TimKesten.com

I didn’t vote this year. I didn’t particularly care for either candidate, and I am tired of voting against the candidate that I dislike less. I definitely didn’t want Obama to win the election, and if I had voted, I would have voted for McCain. I don’t feel that the government knows what’s best to do with our money and I believe, “that governments best which governs least.” I think that large scale redistribution of wealth is dangerous and doesn’t reward people for hard work.

Having said that, we now have a black president. We, a nation of slavery only 150 years ago, have a black president. We, a nation of Jim Crow laws and segregated schools only 50 years ago, have a black president. A nation in which, until 50 years ago, minorities were not guaranteed the right to vote, now has a black president.

I am not a historian, but I have a hard time believing that any society in the history of mankind has progressed so far, so quickly. That a demographic of a society that was officially oppressed by its government has, in 50 years, produced the leader of that nation without a civil war, coup or military uprising in that time period has to be unprecedented. It is a testament to those who worked so hard and sacrificed so much years before I was born to set the ground work for something like this to happen, but it is also a testament to our nation, for making right what was so wrong.

In the scope of someone’s lifetime, 150 years certainly isn’t quick, let alone 50 years. In the scope of history, it is less than the blink of an eye. I am not naive enough to think that we don’t need to continue to progress. I am not naive enough to think that there are people in our country that resent the idea of a black president. But those people have been proven to now be the true minority.

To those of you who voted for Barack Obama, congratulations. I sure hope you were right.

More importantly though, congratulations to the United States of America, for coming this far.

There will be 18 new head coaches in the FBS in 2008.  Rich Rodriguez took over at Michigan and Bill Stewart took over for him at West Virginia.  Houston Nutt left Arkansas for Mississippi and Bobby Petrino returned from the NFL to coach Arkansas.  June Jones left Hawaii, after guiding them to their first BCS bowl game, in order to Coach Southern Methodist University, a team that was 1-11 last year.  Paul Johnson brings his triple option from Navy to Georgia Tech, and David Cutcliffe brings his expertise in working with quarterbacks to Duke.  The last time the Blue Devils won the ACC was in 1989 when they had another quarterbacks guru as their head coach, Steve Spurrier.  Bo Pelini is charged with bringing the black shirt defense back to Nebraska and UCLA is hoping that Rick Neuheisel, who was fired from Washington after he admitted to gambling on college basketball, isn’t charged with anything at all.

Most likely to succeed (immediately):  Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech and Bo Pelini, Nebraska.

Yeah, I know Bill Stewart is going to succeed at West Virginia.  He takes over a team that was one rivalry game away from going to the national championship last year.  I know he guided the Mountianeers to a win in the Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma in Rich Rodriguez’s absence.  I know West Virginia returns a ton of talent despite the loss of Steve Slaton to the NFL.  I also know Stewart isn’t going to a new school, he’s stepping into a new position.  If Stewart doesn’t win at least eight games it will be a surprise.  So I choose to focus on those coaches who are completely new at their schools, those that have to turn around a program, not continue the success of their predecessor.

Petrino and Nutt inherit talented teams, but the SEC is just too loaded for them to step in and enjoy immediate success (ask Nick Saban, who accepted a $32 million dollar contract at Alabama and proceeded to coach the Tide to a fifth place finish in the SEC west).  They’ll probably be above .500, and be invited to a bowl, but in places like Arkansas and Mississippi that is mediocrity, not success.  UCLA’s schedule will likely prove to be too much for Rick Neuhiesel, at least this season.  The Bruin’s will play road games against BYU, Oregon and Arizona State as well as home games against Tennessee, Fresno State, Oregon State and USC.  Paul Johnson inherits a Georgia Tech team that went 7-5 last year and it will be interesting to see how ACC defenses deal with the triple option.  Standing in Johnson’s way are road games at Boston College, at Virginia Tech, at Clemson and at Georgia.

