Weekly Trivia: 2009-10 Bowl Challenge Cup

The answer to last week's trivia question, "What other FBS conferences (in addition to the Big Ten) had a three team tie for the conference championship?" is the Big East and the WAC. Uconn, Pitt, and West Virginia all had 5-2 conference records in the Big East. Hawaii, Boise State, and Nevada all had 7-1 conference records in the WAC. You could even throw in the Big 12 South, if you wanted; Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M all had a 6-2 conference mark.

One of the newer traditions in college football is the Bowl Challenge Cup awarded to the conference with the best win percentage in bowl games. This week’s trivia question is:

Which FBS conference won the Bowl Challenge Cup in 2009-10?

Leave your answer in the comments section. The answer will be revealed next Wednesday when a new question is asked.

For more trivia questions, visit the Trivia page.

Poll Results: Who Will Win The Big XII?

The poll results are in and 41% of voters thought that Oklahoma State would win the Big XII. That obviously won't happen now. Nebraska was a close second with 39%. The Big XII South representative in this week's championship game Oklahoma was third with 17%. The Texas A&M Aggies had 2% and Missouri the last 1% of the vote.

Thank you to all who voted. Don't forget to vote in this week's question: "Should Nevada be ranked higher (#14/#17) after beating Boise State?"

Poll Results: Which Team Was The Most Overrated?

The poll has closed for the question, "Which team was the most overrated?" The Utah Utes ran away with this one with 68% of the vote. Pittsburgh and Iowa both got 14% of the vote. Baylor grabbed the last 4%.

Thank you to everyone who voted. Don't forget to vote in this week's poll: "Who will win the Big XII?"

Monday Musings: Air Force Wins the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy

It was another great week of college football. It is weeks like these that make November the best month of the season. Everything is at stake and everything is possible.

1. Claiming the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. Air Force beat Army 42-22 to win their first Commander-in-Chief's trophy since 2002. Navy had won the last 7. Air Force beat Navy 14-6 back on October 2.

2. Bad day to be a two loss team. Two loss Florida State, Northwestern, Syracuse, Maryland, and North Carolina State all lost to teams with a worse record. Baylor was crushed by Oklahoma State. Iowa struggled to beat Indiana. Hawaii was overwhelmed by Boise State, and Fresno State was challenged by Louisiana Tech.

3. Mirror image. Cam Newton and Denard Robinson took the dual threat QB label to a different level this year. On Saturday, they posted very similar stats with their similar style of play. Newton attempted 21 passes and averaged 15.1 yards per attempt. Robinson attempted 20 passes and averaged 15.3 yards per attempt. Newton averaged 3.0 yards per rush, and Robinson averaged 3.3 yards. They both left their respective games early, however, Robinson left early due to injury, while Newton went to the bench with a commanding lead.

4. New life in Ames, Iowa. Since the Utah and Oklahoma games that ended 68-27 and 52-0 respectively, Iowa State has been a much improved team. They are 2-1 since those two losses, which includes beating Texas in Austin. The loss was a heart breaker to Nebraska in overtime.

5. Make Room for the Non-AQs. Boise State and TCU deserve serious consideration for the BCS national championship game. These two teams have played so well the last three years it is an injustice to not give them a chance on the biggest stage.

6. Lucky Number 55. Three traditionally strong programs that are having down years all posted big wins by scoring 55 points. Florida beat Vanderbilt 55-14, Georgia beat Idaho State 55-7, and BYU beat UNLV 55-7.

7. Moore than you can handle. Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore gave Hawaii more than they could handle. He reinserted himself in Heisman talk with a 30-37, 507 yards, and 3 TD performance against a good Hawaii team. Hawaii gave USC a competitive game (49-36) early this year, but Moore and company had the Warriors retreating all game long in a 42-7 blowout.

8. I am glad we're not in Kansas anymore. The Colorado Buffaloes saw a 28 point lead whisked away by a Kansas tornado. The Jayhawks scored 35 fourth quarter points to send the Buffaloes back to Colorado and helped blow them out of the Big 12.

9. Michigan needs a makeover. The mood in Michigan has been very gloomy the last two weeks. Rich Rodriguez was on the hot seat and no one thought the team was going in the right direction. By beating Illinois this week, the Wolverines are 6-3 on the season and will probably move to 7-3 with Purdue up next. They will go bowling and have a very good chance of finishing two, maybe three games improved from a year ago. There is only one problem in Ann Arbor: the defense. Fix that this offseason and Michigan can contend for the Big Ten title.

10. Wild, wild, East. The Big East Conference race is still wide open. While Pitt is 3-0 in the conference, no team has a conference record worse than 1-2. With so many conference games left to be played and all eight teams still in the running, things could get wild in the last month of the season.

Other recent posts on COLLEGE FOOTBALL HAVEN:
Poll Results: Will Michgian win 6 games to be bowl eligible?
College Football Haven Top 25, Week 10, 2010
Game of the Week: TCU Horned Frogs at Utah Utes
Game Predictions, Week 10, 2010
Weekly Trivia: Georgia Bulldogs Starting 4-5
Heisman Hopefuls: Andrew Luck and Matt Barkley Eliminated

Monday Musings: BCS = Broken Championship System

After another fantastic set of games this weekend for college football, here are my 10 thoughts for Week 8.

1. BCS = Broken Championship System. Two out of the three components in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) are human polls—the USA Today Coaches poll and the Harris Interactive Poll. This has been done with the expressed intent to give the human element more control over the top teams than the computer element. The Oregon Ducks have been number one in each of these polls the last two weeks, yet Oregon is not number one in the BCS, for the second consecutive week. Oklahoma was number one last week, and Auburn is number one this week. Someone needs to fix those computers. Even with only one third the weight, they are deciding who is number one.

2. How was this game close? The Auburn Tigers out gained the LSU Tigers 526 to 243 in total offense on Saturday. Why did Auburn have to stop LSU on a fourth down with 3:20 to play to win this game? With 526 yards you should have a lot more points. For example, Oregon “only” needed 582 yards to get 60. Why couldn’t Auburn muster more than 24?

3. We are legit. The Missouri Tigers (7-0), the Baylor Bears (6-2), and the Syracuse Orangemen (5-2) made this statement Saturday. All had glossy to semi-glossy records, but no one knew how much stock to put into these records. After Missouri beat Oklahoma, Baylor beat #22 Kansas State, and Syracuse beat #20 West Virginia, we all know that they are legitimate leaders in their conferences.

4. Progress in Pullman. The Washington State Cougars still aren’t winning games, but at least they are scoring points and making some of these losses respectable. Just a 10 point loss to Stanford. USC is the only Pac-10 team to beat the Cougars by more than 20. That includes Oregon, Stanford, and Arizona.

5. Worth the wait? Tyrod Taylor is finally starting to play up to his sky high expectations. He is fourth in the nation in pass efficiency with a 171.1 rating—this is by far the highest rating of his career. He has 527 rushing yards with a 6.2 yard per carry average. Taylor already has 15 TD passes, which is two more than he had all of last season. His completion percentage is up almost 9 percent to 63.9%. He is also on pace for his highest passing yards in a season.

