jsc, I’ll hear it, especially if it deducts an auto percentage from the Super-est Ever Conference. :)jsc, I’ll hear it, especially if it deducts an auto percentage from the Super-est Ever Conference.
Here’s a link to the way the coaches voted in the final poll. Any thoughts on it?
Mine was seeing Stoop’s votes. He ranked his own OU (sic) team #1, then was the person who put LSU lowest down (6), using Ohio State, Mizzou, KU, and VT to pad his ballot.
Miles also voted the Sooners down, but not by as much.
Heard an interesting comment on ESPN this afternoon regarding the BCS Bowls which I felt was apropos. To paraphrase, the mandate of the BCS is only to provide an opportunity for the #1 and #2 teams to meet and determine a national champion. It makes absolutely no pretensions on matching up the remaining teams into it’s member bowls.
Teams like Mizzou, BC and ASU who might take issue with the matchups that were made, especially regarding Kansas, Hawaii and Illinois getting the call ahead of them, really shouldn’t be angry with the BCS. It explicitly allows the Bowl committees to use their subjective and possibly arbitrary methods for selecting the matchups and any beef they have falls on their shoulders, not the BCS per se.
The selection of KU over Mizzou doesn’t pretend to claim that KU is better than MU or more deserving, only that they are preferred by the powers that be for whatever reason.
In all the talk of BCS rankings, it’s crucial to remember that beyond the top 2 they are, by definition, meaningless.
I have a couple of thoughts. First, in the interest of full disclosure, I have a degree from Oklahoma, but I assure you my happiness has never been dependent on if and where a large man catches a ball.
That said, I think the fact that 4 of the 60 coaches voted Missouri ahead of Oklahoma casts quite a bit of doubt on the whole process.
I’ll restate: 1 in 15 football coaches believes that Oklahoma is a worse football team than Missouri, after Oklahoma convincingly whipped Missouri’s ass a second time on a neutral field a mere hours before the voting. Given this fact, I fail to see how anyone on the planet, from a head football coach down to my grandmother could consider Missouri the better team. (As I noted earlier, the computers do as well)
Now I don’t think OU is any more deserving of a title shot than any other two loss team, but, to me, the evidence indicates we have a very flawed process.
As for Stoops voting OU number one, I don’t have a problem with it per se, but it seems like a huge conflict of interest. What if a coach had a bonus clause in his contract that depended on winning the title?
Arizona, California and Nevada are loaded with expatriated Ohioans. There are, relatively speaking, very few Floridians who move to Arizona, etc. Why would you, save for work purposes or to escape the humidity? We have plenty of heat, sunshine and old people right here. Secondly, Ohio State knew from November 17th (or whenver they beat Michigan) that they would be in that game. So by the time Florida got into the game, every hotel, motel and campground within 50 miles of Scottsdale was sold out, along with most of the tickets that weren’t reserved for the respective schools. I know of about two Florida alum who made the trip out, and they reported a very lopsided OSU presence.
Not that it particularly mattered, the Gator fans had more fun.
One thing to always consider for bowl games is the amount of time off for each team. Especially a team like Ohio State which has been off since before Thanksgiving. I sure wouldn’t want to have close to two months between games.
Meh. I didn’t watch a ton of their games, but some teams just match up well against each other. It’s entirely possibly for Oklahoma and Mizzou to play identical schedules and have Mizzou win more games, but have a hard time against Oklahoma. I’m not saying Mizzou is better, but there’s more to it than head to head matchups.
That’s because Ohio State fans rock! I have to say, that’s a pretty weak argument for a home game. I’d love to see an SEC team come up to say Cleveland and play Ohio State in January. Then you’d see what we mean by essentially a home game.
I’m a huge SEC fan, and I have to agree. New Orleans is essentially a home game for LSU, but I can’t fathom how ShibbOleth can possibly argue that Scottsdale, Arizona, by even the wildest stretch of the imagination, was essentially a home game for OSU last year.
Shiboleth, please, don’t make the rest of us look crazy. If the team has to hop on a plane, it’s not a home game.
When Mexico plays the USA in a game anywhere in the USA, it’s a home game in terms of fan support. Not in terms of travel for the team. But in terms of travel, OSU was in Scottsdale for at least a week in advance. I’m sure there was no hardship involved. It’s not like climbing on a bus for a three hour drive to Ann Arbor.
I’m not claiming that LSU won’t have a home field advantage in the Superdome. I’m just saying that whatever fan support advantage there was in Scottsdale was entirely in OSU’s favor. Sometimes neutral fields are not all that neutral.
I’ll say this: Georgia had better not underestimate Hawaii. Colt Brennan has a super-quick release, which will go a long way toward neutralizing the pass rush, and when he’s zoned in, his accuracy is absolutely phenomenal. I was watching him drill passes into double and triple coverage the other night, with utter fearlessness and precision. Also remember that the Hawaii o-line is a bunch of big Samoan muhfuckas. IMO, Hawaii is absolutely not to be taken lightly, weak schedule or no. They have some world-class talent.
The Georgia secondary had better be on their Wheaties until the game.
Georgia is in a lose-lose situation. If they win they were supposed to. If they lose then how could they lose to such a pipsqueak. They are in the same bad spot that Oklahoma State (“the” OSU) was last year.
Neutral does not mean “split exactly evenly, 50/50.” It means that it’s not at either team’s location (or within a short drive, as New Orleans is to Baton Rouge or Dayton is to Columbus). The simple fact is that one team’s fans are going to travel better, every single time, by definition (unless they both travel exactly evenly well). That doesn’t make it a de facto home game. That means that it’s a neutral field with more of one team’s fans than another.
But a game literally an hour away from the school’s campus? THAT is a de facto home game. Columbusites could travel like no team has ever before, and they’re still going to be outnumbered by LSU fans. In addition to the ticket price, an Ohio State fan has to pay for hotel, airfare (or a shitload of gas if driving), meals, etc. An LSU fan can eat a late lunch at home, use a 1/4 tank of gas to get to the game, and then cry themselves to sleep in their own bed. It’s obviously going to be in more LSU fans’s budgets than OSU fans.
There’s no doubt that Ohio State benefits from their large and rabid fan base, but that’s part of the advantage of being the Buckeyes. That’s worlds away from getting to play a bowl game a 45 minute drive away from home.
This isn’t even remotely true. Mexico usually has a lot more support than the USA. Anywhere in southern California, Texas, Chicago, you can about break even in Columbus.
There’s some anger here in the Valley that Arizona State got passed over for the Fiesta Bowl (which the Fiesta officials had no choice in the matter over, incidentally). I don’t get it…I think the local businesses would have been furious, and let’s face it, it’s about the cash, anyway. Two out of town teams would bring in far, far more revenue to the area than only one, and it’s not like there would be a fear of the game selling out if the home team wasn’t represented. Hell, I don’t think there could be a better location for Arizona State than San Diego - it’s only six hours away and Phoenicians love to visit there anyway.