Nebraska could not stop anybody last season.  Eight of the twelve teams that Nebraska played last year scored more than thirty points against them.  Enter former Nebraska defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.  In 2003, Pelini’s first season at Nebraska, the Husker’s defense was ranked eleventh nationally, improved from 55th the year before.  Nebraska had very little trouble scoring last year, averaging over 34 points per game.  And though they will have to replace quarterback Sam Keller, they only play five teams that had winning records last year compared to seven teams that didn’t.

Most Likely to fail (immediately):  Rich Rodriguez, Michigan.

Rodriguez isn’t starting from scratch in building his program at Michigan, but it’s close, and he might be better off if he was.  Quarterback Chad Henne, Running Back Mike Hart and receiver Mario Manningham are all on NFL rosters now.  In fact, the offense only returns three starters and it is likely that a freshman will start at quarterback.  Rodriguez must make the square peg players that are returning fit into his round hole offense as he installs the spread option at a program where the previous definition of innovation was the forward pass.  Michigan plays Utah, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan State at home and Notre Dame, Penn State, Purdue and Ohio State on the road.  Though they return all four defensive linemen, and that will be a strength, they will not have nearly enough talent or experience to match up with that schedule.  At least not this year.

The Wild Card: June Jones, SMU.

When Jones stepped in at the University of Hawaii, their program was in disarray.  The then Rainbow Warriors had lost eighteen games in a row including all twelve the year before.  In one year, Jones orchestrated the largest turnaround in NCAA football history, and Hawaii won nine games including beating Oregon State in the O’ahu Bowl.  SMU has some of the foundation laid for success, but they finished 1-11 last season, with no conference victories while giving up almost 40 points and over 300 passing yards per game last season.  Jones has never been known as a defensive minded coach; Hawaii allowed over 28 points per game last season against division one opponents.  Combine that with the suspensions of returning starting quarterback Justin Willis and returning strong safety Bryce Hudman as well as uncertainty at the offensive line, which is particularly crucial in Jones’ offense (remember the Sugar Bowl?)  and lack of proven depth at receiver and it’s hard to bet on Jones performing another record turn around this year.  I wouldn’t bet against him either.

My apologies to Bowl Season, er, I mean Christmas but the Start of college football season is the most wonderful time of the year.  The anticipation is palpable.  Hope dominates the conversations in the office and on the bulletin boards.  Every downtrodden program believes they can pull off a turn around like Illinois did last year, who compiled a record of 9-4, and played in the Rose Bowl after winning only two games a season before.  Every mediocre team dreams that they can make the leap to national prominence like Kansas did in 2007, winning twelve games, including the Orange Bowl, after playing .500 ball the season before.  Rivals can’t wait for a chance at redemption and revenge and fans all around the country are telling anyone who will listen why “this is our year!” Most importantly, though, the wait is almost over.  Soon it will no longer be “not-football season.”  Over the next few days I’ll tell you what I think you should keep an eye on this fall.  So, without further ado, I give you my 2008 college football preview

John Smoltz probably did not need 3000 strikeouts to get into baseball’s Hall of Fame. Up until this point, it wasn’t really a matter of “if” but “when” for the eight time All Star. That he is now the only pitcher in Major League Baseball history to save 100 games while also striking out 3000 batters, should ensure that Cooperstown welcomes Smoltz at its earliest opportunity, five years after his illustrious career ends.

To truly understand the career of John Smoltz one must do something that baseball fans don’t normally like to do. They must ignore the desire for the signature statistic. They must ignore the milestones. The 500 home runs, the 3000 hits. The 300 wins, the 300 saves. Because, unlike most first ballot Hall of Famers, Smoltz doesn’t have those milestone numbers. In fact, in cumulative numbers he’s not in the top ten of anything that really matters to Cooperstown. His 210 wins are tied for the 91st most. His 154 saves are tied for 61st most. His career earned run average of 3.25 is tied for the 273rd best (though no active player with at least 100 career decisions is in the top 100).

