BCS creates confusion once again
Who's your No.1?
Florida has the crystal trophy, and it also has AP's No. 1 ranking. That's indisputable.
Of course, just by getting an invitation to the BCS Championship Game assures the winner of a No. 1 ranking in the USA Today coaches poll.
But did Urban Meyer's team do enough to convince you beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is the best team in the country?
That's what college football fans continue to debate, three days after Florida's 24-14 victory against Oklahoma.
In the USA Today poll, 60 of 61 coaches voted Florida No. 1. That's kind of like a South American dictator being re-elected in a vote of the people. It's pretty much a no-brainer that you don't rock the boat.
The lone dissenting vote was cast in favor of Division I's only team unbeaten team - Utah. Kyle Whittingham, whose team shocked Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl, stayed true to his word and used his vote for the Utes, who, despite winning 13 in a row, only finished fourth in the coaches poll.
The Utes did a lot better in the AP poll, voted on by writers, getting 16 first-place votes and finishing second. Florida received 48 and USC got one.
Two other teams have legitimate claims on the national championship. Southern Cal, which manhandled Penn State in the Rose Bowl, and Texas, which barely beat Ohio State, each finished with one loss. So did Boise State, but it lost its bowl game, so it has no case in the college football court of law.
So who's your No. 1?
Utah proved it could play with the big boys with its win against Alabama.
Texas lost once and also beat Oklahoma, a team the Gators didn't put away until late in the game.
USC had only one loss - to an Oregon State team that Utah beat - and barely broke a sweat against Penn State.
Florida also had a blemish on its record, a home loss to Ole Miss early in the season. After that misstep, the Gators were as dominant as any of the other teams.
So who's your No. 1?
Love it or hate it, the one thing the BCS consistently has done in its brief history is create a muddled championship picture.
For college football fans clamoring for more, wouldn't it be great if Texas played USC and Utah played Florida in a four-team playoff?
That's not happening, at least until the next TV contract expires in 2014.
Who's your No. 1?
Florida's got the trophy, and they say possession is 9/10ths of the law. But the evidence isn't overwhelming.
There's got to be a better way.
Copyright (c) 2009 TimesDaily.com
Ball State football team lands in Alabama
MOBILE, Ala. -- Ball State football coach Stan Parrish stepped to the microphone at the lectern during Friday's press conference that officially ushered in GMAC Bowl week and directed one of his first comments to Tulsa coach Todd Graham.
Parrish congratulated Graham on recently receiving a 10-year contract that, according to reports, could pay him at least $8 million to coach the Golden Hurricane through the 2018 season.
"I need one of those, coach, I really do," Parrish said.
Parrish signed his own new contract last month, a 4-year deal worth $1.4 million after replacing Brady Hoke.
Of more importance to Parrish is getting the No. 22 Cardinals ready for a run at history in Tuesday's game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Ball State has never won a major-college bowl game, going 0-4.
"We're here to have fun, but we're here to compete in the football game," Parrish said.
The Cardinals (12-1) will play for the first time since Hoke left the school on Dec. 15 to become the coach at San Diego State.
Mobile mayor Samuel Jones presented ceremonial keys to his city to Parrish and Graham, and then made a promise.
"We're going to make this the best place you've been this year," Jones said.
The weather that greeted the teams certainly made it feel that way. Temperatures in the single digits and teens last year for Ball State's trip to Toronto for the International Bowl were replaced by much warmer ones on the Gulf Coast.
Ball State conducted a light practice Friday on a mostly overcast, 70-degree day.
The temperature forecast is 75 today and Sunday, and 68 degrees will greet the teams on game day.
"We've been in a lot of bowl games, and the one here last year was one of the best experiences we ever had," said Graham, whose team beat Bowling Green 63-7 in the 2008 game. "What makes it so special is the people, the hospitality here. The first-class manner (in) which this bowl is run is absolutely tremendous."
Parrish said he expects today's Ball State practice at UMS-Wright Preparatory School to be a good indicator of how his team will respond in the days leading to the game.
"I see a lot of teams that are not interested and heavy-legged in bowl games," Parrish said. "I want us to be quick and interested."
Parrish wants to instill an attitude in his team that wasn't evident during its 52-30 loss to Rutgers in last year's International Bowl.
"We played on eggs a little bit last year," he said. "We weren't as aggressive as we should have been; we had a little doubt in our minds. We'll erase that and go after it."
Copyright (c)2009 IndyStar.com
QB Masoli emerges as leader
SAN DIEGO -- Last season, Chip Kelly's first as the Oregon offensive coordinator, the Ducks dealt with a rash of injuries at the quarterback position.
