College Football Wrap Up

[DANMAN]

I couldn't be happier with the way this National Championship game ended. The anointing of teams like USC, Ohio State, Michigan, and the perenially overrated ND team (preseason #3) has to stop. The sportscaster's and sportswriter's have such an obvious bias against the SEC, and their bias and stupidity was demonstrated tonight. Ohio State is now 0-9 against the SEC in bowl games. LSU destroyed ND; USC destroyed Michigan; and Florida demolished Ohio State. It's too bad Tenn lost to Penn State in a game in which they were in a great position to win and that Arkansas had a bad game against Wisconsin (who was a good team). Georgia, in a down year, beat VA tech, and Auburn beat Nebraska. Alabama lost by 3 (scary to think how they may fare next year with Saban). Florida was stronger and faster than Ohio State, thus proving all of these analyst know it alls wrong again. It's amazing how the anointed teams always play in the weaker conferences, yet the strongest conference in college football is never given the credit due. It hurts to think about Auburn's 13-0 season in 2004. I can't wait to see what next year's BS preseason rankings look like. GO GATORS!!! 41-14***

***Let's not forget the missed holding call against Ohio State on the opening kickoff return for a touchdown.

 

[alienhamster]

Look, I'm a Big Ten supporter, Michigan fan, etc. And I can admit that I fell for the hype somewhat too with both Michigan and Ohio State. But these are DARN good teams, make no mistake. Very good. I'm not sure what happened in both bowl games this year, but I'm fairly certain the long layoff hurt both of them immensely. (There are also specific issues like Lloyd Carr stubbornly running the ball when it's clearly not working. Plans B and C dude. Come on!)

Florida and USC get huge credit for bringing it to the bowl games, but I'm just not convinced we'd have the same blowouts if we actually had a playoff run-up to the bowl games. There's too much "we just happened to be on today" stuff when you don't have a rhythm to build off of.

And, despite these bowl wins, you can't explain away Florida's and USC's sucky play during several games throughout the regular season.

As for the SEC? Other than this Florida bowl win, I actually saw confirmation that the other top teams were overrated.

The only team I feel like we can all honestly say is clearly overrated is Notre Dame. That's a clear-cut case. Otherwise, Florida, Michigan, USC, Ohio State--these were the best teams this year. And big props to Boise State too!

 

[BigServer1]

Awesome win. Congrats to Urban Meyer and all of the Gators, especially Chris Leak. I thought OSU would win big, behind great play from Smith, but that physical, dominating Defense really brought on the "fall of Troy" (sorry I had to). This hurts this kids draft status big time.

I can't agree more about Notre Dame (I think everyone on these boards knows how I feel about the Irish), but I don't think that Ohio State was overrated this year. They won every game on their schedule, beat two #2 teams in a season (although Texas finished badly), and had a Defense that allowed 10 points a game. I don't think that the 51 day layoff helped either, although none of that changes the fact that they were stomped tonight, and Florida and the SEC need a lot of love in next years preseason polls (#1 and #2 in my opinion). Great win for Florida, and who isn't excited for Tim Tebow? That kid is a total stud.

 

[DANMAN]

Look, I'm a Big Ten supporter, Michigan fan, etc. And I can admit that I fell for the hype somewhat too with both Michigan and Ohio State. But these are DARN good teams, make no mistake. Very good. I'm not sure what happened in both bowl games this year, but I'm fairly certain the long layoff hurt both of them immensely. (There are also specific issues like Lloyd Carr stubbornly running the ball when it's clearly not working. Plans B and C dude. Come on!)

Florida and USC get huge credit for bringing it to the bowl games, but I'm just not convinced we'd have the same blowouts if we actually had a playoff run-up to the bowl games. There's too much "we just happened to be on today" stuff when you don't have a rhythm to build off of.

And, despite these bowl wins, you can't explain away Florida's and USC's sucky play during several games throughout the regular season.

As for the SEC? Other than this Florida bowl win, I actually saw confirmation that the other top teams were overrated.

The only team I feel like we can all honestly say is clearly overrated is Notre Dame. That's a clear-cut case. Otherwise, Florida, Michigan, USC, Ohio State--these were the best teams this year. And big props to Boise State too!

You are forgetting LSU who has been touted as the best two loss team ever by Lou Holtz. I can't help but believe LSU and Auburn would have fared pretty well against Michigan and USC and Ohio State. I agree about the playoff system...it has to be implemented. This discussion about overrated teams wouldn't even matter anymore.

