Congrats to Utah,Your National Champions

ESPN's front page said something like "too much Tim Tebow and plenty of Percy Harvin..."; you don't need to hear the rest. Everyone knows that the game last night was supposed to crown us a champion. But did it? I, for one, don't think so.

As a fan of college football, and therefore a staunch opponent of the BCS, I was cheering for whatever would reflect badly on the system. Before the game that seemed like it would be a low scoring, say 24-14, win for Oklahoma, meaning Texas would have a good argument as the best in the land. However, once the game ended I realized that Texas wasn't the team I should be arguing for, it should be Utah.

The Utes beat a handfull of ranked teams this year, including three in the top ten, peaking with a pummeling of Alabama in their bowl game. This is the same Alabama team that Florida battled throughout the SEC Championship game. This is the same Alabama team that beat Ole Miss, who beat Texas Tech, who beat Texas, who beat Oklahoma...you get the idea. What do the Utes have to do?

They went and played Michigan at the Big House to start the year. Sure, that looks less than impressive now, but when they scheduled it, the appointment was downright ballsy. Then the Utes played Oregon State, another BCS conference team. Most years this wouldn't be a big deal, but the Beavers had beaten USC, a team that a lot of fans think would have won it all in a playoff format. The Utes then blazed through the Mountain West Conference, a league that would give the ACC or Big East a run for their money. During their run, Utah beat top-15 teams in TCU and BYU, en route to the beatdown of the Crimson Tide.

Who did Florida beat this year? What juggernaut did the Gators slay that gives them the right to claim the National Championship? The Gators played Hawaii, Miami, Citadel, and Florida State in their non-conference games, then had to deal with the likes of LSU, Georgia, Arkansas, and the rest of a down SEC. Florida earned the right to play Alabama in the SEC Championship, but was far less impressive than Utah against the Tide.

The other day I was watching a Best Damn Sports Show countdown of the top 50 sound bites in sports and one of them was the rant by Mike Gundy, head coach of Oklahoma State Football. The media made Gundy out to be a crazy man with a funny moment in press conference history. However, what I realized the other day, which is exactly what I thought at the time, was that Gundy was making an excellent point about the media's coverage of student-athletes. He was made out to look like a lunatic because that's what the media wanted.

Then, a few days ago, I was reading about the Utah Attorney General and his plan to sue the BCS for anti-trust violations. Just like Gundy before him, the AG was made to look like a fool in the media, because he was supposed to be dealing with more important matters. If this is your argument, you can honestly shove it (language edit). Of course, he should not mention this travesty, because he can only focus on one thing at a time. If he is looking into this, he will have absolutely no time left to deal with crime! In Utah. Oh no! The point is that Utah's AG, like Gundy, is not crazy and the system should be fixed. It's not just because it is a flawed system, it's because the system is about making money for a select few at the expense of millions.

About a decade ago, the NCAA adopted the BCS to give college football a definitive champion. Since then it has failed as much as it has succeeded and has lined the pockets of a lucky few while raping and pillaging the sports world. Of all the popular sports, college football is the only one that fails to crown a legitimate champion. Hell, I don't know of another sport that is worse, major or not; I'd rather have a French judge decide who the best team is. We're better off in the old system, that at least didn't pretend to provide a consensus. The only way the BCS works is when two teams separate themselves from the rest and that rarely happens.

The BCS and the NCAA ruined my college football postseason, and Utah's entire season, and for that they will never be forgiven. This should have been a crowning year for college football, with the likes of Texas, USC, Florida, Oklahoma, Utah, Penn State, and others in a tournament. It's time to settle the national championship on the field. The money grab for the conferences, schools, and bowls needs to stop.

Until it does, Utah was the team that went unbeaten this year. I have always like Florida, but the Gators lost this season and Utah did not. The Utes played a respectable schedule and just because they were snubbed by voters and formulas doesn't make them less deserving of a crystal football. So let's congratulate the "other" national champions, the Utah Utes!

Thoughts on Tonight's BCS Title Game

I couldn't decide what kind of post to put together for the big game tonight, so what follows are some random thoughts on the title bout (think Mike Tyson's Punch Out).

• I finally decided that I am cheering for Oklahoma in this game. I've always liked Florida for no good reason, but when it comes down to it, I will cheer for anything that reflects negatively on the BCS. A 4-3 win for Oklahoma would do the trick.


• I'm surprised that this game isn't getting the hype that the title game received a few years ago when Texas and USC faced off. Then again, I think those teams were unbeaten. Still, this game has the potential to be just as good. We have undeniable talents on both teams and plenty of first round draft potential. Not to mention the last two Heisman winners.