Until Dennis Dixon was sidelined by a knee injury, he was a Heisman Trophy candidate and the Ducks were national championship contenders. By the end of a 9-4 season, four different QBs had taken snaps, but the Ducks still managed to set school records for total offense and scoring.
This season has been similar. When preseason practice began, Jeremiah Masoli, a sophomore who in 2007 played junior college football at City College of San Francisco, was No. 3 on the depth chart. Now, he is the undisputed leader of the Oregon offense.
The No. 1 QB had been Nick Costa, who injured his knee during an August practice. Justin Roper made three starts before Masoli emerged as Oregon's most effective quarterback.
As the No. 15 Ducks (9-3) prepare to meet No. 13 Oklahoma State in Tuesday's Holiday Bowl, Oregon coaches hope that Masoli can remain a hot quarterback. As the Ducks closed the regular season with victories over Stanford (35-28), Arizona (55-45) and Oregon State (65-38), Masoli completed 67 percent of his passes for 716 yards and six touchdowns. He has attempted 72 consecutive passes without an interception.
In Oregon's spread-option attack, Masoli has rushed for 612 yards. Against OSU, he needs only 33 yards to set the school record for rushing yards by a quarterback.
Physically, the 5-foot-11 Masoli resembles Missouri's Chase Daniel.
"(Masoli) will tell you that he weighs 215 pounds, but he's 225. He's a big quarterback," Kelly said. "He can take a hit and he can really run. He took it (66) yards on the third play of the game against Arizona. He's faster than people realize.
"He's a little shorter than people want in a quarterback, but he's got a big-time arm."
Before moving to Oregon, the 45-year-old Kelly was an assistant for 13 seasons at New Hampshire (his alma mater). It was announced recently that Kelly eventually will succeed Mike Bellotti as the Ducks' head coach.
Bellotti, Oregon's most successful football coach ever with a 115-55 record in 14 seasons, turned 58 last week. He is expected to coach for at least one more season.
With Kelly next in line, the Ducks are assured of offensive continuity. The spread-option will remain the weapon of choice.
"I've been excited about this offense for four years, since we put it in," Bellotti said. "We had been in a pro-style offense, so going away from that was somewhat a risk. I felt good about what teams like Northwestern, Utah and Bowling Green had done with it beating people with superior talent simply on the basis of the system itself."
The Ducks average 41.9 points per game. Entering the bowl season, they were eighth nationally in total offense (478.2-yard average) and fourth in rushing (277.8). Jeremiah Johnson has rushed for 1,082. LeGarrette Blount is 72 yards shy of reaching the 1,000 mark. Four receivers have at least 33 catches.
"I think (the Holiday Bowl) will be a good match-up because we do a lot of things that Oklahoma State has seen in the Big 12," Kelly said.
"We're a little similar to Missouri and Texas, and we're similar to Oklahoma State. It should be an interesting game."
Copyright (c) 2008, World Publishing Co
ISU has its man
AMES, Iowa (AP) - Iowa State had pinned all its hopes on Gene Chizik - which was why his jump to Auburn after just two seasons was such a kick in the gut for the cellar-dwelling Cyclones.
Judging by the passion native Iowan Paul Rhoads showed upon being introduced as Chizik's replacement, Iowa State at least has someone who is less likely to wander.
Rhoads, a native of nearby Ankeny and a former Cyclones assistant, was hired as Iowa State's coach Saturday.
Rhoads, 41 spent last season as the defensive coordinator at Auburn, the same school that lured Chizik away earlier this week.
"I can honestly tell you, on a beautiful day in Ames, Iowa, it's great to be home," Rhoads said.
Rhoads, who has never been a head coach, was the defensive coordinator at Pittsburgh from 2000-07. He was also an assistant with the Cyclones under Dan McCarney from 1995-99.
Surrounded by dozens of family members and well-wishers who made the short trip to Ames through a snowstorm for his introductory news conference, Rhoads had to stop a number of times to compose himself.
Many have labeled Iowa State a coaching graveyard, but Rhoads couldn't contain his excitement over the chance to rebuild the Cyclones.
Iowa State went 2-10 last season and was winless in the Big 12. Under Chizik, the Cyclones were 5-19 and never won a road game.
"There are deep roots here," Rhoads said. "I was born 10 miles down the road."
Iowa State said Rhoads agreed to a five-year deal worth $5.75 million in guaranteed compensation, with incentives available to increase that total.
Chizik was hired as Auburn's head coach Monday, after Pollard said Chizik twice told him he would turn the Tigers down. Chizik's departure after just two seasons and a 5-19 record was a major blow for Pollard, who was praised for hiring Chizik away from Mack Brown's Texas staff in late 2006.