In fact, the only category in which Smoltz has a chance of cracking the top ten is strikeouts and that alone would not be enough to ensure a place in Cooperstown. Smoltz is currently 16th with 3011 strikeouts - 331 behind Phil Niekro for tenth. Considering that Smoltz struck out 408 batters over the 2006 and 2007 season and that he has already struck out 36 this year, it is not unreasonable to think that Smoltz could catch Niekro and claim the tenth spot. However, Burt Blyleven retired after striking out 3701 batters, the fifth most of all time, and is still not in the Hall 16 years after he called it quits.

It is only when you look at the culmination of Smoltz’s career that you can understand why he almost certainly will be a first ballot Hall of Famer. In everything he did, he excelled. He first excelled as a starter. In the first ten seasons (not including the strike-shortened season of 1994) when Smoltz was a full-time starter for Atlanta he averaged 15 wins. Then, when an injury forced Smoltz to change his pitching style and pitching role for four seasons he excelled as a closer. In the three seasons when Smoltz held that job full-time for Atlanta he averaged 48 saves while compiling more strikeouts than innings pitched in all three seasons. Finally, when Atlanta’s coaching staff was convinced that Smoltz could once again hold up to the strain of starting, he responded by posting a record of 44 and 24 and an ERA of 3.22 during three seasons in which he pitched over 200 innings each.

Of the past 18 years in which Smoltz has pitched in Major League baseball, he has posted an ERA under 4.00 in 17, barely missing a perfect 18 for 18 because of the aforementioned season of 1994 when his ERA was 4.14. He has had six seasons in which his ERA was under 3.00, including 1996 when he posted an ERA of 2.94, a record of 24 and 8 and won the Cy Young, and 2003 when he posted the best ERA of his career, a measly 1.12, while saving 45 games. Not to mention that he is also one of the greatest post-season pitchers of all time. He has compiled a playoff record of 15 and 4, with an ERA of 2.65 while striking out 194 batters in 207 innings pitched. Combine that with a strike out per nine innings pitched ratio of 7.984, which is better than all but two current Hall of Fame pitchers and a Roberto Clemente award in 2005 for strong work in the community and John Smoltz should be guaranteed a spot in Cooperstown.

Although with a current record of 3 and 2, an ERA of 2.00 and more strikeouts than innings pitched this season, there’s no hurry. Whenever you’re ready, Mr. Smoltz. Cooperstown can wait.

Thanks for visiting my website (I hate the term blog). I hope you like what you read, or at least like the way it is written. If you don’t like either, feel free to post a comment telling me how wrong I am or how stupid I am for misspelling “Iguodala.” If you do like it, then keep visiting and I’ll keep spouting my bitter rants and biased rhetoric.

Florida’s Men’s basketball team lost Thursday night 80-69 to Alabama in the first round of the SEC tournament. The loss, coupled with an unimpressive showing in conference play, will all but certainly leave the Gators out of the NCAA tournament, ending a decade long string of NCAA tournament appearances, a string that started in the 1998-1999 season when the current Gators were still in elementary school.

Florida coach Billy Donovan was not interested in hiding his frustration with his young team after the loss. He questioned his player’s commitment to doing what it takes to win, including playing defense. “I’m not necessarily really that excited about these guys being sophomores, to be honest,” Donovan said of his freshmen. “I don’t think people change a whole lot, and I don’t think you’ve seen the basketball team change at all this year. So it’s hard for me to get overly thrilled or excited.” Donovan was also disappointed that freshman Chandler Parsons told reporters that Florida was not ready to play Thursday night. “I don’t know how you can’t just be excited,” Donovan said, referring to playing in the conference tournament.

This is where the “what ifs?” come in. A little less than a year ago, Billy Donovan was not the coach of the Florida Gators. A little less than a year ago, Billy Donovan was the head coach of the Orlando Magic. Florida’s athletic director, Jeremy Foley, was landing in Richmond, Virginia to offer Anthony Grant, the head basketball coach at Virginia Commonwealth University, the head coaching position at Florida. Then everything came to a screeching halt. Donovan had a change of heart and realized that his was in Gainesville. The Magic released him from his contract, Foley left Richmond without offering Grant the job and everything went back to the way it was a few days before.