6. Short lived success. Cincinnati and Georgia Tech are the latest teams to join the list of teams having reached a BCS bowl and quickly fell back to middle of the pack or worse in their conferences. Wake Forest, Louisville, Kansas, and Illinois all had a spike in wins to play in a BCS game, but quickly fell below 0.500. After playing in BCS bowls last year, Cincinnati is currently at 3-4, and Georgia Tech is 5-3 with the meat of their schedule still to come.

7. Green means go. Teams with green as a school color rolled up impressive amounts of total offense. Baylor: 682 yards; Hawaii: 614 yards; South Florida: 590 yards; Oregon 582. It was even good for one player named green. Hawaii running back Alex Green ran for 172 yards and four touchdowns on just 14 carries.

8. Yellow means go faster? In driver’s ed I was taught that you are supposed to slow down and stop when the light changes to yellow. When Oregon changed from green to yellow home jerseys, they sped up. The Ducks put up 60 points Thursday night, but what was more impressive is that they did it with only 21:29 possession time. No Oregon drive was longer than 3:37.

9. Three in a row. For the third straight week a number one ranked team lost. Alabama was the first, Ohio State was the second, and now Oklahoma fell. Will Auburn or Oregon make it four this week? Oregon faces a stiffer test with USC, but don’t count out Mississippi from pulling off the unexpected upset of Auburn. No one expected the Rebels to beat number 4 Florida two years ago.

10. Which was worse? Virginia Tech’s loss to James Madison in week two, or Texas’ loss to Iowa State this week? Okay, this is a bit of a stretch to put those two losses in the same sentence, especially since one is a 4-3 FCS team and the other is a 4-4 FBS team. However, after Iowa State lost 68-27 and 52-0 in back-to-back weeks, how do the Longhorns not put up at least 30? Sure you’re coming off an emotional win over Nebraska, but this loss looks really, really bad.

Other recent posts on COLLEGE FOOTBALL HAVEN:
Poll Results: Will either #1 Oklahoma or #2 Oregon play in the BCS National Championship Game?
College Football Haven Top 25, Week 8, 2010
Game of the Week: LSU Tigers at Auburn Tigers
Game Predictions, Week 8, 2010
Weekly Trivia: LSU starting 7-0
Heisman Trophy Hopefuls, Week 7, 2010

Monday Musings: 10 Thoughts About Week 7, 2010

College football did not disappoint this weekend. More upsets, more (un)Heisman moments, and more controversy--the BCS standings are out. After all the weekend action, here are my Monday Musings.

1. Dream Seasons Done. The Nebraska Cornhuskers, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Nevada Wolf Pack all saw hopes of undefeated seasons erased. It will take a lot of help from others for Nebraska and Ohio State to make it to the BCS National Championship game now.

2. The WAC is no walk in the park. Nevada’s loss to Hawaii shows that not just anyone can run the table in the WAC, at least not this year. If Boise State does end up undefeated, they will have beaten 3 quality conference opponents: Hawaii, Nevada, and Fresno State.

3. Wish you were here. On his way home Saturday night, Urban Meyer should have picked up two of these familiar post cards and sent one to Dan Mullen (Mississippi State head coach/former Florida offensive coordinator) and the other to Cameron Newton (Auburn QB/former Florida QB).

4. Should we really be surprised? Sure, Nebraska had the emotion of playing for revenge, and Texas had lost its last two games, but think about it. Texas was coming off a bye. The Texas defense is equal to, if not greater than, the vaunted Black shirts. Nebraska has been less than stellar at times (South Dakota State, 17-3; Idaho, 38-17). Cornhusker QB Taylor Martinez is just a freshman. As good as he has been, freshmen are still freshmen.

5. 120-27. Iowa State has been outscored by almost 100 points the last two weeks. The Cyclones have yielded one point per minute of play, and 1.75 points per minute that the opposing team’s offense is on the field.

6. Thank you. Michigan State needs to send one of these cards to Wisconsin. The Spartans don’t play Ohio State so the only chance for Michigan State to win the Big Ten outright, finish higher in the BCS standings than Ohio State, and get the conference’s automatic BCS bid was for someone to beat Ohio State. Wisconsin was happy to oblige.

7. Watch out for the Wildcats. The Kentucky Wildcats that is. They took Auburn to the wire last week. This week they upset South Carolina. Georgia and Mississippi State are their next two opponents. Kentucky has assumed the spoiler role and they can spoil both opponents’ seasons with a win in each game.

8. Good news/bad news. The good news during the Oregon Ducks’ bye week was that even without playing the voters moved them up to number one in the rankings. The bad news is that LaMichael James went from being the second leading rusher in the nation to the fifth. Vai Taua, Nevada, Bilal Powell, Louisville, and Cameron Newton, Auburn, all moved ahead of James.

9. Watch out Michael Crabtree, I mean Trevor Insley (Nevada). Insley set the NCAA single season receiving yards record in 1999 with 2,060 (Crabtree had 1,962 in 2008). After 190 yard and 207 yard receiving games in back-to-back weeks, Oklahoma State receiver Justin Blackmon is on pace for 1,910 yards, and that would be with only 114 receptions. Both Crabtree and Insley had 134.

10. Is Baylor bowl bound? The Baylor Bears are one win away from qualifying for a bowl, the first in program history since 1994. They have a hard road to travel for win number six: Kansas State, at Oklahoma State, at Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma.

Monday Musings: 10 Thoughts About Week 6

College football turned in a fantastic weekend. Several games came down to the last minute. Some more mid-season rivalry games were unexpected blowouts, while other games were much closer than expected.

1. Bad week to be unbeaten. With targets on their backs, the undefeated teams were tested and several failed. Five undefeated teams lost (Kansas State, Northwestern, Alabama, Arizona, and Michigan). Two others were severely tested (Auburn and LSU).

2. What a different a week makes. Colorado beat Georgia last week, 29-27. This week, the Buffs were whipped by Missouri 26-0, while Georgia whipped Tennessee 41-14.

3. A bad day to be UM. Michigan lost to in-state rival Michigan State 34-17, ruining the Wolverines' perfect record. Miami lost even worse in their rivalry game, 45-17.

4. A Boost for Boise State. The Broncos got a boost in the polls this week. They moved up one spot to number 3 in each poll and gained 7 first place votes in the AP and one in the USA Today. Certainly Oregon State's win over previously undefeated Arizona helped contribute to changing voters' minds, as well as Alabama's loss.

5. Back to the little kid table. Iowa State thought they were on the way up to the next level after last year's 7-6 campaign. Saturday, the Cyclones gave up 41 points--in the first half. You still have a long way to go.

6. He's human. Denard Robinson was playing out of this world in the first five games. Saturday saw him limited to 86 yards rushing and saw him throw three interceptions.

7. No more last second field goals. USC has lost back-to-back games to Washington and Stanford on last second field goals. No 4-2 team is closer to being 6-0 than the Trojans.

8. Game of his life. South Carolina quarterback played the game of his life in the upset of Alabama. His stat line was 17-20 (85%), 201 yards, 3 TD, 1 Interception. That is what it takes to beat at team like the Crimson Tide.

