Comments on: Who Deserves to Play Ohio State?

By: Guts and Glory: Broncos Win! at Transformatum

Guts and Glory: Broncos Win! at Transformatum — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 06:10:23 +0000

[...] Wow! Tonight’s Fiesta Bowl was even more exciting than Penn State beating Tennessee. I still cannot believe the football game I have just watchedâ€”great calls and gutty excecution from start to finish. Bob Stoops has met his match in Chris Petersen. Remember what I said about Boise State *deserving* to play Ohio State for the NCAA Division I National Championship? If this does not further the cause for instituting a playoff system, then I do not know what will. [...]

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 04:45:53 +0000

Joe, It's clear whose fan you are. ;) What is also clear to me is that the BCS is a bunch of crap . . . but we Americans would rather have our traditions (even if they stink). Hey, am I upset that my unranked Nittany Lions get to play the Tennessee Volunteers in a New Year's Day bowl? Well, it is fair at least, since the SEC is way overrated, right? The Big 10 is "real" football. However, according to the statistics, U-M and Florida are very close. Florida

TEAM	RUSH	PASS	TOTAL
Offense	160.3	237.8	398.1
TEAM	PF	PA	MARGIN
Scoring	28.8	13.5	15.4

Michigan

TEAM	RUSH	PASS	TOTAL
Offense	189.2	185.8	374.9
TEAM	PF	PA	MARGIN
Scoring	30.2	14.6	15.6

How can you choose either one, beyond the fact that OSU has already beaten U-M? How can you say that the system works when so much debate is involved in selecting the championship game? Either the BCS is the right system and every other NCAA sport is wrong in how they select their season champion, or the BCS is wrong and the other sports do it right. Think about it. Even Florida's coach is calling for a playoff.

By: joe

joe — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 20:46:59 +0000

Could it be more clear? Michigan should play O-state for the championship in neutral territory this time. Mich got beat by less than a field goal at Ohio.

I can understand why the Ohio State fans would want to play Florida …

Michigan – Ohio State

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 05:14:51 +0000

[quote post="757"]Florida will get killed by OSU and you know it.[/quote]
While I am inclined to agree that Big 10 football is the best in the country right now, I must say that no, I don’t think we know. There have been too many of those type of assumptions blown apart this season. I really don’t care who plays OSU, because no one “deserves” to play for the national title unless you earn the opportunity on the field. Right now, IMHO the only team that deserves to play OSU is Boise State.

By: gg22102

gg22102 — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 02:03:11 +0000

I have to say I am a Miami Hurricanes Fan and after seeing the past few games I believe that Michigan is a better match up for the National Championship game than Florida. USC lost today so there hope is lost for a national championship game. I know that OSU and UM have already played but OSU had home field advantage, if it was on UM field I would say put in someone else but I would love to see a matchup between these to on a field that none of them knew. Wouldn’t you? So all you haters out there that dont want to see this game happen….think about it. Florida will get killed by OSU and you know it.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 16:32:54 +0000

@Austina: Before you become a hardcore CFB fan, you should read my post about BIRG’s and CORF’s that I wrote about a year ago. Josiah was BIRG’ing, while I was CORF’ing (and he loves to remind me of that moment).

@Estefan: I’m a Big 10(11) fan, too. PSU first, Iowa second, and the rest all lumped together (providing they’re not playing the Nittany Lions or Hawkeyes).

@stelmodad: I agree with you and Estefan that a rematch, though interesting, is less than ideal. Besides, OSU beating a statistically matched Pac-10 or SEC opponent will prove that Big 10 football is in a totally different league than all the rest.

@Josiah: I do not know which is worse: (1) You not commenting directly on the topic, (2) nit-picking on my word choices or (3) knowing that there will be a smug smirk on your face when you read that I agree that “somewhat apathetic” is a more fitting phrase than “honest, but cynical.” Of course, given the time, I usually go back and re-read my posts for clarity (unlike…say, Holton), so I would have gotten around to correcting it eventually. If you’d like, maybe we can work something out where you proof-read my posts in exchange for a box of these?

By: Estefan

Estefan — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 14:10:08 +0000

Odd matchups are what sometimes makes college football far more enjoyable than pro. There is far more emotion involved and the games can be far more enjoyable.

Some examples:

I have seen TCU play USC – and win.
Michigan lost to BYU in 1984.
I have seen Fresno St. defeat UCLA
I have seen Miami (Fla.) shut out by Arizona (a huge underdog).
I have seen Penn St. (also a huge underdog in this game) defeat a very surprised Tennessee.
Utah – from another “undeserving” conference, won the Fiesta bowl two years ago.

Odd matchups are enjoyable, novel, exciting. Probably those who dislike them most are odds-makers, who are ruining the game anyway.

By: stelmodad

stelmodad — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 07:10:29 +0000

I think my answer was more jealous than anything. Ohio State has a great team, Michigan a very good team and ND a enjoyable team.

The sad thing is that this year, there are really no teams that rose to the challenge and “deserved” a #2 birth. That’s why the voters found it too easy to keep voting like they have been all year.

Whoever wins whatever in the next few weeks will determine what odd matchups get picked for the Bowl Games. With all likelyhood we’ll see at least one re-match within the BCS.

By: Josiah

Josiah — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 02:50:47 +0000

Your answer isn't cynical, and I mean that in terms of the definition of the word "cynical". Apathetic would be a more appropriate adjective, but not exactly honest: you cared enough to make a blog post on the issue.

By: stelmodad

stelmodad — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 22:30:29 +0000

Michigan Defence + Hart = very good Michigan team this year. Without Hart, they would likely have been a 9-3 team -with Hart and “a better than I give him credit for” Henne, the offense showed that they could compete on Saturday with a very good Ohio State team.

That said, Ohio State won, Michcan’t lost. I think it would be lackluster to have a Big Ten rematch for our manufactured National Title game.

On another note, even this ND/Quinn die-hard fan could not help but sit in awe of the Troy Smith show the other night. Unless Quinn puts up 900 passing yards and 10 TDs on USC the Heisman is all but wrapped up.