So what if? What if Billy Donovan had stayed on as the coach of the Orlando Magic? What if Anthony Grant had inherited this group, possibly without some of the key freshmen, who might have decided to go elsewhere after learning of Donovan’s departure? One must assume if someone with the reputation and distinction of Donovan had trouble reaching these players, that a first year coach like Grant would not have done any better. If the ten year long stretch of NCAA tournament bids had ended on Grant’s watch - in his first year as head coach - instead of on Donovan’s, how patient would the Gator Nation be? Billy Donovan has understandably earned a considerable level of faith from the Florida faithful, what with that whole “back to back national championships” thing. Grant would likely not have been given that same benefit of the doubt. How many boosters and sportswriters would be panicking right now? The consensus would likely have been that “if only Donovan had stayed” the Gators would have at least made the tournament.

That the cupboard was left bare after five players left for the NBA and one other graduated as the all time leader in three point shooting in the NCAA tournament would not have been enough of an excuse. Ask Ron Zook how understanding Florida fans are when a new head coach takes over a team with less talent than the several previous squads. Zook took over the University of Florida’s football team in 2002 after Steve Spurrier left the Gators for the NFL. Spurrier admitted that he left the school with a diminished pool of talent compared to the teams he coached during most of his tenure, when Florida compiled a record of 122-27-1 and won six SEC championships. That admission didn’t matter much to the fans of the Gators, some of whom constructed the website, www.fireronzook.com before Zook ever coached a single game. If now, under Anthony Grant, Florida had become the first team since Kansas in 1988 to miss the NCAA tournament only one year after winning it, would www.fireanthonygrant.com have been that far behind?

Florida is extremely young. The Gators have only one upperclassman who plays significant minutes, junior Walter Hodge. Compare that to the rotation they utilized last year when four juniors (Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green) and a senior (Lee Humphreys) started and their sixth man (Chris Richard) was a senior. But what if the Gators had been able to keep some of their talent in Gainesville? Never mind that Noah, Horford, Brewer, and Green could have come back for their senior year, we all knew that was not going to happen. Forget about them. What about David Huertas? What if David Huertas was playing for Florida?

Unless you either were following the Gators closely before the championship seasons or you are an Ole Miss fan, you probably do not know who David Huertas is. If you do happen to fall into one of those two categories you may remember that Huertas, a guard, played his freshman year at Florida but transferred to Ole Miss in search of more playing time and more shots. It’s hard to blame him. Had he returned as a sophomore, he would have been fourth on the Gator’s depth chart behind Humphreys, a senior, and Green, a junior, as well as fellow sophomore, Walter Hodge. Not knowing that Green would leave after his junior year, Huertas was facing a scenario where he probably wouldn’t get a chance to start until his senior year. Had Huertas stayed, however, he would likely have been Florida’s starting shooting guard this year which would have been his junior year. And Florida could have used him. The Gators could have used his 10.4 points per game, particularly his 19 points per game in the month of March, a month in which Florida has lost four games and won none. Florida, a team that started two freshmen guards, both of whom averaged more than thirty minutes per game, could have used the 25 minutes a game that Huertas gave the Rebels. Most importantly, however, Florida could have used another upperclassmen in their locker room, as the Gators youth was continually exposed in the form of Florida’s lack of toughness, lack of concentration and poor defense.

Huertas is among a long list of early departures and no-shows at Florida under Billy Donovan, including Mike Miller, Kwame Brown, James White, Anthony Roberson, Matt Walsh, Ryan Applby and the four juniors from last year. That is a fact of life in college basketball. Had David Huertas stayed, would the Gators be championship contenders? Almost certainly not. Would they have been a better team? Almost certainly so. Most importantly, it might have pushed them over the hump and in to the NCAA tournament for the eleventh straight season.