9. Half a day off. Baylor and Texas Tech gave their defenses half of the day off. At halftime the score in their game was 35-28. The defenses did play in the second half as each team scored only 10 points.

10. Learn to share. BYU held on to the ball for 45:01 in their 24-21 win over San Diego State. The Aztecs just wanted 2 more minutes.

Other recent posts on COLLEGE FOOTBALL HAVEN:
College Football Haven Top 25, Week 6, 2010
Game of the Week: Michigan State Spartans at Michigan Wolverines
Game Predictions, Week 6, 2010
USC Trojans: Still No Institutional Control
Weekly Trivia: Single Season Rushing Leader
Heisman Trophy Hopefuls, Week 5, 2010

Boise State Broncos: How to Guarantee A Spot in the BCS Title Game

Dear Boise State Broncos,

Congratulations on a 3-0 start that includes wins over your two toughest opponents. As a college football fan for over two decades, I am aware of your plight to play for a national championship. Boise State is a small school with much less tradition, fans, and money. You have to fight for the more established members of college football to recognize and validate you. After a great 2009 season that saw you post a perfect 14-0 record and win your second BCS bowl game, you came into 2010 with faint hopes that another perfect season would land you in the BCS National Championship game. With 20 out of 22 starters back from last year, anything less than an undefeated season will be a disappointment.

This year started just as planned. You beat the Virginia Tech Hokies on national television in a hostile environment. Problems started in week two. Virginia Tech lost to a FCS opponent. Now the Hokies don't appear to be the juggernaut so many thought they would be. Poof, that loss by Virginia Tech cost you seven first place votes in the AP poll. Oregon State came to town, and you comfortably won that game. Rather than sing your praises for beating another quality team that figured to contend for an automatic bid in a BCS game, the pundits are downgrading the Beavers. (Never mind that they have played two top 5 teams closer than anyone expected.)

That brings me to the purpose of my letter. I know Virginia Tech's loss and the pessimism about Oregon State are a blow to your cause, but don't despair. I have the formula that will guarantee you a spot in the game January 10, in Glendale.

This year you have some unexpected allies: your conference members. Normally, playing them hurts you more than it helps; this year is different. In fact, even your future Mountain West Conference member Wyoming gives you a boost. WAC teams have played many of the teams you are going to be competing with for one of those two BCS National Championship game spots. As an added bonus, your WAC counterparts have fared reasonably well. The BCS system puts an emphasis on two things: winning games and winning with style. What you need to do is win with more style than those other teams did. Here are the key games:

Wyoming, September 18
One week before (September 11) the Wyoming Cowboys went to Austin, Texas and lost to the Longhorns 34-7. Texas was ranked number 5 at the time and they could be the Big XII champion at the end of the year. The Big XII champion has played in the national title game the last two years. Therefore, you needed to beat Wyoming worse than Texas did, and you did, 51-6. If Texas finishes the year 12-1, your 45 point win over the Cowboys should give you the edge over Texas.

San Jose State, October 16
The San Jose State Spartans did you a double favor. They played number 1 Alabama the opening week (lost 48-3) and number 9 Wisconsin the following week (lost 28-14). Alabama is the favorite to win the SEC, and we all know that the SEC champion has won the last four national championships. The Crimson Tide set a pretty high standard with the 48-3 victory, but it is not unreasonable. You beat SJSU 45-7 last year. You will play the Spartans in San Jose as well. A more stylish road win against San Jose State should help your case. Wisconsin probably won't win the Big Ten, but if they do voters and computers should give you preference if you have a better win against SJSU than the Badgers did.

Hawaii, November 6
The Hawaii Warriors pushed USC in an opening day 49-36 loss. While Oregon and Stanford are getting the attention in the Pac-10 right now, USC is still undefeated. Make sure you beat Hawaii by a minimum of 14 points, but I would recommend you double that to 28.

Idaho, November 12
The most impressive team in the Big XII this year has been number 6 Nebraska. Winning the Big XII championship and finishing undefeated appears a distinct possibility. The Cornhuskers played Idaho on September 11 and won 38-17. A 21-point win. Improving on that seems reasonable. You did beat the Vandals 63-25 last year, which was Idaho's best team since the state's first potato crop.

Nevada, November 26
Worst case scenario, Nevada will be 9-2 when this game is played. The Wolf Pack made waves September 18 when they beat the Cal Bears 52-31. Cal doesn't figure to be a player in the Pac-10 race (although don't rule out a rivalry upset over Stanford), but with this win on their resume and currently a top 25 team, a win over Nevada could count as another quality win.

Utah State, December 4
The Utah State Aggies went into Norman, Oklahoma on September 4, and almost came out winners. The Sooners claimed a narrow 31-24 victory. This is where you can pick up a lot of ground, Broncos. A 30+ point win over Utah State will easily get you the nod over Oklahoma if they are the Big XII champs.

There you have it. Of course, you will want to win all your games by a minimum of two touchdowns, but these five games that you still have to play are the most important ones on your schedule. Win with more style in these games and your spot in the BCS National Championship game is secure.

See you in Glendale.

If you missed College Football Haven's Top 25 this week, click here.
If you missed Monday Musings this week, click here.
If you missed College Football Haven's Heisman Hopefuls this week, click here.
If you missed this week's trivia question, click here.

Monday Musings: 10 Thoughts About Week 4

The first month of the 2010 college football season finished this weekend, and it showed. The games got tighter and the stakes have risen, but the fun and excitement keeps coming. Here are this week’s musings.

1. In the Pitts. The Pittsburgh Panthers were the clear favorites in the Big East this preseason. Now the Panthers sit at 1-2. The lone win came against New Hampshire. The second loss came at home to Miami, 31-3. Dion Lewis has gone from fab-freshman to sub-par-sophomore. Lewis is averaging less than 50 yards a game and just three yards even per rush.

2. Weapon of choice: the pistol. Nevada made the pistol offense famous, and they are riding its popularity, and success, to a 4-0 record and top 25 ranking. The Wolf Pack isn’t the only team using it these days. Alabama used the pistol regularly against Arkansas this weekend, and UCLA used the pistol to shoot down Bevo, 34-12.

3. How did Bowling Green manage to win a game? Michigan played musical chairs at quarterback, but the offense didn’t skip a beat. Denard Robinson and Tate Forcier both sustained injuries, but Michigan still rolled up 721 yards total offense and put 65 points on the board. Robinson had 128 yards rushing on five carries, Forcier was a perfect 12-12 passing the ball, and Michigan converted 10 of 12 third downs. The only way to win is to play a team with a worse defense or play a team with no offense, but Bowling Green does have one win on the year (44-28 over Marshall).

4. Who is better: Pac-10 or SEC? The Pac-10 might be giving the SEC competition for the title “Best Conference in College Football.” With the exception of Washington and Washington State, the Pac-10 is very strong. The other eight teams are a combined 23-8, and all eight losses are to undefeated teams. The Pac-10 has two upsets of top 10 teams to its credit as well.

