January 08, 2007

Florida 41, Ohio State 14: The team that many felt should not be there wins in convincing fashion. A bad game by the Buckeyes or an excellent effort from the Gators?

posted by PublicUrinal to football at 11:13 PM - 121 comments

well as a gators fan.. i have to say florida showed up in amazing fashion, and ohio state couldnt get started after the opening kickoff. its nice to see florida silence the critics.. GO FLORIDA!!!

posted by devildog37 at 11:18 PM on January 08, 2007

Complete and total domination by the gators. besides the opening kickoff, the gators blew away Ohio State in every facet of the game. The Buckeyes and Troy Smith weren't ready for the speed and athleticism of the gators defense and Urban Meyer had the Buckeyes defense confused and playing on their heels. Overall, the speed and athleticism of the Gators were too much for Ohio State. They made Troy Smith look like an ordinary or below average quarterback.

posted by erkno11 at 11:24 PM on January 08, 2007

I thought UF should have been invited to this game over Michigan, but I never expected them to be competitive, much less completely and totally dominant in every facet of the game. OSU looked like the Sisters of the Poor out there, not Big Televen champs. Congrats to the Gators. Now to look for my earplugs so that I don't have to hear about how incredible the SEC is tomorrow...

posted by tieguy at 11:30 PM on January 08, 2007

Troy Smith seems to be getting ripped apart everywhere I look. I personally would not fault him a great deal for his play -- that was some horrendous protection and the Florida secondary shut down the Ohio State receiving corps. However, I do fault the coaches for not telling him to run. With everything stagnant, having Troy Smith take off might have provided a spark, if not at least committing one defender to play contain. Overall, a masterful game plan by Meyer. However, Gator Nation will find their celebration to be cut short by tomorrow morning, when the Boise State crows come out. At least this will hopefully help silence the critics of the SEC, who have dubbed the conference as wildly overrated.

posted by PublicUrinal at 11:30 PM on January 08, 2007

Before the people with the silly flappy arms come along, I'll quote myself:

Michigan's last game was at Ohio State on November 18th. USC's last game was the loss to UCLA on December 2nd. I'm not saying that Michigan was rusty, but that's a long time without a game, and it makes me wonder whether OSU may show similar rust against a Florida side that deserves to be shellacked.
OSU were rusty and sluggish and got played off the park. They defended as if they'd just eaten Christmas lunch. This wasn't the regular season OSU side; but this wasn't the regular season Gators side either. (I'll admit that they may not have been truly tested by the SEC this year. It was crap. No, don't argue, it was crap.) If you're going to decide things -- as if! -- this way, then whatever. But don't make any judgements about either side's season based on one game, except to say that Meyer prepared his team better after a long layoff than Tressell after an even longer layoff. (Here's a round-football analogy: it felt like a Charity Shield match.) But I'd like to congratulate Boise State on their national championship.

posted by etagloh at 11:36 PM on January 08, 2007

I thought the Gators would win, but not by so much. I thought tOSU would keep it close. Boise State is the only undefeated team and in a way I think the screwed up system that is in place is ripping them off. Then again, I think Florida would destroy them if they were meeting in some sort of playoff. Oh well.

posted by bargle at 11:36 PM on January 08, 2007

With all due respect to the Boise State supporters out there, I can't help but question the logic that was widely in place. If Ohio State won, they should be the only champs; however, a Florida team that tore them apart (this contest wasn't even close) is still relegated to second place? I think this adds more fuel to the fire of a necessary playoff, but seeing as that system is not in place, I really do not feel it's appropriate to detract from the Gators based on the previous logic. Should there really be a split championship here, or should one team be crowned?

posted by PublicUrinal at 11:44 PM on January 08, 2007

Before the people with the silly flappy arms come along For those with the silly flappy mouths, dinner is served.

posted by mjkredliner at 12:00 AM on January 09, 2007

Ohio State: 82 net yards?

posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 12:19 AM on January 09, 2007

FINALLY...Troy Smith revealed for what he is: 2nd string wide receiver in the NFL.

posted by antistar57 at 12:23 AM on January 09, 2007

Boise state......nuf said....except playoff!!!!

posted by brownindian at 12:29 AM on January 09, 2007

I think what we saw here was another example of why espn & other sport-shows suck. Around week 7 or so, whichever team that is in first is usually exalted by the media as the "head & shoulders above" best team. The media creates an aura of invincibility around a team; it makes for a compelling storyline. Then as has happened before, the team that is god's-gift to college football that year gets smashed. One year some analysts were honestly saying that OU (and last year's USC team as well) could beat some NFL teams; big surprise, they both lost. I agree that OSU was amazing this year, as was Michigan; two of the best for sure. But i think that the only reason this is a shock is that many people so easily buy into the "sportscenter hype." The media needs a story, so they deify a player and his/her team. Although not a Gator fan in particular, i was glad to see the hype come crashing down (again). Sorry for the tirade; just needed to be said. Maybe being a Jayhawks fan has made me cynical.

posted by brainofdtrain at 12:32 AM on January 09, 2007

Hmmmmmmmm.......several things come to mind. Should we listen to ESPN analysts anymore.....Should television sports programs need to quit deciding who Heisman & Nagurski winners are before ALL games are played......Should all teams that compete for national championships be determined by strength of schedule based solely on nonconference opponents. Being an OSU (Okie State) fan being dissed is nothing new. I feel for the fans of Boise State. For those who dismiss the Broncos I'm bettin' you may have only seen them once, in the Fiesta Bowl.....being fortunate enough to have seen them several times this year I picked them to beat the Sooners because BSU is quicker and thier kids are dedicated gamers who don't worry about bein' flashy. Bottom line-----UF 1, BSU 2, LSU 3, SC 4, and you can pick'em after that!

posted by brbcca at 01:34 AM on January 09, 2007

To me it looked like one coach did a marvelous job or preparation, whereas the other was completly befuddled, unprepared, and worse could not come up with any counters to what his players were seeing on the field. Of course not to mention the friendly pressure from the Gator basketball team didn't hurt.

posted by rockyxgone at 02:21 AM on January 09, 2007

Great game by Florida AND an atrocious outing by thoroughly psyched-out OSU. If this year's often surprising bowl game results don't make a strong case for a playoff, I don't know what does. In addition to Florida, USC, LSU, and Boise State all looked like championship teams, though Boise State damn near screwed it up by going into a shell when they were way ahead, rather than keeping on the attack. Boise State just might be able to handle the speed of Florida and USC better than Ohio State and Michigan did ... but we'll never know. And I thought Wisconsin was lucky to not play Ohio State. Perhaps it was Ohio State that was lucky not to play Wisconsin. But above all, congrats, Gators for a stunningly well-conceived and executed game.

posted by ballhawk at 02:50 AM on January 09, 2007

Whew!!! Boise State as national champion because the team played ONE good game. Inconceivable by anyone but a fool. I will take a team that played 9-10 quality opponents over an undefeated one that faced maybe two, anyday. It is amazing how the OSU crowd that predicted that the Buckeyes would kick Florida all over Arizona have either vanished or become Boise State boosters. Bring on a playoff. This seems to be the only way that a deserving team like Florida will trully get it's due. Boise State, geez. If one of the lesser SEC lights did not demolish them in a playoff game, Florida certainly would have when it met the BS meisters in the same format.

posted by Cave_Man at 03:17 AM on January 09, 2007

it felt like a Charity Shield match Exactly. It felt to me like a glorified exhibition game. Also, I understand that the college game routinely takes a lifetime to play, but it was, what, like an hour and a half to two hours before they finished the first HALF? TV timeouts are as detrimental to the game as not having a playoff. "The regular season is a playoff" line is rubbish. If that doesn't make sense in the morning, I'll edit it...

posted by igottheblues at 03:42 AM on January 09, 2007

Wow. Just wow. I'll be the first one to admit that I did not give Florida any tiny morsel of credit. That opening kickoff return for a TD by Ginn Jr. made me think that it was going to be a blowout, but I didn't know that it would be by Florida. Congrats, Gators. I still think that Boise State should get a piece of the pie, though. The layoffs in between the regular season and the bowl games are way too long. There is too much time on the players' hands, and too many temptations to think about film and practice. If we can't get a playoff system, at least limit the down time in between the games. I'll have some of that crow and a side of humble pie now, please.

posted by wingnut4life at 04:18 AM on January 09, 2007

I still think that Boise State should get a piece of the pie, though. Well. At least you think that a playoff system is wise. The game between Florida and Ohio State exposed Ohio State for the team that it is, the top team in a second tier conference. Boise State would fare no better than Ohio State did when put up against the likes of LSU, Florida, or for one game, even South Carolina. Enjoy the humble pie and crow. Wash them down with a smooth drink of Scotch, you will be ok and live to prognosticate another day. Take from a guy with experience.

