College Sports: 2005 BCS

Originally posted by chaingangsoldier247
Penn state sucks no offense to any real fans

well, maybe the last few seasons, but not this season, my friend.

I dont' see how LSU could gain enough to get #3. They are already ahead of Penn State in both polls, and they won't get any further ahead, no matter what happens. Thier strength of schedule hurts them.

I thought they got rid of the "strength of schedule" factor, or was that the "quality win" factor they got rid of? it's all a bunch of mularky to me. I'll also agree that Penn State doesn't look anything like they did the last couple years, i'm thoroughly impressed, maybe JoPa doesn't need to retire quite yet, i hear that he's got a couple really good recruits in the pipline too. maybe next year for the Lions.

Next season for the Lions depends on how well the underclassmen step up on the lines. The talent is there at the skill positions, but if it takes a while for the lines to gel, next season won't be as good as this one was.

Well, Gibbs, the game is young & it's already looking like it will have to be the UCLA-USC game. WOW! Where was this team last week when A&M, a team far inferior to Colorado, showed up to play and threw a good scare into what looked like a counterfeit Heisman candidate? Brown must have made their lives hell this week, huh?

70-3

What a tight game!

GIBBS,

Yeah. As I said before the game, I expected a radically different Texas team to show up today--one whose players had had their derrieres chewed out, but good.

But w.t.f. was that?! Colorado is not Our Lady of Consecutive Losses. Since when do they get to their conference title game, even by backing into it, then get annihilated by that kind of score?! If I'd had to bet the game, I probably would have laid the 25 points for the reasons I said prior to the game (unlike in this #$^@ing UCLA-USC game I'm watching now), but I sure wouldn't have expected Texas to like that, nor would I have dreamed Texas would put the game "over" by themselves.

Oh, well. Sometimes you have to admit the most deserving team, or teams, are going to The Big One--no matter what your heart says. I'd LOVE to see Penn State in The Big One, but even if they were undefeated, I'd have to leave it to you, Gibbs, to fashion an argument that they are better and more deserving of a trip to The Big One than Texas.

Now, on the other hand, despite the s--- I'm seeing on the screen in the form of UCLA's "rush defense," I could help you a LOT in fashioning an argument that Penn State is better than USC and more deserving of a trip to The Big One, if USC had lost one of those near-misses of theirs, like the one they rightfully did lose to Notre Dame. Or the one they nearly lost to laughable Fresno State.

But I don't think the NCAA will take back Penn State's "loss," nor USC's "win" over Notre Dame, and USC did legitimately escape from the other near-misses. So, unless UCLA's offense erupts in the second half, and their rush defense improves by, oh, 5,000%, we are going to have to accept the reality of their joining Texas in The Big One.

USC may or may not deserve it after that Notre Dame game and the others, but I don't think there's much disputing that Texas deserves it. Do you?

B.H.N.

WELL, Y'ALL....

As I've said before, this is my first full season since 1978 of not betting on football. As you might guess, that means it's been a LONG time since I really had a team that was "mine"--one with whom my loyalties squarely rested. There have always been teams I just flat don't like (starting with Nebraska's football team when Osborne was there), and it's been impossible for me not to like Penn State and Notre Dame this year, but gambling ruined the game for me in terms of having any longterm loyalties.

Then again, I'm not from one of the parts of the country where people live and die with their college football team. I DO remember how I felt when I was 9 and McCovey's line drive went straight into Bobby Richardson's glove to end the 1962 World Series, with Matty Alou on 3rd with the tying run and Willie Mays on 2nd with the Series-winning run. A part of me died inside.

So, for my fellow sitemates to whom your college football team DOES matter like that, I'm sorry about what's happened today. I'm sorry a USC team which has been so undeserving for much of the season really showed up and played huge today. And Chain Gang, the horse is obviously out of the barn as far as the Big Game goes, but I'm rooting for your LSU team to wake up and turn their game around in the second half, because I've got a sense of how much their fortunes matter to you and they could conceivably still finish as high as #2 if they win this game.

Gibbs, my pal, I'm glad you can be content to celebrate one of the greatest turnaround seasons in the history of team sports. There is no doubt that Penn State's season was all of that, no matter what happened with Michigan, and no matter how many close calls with death USC escaped.

Good luck in the second half, Chain, and good luck in January, all.

B.H.N.

Dear ALL,

A little more on my last thoughts. I don't know why the hell MY part of the country doesn't care more about its teams. Cal and Stanford have both had some FINE teams in the 45 years I've followed their FB and BB teams, but they have never inspired huge amounts of passion up here. The A's won the World Series in 1972, 1973 and 1974. Do you know how many others have won 3 consecutive World Series? That's right. The NY Yankees. Period. Yeah, they did it a bunch of times, but nobody else has done it. Ever.