5. The best QB in the ACC. Russell Wilson, North Carolina State, is asserting himself as the best signal caller in the ACC. Veterans Jacory Harris, Christian Ponder, and Tyrod Taylor were expected to be the cream of the ACC crop this year. Wilson has outplayed them all, to date, and he bested Josh Nesbitt on Saturday. After throwing a pick-6 that closed a 17 point lead to three, Wilson recovered and threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to push the lead back to 10.

6. Mississippi Mud Slide. The Ole Miss Rebels bounced back from an abysmal loss to Vanderbilt to inundate the Fresno State Bulldogs. Jeremiah Masoli was 8-12 passing for 153 yards, and Brandon Boldin ran for 228 yards on just 19 carries. Ole Miss had 578 yards of total offense and scored 55 points.

7. Will this be the year? The Nevada Wolf Pack has not beaten Boise State since 1998. Nevada hasn’t been 4-0 since 1991. They have been close the last few years. When Boise and Nevada meet on November 26, will the Wolf Pack pull of a monumental upset?

8. Good thing conference play is starting. With six teams in the Big 12 undefeated and seven teams in the Big 10 undefeated, it is a good thing that conference play is starting this week. Nothing is better to separate the contenders from the pretenders. We all remember how Michigan fell from 4-0 to miss a bowl last year. With Texas and Iowa not among the unbeaten teams in each conference, it is hard to believe that the win-loss records really reflect how good teams are at this point.

9. Moral victories are multiplying. The Florida International Golden Panthers notched another moral victory this weekend. FIU is 0-3 with a 19-14 loss to Rutgers, a 27-21 loss to Texas A&M, and a 42-28 loss to Maryland. The head coach said they were not going to take satisfaction in these moral victories, but they do represent how far FIU has come. Just two years ago, FIU lost 40-10 to Kansas, and 42-0 to Iowa.

10. Lost or won? Did Alabama win the game against Arkansas, or did the Razorbacks lose it? Arkansas led most of the game. They had a commanding 20-7 lead in the second half. Alabama cut that lead to three with six minutes to play. All Arkansas had to do was hold on to the ball and run the clock out. Not only did they fail to do that, but Ryan Mallett threw an interception on the third play of the drive. This miscue gift wrapped the winning touchdown for Alabama.

For the latest College Football Haven Top 25, click here.

Game Predictions, Week 1

The game predictions each week will be pretty simple and straight forward. I will select around 20-25 games that I find interesting, but that also represent each FBS conference. Feel free to chime in with your picks, or at least where you agree or disagree. If I leave out a game that really interests you, throw out your prediction for that.

Thursday, September 2
Pittsburgh at Utah: 24-21, Pitt
Northern Illinois at Iowa State: 21-14, Northern Illinois
Florida Atlantic at UAB: 17-10, UAB
Southern Mississippi at South Carolina: 31-24, South Carolina
USC at Hawaii: 38-7, USC
Minnesota at Middle Tennessee: 31-10, Minnesota

Friday, September 3
Arizona at Toledo: 21-17, Arizona

Saturday, September 4
TCU vs. Oregon State: 24-13 TCU
LSU vs. North Carolina: 28-14, LSU
Illinois vs. Missouri: 31-28, Missouri
Colorado vs. Colorado State: 21-13, Colorado
Kentucky at Louisville: 28-20, Kentucky
North Texas at Clemson: 34-13, Clemson
Troy at Bowling Green: 24-10, Bowling Green
New Mexico at Oregon: 28-10, Oregon
Purdue at Notre Dame: 21-13 Notre Dame
Memphis at Mississippi State: 31-10, Mississippi State
Cincinnati at Fresno State: 24-21, Fresno State
Western Michigan at Michigan State: 24-10, Michigan State
Connecticut at Michigan: 31-30, Michigan

Sunday, September 5
SMU at Texas Tech: 34-27, SMU

Monday, September 6
Virginia Tech vs. Boise State: 21-17, Boise State
Navy vs. Maryland: 31-17, Navy

If you missed College Football Haven's Top 25 this week, click here.
If you missed College Football Haven's Heisman Hopefuls this week, click here.
If you missed this week's trivia question, click here.

5 Step Drop: 2010 Big XII Conference Football

The Big XII conference was the center of a lot of attention this offseason. They hope the attention continues once the games start. Here are five questions giving a quick overview of the Big XII.

1. Who will win the conference? Oklahoma Sooners. Barring any unforeseen injuries like last year. Injuries were the only thing that kept Oklahoma from another Big XII championship in 2009. Landry Jones has a year of playing experience and has had all offseason to prepare knowing that he is the man.

2. Who is the top returning player? Jerrod Johnson, Texas A&M. Last year, the Aggies’ quarterback made several big plays with both his arm and his legs. He threw for over 3,500 yards with 30 touchdowns, and he ran for over 500 yards and another eight touchdowns.

3. Which team will be the most improved? Baylor. The Bears will have Robert Griffin back to provide a boost. He is still recovering some of his mobility, but he will be effective enough all year to give Baylor a big improvement over 2009.

4. What will be the biggest surprise? No Big XII player will be a Heisman Trophy finalist. From 2003 to 2009, the Big XII had at least one player go to New York every year except one (2006). Landry Jones, Kendall Hunter, and Jerrod Johnson will get hype throughout the year, but none one of them will make the cut.

5. Which coach is on the hottest seat? Dan Hawkins, Colorado. He was supposed to be a prodigy from Boise State that would make CU a force again. Hawkins was 53-11 in five years at Boise State. In four years in Boulder, Hawkins is just 16-33.

Lessons Learned from Conference Expansion

Now that most of the dust has settled from conference expansion, let's see what we have learned.

1. Notre Dame is not the most powerful school in the country. That designation now belongs to Texas. Texas was able to turn college football on its head and then put it back on its feet, all in less than one week. The Longhorns had grown men fearing for their futures and desperately begging Texas to keep the status quo. Most importantly, Texas was able to leverage more money and control in the Big 12.

2. Expansion is all about money. Being good in football or basketball took a back row seat to other factors like the size of a school's local media market, the number of television sets that watch a school's games, and the impact on travel costs. Each conference did not hide that they would not expand if the current membership would not receive as much TV and other monies. Schools that have not fielded competitive teams in years (Colorado) were viewed more favorably than schools that win more than anyone else (Boise State). Schools that are very logical additions geographically (Pitt) are being rejected for schools that expand the conference footprint (Nebraska).

3. There are no loyalties. Each school will do what is best for it. While conferences were created to better the collective group, that won't stop one part of that group from leaving if a better offer comes along. Utah, with a BYU grad as school president and a former BYU player as its head football coach, had no concern about the impacts of its move on BYU and the rest of the Mountain West. Colorado couldn't accept the Pac-10's invite fast enough to throw Baylor to the curb. While doom and gloom was being forecasted for Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, and Iowa State, Nebraska happily jumped to the safety of the Big 10. The Boise State Broncos probably have not thought twice about how the WAC will be the Sun Belt of the West once they leave.

4. The Pac-10 is properly situation on the left coast. I, for one, was shocked to see the way certain schools in that conference openly opposed the addition of religious schools like Baylor and BYU. Come on, this is sports we are talking about. Why are you going to let liberal ideas get in the way of a good sports competition? Each conference has its own identity, but it is hard to find another conference that cares more about its identity than the Pac-10.

