There Are Way Too Many Bowls
I'm all for the little guys getting their chance to shine, but we can't let everyone into a bowl game, can we? Air Force, Iowa State, Duke, Minnesota, and Purdue all made bowl games and, due to their losses in their bowls, finished with a losing record. Teams like that do not and should not get a chance to display their "talents" in a bowl game. It's great for the sponsors, the conferences, and the teams, but at the end of the day someone needs to be left out. There were 35 bowl games this year, which I think is about 10 too many. It is as though we are rewarding mediocrity since a mere six wins makes a team bowl eligible nowadays. It's time the NCAA/BCS increases the qualifications to get into a bowl. This will make them more competitive, interesting to watch, and make the regular season more important.
Maybe The MAC Isn't That Good
Due to my ties to NIU, I've always been a MAC fan and supporter. Even though I think there are too many bowls nowadays, I've always been a fan of expansion because previously, the MAC only had two slots for bowl games when they usually had four or five quality teams. This year was horrendous though. The only wins were by Ohio (vs Louisiana Monroe) in a blowout and Central Michigan (vs Western Kentucky) by a mere three points. That was the good. The bad?
Kent State, a team I thought was pretty darn good, got held to 13 points and lost to Arkansas State 17-13. Toledo got destroyed by WAC member Utah State 41-15. Ball State fared a bit better against UCF, losing 38-17. Bowling Green suffered a similar fate when they lost to San Jose State 29-20. Then to top it all off, NIU gets beaten fairly easily by Florida State in the Orange Bowl. This is a conference that demands respect because they are competitive against Big Ten teams and can beat the lower tier ones. Well, no one really cares when schools from the WAC and Conference USA are destroying you in bowl games. And even though NIU played a big time team, I didn't really think they looked that good. I thought if all the bounces went their way, they could win. They pulled off a fake punt, on side kick, and forced a fumble when it was still 0-0 and still lost by 21. Even though 14 of FSU's points came in the 4th quarter, NIU never really looked in sync. MAC, time to step up your game if you want respect in college football.
Maybe the Big East Is That Good
The Big East has recently been thought of as a very weak conference, with questions over the worthiness of their inclusion in a BCS bowl. Well, they shut up all the naysayers, including myself, this bowl season. They did suffer two losses as Rutgers lost by three to Virginia Tech and Pitt got trounced by Ole Miss, but they showed up in the games that mattered. On top of a Cincinnati win over Duke, Syracuse destroyed West Virginia 38-14 at Yankee Stadium in the snow. Remember WVU was one of the top teams in the nation at one point and had Heisman runner Geno Smith at quarterback. In their statement game, Louisville, a severe underdog to Florida, had their way with the Gators as they dominated the game more than the 33-23 score suggests. Teddy Bridgewater had the Florida defense scrambling all night, and the Gators couldn't do enough on offense to keep up. The "Big Least" turned into the Big East as they proved that games are not won on paper.
Oregon Deserved A National Title Shot
Before the title game happened, I thought Oregon was more worthy of playing in the title game over both Alabama and Notre Dame, they just lost at the wrong time. Even after the Tide's demolishing of Notre Dame, I still think Oregon could beat both those teams. Oregon's offense was electric all season long, minus the Stanford game, and proved it once again against an extremely good Kansas State team. These two were on a collision course for the title game until they both lost on the same day with KSU going down to Baylor and Oregon losing in overtime to Stanford. That loss was not nearly as ugly as Alabama's loss to Texas A&M. Quite frankly, it was better than Notre Dame's win over Stanford earlier in the year.
The Ducks boasted an offense that had a quarterback in Marcus Mariota, running back Kenjon Barner, and speedy WR/RB/returner/anything De'Anthony Thomas with the ladder two being Heisman candidates at one point throughout the season. Thomas kept his bowl game mojo as he returned the opening kick for a TD and finished with 15 yards rushing, 60 yards receiving with a TD, and 120 kick return yards. And he only got 8 total touches! Their offense is an even better version of Texas A&M's, which steamrolled through Alabama's defense to the tune of 29 points and 418 yards. I think they would have put on a show against Alabama or shredded Notre Dame's defense. I still think they would have put up at least 40 on either team and won handily. We'll have to wait until next year's playoff when they can prove it, because I see them as a top 4 or 5 team next year as well.
Notre Dame Did Not Deserve A National Title Shot
It's easy to say this now that the title game went the way it did, but I felt this way prior to the result. As mentioned above, I thought Oregon deserved to be there against the SEC Champion. While Oregon was blowing people out, Notre Dame was struggling to beat Purdue, Pitt, BYU, Michigan, and Stanford. Speaking of Michigan, Notre Dame beat them by 7 while Alabama beat them by 27. Just saying, you had to think a blowout might be coming in the title game. Maybe it's an anti-Notre Dame bias, but I think they are unfairly ranked higher than they actually deserve. Not just this year, but any year. They seem to be rewarded by their history and mystique rather than what they have accomplished. I watched a fair amount of Irish, Tide, and Ducks games this year and from the eye test, it was clear that the Tide and Ducks were better than the Irish. I also thought Georgia was a better team than the Irish, and possibly the Tide even though they lost the SEC title game. The Irish season was phenomenal, no doubt, and they certainly deserved a BCS bowl game and a high ranking. I just think in terms of competition and chance to win the title, Oregon and perhaps Georgia were much more worthy.
The SEC Is The Best Conference, Hands Down
I've not been a fan
of the SEC dominating the college football landscape like they have
recently. Each year they win the title and brag about it, I'm always
trying to find ways to make excuses/cases for why the Big Ten, Big 12,
or Pac 12 is better. Well, no more. You win SEC. Alabama now has an
established dynasty. Texas A&M comes to the SEC and finds its
freshman, Heisman winning quarterback and arguably should have gone to a
BCS bowl game. Georgia could have made a similar case as Florida did
wind up making it to the Sugar Bowl. South Carolina was also able to join in on the fun
as they made a New Year's Day bowl game with a defensive Heisman runner
for next year in Jadeveon Clowney. Their players are bigger, faster,
and stronger than any other place in the country. Honestly, if you're a
high school recruit, why go anywhere else? This conference will
continue winning as the loaded recruiting classes keep coming in, and
the other power conferences will just turn into conferences. There will
be only one true power conference, and that will be/is the SEC.
If My Predictions Were Correct, A Playoff Would Have Solved Everything
Although the NCAA will use a different type of rankings system next year, the matchups for this year based on BCS rankings would have been #4 Oregon vs #1 Notre Dame and #3 Florida vs #2 Alabama. One thing we know about the new system is they do allow for more than one team from the same conference to be amongst the teams in the playoffs. In my opinion, the winners would have been Oregon and Alabama, setting up the most competitive and worthy title game. Oregon would have won and been crowned the National Champion. The SEC streak would have ended and Florida would not have had to suffer the embarrassment of losing to Louisville. Notre Dame would still have gotten blown out, but at least not in the title game. The argument over a rightful national champion would be over! Maybe next year. Wait, definitely next year. As coach Jim Mora might ask, "Playoffs? You kiddin me?"
Matty O
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