Much to the surprise of no one, the #2 ranked Oregon Ducks suffered their second loss of the season last night in prime time to the unranked Arizona Wildcats. The Ducks joined their Pac 10 counterparts USC and Cal along with South Florida and Boston College to become the fifth #2 ranked team to fall since early October. This has left many sportswriters and fans wondering if there is a "curse" of the #2 teams.
There are a number of reasons why this is ridiculous. First of all, it is November now, and anyone who knows anything about being goth knows that you can only put a curse on someone through Halloween. After that, it's no dice until the new year. If anything, this is yet another example of the degree of parity in college football today. In a lot of ways, this is a direct extension of the Boise State victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl back in January. The little guy isn't always so little anymore. Just ask Michigan if you don't believe me.
But even beyond that, we have had a string of #2 teams who no one was really buying as being deserving of the #2 spot. Aside from USC, none of these teams were truly considered "for real." As it turns out, none of them really were. Now the same question will be posed for the remainder of the top tier teams in college football. This weekend alone will provide a little more insight into the legitimacy of teams like Kansas, Missouri, and West Virginia. And would it really shock anybody if mighty LSU fell to Ole Miss?
All of this insanity makes for a great time to be a college football fan. And yes, it is just another example of why there needs to be a playoff system for the sport, but we all know that isn't going to happen. So I am trying to look at the situation in a positive light: This year's bowl season is going to KICK ASS! Seriously. Nearly every game will likely showcase some team that has done something special at some point this season. Kentucky will be able to show the nation the team that knocked off top ranked LSU, fans will be able to see Hawaii's often overlooked Heisman trophy candidate Colt Brennan, and Connecticut fans may actually have travel plans over Christmas break that don't involve the Hartford Civic Center.
So yeah, Oregon lost. Imagine that. A quarterback named Leaf couldn't get the job done. Imagine that. It's late November and the BCS picture is still as cloudy as muddy water...imagine that. But stay tuned college football fans, because I've got a feeling that this post season could be one we are talking about for a long time to come.
8 comments:
The bowls this year will be outstanding, I agree 100%, but only if 2 things happen.
1. LSU doesnt get upset the rest of the season. In the SEC, thats a lot easier said than done, look at the once suck teams who have jumped up and bit the powerhouses in the ass.
2. Kansas wins out. They have to go undefeated else all hell will break loose.
The reason is because if those 2 things fail to happen, there isnt a strong national championship game. If Kansas were to lose you have no way of picking an inarguable candidate for the second team to take on LSU. And if LSU loses...well fuck everything falls apart. A strong national championship game has to happen for the average fan to be tied in with all the other bowl games. Else it feels like a build up to just another mediocre game.
I totally agree. I think it will be the best in recent memory. I don't know if you read the last column I wrote for The Sun (I posted it on facebook), but I've been giving NFL fans shit about it.
Well, so much for LSU not losing. That game was one of the best I've ever seen, though, so it's tough to be upset about them losing. I am excited about the possibility of West Virginia making a national title run. It will be interesting to see what happens. Ultimately, I will be ok with anything that happens, as long as Ohio State does NOT end up in the title game.
Unfortunately, I had the feeling watching ESPN earlier that the O-H-I-O chants were already starting. It just doesnt seem fair to me, Ohio St. gets to spend the last 2 weeks doing nothing while the other teams beat themselves out of national title contention. Say what you will, LSU still deserves to be in that game in my mind.
WVU vs The Ohio State in the title game... not the two best teams in the nation, but the two teams who have won the games they were supposed to win while only faultering one time a piece
WVU brings a title back to Morgantown and John Denver's "Country Roads" blares throughout the state
Ohio State isn't even the best team in the Big Ten, let alone the nation. Did anyone see Illinois beat them? It wasn't a fluke. It wasn't a hail marry pass or the win of a lifetime. Illinois was just flat out better than Ohio State. And Illinois didn't even reach their potential this season. They'll be legitimate BCS title contenders next year (a bold prediction I know). So, I don't think any Big Ten team deserves to be in the BCS title game. OSU didn't play anyone tough all year and when they did (Illinois) they lost.
The LSU/Arkansas game is just one of those things that shows how good the SEC really is. There's absolutely nothing shit about that conference. Take any team and put them in the Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10 or Big 12 even and I'd say they have a fair shot at winning it.
But watching Kansas/West Virginia play for a national title should be pretty fun. To echo a sentiment expressed by Clyde - all the bowl games will be fun this year. However, they'll all still have stupid names. I just hope Kentucky doesn't end up in the "Tampax Bowl."
I agree that Ohio State isnt the best team in the Big 10. I dont think they should be playing for the national title. There are somewhere between 7 and 9 teams in the SEC that I think are at least as good as tOSU. All that being said, if Oklahoma beats Mizzou next week, tOSU will be playing for the national title.
My bad, it looks like it'll be West Virginia and somebody - maybe Mizzou - but not Kansas. When I wrote that, I hadn't double checked the scores.
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