5. The power of the people. From the outset last December, all conferences proclaimed that this would be a 12 to 18 month process. That did not stop fans and media from talking about expansion and postulating expansion scenarios. Facts and data were being thrown out left and right arguing the merits of School A vs. School B. Demands for updates and leaks to the media fueled the fire. The people were heard and a mere six months later, the Big 10 and Pac 10 have made their moves (as well as the Mountain West, but that was more reactionary). The Big 12 is uncertain what it will do, but be assured that whatever timetable is set will be sped up by the people pushing for a resolve.

Poll Results: What Should Texas Do?

The University of Texas must have seen this poll because 68% said Texas should stay in the Big 12. Going to the Big 10 got 19% of the votes, and go independent received 13%. Thank you to all who participated.

We will stick with the expansion theme for the next poll question: What was the best expansion move?

CU says see you later to Big XII

Thursday, June 10, 2010, the Pac-10 announced that Colorado University will become the conference's 11th member. This change will become official in the summer of 2011. While many new rumors about Pac-10 expansion errupted less than a week before this annoucement, the first offical move was the oldest rumor. Colorado and Utah were the two teams first mentioned for Pac-10 expansion, which was thought to be a simple and fairly painless process to get the Pac-10 to 12 teams with a football championship game and improved television contract.

Now conference expansion has turned into a soap opera, with the Pac-10 being right in the middle of it all. Colorado made this move before other members of the Big XII to cut off attempts by Baylor to force its way into the Pac-10 and leave Colorado as the odd team out.

This move does not surprise me in the least. Colorado football has been down for several years, and what better way to infuse some life into the program than changing conferences. There is finally something to be excited about, which might translate into 2 or 3 more wins, which would translate into more excitement and better recruiting, which ... . You get the point; it's the snowball effect. Colorado pretty much hit rock bottom, so there is very little risk in this move.

The Big 12 Will Be Fine

Let's say Nebraska and Missouri leave the Big 12 for the Big 10. Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Colorado then follow suit and leave for the Pac-10. Now what? Well, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Baylor, first of all, I can assure you that the sun will rise the next day, and when it does rise here is the plan for you.

The Big 12 leftovers will be in a favorable situation, for being leftovers. Being positioned in the middle of the country, they have the option now of picking and choosing from the strong schools on the west and east of them. Take your time, because you will have time, and look at the following candidates.

Mountain West (MWC)
Air Force, BYU, TCU, and Utah

Big East
Cincinnati, Louisville

Conference USA
Houston, SMU, Southern Mississippi, and Tulsa

These schools provide two key ingredients: 1) An expanded conference footprint, while maintaining the traditional Big 12 footprint, and 2) A conference that could still be an automatic qualifyier in the BCS. You can pick your size, anywhere from 9 to 12 teams (5-8 in addition to the four leftovers). Here are some scenarios:

Kansas
Kansas State
Baylor
Iowa State
Houston
TCU or SMU
Cincinnati
BYU or Utah
Air Force
As long as you take TCU over SMU, this conference should be stong enough for a BCS AQ. The only problem is that long term, SMU might be better at getting attention in Dallas/Ft. Worth and Texas in general. :

Kansas
Kansas State
Baylor
Iowa State
Houston
TCU or SMU
Cincinnati
BYU
Utah
Air Force
Louisville
Southern Mississippi
This will give you 12 teams to hold a championship game. You are taking a chance on BCS AQ status with Louisville, but the basketball showdowns with Kansas could be too irresistable. Hopefully with both BYU and Utah, the conference will be strong enough to get AQ status.

The moral of this post is to keep your heads high Jayhawks, Wildcats, Bears, and Cyclones. The Big 12 has a future, and it might not be all that bad.

Big XII Ultimatum--Is this a joke?

The Big 12 has given Nebraska and Missouri an ultimatum for conference membership. The two schools have until Friday, June 11, 2010, to declare whether they are staying in the Big 12 or leaving for another conference. Really? This is the ultimate sign of desperation by the Big 12 conference officials. I find it hard to believe that the schools actually voted to issue this ultimatum. Six of the other 10 schools in the Big 12 have nothing to worry about if Nebraska and Missouri leave. Anyways, what good does this ultimatum do?

If I were Nebraska or Missouri, I would not respond. Go ahead, Big 12, kick me out. The worst thing that I see happening is the Big 10 does not extend an invite, so I have to go back to the Big 12 and say, "Sorry, will you let me back in?" I feel confident the Big 12 will say yes. The ultimatum makes it clear that the Big 12 has no "slam dunk" replacement schools, so when I come back as a known commodity, they will let me back in.

If Nebraska and Missouri do pledge loyalty to the Big 12, that is a slap in the face to the Big 10. This conference expansion carousel is still moving. The Big 10 might not be ready to extend an invite now, but maybe six months down the road will be. If you send the wrong message to the Big 10 you could kill your chances for the future. This is important because even with your commitment, Texas, Oklahoma, et al. can still bolt for the Pac-10, SEC, or something else. One thing we have learned already is that conference alignment is done on a school by school basis (with maybe the state of Texas being the one exception). Schools are making a decision based on themselves, not on how they may hurt/help the other teams in the conference by leaving or staying.

Yes, the ultimatum is a joke. The joke is the Big 12 officials, who are so scared of losing their job that they think they can use scare tactics to keep the conference from dissolving.

Conference Expansion Craziness

Sorry I have not posted a real article or anything for such a long time. Thank you to those who still frequented the site and have been participating in the opinion polls.

We are in the middle of what is supposed to be the quiet time for college football. Letter of Intent day is long passed and the spring football practice sessions wrapped up weeks ago. Classes are out and the coaches can't have contact with the players. Yet, the conference expansion craze is generating enough headlines and discussion to make this as busy as the regular season. Let's quickly run down the popular possibilities for each conference in expansion.

Big 10
We will start with the one that is responsible for this mess.
Plan A is to add Notre Dame to reach 12 and hold a championship game.
Plan B seems to be to take teams from the Big 12 and Big East to reach 14. Top candidates include the Big 12's Nebraska and Missouri and the Big East's Rutgers, Syracuse, and Pitt.

Pac-10
Plan A is to change the rule for championship games to conferences with 10 teams, as opposed to the current minimum of 12.
Plan A-1 emerged just last weekend to add six Big 12 schools that would include Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and either Colorado or Baylor.
Plan B Add Colorado and Utah to reach 12 and get a championship game to leverage a better TV deal and start a Pac-12 Network.

Big 12
Plan A is to weather the storm by keeping the nucleus of Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. They would prefer not to lose any team, but if Missouri goes they will survive.
Plan B add BYU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis, Arkansas, or another team NOT IN THE CURRENT BIG 12 FOOTPRINT to replace Missouri.

SEC
Plan A is to wait and see what happens knowing most likely they won't have to do anything.
Plan B is to expand to 16 teams by attacking the ACC and/or Big 12. Popular candidates include Texas, Texas A&M, Florida State, Miami, Clemson, and Georgia Tech.

