Best BCS match up?

[ucdlax]

Last word on why ND should be in... they lost to USC by Reggie Bush illegally pushing Matt Leinart into the end zone. If that is called, ND beats USC and might be in the Rose instead of USC. Also for all of you Oregon people out there, they lost to USC 45-13 AT HOME. Also, Oregon plays a weaker schedule and won 4 games by a TD or less, ND just 2. ND vs Ohio State is a better matchup and will bring in more viewers than Oregon vs Ohio State.

[benji]

Too bad they didn't actually earn it on the field.

I agree.

I beg to differ. This was never intended to be part of the process. You couldn't be more off base on this one. We shouldn't have say this is OK because others are cheating & manipulating, so we should do it too.

What they ought to do in order to fix the BCS voting is to eliminate the top 4 votes and the bottom 4 votes for each team in the poll. Doing that would bring a more proper average poll result as it appears that the majority of the voters vote in the way the poll is supposed to be conducted.

I never said this was OK or that I agreed with it morally, but what I am trying to say is that programs susceptible to these sort of tactics should maybe prepare themselves for them if they want to be successful in modern-day college football.

And yes, like I said earlier, I hate the BCS. The voting thing would help, but it would need a lot of changes, in my opinion, to become a good system. I have no suggestions as to how to do this, but I think most people can agree that at least some changes are in order.

Now you are talking about a problem that is big in this country. It absolutely SHOULD come as a shock that someone would act in this way for money, recognition and status. We hold up money and status too highly right now... I see it everyday in the way my 14 year old freshman english students talk in class. They have more respect for Us Weekly, Jessica Simpson and Laguna Beach than they do for the Naval Academy, athletics or academic achievement.

Like I said earlier, its pathetic and sickening that this sort of thing happens. But like I said to CATLAX MAN, as socially shocking this may be to some people, its something that society now have to contend with. Any team that refuses to believe the world is the way it is or that people would do such a thing are are at fault simply because of their ignorance. Once again, I don't advocate or support this kind of thing in any way, but the point is that people aren't aware of it, then they can have no way of trying to protect themselves against it.

[Sonny]

While I don't like what some of the pollsters did last year to Cal... Do you have proof that coaches connspired/encouraged other coaches/pollsters to modify their polls to benefit others? Seems to me like a pretty big leap of faith there.

Mack Brown publicly admitted last year to calling some of the voting coaches and asked them to move Cal down in their polls and Texas up so that they could get in. This was not a secret.

Must have missed that one CATLAX. That is pretty bush league, if true.

[Sonny]

Last word on why ND should be in... they lost to USC by Reggie Bush illegally pushing Matt Leinart into the end zone. If that is called, ND beats USC and might be in the Rose instead of USC. Also for all of you Oregon people out there, they lost to USC 45-13 AT HOME. Also, Oregon plays a weaker schedule and won 4 games by a TD or less, ND just 2. ND vs Ohio State is a better matchup and will bring in more viewers than Oregon vs Ohio State.

I understand how/why the BCS selects teams the way it does to sell tickets & get the best TV ratings possible (after the # 1 vs. # 2 matchup). But ND also lost to a sub .500 team at home (Mich State). You have to consider the whole body of work.

[KnoxVegas]

I just hope that no team repeats this exercise in revisionist history. In 1999, the flagship station of the Ohio State radio network paid a Florida company to do a computer simulated National Championship game between OSU and Tennessee. The station then proceed to air the radio play-by-play of this "fake" game, including pre- and post-game shows. Shocker, OSU won the "fake" Fiesta Bowl, on a last second goal line stand.

The words pathetic and sad come to mind. Go Vols! Meanwhile, in the real world America's Team made FSU look like, well the 2005 Seminoles.

Ok, so I am still bitter about not go to a bowl game. i could be in Australia for New Year's but I believe that Phat Fill would lead us to the promise land. Oh well, we still beat LSU!

[Weberlax12]

I think fiesta and Rose bowl are going to be the best two I cant wait to watch the rose bowl i hope it is better then last year. and fiesta will be a great game, why couldnt utah get a team like that last year in that same bowl?

[CATLAX MAN]

Must have missed that one CATLAX. That is pretty bush league, if true.

Oh, it's true. Here is an excerpt from a San Diego Union-Tribune article on 12/6/04:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/college_football/holiday/20041206-9999-1s6holiday.html

Texas coach Mack Brown, whose team last year was left out of a BCS bowl and played in the Holiday Bowl despite a 10-2 record and No. 5 BCS ranking, campaigned over the past week for voters to recognize the Longhorns in the final polls. Brown's politicking worked, but he acknowledged yesterday the BCS system does not.

"As happy as we are today, I really feel sorry for Cal," Brown said on ABC's BCS selection show. "Cal is a great football team. The system doesn't work, and we understand that . . . We'll keep working at this system where teams like Cal will be playing in the BCS."

It's an interesting quote from Mack. If he really wanted Cal to play in a BCS bowl last year, then why did he campaign against them to take their spot from them? Yeah, he really feels sorry for them.

[Sonny]

Maybe I'm splitting hairs here... But I think there is a difference betwen Brown openly expressing a desire for the Rose Bowl spot last year (over Cal) in post-game press conferences VERSUS him coercing voters to modify their final poll votes. My 3 cents.

[lil lady lax fan]

Heard on the drive into work this morning that tickets for the end zone at the Rose Bowl are going for $1000 each. They also only had 1000 tickets available to the public. The remainder of the tickets went to the schools and Tournament of Roses committee members.

[Danny Hogan]

catlaxman, thats hardly mack brown coming out admitting that he called other voters and asked them to put cal lower on their ballots.

[tamu33]

Maybe I'm splitting hairs here... But I think there is a difference betwen Brown openly expressing a desire for the Rose Bowl spot last year (over Cal) in post-game press conferences VERSUS him coercing voters to modify their final poll votes. My 3 cents.

I totally agree here Sonny. I am a true longhorn hater but in this case, good ole Mack was in his right to say in his post-game and weekly radio shows that he feels they deserve the right to be in a BCS bowl. Besides, if calling voters actually worked don't you think that Oregon or Cal would have done the same thing.

[CATLAX MAN]

Guys, I couldn't find the exact report where he admitted that he called other voting coaches to get them to move Texas up and Cal down, but I remember very clearly that he admitted to doing so in press conferences & interviews during the week that the final polls were being conducted for the 2004 BCS poll. It was not a case of just saying that he felt Texas deserved the spot in the BCS in general terms. He actually called voters personally and lobbied them. This was just one article where they referred to his efforts. He felt that they were screwed in the previous year, so he personally lobbied voters to gain the advantage in the coaches polls which was enough to push Texas past Cal in the BCS poll. Whether you choose to believe that it happened or not is your prerogative, but make no mistake, it did happen.

As an aside, this situation was also part of the reason (also 2004 Auburn) why the AP pulled the plug on letting the BCS use its poll in its formula.

[benji]

I think fiesta and Rose bowl are going to be the best two I cant wait to watch the rose bowl i hope it is better then last year. and fiesta will be a great game, why couldnt utah get a team like that last year in that same bowl?

The Peach Bowl sure did luck out, being a non-BCS bowl and still getting Miami vs. LSU ... maybe one of the best non-BCS games I think.