posted by Cave_Man at 04:49 AM on January 09, 2007

Ohio State's linemen ate too much fuckin' pie themselves over the holidays, judgin' by the way they were sucking wind between plays... USC and Fla. had the same temptations, although their time off was not quite as long. What excuse will be offered next? The weather in Pasadena and Glendale was just too damn good?

posted by mjkredliner at 05:01 AM on January 09, 2007

Although chiefly carnivorous in nature, the Florida Gator will also ingest large quantities of vegetation when necessary, primarily consisting of buckeyes... How sad is it that as I proudly watched my alma mater kick the holy livin' shit out of the best the Big Ten has to offer, one of my first thoughts was, I can't frickin' wait to get on the 'Filter! All the shit talking, all the disrespect, all the asinine statements by people who maybe don't know college football as much as they thought they did, was all worth it last night. National Championships in both NCAA Division I basketball and football...unprecedented! It is indeed, great to be a Florida Gator! Oh, and for you haters who still can't wrap your brain around the National Champion Florida Gators: Boise State 2006 Schedule 08/31 Sac St W 45-0 09/07 Oregon St W 42-14 09/16 at Wyoming W 17-10 09/23 Hawaii W 41-34 09/30 at Utah W 36-3 10/07 La Tech W 55-14 10/15 at New Mexico St W 40-28 10/21 at Idaho W 42-26 11/01 Fresno St W 45-21 11/11 at San Jose St W 23-20 11/18 Utah St W 49-10 11/25 at Nevada W 38-7 01/01 vs #11 Oklahoma W 43-42 University of Florida 2006 Schedule 09/02 Southern Miss W 34-7 09/09 UCF W 42-0 09/16 at No. 13 Tennessee W 21-20 09/23 Kentucky W 26-7 09/30 Alabama W 28-13 10/07 No. 9 LSU W 23-10 10/14 at No. 11 Auburn L 27-17 10/28 at Georgia W 21-14 11/04 at Vanderbilt W 25-19 11/11 South Carolina W 17-16 11/18 Western Carolina W 62-0 11/25 at Florida State W 21-14 12/02 2 No. 8 Arkansas W 38-28 01/08 No. 2 Ohio State W 41-14 The Broncos squeak by one ranked team in their bowl game, after not facing a single ranked team all season long! The Gators, on the other hand, finish 3 - 1 against Top 20 teams in the regular season, and manhandle the consensus number one team in America last night. Boise State, National Champions? Not bloody likely. Attention shoppers, fresh crow in aisle one! Also, for you SEC detractors...the conference went 6 - 3 in bowl games this year. /dancing on the grave of Ohio State hype

posted by The_Black_Hand at 05:03 AM on January 09, 2007

Wow. I did not see that coming. When it comes down to it, at least it was Ohio State with those 14 points.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 05:19 AM on January 09, 2007

Nice work by Florida. When a QB gets sacked more times then he completes a pass, there are no excuses other than the other team was better. Boise State finishes ranked number five in the nation. Bronco fans really should be thrilled about that rather than whining about not being number one. /Throwing empty beer cans at TBH while yelling "DANCE FOR MY AMUSEMENT YOU SEC LOVIN' FOOL!!"

posted by SummersEve at 05:23 AM on January 09, 2007

More than ever, it seems that in the big games, it's simply a matter of who wants it more, not how good a team looks on paper or even the regular season highlight reels. Florida wanted the championship and played like champions. Ohio State read too many of their own press releases and didn't even show up. Florida pounded the Buckeyes and showed they wanted the title and showed they were better than Ohio State on the field. Ohio State played like they weren't prepared, didn't care, and took Florida for granted. Florida deserves the title. Their offense and execution dominated Ohio State. I feel for Boise State, but I really don't think they could beat this Florida team.

posted by roberts at 05:59 AM on January 09, 2007

Chomp, chomp. Gators ROCK !

posted by wdminott at 06:40 AM on January 09, 2007

It is amazing how the OSU crowd that predicted that the Buckeyes would kick Florida all over Arizona have either vanished or become Boise State boosters. I was expecting to find some Ohio State true believers dining on crow here, given how many people said Florida didn't belong in this game when it was set. I thought Florida would give them a game, but the blowout was a shock. Florida was better prepared to play a tough game after a long break. I think this is because they played a tougher schedule, but maybe it's simply a case of Ohio State having no answers for the Florida defense. The Buckeyes looked like a Division I-AA patsy in the second half.

posted by rcade at 06:46 AM on January 09, 2007

I feel for Boise State, but I really don't think they could beat this Florida team. Boise State should get some No. 1 votes from their region, but you can't make much claim to the championship when you beat one ranked opponent the entire season. It's still the first 13-0 season in college and one that puts their program up a tier. Coming from where they did in the lowly, now-defunct Big West, it's an amazing accomplishment.

posted by rcade at 06:48 AM on January 09, 2007

Excellent game by Florida. They played well on both sides of the ball, and I never thought I'd see Chris Leak play that great. As for Troy Smith, I'm not ready to throw his accomplishments this season out the window due to this outing. Ohio State's offensive line got completely manhandled, and losing Ginn after his electrifying kick return to start the game, didn't help matters. Without him (Ginn) on the field, Florida's job, defensively, became quite a bit easier. Also, Tressell was outcoached, something I've never truly been able to say before. His going for the first down on fourth and one in the second quarter, deep in their own territory, was a giant blunder. Field position (due to stupid penalties early and that turnover late in the half, as well as that 4th down failure) didn't help Ohio State's cause. When Florida's kicker came out and began kicking 40-some yarders like PATs, I knew Florida was absolutely clicking on all cylinders. On a positive note, though, I was able to get a lot of sleep last night. I'd say the game was over from the opening kickoff, but the opening kickoff was Ohio State's only shining moment. Congrats, Gators! Football and reigning hoops champs. Not too bad.

posted by dyams at 07:23 AM on January 09, 2007

Question directed to the Michigan fans (and maybe fans of other Big Ten scholls as well) in this thread: Just out of curiosity, when OSU plays in a game like this, do you root for them or against them? Does conference loyalty trump hatred of that team? (For what it's worth, I am an LSU fan who was pulling for Florida -- but there is nowhere near the level of antagonism/rivalry between those two schools as U of M/OSU. I generally root within the conference in bowl games, even for teams I truly hate -- like Auburn, but that's really more of a Tuberville thing.)

posted by holden at 07:29 AM on January 09, 2007

Well, this Ohio State fan (who neither spouted off about how Florida didn't belong nor how OSU would kill Florida) had to sign on to give Florida a well-deserved "congratulations". To answer Pulic's headline question - both. I haven't said this since the Cooper era, but we were outcoached - and to say we were outplayed is a ridiculous understatement. All coaches and the offensive line should be ashamed of themselves. I don't blame Troy Smith at all for his play; the offense couldn't figure out how to pick up their blitzes and even when only having to block 4 linemen, looked pathetic. On defense, the LBs and DBs looked utterly confused. But, to Florida's credit - they executed amazingly on both sides of the ball. So, like I said a well-deserved Congrats to Florida. (and, No, I won't whine and spitefully say BSU deserves all or part of the title. Congrats to BSU, but Florida deserves it all. Although, I expected a good game and you wouldn't see this outcome if they played another 99 times against each other - Florida deserves their national title) Wish I could say the congratulations were well-deserved for some of the Gator fans and others on this site. The hypocrisy and "oh, I'm gonna use this chance to act like an idiot" are comical. rcade, I won't include you in this same group, but check your own link - I don't think there were too many OSU folks spouting off about how undeserving Florida was (largely UM and general football fans, from what I saw). But, FINALLY...Troy Smith revealed for what he is: 2nd string wide receiver in the NFL. gave me a good chuckle on this sad morning. And CaveMan, if you're going to insist on revealing your caveman-sized brain, also be careful of at the same time scolding the OSU fans for not eating crow, and in the same breath, claim it's utterly absurd that Boise State fans claim that they could possibly hang against Florida. Seriously - Congrats to Florida and their true fans - enjoy it!!

posted by littleLebowski at 07:31 AM on January 09, 2007

holden - for me, it depends on my mood and the opponent. For pretty much everyone other than Michigan, I pull for the Big Ten, almost regardless of who that Big Ten team is playing. When it comes to Michigan, I will generally pull for them, particularly if they are playing a team I otherwise also don't care for. But, I take the stance that it reflects better on Ohio State and the Big Ten if all Big Ten teams play well outside of conference. There are plenty of OSU fans that will cheer vehemently against Michigan no matter what. I don't agree with that, but a lot of people consider it a rite of passage in being a true OSU fan, so oh well.

