Go Blue!
Posted on 01/01/2004 8:13:18 AM PST by Dog Gone
PASADENA, Calif. -- We are here to witness the Rosa Parks of bowl games.
We have come to sunny California to spite convention and take in a significant moment in college football history.
Power to the people who loathe the Bowl Championship Series. This is your day.
We're here, basically, for a college football sit-in, along with more than 86,000 other rebels with a cause at today's Rose Bowl.
Mainstream? We don't need no stinkin' mainstream. Pass the incense and breathe deep.
College football changes today.
That's what makes today's Southern California-Michigan battle of football powers as much fun as it will be significant.
It's a wrong that will make things right. It's taking a stand for the sake of a cause.
Besides, anything that tweaks BCS leadership and makes all those squirrelly numbers-crunchers look bad is all right by us.
We are the world. We arrive with clenched fists raised in defiance, shouting in unison, "Down with the establishment!"
We are the college football equivalent of Internet bloggers, demanding to be heard and growing in numbers every day.
We realize there is no -- quote, unquote -- official permission to claim today's Rose Bowl as a national title game. But that's what gives us such a rush and makes it so much fun.
Who cares what The Man thinks, anyway? This is the best team in the country playing for the ring.
The over-the-counter national championship game might be down in New Orleans in three days. And there might figure to be much confetti tossing and official presenting of trophies when either Oklahoma or LSU wins it.
But we'll sit here like Rose Bowl flower children, knowing that this Southern California-Michigan bootleg title game is as good as the real thing, and even better.
We have front-row seats to the flash point of change in college football. And the change that will come because USC became the nasty little problem that the BCS couldn't sweep under the rug is only good.
If USC wins today, no one could possibly dispute its claim to No. 1. Not Oklahoma, not LSU. No one.
"We didn't want to tie our value and worth to the results of what the system might be," USC coach Pete Carroll said.
With a win today, the Trojans won't have to worry about the system. They will be No. 1, at least in one poll. And that embarrassing development for the BCS -- no matter what happens in New Orleans -- will account for the final push toward changing the way Division I-A college football determines its national champion.
We are here to watch the best team play for the highest honor.
It is here -- not New Orleans -- where two of the nation's hottest teams are playing their best ball at the end of the year, the way it's supposed to be.
It is here where neither of these teams is coming off a loss, like Oklahoma.
It is USC -- not Oklahoma -- that has posted at least 40 points in seven consecutive games, establishing itself among all-time great offenses. Yet USC coaches still consider defense their best unit.
No one here wants to quash the accomplishments of the Tigers and Sooners this season. Each of those teams certainly have earned their share of the spotlight and much respect. And arguably, each should be in the championship game.
But this Rose Bowl just feels more like the real thing than the real thing, because it easily could be argued that not only USC, but Michigan also is playing better football than either team in New Orleans.
It's a subjective argument, of course.
LSU fans could point to all kinds of numbers and big wins in support of their cause. So could Sooner fans, despite the fresh taste of shellac still in their collective mouths, courtesy of Kansas State.
But that's the whole point. That's why today's Rose Bowl will affect championship runs years from now, not just this season.
Because USC was snubbed by the BCS despite a truly outstanding season, a No. 1 ranking in both polls and dominating performances on both sides of the ball, all those voices demanding change finally will be heard.
This game has everything the Sugar Bowl has, except the copyrighted national championship label. Every cause needs a flashpoint. We've come to Pasadena and found it.
Go Blue!
Gee, Montomike, I hate to spoil your rant, but the facts do NOT support your claim:
USC Football Graduation rate: 61%
Michigan Football Graduation rate: 46%
Source:
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/college_sports/article/0,1651,TCP_1055_2543763,00.html
Yes, I am a USC grad... from which Government School did you drop out? We learned to check facts before spouting off... something you failed to learn.
Posted by someone else:
PROPOSED LETTER TO USC FROM THE BCS COMMITTEE
We noted with interest your university’s withdrawal from
the Bowl Championship Series format on January 1, 2004.
We infer that since USC and head coach Pete Carroll refuse to accept the validity of the BCS formula, you will not wish to be considered for
participation in next year’s BCS bowls. It is indeed admirable that you
stand on principle in spite of the prospect of losing
millions of dollars in revenue.
While we recognize that the BCS formula is not perfect,
we feel strongly that it goes a long way toward eliminating
the bias that has historically been present in the
former polls only system. It is our intention to refine the formula at the appropriate time, namely,
the off-season. We have no intention of EVER changing the rules in
the middle of a season and understand that that is a
deal breaker from your perspective.
We also note that we have not as yet received any concrete
suggestions from USC or coach Carroll for improving the BCS system.
Perhaps they were lost in the mail or maybe Trev hasn’t
finished writing them yet. We will consider any of USC’s suggestions in the same spirit in which they are offered.
In the interim, we will go forward with the Nokia Sugar
Bowl and crown either LSU or Oklahoma as 2003 National
Champions after the game. The process will adhere strictly to
that agreed upon by ALL members of BCS conferences at the start of the year. Please check your copy if the terms of the agreement are not clear.
Should you desire to reconsider and renounce your claim to
this year’s national championship, we will entertain
your public apology to the BCS, and the players, coaches,
students and fans of the University of Oklahoma and Louisiana State University.
If not, good luck with your new venture, The USC Football Championship.
Please send a copy of your formula for determining your championship.
Our BCS committee will be happy to provide unsolicited, public criticism.
Sincerely,
Chair and Members Bowl Championship Committee.
Read this:
NEW ORLEANS -- BCS coordinator Mike Tranghese would like to see the human element play a bigger role in college football's national championship formula.
"I'd like to see us go back to using the human polls," Tranghese told USA Today for a story on its Web site Friday, "but I don't think we can get that done."
Tranghese expects conference commissioners to soon discuss possible changes in the controversial system that selects the two teams that play in the national title game. One change could be giving more weight to The Associated Press poll and the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll than computer rankings.
The Bowl Championship Series standings are derived from a complicated formula that includes poll results, seven computer rankings and strength of schedule, plus other factors. The top two teams in the final standings meet in the national championship game.
Southern California, ranked No. 1 in both human polls used by the BCS, was left out of the Sugar Bowl, this season's BCS national title game.
The Trojans virtually assured themselves a piece of the national championship Thursday with a 28-14 thumping of No. 4 Michigan in the Rose Bowl because voters almost certainly will leave the Trojans atop The Associated Press poll no matter what happens Sunday night in the Sugar Bowl.
Voters for the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll are obligated to crown the winner of the BCS championship game between No. 2 LSU and No. 3 Oklahoma.
That would produce a split national championship, just what the BCS was designed to avoid.
"I can tell you the six commissioners do not take any delight or pleasure in having to defend a poll we didn't want to have in the first place," said Tranghese, the Big East commissioner.
"I don't think we have a choice but to take a hard look at this."
Tranghese was slated to discuss the conclusion of his tenure as BCS coordinator at a meeting of the Football Writers Association of America on Sunday. The BCS has two seasons left in its current format.
"It's just not a single issue," Tranghese said. "Every time you add a twist, there's an unintended consequence."
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