Ho Down

I said I wanted to see Texas Tech in the National Title Game. I don’t. I don’t know what I was thinking. I was sipping on that Texas Tech Kool-Aid. I was seduced by that ever so sexy offense. I had forgotten what TTU is. A system offense that has been producing 400 yard passing games for years now. The Red Raiders of TTU are frauds. Fakers. Posers. They’re the Kimbo Slice of college football.

But here’s the thing. In watching them get pasted by Oklahoma and barely squeak by against Baylor a buddy of mine noted that “Texas Tech will never win a national title in football.” Think about that. The team is 11-1. Even if they somehow sneak into and win the Big 12 title game – which they won’t – they’d get passed over for the national championship in a heartbeat. My friend and I debated about this for a while and came to that conclusion. The BCS would sooner throw USC or Penn State into the fray. Why? Because Tech doesn’t have the panache, the cachet, the outright reputation of either of the two previous schools.

And that’s what seems to matter in college football. The reputation. Preseason rankings especially, regular season rankings and BCS bowl selections are all based on reputation. In addition to being a reputable program, a team must have the obligatory 12-0 or 11-1 or (gasp) 10-2 record and should, lest we experience another Miami-Nebraska ass kicking of 2002 Rose Bowl, win their conference.

Combine these two factors and the smattering of 117 Division-1 schools eligible to win the title becomes a dearth of 6 or 7 teams. As of right now, 3:30 pm on Sunday November 30^th, a half hour before the BCS rankings come out, there are 6 teams capable of playing for the National Title. Actually, its only 4, considering multiple entrants from the same conference.

Florida
Oklahoma
Alabama
Texas
Southern California
Penn State

• The winner of the Florida/Alabama contest will decide one half of the National Title game. The loser has to hope it doesn’t get the Capital One Bowl.

• Texas or Oklahoma, whichever team is ahead in the polls blah blah blah you already know this, gets the honor of laying the smack down on Missouri and will comprise the other half of the national title game.

• Thanks to a Beaver loss (don’t you hate that?) Southern Cal will get in if Missouri scores an upset in the Big 12 title game.

• Penn State can sneak in if Mizzou wins and USC loses against UCLA – please Pete Carroll, DO NOT let this happen…again.

• What about undefeated Boise State and Utah? Tough luck, suckers. Come back when you’ve become reputable name brands. Your 12-0 records aren’t good enough for the BCS.

As we head into the last week of the college football season is it fair that only 4 teams will have the chance to play for the title? Of course not. In no other sport would this ever happen.

My Two Cents

I say this with the utmost respect for USC ( a team I root for) and UT. But the match-up I want to see, and the best match-up possible is Florida vs. Oklahoma. I detest OU, but have a suspicion they will jump over UT in the BCS rankings.

As for the game?

OU plays Big 12 defense. Which means they don’t do it very well. I don’t think any team in the conference plays defense. Example: If OU gets 3 stops per game their offense will turn it into 3 scores and a minimum 20 point victory.

I rescind my earlier comment of UF not playing defense. They shut down a pretty good, but enigmatic, Florida State offense.

My prediction: UF over OU in a close, hard fought title game. I’ll go with 41-36.

I’m no psychic, but I did live in Florida. That makes me a de facto college football expert. And just a wee bit biased. Let’s see if my predictions hold up.