Go gators!!!

[DaveIn3D]

24-14. Gators shut down the most high powered offense in College history. SEC wins its 3rd straight national championship. 2 championships in 3 years for the Gators. Anyone still think the SEC is overrated?

-3D

P.S. My wife and I are having a daughter in May.

[DoubleHelix]

Oh it's about to get ugly in here. SEC is highly overrated.

Last year, they get some love and their 2-loss champs get into the big game. That LSU team was good, but there was more deserving teams.

As for this year, OU shouldn't have been in there. Texas belonged there, and if not them, Utah (who beat Alabama by a better margin than the Gators)

And let's not forget my local So Cal Trojans. They got hated by sportswriters right out of the NC picture. And they also destroyed Ohio St better than any of the SEC teams did in the big games.

However, credit to the Gators, they played a good game. And I'd try to stay out of the way if Tebow is coming back next year.

And BTW, Pac-10 is 5-0 in the bowl games this year.

[DaveIn3D]

Originally Posted by DoubleHelix

Oh it's about to get ugly in here. SEC is highly overrated.

Last year, they get some love and their 2-loss champs get into the big game. That LSU team was good, but there was more deserving teams.

As for this year, OU shouldn't have been in there. Texas belonged there, and if not them, Utah (who beat Alabama by a better margin than the Gators)

And let's not forget my local So Cal Trojans. They got hated by sportswriters right out of the NC picture. And they also destroyed Ohio St better than any of the SEC teams did in the big games.

However, credit to the Gators, they played a good game. And I'd try to stay out of the way if Tebow is coming back next year.

And BTW, Pac-10 is 5-0 in the bowl games this year.

Good points. 5-0 eh? 5 is also the amount of national championships the SEC has under the BCS system. Your PAC-10 trojans come in a close second with 2.

I do not agree with the folks who say the SEC had an off year. I say that they played as fast and as hard as they ever have. I think the rest of college football is finally catching on to the way the SEC does things and is starting to show some success mirroring the system. Speed and defense wins championships. The SEC has proved that for years now and the rest of college football has caught on and is closing ranks fast. Unfortunately for the rest of the teams outside the SEC, the SEC top teams have reaped years of top recruiting and have only distanced themselves from the pack. It will be some time before any other conference can outright say that they are better than the SEC. Right now Florida will have nearly its entire 2008 championship team as seniors next year. Hopefully they will finally get a shot at USC and shut those Cali folks up like they shut the Norman folks down.

-3D

[soccermark23]

I still want playoffs.

[DoubleHelix]

It just won't be the same if they play USC next year. Most of the defensive starters will be heading for the NFL this year, and even though SC has depth, it won't be the same defense it was this year.

SEC does have some of the best programs in college football, but their success has allowed other teams to leach off of them. A pre-season #18 ranked Tennessee showed that when they came out to California and got handled for the second straight year, only this time by one of the low rungs on the Pac-10.

USC was dominant this year, and Florida would've found the going much harder against them. It's a shame that they play in a supposed "weak" conference, because it never allowed USC to recover from a loss to a good Oregon St. team (which shut down Pitt and one of the country's best RBs.)

The Pac will start improving rapidly, hopefully the bowl season will be enough to propel some teams back up the polls. Cal is still a contender, and only getting better. Oregon handled the Big-12 at it's own style of football, and did it with a freshman QB. Arizona showed it's muscle against BYU, and I've already commented on SC and Oregon St.

Florida should be good on the polls alone next year, I'm sure them romping through the SEC next year will get them back to the NC game. But the rest of the conference could find itself haunted by their performances this year. LSU not looking that good till their bowl, Georgia getting handled by Bama then getting crushed by Georgia Tech's running game. But the biggest black eye for the SEC had to be the Ute's going into the Sugar Bowl and being up on Alabama 21-0 before Saban could start cussing.

I believe the Rose Bowl is in line for the next NC game. Should only be fair to give SC a home game, being that both LSU and Florida practically had one the last two years.

