VICTORY!

After starting 0-9 in the SEC and riding the longest losing streak for UGA in over three decades, the Georgia finally stepped up and defeated the hated Gators. All I can say is it's about time. We finally have something to cheer about with the 88 -86 victory.

The Georgia Bulldog basketball team, heavy underdogs to the Gators (who defeated them by 26 in the first meeting) finally got a SEC win. Led by Terrance Woodbury's career high 32 points, UGA won in a game that went down to the last second.
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Yes, it's that bad for UGA Basketball

What are we to do? Ten losses in the SEC, no coach, lack of playmakers, and no BONECRUSHER (note: BONECRUSHER, pictured to the left is David Bliss). Simply put the Bulldogs have not won a game this year. The last win came from against lowly Kennesaw State on December 31st, 2008. The Bulldogs are winless in the SEC and give up more points on average then they score. After ten straight losses, clearly all the blame is on Felton. Just kidding. We will look on to next year, ignoring this year ever happened -- hey, similar to football! Hopefully we can get a good coach, one that will bring publicity to a much maligned program. If we get a good coach, I think things will fall into place. Unlike football, basketball teams can turn around in one year with a great recruiting class. UGA has the ability to offer these talented youngsters what they want -- a guaranteed opportunity to play right away. Lord knows we can't floor a good team now. I ask this team only one thing: Don't go winless in the SEC and try not to go winless in the east. That would be disappointing.
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Is Bob Knight the Right Fit for UGA Basketball?

Bobby Knight has 902 wins in his career, the most by any men's college basketball coach. He won two National Championships with Indiana, where he led the Hoosiers to the country's last undefeated season. He's a sports legend. Sure he's had in his bad moments, hitting kids or throwing chairs and whatnot, but I don't think that's the guy we'd have if he landed in Athens. I think we'd have a solid disciplinarian who can not only keep the troublemakers on the team but also keep them in school long enough to graduate. His name is legendary and in the Atlanta hot bed of talent, he's sure to draw some big names in recruiting. Put it all together and you have a coach who knows a hell of a lot about coaching young men, helping them graduate and most importantly how to win games.

But is he the right fit for this program?

Dennis Felton came in after a massive scandal, crippling his ability to recruit for a long time. He was brought in to be the guy that would reshape the program into a group of quality young men who could win games and stay competitive in the conference. But during his tenure he kicked off more than a few players (all of whom were top talents), failed to fire up the students to support the team (unlike Tennessee's Bruce Pearl), failed to compete with local rivals Georgia Tech or Florida (see their Final Four success), but hey - he didn't have any scandals.

So now that we've had our guy come in and remove the stain of scandal from the program, can we get back to the business of winning games?

Mark Richt coaches a football team loaded with plenty of troublemakers, players who get arrested for a whole host of dirty deeds - but they still play. Is Richt just letting his boys be boys? These guys get suspensions, they miss games, no matter if they're the best player on the team or the worst. Richt comes down hard enough on these guys that not only will they (attempt to) right the ship, but they continue to help the team win games. Take the Gym Dogs or Lady Dogs as examples too, consistently winning programs at what's supposedly a 'football school'. It can be done - we just need the right man for the job.

Is Bob Knight the right man? Maybe. He's got the pedigree, he loves the game, knows everything about the game, and we won't find a coach who's done it longer or better. So what's the problem? Many will bring up his firey past, where he struck a player or yelled incessantly at them during games. His foul mouth is well known far beyond the courts in Indiana. But putting all of that aside, this is the SEC. We ARE big names: Spurrier, Meyer, Saban, Donovan, Pearl. The SEC has one of the finest crops of coaches in the country, which is easy to argue when you can instantly recall almost all of their names. So Knight would surely fit right in. We would 'win the press conference' as the pundits like to say. But we need that.

We need high school stars to see Bob Knight on television. We need coaches and parents to see how serious we take our basketball program. We need students and boosters to remember that we do in fact have a team, and we play with the big boys every year. We need Bob Knight.

