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December 2005
Playing political football with the BCS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I can’t tell you how much better I am sleeping at night.
Yes, we are in a war halfway around the world. We have over 500,000 of our citizens displaced because of Hurricane Katrina and many of them have lost all of their worldly possessions. The health care system in the country is a mess. And the politicians representing the two major parties in charge of fixing this stuff can’t even agree that the sky is blue.
But I don’t worry about any of that. Things must be going great because Congress, as it turns out, had time enough this week to hold hearings on the state of postseason college football.
You would think that a representative from Texas would know better, but Rep. Joe Barton, a Republican from Arlington, just could not resist getting his 15 minutes of fame. So he and a number of other obscure politicians dragged several college football officials to Washington on Wednesday to testify.
What followed was a sophomoric question-and-answer session that, even by the standards of Congress, hit a new low for banality. I could have found five guys in a sports bar on a Saturday night who could have asked more intelligent, more informed questions of the college football officials who were there.
I spoke to several of the football people who were in the room but they were too polite to share their real feelings about the proceedings. One said it was “interesting”, which is a nice way of saying the whole thing was political grandstanding.
I agree that the BCS is flawed on a number of fronts. I believe there has to be a way to involve more than two teams and keep the bowl system intact. Others believe there should be a full-blown 16-team playoff and that argument, while I don’t agree with it, has some merit. But when it comes to college football, that issue and others will be — and should be — decided by the presidents of the schools involved.
In calling for the hearing, Rep. Barton noted that college football’s postseason often ends in “sniping and controversy, rather than winners and losers.”
No argument there. I would only ask: When did the controversy surrounding college football’s postseason become the business of the federal government? I’ve got a suggestion: Why don’t you guys on Capital Hill actually get SOMETHING done up there instead of preening for C-SPAN and telling me that the people across the aisle are all stupid and evil?
Just get something — anything — accomplished. Then come talk to me about college football.
Peach pits 2 Top 10 teams for first time
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Funny thing about the bowl business. You plan and you plan. You make the phone calls. You have the team selection meetings. You think you’ve prepared for every possible contingency.
Then suddenly, fate steps in and gives you the best matchup in the history of your event.
That’s what happened to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, which will feature No. 9 Miami (9-2) and No. 10 LSU (9-3) on Dec. 30 at the Georgia Dome. Based on rankings in Sunday’s Associated Press poll, it’s the first meeting of top-10 teams in the history of the bowl.
“Needless to say, we are thrilled,� said Peach president Gary Stokan, who will lead an Atlanta contingent that will visit both Miami and Baton Rouge today to extend invitations officially. “We thought going into the weekend that we had a lot of good options. This turned out to be a great option.�
The odds against this game coming to pass were awfully long. In order for the Miami-LSU matchup to occur in the Peach, Georgia had to beat No. 3 LSU in the SEC championship game and Florida State had to upset Virginia Tech in the ACC final.
LSU’s 34-14 loss brings the Tigers back to Atlanta for the first time since 2000, when they beat Georgia Tech. Despite Virginia Tech’s loss to Florida State, the Gator Bowl folks want the Hokies back in Jacksonville on Jan. 2. That made Miami available to come back to the Peach.
Miami and LSU have met 11 times with LSU holding an 8-3 edge.
“We said all along that we wanted to play the best opponent available, and we got that,� said Miami coach Larry Coker, whose team beat Florida in last year’s Peach Bowl.
Best story lines
AARP Bowl. That would be the Orange matching 76-year-old Bobby Bowden of Florida State and 78-year old Joe Paterno of Penn State. They are also Division I-A football’s two winningest coaches. After three straight losses, Bowden’s boys pulled off the upset of the weekend. Penn State’s only loss was to Michigan.
Charlie Weis’ offense vs. Ohio State’s defense. That will take place in the Fiesta Bowl, where Notre Dame (9-2) and Ohio State (9-2) will meet for only the fifth time in history. Weis will have an entire month to get Brady Quinn and the Notre Dame offense ready for A.J. Hawk and the nation’s best set of linebackers.
Auburn vs. Wisconsin, Capital One. Auburn (9-2) finished as strong as anyone, knocking off Georgia and Alabama down the stretch. Now the Tigers, winners of 22 of their past 24, face Wisconsin, which will try to send coach Barry Alvarez into retirement with a victory. Only one other time in history (1988-89) has Auburn posted back-to-back 10-win seasons.
Best non-BCS bowls
Cotton: Texas Tech (9-2) vs. Alabama (9-2). Talk about a contrast of styles. Tech leads the nation in passing offense. Alabama is No. 2 in total defense.
Sun: Northwestern (7-4) vs. UCLA (9-2). It might take a while to play this one. Northwestern is No. 8 nationally in total offense while UCLA is No. 8 in scoring offense.
Holiday: Oklahoma (7-4) and Oregon (10-1). Oklahoma was 2-3 at one point but rallied to have a solid season. Oregon has something to prove after getting left out of the BCS.
Angry coaches
Tom O’Brien, Boston College. At 8-3 overall and 5-3 in the ACC, BC finished in a tie with Florida State for the ACC Atlantic Division lead but got passed over by a bunch of bowls because, allegedly, its fans don’t travel all that well. Now the Eagles have to play Boise State on its own field.
Mike Bellotti, Oregon. The Ducks’ only loss was to No. 1 USC but they got left out of the Fiesta Bowl in favor of two 9-2 teams.