“If” is both a powerful word and a completely benign one. It allows us to speculate, to wonder, to hypothesize, but it doesn’t change anything in reality or in the present. What is certain is that Anthony Grant is still at the Virginia Commonwealth University and David Huertas is playing for Ole Miss and not Florida.

That Anthony Grant did not come to Florida is probably best for all involved, at least in the present day. VCU is 24-7 and still has a shot at getting into the NCAA tournament, Florida, in all likelihood, does not. Grant will get another chance to coach an elite program; he is being mentioned in connections with the current openings at LSU and South Carolina. It certainly was not Florida or bust for him. If Anthony Grant chooses, VCU will not be the pinnacle of his coaching career.

In the case of Huertas, sure, Florida will probably not make the NCAA tournament this year without him, but Ole Miss will probably not make the NCAA tournament with him either. Huertas will have the next two seasons to prove if he is better off without the Gators. It seems evident that the Gators are not, at least currently, better off without him.

You do not like professional football as much as you think you do, and the NFL knows it.

In a classic episode of The Simpsons, Lisa questioned Homer’s desire to gamble on professional football. When Homer told her that it makes the games more exciting, Lisa was confused. “What could be more exciting than the savage ballet that is pro football?” she asked. Homer replied with a question of his own,”You like ice cream, don’t you?” He asked, “And don’t you like ice cream better when it’s covered in hot fudge? And mounds of whipped cream?” Well, I ask you, you like the NFL, don’t you? And don’t you like the NFL better when it’s covered in fantasy leagues? And office pools? And Super Bowl parties?

Don’t get me wrong, I know there are plenty of people whose interest in fantasy football leagues and casual betting stems from their interest in the NFL, and not the other way around. There were plenty of people who watched every game, every Sunday, before there were all the extracurricular activities. In fact, there are plenty of people who still do. But with an estimated 30 million people playing fantasy football every year, it is a shrinking population.

I liken it to fishing. If you ask the average guy if he likes fishing, he will likely say, “sure,” because when he thinks of fishing, he thinks of being in the sun with his buddies on a chartered boat in close proximity to a cooler full of beer. Oh, and incidentally having a fishing pole in his hands. That same guy is not likely going to be interested in sitting on a pier, by himself, waiting for the tide to move at five in the morning, let alone wading. Similarly, the average guy would probably not sit on a couch by himself watching an out of market game if he didn’t have something else riding on it.

I know the NFL was doing fine before the popularity of fantasy sports, and would likely continue to prosper without it. But given my generation’s short attention span, it is not surprising that there are no less than seven different fantasy games available for play on the NFL’s website alone, including a game targeting the six to fifteen year old demographic, entitled PPK+. On January 25, NFL.com posted a mock fantasy draft for the 2008 season — a little over seven months before the actual season.

I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with fantasy football or any of the rest of it. In fact, I play fantasy football. But I am keenly aware that without fantasy football, I would not be interested in a game featuring the Bengals and the Cardinals, unless I picked the Bengals in my office pool.  The NFL is willing to bet that you would not be either.

Note: this is something I wrote hoping to use it for something else. I decided to go ahead and put it on here.

January 11, 2008

They were undefeated. 12-0. They won their conference championship. They were granted a BCS bowl bid, a long anticipated matchup with the University of Georgia and finally, most importantly, a chance to prove all the doubters wrong. The Hawaii Rainbows were hoping to be this year’s Boise State. Now, in the upcoming 2008 college football season, no one is going to want to be last year’s Hawaii.

The Rainbows were thrashed by the Bulldogs of Georgia, losing by a final score of 41-10. Their star quarterback, hoping to be a first round draft pick, went from big man on campus to men among boys in one night, after he was sacked seven times and threw three interceptions, all while throwing for a career low 169 yards and no touchdowns.