• You have to think that Utah and Texas are pulling for Oklahoma as well. If Florida wins, somehow their loss is less relevant. They lost to Ole Miss, who beat Texas Tech, who beat Texas, who was in Footloose with Kevin Bacon. If OU wins, then everyone gets to rehash the issue of whether they belonged there in the first place. Texas gets to say that they beat the Sooners on a neutral field and Utah gets to say they dismantled Alabama, and therefore could have beaten Florida too.


• A major factor is Oklahoma's recent tradition of not showing up for big games. Sure, they did fine in the Big 12 Championship, but it was against a Missouri team that had already fallen apart. The Sooners have gone all Ohio State on teams when they get to BCS bowls recently. Last year they lost to a West Virginia team that just lost its coach, the year before was the loss to Boise State in one of the best bowl games ever, and I believe they were blown out in the championship before that.


• Tebow & Co. actually have a little experience with the title game, albeit Tebow was a jump-passing fullback then, that didn't save the world by circumcising babies.


• So, this will be where I put my prediction for the game, which is sure to be completely wrong. Florida 42 - Oklahoma 34.

The BCS Strikes Early

This is the drama the BCS apologists point to when they say the current system provides exciting football, spirited debate, and general intrigue. This weekend was exciting, with Texas putting up "style points" on Texas A&M Thursday, Texas Tech avoiding an upset against Baylor Saturday afternoon, and Oklahoma pulling away from Oklahoma State late.

Then came the one thing that any supporter of the BCS cannot defend. It got the whole thing wrong. With a three-way tie atop the Big 12 South and tiebreakers such as records within the division, records against common opponents, tackiest band uniforms, and most annoying fight song exhausted, the conference decided to turn to the BCS for help. Excellent choice. The BCS, ultimately the computers, will send Oklahoma to the Big 12 Championship Game instead of Texas.

Oklahoma's best argument for representing the Big 12 South has to be a blowout win over Texas Tech, the team that handed Texas its only loss. The Sooners also played a tougher non-conference schedule with games against Cincinnati and TCU, while Texas played Arkansas and Rice. The benefit of having the last chance to impress voters also helped Oklahoma, with a 20-point win over 12th ranked Oklahoma State Saturday night. But it was the computers, not the voters that picked Oklahoma, so what were they thinking?

Well they obviously didn't look at October 11th, when Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35 at a neutral site. The computers may have also forgotten that Oklahoma's big win against Texas Tech came in Norman, while Texas lost in the last ten seconds in a game at Texas Tech. The resumes aren't that different. Texas and Oklahoma both cleaned up in the conference, both had close games against teams the other dominated, and both breezed through their non-conference slates. So why would the computers ignore October 11th, the one thing that truly places Texas above Oklahoma?

There really is no answer, other than a bit of advice: don't ever try and figure out the computer rankings. The puzzling outcomes are too bountiful. One computer ranking puts Utah ahead of Texas. Another puts Texas Tech and Utah ahead of #1 Alabama. Texas Tech, Utah, and Boise State are all ranked ahead of USC by the computers.

The computers have spoken and Oklahoma has jumped Texas. BCS shenanigans have started early this season, as it has screwed up the national championship picture by the time December has started. Don't say the computers lack a sense of humor. While most of America is yelling to let the players decide it on the field, the computers looked at two teams who have already decided things on the field, and picked the loser.

Today's Links

• I know it was the Rams, but it feels real good to get a W. Bears smash Rams.
• There's a culture war on the Bulls--is there identity offensive or defensive?
• How does one make a funny commercial? Take Wade, Barkley and Yao and put them in it. "Eat the head!".
• Looks like the price of Cubs tickets isn't going to go up. Considering how expensive games are when the Cubs suck, I don't think anyone could have afforded a hike now that they are competitive.
• Chicago Bulls get their first much-needed win of the Circus trip in Golden State. Then they blew it down the stretch last night in Denver. At least the Bulls have won as many games on this trip as the past 2 combined.
  
• Top ten reasons why the BCS works. Yeah, StevieY19 is NOT going to agree with this one.
  

ESPN to BCS: "It's your destiny!"

Sports coverage has changed significantly in our lifetime. A lot of it has been good, but there are some things that have gone horribly wrong. Every week I'll be taking a little time to whine about one of these things with no hope whatsoever that anything will change.

Somehow when I think of the new deal between the BCS and ESPN for television rights from 2011-2014, I picture the Emperor from Star Wars convincing the BCS to come over to the World-Wide Leader. Well, the BCS has come over to the dark side.