posted by littleLebowski at 07:35 AM on January 09, 2007

The game between Florida and Ohio State exposed Ohio State for the team that it is, the top team in a second tier conference. And so the SEC blinkers go back on. This is the downside of Florida's victory. Like I said, I really didn't give a shit either way, though I would have liked more of a contest and for OSU not to look like it was in a collective tryptophan haze. But living in all-SEC-all-the-time-land, the amount of dross served up this year -- and I'm truly only speaking about this year -- was mountainous. I was expecting to find some Ohio State true believers dining on crow here, given how many people said Florida didn't belong in this game when it was set. It was set on December 3rd, rcade. Today is January 9th: Florida improved hugely on their performance against Arkansas, and OSU were collectively much worse. 1-AA? That's an insult to App. State. Tressell will be taking a hard look at his preparation, and that's needed. But I'm sure I wasn't the only person who thinks that the layoff turned last-night's game into a pure one-off contest, rather than passing judgement on the season.

posted by etagloh at 07:49 AM on January 09, 2007

Quick addition: One year some analysts were honestly saying that OU (and last year's USC team as well) could beat some NFL teams; big surprise, they both lost.? Troy Smith, meet Jason White; Jason White, meet Troy Smith.

posted by etagloh at 07:55 AM on January 09, 2007

I've not been a huge Troy Smith supporter (I think what I said in spofi's Heisman thread was that no one deserved the Heisman this year) but it is hard to blame him for last night. No QB is going to perform well when given so little time to throw and so little run support. The failure of his offensive line last night was the kind of thing you tell your grandkids about. "Granddad, Miami's line for the 2065 season is going to suck." "No, grandson, you have to put it in perspective. The 2065 season will be hard, and they'll be bad, but no offensive line can ever suck as badly as OSU's did against Florida in 2007."

posted by tieguy at 08:03 AM on January 09, 2007

(I forgot to add: compare and contrast to, say, Testaverde's game against PSU- mental mistakes and bad throws. That is a Heisman QB meltdown. This level of suckage required a huge display of teamwork.)

posted by tieguy at 08:04 AM on January 09, 2007

If we can't get a playoff system, at least limit the down time in between the games. Reminder to people saying things like this: Technically these kids are student athletes. That "break" in the schedule is supposed to be when they are studying and taking exams. It's not like the long break between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl where the point is hype. Any playoff system (and I am a big proponent of a playoff system) will need to be held in January. As to the topic at hand, I didn't post it here, but I was one who was stating that Florida didn't deserve to be in the game. I didn't see Florida play much, but I did see their game against South Carolina (Go Cocks! -- my mother-in-law works there) and I thought that Florida was lucky to have won that game. Congratulations to the Gators and their fans.

posted by scully at 08:15 AM on January 09, 2007

TV timeouts are as detrimental to the game as not having a playoff. No frickin' joke. It got to be ridiculous with those timeouts. WWE was almost more entertaining with 1/2 the commercials. Reminder to people saying things like this: Technically these kids are student athletes. That "break" in the schedule is supposed to be when they are studying and taking exams. It's not like the long break between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl where the point is hype. I call BS on the point not being to build hype simply because bowl game started in December.

posted by jmd82 at 08:28 AM on January 09, 2007

SPEED KILLS

posted by Debo270 at 08:31 AM on January 09, 2007

Question directed to the Michigan fans (and maybe fans of other Big Ten scholls as well) in this thread: Just out of curiosity, when OSU plays in a game like this, do you root for them or against them? Does conference loyalty trump hatred of that team? I root against em! I was glad to see Florida beat Ohio State last night. But, I was actually disappointed because I wanted to watch a good football game. Congrats to Florida. As for conference loyalty, bah! I just don't understand the logic. For instance, the Big Ten schools do not jointly recruit players. They recruit players to play for their own team. The notion that one conference is better than the other is meaningless to me. I would think that first and foremost, the schools are going after recuits who can compete against the teams they will be playing the most, possibly making the conferences similiar in playing styles. But that doesn't mean they should all be lumped together in a war of "my conference is better than yours". Whew!!! Boise State as national champion because the team played ONE good game. Inconceivable by anyone but a fool. I will take a team that played 9-10 quality opponents over an undefeated one that faced maybe two, anyday. In my opinion, when a team goes undefeated, they must have played more than ONE good game. And in the ONE good game, they looked very good. Are you being a little over zealous here cave man? Call me a fool. Wouldn't it be great if football (too physical to happen) could be played 3 to 4 times in a week like baseball, hockey and basketball? I would love to see another Florida vs. OSU game tonight. I wonder how that would turn out? I would be able to stomache the "My team whooped your team's ass mentality" a little easier if it happened in a best of 5 or 7 series.

posted by danjel at 08:32 AM on January 09, 2007

The game between Florida and Ohio State exposed Ohio State for the team that it is, the top team in a second tier conference. The Big 10 and SEC matched up in three bowl games, the Big 10 won two of those. I'm a former 'Cock living in Big 10 country, so I like both conferences. Just saying be careful when you spout off. This was mentioned in a USA Today story... An early bird top 25 for 2007. (the site is LOADED with ads so you might want to turn down your speakers). I should mention I hate preseason polls. Yes I am a hypocrite. Here's another with BCS Commish Mike Slive on the Plus-One format. ...he said any changes will likely not take place for at least four years, and must not interfere with two basic tenets: football must remain a one-semester sport, and the December exam period must not be compromised. Does he know last night was January 8th? I think you can argue that it had an effect on the game, but more importantly to me, I lost a lot of interest. Plus, a one-hour pregame show? 52 people in on the coin toss? A fly-over over a dome? And a Blimp? Yawn.

posted by SummersEve at 08:39 AM on January 09, 2007

How about that midwest football, USC 32-UM 18, LSU 41-NDame14, FLA 41-OSU 14, wow, seems like old times again, 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Bo and Woody would be proud, kick ass in the reg season and get pummeled in the bowl game. Hey did yall hear that Troy Smith is going to melt down his Heisman trophy and cast it into a giant brozne tit? Yeah symbolizing the biggest "BUST" in college football, I love it, go SEC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

posted by crimsonblood at 09:00 AM on January 09, 2007

As a life long Buckeye fan, I will admit that UF took us out behind the woodshed last night. This was the same Buckeye team I saw play Illinois this year. Had Illinois been worth a sh*t they probably would have won. I break it down this way...no line play on either side of the ball. The O line couldn't give Smith time to set up and the D line was giving 2 yards before the first hit. Many Kudos to Florida, they were the best team last night by a mile. Now for a playoff rant....As in so many years, we end up with controversy. Does BSU deserve #1, they are undefeated. There is no valid excuse why they couldn't be. The naysayers all say they can't hang with the major conferences. Those are the same people who said Florida had no chance to beat the Bucks. As long as there isn't a good reason to make a change...read $$$...there won't be any. A 16 team playoff (or even 32) would add little time to the end of the season if you go all the way. With all the bowls, there are enough for 32 teams and one left over. I don't understand how the money could be less for the bowls if the games actually mean something. The Motor City Bowl for example would actually count for something and would have to make more cash in the long run. Congrats to Florida...just remember, it took a coach that is from Ohio and a former Buckeye assistant to take your team to the top. :>)

posted by TKTT1 at 09:09 AM on January 09, 2007

... I'm sure I wasn't the only person who thinks that the layoff turned last-night's game into a pure one-off contest, rather than passing judgement on the season. Elite college football teams take a month-long break every single season. Are we to treat every unexpected bowl result as a "one-off contest," rather than a statement on the quality of the teams that played? I think the simplest explanation is that one-loss Florida was a lot better than people realized and undefeated Ohio State wasn't head and shoulders above all the one-loss teams. They just had excessive mystique because of that 0 in the loss column.

posted by rcade at 09:11 AM on January 09, 2007

OSU had 50 days off between their last regular season game and last night. In those 50 days, most teams play 5 to 6 games during the season. There is no way the NCAA can say time is an issue when it comes to a playoff. The only problem the NCAA has with a playoff is the all mighty dollar. I'm willing to bet they have a playoff system already set but haven't done anything because they can't figure out how to suck up the money from sponsors and such. When they get that figured out, we'll have a playoff.

posted by dbt302 at 09:13 AM on January 09, 2007

once again Ohio State and Michigan prove beyond any doubt the degree to which the Big-10 is overrated each and every year.

posted by jaygolf at 09:27 AM on January 09, 2007

As for conference loyalty, bah! I just don't understand the logic. For instance, the Big Ten schools do not jointly recruit players. They recruit players to play for their own team. The notion that one conference is better than the other is meaningless to me. I would think that first and foremost, the schools are going after recuits who can compete against the teams they will be playing the most, possibly making the conferences similiar in playing styles. But that doesn't mean they should all be lumped together in a war of "my conference is better than yours". I think part of the logic could be that more victories in interconference play enhances the conference's reputation and leads to a greater chance that your favorite team in that conference will be ranked higher or get a chance to play in the national championship game when it is one of several deserving schools.