Unless we give Tubby Smith a call. You know, for a reunion.

So that's great if we want Bob Knight. But that's like saying the Detroit Lions want Tony Dungy to come out of retirement. We're simply not an attractive place to coach. Why would Knight want to come here? What makes our program any more attractive than the dozens of programs he could likely choose from (like Alabama). Sure we look good on the surface: a big-time SEC school that's located in a wonderful little city in the middle of the Southeast's hotbed of talent and needs the right coach to help bring them into an era of dominance in a major conference. Sounds attractive enough, right? Certainly sounds more attractive than what Texas Tech must have offered Knight.

Only time will tell what direction Damon Evans and UGA will take to fill the coaching void. As of today his office has given no statement regarding Knight's rumored interest in the job. This could mean any number of things, but at the very least one thing is for sure - some level of mutual interest exists.

Now tell me, who would you like to see coaching the Georgia men?
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Summitt Wins 1000th Game as Lady Vols Pound the Dogs

Tennessee Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt earned her 1000th career victory last night. At home. Against the Georgia Lady Bulldogs. By 30 points. Arguably a down year so far for them, the Vols were given their second crack at #1000 after losing to #2 Oklahoma earlier in the week. Her #1000 wins are the most by any college basketball coach (men's or women's), nearly 100 more than men's leader Bob Knight (902).

Coach Summitt has been with the Vols for 35 years but she's still only 56, meanings its quite possible she could be doing this for another 10+ years. Since 1974 she's won 8 national titles, 14 SEC regular season titles, 13 SEC tournament titles, was the SEC coach of the year 7 times and the NCAA coach of the year 7 times - oh and the Tennessee hardwood is named after her.

Ladies and gents take note that one of the three greatest college coaches in history is here in the south. Every year Georgia fans can make two trips to Stegeman to see Coach Summitt in action. Men and women alike can tell their children they saw Pat Summitt coach the Vols. Its like telling your kids you saw John Wooden take the court, or Bob Knight. Its like how I'll be able to tell my children that I saw Greg Maddux, Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds play. Sometimes we forget that we are witnessing history. That the players and coaches we see every year and take for granted may someday be looked upon as the greatest there ever was. And when you look at sports today and see names like Tiger Woods... Shaquille O'Neal... Alex Rodriguez... Coach K... you have to know that in twenty years people will be wishing they had a chance to see them in person. That they'll have photos and ticket stubs framed on their walls. The same will be said about Coach Pat Summitt - arguably the greatest coach in sports today.
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Smart Jock

As the ink dries on Signing Day 2009, college football experts and fans alike settle down to evaluate the successes and failures of the recruiting season. UGA had all their commits sign as promised but lost nearly all their holdouts. It will be a thrill to watch Aaron Murray, Marlon Brown, Brandon Smith et al, and a shame to see the missed opportunity with Greg Reid. (Hell, at least Reid had the foresight to ditch Florida and pick non-threat FSU). No recruit is
as exciting to see don the Red and Black as offensive guard Chris Burnette.

Troup County High School signee, Chris Burnette, brings aggressive blocking, strong technical skills, and a 5.012 GPA to the UGA African-language Athletic Division.* Burnette is a candidate for his graduating class’s valedictorian. Athletic skill is one thing, but a sharp intellect is even better between the hedges. To have a Bulldog not named Stinchcomb with academic promise gives the injury-and-punishment-ridden Bulldogs that ever-needed ingredient: Intelligence. It's the same reason why players like Matt Ryan are successful.

Recently, pre-med student-athlete Myron Rolle of the Florida State Seminoles was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University. His teammates ragged on him constantly, but "whenever there is a debate that goes on in the locker room about whether tomatoes are really red or whether there's a country in North Africa named Algeria, they'll ask [Myron].

"They don't go to Google, they go to Myron."

