Posted on 12/03/2006 5:35:58 AM PST by indcons
ATLANTA -- Michigan had its chance against Ohio State and lost. Southern California couldn't even beat its struggling rival on Saturday, so the Trojans won't get an opportunity to play the No. 1 Buckeyes more than a month from now.
Florida is next in line, and after beating Arkansas 38-28 in Saturday night's SEC championship game at the Georgia Dome, the Gators deserve the opportunity to play Ohio State in the Jan. 8 BCS title game in Glendale, Ariz.
Florida finished 12-1 against one of the country's toughest schedules, won its first SEC title since 2000 and lost one game in a conference that is still regarded the sport's toughest from top to bottom.
"We certainly do," Florida coach Urban Meyer said when asked Saturday night whether he believes the Gators should get a chance to play Ohio State. "Florida belongs. The other team had a shot. We went 12-1, and I think the country wants to see the Southeastern Conference champion against the Big 10 champion. I think that's what this is all about."
But because of college football's inept system of determining which two teams will play for the national championship, voters around the country will decide Sunday whether the Gators or Wolverines will play the Buckeyes in the Arizona desert.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
However, logic rarely matters to voters in the polls, many of whom are motivated by petty regional and parochial prejudices. These prejudices screwed Auburn in its case for the NC game two years ago.
Hope Florida fares better; they certainly deserve to be the NC championship game.
College football ping
Personally I think Florida should be in the title game. Having said that, I just voted for Florida's blocked field goal kick against South Carolina as the Pontiac Game Changing Play of the year. Let's face it, without that blocked field goal, Florida wouldn't be in contention for the title.
As much as I dislike Florida as a school I have to agree. No way should Michigan get two chances. If there were a playoff and it ended up that way that would be fine. But with this system Florida has earned a chance to play.
Just wonderin', if the Gators get to play in the BCS biggie... and somehow take down the Buckeyes, has any school ever won the NCAA basketball and football championship in the same calendar year? That would be quite the trick!
I'm not sure, that's a good question. I don't follow basketball at all so I wasn't aware Florida had won the championship.
I am not a Florida fan, but I agree that the Gators deserve a shot at the Buckeyes for the National Championship. Michigan had their chance and lost. They do not deserve another one. Good luck Gator fans!
Ok but how is the school academically?
Not a slam, just wondering.
Well ... maybe after the season you should petition for a rule change. But the way the BCS is set up, the title game is between the two best teams. It's the way the rankings are set up; it's the way the rules work. Explicitly. No ambiguity. It's what was agreed to prior to the season.
If Michigan is the better team in the eyes of the voters and in the computer rankings, they go; and they deserve to go. And I object to voters casting their ballots strategically. They should rank the teams according to the instructions they've been given from the start -- not who they want to go to the title game.
Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000. Many people say an injustice was done, because the electoral college is antiquated. Would you agree with that, too? Or would you say that Bush won under the rules that were in place at the time, and that's what matters?
Florida's coach is a wuss and a whiner and for that reason alone I hope Florida heads elsewhere. If Michigan comes out on top, they go. You and he can have all the air time you want quarrelling with the rules in the off-season. Don't be a poor loserman.
2 chances? Playing in the horseshoe the first time is hardly even besides Michigan had the 3rd hardest rated schedule in the country.
Being beat by the number one team by a FG in an away game is forgiveable. I believe Michigan is the legitmate #2 team.
No, this has to do with the inherent bias against the SEC.
If you had bothered to read the article, you would have found that, by most counts, Florida is the second-best team in the country.
I think the facts contradict your belief that Michigan is the "legitimate #2 team."
From the article:
"So here are the cold, hard facts when comparing the Gators and Wolverines:
1. Florida beat nine teams that are projected to play in bowl games. Michigan beat six.
2. Michigan beat five teams that finished the season with losing records. Florida beat two teams with sub-.500 records.
3. Florida's 12 Division I-A opponents had a combined record of 89-57. Michigan's 12 opponents had a combined record of 84-61.