After the embarrassment of the Sugar Bowl the Rainbows were sent back to Hawaii, licking there wounds, and wondering what had just happened. Their attempt to regroup was cut mercilessly short as just fives day after the loss, coach June Jones was surprisingly wooed away to another college head coaching position. And not even a prestigious one. They lost their beloved coach to Southern Methodist University, whose once proud football program was given the one and only “death penalty” in the history of intercollegiate athletics for rules violation by the NCAA in 1987.

In the five previous years before Jones’ arrival in Hawaii, the Warriors won a total of 12 games. Under Jones, Hawaii compiled a record of 76-41, including 2 Western Athletic Conference Championships, a combined record of 23-4 over the past two seasons and four bowl appearances in the past five years. SMU won exactly one game last year. Not exactly what most would consider a step up for Jones.

Losing their coach to such a downtrodden program was too much for the University of Hawaii to stomach. They fired athletic director, Herman Frazier, one day later. Reportedly, Frazier’s inability to negotiate a contract extension with Junes was a major factor in the decision to release him and buy out the two remaining years on his contract.

In one week Hawaii went from its first BCS bowl bid to a team without a coach, without an athletic director, and facing an off season in which they must now replace both, as well as Colt Brennan, who threw more career touchdown passes as Hawaii’s quarterback than anyone in the NCAA history.

In the year prior to June Jones taking over Hawaii, the rainbows did not win a game. In Jone’s first year, the Warriors improved to 9-4, the biggest single season turnaround in NCAA division one history. Jones said his reason for choosing to leave Hawaii for SMU was the challenge of turning their program around. That is what he came to Hawaii to do, and he did accomplish that. But one must wonder if Jones now believes that his dream of turning Hawaii into one of the nation’s elite programs was just that - a dream.

Golf Channel Anchor Kelly Tilghman is being suspended for two weeks for something she said about Tiger Woods. What she said is being compared by Adora Obi Nweze, the president of the Florida State conference, a unit of the NAACP, to Don Imus calling the Rutgers Women’s basketball team “nappy headed hoes.” Al Sharpton is calling for Tilghman’s immediate termination by the Golf Channel.

So what did Tilghman say? What utterance could merit the destruction of a career? While discussing the chance that up-and-coming golfers had to challenge Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo said that, “maybe they should gang up on him for a while.” In response, Tilghman said, “Lynch him in a back alley.” Do you seriously think that anyone who thought of the connotations connected to the word “lynch” would use it so carelessly? Do you think that Tilghman, who reportedly is a friend of Woods, had any racial or hateful intent when she said those words? If she knew how people would read into that statement and uttered it anyway, she is one of the least intelligent successful people in this country.

None of that matters to the always opportunistic Sharpton. “Whether she’s a racist… is immaterial,” Sharpton said. No, Mr. Sharpton, it is material. It is everything. Kelly Tilghman said something, off the cuff, that some may have deemed racially insensitive based on connotation. Regardless of what you may want the public to believe, the term “lynching” is not, as you said “a specific racial term.” It may have specific racial connotations, but that is something very different. The definition of the term “lynch” is “to put to death, especially by hanging, by mob action and without legal authority.” Notice that there is no mention of racism in the definition. That those actions unfortunately happened to many African-Americans in a dark part of our country’s history does not exclusively link the definition of the word to African-Americans.

Kelly Tilghman is not Fuzzy Zoellor. I can understand why the public was upset after he suggested that Woods not serve fried chicken or “whatever they serve” at the Master’s Champion’s dinner. That anger was justified. There was simply no venom behind Tilghman’s comment. She was simply intimating that the up and coming golfers had little chance of challenging Tiger. The hyperbole was that their only chance would be to physically harm Woods. Tiger knew what she meant, and so does Al Sharpton. The difference is that Woods has nothing to gain by vilifying Tilghman, while Sharpton has made a career out of vilifying people every chance he gets. Tiger’s agent said that it was a non issue and that “Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly … we know unequivocally that there was no ill-intent in her comments.” Meanwhile, Sharpton said “What she said is racist … She’s a broadcaster. The channel has to be accountable to the public.” Mr. Sharpton, she and the Golf Channel may need to be accountable to the public and to Mr. Woods, but despite what your ego may tell you, they do not, and should not, have to be accountable to a hate monger like yourself.