posted by holden at 09:40 AM on January 09, 2007

I wish I was as passionate about this stuff as some of you - I watched the game last night and the start was excellent (kick-off return TD, replied by opening-drive TD), the setting seemed good, the bands were marching and there was only a one-hour pregame show. Then Florida took out the whomping stick and OSU looked like it really didn't want to play anymore after the 2nd quarter. Their line was bitch-slapped all night - hard to hang that one on Smith. All in all - a terrible game. As for the true National Champions? Does it really matter? Florida is the default answer and currently, the most deserving. But there will never be consensus on this - even in a playoff format.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:43 AM on January 09, 2007

As for conference loyalty, bah! I just don't understand the logic. ... But that doesn't mean they should all be lumped together in a war of "my conference is better than yours". Just because you don't agree with it, danjel, doesn't mean it isn't a factor. In fact, this "conference comparison" is exactly what many experts and voters used to justify ranking Florida ahead of Michigan. So, kinda came back to bite your argument. So, yes, as much as it might pain me to do so, I'll pull for a team I hate when they play a team I don't care about because in the long-term it will boost the stature of my team and their conference. And, c'mon, rcade ... the fact that you don't grasp or care to acknowledge the difference between a "month-long break" and the 51 days Ohio State truly sat tells me you're really not applying your normal amount of thought to this. And/or, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you didn't see Ohio State play at all this year; therefore I wouldn't expect you to admit that OSU looked not only pathetic overall, but pathetic compared to what was expected of them by anyone who knows better. But, that still doesn't take anything away from Florida. Although noticably less, they also had a delay. But, for whatever reason, and uncharactersitcally of a Tressel-coached team, Florida was monumentally more prepared than OSU was thoroughly more prepared.

posted by littleLebowski at 09:43 AM on January 09, 2007

TBH----'not facing a single ranked team all year long'----check your facts again....Oregon State (a 28 point loser to BSU), the team that knocked the mighty (2 loss Trojans) from the unbeaten ranks----yep, there those Beavers are, ranked in the top 25! Props to UF, I truly enjoyed thier demolishing of the "Buckeyes" and I believe they are the #1 team. After that though, all things are in the hands of the politics of the sport.

posted by brbcca at 09:52 AM on January 09, 2007

Bottom line: the game last night was for the National Championship. Florida won and they are the national champs. Boise State was not in the championship game ... period. The SEC sent 9 teams to bowl games and went 6-3. Week after week to survive in the SEC is a great feat. Florida - SEC Champs - National Champs. I want a playoff system. On a side note ... too bad we didn't get LSU vs USC in the Rose Bowl. A better matchup for both teams.

posted by djfcfp at 09:56 AM on January 09, 2007

Good news for Ohio State. I heard they're projected a strong third place in the SEC East this fall.

posted by iamthelummox at 10:02 AM on January 09, 2007

Wow, what is this, January 9? I can't believe this game hadn't happened already. I was half-heartedly scanning the sports pages the past few days, and because I hadn't seen any mention of it, I presumed an OSU blow out had occurred last week. Good on Florida. Honestly, how much more handwringing and how many more over-hyped one-side blowouts will need to happen before the BCS can be abandoned? Seems to me like you could do some sort of playoff system with the top 4 or 8 teams, and it would answer a lot of the questions about this process. Or at the very least, go back to the old system where you had traditional bowl matchups, and let the polls decide the National Champion. At least with a playoffo system (notwithstanding last year's excellent Texas/USC game) you would have some finally tuned teams in the final which might increase the chances of a competitive matchup. Instead, we have a couple of teams sitting around, practicing, over-preparing and handling media circuses for over a month.

posted by psmealey at 10:05 AM on January 09, 2007

That 51 day excuse is so lame. Ohio State didn't just come out flat. In fact, the beginning of the game was the only thing they did right. I don't think they would have been any faster if they had played earlier. If they had played two weeks earlier, would they suddenly have figured out what Florida was doing on defense and how to pick up a blitz? They were outplayed, out game planned, and less prepared. They were thoroughly and completely dominated in every aspect of the game. 82 total yards. Oh, yeah, that was just a little rust from the long layoff. Making excuses for Ohio State because they did not have to play a conference championship game is ridiculous. The conference championship does more harm than good to one's BCS chances.

posted by bperk at 10:13 AM on January 09, 2007

On a side note about the game and the broadcast, if I would have had to watch that "Rock 'em Sock 'em Robot" commerciall one more time, I probably would have wondered into the street looking to punch out a truck myself.

posted by dyams at 10:20 AM on January 09, 2007

TBH----'not facing a single ranked team all year long'----check your facts again....Oregon State (a 28 point loser to BSU), the team that knocked the mighty (2 loss Trojans) from the unbeaten ranks----yep, there those Beavers are, ranked in the top 25! What was their ranking when they played Boise State? That's right...unranked. Thank you, come again!

posted by The_Black_Hand at 10:39 AM on January 09, 2007

Making excuses for Ohio State because they did not have to play a conference championship game is ridiculous. The conference championship does more harm than good to one's BCS chances. It could be that on a whole this is true (that is, it hurts more often than it helps), but in Florida's case this year, the Gators became no. 2 in the BCS standings and several of the polls only after the SEC championship game.

posted by holden at 10:46 AM on January 09, 2007

But I'd like to congratulate Boise State on their national championship. Perhaps the comment was made in jest, but there is a strong possibility Boise State could be co-champs. The USA Today Coaches' Poll will automatically give the top spot to Florida because they won the BCS title game. However, the members of the media who vote in the Associated Press Poll aren't obligated to cast a vote for Florida. Since 1936, when the AP poll began, only two schools finished their season unbeaten and untied and failed to win a share of the national title (Dartmouth 1965, Purdue 1943). Will Boise State be the third team? I am looking forward to the AP poll results.

posted by danjel at 10:47 AM on January 09, 2007

Two years ago I thought Chris Leak would win the Heisman this year. Obviously he didn't, but he looked the part last night. If you would have told Leak and Myer that OSU would come out to rush three and put everyone else in a soft zone they would not have been able to suppress their glee. That has to be the dumbest defensive game plan in the history of college football. Did Tressel watch ANY UF game tape from the last three years? It was like no one at OSU scouted the opposing QB at all. Leak eats zone coverage like protein bars. He h8s to scramble, and can't run Urban's run option for shit. But if he gets time in the pocket he will pick out the open guy e v e r y t i m e. Before the game I thought it would be determined on the Nelson-Ginn matchup. Sadly, we have yet to settle that dispute. Only two plays for #7, and thankx to a no-call on a CLEAR hold of Nelson on the kickoff, we will have to wait for Sundays to see if Nelson can handle Ginn. Without Ginn, the Buckeyes have no offence and Troy Smith looked like a slow, immobile, trainwreak. As for conference loyalty, bah! I just don't understand the logic We southerners often still live with an inferiority complex. We are perceived by most to lag behind the rest of the nation in industry, education, technology, and socially. But we kick ass in football!! You know it, and we certainly know it. High school football in the South is way, way, way better than anywhere else. Southern high school football players believe the SEC (+Texas)is the only viable path to football success. We rarely lose players to non-southern schools, and when they do go it is because SEC teams don't want them. These points are not open to debate. Forget for a moment the SEC vs Big 10 thing. Just line up the best southern programs from the big 12, acc and sec; then line up the best teams from everywhere else. It ain't even close. USC is the only team that would be competitive with an SEC schedule, and where is JD Booty from? p.s. It should be noted to above author is extremely biased and slightly hungover. He is a product of Georgia, alumnus of Ole Miss, and a transplanted carpetbagger to the West who misses his southern home today more than most ;)

posted by r8rh8r27 at 10:56 AM on January 09, 2007

Perhaps the comment was made in jest, but there is a strong possibility Boise State could be co-champs. The USA Today Coaches' Poll will automatically give the top spot to Florida because they won the BCS title game. However, the members of the media who vote in the Associated Press Poll aren't obligated to cast a vote for Florida. The polls are out and Boise State, while receiving one first place vote in the AP poll, finished 5th in USA Today and 6th in the USA Today poll: AP Top 10: 1. Florida (64) 13-1 1,624 2. Ohio State 12-1 1,492 3. LSU 11-2 1,452 4. USC 11-2 1,389 5. Boise State (1) 13-0 1,383 6. Louisville 12-1 1,338 7. Wisconsin 12-1 1,288 8. Michigan 11-2 1,145 9. Auburn 11-2 1,112 10. West Virginia 11-2 1,035 USA Today Top 10: 1. Florida (63) 13-1 1,575 2. Ohio State 12-1 1,435 3. LSU 11-2 1,418 4. USC 11-2 1,345 5. Wisconsin 12-1 1,328 6. Boise State 13-0 1,275 7. Louisville 12-1 1,270 8. Auburn 11-2 1,119 9. Michigan 11-2 1,092 10. West Virginia 11-2 1,012

posted by holden at 10:56 AM on January 09, 2007

Sorry, the above should read "5th in the AP Poll and 6th in the USA Today poll"

posted by holden at 10:59 AM on January 09, 2007

It could be that on a whole this is true (that is, it hurts more often than it helps), but in Florida's case this year, the Gators became no. 2 in the BCS standings and several of the polls only after the SEC championship game. Sure, it helped give voters a reason to avoid a rematch. I don't know if Florida would have made that same leap if USC did not lose. Since 1936, when the AP poll began, only two schools finished their season unbeaten and untied and failed to win a share of the national title (Dartmouth 1965, Purdue 1943). Will Boise State be the third team? I am looking forward to the AP poll results. Auburn in 2004 went unbeaten in the SEC, was denied a trip to the BCS championship game, and finished second in the AP and Coaches poll.

