Posts tagged “BCS”
12/26/2001 — As the college football bowl season winds up with the four Bowl Championship Series games, a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of college football fans shows most would prefer to use a playoff tournament to decide the national champion. Only one in five prefer to keep the current BCS system as it is. Only a third of football fans agree with the BCS process that has Nebraska playing in the championship Rose Bowl game against #1 Miami this year, with another third choosing Colorado, about 21% preferring Oregon, and the rest undecided.
BCS Shambles
This is the central reason people loathe the BCS. Because it doesn’t account for the human spirit. Because it doesn’t let players decide things on the field with guts and nerve and timing. Because it doesn’t allow a 22-year-old failed baseball player to enter a game and turn the football world on its head.
I get this question about once a day, whether it’s from a Florida fan or during a radio interview:
How did Florida lose to Auburn?
This week, the response is different. Instead of analyzing what happened to the Gators, I ask a question right back.
Does it really matter?
Think about it. If Florida had beaten Auburn, would the Gators be in any better shape?
Florida would still need to beat Tennessee to win the SEC East and a trip to Atlanta. Florida would still need to win these last two games to go to the Rose Bowl. If Florida was 10-0 right now and lost to Tennessee, the Gators would be out of the mix for Pasadena. If they beat the Vols and lost next week, the Gators would likely have been jumped in the BCS standings by Texas or Oregon or Nebraska.
So, in retrospect, the Auburn game may turn out to be the most meaningless game of the season.
And yet, the most meaningful.
There’s no question the loss was a wake-up call for Florida and put the team on edge for the rest of the season. If Florida was 10-0 right now, this would look like a set-up game.
Instead, it looks a lot like 1996.
Florida loses by three points on the road, but gets help to make it to the national championship game. Sound familiar?
All that’s left is to win twice. Despite the 18-point spread, it won’t be easy.
I mean, Tennessee has to win in Gainesville some time. Doesn’t it?
Vols fans are confident. According to some online chat rooms, they are planning to tear down the goalposts at The Swamp after they beat the Gators.
There’s not enough Jack Daniels in the world.
Pat Dooley
BCS
The data used in computing the BCS standings can be found by following these links: USA Today / ESPN poll AP poll Billingsley Report Dunkel Index Kenneth Massey NY Times David Rothman Jeff Sagarin Scripps-Howard Seattle Times
Tony Barnhart, writing in the AJC: “Rarely has an open date been so productive as last Saturday was for the Florida Gators.” His preliminary analysis of the BCS numbers suggests that UF would have enough points to push past Texas even if the Longhorns beat Colorado. BTW, that Colorado-Nebraska game was unreal to watch.
Nebraska Stunner
College rankings shake-up
Big Game
Beginning next week at South Carolina, the fourth-ranked Gators go on a three-game stretch that will determine their season. Lose once, and any hopes of another Southeastern Conference championship, a trip to the Rose Bowl or the national title are history. Win them all, and even with the confusing Bowl Championship Series Formula, anything is
BCS
The new BCS Rankings have been released. Florida only moved up one spot – from 8th to 7th – after destroying Vandy this weekend. With the games against Tennessee and FSU looking to count for quite a bit in the computer rankings (and the “Quality Wins” category) I really hope the boys don’t have a
BCS
The Bowl Championship Series rankings will be released at 7 pm EST.
Rankings
HowStuffWorks.com answers the question, “How are the college football rankings determined?” I’m completely amazed that the Daytona Beach News-Journal (The Dunkel Index) actually has a say in who plays in college football’s National Championship game. My mom used to work at the News-Journal! Here are the links to the rankings systems used in calculating the