By Mark Walters
A quick glance at this week’s schedule shows us that not much is going on this weekend as the season wraps itself up.
A quick look into last week, Pittsburgh beat West Virginia 19-15 in Pittsburgh. It was the Panthers’ second straight victory in the 101st Backyard Brawl. LeSean McCoy ran for 183 yards and two touchdowns, including the one that put Pitt up for good with 53 seconds left to play. Good thing he’s coming back for his junior season. Heisman, anyone?
Texas steamrolled Texas A&M in the Lonestar Showdown. As excited as I was that a big college game was coming on late Thanksgiving night, right as the turkey and Yuengling was beginning to take their toll, I figured it was over when I found out before kickoff that the Aggies had forced something like 12 three-and-outs all season. I’d be willing to say that some teams do that in one game and I’d probably be right.
Several other games over the holiday weekend were also blowouts, like Florida 45, Florida State 15; Oklahoma over Oklahoma State by 20, Alabama shutting out Auburn in the Iron Bowl 36-0, and Mississippi blanking Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl 45-0.
This week, there are several championship games, such as the MAC (No. 12 Ball State vs. Buffalo), Big XII (No. 20 Missouri vs. No. 2 Oklahoma), ACC (No. 17 Boston College vs. No. 25 Virginia Tech), SEC (No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Florida). Aside from that, a few rivalry games, such as the Duel in the Desert between Arizona and Arizona State, and USC vs. UCLA in the battle for the Victory Bell.
A Trojans win over the Bruins at the Rose Bowl would put USC back in the Rose Bowl against the Big Ten Champions, Penn State. Thank God Oregon State lost to Oregon in the Civil War. A UCLA win, and I don’t know.
Speaking of which, how ’bout the Big XII tie-breaker? Holy three-way tie. They had to use a fifth plan-BCS standing-to have Oklahoma represent the South division instead of Texas or Texas Tech. They issued a statement saying they wanted the team with the best chance to play for all the marbles to go to the conference title game, and who can blame them? If Oklahoma wins, the Sooners will go to national championship game against the winner of the SEC title game.
For my observant readers, I had every intention of not capitalizing national championship. There is no true national champion in Division I college football. Until there is a playoff (c’moooon Obama) there will not be a true national champion. Let’s face it, the system is flawed. That’s a different column though and maybe it will pop up in a few weeks.
In the SEC title game, you gotta like the Gators. They are playing the best football lately, save for USC, which goes to show you that USC, with one loss to, also deserves to play for the title. Ugh, there goes the BCS controversy. It’s like the big elephant in the room right now. I’m trying to let it just sit there and eat peanuts, but I’m allergic to peanuts, and the smell is really bothering me.
Okay, let me air this out. I’m not just a perturbed Penn State fan that wants the system to give his team its due. In years past, this system has bent over several teams, such as an undefeated Auburn team in 2004 that despite not playing in the title game still finished second in the final standings. How’s that for a system? Any year that has put two teams in that were deserving with the third-ranked team far behind were viewed by some as years that the BCS “got it right.” HA! Got it right? More like got lucky. In 2005 when Penn State finished third, they were one close loss to Michigan away from being unbeaten and in the discussion. There was a year when Miami (FL) beat Florida State, yet the Seminoles went and the ‘Canes didn’t. What a joke.
There now. That feels better, but it still irks me. I view the BCS-playoff debate as the Arab-Israeli conflict. It will wage on for eternity, never be settled, and plague a nation of what it really needs.
Ahh, college football.