Big East
Plan A is to give Notre Dame an ultimatum to join the conference for football or lose membership for its other sports. This is viewed as the best hope for survival, regardless of Notre Dame's response. The idea is to stop radical changes by forcing Notre Dame to join the Big 10 or, in their dreams, to stabilize the Big East by having Notre Dame as a football school.
Plan B die.
Plan C reach into the mid-majors again and repopulate the conference after the dust settles.

THE REST
Plan A is to wait and see. The Mountain West Conference (MWC) made this clear yesterday in a press conference announcing that Boise State would not be added. The ACC will only add teams if it loses teams or 16 becomes the new 12. The rest of the mid-majors won't expand unless one of the major conferences disbands and they feel they can capitalize with one of the once privileged "BCS schools."

With all these options on the table, which make the most sense and are the most likely?
Big 10 Plan A. Probably not going to happen. Notre Dame is being very vocal about wanting to stay independent, which means that is probably the message the boosters are sending. Notre Dame will listen to its boosters more than the Big 10.
Big 10 Plan B. Rumors are that Nebraska and Missouri to the Big 10 is immenent and could be annouced very soon. I think this has a high probability of happening, but not this month. Expansion is as big of a decision for these conferences as marraige is to an individual. The conferences will take the time that they need. These two teams would bring the total to 13 for the Big 10, which means one Big East team needs to come along. Pitt has the best football program, but offers the least new market. Rutgers has shown promise and the head coach is committed to the school, but how much market do the Scarlet Knights really bring? Syracuse has been putrid in football, but is great in basketball. However, the Orangemen seem to have the potential of delivering the most TV sets. I would rank the likelihood of these teams joining the Big 10 as 1-Rutgers, 2-Pitt, 3-Syracuse.
Pac-10 Plan A and A-1. Until the news broke about the 6 Big 12 schools I thought changing the championship game rule was going to happen and the Pac-10 would not change. If the numbers add up for Texas, I think the six Big 12 teams will end up joining the Pac. I have no expertise in projecting TV revenues, but I think there is a good chance that Texas would stand to profit with this arrangement with the Pac-10. If not, I think this opens a new can of worms for the top teams from the Pac and the top teams from the Big 12 to form a new 12-16 team conference hand picking the teams that would make the $$$ numbers work.
Pac-10 Plan B. What was once the most likely and reasonable scenario is as good as dead, I think. If this was such a great idea, the Pac-10 would not be bending over backwards to try and make other scenarios work.
Big 12 Plan A. Your guess is as good as mine about keeping the Big 12 nucleus together. It is hard to imagine that the Big 12 could cease to exist, but at this point we have to accept that it just might.
Big 12 Plan B. If Missouri is the only school to replace you can rule out Arkansas and Memphis as candidates. It won't happen. Cincinnati is very unlikely as well. I think it will come down to Louisville or BYU. Anyone who knows me will know that BYU would be my preference, but my gut feeling tells me that the Big 12 would prefer to expand east, not west. A presence east of the Mississippi could be very valuable.
SEC Plan A. This is the plan I envision the SEC following. Even if conferences expand to 16 teams now, the SEC is in a position to wait and see if these expansions really work. If they do, the SEC is strong enough to rip teams away from almost anyone.
Big East Plan A. I don't see the ultimatum happening. I really think the Big East will go down (Plan B) without much of a fight if two or more teams are taken. Raiding other conferences will prove fruitless because the Big East will be so weakened that BCS automatic qualifying status will be lost.

To summarize, the biggest players in the conference expansion game are: Notre Dame, Texas, and the NCAA rule for minimum teams required for a championship game. Notre Dame is capable of keeping the structure of eastern college football largely in tact by joining the Big East. Texas is capable of exploding the structure of college football nationwide by breaking up the Big 12. An NCAA rule change could keep everything status quo. Not only would it satisfy the Pac 10, it could satisfy the Big 10, or keep the Big 12 from expanding if one or two teams leave.

NFL Draft: Round 1 Reaction

While this is a college football blog, I think the NFL draft still fits the scope of college football. For me, college football starts with a player signing a letter of intent, and ends with a player being drafted or signing as a free agent, or just moving on to grad school or the less glamorous part of the workforce. With round one in the books, five things stuck out to me.

1. Sam Bradford was the number one pick. Talk about the biggest case of “much ado about nothing” that football has ever seen. Bradford could have been the number one pick a year ago, but he decided to come back. He was injured less than 30 minutes into the season and the frenzy started about how much money he lost and how he should not have come back. It turns out it was all a waste of time and energy. What more productive and constructive thing could have been done with all that time and energy?

2. Big night for the Big 12. I saw the USA Today front page headline, “1-2 for the Big 12,” but that is only half the story. The first four picks were from the Big 12, three from Oklahoma, as well as picks six, fourteen, nineteen, twenty-one, and twenty-four. Nine players in all. If I had the resources, I would do the research to find out if this is precedent setting.

3. Three WAC players drafted. Ryan Matthews (Fresno State) was drafted number 12 by the Chargers, Mike Iupati (Idaho) was drafted 17 by the 49ers, and Kyle Wilson (Boise State) was taken number 29 by the Jets. As you can see, only one played for Boise State, and he was the last one taken. For all the criticism that Boise State gets for playing in such a weak conference, the WAC produced more first rounders than the Pac-10 and the MWC, an equal number of first rounders as the Big 10 and the Big East, and just one less first rounder than the ACC.

4. Tim Tebow at number 25 was not shocking. It happens every year. Someone is taken much earlier than expected. We all know the adage “it only takes one.” I just want to know what inside information Denver had that made them move back into the first round. Denver had the 22nd pick. If they really wanted Tebow this bad, they could have taken him then, or else wait for the second round. Someone else must have been hot on Tebow and was going to select him before the night ended, even with Jimmy Clausen still available. No only was this pick not shocking, but I like it. With the success Kyle Orton had last year in the Denver system, then I don’t see why Tim Tebow won’t be able to have a good NFL career there.

5. Jimmy Clausen. Quarterbacks falling in the first round has become common, but they still make it out of the first round. Not this time. Clausen is still without a team. Was leaving Notre Dame early really the right decision? How smart does this make Jake Locker in Washington look?

The Evidence: Performance on the Field

This is the third part of the BCS Bash series. For part one, click here. For part two, click here.

We all come to a point in life when we have to make a decision, but the best choice is not clear. However, after we make and carry out that decision, we are able to judge if the decision we made. The Bowl Alliance decided to include the Big East, Big 8, Southwest, Atlantic Coast, and Southeastern conferences and to exclude the Western Athletic, Mid-America, and Big West conferences. The Bowl Alliance decided to have the participants in its three bowl games be the conference champions of the five included conferences, plus one at-large team. The BCS made these same decisions three years later. (Note: The Big 8 and Southwest conferences merged in 1996 to form the Big 12. For clarity, I will refer only to the Big 12 for the rest of this article.)

The declared intent was still to match number one and number two in a bowl game, but the actions of the organizers sent a clear message that participating in the elite bowls was for conference champions. If you are a champion you have automatic access. If you are not a champion get in line and hope your name is called. The automatic access, however, was not granted to all conference champions because not all conference champions were viewed as equal. Champions of the SEC, ACC, Big East, and Big 12 were in a higher class than the other conference champions. They were given automatic qualifying status because they were "extra special." The other conference champions were merely mediocre.

