A Meaningless Game? Not Quite…
It’s true that tonight’s game might not decide the best team in football (that might be USC or Utah, though a decisive victory by other Florida or Oklahoma might silence the doubters). But in the power conference argument, tonight’s game will speak volumes. The SEC has been regarded by most as the best conference in college football, based on stingy defense, mighty tradition, and, not least, the results of recent BCS bowls.
This year, however, the Big 12 staked a claim, with Texas Tech’s wide-open style of offense now typical throughout the conference, particularly in the Big 12 South, where ABC practically camped out this year for prime-time. My own Red Raiders rose to #2, and were featured in three straight national prime-time telecasts, before stumbling at the end of the season, and of course, Texas and Oklahoma dominated much of the national title talk this year, as well.
So if nothing else, tonight is about conference pride. It appears that most people are giving this one to Florida, but I watched Oklahoma several times this season, and they are tough…too tough for Florida. That’s right, I’m putting what little rep I have on the line with a prediction: Oklahoma 31, Florida 21…
UPDATE 7:54 p.m.: Hey, what do you know? Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell was just announced as the AT&T Player of the Year, as voted by the fans…that’s a nice surprise…and well-deserved, despite Tech’s late-season stumble. He is now, after all, the all-time touchdown leader…
UPDATE 8:48 p.m: Well, Florida is living a charmed life right now…clearly outplayed by Oklahoma throughout most of the first half, but coming out tied 7-7 thanks to a stubborn turnover on downs when Stoops should have gone for the field goal, then a fluke interception to end the half. Anything goes in the second half, but Oklahoma should be up 21-7…
UPDATE 9:11 p.m.: Hey, it’s been a good night for Texas Tech, at least – the Harrell-Crabtree miracle catch to beat #1 Texas just won the Pontiac Game-Changing Play of the Year…
UPDATE 9:42 p.m.: Florida is starting to win the battle up front, as their offensive line took control on that last drive and brought the running game to life…Oklahoma is REALLY going to look at this as the one that got away if they lose this game…well, at least as the LATEST one to get away…
UPDATE 10:34 p.m.: Well, that just may do it…Bob Stoops is going to really, really hear it as he loses his latest big game for the man formerly nicknamed “Big Game”. As much as OU dominated the first half, Florida started to really win in the trenches in the second half. As for the conference battles, well, give it to the SEC, after all. With 3 of the 4 Big 12 South teams going down, and Texas having to win with some last-minute heroics, we don’t have much to brag about.
However, I don’t think Florida ended the debate as to “best team in college football”. If college football had a playoff, I think USC just might have come out the victor this year (and I’m no fan of the Pac-10 by any means). Still, there is no doubt that Urban Meyer is a great coach, Florida is a very good team, and Tim Tebow is a determined leader, so let’s not take anything away from the Gators…
Thoughts:
1. Whatever the heck Charlie Strong did at halftime was brilliant. Florida’s defense was an entirely different creature in the second half, and they didn’t give Oklahoma a chance.
2. The best argument against a playoff will always be USC. They are a lazy, unmotivated team who always drop at least one utterly meaningless game (against Oregon State, UCLA, or some other incredibly overmatched team) and then we’re left debating whether their dismantling of some hapless Big Ten squad means they’re the best. In a just world, no one would take them seriously until they actually play with the kind of urgency other elite teams are able to summon.
3. No fan of the Pac-10? Oy vey. Not only were they the only conference to go undefeated in bowls this year, it makes one wonder how you can even discuss the “mighty tradition” of the SEC. When the SEC’s been playing for 100 years, we’ll talk about tradition. Until then, I’ll take my Big Ten (founded 1896) and Pac-10 (the PCC was founded in 1915), thank you very much.
The Pac-10 is always hated on. It’s funny that the standard canard about the SEC (and now, big 12) beating up on each other within the conference is always grounds for discussion about how they’re a good conference, but when USC loses to someone within their own conference it shows how lazy they are.
