2007 College Football Schedule for Week No. 14 (12/1/07)

[StrykerFSU]

What exactly is UH supposed to do about their schedule? I don't think that anyone is advocating that they get a title shot but why shouldn't they get a BCS bid? They played and beat everyone in their conference and it's not their fault that no one wants play them OOC (UM didn't want a piece of them and scheduled APP State instead). You are harping about them scheduling "cupcakes" and "girl's teams" but when 80% of your scheduled is controlled by your conference and higher prestige teams don't want to play you I think you are kind of stuck. It's no different than what Gonzaga and the other mid-majors face in bball but they at least have the advantage a tournament and a longer season that allows for more game opportunities.

You say UH deliberately joined a weak conference and purposely scheduled weak teams in an effort to try to back door their way into the NC game...does this really seem plausible to you? If so, they might want to start recruiting on the mainland.

Just relax, no one is going to allow an undefeated Cinderella come crash your BCS Ball.

[Danny Hogan]

8/30/08 Hawaii @ Florida

[StrykerFSU]

Too bad it's not the other way around Danny!

Just for fun here's TMQ's All-Academic BCS:

Allstate BCS Championship Game:
Boston College (127.80) vs. Cincinnati (97.25)

Rose Bowl Presented by Citi:
Auburn (73.15) vs. Boise State (68.90)

FedEx Orange Bowl:
Virginia (60.45) vs. Virginia Tech (60.15)

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl:

Clemson (59.35) vs. USC (51.65)

Allstate Sugar Bowl:

West Virginia (47.85) vs. Arizona State (46.35)

Exiled to the bottom of the A/BCS and the pre-New-Year's bowls named after lawn equipment and mufflers:

21. LSU (29.95)

22. Ohio State (28.55)

23. Oregon (8.35)

24. Texas (7.85)

25. Hawaii (-2.35)

Explanation of the ranking are available at http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/071127

[Beta]

You say UH deliberately joined a weak conference and purposely scheduled weak teams in an effort to try to back door their way into the NC game...does this really seem plausible to you?

No I did not say that. Nor did I ever say that. Nor have I ever hinted at something like that, because that is stupid. If these "powerhouses" from weak conferences are deserving of BCS-caliber opponents everyweek...maybe they should try and join a BCS conference that they are geographically able to. Or perhaps get nothing but solid OOC opponents instead of bottom of the barrel 1-AA teams.

Although...maybe the Pac10 would like to add Boise and Hawaii and a conference championship game.

What exactly is UH supposed to do about their schedule?

I dunno, play good teams? Or perhaps...have more than one good year and get some validity? When it's a new team in the conference every year winning...they look like flukes. LSU, Florida, UGA, Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC will always be good.

UM didn't want a piece of them

A D-1 team would rather schedule a 1-AA team than D-1 team for their first game...I'm shocked.

[Sonny]

Interest take from Pat Forde's column about relegation (best 1-AA team moves up to 1-A and worst 1-A teams move down - ala European soccer):

If This Were The Other Kind Of Football …
In England, they have a pretty cool soccer meritocracy where you have to earn the right to stay in the division you're in. The bottom team is sent down a division, while the top team from the division below is promoted.

Imagine if that were applied to college football heading into 2008, with demotions from I-A and promotions from I-AA. The Dash imagined just that, conference by conference, using the Sagarin Ratings as a guide and trying to keep promotions and demotions within geographically feasible boundaries:

ACC (25). Demoted: Duke (No. 113 Sagarin). Promoted: Richmond (No. 77) of the Colonial Athletic Association. Ancillary benefit: Evens out state balance to three teams from North Carolina and three from Virginia.

Big 12 (26). Demoted: Baylor (No. 125). Promoted: McNeese State (No. 96) of the Southland. Ancillary benefit: Getting to Lake Charles, La., can't be much harder than getting to Waco.

Big East (27). Demoted: Syracuse (No. 111). Promoted: Massachusetts (No. 74) of the Colonial. Ancillary benefit: No more Big East games in lame dome.

Big Ten (28 ). Demoted: Minnesota (No. 118 ). Promoted: Northern Iowa (No. 40) of the Gateway. Ancillary benefit: Any conference that adds punt returner Johnny Gray (consult YouTube for footage of his return against Indiana State from Nov. 10) is better off.

Conference USA (29). Demoted: SMU (No. 169). Promoted: Wofford (No. 83) of the Southern Conference. Ancillary benefit: Who needs the Dallas TV market when you can have Spartanburg, S.C.?

MAC (30). Demoted: Northern Illinois (No. 144). Promoted: Southern Illinois (No. 64) of the Gateway. Ancillary benefit: Keeps the MAC in Illinois.