posted by bperk at 11:01 AM on January 09, 2007

We southerners often still live with an inferiority complex. We are perceived by most to lag behind the rest of the nation in industry, education, technology, and socially. But we kick ass in football!! You know it, and we certainly know it. High school football in the South is way, way, way better than anywhere else. Southern high school football players believe the SEC (+Texas)is the only viable path to football success. We rarely lose players to non-southern schools, and when they do go it is because SEC teams don't want them. These points are not open to debate. I know the "These points are not open to debate" bit is likely intentionally overstated, but John David Booty is a great example of a southern player who went to a non-southern school (in this case, USC) not because SEC schools didn't want him but because he wanted to play elsewhere. Also, California has to rank in the top three states for most prep football talent (Texas and Florida being the others).

posted by holden at 11:05 AM on January 09, 2007

Auburn in 2004 went unbeaten in the SEC, was denied a trip to the BCS championship game, and finished second in the AP and Coaches poll. Don't forget that Urban Meyer's Utah team also went undefeated that year. I don't know where danjel got his statistics on that one, but I'm sure there are others as well.

posted by holden at 11:07 AM on January 09, 2007

Penn State's gone unbeaten and didn't finish #1 a couple times including '94. But seeing as he's looking forward to the polls that came out at 2am, well... By the way, following all the twisted logic in this thread, Tennessee lost to UF by one point, and then lost to Penn State by 7. So Penn State could beat Tennessee. No, not really. But do you see how silly some of you sound?

posted by SummersEve at 11:13 AM on January 09, 2007

That 51 day excuse is so lame Agreed. Before last night Tressel was 4-0 in games with a 30 day or more layoff. Of course the excuse now will be that Teddy didn't play and he would have prevented a 27 point drumming single handed because Ohio State fans are delusional sycophants with no objectivity whatsoever. Just look at all the "Boise State #1" comments for more evidence of their classless and ignorant behaviour. They could play UF vs OSU ten times. Florida would win every game.

posted by r8rh8r27 at 11:13 AM on January 09, 2007

Auburn in 2004 went unbeaten in the SEC, was denied a trip to the BCS championship game, and finished second in the AP and Coaches poll. Don't forget that Urban Meyer's Utah team also went undefeated that year. I don't know where danjel got his statistics on that one, but I'm sure there are others as well. I got my satistics here. Here is a paragraph from the article: Since the AP poll began in 1936, two schools have finished as the nation's only unbeaten and untied team and failed to win a share of a national title. Dartmouth finished 9-0 in 1965; Purdue did the same in 1943. Alabama (9-1-1 in 1965) and Notre Dame (9-1 in 1943) won the titles in those seasons. (Auburn went 11-0 in 1993 but was on probation and did not play a bowl game.)

posted by danjel at 11:15 AM on January 09, 2007

You saved me the time looking that up Holden. Meyer's Utah team popped in my head as soon as I read that.

posted by louisville_slugger at 11:16 AM on January 09, 2007

So Penn State could beat *Florida. Hee hee... You know what I mean. All football and no sleep make SE an idiot. Nothing like making an ass of yourself while making fun of people.

posted by SummersEve at 11:17 AM on January 09, 2007

top three states for most prep football talent Sure they are. There are over 30 million people in California for christ's sake. BTW Texas (especially east Texas) and Florida are southern states. Mississippi has a population of less than 2 million. Moss Point, Tupelo, South Panola are cities with only 20,000 people. Yet they fly all over the country to whip schools that would be 3 or 4 classes ahead of them in state competition. I'll take Hoover, AL (pop 28,000) over any school from L.A. or New Jersey with a player pool five times as large.

posted by r8rh8r27 at 11:25 AM on January 09, 2007

For those interested in past poll results.....

posted by danjel at 11:27 AM on January 09, 2007

Game ball has got to go to the Gators D-Line. They absolutely owned OSU's O line in a big way. I was hoping for a much better game. I think the early kick-off return by Ginn for a TD hurt OSU by not allowing them to take the field and establish some sort of flow. Florida played a great team game. There never was one superstar or go to guy and looked as if each player understood their role and also played for the man next to him. For OSU without Ginn and a O line that could protect Troy smith the buckeyes were left with no options. What I dont understand is why after being eatin up by the gators in the 1st half running their zone package why OSU didnt go to Man/Man to change it up some. OSU Defense was attrocious.

posted by 1trusparty at 11:27 AM on January 09, 2007

danjel, in your first statement, the world "only" was missing. Boise State is the only unbeaten now. In 2004, there were other unbeaten teams.

posted by bperk at 11:36 AM on January 09, 2007

On a side note about the game and the broadcast, if I would have had to watch that "Rock 'em Sock 'em Robot" commerciall one more time, I probably would have wondered into the street looking to punch out a truck myself. I couldn't agree more. I would love to go back and count the number of times that commercial went on. I have never seen anything so ridiculous. Especially because the commercial had already been played another thousand times during the other bowl games. Game ball has got to go to the Gators D-Line. They absolutely owned OSU's O line in a big way. I was hoping for a much better game. I think the early kick-off return by Ginn for a TD hurt OSU by not allowing them to take the field and establish some sort of flow. I actually felt the same way, only I took into account that if Florida did not respond the way they did, it could have been a serious dagger. Excellent play calling by Meyer to make sure his team came out firing on all cylinders to answer that OSU blow. r8rh8r27's first paragraph was right on. Anybody that has watched a few of the Gators' games over the past three years knows that Leak is in the upper echelon on quarterbacks if he has time to pick apart a defense and step into his throw. Zone coverage against him is asking to be burned if your front-four cannot mount a decent rush. Seeing his team get picked apart, one must wonder why Tressell did not choose to bite the bullet at some point and throw a few blitz packages. Make Leak operate under pressure and hope that he throws a bad pass that leads into a turnover. If I recall, Leak only made two questionable decisions the whole game, and both came with a defender in his face. I honestly question the coaching of OSU in this game.

posted by PublicUrinal at 11:52 AM on January 09, 2007

... the fact that you don't grasp or care to acknowledge the difference between a "month-long break" and the 51 days Ohio State truly sat tells me you're really not applying your normal amount of thought to this. Getting 51 days off is ridiculous -- whatever happened to finishing the season New Year's weekend? -- but I feel like conventional wisdom is too enamored of the difference between a one-loss team and a no-loss team. I hate how college football anoints a handful of teams before the season even starts, as Ohio State was treated this year. Some of those one-loss teams were pretty good. As for how much Ohio State I saw, I'm in Florida and tended to watch these teams when I couldn't get North Texas on TV. Florida's football and hoops teams peaked at the perfect time.

posted by rcade at 11:54 AM on January 09, 2007

Just to be clear about this, bperk. Are you saying Boise State and not Florida should be crowned 'Nat'l Champ' because they beat one top 25 team all year and OU on a down year with three trick plays at the end of the game? Florida's opponets record: 91-66 Boise State's opponets record: 75-89

posted by r8rh8r27 at 11:55 AM on January 09, 2007

Just to be clear about this, bperk. Are you saying Boise State and not Florida should be crowned 'Nat'l Champ' because they beat one top 25 team all year and OU on a down year with three trick plays at the end of the game? No, I never said anything like that.

posted by bperk at 11:59 AM on January 09, 2007

Florida was not the best performer last night IMNHO. That would be Barry Alvarez. When I saw the calling-crew I thought we were getting shafted by Fox for the biggest game of the year. But to my surprise the crew, especially Coach Alvarez, was top notch.

posted by r8rh8r27 at 12:02 PM on January 09, 2007

bperk, My bad. So what is your point in the whole, 'Boise State is the only undefeated.....'