 

[DANMAN]

Awesome win. Congrats to Urban Meyer and all of the Gators, especially Chris Leak. I thought OSU would win big, behind great play from Smith, but that physical, dominating Defense really brought on the "fall of Troy" (sorry I had to). This hurts this kids draft status big time.

I can't agree more about Notre Dame (I think everyone on these boards knows how I feel about the Irish), but I don't think that Ohio State was overrated this year. They won every game on their schedule, beat two #2 teams in a season (although Texas finished badly), and had a Defense that allowed 10 points a game. I don't think that the 51 day layoff helped either, although none of that changes the fact that they were stomped tonight, and Florida and the SEC need a lot of love in next years preseason polls (#1 and #2 in my opinion). Great win for Florida, and who isn't excited for Tim Tebow? That kid is a total stud.

I wouldn't necessarily call Ohio State overrated; however, they did play a pretty easy schedule this year other than Michigan (and Wisconsin???).

 

[BigServer1]

I wouldn't necessarily call Ohio State overrated; however, they did play a pretty easy schedule this year other than Michigan (and Wisconsin???).

They actually skipped Wisc. this season, and yes, they played a weak schedule. Florida's schedule was insane, they played ten bowl teams and won the toughest conference in all of college football. I am glad this is how it ended, Florida deserved it and Chris Leak in vindicated, but I am a little discouraged that Boise State is 13-0, the only undefeated team left standing, and most likely they will be ranked no higher than #5 tomorrow. This is my prediction: Florida #1, LSU #2, USC #3, Ohio State #4, Boise #5. No respect for Boise...

 

[DANMAN]

They actually skipped Wisc. this season, and yes, they played a weak schedule. Florida's schedule was insane, they played ten bowl teams and won the toughest conference in all of college football. I am glad this is how it ended, Florida deserved it and Chris Leak in vindicated, but I am a little discouraged that Boise State is 13-0, the only undefeated team left standing, and most likely they will be ranked no higher than #5 tomorrow. This is my prediction: Florida #1, LSU #2, USC #3, Ohio State #4, Boise #5. No respect for Boise...

Boise had a great year, but they could not stand up to any of those four teams listed ahead of them. I cannot say enough about their season though.

 

[dowjones]

I picked the Gators but didn't think they would squash Ohio like a bug. Two excellent teams. Florida had a much better game plan offensively. If Ohio would have put a similar game plan in effect, I think they would have done alot better and Florida's defense would have looked so brilliant.

alienhamster - Boise State was my favorite team this bowl season. We had a photo in the local paper of a Boise fan holding a sign that said "Bring on Ohio State". It was classic.

Chargers in the Super Bowl!

 

[BigServer1]

Boise had a great year, but they could not stand up to any of those four teams listed ahead of them. I cannot say enough about their season though.

I disagree. Oklahoma was a very hot team, a winner of 8 straight and they had the best running back in the country in their backfield. They were a one loss team, but because of that jobbing at Oregon they were 11-2, not 12-1, and had they not gotten screwed in Eugene, they very easily could have been playing for the national championship. Boise State dominated the first 40 minutes of that game, and if not for that freak muffed punt return in the 3rd quarter it wouldn't have been as close as it was. Boise also went to Oregon State, who closed the season as well as any team, and killed the Beavers 42-14. The Beavers went on to beat USC, Oregon and Hawaii as well as a close bowl win over Missouri. I think Boise would have given USC all they were worth, and I say the same about Ohio State. As for the two SEC teams, I think we're in agreement that they would be too fast and physical for Boise, but it still irks me that they can't settle it on the field. After all, who the hell thought they would ever beat Oklahoma?

 

[Kevin T]

Shocker of a game. I thought it would be close but really expected Ohio State to win. Just proves once again that the athletes are in the SEC. You can blame layoffs, coaching, etc. but the simple fact is that Florida was stronger, faster and had a better game plan. It was men vs. boys. The game was supposed to be OSU's strength against UF's speed but the Gators had both and OSU had neither. Everitt of UF commented on ESPN this morning that the defense knew on the first series that they were not only faster but stronger than OSU's O-line. UF's kicker accounted for more yards than OSU's offense! That's a stunner. And how can OSU not change from zone defense? That's all they ran all year and it came back to bite them. UF picked it apart all night long. Jerry Dinardo of ESPN made two excellent comments; 1. The best SEC team will almost always have one loss because of the superior competition. It's so tough to run through the league. That also means that the SEC champion will have a number of key injuries. 2. The top teams in the top conferences are very close but the bottom team separate the SEC from the rest. Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina were no joke this year and Bama was decent. Nine bowl teams in all with 6 wins and 2 very tight losses (Bama and Arkansas and UT played the worst game of their season). KY (props to my grad school!!-first bowl win in 22 years!!!) beats one of the best ACC teams (Clemson) while Georgia rocks another (VT). I was ashamed of my ACC this year. All the top teams lost with the exception of BC's pitiful 1 point win against Navy. SEC's the cream, no doubt.