When conventional wisdom says athletes are not as smart as the general student body, players like Rolle and Burnette are subverting the paradigm. Consider the positive impact a nerdy teammate could have on the often-thuggish Bulldogs. With his influence, study hours could turn into exercising the crucial muscle – you know that lump three feet above your ass. It’s about time the Bulldogs seek intelligence and reject investing in ignorance.

*Referring to the large number of football players who enroll in the Swahili, Yuroba, and Zulu languages offered at UGA

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Bob Knight Interested in UGA

How would you like the winningest coach in the history of college basketball? Maybe we need some chairs thrown to spark some interest. If Knight came to UGA, it would be a great thing. Even if just for a few years, he could bring the UGA program back into the spotlight. He has won 902 games, and there’s something about coaching in the SEC that intrigues him…probably the fact he could get to 1000 wins in 5 seasons in a weak SEC. Why does Knight want to leave Texas Tech? According to one of this friends, he feels he has done all he can for the Red Raiders. Damen Evans has an easy decision. UGA needs a great coach, a proven leader, and a proven winner. Most of all, UGA needs someone who’ll bring the program into the spotlight and have the ability to recruit. The job that he did for the Red Raiders was incredible. He brought a team that has won 3 Big-12 games per year, and got them to average 10 in his tenure. UGA is not as bad as Texas Tech. They will always lose recruits to Texas, Oklahoma, USC, etc. The competition UGA has is with Kentucky, Duke, and UNC. There are great athletes in the state and area and Knight could recruit them. His knowledge of the game and proven record will allow UGA to rise. My words to Evans, “Sic Em” and go get this legend.

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Felton Out at Georgia

Looks like Damon Evans is a fan of me and Dirty South Sports. He must have taken what I said to heart. Just kidding.

Evans did, however, fire Dennis Felton after a brutal 83-57 loss to Florida. Look two posts down and I'll say I told you so. This decision came after the fifth consecutive conference loss. The team is now 9 - 11, winless in the SEC, and the only coachless team. Georgia will have to pay Felton 1.5 million to say goodbye, but that clearly had no bearing on the athletic association's decision to fire him. My opinion, Felton conceded when he went to the inauguration with his team riding a four game losing streak. He tapped out and he should be fired.
Coach Pete Herrman will coach the team for the remainder of the season, then a new coach will be named. Barring a miracle season and trip to the postseason, Herrman will leave at the end of the season. Let's hope the next coach is better. I think UGA is ready to spend a ton of money on the upcoming basketball coach. We will see.
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Georgia vs Florida

The biannual basketball version of the "Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" is set for Wednesday night. I fear that UGA is going to get beat by a larger margin than in football. This year, along with most of Felton's tenure have been a relative disappointment, but losing to Florida two times (which I'm assuming will happen this year) is not cool. I would honestly be suprised if the Bulldogs were within 10 at the start of the second half. Florida has owned Georgia as of late in the major sports -- football and basketball (at least we have gymnastics, baseball, and swimming). Wednesday night should have no suprises becuase, well Felton sucks. I said it, he's a good person and very likable, but he is a terrible coach. You can turn a team around in one year in basketball, he's had over five. Time to give him the boot. Here are the stats on the UGA team. Note the home and away for UGA and UF as well as the streak each team is on. Nevertheless, I will cheer for my beloved Bulldogs to win, although I will not be watching.

	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	STK
GA	9-10	65.7	65.1	8-5	0-4	L6
FLA	17-3	79.2	64.8	12-0	3-2	W1

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Basketball teams are supposed to win right?

Georgia has a basketball tradition. Georgia had Dominique Wilkins and well, that’s about it. UGA has made mistakes with their past two coaches (Herrick and Felton) and now it’s time to get rid of Felton.