Chizik had even accepted Pollard's verbal offer of a two-year contract extension a week before Iowa State's season finale, though nothing had been signed.
Pollard had called the way Chizik left the Cyclones "extremely disappointing, and it's clear that his departure still stings.
"We needed to identify someone who had high ethics, very high integrity, who had academic values - cared about the academic success of his student-athletes, about their personal success, and to look for an individual who would be loyal to Iowa State," Iowa State president Gregory Geoffroy said. "In Paul, we have exactly the right person to be our new Cyclones football head coach."
Rhoads was one of about a dozen candidates Pollard said he interviewed. But Rhoads was the only candidate Iowa State extended an offer to, and Pollard said Rhoads's experience and his plan for turning around the Cyclones made him stand out among the other candidates.
"Getting the right person was far more important that doing it quickly," Pollard said.
Rhoads certainly knows his way around Iowa. His father, Cecil, was a high school coach in Iowa for more than 30 years and is a member of the Iowa High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. Rhoads was also a special mention All-State pick and the class valedictorian at Ankeny High.
"What my dad gave me was passion," Rhoads said before tearing up. An Iowa State spokesman attempted to move on to the next question, but Rhoads stopped him and said, "I knew this would be hard, but this is fine. This is who I am, this is what you get."
Rhoads worked under Walt Harris and Dave Wannstedt at Pittsburgh, helping lead the Panthers to the 2004 Big East title. He was approached by former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville in 2002 to be the Tigers' defensive coordinator. Though Rhoads turned him down, he moved to Auburn before this season.
The Tigers were ranked 15th in the nation at 18 points allowed per game this season, but finished just 5-7 and Tuberville resigned earlier this month.
Rhoads will have his work cut out for him at Iowa State. The Cyclones went 0-8 in the Big 12 despite not playing Texas, Texas Tech or Oklahoma.
"We will be physical," Rhoads said. "We will give you all you have for 60 minutes, and we will hit you coming off the bus."
His first order of business will be to keep Iowa State's young players from jumping ship. Iowa State played a large number of freshmen this season - brought to Iowa State by Chizik - and Pollard said earlier this week that many of them likely felt betrayed by Chizik's move to Auburn.
Quarterback Austen Arnaud said Saturday that while most of the older players have already gotten over Chizik, some of the Cyclones youngsters are still hurting.
"To you, I issue this challenge," Rhoads said to Iowa State's players. "It's time to roll up our sleeves, put on our hard hats and go to work together."
Rhoads later appeared at halftime of the sparsely attended Iowa State's men's basketball game against Jacksonville State on Saturday night, where he was met with a standing ovation.
"We are going to make the Cyclones nation proud once again," Rhoads told the crowd during a short speech.
(c)2008 The Daily Freeman Journal
Cougars soak in football title
The reactions ranged from tears of joy to tears of, well, terror.
After the Rancho Cucamonga High School football team secured the CIF-SS Central Division championship with a 21-7 win over Upland Friday night, the celebration erupted as the clock ticked toward all zeros and didn't end until the last of the coaching staff left head coach Nick Baiz's house in the early morning hours on Saturday.
The throng that lingered on the field for at least a half hour after the Cougars' first undefeated season and first CIF title since 1999 included a mass of Rancho Cucamonga students that rushed the field as the football team was snapping a picture with the glimmering CIF-SS champions plaque. The same plaque Baiz couldn't seem to let go of after the game.
After Baiz posed for yet another postgame picture, this one with his children, Morgan, 2, and Jacob, 6, his all-Baseline League linebacker Daniel Fonua swooped in out of nowhere - a familiar sight for opposing ball carriers - to hoist the head coach onto his shoulders, frightening Baiz's daughter enough to produce the night's first tears other than those of joy. Now that his father's CIF title was in the bag, Jacob, enough of a football fanatic nine months before his seventh birthday to name the conference of every major college football team in the country, was wondering if Charter Oak won its section title across town.
"I think everybody's favorite part of the celebration was seeing their family," the elder Baiz said. "The whole thing was kind of a blur, especially the end."
The beginning was a blur, too.
Eight minutes into a game that would evolve into a defensive slugfest, Rancho Cucamonga had rolled up 134 yards of offense, including two plays of more than 40 yards, and 14 points.
Baiz, however, was hardly comfortable with a 14-0 lead against an Upland offense averaging 36 points per game.