Mountain West (31). Demoted: UNLV (No. 121). Promoted: South Dakota State (No. 90) of the Great West. Ancillary benefit: Traveling fans cannot lose near as much money in Brookings, S.D., as in Vegas.

Pacific-10 (32). Demoted: Stanford (No. 82). Promoted: North Dakota State (No. 65) of the Great West. Ancillary benefit: Fargo? You betcha!

SEC (33). Demoted: Mississippi (No. 78 ). Promoted: Appalachian State (No. 66). Ancillary benefit: None. Losing The Grove and all those Ole Miss sorority girls would be a crushing blow to the league.

Sun Belt (34). Demoted: Florida International (No. 182). Promoted: Grambling State (No. 140) of the SWAC. Ancillary benefit: Halftime shows suddenly improve.

WAC (35). Demoted: Idaho (No. 170). Promoted: Montana (No. 99) of the Big Sky. Ancillary benefit: Another dome demoted.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3129416&sportCat=ncf

[BucLax13]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=dw-playoff112707&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[Beta]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=dw-playoff112707&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Nice find Buclax...I agree 100%.

Screw the "everyone gets a trophy" nonsense. Let the non-BCS teams have their "NIT" and reward the players and the fans instead of the sponsors of the Meineke Car Car Bowl.

[Sonny]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=dw-playoff112707&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[Beta]

In my opinion, from that bracket:

In the 2nd Round
USC @ Missouri
Hawaii @ UGA

LSU @ WVU
Florida @ Ohio State

In the 3rd Round
UGA @ Missouri
LSU/WVU @ Florida

Natl Champ
UGA @ Florida

[Dan Wishengrad]

Thanks for defending me, Cliff -- it sure is both odd and wonderful when you and I are actually in agreement about something non-lacrosse related!

Joe, I always respect you and listen to your arguments but think you are really off-base here. I agree SOS is an important consideration for comparative rankings, and further concur that teams with two losses (like a USC) or even three (like a Florida) from top conferences are probably deserving of a higher ranking than a team like Hawaii which plays in a weak conference and has a "crappy, crappy" OOC schedule also.

But this scheduling is all decided years in advance, and teams like Hawaii and Boise State and Troy etc etc will always have trouble drawing a top schedule. But just because their overall SOS and specific OOC opponents are not the best has nothing to do with how strong they might actually be in any given year. Boise State in '06 was the perfect example of this. I watched the Broncos play and thought they were actually one of the better football teams on the field last year, and they proved it against a good Oklahoma team in the bowl victory. I don't think this year's Hawaii team is a national contender, I don't even think they are as good as last year's Boise State team. But IF we had a true playoff system in D1 football -- like in every other sport in the NCAA -- we might ALL be shocked who would emerge from a playoff to wear the eventual national crown.

The beauty of sports is that the title is won by the team playing the best at the end of the season, not who got upset early and therefore deserves no shot at redemption later. Colorado State won a national title in our league after losing twice to BYU during the regular season and the RMLC playoffs, but made it to St. Louis and won when it counted at the end. Stanford didn't make the WCLL finals another year but upset two higher seeds to advance to the national title game. These kind of Cinderella stories are what makes sports truly compelling, at least in my humble opinion. To dismiss what a team does on the field because of pre-conceived notions about how good or bad they are based on who they played or what conference they play in makes the games actually played almost meaningless.

2007 is the texbook example of why college football needs a playoff system. To anoint Missouri and West Virginia, for instance, as the only two teams worthy of being in the title game (if that comes to pass) is not only unfair but also not even reasonable. Just my two cents as always...

PS Joe I'd love to wager with you on the hypothetical USC vs Missouri game. With Booty back healthy and the Trojans finally playing like they are capable of, I say they destroy Mizzou by three touchdowns. But too bad we will never know...

[Dan Wishengrad]

As Keith Jackson would say: "WHOAAAAA NELLIE!"

Beta Joe did you really pick Hawaii to beat Kansas and advance to the second round?!?!?!?!?! Who has stolen your moniker and is posting under your name out there in Georgia? Can't be the same guy who keeps expounding on why UH is such a crappy football team!

[Beta]

PS Joe I'd love to wager with you on the hypothetical USC vs Missouri game. With Booty back healthy and the Trojans finally playing like they are capable of, I say they destroy Mizzou by three touchdowns. But too bad we will never know...

Booty is a great QB and USC is the better team. But IN Missouri...in December...in that weather....USC would be hurting. I'd pick Missouri in a close, ugly game.

Kansas is not good at all. In the battle of the midgets...the tallest [sic] will survive! I think Hawaii's offense would throw Kansas into a bind.

I didn't pick my bracket based on team names...I did so on how I feel teams match up with each other.