And even in 1972-1974, the A's attendance sucked and very few Northern Californians passionately cared about them.

Can you imagine how people would have reacted to such a great baseball team, even with the repellent Reggie Jackson on it, in any other part of the country (except perhaps Atlanta, which doesn't sell out its own playoff games)? In Cleveland, Chicago, Miami, Milwaukee, Texas and loads of other championship-starved areas, the team's already large fan base would grow enormously and you'd have to pay a fortune to get a Series seat. But the A's, despite their great success, were no biggie to Bay Area fans.

Yeah, the 49'ers suddenly had 100 times as many fans once Walsh, Montana et al. exploded onto the scene. When they beat the bejesus out of Dallas in 1981 (59-14, I think), then overcame something like SIX turnovers to beat them again on "The Catch" and "The Turnover" in the NFC Title Game, en route to Super Bowl #1, all of Northern California embraced the Niners. But not the way other cities do, and the Niners have a LOT more home losses in Conference Title games and other playoff games than other teams.

Likewise, since the Giants' LF became the first baseball player ever to magically get 10 times better after his 35th birthday (and remember, he was already a Hall of Famer), interest in that team has grown 100-fold from what it was when they were horrendous in 1984 and 1985 (the worst team in baseball at least one, and perhaps both, of those years). So the Bay Area will support SOME front-runners. But the A's won five consecutive divisions, and three consecutive World Series, and you'd have never dreamed it from their attendance. And the Bay Area has zillions of people who are too busy drinking latte to be troubled with sports.

Now, y'all have seen enough of my posts to know I'm anything but a redneck. But I'm living proof there is nothing irreconcilable about being a diehard sports fan and a hippie/lifelong anti-establishment type/defense attorney. And it infuriates me that somehow the vast majority of Northern California thinks itself above supporting its sports teams with the same passion one sees from New England, Southerners, Midwesterners, etc.

"True North," do you live in the Bay Area, or are you up in the real North, like I am? (I'm 80 miles south of Oregon, on the Redwood Coast.) And how do you explain the fact so few of our natives work up the kind of diehard passion that Bostonians, Texans, New Yorkers, Georgians, Chicagoans, Floridians, etc., are almost to a man, and now often to a woman, known in their home regions to hold for their teams? Doesn't it just about kill you?

I mean, I stuck with my Giants despite Marichal's moment of insanity and despite the subhuman behavior of fans at Candlestick through the years. I stuck with the Niners while they were going 2-14 routinely. And I'll bet Chain Gang would stick with LSU if they were putting up that sort of horrible record, as long as they were a clean program (right, Chain?).

What the hell is wrong with us? Have we consumed so much fancy drinking water (and yeah, I drink the stuff), and eaten so much vegetarian cuisine (yeah, I eat almost nothing but), that most of us think being a sports fan makes one a barbarian, a subcretin and a flagitious, inferior being (or some such arrogant, ridiculous b.s.)? Because I'll guarantee you there are a lot of people in other parts of the country who perceive us exactly that way.

It's not about political beliefs; I know that much. Or, if it is, I'm an aberration. I am a registered Green and about as liberal as one can get on this country's political spectrum, but there can't be more than a few hundred people who are more passionate about pro baseball than me, plus I love pro football (despite its alleged "barbarism," or whatever arrogant, self-superior term they use for it).

Anyone got any theories? (YO, SOUTHERNERS! A Californian is now inviting you to take a shot at California anti-sports culture. Help yourself. )

Almost all pro athletes who play out here seem to agree this part of the country is uniquely bland toward sports--and it was bland, if not downright lukewarm, even toward the incomparable Willie Mays. Yeah, we got fired up for the World Series in 2002, but even Anaheim's fans looked more fired up, and THAT is the part of the world where Dodger fans leave games in the 7th inning. One of the three lifelong friends I made in law school was at Dodger Stadium the night Dennis Martinez threw his perfect game, and she told me lots of "baseball fans" were left in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings.

So maybe it's not just the Bay Area. Maybe it's the whole damn state, because ANY baseball fan surely appreciates the honor fate has bestowed on you if you get to be present for a perfect damn game.

I'd love to hear theories about we are thus. It's not like people in the rest of the country are too "stupid" or "unsophisticated" to appreciated the "more important things" in life. When 9/11 happened, I'm sure people in Boston, Oklahoma and the South were just as uninterested in sports as I was (and just as furious).

So it ain't the rest of the country's ignorance or lack of sophistication. It's our lack of interest in sports, or at least lack of a true PASSION for our teams.

I welcome any and all theories about the reasons for this embarrassing state of affairs.

