On a personal note, sorry for long time between updates. Closing on the sale of my house and purchase of condo and the prepping and moving and getting settled in can turn into a month long process. I'm back now and ready to express my opinions and welcome your comments as always. Please be sure to tell a friend or six, about my blog. Thanks for all your support!
So we are about 2 months into the college football season and it's already been quite a roller coaster of emotion for many of us. What I find so compelling about the college football system (although flawed in so many ways) is the way it sucks you in and forces you to develop a rooting interest, to win or lose, for teams all over the country.
As many of you know, I'm a USC alum, so yes, I follow the PAC10 conference closely, however, a game between Alabama and Tennessee can have a much greater impact on my world. This is a direct result of the system we have been dealt. College football is no longer just about winning your conference games. By mid-October, it's about hoping every team that is above you in the rankings loses.
To me, this is what's so great about Saturdays versus the NFL on Sundays. I am provided the opportunity to spread my hatred for various teams over a far greater landscape each season. As a PAC10 guy, I spend more time on Saturdays hoping Tim Tebow and the Gators lose than I do the Oregon Ducks. I was sick to my stomach last Saturday night when Alabama escaped with a win over Tennessee. I'm waiting for Colt McCoy and Longhorns to get caught looking ahead one week. Kirk Ferenz at Iowa...you're a cute little story, but please, do us all a favor and lose!
That's three conferences, with multiple teams I find myself rooting hard against. Conversly, on Sundays, during the NFL season, I really couldn't give two flips about what the Vikings or Giants are doing. Sure I'm a big Packer and Falcon fan, but I'm not making it appointment television to see if the Eagles lose a game in the NFC this week. The passion just isn't the same. In college football, every week is an elimination game (especially if you play in the Pac10 or Big10, where there is no conference championship game). This creates unbelievable angst for fans. Couple that with the need, the hope, the desire for some team across the country in a completely different conference to lose, and you can see how Saturday's can force any die hard college football fan to start drinking the hard stuff.
It's really quite simple. Once the first BCS rankings come out, all bets are off. I no longer care just about conference games or an upcoming rivalry games. I care about what the #1, #2 and #3 team in the country is doing.
Saturdays are supposed to be a day of rest for many. Yet for those of us with a team ranked in the BCS Top10, there is nothing relaxing about it. With apologies to the NFL, we'll kick our feet up and exhale on Sundays.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Conference Championship Values
For the past few years, the debate has raged on as to whether or not the BigTen and Pac10 football conferences should add more teams to their league so they can have a Conference Championship game.
The other three power conferences, the Big12, A.C.C. and S.E.C. all have one. The obvious reason for creating this game is to generate even more money for the conference (although of late, the ACC championship game has been about as crowded as an Air Supply Reunion concert).
We've seen in the past, these conference championship games give some schools the added boost they needed in the BCS computer, by stamping one more quality win onto the resume. Conversely, we've seen some undefeated teams get burned via an upset to a lesser opponent, thus crushing their national championship hopes.
As we are about a week away from the Florida/LSU matchup, I began to wonder - does the conference championship dilute the regular season just a little bit? When you take a conference and split it up into two divisions, in theory, any game out of your division won't affect your ability to still get to the conference championship game. This coming Saturday is the perfect example: Florida plays in the SEC East and LSU plays in the SEC West. Both teams are undefeated, yet the loser of this game can still win their division and get to Atlanta for the title game, where they could meet again, and this time post a 'W' and perhaps propel themselves into the national title game. In other words, they can afford a conference loss and still be in the hunt for the BCS Championship.
Conversely, a team like USC, in the PAC10, can't afford to lose one game all year long in conference play. One conference loss, more often than not, knocks them out of the national title race. Imagine if there were two divisions in the PAC10 (say a North and South division). Assume USC played in the South, and Washington played in the North. USC loses to Washington, but could still win the South and make it to the PAC10 Conference Championship game and face a very stout Oregon Ducks team. Would a win in that game be enough to propel them into the National Championship? I don't' know the answer to that, and sadly, neither does college football.
It's almost as if the NCAA likes the fact that every conference DOES NOT have a title game. The way it stands now, as soon as a USC, Penn State or Ohio State loses, they get eliminated from national title contention. Then it becomes as clean and simple as tabbing the SEC and Big12 Conference Championship winners for the BCS Title game. If the PAC10 and BIGTEN had their own conference title game winner, would that not muddy the waters even more?!?
The debate will rage on. Perhaps the simple solution is that all major BCS conferences must have a title game and those winners all get an invitation to a playoff tournament. (Sounds eerily familiar -- it's called college basketball!)
The other three power conferences, the Big12, A.C.C. and S.E.C. all have one. The obvious reason for creating this game is to generate even more money for the conference (although of late, the ACC championship game has been about as crowded as an Air Supply Reunion concert).
We've seen in the past, these conference championship games give some schools the added boost they needed in the BCS computer, by stamping one more quality win onto the resume. Conversely, we've seen some undefeated teams get burned via an upset to a lesser opponent, thus crushing their national championship hopes.
As we are about a week away from the Florida/LSU matchup, I began to wonder - does the conference championship dilute the regular season just a little bit? When you take a conference and split it up into two divisions, in theory, any game out of your division won't affect your ability to still get to the conference championship game. This coming Saturday is the perfect example: Florida plays in the SEC East and LSU plays in the SEC West. Both teams are undefeated, yet the loser of this game can still win their division and get to Atlanta for the title game, where they could meet again, and this time post a 'W' and perhaps propel themselves into the national title game. In other words, they can afford a conference loss and still be in the hunt for the BCS Championship.
Conversely, a team like USC, in the PAC10, can't afford to lose one game all year long in conference play. One conference loss, more often than not, knocks them out of the national title race. Imagine if there were two divisions in the PAC10 (say a North and South division). Assume USC played in the South, and Washington played in the North. USC loses to Washington, but could still win the South and make it to the PAC10 Conference Championship game and face a very stout Oregon Ducks team. Would a win in that game be enough to propel them into the National Championship? I don't' know the answer to that, and sadly, neither does college football.
It's almost as if the NCAA likes the fact that every conference DOES NOT have a title game. The way it stands now, as soon as a USC, Penn State or Ohio State loses, they get eliminated from national title contention. Then it becomes as clean and simple as tabbing the SEC and Big12 Conference Championship winners for the BCS Title game. If the PAC10 and BIGTEN had their own conference title game winner, would that not muddy the waters even more?!?
The debate will rage on. Perhaps the simple solution is that all major BCS conferences must have a title game and those winners all get an invitation to a playoff tournament. (Sounds eerily familiar -- it's called college basketball!)
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