I am not saying that the mid-majors should disband their teams, but I don't see the point in giving them credit for only 1 decent win a year. A playoff system eliminates this since you have to play 3-4 good teams in a row. And yes there's problems in it, but I'd rather listen to #17 and #18 complaining than to watch another 2003 USC or 2004 Auburn get screwed.

Yeah the schedule is made in advance and all that jazz. So is that the only excuse they have? So the good teams are punished because they play a hard schedule? Rankings being based on W/L is what's the problem. Look at college basketball. Yeah I love the underdog...but there's no playoff in college (unfortunately). But rewarding teams and their cupcake schedule tells the teams that do one message: "DONT SCHEDULE HARD TEAMS BECAUSE THERE'S NO REASON TO".

If you're going to rank a team based on off the field things like "scheduling difficulty"...then something is wrong. Sports are settled on the field. If they have a problem, fix it. That's life.

What's next? "Oh, Kansas should be ranked higher even though they lost because they have a short QB...and it's not his fault he's short....it's his mom's fault for not marrying a taller man."

[Dan Wishengrad]

Here's the problem with your argument, Joe, at least IMHO.

Lets' just imagine, for a second, a ridiculous hypothetical. Let's say next year the fifty best high school football Seniors from Florida, Texas, California and everywhere else all decide that they want to attend a weak football program from a weak conference. Let's say they all choose to attend Ball State, because they all just happen to be big David Letterman fans and want to attend his alma mater. Let's also say that coincidentally Ball State just happens to have it's best team in decades that season with a few really good ballers among their returning upperclassmen. Combined with the influx of top incoming Freshmen, they might actually BE the best football team in NCAA D1 football in this fantasy, bizarro 2008 season. But people like you will ignore the reality and say "they play in a crappy conference, they play a crappy schedule.... etc... etc....etc" all this same old tired nonsense.

They don't deserve a top ranking because of how crappy they have been in the past, and because no "elite" team had scheduled five years earlier to play them in '08 and because they couldn't "choose" to play in the SEC next year, right Joe?

[Beta]

They don't deserve a top ranking because of how crappy they have been in the past, and because no "elite" team had scheduled five years earlier to play them in '08 and because they couldn't "choose" to play in the SEC next year, right Joe?

For the second (and last) time, I never said that these teams can choose/not-choose what conference to be in. Earlier in a post (after the 1st time it was incorrectly said), I said that perhaps Hawaii could try to get into the PAC-10 with Boise, then the PAC-10 could get a championship game.

What is the point of trying to come up with answers to outlying, hypothetical situations that aren't occurring? I'm talking about what is happening now. What if there are 3 undefeated teams? 4? 10? Eleventy Billion Undefeated Teams!!!!!1!!!!!1one!!!!!eleventy!!!!!

With our current system, no one will be happy. A playoff system covers all problems with the exception of the occasional bubble team.

Haha Ball State? Ball State STILL plays more quality teams than Hawaii. Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana this year. Last year #2 Michigan, Indiana, Purdue. Hell in 2005 they played Iowa, Auburn and Boston College.

But you're right, there's a vast conspiracy against ALL non-BCS teams that keep them from playing ANY decent OOC opponents each year.

Except Ball State, are they the exception? They slipped through the cracks. However...THE MAN will fix that problem!

Other mid major teams play solid BCS schools...what's Hawaii's excuse?

Oh right, "they're scared to play us....even though they'll go and play Oregon, Oklahoma, LSU, USC, etc etc etc".

[StrykerFSU]

Why should Hawaii ever schedule anyone hard if they (and the rest of the WAC) continue to be rewarded for playing crappy, god-awful teams?

I was just taking this statement and the rest of your posts to their logical conclusion. You use hyperbole often in your posts so don't get bent out of shape when it comes full circle.

A D-1 team would rather schedule a 1-AA team than D-1 team for their first game...I'm shocked.

Now who's scheduling cupcakes? What's good for the goose has to be good for the gander. It is clear from Danny's post about UH traveling to G'ville next year, and kudos to UF for scheduling the game, that UH is employing the "any game any time" mentality that will hopefully earn them some respect. Now if there were only more UF's out there (I just threw up in my mouth) that had the courage to schedule compelling OOC games with the likes of UH and BSU...

You excuse teams from major conferences for scheduling I-AA teams and the like because their conference schedule is sooooo tough but then condemn the little guy because they can't get a major conference team to play them. And yes, the argument that the power teams are scared does hold water...it has been evident in college basketball, where the stakes are not nearly as high, for years.

I'm not making the argument that UH belongs in the National Championship but an undefeated year by a team featuring a Heisman Trophy candidate deserves to be in a BCS bowl, even it really sticks in the craw of college football good ol' boys.