A Season That will live in Infamy!
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by Bcsbusters
Lightning Bolts From An Infamous Season!
| BCSBusters Poll | BCS Poll | AP POLL | Coaches Poll |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |"Weekend Recap - The Top Games to Review"
| 43 | 37 |I thought last Saturday’s celebration by the LSU’s fan base was a bit excessive, especially considering this miraculously-zany and unbelievable college football season thus far is just now entering the early minutes of the third quarter...the teams have really only recently emerged from the locker room, where the best coaches in the nation are just now beginning to recognize the identity of their own team and frantically making adjustments.
When the stadium announcer in Baton Rouge thundered the words Stanford 24 - USC 23 across Death Valley last weekend, red flags began to fly inside my BCSBusters mindset.
Hyperbolic phrases like “Be Careful, Hold Your Mud or Focus on the Present,” certainly came to the forefront. Although Cal coach Jeff Tedford heeded those words as he was heading into the locker room leading Giant Killer Oregon State 14-13 (as he too learned of Kentucky’s upset) the Bears suffered the same fate as #1 LSU - which is the first time since 1996 that #1 & #2 had fallen on the same day.
Given that the Top-10 oligarchies continue to crumble, who would step in to claim the latest pole position in college football? Certainly not Missouri, Cincinnati or UCONN - five more undefeated’s fell yet again, making the last three weekends the most infamous in college football history!
Please don’t console Les Miles and Jeff Tedford, because this is just the latest trend in an already volatile college football stock market, which is definitely heading in a bearish direction. BCS administrators be warned, the leaks in the dam will lead to a flood of controversy this coming December.
I wondered aloud last week if the hysterical celebration by Tiger Nation was an ominously bad omen, especially considering the mighty Gators quickly quieted the festive crowd with a convincing four play drive to take a commanding 10 point lead entering the early stages of the 4th quarter.
Yes, the Tigers did come back to win the game - one of the greatest games I’ve witnessed certainly within the last decade, but given the slew of shockers which have occurred just inside the framework of this season alone - someone forgot to wake up Tiger Nation, or at least provide some coffee breaks to sober up the alcoholic frenzy taking place on campus - for the throng of fans failed to comprehend that the LSU-Florida tilt was just a mid-term exam and that there would be other test and quizzes on the BCS horizon.
In what has been tabbed “The Year of the Upset,” it would be wise for all Fan Nations to hold their mud and actually act as if you’ve been in a championship race before, savoring the true dog-pile celebration for the end of the season. Who knows what is going to happen next week, given the recent surge from the upstarts located in Boulder, Tampa, Corvallis, Palo Alto, Lexington and Boston?
Most of the pundits, as well as some over-zealous fans, have claimed that LSU has “CLEARLY” been the most dominating team on the collegiate grid iron this season - the best team in the country.
I cautioned many last week that the Tigers were beginning to show the same signs of frailty that USC has shown of late, considering they barely led Tulane 10-9 at the half two weeks ago, and last week trailed the Gators for 58 and a half minutes before winning in the final moments.
So what can we take from this week, in the aftermath of yet another amazing upset by yet another upstart program? How about the fact that this upset, as well as many others which have already occurred was no fluke, and the same people who dissed Kentucky as a clear and present Top-10, for a rather inauspiciously foggy Top-15 program, need to re-evaluate their polling criteria and poll ranking formula’s in determining college football’s elite, for they are just as applicable when considering South Florida, Kansas, Cincinnati, Boston College and Arizona State!
Mark it down - this was no fluke…the Cats got LSU’s best effort on the road, and still survived, even amid their own miscues…Kentucky could have played a better game as well, so it isn’t like Rich Brooks squad played completely out of their minds. It isn't a stretch that Colorado beat Oklahoma, and although Lee Corso (most definitely grandstanding to Sooner Nation) claims that the Boomer-Sooners simply fell asleep in attributing the loss to the Buffalo's, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has an inkling that the Sooners have yet to hit their stride, and may not in fact be as highly regarded as many would assume.
Stay tuned ladies and gentlemen, the season is really just starting to heat up and the controversy will be ready to boil over due to the media’s insurgent demands that the best teams in the nation are still those with a commanding branding identity, for the BCS participants still has to satisfy television’s un-quenching thirst for greater advertising revenue, which are hopelessly tied to the Nielsen Ratings.
Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated is already drumming against the rise of parity , supporting the notion that it’s recent rise may actually be bad for the sport - could you imagine a Boston College - Kansas national championship event? Or how about Oregon and South Florida? SEC Nation and the Big-10 Network wouldn’t stand for that now would they, for how would they continue to fleece millions from unsuspecting fans in building up a paper champion?
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On a day when #1 and #2 have fallen for the first time since 1996, there were many parallels and antagonistic opposites to last weeks LSU - Florida affair. While Les Miles shined last week, executing 5 consecutive fourth down decisions, Jeff Tedford and the Bears must be kicking themselves considering yesterdays performance was reminiscent of the Ducks performance two weeks ago at Autzen Stadium.
Bobo Brayton, the Hall of Fame baseball coach at Washington State University, used to say years ago that more games are kicked away and given away than ever won outright. Today’s OSU-California tilt certainly qualifies. Not only did Freshman quarterback Kevin Riley of the Bears make a crucial error in the waning seconds - taking an ill advised sack (no timeouts) with the game on the line - Tedford must be kicking himself today, due to a series of blunders that occurred throughout the game against the Beavers.