Baseball History (and sports) Nut


P.S. I am looking back through this thread, and I've made far too many posts, and as usual, they are far too long, especially in that kind of volume. So if y'all will be kind enough to offer your theories on the phenomenom I'm asking about, I won't be replying to your remarks and prolonging this chat, I promise. But I am REALLY anxious to hear the rest of the country weigh in on the very weird phenomenon I'm talking about here.

i think that you hit the nail on the head....it's the water further north, around Seattle the fans are as fickle as they come, during the 2001 season a ticket to a mariners game was as good as gold, now they are readily available, if they don't field a decent team this coming season they won't be able to give them away come june, same with the Huskies football games, part of the m"s problem for years was the dreadful kingdome, but that is no excuse anymore, i think part of the answer is that there are so many people moving into the area from other parts of the country, willing to jump on the bandwagon quickly but ready to get off at the next stop, in Seattle one of the BIG problems is lack of public transportation, i live 80 miles to the north and with the urban sprawl that is tearing up the countryside i face a drive that includes 50 miles of bumper to bumper traffic, then coping with the seattle traffic to get to the stadium which is on the south side of town, it is a nightmare getting to and then home from a game,

Originally posted by BaseballHistoryNut
Dear ALL,

I don't know why the hell MY part of the country doesn't care more about its teams. Cal and Stanford have both had some FINE teams in the 45 years I've followed their FB and BB teams, but they have never inspired huge amounts of passion up here.

This can be summed up pretty simply, for the most part college football isn't popular in most places except in campus towns, the exception to this is in the south, i lived in Alabama for a couple years and you wouldn't even know the NFL existed it was college football all the time, there was a sports radio station in Montgomery that was call in, about the Tide and Auburn 365 days a year all day long. there are of course exceptions to this like Nebraska it's a pretty regional fever that sweeps this part of the country during football season. hope that helps you find out why your state is snubbing some outstanding football that goes unnoticed.

Response to the above posts -

BHN, truenorth is truly north, up in Canada.

I do honestly feel that the tow best teams are in the championship game, so I'm not upset. It would be great to see Penn State there, but hey, they are in the #3 game. I actually like the matchup, Paterno vs. Bowden.

AS for me and college football, I'm admitedly a fair weather fan. I'm much bigger on the NFL, with being in several fantasy leagues and pick-em type leagues. I don't really follow college when the Nittany Lions aren't doing well. It has been fun to come back to college ball this year, though.

As for the fan base for these teams, I don't know what to say. I think that there are some other parts of the country that may have as much of a laise-faire (sp?) attitude. To each his own, is what I say. I don't enjoy the games as much at the location, just the same. I'd rather be home, and get updates on all the other games going on.

BCS games are now set -

Rose - USC vs. Texas
Orange- Penn State vs. Florida State
Fiesta - Notre Dame vs. Ohio State
Sugar - West Virginia vs. Georgia

Someone wanna explain to me--other than the network's desire to see Joe Pa and Bowden mix it up--how a Florida State team that had been out of the BCS Top 25, and is only #22 now, after finally winning one, and had played ATROCIOUSLY the previous 3 weeks, got into a BCS game... while LSU got excluded off one loss?

Someone always gets screwed on these things, but THAT is absurd.

B.H.N.

Originally posted by BaseballHistoryNut
Someone wanna explain to me--other than the network's desire to see Joe Pa and Bowden mix it up--how a Florida State team that had been out of the BCS Top 25, and is only #22 now, after finally winning one, and had played ATROCIOUSLY the previous 3 weeks, got into a BCS game... while LSU got excluded off one loss?

Someone always gets screwed on these things, but THAT is absurd.

B.H.N.

Championship games. Florida State won thiers, and LSU lost thiers. Fair? Maybe not, but they did prove it on the field. In much the same way that the Eagles probably should have been to more than one Super Bowl over the past four years. hey just lost at the wrong time.

This is where the BCS sucks really bad, some conferences get an automatic BCS bowl bid i think they are the SEC, ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12 and Notre Dame if they're in the top 10. i may have left some out. this system is greatly flawed and no matter how much tweaking they do will never be good. but until something is done we'll have to live with it.

Do you think that they will ever get a system that will improve on the BCS?

Originally posted by Gibbs Baby!!!
Do you think that they will ever get a system that will improve on the BCS?

someday maybe, just maybe when they get some new blood at the NCAA someone will realize that a playoff would be ideal. but as for now they've spent too much time and money on the current BCS system to just throw it out. i don't imagine we'll see anything for at least ten years. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though.

Can YOU BELIEVE IT GOD DAM BASTARDS PUT FLORIDA STATE IN A TOP 3 BOWL GAME WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAT ABOUT THE DUCKS THIS IS BULL ITS JUS NOT RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!

I like Lou Holtz's idea, leave the former bowl system in place, then have a 4 team playoff after bowl season. Everyone wins, and the NCAA can make even more $...