[Another college football campaign has come and gone. Players got hurt, coaches got fired, Texas cried a lot...]
[But when everything was said and done, college football reaffirmed why it is the greatest sport of all. We had a constant shuffling of the top of the polls, nonstop debate and finally what most knew all along: The Big XII and SEC meeting for the National Title in Miami. Some of my earlier posts leave little doubt that I can't prognosticate worth shit. I picked Ohio State and Clemson to play in the NC game after all. But here are my previews and picks for the BCS games.
Rose Bowl, Penn State vs. USC- Rev. Josh predicted USC was in for a very interesting downswing this year. Not unless you consider Pac 10 champs and 7th consecutive BCS bowl a downswing. I think USC has the best defense out there. Penn State's D isn't bad either but I think they're gonna have a tough time stopping USC's speed at wide receiver. I'm gonna go USC 24 Penn State 17
Sugar Bowl, Alabama vs. Utah- This game is going to hinge on Alabama's state of mind going in. If they are still feeling sorry about themselves over the Florida game, they will get stomped out because the Utes are going to play like a team of little Rudys out there. I say Bama is too strong though. Utah will hang around until late in the third when Bama's depth shines. They will pound Utah on the ground and win this one 35-21
Orange Bowl, Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech- Big up to the state of Ohio for sending two programs into the BCS this year. I think Cincinnati is going to feel like winners just for getting here. I guess somebody eventually had to win the ACC and it might as well have been the Hokies. What the hell ever happened to the Miami Hurricanes and Florida State Seminoles by the way? I'm gonna say VT 28 Cincinnati 24
Fiesta Bowl, Ohio State vs. Texas- Texas is going to come into this game good and pissed about getting jobbed out of a title shot. Texas is looking to prove a point. They are going to take out their frustrations on a very non-national championship caliber Ohio State team. The Bucks will be 10 point underdogs in this one. But this is my blog and my opinion. Ohio State vs. a Speeding Asteroid? I'm taking the Buckeyes! Ohio State vs. the Cloverfield Monster? Bucks by a nose! Ohio State vs Texas? Bucks win on a pick six by Malcolm Jenkins off Colt McCoy late in the fourth. Ohio State 31 Texas 24.
BCS Title Game, Oklahoma vs. Florida- Nothing would please me more than to see the SEC not win three national championships in a row. Oklahoma is scoring like 60 points a game but I don't think they've faced a defense like Florida has. Will the Sooners light it up or will Florida force a three and out fest here? Hmmm. I think Florida's defensive speed will crack OU's studly offensive line just enough times for Tebow to do enough to win. I would like to say OU55 UF20 but I'm gonna say Gators win this one 35-30.
HEISMAN: I picked Chris Wells early on but based on who's probably gonna be a finalist, I think Sam Bradford gets the nod and it's a Heisman vs. Heisman title game.]
Monday, December 08, 2008
Buck Breaks Down the BCS!
3 comments:
While USC didn't have the down year I always hope they'll have, it's obvious at this point that the PAC-10 is the least competitive conference in college football. People often joke about the Big Ten being the Big Two (Ohio State and Michigan) and the Little Nine (everyone else), but at least other teams have often risen up and taken a shot at Ohio State during Tressel's tenure. Seven consecutive championships is domination you expect from a beer-league softball team, not a major college football program. Sure, the last few seasons have seen USC cough up a regular-season gimme, but those have been more poor-performance on USC's part and less an example of parity in the PAC. USC certainly has a strong defensive unit in terms of pure talent, but they don't face the kind of competition that tests them in a way that gives them claim to the best defense in the nation. Penn State has been prone to flat performances this season; the PSU squad that ground it out against Ohio State might have the same trouble against USC that the Buckeyes did. The PSU squad that destroyed Oregon State may fuck USC's shit up. I'll split the difference and call it PSU 28-USC 24 because fuck USC.