Felton got his start coaching high school in 1984. The following year, he coached community college, and then served as an assistant coach until 1998. At Clemson during the six years he was there, the team averaged 19 wins. In 1999, Felton took over at Western Kentucky. As the head coach, the Hill toppers went won the Sun Belt Conference tournament from 2001-2003, when Felton was offered the head coaching position at UGA. In his first four seasons in Athens Felton has a losing record at 58 – 63. While Felton had to deal with the mess Herrick left, there’s a limit on time. He would have been fired last year had it not been for an unprecedented 4 wins in 3 days to win the SEC Tournament. Now, the Bulldogs are 9 – 9 overall and 0-3 in the SEC. I’ll be surprised if they win 4 games in a down SEC this year. I think Georgia got a great person in Felton, but it’s clear, he’s not the coach Georgia needs. Felton came in under terrible circumstances and it looked at first as if he would be successful. The crowds were bigger and everyone was starting to get excited about Georgia basketball. Unfortunately, he never made it over the top. Maybe he needs pointers from Sylvester Stallone about getting “Over the Top,” maybe he needs to learn to recruit, maybe he needs to wear Dominique's short shorts. He has failed over his tenure at Georgia and he needs to move on.

Publish Post

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Stafford and Moreno to Enter NFL Draft

Well now its official: Georgia QB Matthew Stafford and RB Knowshon Moreno announced today that they will be entering April's NFL Draft. Both players are considered top 2 prospects at their positions. Many analysts predict Stafford could be the first pick overall (Detroit Lions), with Knowshon expected to go by the middle of the first round.

In three years, Stafford threw for 7,731 yards and 51 touchdowns. His 25 touchdowns this season set a new school record. As a starter he went 27-7, with three bowl wins. His best game statistically came in this year's loss to Georgia Tech, where he threw for 407 yards and 5 touchdowns. He has a rocket arm and is solidly built, but he's fairly inconsistent and hasn't appeared willing to change his game to fix any mistakes he'd made as a younger player. He still throws interceptions, he still makes poor decisions, and he still takes a while to get going in many games. Coming out he looks similar to Jamarcus Russell, so let's hope his NFL career doesn't go sideways like his.

Knowshon's two years (redshirt Sophomore) were well spent. Last year, his splitting time with Thomas Brown did not hinder his ability to put up big numbers. He rushed for over 1300 yards and 14 touchdowns both seasons, and never lost a fumble. He never fumbled at all, in fact. Knowshown had 18 total touchdowns this season, bringing his career total to 32. Knowshon's biggest game came last year against Troy, when he ran for 196 yards and 3 touchdowns. He scored three TD's three times this year as well.

Oh boo hoo. Let's think about this for a second. Are we that much worse without them? Lost 3 games this year, 2 last year. This isnt like losing Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. Or Vince Young. Or DJ Shockley even. Let's think about what Stafford and Moreno accomplished. They beat Florida last year (so did Michigan), they didn't lose a bowl game (lets put aside Hawaii's BCS legitimacy last year), and they finished #2 in the BCS rankings last year (which you dont get a trophy for, or anything for that matter). I'm not puting down their talent. They're both incredible talents. Knowshon was our best player. And it will be interesting to see how successful they can be at the next level, but what legacy have they left behind? What great moment will go down in Georgia lore as the symbol of their time here? Knowshon's highlight reel or jukes, jumps and spins? Stafford's 25 touchdowns? Shockley won the SEC. So did Greene. This is Georgia football, people. When the best your two superstars can get you is a two-loss season and no division titles, its hard to imagine that we can do much worse when they're gone.

Looks like Joe Cox is the frontrunner to be the starter next season (which is good), and Caleb King and Richard Samuel will fill in for Moreno at tailback. Luckily for us, these may be our two deepest positions. With two young guns in waiting behind Cox, next season is looking a lot better than what we had in 2006.. but another ten win season is completely within reach.

Well, if our schedule wasn't ridiculously hard. Read Full Article!

From the Gridiron to the Hardwood, Tech Upends Georgia

[photo from espn.com]


Sure, its not a big rivalry game this year. Both programs are down, bottom-feeding their respective conferences. Sure, its a Tuesday night when more people are likely to watch Tulsa beat up Ball State or replay the end of the Fiesta Bowl than to tune into FSN. But hey - its still Georgia vs. Georgia Tech. And once again, Georgia Tech has bragging rights.

