10 Things The BCS Taught Us This Year
10. The Statue of Liberty can still work
I can't remember seeing it run in a game, and have only fleeting memories of executing the play at the park back in the day. But Boise State brought back the coolest play in football: The Statue of Liberty, executing it perfectly in their overtime win against Oklahoma.
9. The Big East is a good football conference
When Miami and Boston College left for the ACC, most experts said the Big East should be stripped of their automatic BCS bid. After Louisville's impressive win over Wake Forest, and West Virginia’s win in the Gator Bowl, the Big East is probably wondering why they didn't kick Hurricanes out a long time ago. And by the way…
8. Rutgers deserved to be in a BCS game.
I sent one of my friends a text message in the 3rd week of the College Football season stating that Rutgers would finish the year as a ranked team. Little did I know how high. Rutgers capped an 11-2 season with a win in the Texas Bowl while Notre Dame collected $17 million in the Sugar bowl.
7. The Big 12 is the worst of the BCS conferences.
As an A&M honk, I've defended the Big 12 for years, but after this season even I have to stop drinking the Kool-Aid. Chip Brown of the Dallas Morning News does a great job elaborating on the fact that the conference was 0-14 vs. ranked nonconference opponents this year.
6. JaMarcus Russell is the truth
As far as quarterbacks go, this season has been about Brady Quinn and Troy Smith. But JaMarcus Russell made NFL scouts take note by outplaying Quinn in the Sugar Bowl. The success of Vince Young should bode well for Russell when the draft rolls around in April.
5. It doesn't get any better than Boise State vs. Oklahoma
The New Year's night matchup between Boise State and Oklahoma will go down as one of, if not the best college football game ever. Oklahoma has nothing to be ashamed of, having been beaten by a great college football team. This added more credence to the fact that the only way to determine who's best is on the field.
4. The Big Ten is overrated
Think about this for a minute, many of the sports predictors and prognosticators wanted an Ohio State/Michigan matchup for the championship. The East Coast media gave Ohio State a pass for their close game with Bowling Green, while trying to keep Florida out of the title game for a one-point win against South Carolina.
3. LSU, Boise State, Louisville, and USC should still be playing
For years I've thought there should be a 12-team playoff in college football. One thing this new format showed me is that 8 teams is the number if they ever decided to go that way. Take the 10 teams that played in BCS games this year subtract Michigan and Notre Dame, and you would have yourself a heckava tournament.
2. Notre Dame is the most overrated team in all of sports.
The Fighting Irish's loss to the Bayou Bengals made it 9 straight bowl games in which they've been defeated. When you play in games that you don't deserve to be in, against teams that are better than you, losses tend to mount.
I'm still mad about the firing of Tyrone Willingham by Notre Dame, and have wished nothing but failure on the program since he got the shaft. Touchdown Jesus saved the Irish against UCLA, Michigan State, and GA Tech, but LSU exposed Weis as just another guy thus far.
Weis is 0-2 in bowls (Ty was also 0-2), and 0-5 against teams who finish in the Top 10 (Ty was 0-4). It's hard for me to see why N.D. fans are so excited about a guy who's biggest wins have come against Penn State and Purdue.
1. The SEC is hands down the best conference in college football
People have been trying to convince me for years of the greatness of SEC football. But again, being the Big 12 homer that I am, I refused to see it. After LSU's drubbing of ND, and Auburn taking care of Nebraska in the Cotton, I was ready to admit it: The SEC rules the roost.
Then watching Chris Leak and Florida totally dismantle Ohio State made the point crystal clear. Any team that makes it through that conference should be given an automatic birth in the National Championship Game.
