Saturday, October 28, 2006
Dog Days of Fall
Now that baseball is over, we're getting to the point of the college football season where it's time to watch a small group of teams and ignore the rest.
They say "Every Game Counts" in college football, but that is not true. It's true in Week 1, but not at this stage of the season. The airwaves are now flooded with match-ups like Auburn-Mississippi, Purdue-Penn State, Notre Dame-Navy, and Nebraska-Oklahoma State.
In other words, a slew of games that have absolutely no bearing on who will be the Mythical National Champion, short of the side effects these teams cause by winning or losing, to championship contenders' strength of schedule.
So I find myself watching Michigan-Northwestern because Michigan is #2 and might win it all. If this game were played in Week 1, no one would watch, because it is a dog match-up. But since Michigan is #2, we watch the game, since it's the closest thing college football has to offer as far as significant action.
They say "Every Game Counts" in college football, but that is not true. It's true in Week 1, but not at this stage of the season. The airwaves are now flooded with match-ups like Auburn-Mississippi, Purdue-Penn State, Notre Dame-Navy, and Nebraska-Oklahoma State.
In other words, a slew of games that have absolutely no bearing on who will be the Mythical National Champion, short of the side effects these teams cause by winning or losing, to championship contenders' strength of schedule.
So I find myself watching Michigan-Northwestern because Michigan is #2 and might win it all. If this game were played in Week 1, no one would watch, because it is a dog match-up. But since Michigan is #2, we watch the game, since it's the closest thing college football has to offer as far as significant action.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Little Four stumble
It could have been a memorable, even legendary weekend for the Little Four. Instead, it was business as usual.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the group was Duke. They had Miami right where they wanted them. But a pass into the endzone in the final moments was picked off, and the Blue Devils fell, 20-15.
Northwestern seemingly had their game against Michigan State wrapped up. All they had to do was hold on to a 38-3 lead. Instead they gave up the biggest comeback in Division 1-A history and saved John L. Smith's job for at least one more week.
It doesn't end there.
What about Vanderbilt? Their program seemed on the end after last week's upset victory over Georgia. At halftime, they trailed Steve Spurrier's South Carolina team by only seven points. Victory seemed once again within their grasp, and an unthinkable end to their bowl drought was in sight. Instead, they were outscored 14-3 in the second half and lost in a blowout, dropping to 3-5 and likely ending their Bowl hopes.
Finally, there was lowly Stanford. The Cardinal were dominated by a mediocre Arizona State team, 38-3.
Someday, these four teams might band together to form a Little Four conference. They'll certainly never rise up above their less academically focused brethren in the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, and PAC-10, respectively.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the group was Duke. They had Miami right where they wanted them. But a pass into the endzone in the final moments was picked off, and the Blue Devils fell, 20-15.
Northwestern seemingly had their game against Michigan State wrapped up. All they had to do was hold on to a 38-3 lead. Instead they gave up the biggest comeback in Division 1-A history and saved John L. Smith's job for at least one more week.
It doesn't end there.
What about Vanderbilt? Their program seemed on the end after last week's upset victory over Georgia. At halftime, they trailed Steve Spurrier's South Carolina team by only seven points. Victory seemed once again within their grasp, and an unthinkable end to their bowl drought was in sight. Instead, they were outscored 14-3 in the second half and lost in a blowout, dropping to 3-5 and likely ending their Bowl hopes.
Finally, there was lowly Stanford. The Cardinal were dominated by a mediocre Arizona State team, 38-3.
Someday, these four teams might band together to form a Little Four conference. They'll certainly never rise up above their less academically focused brethren in the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, and PAC-10, respectively.
