Week 14 Recap

And it’s time for my annual BCS rant. No, I don’t care that Chris Peterson was stuffing the voting box to try and benefit Boise State. He’s a coach voting in the coach’s poll; who cares. I’m just glad to hear an actual coach is voting in the coach’s poll rather than the typical assistant training who doesn’t watch much football. And no, I don’t care that Arkansas, Kansas State, Boise State, and South Carolina were denied in favor of Va. Tech and Michigan. What I do care about is how the system calculates things. The fact that Western Arizona Community College was ranked 30^th in one of the BCS computer rankings towards the end of October is asinine. A junior college is getting ranked? Then again, Arizona State should look to WACC to find some of their “stellar” JuCo transfers.

And, look at the games we are left with. The Sugar Bowl match-up features two teams (Michigan and Va. Tech) who have a combined one win against current Top-25 teams, and the Orange Bowl with a pair of three loss teams. Nice BCS system we’ve got. I officially call for a six team playoff. Seeds #1 and #2 get a bye (but they have to have actually won their conference to get a #1 or #2 seed, sorry Alabama), and a special committee (ala NCAA March Madness) decides on the other four. #3 and #6 play, #4 and #5 play, and then we’re left with a final four, and finally a championship. Five total games; which is the same as the current number of BCS Bowl games. Sure, you can still have your “Papaceasars.net Bowl” featuring the #6 seed from Conference USA against the #4 seed from the MAC.

But no, the BCS folks keep hiding behind 1) tradition, and 2) the poor student athletes that have to travel so much. Let’s tackle #2 first. I could buy this if 1) the bowl season didn’t fall near Christmas break and 2) if there weren’t teams already travelling all over the country during the school year to play games on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights. Back to tradition; the jackasses that use the tradition of the bowl games are the same folks who are tearing apart century old rivalries year after year in the name of conference realignment. All so they can hit the jackpot on their new [fill in the blank] Conference Network channels on DirecTV. Congrats BCS. Now, when does the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl start?

Ok, rant over. Let’s get on to the week 14 Top 10 recap, and look for the Bowl Preview edition soon:

1. The Big East title was up for grabs, and West Virginia had to hold off South Florida, and Cincy had to hold off a furious 4^th quarter rally by UConn to capture the three way tie in the….oh who cares. It’s the Big East.

2. Any voter that had Va. Tech and Houston in their top-5 shouldn’t be allowed to vote anymore. As I said a few weeks ago, Houston’s signature win was against 6-7 UCLA and Va. Tech’s was, wait, don’t tell me, I’ll think of it…

3. Oregon won it’s third straight conference title, but keep in mind the Ducks, while they’ve rolled through the PAC-12 the last few years, have lost two straight BCS bowls. Though the result was never in doubt, UCLA did move the ball well on Oregon, and despite four turnovers, put up 31 on the Ducks. Don’t think for a second Monte Ball and company didn’t notice that. Wisconsin/Oregon will be a great Rose Bowl!

4. Keenum had a shot to sway some Heisman voters, Houston had a shot at a BCS at large bid for the first time ever; in the end, Southern Miss ended up costing their own Conference USA $17 million dollars in the upset win over Houston. And no, Larry Fedora, you don’t deserve a BCS at large bid for beating Houston and winning C-USA. You lost to Marshall and UAB for crying out loud. Have fun in Hawaii.

5. Where Keenum failed in his national audience Heisman spotlight, RG3 did not, dismantling the statistically best defense in the Big 12. Baylor has now beaten Texas two straight, and Texas finished with back-to-back losing records in the conference for the first time since before World War II.

6. As they were tearing down goal posts and storming the field in Stillwater, it was sad to think that even with Oklahoma State’s annihilation of Oklahoma, they wouldn’t be jumping Alabama into the #2 spot. More so, because the Cowboys won in a way that they needed to in order to be given consideration. 44-10 over Oklahoma for their first Bedlam win since 2003 (and they didn’t even score in the 4^th quarter), undisputed champion in what is clearly the #2 conference in the country right now, and they really weren’t even given much consideration. Oh well, that’s the BCS for ya.

7. So Virginia Tech hasn’t beaten a currently ranked team, and has been blown out twice now by a three loss Clemson team, and they get a BCS at large bid? Oh well, that’s the BCS for ya.

8. Another ranked opponent goes down against LSU. I’m really beginning to wonder if these guys wouldn’t be able to compete with some of the teams we see on Sunday. IF (and that’s a big if as Vegas only has them favored by 1) LSU beats Alabama again, I’m ready to put them in the Top-10 teams ever, and probably Top-5 that I’ve seen in my college football watching days.

9. It’s really a shame that we aren’t gonna see the #2 offense in the nation going up against the #2 defense in the nation for all the marbles. Then again, I believe the BCS has been talking to David Stern. Just like how the NBA wasn’t ready for the early 2000-era Phoenix Suns style of play to win it all, I don’t think the college football establishment is ready for what Oklahoma State has done this year (win with huge offense, nation-leading number of turnovers forced, yet a defense ranked in the high 90s). Okay, maybe a little conspiracy theory, I guess…

10. The five bowl games I’m really looking forward to are 5) Cotton Bowl (Arkansas/Kansas State), 4) Outback Bowl (Georgia/Michigan State), 3) Capital One Bowl (South Carolina/Nebraska), 2) Rose Bowl (Oregon/Wisconsin), and 1) Fiesta Bowl (Oklahoma State/Stanford).

Now on to the Top-10 in the standings:

#1 LSU (13-0) – The Green Bay Packers of college football, except with a better defense.

#2 Alabama (11-1) – I wouldn’t be surprised to see you beat LSU this time around.

#3 Oklahoma State (11-1) – Don’t lose to Iowa State next time!

#4 Oregon (10-2) – Don’t lose to USC next time!

#5 Stanford (11-1) – Don’t lose to Oregon next time!

#6 Arkansas (10-2) – Don’t lose to LSU and Alabama next time!

#7 Boise State (11-1) – Make a FG!

#8 South Carolina (10-2) – Don’t lose to Auburn and Arkansas next time!

#9 Kansas State (10-2) – Who are you?

#10 Wisconsin (11-2) – Play some hail mary defense! Knock it down!!!

Heisman Watch:

Robert Griffin III, Baylor – I still think Luck deserves it, but RG3’s numbers are better in every category: 3,998 yards passing (to Luck’s 3,170), 36 TDs (35), 6 INTs (9), completion % 72.4 (70), 644 rushing yards (153), 9 rushing TDs (2), and passer rating 192.3 (167.5). And, as solid as Luck was all year, RG3 had way more “did you see that” moments starting with the 50-48 upset of TCU in week 1, and ending with the rout of Texas this past weekend. But, the voters are largely stupid sheep, so congrats Trent Richardson!

Until next time…