4. Michigan's best win is considered a 27-13 victory over Wisconsin on Sept. 23. The Badgers are 11-1 and have climbed to No. 7 in the AP Top 25 poll, despite having played only one ranked opponent -- the Wolverines -- the entire season.
5. The 12 teams Florida defeated finished the season with 11 combined wins against opponents which were ranked in the AP Top 25 poll at the time the game was played. The opponents Michigan defeated claim just three wins against ranked teams (Notre Dame beat Penn State. Indiana beat Iowa. Vanderbilt beat Georgia. The Nittany Lions, Hawkeyes and Bulldogs, it should be noted, haven't been ranked in seven weeks).
6. The Gators went 3-1 against ranked opponents, beating then-No. 13 Tennessee, No. 9 LSU and No. 8 Arkansas and losing at No. 11 Auburn. The Wolverines went 1-1 against ranked opponents, beating a highly overrated No. 2 Notre Dame team (that lost to Michigan and USC by a combined total of 46 points) and losing at No. 1 Ohio State 42-39 on Nov. 18.
7. The Gators' average margin of victory against Division I-A teams was 13.5 points. They won seven games by 14 points or fewer, six by less than 10. The Wolverines' average margin of victory was 17.3 points. They won six games by 14 points or fewer, two by less than 10.
8. The Gators played Western Carolina, a Division I-AA team, and won by 62 points. The Wolverines played Ball State, which should be a I-AA team, and won by eight.
9. Since the Wolverines last played and lost at Ohio State, the Gators won at Florida State (The Seminoles are 6-6, but rivalry games are tough to win. Just ask USC coach Pete Carroll) and then beat the No. 8 Razorbacks, who defeated then-No. 2 Auburn and No. 13 Tennessee by 17 points each.
10. Michigan didn't win the Big Ten; Florida won the SEC. Winning your conference should be a prerequisite for playing in the national championship."
why would anybody, except a Michigan fan,
want to see two teams from the same conference,
play in the big one?
Oh, the poooor SEC. The sad, downtrodden SEC. Everybody hates them. Nobody likes them. Guess I'll go pound sand.
Give me a break.
If Florida comes out on top in the rankings, then they go; and they just might come out on top. Who knows? It will be close.
But to say that the sportswriters and coaches who vote and the computers that do a dispassionate analysis don't recognize the value of your beloved conference and are biased against you is just pathetic.
More reason why I just can't stand the idea of Florida's coach going on a PR campaign to get his team in. Lloyd Carr, his players, and his fans have so much more class.
We have one such conference-smitten FReeper here. See post #15 by "drellberg"
An Ohio State fan so we can brag that we beat That State Up North twice in a season. :-)
I gather you still haven't read the article. I have even provided an excerpt for your convenience.
Of course, it is quite interesting and amusing to see somebody trying to argue without the benefits of any facts. I am going to get some popcorn - this morning's Dim participation on the talk shows (following Pelosi's missteps) and your pathetic arguments both promise certain measures of fun.
"why would anybody, except a Michigan fan,
want to see two teams from the same conference,
play in the big one?"
I don't disagree. I know many Michigan fans, and were the national championship not on the line, not a one of them would WANT a rematch.
That's not the question. What people WANT is not at issue here. The issue is, who do the coaches, sportswriters, and computers that determine the outcome think is the second best team in the country? If they conclude that it's Michigan, then by the rules that have been in place all season, Michigan deserves to go.
That may or may not be the outcome. If Florida's case is better, they'll go. If Florida's coach thinks that the sportswriters and coaches and computers that are determining his fate, he has a right to think that they're idiots. But he should shut up already. It is truly pathetic the way he has behaved.
I really, really don't want that slimeball of a coach from Florida or all of the SEC poseurs to be rewarded for being such wusses and crying and whining and complaining about how nobody understands how truly great and awesome and proud they are. Pllleeeeaaase.
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