USC lost to Oregon State, who is actually a fairly decent team. The Pac-10 generally has tough non-conference opponents. The same with the Big-10. The double standard there is just amazing. Then, when someone like Texas actually plays a tough game against Ohio State, it’s at home. People tend to forget that the “home field advantage” is far greater in college. Traveling and keeping up with schoolwork is not an easy thing to do. I wonder what the stats are on that actually. Looks like all the big 12 schools that beat each other were home-team winning. Not that surprising really. Wonder if there is a correlation between miles traveled and record. Also, USC’s loss was AT Oregon St. Guess Miss going to Florida isn’t as big of a deal? Whatever, just something that isn’t really mentioned for whatever reason…
It’s actually one of the reasons I do in fact think a playoff makes sense. This way, you don’t have to rely on having non-conference games of USC against Ohio State to bolster strength of schedule. The playoffs do that for you. This prevents unnecessary travel and I would argue favors teams in the middle of the country, like the SEC and Big 12. Am I reading Florida’s schedule correctly? They only had 4 road games? Hmmm…
And I mean, right now, the non-coastal conferences have the advantage, and teams in the middle of the country have an easier time finding teams to play near them that are good, but it just seems like they choose not to, unless you count the teams within the conference. I think a playoff would take that (perceived) advantage away.
I agree that other teams do get “beat up” in their conferences, but I think you oversell the point. USC, in the last several years, has lost to Oregon State (twice), Stanford, UCLA, and Cal. And none of those teams were even in their league – UCLA and Cal were pretty mediocre, and Stanford was woeful, not to mention the complete drubbing Utah laid on OrSt this year. By comparison, Oklahoma lost to Texas and Florida lost to a criminally underrated Ole Miss team that blew the doors off Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl. I’m not excusing losses by those two teams, but what I am saying is that SC loses one of those virtually every single year. If that’s not a sign of laziness (I repeat: STANFORD!!), I don’t know what is.
Now, look: I agree there should be a playoff. Anyone who claims to have a brain and doesn’t support a playoff is lying about one of the two. This is about as easy a call as there is. I’m just saying, we should be realistic. Just like we’re occasionally going to get utter frauds like the 2007 Giants winning Super Bowls, we’ll have to deal with the fact that SC is going to sleep through November and then turn it on in time to win a national title.
Sorry, Utah = Penn State above. Utah also beat OrSt, but not quite the same way.
Ryan: I still disagree with you. Pinning all of SC’s issue on “laziness” is goofy. I watched the Stanford game. USC threw like 4 interceptions and couldn’t run the football. It was luck, really. It’s not as though they got their asses handed to them. They lost by 1 point. With a turnover differential of 4. That’s the game that I lost all respect for John David Booty and knew he couldn’t be an NFL quarterback. Shoot, Stanford was outgained by 200+ yards.
The Pac-10 is a tough conference. UofA, ASU, the whole lot, they all have pockets of inconsistent talent. It’s pretty simple.
Who cares if Penn State beat Oregon State? The whole discussion is moot because Penn State is a non-conference opponent that was actually a halfway decent team…that got beat by USC!
Name a non-conference game that anyone in the SEC or Big 12 won handily that was actually impressive. You can count them on one hand. Maybe Oklahoma beating the heck out of Chattanooga? Maybe Cincinnati?
In any event, it’s all subjective and that goes away with a playoff. It will shut up all the idiot pundits, once and for all. I’m sick of hearing about it.
And yes, was joking about Chattanooga…not Cincy though. They were supposedly a good team…but not really. The Big East is sad.
Two points:
I never ran down ‘tradition’ in the Pac-10 or Big Ten. I merely said the SEC has a strong tradition, and you only have to look at the BCS results since its inception to see what the best conference in football is RIGHT NOW (and remember, I’m a Big 12 fan, not an SEC booster).
As for the Pac-10 being 5-0 in this year’s bowls, yes, props to them. However, that include a 3-0 win in the Sun Bowl and an Arizona win in the Las Vegas Pioneer Bowl. We’re not talking BCS bowls here, with the obvious exception of the Rose Bowl.
And one more thing – Texas Tech got our butts whipped in the Cotton Bowl, not the Holiday Bowl, thank you very much!…