The 9-5 Bulldogs rolled into Alexander Memorial Tuesday night with a plan to hand the 8-5 Jackets their second straight loss, after being pounded by Alabama. But Tech, led by Zachery Peacock's 18 points and 13 boards, overcame a double-digit deficit to take down a Bulldogs team equally low on talent. They won 67-62. Georgia F Howard Thompkins led the team with 20 points and 9 rebounds.

Last year was a pleasant surprise for Georgia basketball, especially for the seniors who I personally thought had been underachievers most of their last two seasons. Then they roll into the SEC Tournament and win the whole thing, gaining a lot of momentum for their trip to the Big Dance. Too bad we were one and done, but still - looking at our prospects for this season and possibly for the near future, it was great to have made it there last year. Its hard to swallow but we all know it by now that UGA is a premier football program, but is a long long way from contending as a basketball program. At least on the men's side.

*Fun basketball note, Dick Vitale will lend his exhuberant antics to the NBA as his broadcast team switches with ESPN's NBA crew (Mike Tirico, etc.) to call tonight's double header. Vitale will skip Duke vs. Davidson (a great matchup) to call the Nuggets/Heat game, where he can try extremely hard to not call Michael Beasley a 'diaper dandy'. Yeah baby!
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With Bowl Win, Georgia Defense Makes a Statement

[photo from AJC.com]


Ask around, ask any die-hard UGA fan, "What happened? How did you fall from the #1 team to a 3-loss disappointment?" And each and every one will tell you: the defense. They can blame the injuries, or the coaching, or the cockiness of our players who bought into their own hype, but when it came down to it we just couldn't play shut-down defense, especially in the second half of the season. Rumors began swirling that Willy Martinez (defense coordinator) was on the hot seat. He couldn't adjust after losing so many starters to injury. Couldn't keep his players disciplined, focused, and penalty-free. But yesterday against Michigan State, they stood up.

The Georgia defense looked like the defense we had all hoped to have all season. Superstar running back Javon Ringer couldn't break through, couldn't get any big plays (held to 47 yards on 20 carries). The Spartan passing game was anemic, with the QB tandem on their back all day (sacked 5 times). Stafford and the offense couldn't get anything rolling in the first half, and turned the ball twice, forcing the defense to stay on the field in some sticky situations. But they clamped down on the Spartans, held them to field goals, and kept us in the game just long enough for Stafford to get his head on straight and lead us to victory. With this bowl win, the Bulldogs defense made a statement that their coach isn't going anywhere, that this team can still shut down a solid offense, and that this defense can still win us games. I'm looking forward to bringing back a healthy defense next season, a matured offensive line, and a WR tandem of Green and Moore.. now let's just hope Stafford stays around to get them the ball.

A satisfying end to an otherwise disappointing season that should leave all Bulldog fans with a pleasant taste in their mouths.

*Coach Richt improves to 6-2 in bowl games, capping off his sixth 10-win season in the last seven years.

*Stafford threw for three touchdowns, giving him 25 for the season, a new single-season Bulldogs record.

*Star receivers senior Mohammed Massoquoi and freshman AJ Green caught only one pass each, leaving them both just shy of the 1,000 yard mark. Read Full Article!

10 Overhyped/Underperformed Games of 2008

Ten most overrated/overhyped College Football Games of 2008

10. LSU- App State - Michigan needs to pull themselves out of the crapper. App State apparently is not as good as once thought.

9. UGA - ASU - This game had all the hype, until ASU lost the week before to UNLV. Even so, it was the first time UGA was west of the Mississippi since 1960. I went to this game and even though the game was never close, it was worth going.

8. Penn State - Michigan State -- It's the (not so) Big 10. Michigan State had a share of their conference title on the line, then forgot to show up.