This is America and we have the freedom of speech, so there is nothing illegal with anyone making that statement. In America you are also innocent until proven guilty, so let’s take this to the judge.

Court is now in session. Charges have come against the Bowl Alliance/BCS for unjustly limiting the automatic qualifying status for conference champions to the ACC, SEC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, and Pac-10. The prosecution argues that for anyone to be a conference champion, they earn that distinction through their performance on the field of play. If these six conference champions are so superior to the other conference champions, their performance on the field of play will reflect that.

Exhibit one is the win-loss record and winning percentage before bowl games for the conference champions for the automatic qualifying conferences dating back to 1996.

Year....ACC....SEC....Big East..Big 10...Big 12...Pac-10

1996....11-0...11-1......10-1.........10-1.....8-4......11-0

1997....10-1...11-1.......9-3.........11-0....12-0......10-1

1998....11-1...12-0.......8-3.........10-1....11-2......10-1

1999....11-0...10-2......11-0..........9-2....11-1.......8-3

2000....10-1....9-3......11-0.........10-1....10-2......10-1

2001....10-1....9-3......11-0.........10-1....10-2......10-1

2002.....9-4...12-1......12-0.........13-0....11-2......10-2

2003....10-2...12-1......10-2.........10-2....11-3......11-1

2004....10-2...12-0.......8-3..........9-2....12-0......12-0

2005.....8-4...10-2......10-1.........10-1....12-0......12-0

2006....11-2...12-1......11-1.........12-0....11-2......10-2

2007....11-2...11-2......10-2.........11-1....11-2......10-2

2008.....9-4...12-1......11-2.........11-1....12-1......11-1

2009....11-2...13-0......12-0.........10-2....13-0......10-2

Total 143-26..157-17..143-19....154-17..157-19...145-17

Win % 0.846...0.902...0.882.....0.901...0.892....0.895

Relevance: The ACC champion had the lowest winning percentage (0.846) among the conference champions awarded automatic qualification to a BCS bowl. If this winning percentage is significantly higher than that of the conference champions not awarded automatic qualification to a BCS bowl, then the BCS is justified for excluding those other conferences.

Exhibit two is another table that shows the win-loss record and winning percentage before bowl games for the conference champions for the non-automatic qualifying conferences dating back to 1996.

Year...MWC*...WAC**...MAC...Conf. USA

1996...13-1.......8-3........8-3.........8-3

1997...10-2.......6-5.......10-2.........8-3

1998...11-1.......8-3.......11-1........11-0

1999....8-3.......8-4.......12-0.........8-3

2000....9-2......10-1........7-5.........9-2

2001...12-1.......7-4........9-2........10-2

2002...10-3......11-1.......10-2.........9-2

2003....9-2......12-1.......12-1.........9-3

2004...11-0......11-0........9-3........10-1

2005...10-1.......9-3........7-5.........8-4

2006...10-2......12-0........9-4........10-3

2007...10-2......12-0........8-5........10-3

2008...12-0......12-0........8-5.........9-4

2009...12-0......13-0.......11-2.........9-4

Total 147-20...139-25......131-40.... 128-37

Win%..0.880...0.847.......0.766......0.775

* = The Mountain West Conference (MWC) did not exist prior to the 1999 season. The data used for 1996-1998 are the records of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) champion since the MWC members competed in that conference at that time and all WAC champions during that time are now members of the MWC.
** = Most of the teams comprising the WAC today were members of the Big West Conference from 1996-1998, so the records of the Big West Champion was used for those years.

(Note: The Sun Belt Conference did not exist prior to 2001, so for lack of data, the Sun Belt Conference was not used in this comparison.)

Relevance: On the field of play, both the MWC and the WAC champions, over a 14 year period, have sustained better on the field performance than the ACC champion. The WAC champion’s winning percentage was 0.001 better, and the MWC champion’s winning percentage was 0.034 better. It is also important to point out that the MWC champion’s wining percentage was only 0.002 less than the Big East champion. The performance on the field of play by the WAC and the MWC champions has exceeded that of the ACC. The MWC champion is even on par with the Big East champion.

Exhibit three is the results of the “BCS Busters” against teams from automatic qualifying conferences.

2004: Utah 35, Pittsburgh 7 (Pittsburgh was the Big East Champion)
2006: Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42 (Oklahoma was the Big 12 Champion)
2007: Georgia 41, Hawaii 10
2008: Utah 31, Alabama 17
Overall Record: 3-1 (2-0 versus automatic qualifying conference champions)

Relevance: On the field of play, non-automatic qualifying conference champions have won 75% of the time they have played in BCS bowl games against teams from AQ conferences, and 100% of the time these non-automatic qualifying conference champions have played automatic qualifying champions.

While Hawaii lost to Georgia by 31 points that does not hurt my case. Teams from conferences with AQ status have lost by 31 points or more in Bowl Alliance or BCS games on six occasions.

Florida lost to Nebraska by 38 points in 1995
Florida State lost to Florida by 32 points in 1996
Notre Dame lost to Oregon State by 32 points in 2000
Maryland lost to Florida by 33 points in 2001
Oklahoma lost to USC by 36 points in 2004
Illinois lost to USC by 32 points in 2007

The BCS’s decision to exclude cannot be justified by Hawaii’s blowout loss since it is not the only time that a BCS game has had such an outcome. In fact, Hawaii did not have the greatest losing margin of all teams in BCS games in 2007. On the other side of the coin, Utah won in 2004 by 28 points, which begs the question, “Why would such a superior conference champion lose so lopsidedly?”

Exhibit four is the changes in conference make up. Since the Bowl Alliance formed in 1995, the composition of the Big 8, the ACC and the Big East have all changed. The Big 8 added teams from the SWC and the ACC swiped teams from the Big East. The Big East, however, reached into the pile of leftovers (teams not in a conference granted automatic qualifying status) and added three teams. Since the Big East added teams, three out of five years one of the former outsiders won the conference.

Relevance: While the Big East conducted research to determine the best candidates to add to the conference, the Big East did not need authorization by the BCS. The BCS did not conduct its own analysis of performance on the field of play and conclude who were the three most qualified teams in college football for membership in the exclusive BCS circle. The precedent established in 1995 changed the rules for conference expansion. The ACC added teams from a fellow AQ conference, but if a conference was going to reach outside the AQ boundaries, then the BCS should have to approve the move.

Furthermore, the immediate success of these new Big East members shows that, on the field of play, teams from conferences without an automatic qualifying conference champion are NOT inferior to the teams in conferences with an automatic qualifying conference champion.

Exhibit five is that the expressed purpose of the Bowl Alliance, which the BCS continued, was to create a system that would match the number one and number two ranked teams in the same bowl game.

Relevance: On two occasions (Nebraska in 2001 and Oklahoma in 2003) teams who were not conference champions played for the national championship. To play for the national championship, a team must be ranked either number one or number two. Since teams who were not conference champions qualified for the national championship game, the BCS showed that automatic qualifying status for conference champions was not necessary to accomplish its intent. Therefore, one or more of the parties involved in creating the Bowl Alliance and the BCS were working to protect special interests by creating the automatic qualifying status for a limited number of conferences in college football.