 

[kevhen]

Urban Meyer had a great game plan against Ohio State. Troy Smith looked awful. Florida deserves props. They beat my Big Ten team in last year's bowl too.

 

[BigServer1]

Shocker of a game. I thought it would be close but really expected Ohio State to win. Just proves once again that the athletes are in the SEC. You can blame layoffs, coaching, etc. but the simple fact is that Florida was stronger, faster and had a better game plan. It was men vs. boys. The game was supposed to be OSU's strength against UF's speed but the Gators had both and OSU had neither. Everitt of UF commented on ESPN this morning that the defense knew on the first series that they were not only faster but stronger than OSU's O-line. UF's kicker accounted for more yards than OSU's offense! That's a stunner. And how can OSU not change from zone defense? That's all they ran all year and it came back to bite them. UF picked it apart all night long. Jerry Dinardo of ESPN made two excellent comments; 1. The best SEC team will almost always have one loss because of the superior competition. It's so tough to run through the league. That also means that the SEC champion will have a number of key injuries. 2. The top teams in the top conferences are very close but the bottom team separate the SEC from the rest. Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina were no joke this year and Bama was decent. Nine bowl teams in all with 6 wins and 2 very tight losses (Bama and Arkansas and UT played the worst game of their season). KY (props to my grad school!!-first bowl win in 22 years!!!) beats one of the best ACC teams (Clemson) while Georgia rocks another (VT). I was ashamed of my ACC this year. All the top teams lost with the exception of BC's pitiful 1 point win against Navy. SEC's the cream, no doubt.

The SEC was great this year, but I would be terrified if I were in any other conference next year. The SEC should have 3 of the top 5 teams next season. Florida is stacked, LSU is stacked, Auburn is already looking great, Saban comes into 'Bama (he's an asswipe, but a helluva footbal coach) and Georiga should be better than they were this year. It really looks like everyone else is going to be playing for 2nd and 3rd. A lot of people like USC next year with Booty coming back and returning a ton of starters, but after watching Florida last night, I have to say that USC would've been blown off the field, same with Michigan.

This screams to me to have a playoff in college football even more than Boise's win last week. If USC had beaten UCLA, Florida wouldn't have been in the title game. They need cruel twists from multiple teams in the last week of the season just to get there, and they clearly were more than deserving of that spot. If they had gotten jobbed in traditional SEC fashion it would have been a travesty, and they were only a classic USC letdown game away from being Auburn 2004 version 2.0. Let the teams settle it on the field. It's the only way...

 

[LuckyR]

I disagree. Oklahoma was a very hot team, a winner of 8 straight and they had the best running back in the country in their backfield. They were a one loss team, but because of that jobbing at Oregon they were 11-2, not 12-1, and had they not gotten screwed in Eugene, they very easily could have been playing for the national championship. Boise State dominated the first 40 minutes of that game, and if not for that freak muffed punt return in the 3rd quarter it wouldn't have been as close as it was. Boise also went to Oregon State, who closed the season as well as any team, and killed the Beavers 42-14. The Beavers went on to beat USC, Oregon and Hawaii as well as a close bowl win over Missouri. I think Boise would have given USC all they were worth, and I say the same about Ohio State. As for the two SEC teams, I think we're in agreement that they would be too fast and physical for Boise, but it still irks me that they can't settle it on the field. After all, who the hell thought they would ever beat Oklahoma?

The Broncos have every bit as much right to a piece of the National Championship as BYU did when they shared the title when they went undefeated a number of years back...

 

[johnathan smith]

I just took the rest of the week off from work to celebrate! UF isn't going anywhere next year either.

