Posts Tagged ‘BCS’

Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports BlogPoll Top 25 hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

Week 11

Through 8 November 2009

This past weekend’s slate of college football games were—for the most part—supposed to be dull and boring.  There were very few “key” matchups on the schedule and most thought it might be a snoozer.  Well, that simply did not turn out to be the case.   Thus, there are a number of shake-ups in my BlogPoll Top 25 ballot for this week.  Most of these should be fairly obvious.  Either way, here is is:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	–
2	Texas	–
3	Florida	–
4	TCU	–
5	Cincinnati	3
6	Ohio State	6
7	Georgia Tech	4
8	Pittsburgh	6
9	Southern Cal	4
10	Boise State	–
11	Miami (Florida)	6
12	Utah	6
13	Houston	2
14	LSU	8
15	Iowa	6
16	Penn State	11
17	Oregon	10
18	Oklahoma State	2
19	Arizona	2
20	Wisconsin	3
21	Brigham Young	3
22	South Florida	3
23	Virginia Tech	NR
24	Navy	NR
25	Auburn	NR
Last week’s ballot

Explanations after the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

In case you hadn’t heard, the United States Congress has been hard at work lately—tackling the hard-hitting issues that our country is facing.  Our representatives in the House have been addressing monumental concerns impacting the daily lives of all Americans far and wide.  What, you might ask, is the single most important question in the minds of Representatives Joe Barton (R-TX), Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) and Mike Simpson (R-ID)?

Whether the BCS / Bowl system for determining NCAA football championships needs to be replaced by a playoff system.

As a result, these congressmen introduced a House Resolution in April seeking to have the United States Congress and the United States Department of Justice investigate the Bowl Championship Series.  In particular, this obscenely overstated meaningful legislation resolves that the House of Representatives:

(1) rejects the BCS system as an illegal restraint of trade that violates the Sherman Anti-Trust Act;

(2) demands the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division investigate and bring appropriate action to have the BCS system declared illegal and require a playoff to determine a national champion; and

(3) supports the establishment of an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Championship playoff system in the interest of fairness and to bring parity to all NCAA teams.

• 111th Congress, House Resolution 68

Heavy stuff, that…

As a result of the tireless grandstanding efforts of these shameless self-promoters champions of the common man, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held hearings this past week to look into the actions of the BCS in hopes of determining whether something nefarious is afoot.  This included taking testimony from: John Swofford (Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Coordinator of the Bowl Championship Series), Craig Thompson (Commissioner of the Mountain West Conference), Derrick Fox (President and CEO of the Valero Alamo Bowl), and Gene Bleymaier (Athletic Director of Boise State University).

For those of you out there that hate yourselves, you can view a streaming video of the entire hearing through the committee website.  Note: Apparently the Congressional muckety-mucks are too busy to hire someone schooled in the basic art of video editing.  Thus, you will want to fast forward to approximately 19:45 to view the hearing (that is, unless you just enjoy watching a blank screen for almost 20 minutes).

During the hearing, the Committee specifically looked into whether the BCS amounted to a monopoly, running afoul of federal anti-trust provisions.  With the great all-encompassing seriousness that can only come from the stuffed shirts of Congress and with the aire of the Watergate hearings, the committee set about digging deep into the bowels of college football’s deep dark secret.  Having watched some of the video of the hearing, it was obvious, in the minds of some of the assembled officials, that they felt the very sanctity of our American Republic hung precariously in the balance.

Right…

Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to the idea of a college football playoff, in fact I would gladly support such a system—so long as it is fair.  The disdain that is oozing from this article comes not from my opposition to the notion that college football needs a playoff, but rather from the nauseating belief by those in Congress that they are the answer to this problem.  Oh yeah, there is also the minor fact that the entire nation is passed out from the H1N1 flu in the economic toilet of the world with chunks of last night’s General Motors and Wall Street flavored hot dog still clinging to its mouth while these clueless egomaniacs are wasting their time trying to determine how we end our football seasons.

I’d love to sit around in a fancy conference room with hospitality service and get paid to talk football all day as much as the next guy, there’s no denying that.  The thought that our Congressional leaders have nothing better to do than just that, is more than a little bothersome.  The fact that they can do it with a straight face while purporting to represent the best interests of their constituents, makes me think of three words: “explosive projectile vomiting.”  I suppose that this sentiment is precisely what led CBS Sports.com’s Dennis Dodd to note that “Retching is common for these kinds of mundane Capitol Hill gatherings.”

Read the rest of this entry »

A fabulously extreme response to the imbalances in college football. Seriously, if you even “kinda, sorta” like football, you should give this a look.

One of the most creative concepts I’ve seen in a while…

•  A Total College Football Reorganization | California Golden Blogs

Bet you never thought you’d see Tennessee in the same conference as the boys of Tobacco Road again…

Probably a bit late, but what the heck…

via: The Onion

Tee Martin vs. Florida State

This Saturday, the University of Tennessee will kickoff its celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of the Vols’ 1998 National Championship. As part of that celebration, immediately prior to this week’s game against UAB, the Tennessee Volunteers will honor the first in a series of former Vol footballers who played a role in that championship — quarterback Tee Martin.

Martin was truly one of the unsung heroes of the 1998 squd, who deserves far more credit than he ever received. I found a really great piece by Marvin West which looks at all of the comparisons that were made between Martin and Peyton Manning, which concludes that Martin deserves all the praise he gets this weekend. West writes:

Peyton was the quintessential quarterback, a genuine thoroughbred, great arm, marvelous reads and checks, flawless form. If you look up quarterback in my dictionary, Manning’s mug shot is the illustration.

Tee was just a winner. He wasn’t a perfect passer. He was a fine leader but never glorified as a great strategist or field general. What he did was good enough. Effective.

His ring says national champion.

I sincerely hope that all the Vol-faithful will show up to Neyland Stadium a few minutes early, take a moment to remember the “lunch-bucket brigade” that was the 1998 Tennessee Volunteers, and send a big thank you to one of the great players who made the magic of that season possible.

– Go Figure …

Image Courtesy of: AthlonSports.com
Marvin West writes for the Knoxville Shopper-News and is the author of “Legends of the Tennessee Vols”

Well, another college football season has come to a close, and LSU has been crowned the champion for 2007-08. The BCS Championship Game, though good, only serves to underscore why College Football needs a playoff. I never really thought that I would turn my back on the bowl system — I have had great experiences as a bowl-goer over the years, but this football season makes it clear that a playoff is needed now more than ever. More on that in a minute… First, a few thoughts on the game.
Read the rest of this entry »

Well … this looks like a replay of last year’s championship game.

So far, Ohio State jumped out to an early lead (this time in the first minute of the game, as opposed to the first play of the game) and then proceeded to go straight down hill. Can’t say that I am surprised by the play of either team.

I am a bit surprised that Ohio State’s offensive line has been so out-matched after the second series.

I must say that — despite generally being a doubter — I am now beginning to believe the whole “Big Ten can’t hang with the speed of the SEC” line of thought. I guess there is something to that.

Glad I’m an SEC fan and alum, of course my wife went to Ohio State…

- Go Figure …

---