Another year has passed and another college football season has been tainted by the ridiculous, hypocritical methodology of the Bowl Championship Series. We know LSU is the national champion, and there is a good chance that they are indeed the best team in the country, despite their two losses. I am sure USC, West Virginia and Georgia would beg to differ. If those four teams had a chance to play, we might have a different team on top. We will never know, of course, and that is the shame of the BCS. Despite this uncertainty, this bowl season did show us a few things that we can be pretty sure of.

 

The Big Ten is no longer a dominant conference.

Ohio State lost it second consecutive title game and is now 0-9 against the SEC in bowl games, but that is certainly not the worst of it. The Big Ten went 3-5 this bowl season, and Michigan’s victory over Florida was the conference’s only bowl win against a team that finished in the top 25 in the Associated Press Poll. Illinois, Ohio State and Indiana all lost by at least two touchdowns.

 

On the Other hand, the Southeastern Conference is the best conference in college football.

The PAC 10 and Big East represented themselves respectfully, but the SEC distanced itself from its competition this bowl season. SEC teams had a record of seven wins and two losses in bowl games this season, to go along with LSU’s convincing win in the national championship. The PAC 10’s teams combined for four wins and two losses and the Big East’s team compiled a record of three wins and two losses.

 

Hawaii did not belong in a BCS bowl.

I know, I know, hindsight is 20/20. It was an intriguing game. The unknown commodity of Hawaii against the consistent power of Georgia. 12-0 against Georgia’s speed on defense. Colt Brennan’s arm against the Dawg’s pass rush. It was supposed to be a great match up. It wasn’t. Brennan’s touted “quick release” was no match for Georgia. The Bulldogs sacked Hawaii’s quarterback eight times and intercepted four passes while routing the Warriors, 41-10.

 

Ohio State will not play in the BCS title game next year.

After the beat downs the Buckeyes received in the last two championships, after all the skepticism about their schedule and whether or not they belonged this year, Ohio State would have to start Jesus under center next year to even be considered for the championship game. Even if they go on the road and defeat USC in the second game of the season (which they won’t), even if they win the rest of their games by twenty, even if an SEC team is no where to be found, Ohio State will not be allowed to make a joke out of what many believe already is one in the title game. Ohio State will be good next year. They will probably be better than they were this year. It will not matter. The voters will not let them play in a third consecutive title game.

 

Kansas was for real.

All right, not national championship real, but they were a quality team this year and, admit it, better than you thought they were. Kansas was slammed for their weak schedule (deservedly so, but ahem… Ohio State?). After losing to Missouri in a game that could have put them into the Big 12 championship game, it was said that they could not win the the “big game.” They were not supposed to be able to match Virginia Tech’s intensity on defense. The Jayhawks were not given much of a chance in the Orange Bowl, but it did not matter. The offense that Kansas had relied on all season was slowed by Virginia Tech, but it was the Jayhawks defense that showed up and ultimately won the game for them, forcing three turnovers including one interception that was returned for a touchdown by Aqib Talib. Kansas proved not only that they could win a game that was not a shoot out, but that they could win in the spotlight. Having said that…

Missouri should have been in a BCS bowl

Missouri beat two teams that were selected to BCS bowls. Their only losses came to Oklahoma, who was also selected to a BCS bowl. The Tigers were 11-2, had beaten seven teams that were playing in bowls, and yet were somehow snubbed. In response Missouri went out and destroyed Arkansas 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl.

 

Kevin Smith and Paul Smith were the most under-appreciated players in the country this year.