Mike Price, UTEP. Price not only failed to win the Conference USA championship after leading his division for most of the season, but now he also is playing the GMAC Bowl in Mobile. You’ll remember Price had a cup of coffee as Alabama’s head coach before off-the-field problems forced him out before coaching a single game. Going back to Alabama probably wasn’t his first choice.
Needing a win
Gary Barnett, Colorado. After getting outscored 100-6 in his last two games, Barnett needs redemption in a hurry. Colorado faces Clemson in the Champs Sports Bowl.
Mike Shula, Alabama. After a 9-0 start, the Tide dropped its last two against LSU and Auburn. A win over high-flying Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl — and a new contract — would make Shula’s offseason a lot better.
Pat Hill, Fresno State. After almost knocking off USC on Nov. 19, the Bulldogs forgot to play in their last two games, losing to Nevada 38-35 and Louisiana Tech 40-28. Fresno will play Conference USA champ Tulsa in the Liberty Bowl.
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34 wins for USC?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Three things to look for this weekend:
Can USC make it No. 34? The No. 1 Trojans have dodged a lot of bullets this fall to extend their winning streak to 33 games. A win on Saturday over UCLA puts them in the Rose Bowl with a chance to win their third straight national championship. The early indicator of how this game will go will be UCLA’s ability to run the ball with Maurice Drew. If the Bruins can move the ball on the ground and limit Matt Leinart’s possessions, this will be a four-quarter game that will make BCS officials hold their collective breath.
Which quarterback will make more plays, D.J. Shockley or JaMarcus Russell? The answer to this question is the key to the SEC championship game. Russell is an incredible physical specimen with a rocket for a right arm. When he gets flushed out of the pocket he usually finds open receivers for big plays. Shockley, however, is more versatile and more experienced. He has been waiting all of his life to play in this kind of game and will make the most of it.
Can Florida State keep it close? The Seminoles have been thumped in their last two games against Clemson (35-10) and Florida (34-7). But neither of those teams had a defense like the one Florida State will see Saturday night against Virginia Tech. It’s one thing to lose, which Bobby Bowden hates. It’s another thing to get embarrassed on national television in the first-ever ACC championship game. This is not what the ACC wanted the nation to see.
ACC vs. SEC: Which is better?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now that the ACC is starting a league championship game, the debate is renewed about whether it’s as good as the SEC.
What do you think?
Permalink | Comments (187) | Categories: Conferences
Time for some unofficial awards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I don’t get to vote on these things any more, so here is just one man’s opinion:
NATIONAL
Player of the Year: With all due respect to Texas’ Vince Young, it’s gotta be USC’s Reggie Bush. Bush dominates games and, unlike a quarterback, he doesn’t touch the ball on every play. He is going to be the next Gale Sayers.
Coach of the Year: What Joe Paterno did at Penn State this season was remarkable; winning a Big Ten championship at the age of 78 is an impressive accomplishment. But what George O’Leary did at Central Florida is basically unheard of. He went 0-11 in his first season at UCF and started this season 0-2. On Saturday UCF (8-3) will play for the Conference USA title in the school’s first season as a member. Now that’s coaching.
Game of the Year: Texas’ 25-22 win at Ohio State was good, but USC’s 34-31 win at Notre Dame on Oct. 15 was a game for the ages. Notre Dame did everything humanly possible to win that game but Matt Leinart, the 2004 Heisman winner, would not let his team lose.
SEC
Player of the Year: D.J. Shockley, QB, Georgia. And it’s not just for what he has done on the field, which is considerable. Shockley is No. 2 in the SEC in passing and total offense. But Shockley represents something more important than statistics. He represents the concept of believing in something bigger than one’s self.
Few people with his talent would have waited four years for an opportunity to become the starter. When his number was finally called, Shockley stepped up and led Georgia to the SEC championship game. It’s called character and it’s refreshing to see.
Coach of the Year: Mark Richt and Georgia were picked by everyone to finish third in the SEC East, and now the Bulldogs are back in Atlanta for the third time in four years. But Steve Spurrier led South Carolina to a 7-4 record in his first season in Columbia, beating Tennessee and Florida and almost beating Georgia. He did it with very few players who could start for an upper echelon SEC team. Now the Gamecocks may play in the Outback Bowl.
Game of the Year: On a day (Nov. 19) when there were three great games, Auburn’s 31-30 win over Georgia stood out as the very best that SEC football has to offer. Two great old rivals slugged it out for 60 minutes and then it came down to a last-second field goal.
ACC
Player of the Year: Chris Barclay of Wake Forest is a wonderful player, but you have to give the award to Virginia Tech’s Marcus Vick. The book on Virginia Tech this season was that the Hokies, who were loaded everywhere, would go as far as the rookie quarterback would take them. Let the record show that Vick is the ACC’s most efficient passer and that Virginia Tech is 10-1 and on the verge of its second straight ACC championship.
Coach of the Year: Frank Beamer deserves all the accolades coming his way, but Virginia Tech was expected to win the ACC championship. Georgia Tech played one of the toughest schedules in its history with non-conference games against Auburn and Georgia plus road games at Virginia Tech and Miami — all Top 10 teams. Georgia Tech went 2-2 in those games and finished 7-4. In a week filled with turmoil, Georgia Tech went on the road and beat Miami (14-10). That’s why Chan Gailey is the coach of the year.
Game of the Year: Miami 36, Clemson 30 in three overtimes. Just one of many close losses for Clemson this season. The Tigers had a chance to win the game in regulation but Charlie Whitehurst missed an open receiver in the end zone.