Upland confirmed his feelings, marching 89 yards for a touchdown on the heels of Rancho Cucamonga's second score. Davion Fleming's 3-yard run would be the Highlanders' only points of the night, but it began a sequence that sent the opposite sideline into a panic.
Three plays after Fleming's touchdown, Rancho Cucamonga center Gary Berwick went down with a chipped fibula in his left leg. Berwick wanted so desperately to play he had the trainers tape up his broken leg - "It killed him not to play," Baiz said. "If there were any way he could have played, he would have," - but he tested the leg on the sideline to no avail.
Sophomore Sekona Fonua's first shotgun snap tumbled past the outstretched arms of Cougars quarterback Greg Watson, who, in a testament to his play-making ability, miraculously turned a near 20-yard loss into a 3-yard gain. Another bad snap was enough for the Rancho Cucamonga coaching staff to reluctantly ditch the shotgun formation, from which the majority of their offense is run.
"We panicked a little in the second quarter," Baiz said. "We said `Oh crap, what are we going to do? We can't run our offense if we can't do shotgun snaps.' If we're not in shotgun, Greg (Watson) isn't a threat to run, so that whole part of our offense is gone. We were very limited in that second quarter."
Copyright 2008 Los Angeles Newspaper group
Styles collide in SEC championship game
ATLANTA - Roy Kramer should be smiling as big as anyone today. In his grandest vision of divisional play and a conference championship game, this is what the former SEC commissioner must have imagined.
You don't just have the two best teams in the SEC. You have the two highest ranked teams in college football.
You also have the toughest ticket in Georgia Dome history.
You want a good ticket at a reasonable price? Go to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.
You want to see Alabama vs. Florida? Mortgage your house and apply for a government bailout.
You can hear a lot of "Got tickets?" in downtown Atlanta. But if you think you see someone holding up two tickets this afternoon, call a cab. You don't need to be driving.
Some Alabama fans are treating this game like a NASCAR race. They began arriving early in the week.
Fans even arrived two hours early for Friday's noon luncheon, featuring both team's coaches, at a Hyatt Regency ballroom. Never mind that they already had tickets. They were positioning themselves for the best seats when the doors opened.
This is SEC football at its most passionate, but the interest isn't just regional. It's No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the country. The winner will advance to the national championship game.
Not since the league went to divisional play has a championship game been so appealing. And it's not only about rankings. It's also about contrast.
Alabama allows the fewest points in the SEC. Florida scores the most.
Alabama's offense grinds you down and runs the clock. Florida's offense is a blur.
Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson has never made All-SEC. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow already has won the Heisman Trophy.
Alabama nose tackle Terrence Cody is the hardest guy in the SEC to move. Tebow is the hardest guy to stop.
A trimmed-down Cody weighs about 360. Florida running backs Chris Rainey and Jeffrey Demps weigh about 360 combined.
Alabama is all about power. Florida is all about speed.
The team's contrasting styles might get your attention. But the coaches have plenty in common.
Florida coach Urban Meyer and Alabama coach Nick Saban are not only two of the best coaches in college football; they're two of the hardest working.
Saban's idea of a good night's sleep is a normal person's nap. If Meyer's plane were going down, he probably would spend his final seconds diagramming a punt-block scheme.
There's a toughness and singled-mindedness about both guys.
Meyer reminds me of my platoon drill sergeant in basic training. Saban reminds me of my platoon sergeant after a fellow squad member dropped his M-16 on the pavement.
They both have a great knack for connecting with their players in the heat of battle. Meyer does it with a stare that would make Pat Summit proud. Saban throws the best sideline tirade in college football.
They're also accomplished actors. How else could they have made it through 30-minute interview sessions with the media Friday afternoon?
Give the Oscar to Saban. He managed to freeze a smile for the photo shoot and thanked the media for acknowledging the accomplishments of his players. And all the while, he was probably wondering how he would take away the A gap from Florida's speedy running backs.
Even good actors have their limitations. You don't ask Eastwood to do Shakespeare, and you don't ask Meyer a non-game-related question the day before the SEC championship game.
He waved off the question with a "not-24-hours-before-Alabama-Florida" explanation. But he did it with a slight smile.
Smiles will be hard to come by on the sidelines this afternoon. For Meyer and Saban, this is a day for staring and screaming.
The rest of the SEC can provide the smiles.
Florida 30, Alabama 24: Saban probably started scheming for this matchup a month ago. And surely, his defense will take away something from an offense that has embarrassed the rest of the league. But Florida can hunker down on defense, too.
And its special teams have outperformed Alabama's all season long. That shouldn't change this afternoon.