posted by r8rh8r27 at 12:04 PM on January 09, 2007

I think he was referring to danjel's statistics and how they should be intepeted.

posted by louisville_slugger at 12:32 PM on January 09, 2007

Good for Florida. They played well and were much better coached. Next season, however, I'm looking for USC to dominate. Especially if Jarrett returns.

posted by slackerman at 01:14 PM on January 09, 2007

bperk, My bad. So what is your point in the whole, 'Boise State is the only undefeated.....' Just a correction in danjel's first statement. Though the second one he posted is right, which is that Boise State is the first team to be the only undefeated team and not at least get a share of the national title.

posted by bperk at 01:26 PM on January 09, 2007

I spent all that time in class wondering how’s the game going and for what? Don’t talk about layoffs or Boise State. Florida is the national champion. I believed Florida to be more athletic but Ohio State coach Tressell would come up with something to offset this. SPEED KILLS posted by Debo270 at 8:31 AM CST on January 9 Amen to that.

posted by Newbie Walker at 02:06 PM on January 09, 2007

Ohio State's D finally stepped up at the beginning of the second half and held Florida to two short possessions, but the offense couldn't get anything going. That was their last chance to get back into the game. Losing Ginn sucked for Ohio State, but if they lose a game because one player is out, they're not a championship team. Why were the Ohio State players on the sidelines wearing condoms on their heads?

posted by kirkaracha at 02:08 PM on January 09, 2007

And/or, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you didn't see Ohio State play at all this year But I'm afraid you can't give him the benefit of not having seen Florida and its woeful co-conferees. Oh, what memorable games there weren't. Just look at all the "Boise State #1" comments for more evidence of their classless and ignorant behaviour. I suppose it's hard not to paint with a very broad brush when you're doing the Gator chop thing. Really, SEC uber alles types are so easily tweaked. USC is the only team that would be competitive with an SEC schedule Except you don't play a schedule, you play a group of teams.

posted by etagloh at 02:11 PM on January 09, 2007

Sure they are. There are over 30 million people in California for christ's sake. BTW Texas (especially east Texas) and Florida are southern states. Mississippi has a population of less than 2 million. Moss Point, Tupelo, South Panola are cities with only 20,000 people. Yet they fly all over the country to whip schools that would be 3 or 4 classes ahead of them in state competition. I'll take Hoover, AL (pop 28,000) over any school from L.A. or New Jersey with a player pool five times as large.Sure they are. There are over 30 million people in California for christ's sake. BTW Texas (especially east Texas) and Florida are southern states. Mississippi has a population of less than 2 million. Moss Point, Tupelo, South Panola are cities with only 20,000 people. Yet they fly all over the country to whip schools that would be 3 or 4 classes ahead of them in state competition. I'll take Hoover, AL (pop 28,000) over any school from L.A. or New Jersey with a player pool five times as large. r8rh8r27 -- I never said that California had the most football talent per capita, only that it was in the top 3 for best prep talent. I also wasn't trying to skirt the fact that Texas and Florida are southern states, just to note that any discussion of top football regions has to include California (which really could actually qualify as its own region). And for what it's worth (a) Texas and Florida are the 2nd and 4th largest states in the U.S., respectively (although both aggregate to just slightly more total people than California), and (b) I wouldn't include South Florida and Central and West Texas in my own definition of the "South" -- they are some cultural differences between those places and what most Americans typically think of as the South (which I tend to think of as the SEC states -- yes, I know, Florida is included in that -- plus N. Carolina and parts of Virginia). Finally, high school teams don't play enough interstate matches to really assess whether the top teams in some states are better than the top teams in other states. Could Hoover beat De La Salle, Don Bosco, Mission Viejo or other NJ/CA teams? I don't know. As best as I can tell, Hoover hasn't played any of those teams or other CA or NJ teams recently (if at all), instead playing a more regional out-of-state schedule (Florida, Louisiana). And finally, just to be a dick, South Panola is the school district, Batesville is the town where South Panola H.S. is located. I think the "south" generally defined is clearly the best football region in the country (under a whole lot of metrics that might be used to define what is the "best"). I only take issue with some of your overbroad and unequivocal statements.

posted by holden at 02:20 PM on January 09, 2007

I'll take Hoover, AL (pop 28,000) over any school from L.A. or New Jersey with a player pool five times as large. Welcome to the South, where college football in the small towns is literally life. The best thing on earth is seeing Warner Robins vs. NS Warner Robins: two cross-town rivals who are viable to ranked nationally at any time. More intense than nay college game I've been to, and I went to UGA. Seen Saturday Night Lights where the captain of the football team is god on campus? The same is true in the smaller towns- only he's god of the whole town.

posted by jmd82 at 02:23 PM on January 09, 2007

As a Buckeye fan that was tough to take because we expected to win and we were flat, but Florida played amazing, everything they did, they did it with great execution, but I don't want to hear that Ginn's injury is why we lost, because Ted Ginn doesn't play defense. I also don't want to hear that Troy Smith is a 2nd string wr in the NFL, because he won't be. They out ran us, thats why they won, because of speed and heart. OSU just showed up and nobody wins just by showing up, and I don't want to hear that Florida is god and that OSU is trash just because they are champs because when we won, we did it with class, I expect the same from the fans of another Ohio born coach. And I hearing a little to much talk of Florida being the best team that ever played by all the idiots, not fans of football because Florida backed doored there way into the game and beat a team that thought they were already champs. And just for the record Chris Leak is no better than Troy Smith it just so happened to be Smith's worst career games and Leak just sat there and looked pretty while Timmy Tebow did all of the dirty work.

posted by Clevelander32 at 03:13 PM on January 09, 2007

Clevelander32, you are asking for Florida fans to be respectful, citing the class of Buckeyes fans, but you are truly contradicting this statement in your assertions that "Florida backed doored there way into the game" and only won because of the other team's lack of effort. I beg you to reconsider your position. And I hearing a little to much talk of Florida being the best team that ever played Where did you hear that? Sounds like a bad comedian. A great game and season by this Florida team, but they are nowhere near the best team that ever played. I believe that either team in last year's championship game would have put Florida to the test. Perhaps what you heard was the best team that Ohio State played this year. That, the score shows, may be a fair assessment. And just for the record Chris Leak is no better than Troy Smith it just so happened to be Smith's worst career games and Leak just sat there and looked pretty while Timmy Tebow did all of the dirty work. I believe that Leak is a better passer than Smith, but Smith is a better decision-maker under pressure and a far superior athlete. But to assess that Tebow did "all of the dirty work" while Leak "just sat there and looked pretty" is a woeful assessment that makes me question whether you even watched the game. A near-70% completion rating for over 200 yards and only one sack to go with zero interceptions is more than "looking pretty," especially given his management of the game. Tebow's statline: 1-1, 1 TD and 10 rushes for 39 yards, 1 TD. Sure, Tebow was thrown in there when the team wanted a rusher inside the red zone, but that's his role. It isn't to say that Leak can't get it done, but rather that Tebow is a better fit for the offense intended. thankx to a no-call on a CLEAR hold of Nelson on the kickoff Wow, I was waiting for this comment to assure me that I am not crazy. No flags or mention by the announcers despite the replay CLEARLY showing Nelson being pulled back. That isn't to detract from the return nor to state that Nelson would have eventually caught up, but that was a clear infraction.

posted by PublicUrinal at 03:43 PM on January 09, 2007

Wow, I was waiting for this comment to assure me that I am not crazy. No flags or mention by the announcers despite the replay CLEARLY showing Nelson being pulled back. That isn't to detract from the return nor to state that Nelson would have eventually caught up, but that was a clear infraction. I saw it as well, both real-time and on the replay. I was surprised it wasn't mentioned.

posted by holden at 04:02 PM on January 09, 2007

WOW

posted by yay-yo at 04:08 PM on January 09, 2007

Holden, Batesville has two school districts. They are still under self-segregation to a certain extent. South Panola is the football school. All the white kids go to North Panola. Neither school is within the city limits of Batesville. Batesville is just a town in Panola County, Mississippi. ....just to be a dick :)..... Hoover does play out of state competition. They flew to Union-Tulsa for the fourth game and won 34-7, and lost on the road to John Curtis, LA (USA Today #1)this year. They travel by charter jet. Last year they beat Lakeland, FL while they were ranked #1. There have been plenty of attempts to make a hoover vs. De La Salle home/away match but one team keeps backing out. Guess which one. They lost their bid to win their fifth str8 6A Championship to Pratville. I read in SI their football budget this year was 700K! Both starting quarterbacks for the Tigers and the Tide played for Hoover. Unlike La Salle they are a public school and can't openly recruit from all over the country.