EDIT: As far as playoffs for the FBS (formerly Div I-A) I don't believe it would work. There are 119 or so schools that play in the division, divided by 11 conferences. With some being the well-established, powerhouse conferences (SEC, PAC-10, Big 12, ACC, Big East, and the stone age Big 10) and others the newer, conferences housing schools just coming into I-A or teams recovering from stiff NCAA penalties (C-USA, WAC, MWC, Sun Belt, etc.) there would be problems with the seeding for an 8 or so team playoff.

It could lead to the disbanding of the conferences, the loss of many great rivalries, and generally would be no better than the BCS as far as teams getting overlooked. As it is, about 62 or so teams get to play in a bowl game, compared to whittling a field of 119 teams (with around half finishing with winning records) down to 8. It could also lead to the termination of the bowl games, which would be a travesty.

And last but not least, the BCS is about money for the schools. If you look at the NCAA basketball tournament, the NCAA gets the money and gets to decide how it's spent. With the bowl games, the SCHOOLS get the money, and the SCHOOLS get to decide how it's spent. The BCS isn't perfect, but it works for now, minus all the griping of teams that get left out.

And Obama needs to focus on his job, and stay out of CFB.

[DoubleHelix]

A little follow-up, here's the final AP Poll as of today.

Final AP poll
School Record Points
1. Florida 13-1 1,606
2. Utah 13-0 1,519
3. USC 12-1 1,481
4. Texas 12-1 1,478
5. Oklahoma 12-2 1,391
6. Alabama 12-2 1,264
7. TCU 11-2 1,193
8. Penn State 11-2 1,153
9. Ohio State 10-3 1,013
10. Oregon 10-3 997
11. Boise State 12-1 938
12. Texas Tech 11-2 916
13. Georgia 10-3 903
14. Mississippi 9-4 857
15. Virginia Tech 10-4 712
16. Oklahoma State 9-4 534
17. Cincinnati 11-3 506
18. Oregon State 9-4 467
19. Missouri 10-4 435
20. Iowa 9-4 317
21. Florida State 9-4 246
22. Georgia Tech 9-4 223
23. West Virginia 9-4 144
24. Michigan State 9-4 138
25. BYU 10-3 137

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3820715 And thats the link to the ESPN article.

The Top 3 look pretty good, the order could be shuffled and all three of those are solid teams, who put in solid wins against teams that may have been outmatched (and yes, when Alabama got outscored 21-0 in the first quarter, I think Utah proved that Alabama was outmatched.)

So, another good season of college football is put into the books. Let's hear one last hoorah for the fine teams of Oklahoma and Ohio State, who seem to have made it a habit of playing well enough to make the big games, then choking in them. Time for some new blood to come out of the Big-12 South and the Big 10.

[DaveIn3D]

Playoffs could work. Do a 24 team playoff. Trash the BCS and go back to the AP and Coaches poll. The top 5 schools might be hotly contested every year but not too many people complain about the top 24/25. Mix in a NIT style tournement for the best of the rest and now you have something that might work. The current system is all about the money, not about the athletics. It is nice that schools get all sorts of cash, but it seems to be the same schools recieving that cash. Give everyone a chance and see how it works out. The NCAA could hold the money and hand it out to the schools based on how far they make it in the tournement. Then the schools decide how it is spent.

I am sure that someone could figure out a better system than the BCS. Right now it seems that the BCS is nothing more than a clever way to funnel all the bowl cash to the same teams every year. Besides, isnt 1A the only one that doesnt have a playoff system? If it can work elsewhere, why cant it work here? ...And I dont think "because of the money involved" is a right answer.

-3D

[DoubleHelix]

I misstated myself as far as the BCS being about money for schools. It's about money, period, and large sums of it.

For starters, ESPN is going to be paying around $125 million a year for the broadcast rights to the BCS games (as well as the internet, mobile cast, etc.) starting in 2011 (when Fox's contract is terminated.) to 2014 (with the exception of the Rose Bowl, which is under contract with ABC, another ESPN affiliate.)