Closing Arguments: The defendant will, undoubtedly, attempt to counter my evidence with the strength of schedule for teams from the conferences with automatic qualifying champions. I rebut that argument by reiterating what was covered yesterday regarding “overall conference strength.” This notion of “strength of schedule” is a false perception born out of misconceptions that have, unfortunately, corrupted all forms of rankings and ratings for college football. When the issue is automatic qualifying status for conference champions, the only evidence that matters is performance on the field.

Specific to exhibit three, the defendant might rebut by incorporating regular season head-to-head competition of teams from conferences with automatic qualifying status versus teams from conferences without automatic qualifying status. That is irrelevant evidence. First, any head-to-head comparison should be between conference champions in the year that both teams were conference champions. Second, head-to-head competition is not a criterion used for selection of any team to the BCS bowls. USC and Notre Dame have both played in BCS bowls in the same year, regardless of the results on the field of play in the regular season. The same can be said for Florida and Florida State. Even in 2008, USC embarrassed Ohio State during the season, but both played in BCS bowls. The tables in exhibits one and two include all regular season games. Any head-to-head competitions that occurred are a part of those records. Bringing in regular season head-to-head competition is another bad cover up. It would be like lying: once you lie, you have to use another lie to cover it up. Regular season head-to-head competition would be using an injustice to cover up the original injustice.

The evidence I have presented clearly shows that two conference champions that don’t have automatic qualifying status have performed equally on the field of play to the conference champions that do have automatic qualifying status.

When we find out that we made a bad decision, we take corrective action. The BCS needs to take corrective action. Like most corrective action, it will hurt the wrongdoer. Fortunately in this case, the corrective action is simple. For now, though, we have had enough for one day. Come back tomorrow for The Solution.

Part 4: The Solution: It's About Conference Champions

Sources:
www.shrpsports.com/cf/
www.bcsfootball.org/news/story?id=4809942

The Scam: Automatic Qualifying Conference Champions

Note: This is the first part of a four part series on the Bowl Championship Series. Links to the other three parts are found at the end of this article.

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is a scam. Why? The provision that grants automatic qualifying status to certain conference champions. The BCS toots its own horn about how great it is because it guarantees that the number one and two teams will play in a bowl game to finish each year. Okay, so where does the need for automatic qualification come in? First a little history, so we can understand the real answer to this question.

Historically, bowl games had agreements with one or two conferences for the right to host certain teams in their games at the end of the year. The bowl games operated completely independent of any entity that ranked the top teams in college football. As attention to both bowl games and the rankings increased, the desire to see the top two teams play each other at the end of the year increased.

In 1992 the Bowl Coalition was created between the Big East Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big 8, Southeastern Conference (SEC), Southwest Conference (SWC), and Notre Dame with the expressed intent to create better possibilities for a bowl game to feature number one and two. This coalition involved the Cotton, Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, Gator, and John Hancock bowls.

The Bowl Coalition was dumped in 1995 for the Bowl Alliance. The Bowl Alliance consisted of the same five conferences, but reduced bowl participation to the Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta bowls. Each conference champion would automatically qualify for one of these bowls and one at-large team would be selected. Theoretically, that at-large team could be from any conference in NCAA Division 1-A football.

That brings us to the BCS. The BCS brought all the “major” conferences and bowl games together for the first time in 1998. The Pac-10, the Big 10, and the Rose Bowl joined the others to form the BCS. In 1996, the Big 8 and SWC had consolidated, more or less, to form the Big 12, so the official make up of the BCS was the Big East, the ACC, the SEC, the Big 10, the Big 12, the Pac-10, and Notre Dame, as well as the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, and Orange bowls. The BCS continued the automatic qualifying status for champions from the six participating conferences. Notre Dame could automatically qualify if it had 9 wins and was ranked in the BCS top 10. Teams from outside the six participating conferences could automatically qualify if they were ranked in the BCS top 6.

In most cases, I give people the benefit of the doubt and believe they act with good intentions. In the case of the Bowl Coalition/Bowl Alliance/BCS, it is pretty hard to accept that some other interests besides matching the top two teams in the same bowl were not driving this process. All that would have been necessary to accomplish the declared intent was to have an agreement between the bowls that the bowl with the number two ranked team would release its rights to that team so that team could play in the same bowl as the number one ranked team. Of course the bowl losing the number two ranked team would want retribution for its losses, but I think retribution would be a minor detail that could be worked out easily and beneficial to all. Furthermore, if we are talking about having the top two teams play, why wasn’t the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, and BCS all inclusive—all bowls, all teams. When was it ever decreed that a team from a conference with ties to one of the other bowls could not be number one or two? If a team from one of these outsider conferences and bowls was number one, why would that team not deserve to play for the championship in its affiliated bowl? Limiting the conferences and bowls involved and by giving automatic qualifying status to those conference champions was self-serving and collusive. The real intent was to have number one and number two play every year in a bowl game and to ensure that number one and two were teams from this select group of conferences.

Digging into history a little further makes this whole bowl confederation look very sketchy. I am still scratching my head wondering how the Big East and the ACC were able to gain favored nations status if the organizers’ motives were pure.

First, the Big East did not even exist until 1991 (Bowl Coalition began in 1992), so there was little to no historical evidence that this conference was important in accomplishing the objective to have number one and number two play in a bowl. Now, it is true that the University of Miami, Florida, technically was a Big East member and won the national championship in 1991 (as well as in 1983, 1987, 1989 as an independent), the Hurricanes played only two conference games that year. Now that 20 years have passed, the evidence we do have is that the Miami Dynasty unraveled shortly after it became affiliated with a conference.

Second, the ACC was a glorified Western Athletic Conference (WAC) before the 1992 season. Sure, Clemson won the national championship in 1981 and Georgia Tech split the national championship in 1990, but that is it. Once in a decade the ACC champion was relevant. The WAC was having the same level of success as the ACC during this timeframe. In 1992, however, Florida State left the ranks of the independents to join the ACC. Florida State was 53-8 and ranked in the top 5 from 1987-1991. Again, the evidence we have post-1991 is that the ACC, as a whole, was mediocre; the Seminoles dominated the ACC for the next decade. Furthermore, the ACC has never fielded an at-large BCS team.

Let’s be honest with ourselves and accept that the only reason the Big East is an automatic qualifying conference is Miami, and the only reason for the ACC is Florida State. No entity stating that it was trying to match number one and number two in a bowl game would have any credibility if it left these two national powerhouses out. However, all credibility would be lost if several schools were being hand picked like Notre Dame was.

Now, back to the original question, where does the need for automatic qualification come in? The short answer is it is not needed, all it is merely a cover up. I will uncover this cover up tomorrow. Don’t miss it!

Part 2: The Cover Up: Overall Conference Strength
Part 3: The Evidence: Performance on the Field
Part 4: The Solution: It's About Conference Champions

Sources:
www.bcsfootball.org/news/story?id=4819366
www.shrpsports.com/cf/