 

[sportsfan92]

I disagree. Oklahoma was a very hot team, a winner of 8 straight and they had the best running back in the country in their backfield. They were a one loss team, but because of that jobbing at Oregon they were 11-2, not 12-1, and had they not gotten screwed in Eugene, they very easily could have been playing for the national championship. Boise State dominated the first 40 minutes of that game, and if not for that freak muffed punt return in the 3rd quarter it wouldn't have been as close as it was. Boise also went to Oregon State, who closed the season as well as any team, and killed the Beavers 42-14. The Beavers went on to beat USC, Oregon and Hawaii as well as a close bowl win over Missouri. I think Boise would have given USC all they were worth, and I say the same about Ohio State. As for the two SEC teams, I think we're in agreement that they would be too fast and physical for Boise, but it still irks me that they can't settle it on the field. After all, who the hell thought they would ever beat Oklahoma?

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[chrisplchs]

next year, USC should win it all if they actually perform. SEC will beat up on each other again. Every SEC contender has question marks at the most important position (Tebow's passing game, LSU's qb situation, Auburn's Brandon Cox without a stud RB behind him) while USC returns pretty much everybody except for Jarrett and Smith.

 

[sportsfan92]

next year, USC should win it all if they actually perform. SEC will beat up on each other again. Every SEC contender has question marks at the most important position (Tebow's passing game, LSU's qb situation, Auburn's Brandon Cox without a stud RB behind him) while USC returns pretty much everybody except for Jarrett and Smith.

i'm pretty sure that most everyone considered leak a question mark too.... even (if not especially) the die hard gator fans now shoving each other off for a spot on his national championship bandwagon. usc was supposed to win it all this year too.... i'm just sayin'...

 

[DANMAN]

next year, USC should win it all if they actually perform. SEC will beat up on each other again. Every SEC contender has question marks at the most important position (Tebow's passing game, LSU's qb situation, Auburn's Brandon Cox without a stud RB behind him) while USC returns pretty much everybody except for Jarrett and Smith.

USC's losing Jarrett and Smith is a big deal. LSU has two great quarterbacks in Matt Flynn (see last year's 40-3 thrashing of Miami) and Ryan Perrilloux who was at the top of the recruiting charts. A big question mark for LSU is: what is going to happen without Jimbo Fisher?

 

[tricky]

was supposed to win it all this year too.... i'm just sayin'...

What got lost in the UCLA defeat was that this year was truly a "rebuilding" year for SC. They looked really iffy against many Pac-10 teams. They had injury issues that hampered Booty getting to know his WRs. And so on. Next year, the whole country is screwed.

USC's losing Jarrett and Smith is a big deal

Tall, athletic WRs aren't a problem at SC. Only real problem with SC is whether they can create a more consistent running game (i.e. 2-back system), so that Booty can hit his WRs on longer passing routes, which is what Sark/Kirk love to do. Even then, SC's defense next year is going to be SEC level. Speed everywhere. Unfathomable blitzing. Suffocating run D.

It's amazing how the anointed teams always play in the weaker conferences, yet the strongest conference in college football is never given the credit due.

I think most people agree that the SEC is essentially the developmental league for the NFL. SEC has exclusive rights with CBS, and they get more visibility as a conference than anyone else except maybe Big-10. Issue isn't media; issue is the BCS.

The problem is that the BCS Strength of Schedule punishes any team for playing weaksauce schools (i.e. non-Div 1A), more than they reward those teams for playing tough competition. SEC team is better off scheduling more byes in order to avoid the ire of the computers.

In any case, Urban Meyer may already be the best coach in college football. These aren't his guys, and look what he has done in two years. Just as he did at Utah.

 

[ATXtennisaddict]

SEC's looking very very tough. Big 12 sucks now. But GO LONGHORNS!

 

[DANMAN]

What got lost in the UCLA defeat was that this year was truly a "rebuilding" year for SC. They looked really iffy against many Pac-10 teams. They had injury issues that hampered Booty getting to know his WRs. And so on. Next year, the whole country is screwed.



Tall, athletic WRs aren't a problem at SC. Only real problem with SC is whether they can create a more consistent running game (i.e. 2-back system), so that Booty can hit his WRs on longer passing routes, which is what Sark/Kirk love to do. Even then, SC's defense next year is going to be SEC level. Speed everywhere. Unfathomable blitzing. Suffocating run D.



I think most people agree that the SEC is essentially the developmental league for the NFL. SEC has exclusive rights with CBS, and they get more visibility as a conference than anyone else except maybe Big-10. Issue isn't media; issue is the BCS.

The problem is that the BCS Strength of Schedule punishes any team for playing weaksauce schools (i.e. non-Div 1A), more than they reward those teams for playing tough competition. SEC team is better off scheduling more byes in order to avoid the ire of the computers.