Nick Saban can still suck a big fat dick, so thank god for Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow. That was probably my 2nd favorite game this season behind UNC beating Notre Dame. Alabama played above their head for a lot of the season, catching wins over ranked teams that didn't show up, struggling against mediocre teams, and finally running into a team with a combination of talent and attendance. That said, Alabama is going to have to be pretty well off their game to fail against Utah and Saddam Hu-Saban will be pushing his team hard for the next month to ensure that it doesn't happen. Lord willing, Utah 38-Alabama 35 in OT, Boise State-style, because fuck O'Saban bin Laden.
The ACC was a miserable mess this season; mediocrity defined. By virtue of wins over Florida State and Miami, Florida has as much claim to the ACC title as Virginia Tech and to be honest, I'd be far happier about that than yet another ACC title game matching up two of the Big East schools that we stole for football prestige but give us mainly embarrassment. It was like they were fighting to give each other the title. I don't know anything about Cincinnati aside from the Big East being the worst of the six BCS conferences by virtue of having eight teams that seem like MAC schools. The only thing I'll predict about this game is that it won't be worth watching.
You couldn't overestimate the fury of the Texas Longhorns coming into the Fiesta Bowl, but it's more likely that Texas will suffer from the letdown of not making it to the National Championship game than Alabama will. The team's mood will affect this game more than any other. Ohio State finally found its' feet under Terrelle Pryor as the season wound down and Texas hasn't faced a true dual threat QB this year. Ohio State 27-Texas 21.
For the National Championship, here's an odd parallel I'm sure you can appreciate: a team from what is now the Big XII is facing a Florida team in a game where the Big XII team is ranked #1 but is not universally favored to win. The Big XII team has absolutely destroyed their opponents, yet Florida's defensive speed is considered by some to be superior to the Big XII team's offense. Final score of that game was Nebraska 62, Florida 24. I don't think history will repeat, though, but it's definitely there. Sam Bradford has had a great season, definitely Heisman-worthy, but I think the pressure gets to a young sophomore, whereas Tebow has been here before. Florida 38-Oklahoma 21.
Without a clear-cut Heisman contender this year and because of the way the Heisman voting is structured, with different regions of the country not being represented equally, it's possible that Graham Harrell, Colt McCoy, and Sam Bradford could split their regional votes enough that Tebow backdoors his way to a second consecutive Heisman trophy. Southern voters will inevitably compare Tebow's performances against SEC defenses far more favorably than they will any of the Big XII QBs, so I won't be surprised with either Tebow or Bradford.
While I do share your furious jihad against Nick Saban (just look at the footage of him at Bama practice wearing that sun hat) I'm afraid I can't really hate on USC. Yeah the PAC 10 sucks. Yeah they pay their players. But come on now. It's not USC's fault that the entire Western United States can't play football. Pete Carroll has a machine out there the likes of which is unmatched anywhere. I honestly believe that Florida and USC or USC vs Oklahoma would be a great title game. And I'd pick Southern Cal in either one to tell you the truth. I guess my favorite thing about that school is that they will hang 50 on you, yet they still refuse to get up before noon.
I don't really hate USC so much as I find them often wildly over-rated because people refuse to take into account that their conference is about as tenacious as the Special Olympics, so as far as I'm concerned every time USC fails an angel gets its wings. In the lead-up to the 2005 National Championship, Kirk Herbstreit and Mark May did segments where they compared that USC team to the top-ten great college teams of all time and put them over every single one of them, including 1995 Nebraska and 2001 Miami, which was fucking absurd. Then Vince Young ran over them, which was only slightly less satisfying than UNC winning the basketball title that same year.
You're probably giving USC too much credit for their victory over Ohio State without Beanie Wells and before Terrelle Pryor was the full-time starter. The problems that USC had with containing Pryor and their inability to stop Oregon State's midget running back suggest that they wouldn't be able to handle Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin. I don't think their defense would be prepared for the quick no-huddle offense that Oklahoma runs, either.
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