They played in Conference USA, so it is okay if you doubted them before their bowl games. Kevin Smith was the leading rusher in the country going into the Liberty Bowl, but it is all right if you though Darren McFadden was a better running back. Then again, Smith did something that McFadden didn’t. Smith rushed for over one hundred yards against Mississippi State, 119 to be exact. McFadden rushed for 88 against Mississippi State, and Matt Forte, the nation’s second leading rusher, only gained 47 yards against the Bulldog’s defense.

It is all right if Paul White’s 4,753 passing yards didn’t impress you before the GMAC bowl. It is okay if you did not think throwing 42 touchdown passes in a year is impressive no matter what conference you play in, or if you thought Colt Brennan or Graham Harrell or Brian Brohm or Matt Ryan were better pure passers than White. Then again, Paul White did something in his bowl game that none of those other quarterbacks did. For that matter, he did something that no one has ever done. He threw for at least 300 yards in his 14th consecutive game, an NCAA record. He also had five touchdown passes bringing his season total to 47, and also ran for a score bringing his rushing touchdown total to 13 and total touchdowns accounted for to 60, the most in the country.

 

The rules (official and non-official) concerning who is eligible for what needs to be changed.

Illinois, as good of a story as they may be had no business in the Rose Bowl. They were put there because of the Big 10 conference’s traditional affiliation with the Rose Bowl. So instead of seeing the two hottest teams in the country, USC and Georgia, in a game that I am sure would have been an instant classic, we got to watch USC dominate Illinois, Georgia dismantle Hawaii and Missouri get left out in the cold. Which brings me to another rule that needs to be changed.

Why is it that only two teams from a given conference are allowed into the BCS? If the committee had gotten it right and excluded Illinois (or, in hindsight, Hawaii), it would have left room for Missouri to play in a BCS bowl, and yet, under the current rules, they would not have been allowed to. I am not sure how, in that situation, you can dicifer which team, Kansas or Missouri, deserves to be the second team from the Big 12 Conference in a BCS game.

Lastly, the “unofficial” rule stating that in order to play in the national championship you must win your conference either needs to become an official rule or go away. I am okay with either option. It makes sense to me that if you do not win your own conference you should not have a chance to win it all. That is fine, if that rule is going to be taken into account, then make it official. If it is not an official rule, however, it should not be used as an excuse to keep a team out of the national championship game, as it may have been this year in Georgia’s case.

The “plus one” system would not have done us much good this season.

Look, if the only other alternative to the system that we have now is a plus one system, then I’ll take it. If the powers that be will absolutely not allow a playoff, then give me a plus one. This year, however, it would have just led to more controversy. LSU would obviously be in, but what about USC, Georgia and West Virginia? How do you decide which two of those teams gets left out once again? In order for the plus one system to make much more sense than the system we have now, there would have to be a seeding system in the bowls in which the number four team plays the number one and the number two and three teams play each other, then the winners meet in the “plus one” game. That, in most circles would be called a playoff, and we know how those in charge feel about that. Which leads me to…

 

A playoff is necessary if we are ever going to have an obvious, pure, indisputable national champion in college football.

In the most obvious scenario, the six BCS conference champions plus two at-large bids would slug it out for three weeks, leaving us with a definitive champion. Thinking about how awesome a playoff would have been this year makes me feel like my head is going to explode. Imagine this scenario: Hawaii against Ohio State, LSU against West Virginia, Virginia Tech against USC, and Georgia against Oklahoma. And that is just be first round. Is an Eight team scenario too exclusionary for you? Okay, how about a twelve team, NFL style playoff where the top four teams have a first-round bye? In that scenario, even Florida, at 9-3, would likely have been included, so I do not think that any of those left out would have had a legitimate claim that they should be playing for the national championship. Of course, this isn’t going to happen anytime soon or maybe ever. So we will keep watching, arguing, and ultimately hoping that the university presidents, conference commissioners and Miles Brand will realize what the rest of us are reminded every bowl season. This year being no exception.