In any case, Urban Meyer may already be the best coach in college football. These aren't his guys, and look what he has done in two years. Just as he did at Utah.

I understand about the SC receivers, but I also just don't find Booty to be that good. We had his brother at LSU a few years back and you may how he fared. Booty isn't going to be a Leinart.

 

[chrisplchs]

To say that Urban Meye is the best coach based on the fact that he won despite those aren't his guys is absolutely absurd. Ron Zook is generally accepted as one of the best recruiters in the game. I'll even put him at number 2 behind only Mack Brown.

Didn't SC used a running back by committee last year with pretty much 4 freshman rotating to get snaps. They can't go anywhere but up. Booty is a lot better than his brothers and the same will also be said for Jimmy Clausen. SC defense next year looks amazing. Only question mark is in the secondary on big plays but anything short and in the middle will not be there. Add in that you bring in Gallipo who is possibly the best LB to come out of high school in this decade. SC has all the ingredients to win it all and they should put the bar that high.

I am saying this not because I am an SC fan. In fact, I pretty much dislike the whole Pac-10 but the facts are that it is going to be SC with everybody chasing after them

 

[DANMAN]

To say that Urban Meye is the best coach based on the fact that he won despite those aren't his guys is absolutely absurd. Ron Zook is generally accepted as one of the best recruiters in the game. I'll even put him at number 2 behind only Mack Brown.

Didn't SC used a running back by committee last year with pretty much 4 freshman rotating to get snaps. They can't go anywhere but up. Booty is a lot better than his brothers and the same will also be said for Jimmy Clausen. SC defense next year looks amazing. Only question mark is in the secondary on big plays but anything short and in the middle will not be there. Add in that you bring in Gallipo who is possibly the best LB to come out of high school in this decade. SC has all the ingredients to win it all and they should put the bar that high.

I am saying this not because I am an SC fan. In fact, I pretty much dislike the whole Pac-10 but the facts are that it is going to be SC with everybody chasing after them

The fact is that it should not be USC #1 next year, but probably will be. It's not possible to overcome preseason polls if the #1 doesn't lose. What BS.

 

[tricky]

To say that Urban Meye is the best coach based on the fact that he won despite those aren't his guys is absolutely absurd.

Not sure about that -- Meyer hasn't yet fully implemented his offensive scheme, because he didn't have the right guys. I came into the title game already thinking Urban Meyer was a big-game coach, and one of the top in the college game. Meyer is heavily influenced by the Bellichick model, where he clearly defines roles and uses the depth of his team. Of course, Carroll and his stuff are up there too, as they should be since he was a NFL defensive coordinator.

Didn't SC used a running back by committee last year with pretty much 4 freshman rotating to get snaps. They can't go anywhere but up.

SC has great run block instruction/scheme, and so it's likely that their running backs will greatly improve. It kinda came in and out in spurts and such, but in any case, SC depends on their running game in order to open up the longer passing routes that their OCs love to run.

Booty is a lot better than his brothers and the same will also be said for Jimmy Clausen.

Booty's stats are comparable to Leinart's in the first season; it just didn't feel that way. There were gripes that Booty wasn't going through progression even halfway into the season, and that the staff was trying to get him. And he was also telegraphing where he was throwing the ball. I actually don't expect the SC offense to be that much better than this year, though it will still be near the top in the Pac-10.

SC defense next year looks amazing. Only question mark is in the secondary on big plays but anything short and in the middle will not be there

And that's what will lead their way to the title game. This is the best set of guys Carroll's ever recruited, and now SC essentially has two defensive coordinators with divergent philosophies/schemes operating it. The SC defense has a legitimate shot to be one of the all-time greats in Pac-10 history next year.

The fact is that it should not be USC #1 next year, but probably will be. It's not possible to overcome preseason polls if the #1 doesn't lose. What BS

I've always felt it should be either SC or Florida, pretty much since the middle of the 2006 season. Both teams were going through transitional seasons, for their run in 2007. Both were ahead of schedule. Tebow's going to be special, man. FU was hard to watch at times, except when they put Tebow in the backfield.

 

[edmondsm]

The national championship game was a perfect example of the flawed system. Not because of the teams in the game but the fact that they had been sitting around for over a month waiting to play that game. Result: sloppy performance from State.

Congrats to Florida. They currently hold the NCAA Football and Basketball titles as well as having the best basketball player who is the son of a Grand Slam champ. Joachim Noah...son of Yannick.