Jerome Solomon says Utah...
Brian Johnson says Utah is the best team in the country, and the Utah quarterback gives a simple yet compelling argument for voting Utah No. 1.
“Check the résumé: We won every game,” Johnson said.
Yeah, but … but … but …
Had to get a hold of myself.
It’s awfully difficult to debate someone whose most basic point is something which isn’t debatable.
Richard Justice says the University of Texas at Austin (And tries {again} to anger half the State in the process)
Here's the bottom line. Texas lost one game by one play. USC can't make that claim. Only Florida can make a case for being as good as Texas, and if the world was right, Florida and Texas would be playing Thursday.
Bill Plashke lays out the case for USC.
USC cannot win the Bowl Championship Series national title, but the fifth-ranked Trojans can still win an AP national championship.
After a breathtaking Pasadena afternoon marked by streaks of cardinal flying over lumps of white, couldn't they?
Unless something more inspiring happens in the final week of the bowl season, shouldn't they?
What about he winner of the B(C)S championship game? Don't they deserve a mention?
The answer to all of these questions is "Yes". Each and every one of these B(C)S bowl game winners has a solid case to be the #1 team in the land, and all of them have glaring weaknesses that lead you to point to another team for #1. That's the unfortunate reality that the dollar driven B(C)S has yoked to College Football.
It really is that bad. Even defenders of the Bowl System can't believe all that they regurgitate:
"It's Tradition" - Bull. Tradition is Touchdown Jesus, Dotting the i, "Hail to the Victors", "The 12th Man", Boomer, The cadets and midshipmen walking in and the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Let's be honest. There's no 'tradition' in the Chick-fil-a bowl, or the Capitol One Bowl, or the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. No-one sits around and listens to Grandad tell stories about how the Four Horsemen played their greatest game at the Meineke Car Car Bowl. The one Bowl Game that had a little tradition, The Rose Bowl, sold it down the river for a chance to see UT-Austin play USC for the National Championship.
"It's a reward for the kids". - Honestly, does a team that finished 6-6 really deserve a reward? And if you contend they do, then how is an 8 team playoff possibly going to affect the Texas Bowl where Rice plays Western Michigan? Will fans stay away from an FAU/Central Michigan New Orleans bowl because a playoff is in place? Of course not. Keep the existing bowl system in place for the lower-tiers if you want to. The major bowls can become the first rounds of the playoffs. Heck, we can even go back to the "tradional" (see above) conference match-ups if you like.
"Academics make a playoff impossible" - Really? Then why did you add the 12th game in the schedule, Conference Championship Games and a B(C)S Championship Game? If a team plays a full schedule, the championship game and a bowl game that's 14 games. If you reduce the schedule to 11 games, keep the conference championship games and go to an 8 team playoff then the highest number of games a team can play is 15. That's one more week. You mean to tell me these players are so weak mentally that one extra week of practice (for two teams) is going to upset the delicate balance that are a schools' graduation rates?
The fact is you can have an 8-team playoff and keep the bowl system relatively intact. All you need to do is take the conference winners with automatic qualifier status and you have six of the eight. (ACC, PAC-10, Big Tenelven, Big XII, SEC, ACC). IF one of the non-automatic qualifying champions (C-USA, WAC etc.) win their conference and are either undefeated or ranked in the final Top Ten they're in. If there's still an open slot (or two) then you fill those with the team(s) that are ranked the highest. The first round would look something like this:
Rose Bowl: Big Tenelven Champ vs. Pac-10 Champ (tradition is satisfied)
Fiesta Bowl: Big XII vs. Wild Card 1
Orange Bowl: ACC vs. Big East
Sugar Bowl: SEC vs. Wild Card 2
Round Two would look something like this:
Fed Ex Air/Ground Semifinal Bowl: Fiesta Bowl Winner vs. Orange Bowl Winner.
UPS What can Brown do for You? Semifinal Bowl: Rose Bowl vs. Sugar Bowl Winner.
B(C)S Championship Game: The remaining two.
Yes, this year, under this scenario someone like Texas Tech or Alabama would be left out. To that I say: "Don't get blown out by the eventual conference champion on National Television."
No system is perfect, but I'd much rather have the 8th place team in the Country griping that they got left out than the 3rd place team in the Country. Besides, Tech could still go out and lose to Ole' Miss in the Cotton Bowl if they wanted to.