Top 25: Oklahoma 58, Missouri 34; Southern Cal 42, UCLA 0; Cincinnati 34, Hawaii 17; Boston College 23, Virginia Tech 20; Pittsburgh 24, UConn 23.
Record: 214-60 (.771) overall, 131-115 (.533) against the spread.
(c) 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
BCS System Proves Playoff Is Needed
Sunday's announcement of the BCS standings gave the biggest argument for a playoff in college football.
There's no doubt, all the one-loss schools had valid arguments for the runner-up spot to undefeated Alabama. There's Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Southern California, Texas Tech and Penn State with one loss and there's unbeaten Utah and Boise State. Utah and Boise State definitely have points -- Utah having beaten Pittsburgh, 35-7, in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and Boise State winning against Oklahoma, 43-42 in overtime, in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.
But basically it came down to two schools for second -- Texas and Oklahoma.
Texas Tech had eliminated itself because of the late big loss to OU, but it had two Football Championship Subdivision teams on its schedule (one I could see because of scheduling difficulties -- that's the reason OU gave for scheduling Chattanooga -- , but two?, come on).
Thus, logic would say go with the winner on the field between UT and OU. I've been in the sports writing business for 25 years and I hear the coaches say over and over, settle it on the field.
That's one of the reasons overtime was instituted in high school and college. I remember the days when high school playoff games were decided by penetrations, first downs or even total yards.
Thank goodness, that rule was changed.
So Texas beating Oklahoma on a neutral field, 45-35, in October did not mean enough to many voters and the computers. Thus, Oklahoma will face Missouri in the Big 12 Championship game Saturday in Kansas City, Mo. The Sooners will be heavy favorites.
As for Texas, the Longhorns are third and will likely receive a BCS bid, possibly to the Fiesta Bowl to play Utah. They can take solace in the fact they defeated both teams in the Big 12 Championship.
Texas Tech could be headed to the Cotton Bowl to face Mississippi.
If Missouri was able to upset OU, the Longhorns would have a chance for the national title game along with Southern California. However, it appears the winner of the SEC Championship (Alabama vs. Florida) will be in the championship game, along with Oklahoma if the Sooners beat Missouri.
I have to be up front and say I've never been a fan of the Oklahoma program because of the number of times the team has been placed on probation by the NCAA. I remember growing up and listening to the Texas-OU game on the radio many times because OU was on probation and not allowed on TV. Listening to that game on the radio is tough because each play is followed by a roar from the crowd no matter which team does well.
There's no doubt the Sooners offense is impressive. Sam Bradford is going to make a great pro quarterback, plus he appears to be a good kid.
And Oklahoma has put up some impressive numbers that can sway some of the Harris Poll voters. Those voters are former coaches, journalists, etc. But lots of times they just look at the final score.
Like Saturday night, wouldn't it have been more sportsmanlike if Oklahoma would have formed the victory formation in the last few seconds of its win over Oklahoma State. Sure, it feels good running up the score on a rival.
Still, the game was decided. But instead of taking a knee, the Sooners ran another play and scored with just 25 seconds remaining, thus impressing the voters with a 61-41 win instead of 54-41.
And apparently it worked.
Although I commend Mack Brown for getting as many players into the game as possible, the Longhorns in many games could have scored more. Instead, he took Colt McCoy and many starters out of the game early in the fourth quarter, most notably the Arkansas, Missouri, Baylor, Kansas and Texas A&M games.
Would more scoring have helped the Longhorns among voters? Maybe.
But in the long run, hopefully, sportsmanship wins out.
Anyway, college football needs a playoff.
Just ask President-elect Barack Obama. He wants a playoff and college football should listen to him just as they did to Theodore Roosevelt, when he basically said clean up the game.
An eight-team playoff will work and I know the ninth-place team will likely cry foul. But you have to start somewhere.
Eliminate the conference championship games and let the other teams compete in the PapaJohns.com Bowl and Holiday Bowl, etc.
The top four teams would get games close to home.
Using the current BCS standings, these would be the first-round games and locations -- No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 8 Penn State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta; No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Texas Tech at Texas Stadium in Irving (or next year in the Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington); No. 3 Texas vs. No. 6 Utah at Reliant Stadium in Houston; and No. 4 Florida vs. No. 5 Southern California at Dolphin Stadium in Miami.
The final three locations will be neutral.
First the semifinals at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans and the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
The semifinals would match the Alabama-Penn State winner vs. the Florida-USC winner and the OU-Tech winner vs. the UT-Utah winner.
Then the championship the first year would be held in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Thus, it is settled on the field.
(c)2008 TylerPaper.com/Tyler Morning Telegraph
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