posted by r8rh8r27 at 04:20 PM on January 09, 2007

Congratulations Florida, and yes, this is coming from an Ohio State fan (and graduate). I really wish OSU had shown up last night to give you the challenge you deserved, but if the shoe were on the other foot today, I'd probably be as happy as you are. OSU's offensive line stunk up the joint last night, Troy Smith underestimated the speed of Florida's defense, and our speedster injured his ankle while celebrating his opening kick return for a TD. Three strikes, we're out. (Not to mention that I think the coaches accidently grabbed John Cooper's old play book before leaving Columbus). But, I can take heart in one thing. At least I wasn't one of the many OSU fans who paid a few thousand dollars to fly to Arizona, scalp a ticket and come to wish I'd put the money into a flat-panel, 42" HD television instead. If I had dropped that kind of coin to watch that fiasco, I really be ticked off today. I'd offer one of you Gator fans the DVD I recorded the game on last night, but somehow it became damaged...very, very damaged. Go Bucks!

posted by gdvbranz at 04:27 PM on January 09, 2007

r8rh8r27 -- I think we're largely in agreement on a lot of points. (And maybe we're both right about S. Panola/Batesville -- the school may not be in Batesville city limits, but it has a Batesville mailing address.) Putting aside subjective claims about what program/state/style of football is better, though, perhaps a more interesting question is whether high school teams should even be playing out of state and having programs that spend lavishly on coaches, facilities, chartered planes, etc. Putting aside issues of funding, I generally am not comfortable with teams playing a large out of state schedule. I just don't think it comports with my concept of what high school athletics are about and brings it too close to the college game. I think participating in one Herbstreit-type showcase per year is probably enough (although I don't like the set-up of that one in that each non-Ohio team always plays an Ohio team). You (and others) may have a different view. On the existence of different views, there can be no debate.

posted by holden at 04:42 PM on January 09, 2007

Question directed to the Michigan fans (and maybe fans of other Big Ten scholls as well) in this thread: Just out of curiosity, when OSU plays in a game like this, do you root for them or against them? Does conference loyalty trump hatred of that team? Before the Rose Bowl I was going to root for Ohio State since I fully expected Michigan to beat USC. With an Ohio State win (preferably blowout) it would prove Michigan was the best candidate for the championship game. Unfortunatley, Michigan played like shit in the Rose Bowl and didn't give any reason for their being considered for the championship game. After I had finished my ranting, I realized there was no way I could root for Ohio State. Not as a true Michigan fan when there was nothing in it for Michigan. I still thought Ohio State was going to blow Florida out and was quite suprised. So to specifically answer the question, I have loyalty to the conference except for Michigan State and Ohio State. I will not root for them unless Michigan will directly benefit. Losing Ginn sucked for Ohio State, but if they lose a game because one player is out, they're not a championship team Kirk you make an excellent point. The arguement that losing Ginn killed Ohio State doesn't work. Especially since Ohio State's quarterback is a Heisman winner who was supposed to be the best player in college football this year. You would think that a Heisman winner would be able to make some plays even with the best player out. I think Smith's performance coupled with Young's in the championship game last year stregnthens the arguement for the heisman to be awarded after the bowl season.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 05:31 PM on January 09, 2007

I think Smith's performance coupled with Young's in the championship game last year stregnthens the arguement for the heisman to be awarded after the bowl season. So, looking at the bowl season as it related to the top 5 (excluding Smith) in Heisman voting this past year, who would you give the award to? * Darren McFadden, Ark. Lost. 89 yds rushing * Brady Quinn, ND, Lost. 148 yds. passing * Steve Slaton, WVU. Won. 11 yards rushing, 20 yards receiving. * Mike Hart, Mich. Lost. 47 yards rushing. Evidentally Slaton wins the Heisman. His stats in the game sucked, but his team won. The other four all lost AND their stats sucked (McFadden's were so-so). Not sure I agree with your idea. And I, for one, do think Ginn's absence had a fairly big impact on the game. You don't take a QB's biggest weapon, his favorite target, and one of the top two players the opposition has to account for out for the game and think it doesn't matter. Ginn was the thing that made the other receivers good. He took a great deal of the emphasis off of them. While opposing defenses are worrying about accounting for Ginn, the others have a better chance of working free. With him out, Florida's defense had to breath a sigh of relief. While I fully understand it wouldn't have made enough of a difference last night (the Buckeyes O-line couldn't keep anyone off Smith), it was still significant. But don't pin the loss on Smith. It was a team effort.

posted by dyams at 06:03 PM on January 09, 2007

TBH......."what were they ranked when they played Boise State? That's right...unranked." I understand now....skew the facts to fit the scenario....as in the last time I checked prior to UF's win OSU was #1 all season long. No biggie though 'cause as I've said all along...The Gator's are the national champion!

posted by brbcca at 06:28 PM on January 09, 2007

Tressell tied Lloyd Carr's brain in knots. Meyer did the same thing to Tressell. Damn, I have to admit that I'm impressed...and more scared of Florida in the future.

posted by ctal1999 at 07:22 PM on January 09, 2007

The Big Ten has a strange tradition....all games are finished by final exam week. A bowl game on Jan. 8th? C'mon now. With a 51 day layoff, even Urban Meyer admitted this was a factor for the Buckeyes. "Too many banquets and you begin to believe you're good," he said. With the bowl games, BCS and otherwise, getting very poor TV ratings, this is even more reason for a playoff. By January 2nd, the champion should be decided. Most colleges are done with finals by the second week of December. The championship tournament could be played during this time and the championship game played Jan. 1. I, for one, am sick of hearing the "strength of schedule" argument. It keeps the power with the BCS conferences, a myth that was busted by Boise State. So what, they were the only Division 1-A team that went undefeated in 13 games. They deserve the shot just like all the other "mid-majors", unless there is another NCAA football division formed, which would further increase the BCS conferences' power. Oh, I forgot, it's not about finding what team is the real champion. It is about BCS conferences keeping a stranglehold on the money. Mediocrity is rewarded. A 6-6 record gets a bowl birth. It's ridiculous.

posted by quaybon at 08:24 PM on January 09, 2007

51 days is friggin' ridiculous for many reasons. Not a factor though. Who know, but OSU didn't show up, even after the kick return. Tressell was thoroughly outcoached. I heard Urban Meyer goes to Miami next year.

posted by sfts2 at 08:49 PM on January 09, 2007

As I've said before here, I am against a playoff system not because it wouldn't better determine a national champion, but because logistically it isn't viable. I would like to hear from people how they think it could work for an 8 team or more playoff system. (Yes, 4 teams might not be too tough, but even then Boise State would have been left out, so that doesn't solve the problem that some people have with the final rankings.)

posted by edub1321 at 08:50 PM on January 09, 2007

Not viable? It could easily be done with 16 teams over three weeks. Automatic berths would be awarded to undefeated Division 1-A teams, whether it is Ohio University or Ohio State. Then, strength of schedule would be a factor along with conference championships, etc. Bracket seeds would be selected much like the NCAA basketball tournament, which, by the way, always earns high TV ratings. The BCS has to go. Other bowl games could be played, but would not be included in the championship tournament, much like the NIT in basketball. Something has to be done. Division 1-A football is the ONLY collegiate, or professional, sport without anything than resembles a playoff system. Of course, there would always be teams left out which may not be chosen. However, it would avoid the fiasco of long layoffs between games and the LSU-Nebraska fiasco, where a team with one-loss trumped another undefeated team, USC, because the BCS selection committee decided it would make more money, which it did not. Think about it. The end of the NFL season and the NCAA football tournament, both in December? Merry f'in Christmas!!! Talk about football heaven!

posted by quaybon at 09:26 PM on January 09, 2007

A 6-6 record gets a bowl birth. Depending on the size of the bowl, that could be painful.

posted by holden at 10:03 PM on January 09, 2007

Now that the dust has settled: To the OSU and Michigan fans who have displayed class and humor the last month and a half (and in this thread, I apologize for my behaviour in this thread. To the most vociferous and obnoxious of you that talked shit about Florida and SEC football and never stuck your head back in to congratulate the winners, (and you know who you are), have another helping of that crow.

posted by mjkredliner at 11:09 PM on January 09, 2007

A 6-6 team with a birth, er, I mean, berth, is a miscarriage.....