7. Alabama - Auburn - The annual rivalry game failed to generate any interest because Auburn was so terrible this year. Even so, I expected a fair showing from the Tigers, but I was wrong and they got handled.

6. Oklahoma - Missouri - This could have been a great story line for Mizzou, but instead, they decided to fold and get utterly distroyed in the Big-12 championship game.

5. Alabama - Clemson - This is the game we found out how good Alabama was going to be and how terrible Clemson was, despite the top ten ranking.

4. Alabama - UGA - 31 - 0 at the half, are you kidding? I was at this game and wish I would have sold my ticket. The second half was reasonably entertaining though.

3. Oklahoma- Texas Tech - This had national title implications all over it, then Texas Tech remebered that they don't belong.

2. USC vs Ohio State - Ohio State, big game, flop.

1. UGA vs Florida - This was also a big flop by the men in the silver britches. This game started off bad with missed field goals. Ended worse.


Best under the radar games/games that lived up to hype
Notre Dame - Syracuse - Did Syracuse beat Notre Dame? I bet that Lou Holtz still thinks Notre Dame should be ranked in the top 4.
USC - Oregon State - Great game. Always enjoy seeing USC go down to a mediocre team
Texas - Oklahoma - Opposite of Auburn - Alabama
Alabama - Florida - SEC title game generally is a fun game to watch, this one lived up to the hype unlike Oklahoma - Texas Tech
Penn State - Ohio State - Entertaining to see Ohio State lose.

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Hoop Dogs give it to Virginia Tech Doggy Style

After a closely contested game, the Georgia Basketball team (6-3) and defending SEC Tournament Champions (no, they actually won it last year) defeated Virginia Tech (5-4) yesterday by one point (67-66) in the final minute of play. This is good news for Georgia, who just got absolutely destroyed in their last game against Illinois (Senate seats sold separately) and terrible news for VT who just got beat by UGA.
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The Big 12 vs SEC and Jean Shorts

I'm tired of these stupid conference debates. The SEC is better; the Big 12 is better. Honestly, why do we care?

When did all his mumbo jumbo about who's conference is better start? It's crap. When did Auburn fans start rooting for Alabama to win their bowl game? When did Georgia fans decide it was OK to root for Florida to beat Alabama because Florida has the better chance of winning a national championship? Why would Michigan fans root for Ohio State last year against LSU?? This has debate has gone too far and is out of control and something has to be done.

The national title is not between the Big 12 and the SEC. It's between Florida and Oklahoma and as such, Texas fans should root for Florida and Georgia fans should root for Oklahoma. Georgia fans should be proud to say "Florida can take that national championship ball and shatter it..." oh wait, that already happened. Georgia fans should also proudly proclaim that Gators Wear Jean Shorts (Jorts).

Georiga fans should say Gators are a bunch of jerks and are but shells of human beings. On the other hand, if Georgia were to play in a National Championship, the Gators should not root for them. Rivalries are more important than conference debates. I bet most Texas fans will be rooting for Oklahoma because it proves how strong their conference has become. It doesn't. All that proves is that Oklahoma was better than Florida in that game. We will see who'll be the unofficial 2008 College Football Champion crowned by the BCS in the beginning of 2009. As the bowl games are played people will argue that their conference is superior. Not me.



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The Great College Football Debate.

When Lincoln said, "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedication to the proposition that all men are created equal," it went down in history as one of the most memorable quotes in American history. While all men are created equal, all football teams are not (Notre Dame vs anyone). President-elect Obama, in a not-so-famous quote said recently said that it is time for a playoff; "If you've got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season, and many of them have one loss or two losses, there's no clear decisive winner. We should be creating a playoff system."