The BCS deal in place with Div-1A runs out at the same time as the ESPN contract, so we're saddled with it until then. But the money goes much deeper than that. The payout for the BCS bowl games (Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta, and Nat Champ game) is $17 million. Are the schools willing to toss away that kind of money for a couple more games a year (or is each playoff game going to keep a sponsor?)

Each one of these games also creates an almost small Superbowl atmosphere. There is a large influx of college students, coaches, families, and media people into these towns. With all these people only having to travel to one destination, it almost certainly draws a larger crowd.

Some teams aren't willing to travel as far away from home, and some bowls refuse to pick certain teams based off of that. It's nice to see the small teams sneak into bowls, it's not nice when the University has a problem selling their tickets and filling their seats due to an uneven distance to travel. It was 3/4 of a Gator crowd during the championship, with their fans not having to far to go to get there. Oklahoma's fans had to travel much farther, and there were probably a lot of them who couldn't make it. Same deal with last years NC game (were there any Buckeyes fans in the Dome that day?)

Homefield advantage, seeding of teams, how to determine which teams have to go where to play who (would it be fair for a west-coast team to have to travel east to play a team, come back home, then within a week head back out east to play another team, and on and on) and many other factors would have to be figured in to create a fair and balanced playoff. I just don't see them putting in that work.

Even with playoffs, it'd still be the same teams year in and year out. Success at college football is usually achieved through long term, reliable coaching mixed with good recruiting, and solid execution on the field. The teams on the top will change eventually, but most people lobbying for playoffs now don't seem to realize it's not the BCS thats screwing them. Had one of Texas' defensive backs made that last tackle in Lubbock, the Sooners would've been SOL come time for the Big-12 title game.

And yes, Div-1A is the only one in college football to not have playoffs. However, if you look at past champions from the other Divisions (1-AA, 2, and 3) it just doesn't seem like a fair playing field. Appalachian St. has dominated 1-AA lately (though not so much this year.) I'll admit I'm barely familiar with Div. 2 & 3 football, the few games they televise I find hard to watch (be it bad broadcasting equipment or the play on the field just not being to exciting.) but I do know Mount Union has been on top of Div-3 for a long time, winning 10 or so championships.

We're saddled with the BCS, might as well come to enjoy it. It would be nice to see someone other than the Big-10 have to come out to Pasadena though.

[-BuLL-]

The SEC is the only conference where any team can get beat if they aren't playing their "A" game. Any given Saturday, if a team isn't expecting it, they will lose. LSU v. Arkansas for example. LSU overlooks the Hogs and expects an easy game. Arkansas wins two years in a row. The Pac-10 is really not that good (besides USC). The rest of the teams are a joke. The Big 12 was better than usual, but Sam Bradford is overated (McCoy and Tebow shouldve been 1 and 2 for the Heisman).

[DoubleHelix]

The SEC is the only conference where any team can get beat if they aren't playing their "A" game.

I disagree.

USC went into Oregon State this year and didn't play their A game, and it cost them a shot at the title. The year before it was Stanford and Oregon. The year before that, Oregon St. again and UCLA.

Penn St. losing to Iowa is another good example. Ohio St. stumbling at Illinois the year before.

That statement doesn't work for a single conference, it's true on any level. Whether it's your buddies and you playing in the park, or the Arizona Cardinals whooping on the Carolina Panthers tonight, if the team isn't playing it's best football, the odds are much larger that your going to lose.

The Pac-10 is really not that good (besides USC). The rest of the teams are a joke.

I'll refer you back to that 5-0 bowl record. Not to mention, UCLA (by all rights a horrible team this year) beat Tennessee with their 3rd string QB. The Pac-10 being weak is a misconception that the media is in love with, and it's untrue. Theres real talent out here in this conference, and anybody who comes in expecting differently is going to get a real shock. That rumor got squashed this bowl season.