Congratulations Gators!

[dlgood]

That was a pretty sound thrashing. Florida 41 - Ohio State 14. And the game wasn't as close as the score would indicate.

I think that, while this Championship is fitting enough, this year's cycle is another argument in favor of a Tournament. Considering that I am a pretty strong proponent of a Tourney, most anything would have seemed like an argument for a tourney.

Particularly as there were two key factors in Florida winning, neither of which involved what Florida did on the field:

1. UCLA beating USC
2. Urban Meyer out Politikking Lloyd Carr

Beyond that, I get very tired of watching teams that don't bother to show up for a title game. OSU got outplayed and outcoached, and I can't blame it all on the layoff. Or on the exhibition factor. And maybe OSU's flatness was a factor of how Florida had played.

But there's a motivation factor. OSU had already proven the point of their season by going undefeated and winning that Michigan game. They weren't up for this in the way they would have been up for a playoff. Just as we'd seen very lackluster work from Louisville and Oklahoma teams that also had very little to prove in their bowl games.

All that said, probably the biggest story of the night for me, is trying to figure out just how much money those OSU players lost themselves. So much for thinking those Offensive Linemen are prospects. So much for any illusions that Anthony Gonzalez is a #1 or #2 receiver in the NFL. Troy Smith had a lousy game, never looked comfortable, and never made the great throws we saw from him earlier in the year. Not that he time or open receivers to throw to.

Well. That was a letdown. Also, they should never, ever, schedule the title game after the NFL Playoffs start. That's just idiocy.

Comments

[thelastgoodname.livejournal.com]

I recall wondering, in the second week of the season, how Ohio State had become anointed as the best. As far as I can tell, it was because they beat a (mediocre) Notre Dame in last year's Fiesta Bowl, and won their first two games (one a gimme, the other against a mediocre Texas with a freshman quarterback). Not what I would call overwhelming evidence.

That said, I'm a little irritated that Florida won, because most of their fans are insufferable idiots: the number of people who have been calling for Meyer to completely bench Leak in favor of Tebow, and the number of people who think that Ron Zook was the worst thing to ever happen to Florida football, both blow my mind. Leak can obviously win a championship, and Zook recruited most of Meyer's roster. The team might be good, but the fans are horrid. (Or maybe they're just football fans.)

Considering that I am a pretty strong proponent of a Tourney, most anything would have seemed like an argument for a tourney.

I'm against any sort of playoff, and I think this game and the rest of the BCS games are clearly evidence that we don't need one at all. The evidence really does support one's predetermined conclusions.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

1. Zook is a great recruiter. He is not a very good coach. It's not all that different than Ralph Friedgen coming to Maryland and winning 10 games three years in a row, with the players Ron Vanderlinden recruited but couldn't win more than 5 with.

2. OSU got annointed because of their offense. Simply put.

3. I generally hold that we should do one of two things.
A. Have some playoff form. Bowls and a Plus one, or a Best of Eight and bowls for everyone else
B. Forget about having a champion. Just send teams to traditional bowls and live with fighting over polls.

What we have now, with the BCS, is the shallow pretense of a title. I'd either want to dispense with the shallow or dispense the pretense.

[thelastgoodname.livejournal.com]

I'm good with B. In fact, I like B a lot.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Let's see. You take the champions from

Big East
Big Ten
Big Twelve
ACC
SEC
PAC 10

Which leaves two slots one of which will almost always be filled by Notre Dame, because it really is all about the money. Which means that there would be one or two slots open. This year do you take Boise or Michigan or LSU, two of whom won their big money bowl games this year?

Playoffs don't prove who is best. Just look at the World Series over the last few years. The hot team wins, not the one that's best in the long haul. It's all fun. But really, it means little more than fighting over the polls.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Playoffs don't prove who is best.

True. Better metrics are things like a double round robin, but that's not really possible. Still, if one is going to crown a champion, the top teams need to play each other and a big playoff funnel is the least bad of limited options.

At least then, you have whining over who should be #4 or #8 which is better than current.