Now I’m not here to talk about Obama’s policies and I'll leave it at that. I do, however, believe in an eight-team payoff, or at least a plus one game. Unfortunately people like John Swofford, the BCS commissioner and captain of the “no fun police” are in the way. In responding to Obama’s remarks Swofford said, “I am glad (Obama) has a passion for college football like so many other Americans. For now, our constituencies -- and I know he understands constituencies -- have settled on the current BCS system, which the majority believe is the best system yet to determine a national champion while also maintaining the college football regular season as the best and most meaningful in sports ... We certainly respect the opinions of president-elect Obama and welcome dialogue on what's best for college football." I believe that a college football champion playoff would be a solution to this dialogue. A 16 team playoff format already exists in Football Championship Series (formerly the Division I-AA), so you cannot say that it is impossible.

President-Elect Obama wants it, maybe he'll make it happen.


First, let’s do a background of the BCS and processes that determined the so-called national champion. The NCAA, who recognizes all other collegiate national champions, does not recognize the college football champion and it is the only college sport that does not formally declare a champion. This is some major events that led to the previous systems were:

1. The Dickinson System, the first to rank college football teams nationally. This occurred in 1924.

2. In the 1936 the Associated Press began polling sportswriters to rank the teams.

3. The United Press created the first coaches poll in 1950. The first few years, the AP and UP had consensus national champions. The first split was in 1954 and many consider this to be the start of the controversy in college football. The AP (sports writers) selected Ohio State and the UP (coaches) selected UCLA as national champions.

4. In the 1964 season, the AP voted for the champion before the bowls like they had been doing, then Alabama lost to Texas in their bowl game and were still considered national champions over Arkansas, who was the only undefeated and untied team. Alabama benefited the following year from the new change when top ranked Michigan State lost to UCLA in the Rose bowl and Alabama beat Nebraska, vaulting them to be the top of the AP poll (Michigan State was rated #1 in the UPI poll who voted before the bowls). The AP officially changed to awarding the national championship after the bowl game in 1968 and the UPI poll followed suit, several years later in 1974.

5. In 1992-1994, the Bowl Coalition, then in 1995-1997 Bowl Alliance. These were both doomed from the start. They did not include the Pac-10 nor did they include the Big Ten because they were contractually obligated to show up in the Rose Bowl.

6. The UPI poll basically was replaced in 1996 with the USA Today/ESPN poll in 1996.

7. Fast forward to 1998 and the creation of the BCS.


The BCS


In 1997, a legal document was signed by all 119 Division I teams to chose the BCS and declared that it: "...is managed by the commissioners of the 11 NCAA Division I-A conferences, the director of athletics at the University of Notre Dame, and representatives of the bowl organizations," and basically went on to say that this will match the two top-rated teams in a national championship game. The conference tie ins are as follows, with the Big East taking one of the at-large spots.

• Rose Bowl - Big Ten champ vs. Pac-10 champ
• Fiesta Bowl - Big 12 champ
• Orange Bowl - ACC champ
• Sugar Bowl - SEC champ

There have been a few major changes, most notably for the 2006 season when, after several controversial (call it selecting for money not for the best team), adding another BCS game (to five games – yay more money). The commissioners have also tweaked the computers involved as well as other various trivial things that have been reactive and not really made a difference. We all know how the BCS works, well let me take that back, the BCS is terrible. We all have the grand idea of how it works, or is supposed to, but do not completely understand computers and humans rating teams as we do now. Basically, special cases are made for the top four teams, Notre Dame, if in the top 8, and one top 12 non BCS conference team (likely Utah this year).

Let’s quickly list the three worst happenings of the BCS

1. Auburn is left out of the championship game. They beat Virginia Tech in the bowl game and the two teams in USC destroyed Oklahoma 55-19 in a game that was not even that close as the score was. Auburn was not given a piece of the national championship from the AP poll.
2. USC is left out of the championship game in 2003 despite being ranked #1 in both polls. Oklahoma, who lost in their championship game, lost again to LSU in the national championship.
3. Ohio State in the championship game the past two years. Some would argue this should be higher.