posted by quaybon at 12:13 AM on January 10, 2007

There were so many things that went wrong last night, you have to blame everybody. Urban Meyer out-coached Tressel. In the Texas game this year, Ohio State never was able to pick up any of the screen passes without surrendering a 5-yard gain by the opposition. Meyer was disciplined enough to keep taking what was given to him, and that was a soft zone Cover 2 that the Florida WR's picked apart. It doesn't take a football genius to realize that the linebackers (who I guess were supposed to be playing spy but really looked to be standing around) can't cover the receiver sets. Much less, having your two safeties line up 10-15 yards from the line of scrimmage made it easy for Florida to continually get those short gains. One of the keys for Florida going into the game was stopping the Ohio State running game. They didn't have to stop anything because for some reason, we abandoned the running game. When Pittman broke off two nice runs to get the score back to 21-14, it looked like we completely gave up on the running game. I didn't get throwing on a 1st and 2nd down, then running on a 3rd and long. I'm not saying it would have been completely different, but Teddy Ginn requires at least man coverage, sometimes the double team. It is Teddy Ginn who allows the other Buckeye receivers to get open. But this is just speculation because Boone and Barton played horrible and the Florida DE's were getting heavy pressure by themselves. Florida could call a 4-3 and have all their linebackers sit back and the pocket would still collapse. At this point, I'm all in favor of a playoff system. I think the 51-day layoff played a small part in the slaughter, but not anything that would have drastically changed the score. I do know, the Ohio State team that came out last night was not the same that dominated their other 12 games. An 8-team playoff to decide the National Champion would be easy to do. You're only concerned with the #1 team, so any controversy over the #8/#9/#10 spots should be considered irrelevant. If you gave #1 and #2 bye-weeks, you could even keep the existing bowls. Week 1: Sugar - 3v6, Fiesta - 4v5 Week 2: Rose - 1v4, Orange - 2v3 Week 3: NC - 1v2 The bowls could rotate like they currently do and I think everyone wins. But, I can take heart in one thing. At least I wasn't one of the many OSU fans who paid a few thousand dollars to fly to Arizona, scalp a ticket and come to wish I'd put the money into a flat-panel, 42" HD television instead. If I had dropped that kind of coin to watch that fiasco, I really be ticked off today. I paid $2500 for my seat, $500 combined on airfare and hotel plus some other expenditures. I could have taken the money and put it in a mutual fund or collected interest on it in a savings account, but not very often do you get to see your team in a National Championship. It does leave a very bad taste in your mouth when winning this game was supposed to be a formality, but you can't win them all. None-the-less, this disgusting loss won't deter me from traveling again to another Ohio State championship game when the time comes. Hindsight is 20/20, and had it been an OSU victory, I couldn't have spent that money any better.

posted by v3rity at 02:41 AM on January 10, 2007

Oh, and by the way, no one has said that the BCS worked pretty well this year, which it did. The only answer it didn't provide, in my book, is if BSU would have given Florida a game. My bet: BSU keeps it closer than OSU.

posted by mjkredliner at 06:14 AM on January 10, 2007

edub1321edub1321.....how about 16 teams, beginning with automatic berths for any undefeated teams, conference champions, and computer rankings determining the remaining teams used to round out the field. Wait two weeks after the end of the regular season and then start the tournament, with a goal of the championship game being played on New Year's day. The crap about money and other bowl games can be solved by using the teams that don't make the tournament to play these games and if the major concern is name recognition for these bowls, there are a lot of teams that finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th in thier respective confrences that have that recognition. I think it's really pretty simple and real hard to find fault with......want a bigger field.....eleminate the 2 week wait and you can start with 64 teams!

posted by brbcca at 07:36 AM on January 10, 2007

brbcca, I disagree with your accustion that I'm skewing facts. When I say that Florida went 3 - 1 against ranked teams, I'm talking about teams that were ranked when UF played them. When I say that Boise State didn't play a single ranked team all season long, I'm talking about teams that were unranked when they played the Broncos. When Oregon State got shellacked by BSU, they were unranked. No skew involved, just simple facts. Oregon State is ranked now, but they weren't then. That's all I'm sayin'. Another point for all who would cry out in anguish at the fate of poor Boise State: they barely beat the number 11 team in the country, while Florida completely dominated the consensus number one team in America, beating them by 27 points. Those apples and oranges don't look alike in the least. Side note: Mjk, I think USC - UF is a better matchup than BSU - UF. I think USC's speed matches up well with Florida. Granted, I didn't see enough of Boise State this year to make any firm judgements, but I don't think they compete speed-wise with Florida or Southern Cal.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 10:23 AM on January 10, 2007

Almost forgot...time for a couple of new photos on my profile.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 10:49 AM on January 10, 2007

If you gave #1 and #2 bye-weeks, you could even keep the existing bowls. Week 1: Sugar - 3v6, Fiesta - 4v5 Week 2: Rose - 1v4, Orange - 2v3 Week 3: NC - 1v2 v3rity -- I think this is a six-team playoff. I don't see the 7 and 8 seeds. Basically, what you've done is one-half of the NFL playoffs (i.e., one conference).

posted by holden at 11:08 AM on January 10, 2007

TBH - thanks for my daily chuckle, for which I can usually depend on someone on this site. If you're wondering what I'm referring to, refer to your classification of other SpoFites in this thread from just yesterday (excerpt : We have nearly 16,000 members on our little slice of Heaven, and a few of them are erudite souls like myself, ... Unfortunately, approximately 14,000 of those members think this is just another Yahoo! chatroom to run in and scream "My team rulz, your team sux LOLOLOL!!!!!!!!" as compared to the above comments: Although chiefly carnivorous in nature, the Florida Gator will also ingest large quantities of vegetation when necessary, primarily consisting of buckeyes... How sad is it that as I proudly watched my alma mater kick the holy livin' shit out of the best the Big Ten has to offer, one of my first thoughts was, I can't frickin' wait to get on the 'Filter! and Almost forgot...time for a couple of new photos on my profile. You truly are occasionally "erudite" as you refer to yourself in the other thread, so maybe you just caved into temptation in this Florida thread. Your team DID rock - any Buckeye fan would be a fool not to admit it - enjoy it - and we'll all let this temporary hypocrisy slide.

posted by littleLebowski at 02:38 PM on January 10, 2007

Almost forgot...time for a couple of new photos on my profile. Any more and my computer will freeze up every time I click on your profile. Lebowski can you honestly say that if Ohio State had won the championship game you wouldn't be boasting right now?

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 05:52 PM on January 10, 2007

I think USC - UF is a better matchup than BSU - UF. I think USC's speed matches up well with Florida. Absolutely. And what a game it would be. But, I don't see any USC fans laying claim to #1, either... BSU, you had a great year, but y'all better start playing with the big boys, if you want to be talked of in the same breath.

posted by mjkredliner at 08:35 PM on January 10, 2007

Lebowski can you honestly say that if Ohio State had won the championship game you wouldn't be boasting right now? Yes, I can - you and I even went back-and-forth, in fun, before the Michigan game - and you didn't see me here afterwards touting how glorious OSU was. I'm not against "man, I'm glad me team looked great" ... but my point above was when the comments are bitter and particularly seconds after spouting off about how other people make way too many "my team is awesome" comments. But, it's over and done with.

posted by littleLebowski at 09:53 AM on January 11, 2007

mjk: agreed, this USC fan would not put the Trojans number one ahead of Florida; we blew our shot at Ohio State by not showing up against UCLA. The Gators were awesome and deserve to lift the trophy and finishing third or fourth as we did in the final polls is reasonable. Next season, even with Jarret declaring for the draft, ought to be different. We seem to be consensus #1 or 2 pre-season pick, Pete C. will work on showing up every down of every game, and given the returning players and recruiting class I have high hopes.

posted by billsaysthis at 01:31 PM on January 11, 2007

Lebowski, I do see a difference between my comments and that standard "We rule, you suck" posts. My alma mater just won the National Championship after weeks of being given virtually no chance. In fact, many people here questioned whether they even belonged on the same field as the Buckeyes. If my expressions of pride and supreme happiness have upset you, that certainly wasn't my intent. I do not support the right of new members to troll through threads acting like assholes, I've made comments to that end in the past, and I will in the future. As far as my comments in this thread, I thought it was all in fun, but apparently, it's not.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 03:20 PM on January 11, 2007

TBH, UR team sux!

posted by bperk at 04:07 PM on January 11, 2007

!!!!!!!!!!!!LOLOLOLOL???????????

posted by The_Black_Hand at 04:40 AM on January 12, 2007

TBH - Your comments didn't upset me. I'd be lying if I wasn't a little tweaked, but my issue was more with what I perceived as "good for the goose, good for the gander" thing related to your rant on the other thread (which I agree with). No worries. Congrats again. I'm past it ... for the most part ... still can't watch Sportscenter or listen to sports radio ... and I've destroyed three TVs because they had the nerve to allow the Sports Illustrated "Florida fans, your Gators are #1, enjoy this special deal" commercial to be shown on them ... but really, I'm over it.

posted by littleLebowski at 09:42 AM on January 12, 2007

The gators showed up with the best and ohio didnt answer so they got drug around the whole time.

posted by DaBoss at 12:44 PM on January 15, 2007

ohio didnt answer so they got drug around the whole time. Wow, I didn't even know they were drug testing that game!

posted by tommybiden at 11:06 PM on January 15, 2007

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