count em': 1,2,3.4.


The BCS has only had four non-arguable National Champions in 11 seasons of existence. That's .363%, which would be great... if we were talking batting percentages.


So why those four?  It is difficult to crown anyone "the best of the best" if, quite simply, they aren't playing the next best team. Those four instances are the only national championship games where the two teams playing were quite clearly the best teams in the country. 

Now, I have no doubt in my mind that 2001 Miami and 2004 USC would have obliterated whomever the BCS sacrificially chose for them (just as they obliterated Nebraska and Oklahoma). The problem is that the system chose the wrong opponents, which is not only a disservice to the teams and their respective legacies but also to the fans who are left to wonder 'what if''.


Well, what if...


2000 Oklahoma

JNG: The dawn of the new millennium marked both a milestone in my athletic career and the exact year I began to see just how wonderful the world of the BCS could be. 

My whole life up until this point I had been a stocky, little tight end or defensive end on my pee wee teams.Then 7th grade hit, I grew eight inches and became seemingly fast overnight. Years and years of throwing a mini foam football to myself in my living room somehow paid off into being able to throw an actual football to other people. I was one of a handful of 7th graders to make the varsity team and I needed someone to look up to, someone to aspire to. Naturally, I came to find the ever-so-white and unathletic Miami QB Ken Dorsey. I followed the Hurricanes religiously that year, and all of Dorsey's years for that matter. Thus, it still pains and frustrates me that a one-loss Canes team could be passed over for the national championship game whilst a team they had beaten head-to-head got play in it. Making matters even more complicated, the team that beat Miami, eventual Pac-10 Champion Washington, also finished the season with one loss. Both the Canes and the Huskies dominated their respective BCS bowls.


Luckily, the Sooners put to rest any doubt to who the best team in the land was by winning in a 13-2 thriller...

MLC: Holy shit dude, spare me the comparisons between you and Ken Dorsey.  The NCAA suspended FSU's top wide out Marvin "Snoop" Minnis because he "had no idea he was failing two classes."  Yeah.  OK, he was a total moron, not unlike Peter Warrick the year before who took a 96% discount on clothes and other items from a Tallahassee Dillard's and got hosed on the Heisman. We've had this argument before.  The 'Canes deserved to be in the title game over the' Noles.  UDub should've been there too.  Whatever can we just have a playoff?


2001 Miami

JNG: The Canes destroyed Nebraska in the title game 37-14. Unfortunately their opponent in the title game was unworthy of such a beating considering  Nebraska hadn't even MADE it to the Big XII title game after losing to Colorado by 36 points in the season finale. A one loss Oregon team was a more deserving foe as they were ranked second in both human polls. 


Let there be no doubt that a Miami team with Ken Dorsey, Clinton Portis, Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, Jeremy Shockey, Kellen Winslow Jr., Ed Reed, Jonathon Vilma, Vince Wilfork, Andre Johnson, Bryant McKinnie, Najah Davenport, D.J. Williams, Mike Rumph, and Phillip Buchanon, would have destroyed Oregon too. 

Hell, I'd put my money on 2001 Miami if they played. the 2009 Washington Redskins. 

MLC: We all know how Joey Harrington plays against NFL defenses.  No one in history touches this 'Canes team.  But that is an argument for another column (which is coming, by the way).


2002 Ohio State

JNG: I refuse to acknowledge the 14-0 Buckeyes for one simple reason....................

Oh, still waiting?.....


Just replaying it in my head.....


That horribly delayed and horribly bad pass interference call.

MLC: What an awful call.  Just absolutely horrendous.  It's like that stupid Buffalo Wild Wings commercial where the ref goes under the tent to review the play, then asks the restaurant full of people what they want to happen.  I think that side judge just wanted to hang out for a little while.  On the flip side, a second title might have stopped Miami from firing that Uncle Fester look-alike Larry Coker (nicest man in the world, good coordinator, awful head coach).  So for the current state of Miami football, it might have actually helped not to win that sixth title.  Paradoxical, I know.

2003 LSU

JNG: No team in college football finished the year undefeated in 2003. However, 3 BCS conference teams did finish with only one loss: LSU, Oklahoma and USC. 

Logically, USC, the number #1 ranked team in both human polls, was passed over for the BCS title game.Instead, learning nothing from previous mistakes, the computers selected an Oklahoma team who had just been soundly beaten in the Big XII title game.


The AP awarded the National Championship to USC, while the coaches were obligated to vote for LSU.


The BCS, where split national champions can still happen!

MLC: Yeah, wasn't that the point of the BCS?  Nebraska and Michigan split the title in 1997 and the BCS was instituted the following year to end that bullshit.  Everything about this season bothers me.  Jason White wins the Heisman.  Oklahoma plays in the national championship (and becomes the original perennial BCS disappointment before Ohio State claimed the crown).  LSU basically plays a home game in the Sugar Bowl.  We're deprived of an LSU-USC title game.


By the way, do you remember the talk that surrounded this Oklahoma team?  Analysts were calling them one of the best teams in college football history.  They were the juggernaut.  They were unbeatable.  Then they got absolutely housed by the Kansas State Wildcats.  Then they got killed by LSU.  Anyone can beat anyone.  Playoff please.


2004 USC

 JNG: Like 2001 Miami, I have no doubt in my mind USC, with Heisman winner Matt Leinart and eventual winner Reggie Bush, would have drubbed whomever was placed in front of them. Yet Auburn, an undefeated SEC Champion, never got in the discussion to even play for the title, never being able to rise past #3.


