College Football’s True Champs… Sorry Florida

 

 

 

After watching the Florida Gators dismantle the previously invincible Ohio St. Buckeyes, was happy to watch Chris Leak bask in the glory of finally fulfilling his promise of winning a national title.  However, after about five minutes of watching post game interviews and celebrations, my elation quickly dissipated.  I didn’t feel the same as when I watched the Gators hoist the championship trophy in basketball back in April or when Oregon State baseball defied the odds in June.

 

            It just didn’t feel like the true champion was crowned that night.  Make no mistake, Urban Meyer is a great head coach and Florida certainly deserved to play in the national championship game but the season felt like it ended too quickly.  Before you scratch your head and ask me if I’ve lost my mind, hear me out.  

 

            After watching Boise St. stun the Big XII champion Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl on New Years Day, I thought their win had spelled the end of the BCS forever, or at least deserved a piece of the national title. It’s not like it’s never been done before—in fact it’s been done too many times. 

Boise State which only began playing Division I-A football in 1996, has quietly risen to become a national power among non-BCS teams.  What’s most impressive is that Boise State appears to be just getting started.  They’ve risen at a rate reminiscent of another rising national power in another sport.  For those that forget, let me remind you.  

Until 1995, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, a small college in Spokane, Washington was a virtual unknown on the college basketball landscape.

That year, Gonzaga made their first ever NCAA tournament appearance and in 1999 advanced all the way into the regional finals (Elite Eight).

 Since then the Bulldogs have been a perennial force in college basketball. Despite, finishing off a perfect season—in fact the only undefeated season in college football this season--their impressive resume was thrown out the window and they were voted as low as the #5 team in the final polls, behind both two loss teams LSU and USC.

A resume which includes:

·         42-14 victory against Oregon St., the team that ended USC’s undefeated season.

·         41-34 win against an extremely underrated Hawaii team

·         43-42 win against Oklahoma, a team which was one bad call away from possibly playing for a natl. title themselves

·         They beat 5 bowl teams which went 4-1 in their respective bowl games; Oklahoma beat 6, who went 2-4.

 

 

Yet here we stand weeks later, and the BCS is expected to keep its format until at least 2010.  Until then, you can expect another undefeated non-BCS team to be snubbed.  Yet no one has spoken up for little Boise St.  Where is the outcry similar to what Auburn heard in 2004 or Miami in 2000?  However, all could be solved with a simple playoff. 

 

            Those that argue that a playoff will make the regular season less exciting and marquee games less significant are looking at it from the wrong perspective.  Try looking at it through the eyes of Ian Johnson, Jared Zabransky or any other Boise St. football player.  They go through the same balance of academics and athletics, just like any other student-athlete at Florida or Ohio St. and yet they are deemed unworthy of the same championship opportunity.  

 

The SEC and Big 10 are certainly stronger top to bottom however, last time I checked the national championship last Monday was billed as a match up between the Big 10 All-Stars and the All-SEC team; it was Ohio St. vs. Florida. 

            Heck, why not create an 8 team playoff, where undefeated teams qualify automatically?  For those who contend that playoffs will interfere with player’s studies, I’ve got 3 solutions:

  • Eliminate that 13th game added to each teams schedule this year.
  • Schedule the games between mid-December and early January so that final exams are not interfered with.
  • Undefeated teams qualify automatically, no matter what conference they compete in.

 

Not only would a playoff create equal opportunity for all Division-I teams but contrary to critics observations a playoff would make the season even more significant.  Under the current system, one loss essentially eliminates a team from playoff contention and by October all but a few select teams are still in contention

 

      Boise State’s win has to make you wonder though--why can’t Boise St. beat Ohio State or Florida?  If the underdogs can’t win then why even watch the games? Where would the element of surprise be if the favorites always won?  Too bad, we won’t find out until at least 2010, but we’ll never know whether Boise State was  the best college football team of the 2006 season.  Instead they’ve returned to Idaho to leave us forever wondering what if...