The first sign of trouble began to emerge just before halftime when Cal squib kicked the Beavers Alex Serna - who hasn't missed an extra point since that ill-fated night three years ago in Baton Rouge (125 of 128) - right into field position with just under a minute remaining in the half, and the All-American candidate took advantage, nailing 52 yard field goal, cutting the lead to just one at 14-13 at the half.
This coaching blunder proved to be just as critical as the - running straight into the teeth of the Beaver defense - play calls in the third quarter when Oregon State changed the climate of the game with a game changing goal line stand that had Pontiac written all over it, considering the stakes of the game (#1 ranking on the line) and the fact that the Beavers are suddenly looking like last seasons character building effort, rising from their own ashes. Faced with first and goal at the one, the Bears ran four straight plays into the lions gate of the Beavers defense, considering the Beavs have the number one rush defense in the country.
Suddenly the Beavers are resurging, considering if they could ever figure out how to beat UCLA they would be sitting (5-2) and right in the middle of the Rose Bowl race!
Tedford's coaching blunders certainly drenched the excitement in Strawberry Canyon, fueled from the game ending drive when the Bears, who faced the ultimate two-minute challenge (96 yards from pay-dirt with 90 seconds remaining), ripped off a sequence of Pontiac Game Changing plays of their own - executing a miraculous 4th and 17 alongside a beautifully thrown 4 vertical sideline route setting the drama for the less than stellar decision by Riley.
Only in America, with BCS ideology (stupidity, absurdity or incomprehensible would be a better words) running rampant and out of control, can a team who California beat on the road (Oregon) only two weeks ago, now be considered the leading media front runner for the prestigious number two poll position. Oh let the steering begin!
Considering the amount of times that this BCS stupidity has been put into play is now reaching double (and soon to be triple) digits...what's next? Tennessee back in the Top-5 anyone? Penn State? Michigan? Do I hear it once...twice...sold to the nearest Nielsen Ratings representative sitting at Fox table number five.
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With all the attention the initial version of the BCS poll has received in the last twenty four hours, coming on the heels of another frenetic weekend in college football, the majority of the fans around the country continue to get lost in the BCS shuffle.
As ABC television analyst Brad Nessler discussed the projected BCS rankings, he focused his venom on USC due to the fact they are still within the Top-10 of the Coaches Poll. Next to Ohio State at #1, the first signs of a CFA alliance in the polls are beginning to take shape.
Oregon is a newcomer upon the CFA alliance, but given the fact that President Frohnmeyer (Oregon President) is also a bigwig within the BCS committee, we can trace the relationship. Oregon's computer ranking is the worst of the ten teams in the BCS Top-10 at .5000. Would you like to know the next worst team? It's Oklahoma at .5500. West Virginia is next at .6400 while all the other teams within the BCS Top-10 have a computer ranking average of at least .8000. I called out Oklahoma last week when the scheduling component factor was woeful compared to other teams with the same record, wondering aloud why they continue to climb up the polls when they lost to the best team on their schedule.
Would you agree that South Florida is better than Colorado? Why then would we rank Oklahoma ahead of West Virginia, especially considering the Longhorns were one ill-timed fumble away from tieing the Sooners late in the game last week in Dallas. And why the big deal about Michigan when they've won five in a row over ridiculously bad opponents. Ah, all's well in the world when the traditonal powers continue to dominate weak opponents, catapulting up the polls, while teams like Missouri, Kansas, Cincinnati and the like fall like a sack of cement dropped out of a six story window. Explain Cal's drop to 10th in the Polls, while LSU remains in striking distance at #5?
West Virginia's only crime was losing to the nations best team during the first half of the season...and they ain't from Baton Rouge as Kentucky uncovered this fallacy last Saturday. I said early in the season that somewhere along the line the Les Miles factor would begin to surface and eliminate the Tigers from the national championship picture. The other factor which raises an eye brow or two regarding the hyped omnipresence of Oklahoma in the polls is the fact that Head Coach Bob Stoops isn't exactly enamored with his team. When was the last time you witnessed a coach from a national championship team red flagging his own team?
Year2Florida blog owner ran a nice piece ranking the opponents thus far for each team. His statistical analysis factors in Total Defense and Scoring Defense, as well as, Scoring Offense and Total Offense when breaking down the strength of each team's opponents. Given the outcomes of his project, the numbers begin to tell a different story. Here are some interesting components to consider when thinking of the BCS Rankings.
Oregon #31
South Carolina #36
LSU #41
Kentucky #43
California #56
South Florida #58
Oklahoma #65
Boston College #95
Ohio State #102
Missou #103
USC #108
West Virginia #109
Kansas #116
Considering Oklahoma and Ohio State have been positioned for that much heralded juggernaut match-up that the BCS cronies desire, It makes you wonder if there is an ulterior motive? I believe there is for this polling system, which I have made myself a part of this season, makes absolutely no sense when considering the parity in college football.
As Jerry Palm stated today in the New York Times, "Ohio State has played roughly the same schedule as Kansas, but the only reason there ranked so high is because of the name brand on their jersey," while Kansas is relegated to the bottom half of the Top-25. Missing among all the brew-haw is the fact that Oklahoma isn't much better as well.
Categories: Opinions | Opinions by User Bcsbusters | October 16, 2007 | October 2007 | College Football Opinions | BCS Controversy Opinions | BCS Poll Opinions | BCS National Championship Opinions | Oklahoma Sooners Opinions | Ohio State Buckeye's Opinions | California Golden Bears Opinions | NCAAF Opinions
