Since joining this blog from CNNSI's Mandel's page, I have read many blogs from college football fans and deciphering who is #2 behind Ohio State and what if comparison with conferences.
What I wanted to write and address is:
1) Michigan is the second best team in the nation. Not USC nor Florida
2) USC will make the BCS if they win out
3) Florida is not the best team in the SEC
4) SEC is the best overall conference but is overrated than most people believe (Again, I didn't say it is not a tough conference but there is not a clear team who could rack through the conference undefeated)
5) Let the game play out and not winning the conference championship game does not equate ineligibility to the BCS championship game
Michigan:
I have heard (mostly PAC 1o and SEC fans) stating that Michigan is overrated and since they did not win the Big 10, they should not be eligible to play the BCS Championship.
Let's compare games that a Big 10 team played that a SEC or PAC 10 team has played
a) Being a Buffalo Bulls fan, they have played Auburn and Wisconsin
Auburn (then #2 at Auburn) Total Yard (Rush/Pass/Total)
Buffalo 0 0 7 0 7 87-111-198
Auburn 7 3 14 14 38 261-153-414
The game was close all the way until 40 sec in the quarter. Buffalo Bulls were ranked on the bottom 10% of Div 1A
Wisconsin (then #123 at Wisconsin) Total Yard (Rush/Pass/Total)
Buffalo 3 0 0 0 3 52-107-159
Wisconsin 7 14 7 7 35 128-308-436
The game was a blow out from the get go and was not even close.
Wisconsin had a better team differential score, offense, and defense. Michigan beat Wisconsin. As you know Auburn beat Florida. Auburn is considered 3rd or 4th best team in the conference (tied for 2th but Arkansas and LSU seems to be a better team than Auburn in my view).
b) Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt 0 7 0 0 7 42-129-171
Michigan 10 3 7 7 27 246-135-381
Michigan routed them and see the difference in yardage
Florida 8 7 10 0 25 88-242-330
Vanderbilt 6 0 0 13 19 93-298-391
Florida played sloppy and almost lost this game. Vanderbilt had a better game than Florida
c) California Golden Bears
California 0 0 3 15 18 64-272-336
Tennessee 7 7 21 0 35 216-298-514
Minnesota 7 10 0 0 17 109-243-352
California 7 21 7 7 42 239-300-539
Minnesota is 6-6 (3-5) in the Big Ten
Tenneesee is 9-3 (5-3) in the SEC
This favors Tennessee and SEC who is 5th best in the conference while Minnesota is 6th (tied) best in the conference. Minnesota got routed at Cal while Tennessee routed Cal. This shows SEC is a stronger overall conference.
In those 3 games, it tells me that SEC is a good conference but best SEC team does not equate the same level or better than a Michigan. They all could play and win at home but could lose to each other at any time. People could say Michigan had a bad game against Ball State but looking at Florida's schedule.. They had close games with South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Florida State, and Georgia.. These were teams who do not have a consistent offense (South Carolina was not consistent with Newton as quarterback). They barely got by. While people go bonkers about Ball State., Florida had too many close calls. Again. Do I need mention, Michigan only lost to Ohio State by 3 points at their place (Do not even bring up the penalty call in the 4th quarter).
2) USC could end it all with the win against Norte Dame (They are leading 14-3 into the end of 1st quarter). Not because they are better than Michigan but rather Norte Dame is highly rank to vault USC past Michigan. Most coaches and sportswriter all agree.
3) The records are not indicative of the best team in the conference. Again, people could say otherwise but look at the various games in the past weeks:
Big XII
Texas is the best team but will end up being knocked out of the championship game because of the lost to Kansas State (Colt McCoy was knocked out of the game). They beat Oklahoma and Oklahoma will probably knock out Nebraska. It is an unfortunate game at Texas A&M but it was game they should have win to get into the championship.
Big East
West Virginia, Louisville, or Rutgers are supposed to be the best there. West Virginia lose to Louisville. The Louisville lose to Rutgers. Then Rutgers loses to Cincinatti. Now, West Virginia loses to South Florida. Most people think West Virginia is the best team but they lost two games now.
Right now in the SEC, LSU is the best team in the conference. People say Florida beat LSU but LSU lost the game due to their own turnovers and penalties. Florida won by trickery (which is fine) but it was all the turnovers by LSU. LSU finally to play the way they could by beating Tennessee and Arkansas. Florida could redeem itself with the win against Arkansas but the way the offense runs? I doubt. Again, too many close games against mediocre teams does not equate BCS championship
4) Read # 1 and enough said
5) With everyone trash talking and saying what they are saying. Let it go and let the teams play. You do not know what would happen until the game is over. Until then, all this is nothing but speculation. Anyone could beat another team any day. Could be the flu, stress, etc. Anything could happen. Heck, Florida State and Miami had a down year and Wake Forest and Kentucky had a winning season? So let them play
Saturday, November 25, 2006
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