I am fairly certain the South would secede from the Union for a second time if this were to ever happen again.

MLC: Jason Campbell.  Ronnie Brown.  Cadillac Williams.  Reggie Bush.  Matt Leinart.  I want to see this game.  And the BCS stole it from me.  I want justice.  I want a playoff.


2006 Florida

 JNG: Going into the final poll, undefeated Boise State and four one-loss teams (Michigan, Wisconsin, Louisville and Florida) were up for a sport against undefeated top-ranked Ohio State in the championship game in Glendale, Arizona. Of the one loss teams, Florida was probably the best, especially when you consider how badly the Buckeyes, Wolverines and the rest of the Big 10 were humiliated in their bowl games after being so ballyhooed all season. The conference still hasn't been able to restore its image.


I would have liked to have seen undefeated Boise State play though as they proved they could hang with the big boys by defeating Adrian Peterson and Oklahoma in that all-time classic Fiesta Bowl. Just imagine the significance of that hook-and-ladder or that Statue of Liberty hand-off if it were for the BCS crown. Imagine the mythology that would have followed Ian Johnson's proposal to his girlfriend and BSU cheerleader if he had just won the crystal ball...Imagine.

MLC: I'm going to be a hypocrite hear, so keep that in mind.  But I stop short of putting Boise State in a class with Florida in this one.  I know they beat Oklahoma.  But starting in '03 with the Jason White flop team that we've already discussed, Oklahoma was basically Ohio State when it came to BCS games.  Starting in 2003, the Sooners are 1-5 in Bowl games.  That one win was the 2005 Holiday Bowl win over Oregon that capped off an 8-4 season.  All five of those losses were in BCS bowls.  0-5 in the last six years in the BCS.  Destroyed by LSU (2003).  AnnihIilated 55-19 by USC (2004).  Shocked by Boise State (2006).  Dominated by West Virginia (2007).  Outclassed by Football Jesus and Florida (2008).  Much like Ohio State, show me you can win a bowl game before I consider you a big win for someone else.  

So my point in all that is, I know Ohio State was not the best team to play Florida, and the Big 10 has since been exposed as a total fraud.  But was Boise State the best team to play Florida?  Did they deserve a shot?  Not because they beat Oklahoma, no.  Should it have at least been a possibility?  Hell yes.  Playoff please.

2008 Florida

JNG: How could you ever say the Gators were the best team in the land this year?

To recap, Texas loses on a last second play at #6 Texas Tech. It was the Horns fourth straight game against a team ranked in the top ten. Florida loses at home to an Ole' Miss team that had already lost to Wake Forest and Vanderbilt (the Rebels would go on to lose the two subsequent weeks following this game). USC loses early in the season at Oregon State before running the table. Penn State loses by one on a last second field goal at Iowa. Oklahoma loses by 10 on a neutral field to Texas. Oh, and Utah went undefeated.

And I am supposed to anoint the Tebows because they beat Oklahoma on a neutral (if you could call that Miami atmosphere neutral) field by the same margin a one-loss Texas team did earlier in the season? Complicating things is that Utah beat SEC powerhouse and 12-1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl to finish its undefeated season. 

After all the bowl games, four teams (Florida, Texas, USC, and Utah) could legitimately say they were the best in the land and you could run in circles all day touting reasons for each team without ever reaching a verdict.

MLC: I couldn't tell you who should have been in this title game.  I would struggle to pick the right teams in most of these years.  But that's not our point here.  Our point is that no one can pick the right two teams when they never play each other.  Without a better system, it's guess work.  We writers (and I used the term loosely) sit around and say, "Team A beat Team B.  And Team B beat Team C.  But Team B also lost to Teams D and F.  But Team D beat Team A.  So the two teams should be Team B and F.  Wait what?  Well the computers do the exact same things by comparing strength of schedule, margin of victory, strength of opponents schedule, 8 different rankings, etc.  It's really no different.  It's only more complicated.


I remember the old system though.  Writers and coaches with historical biases deciding the national champ after traditional bowl games.  If not for the BCS, we would never have exposed the Big 10 or Oklahoma for the frauds that they are because writers would continue saying, "But it's Ohio State.  But it's the Sooners.  Surely they're really good because they always have been and their record is good, right?" I remember the arguments for the BCS: "what if we have a scientific formula that would guarantee the best two teams play each other in the title game?  What a great idea!"  Well it was a novel idea.  But Dr. Frankenstein created his monster, and now it has come back to haunt him.  The system is a failure, and it actually makes me wish we just had people vote on the games after watching all of the teams all season long.  In retrospect that makes a lot of sense.


Speaking of making sense.  Ummmm, playoff please?

JNG: The BCS wasn't instituted to give us champions that can be second guessed. Just because they won a game titled "Championship" doesn't mean crap if other teams are just as deserving, or more deserving, than the opponents who made the game.

I am not a horribly strong advocate of the playoff system. I don't think playoffs necessarily judge the BEST team over an entire season. Upsets can happen, and while they are fun and enjoyable in there unpredictability, I think a champion should be a team that has proved it to be worthy all season. Not a team with two losses that suddenly got hot. 

Any right minded human could have told you, as I am now, who should have played for the championship each and every year of the BCS (MLC: not me). Why are we relying totally on a computer rankings system? Aren't we smart enough to take those rankings, couple them with our own, and decide who REALLY deserves to play? I mean we have something the BCS doesn't...common sense.

Alas with 7 undefeated teams left, let's see how the BCS screws it up this year.