The problem with the polling system is the humans are subjective, while the computer programmers disagree on what should be used to categorize each team. There is a very high level of constancy in the voting by humans and a prime example is Notre Dame. Generally a one loss Notre Dame team will be ranked higher than almost every other one loss team because of history, not what they’ve accomplished against a lackluster schedule. This year and last year are exceptions to this rule due to Notre Dame’s incredibly poor play. This consistency is part of the reason Notre Dame has lost so many bowl games in a row; they are consistently over-matched and overrated. Speaking of potentially over-matched teams, here are some degrees of defeat separation this year:

Utah beat Wyoming (40-7), who beat an embarrassing Tennessee (13-7), who beat Vanderbilt (20-10), who beat Ole Miss (23-17), who beat Florida in the Swamp (31-30).

Boise State beat Oregon who beat UCLA who beat Tennessee, who beat Vanderbilt, who beat Ole Miss, who beat Florida

Ball State beat Navy who beat Wake Forest who beat Ole Miss who beat Florida

You can do the same thing with USC, which is another that team that the pollsters are saying is one of the best. While no one doubts that Florida would likely beat an over-matched Utah, Boise State, or Ball State team, didn’t everyone say the same thing about Boise State a few years ago against a "superior" Boomer Sooner team? We can only find out if they settle it on the field. It is difficult to compare each teams wins and losses. A prime example is going on now in the Big 12 south. Who should win? Is it Texas, who lost in the last second after a grueling stretch of games and beat Oklahoma on a neutral field? Texas fans would proclaim that they beat the competition and ignore the Texas Tech loss. Is it Oklahoma who, just so recently, destroyed the same Texas Tech team that beat Texas? I do not know, and I would say that most do not (unless you are partial to one of the teams). Texas certainly was the better team a few weeks ago, but now, who knows. The team who wins it is likely going to be decided in 5th tiebreaker through the BCS, similar to the way Georgia won the SEC east a few years ago after a three way tie with Florida and Tennessee.

My contention is that I would like to see them Oklahoma and Texas in the championship playoff, both are certainly in the top eight. I would also like to see USC in there as well, why don’t you throw in Penn State, Florida\Alabama winner, Utah, and the ACC winner and the Big East winner to play too. I want to see an eight team playoff just like President-Elect Obama. And why not? Those games would be nuts. The buildup would be huge and the excitement around the sport would only heighten. Football inherently will always have an exciting season because there are only 12 or 13 games per year. Why not add a few more for the truly elite teams. Last year, the craziest year in the history of college football, wouldn’t it have been nice to see Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, Georgia, Virginia Tech, USC, Missouri and Hawaii play in a championship series? All I can say is I’m getting excited thinking about it. You cannot argue that college football would lose its entire regular season luster with the addition of an 8 team playoff. Every game would still matter. I certainly would have watched the Texas/Oklahoma game and the Georgia/Florida game either way. I am going to watch the Iron Bowl this weekend even though Alabama already has the SEC west wrapped up. I would still go to the football games, regardless of the playoff. You could still finish the regular season on the 10^th of January. Championship Saturday is at the end of November. Why not have the first round of games on the 27 of December, the semifinals on the 3 of January, and have the championship game on the 10^th of January. Play the semifinal games as you would for the current BCS games, in the Rose, Tostitos, Orange, and Sugar, and then have the championship game at a rotating site like the BCS has been doing. They would generate the more revenue and be done two days later. This would lead to a true championship game that even the NCAA could recognize. Imagine, the first recognized NCAA College Football Championship Playoff. That would be the most exciting event in all of sports that all could get excited about.

My College Football Five Rant

• No, Ohio State v Michigan is not the best rivalry ever, not even the best in College Football (See the Iron Bowl)
• Yes, Tommy Tuberville is a good coach, be happy Auburn, you're not getting anyone better
• No, Notre Dame is not back, they haven't beaten a team with a winning record.
• Michigan made a big mistake with Rodriguez
• Why can’t Texas and Oklahoma play during the last week of the Season

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