The Back Alley Archives

Couldn't agree more Toothy. They certainly deserve consideration. They are a good team.

I think they should keep the system as is, but have the winner of Fiesta/Rose and Orange/Sugar play, then the winners of those two play for the championship.

Someone needs to remind Pete Carroll that his Trojans got all tore up and busted when they faced the Beavers.

^ why not add another bcs game...that'll be 12 teams...room enough to include the conference champs, the top BCS rated and some undefeated or at-large teams that are deserved.

winners of those bowl games play each other in a single elimination after they've been re-seeded.

I am just SHOCKED that Toothy has suggested a playoff of ANY kind! Weren't you totally against that before Toothy? And I concur about Utah...although I just don't think Bama was in that game mentally. One of the talking heads said "Bama is just wishing they were in the NCG and Utah is happy to be in the Sugar Bowl". I was just a little perplexed at how bad they looked...I think the movement of their offensive linemen around to make up for Smith's absense was NOT a good move.

Question of the day: Did anyone catch Fulmer referring to UF as "we" today during the halftime of the UConn/Buffalo bowl game?

They were discussing UF/OK and Fulmer quickly changed it to they or Florida or something more neutral. I just found it interesting that even after losing the UT job Fulmer still seems to pull for the SEC over the Big12 regardless of the team. There really is nothing like the SEC. Every other conference can suck a dick, IMO. Even in this down year, the SEC has the capability of manhandling others. Bring it bitches.

I am just SHOCKED that Toothy has suggested a playoff of ANY kind! Weren't you totally against that before Toothy? And I concur about Utah...although I just don't think Bama was in that game mentally. One of the talking heads said "Bama is just wishing they were in the NCG and Utah is happy to be in the Sugar Bowl". I was just a little perplexed at how bad they looked...I think the movement of their offensive linemen around to make up for Smith's absense was NOT a good move.

I was totally against it.

I think the bowl system has been gutted. The old conference affiliations meant a lot. I grew up watching the Rose Bowl -- no matter who won the Big Ten, I would pull for them in Pasadena. Even Ohio State. I came to Florida in 1989 and quickly became a Sugar Bowl fan. That doesn't exist anymore.

I think the controversy is interesting -- having an elected championship, rather than one settled on the field, keeps the pot boiling all year round. But I sense the hegemony of the mighty here crushing the possibility of the small. We have demonstrated several times in recent years that no matter what, a small-conference team will not be allowed into the big game. That is not good. The SEC has benefited enormously from this hegemony -- two straight championships and let's hope we make it three, all by teams with losses whose inclusion in the NC game was somewhat controversial.

The SEC is ruling on reputation right now. Maybe it deserves it. Maybe it does not. But I don't think it is fair now. What is wonderfully fair is the way the NCAA basketball champion is produced -- fair and incredibly exciting. You didn't have to be in DC to love the George Mason run to the Final Four.

Here's what the bracket would have looked like this year -- I did it cheap and lazy with the writer's poll rankings at the end of the regular season + conference championships. Ball State's loss to Buffalo in the MAC championship cost it a date in the playoffs -- had they won and gone 13-0, they would have likely come in at the sixth seed and opened against USC. That would have meant the MAC would have bumped the ACC -- as would happen every few years. As should happen.

I say no runnersup -- all champions. Your conference gets one shot.

By God, if the SEC is all it says it is, then the Gators should make their way through Va Tech, Utah (yeah, I said it, they would smoke Penn State), and Oklahoma, no problem.

Tell me they couldn't figure out a way to make some money with the seven games it would take to play out this bracket.

1 Florida (SEC, 12-1, #1)
8 Virginia Tech (ACC, 9-4, #21)

5 Utah (Mountain West, 12-0,. #7)
4 Penn State (Big 10, 11-1, #6)

3 USC (Pac 10, 11-1, #5)
6 Boise State (WAC, 12-0, #9)

7 Cincinnati (Big East, 11-2, #12)
2 Oklahoma (Big 12, 12-1, #2)

By the way, these conference champions do not make my bracket above.

Buffalo (MAC, 8-5, unranked)
East Carolina (Conference USA, 9-4, unranked)
Troy (Sun Belt, 8-5, unranked)
Navy (best independent at 8-5, unranked: suck it, Notre Dame)

Twelve possible teams -- eleven conference champs and the best independent, usually either ND or Navy. Take the top eight. Screw the 2nd-place teams -- #4 Bama, #3 Texas, #8 Texas Tech, #10 Ohio State, #14 Georgia Tech, #11 TCU. These teams will play some pretty good bowl games against each other. There is a clear set of rules: go out and win your damn conference and you have a shot to make it. If not, have a nice January 1.

Very little controversy this way as to who gets included: the rules are the rules. None of the four champs omitted has a righteous claim on inclusion. It is fair.

I do not claim this is a perfect system. Yes, it keeps students playing football into the spring semester. Yes, the weird resolution of the Oklahoma / Texas / Texas Tech deadlock is still unsatisfactory -- but that is a conference problem, not a NC problem. The conference must figure it out. Yes, it still places a value on politicking and may promote some November RUTS. But not as much. Florida doesn't need to bury FSU to get a spot in the NC game. All they have to do is win in Atlanta. RUTS might move you up from a seventh to a sixth seed, or a ninth to an eighth -- the minor-conference teams might start RUTS in November to try to jump poll spots. But by and large, this would reduce the importance of November RUTS.

I've been for a playoff system for years now. Utah's just the latest argument in favor of it, right in line with past teams like Boise St. If you're one of the big programs and you think you can just cruise into your bowl game and win on reputation, these smaller teams are there to smack you in the mouth. Bama had it coming to them. A playoff system would force every team to take the games seriously.