Not that Fox has done a good job, or has ever done a good job at anything sports related (except those Best Damn top 50 countdowns), but there are so many reasons I don't like this relationship between the BCS and ESPN:

1. I hate the BCS and I hate ESPN. I want to take them out in a field and beat them down, Office Space style.
2. Don't expect anyone on the network to rail against the BCS system when they have the rights to broadcast. They'd get excited about a checkers match if it made them some money.
3. Now we have to listen to Lou Holtz say "BeeScheeeEsssch" more.
4. Not everyone has ESPN. I know this doesn't impact most people reading a blog, or most sports fans, but I really think it should be on a major network.
5. There are more reasons, but they mostly stem from number one.

There are obviously some good things about this. The broadcasts on Fox were horrible and no one does a better job showing a sporting event than ESPN. The analysts on Fox were also bad; Barry Switzer didn't get the job done. While Holtz and May can dig a deep hole and jump in, the Gameday crew is solid and Rece Davis or Fowler will be 100 times better than anyone Fox has hosting their coverage.

This is still a win for the Empire and I can't support the move to ESPN. The main thing to be disappointed about is that I think this makes things exponentially tougher to get rid of the BCS before 2014. Your move Barack.

Today's Links--Too Many Links in Too Little Space Edition

• Hey, did you see that Bears-Packers game? Boy was that embarassing, right? I mean wow, I'm just glad I'm not a Bears fan right now (shit, I am a Bears fan).
  
• Hilarious old-time advertisement with Steve Garvey.
• Chief Illiniwek is back! Unfortunately there's not much for him to cheer for this weekend, OSU killed the Illini's bowl hopes. I don't think the basketball team's second win against a team I've never heard of is going to cheer me up either.
  
• An autographed Derrick Rose game jersey is up for auction along with other NBA rookies and stars jerseys. $100-$350 sounds fair for the jersey of the next Chicago Bull great.
• If you've got the time to read, Gilbert Arenas' blog will make you laugh from start to finish. In his latest post, he discusses his stupid Barack tattoo, his feelings about the election and some other crap that no one wants to hear from Gilbert. Very funny.
  
• Apparently the Cubs are in the running for signing Randy Johnson to a 1-year deal. It all depends on what happens with the Peavy deal I guess.
• Remember those 2 kids from the Hoop Dreams movie? They lived in Chicago and still do. It's interesting to see what they are up to these days. Let's just say they aren't playing professional basketball.
• Barack discusses the college football playoff program he is proposing on 60 minutes last night.
• The Bulls win their last game before the circus trip on Saturday night. And Sam Smith might like Derrick Rose more than I do, if that's possible.

Did Iowa Really Help the Big Ten?

Before Iowa's game with Penn State and while it was playing out, I was going back and forth on the issue of what was best for the Big Ten. At first I thought it would be great for Penn State to run the table and make the National Championship, putting a Big Ten team in for the third straight year. Then I kept hearing how embarrassing it would be to lose three years straight, and while I realize the Nittany Lions could pull the upset, this would probably be the case.

The last two years sucked while everyone was bashing on the conference, with Ohio State and Michigan losing big bowl games two years ago and Ohio State and Illinois getting stomped last year. Sure, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Michigan have eased the pain a bit with postseason wins over the SEC the last two years, but another loss would be unbearable. Especially since the past two years most of the hate has been directed at the Buckeyes, which is fine with me.

So Iowa won and the Big Ten was eliminated from the National Championship picture. But did this really give the conference a chance at postseason success?

It seems like knocking everyone down a peg in the bowl games would give all the teams a better shot at winning, but based on BCS rules and the ugly football being played in the Big East and ACC, things may shake out exactly the same. Since only two teams from each conference can make it to the BCS, we're probably looking at an SEC/Big 12 BCS Championship game, so each of those conferences get one more team. Then you take the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, and Pac Ten champs and you have two spots left. Unless Oregon State wins out and wins the Pac Ten, they don't get a team other than USC, while the ACC and Big East have almost no chance to get an at-large. That leaves three teams going for two spots: Boise State, Utah, and Ohio State.

Bosie State should win out and Utah has a tough game against BYU to end the year. Even if both teams run the table, I think Ohio State gets an at-large berth. The Buckeye fans travel as well as any in the country (they all drive semis) and will be a bigger draw for any of the bowls than Utah or Boise State.

So really, if Ohio State gets an at-large bid nothing changes. Penn State would go to the Rose Bowl, with Ohio State playing a major conference opponent like Texas, Oklahoma, or Alabama in a BCS bowl. Michigan State would go to the Capital One Bowl and draw someone like LSU or Georgia. Slaughter.

This all leads to the conclusion that Ohio State needs to drop a game in the last two weeks. Your play Illinois.