Today's Names to Know: Ohio State and LSU, Hawaii and New Orleans, Luke McCown and Josh McCown, LaDainian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson, Johan Santana and Phil Hughes, Randy Edsall and Bo Pelini, Texas and UCLA hoops, Grant Hill and Tim Duncan, and More!
UPDATE: This week's Deadspin CFB guest-post is up.
UPDATE 2: I have created a public group in ESPN's College Bowl Mania. Group name is the usual: Daily Quickie Readers. As always, no password required. Hope to see you in there! Sign up now! (Daily reminders over the next two weeks...)
BCS Mania! For the second year in a row, it will be top-ranked Ohio State in the national title game against an SEC champ ranked No. 2.
It's hard to argue with it. Oklahoma fans will disagree, as will Georgia, Virginia Tech, USC and Kansas fans. But LSU was the best choice of a pretty messy situation.
Meanwhile:
Rose: USC vs. Illinois
Sugar: Georgia vs. Hawaii
Fiesta: Oklahoma vs. West Virginia
Orange: Virginia Tech vs. Kansas
Will there be a "split" title? Interestingly, Oklahoma, Georgia and USC will have a hard time generating any momentum for it, because the teams they are playing aren't even in the AP Top 9.
Anyway, I fully expect a whole lot of griping about LSU, but if we know nothing else about the BCS, it is what it is. And, if the result is anything like last year's, the clearest way to end any doubt is for the "controversial" No. 2 to throttle the "clear-cut" No. 1.
Clarification: My insisting, all week long, that
Much more on the BCS and college football throughout the week and month... but I'm more than a little sad that the regular season is over, particularly a regular season as wild as this one has been.
NFL Round-Up: It's the time of year when Fantasy playoff races trump actual playoff races. Here's hoping your opponent this week didn't have LaDainian Tomlinson or Adrian Peterson -- or start Luke McCown at QB because he had some sort of "gut" feeling.
Notes: I'm sure that was a doubly depressing outcome for Redskins fans... The Colts foiled the Jags for the second time this season (but, again, seriously: does any playoff jockeying in the AFC matter?)... So as seemingly half the NFC battles for that 6th and final playoff spot, the Vikings must feel good knowing that they have Adrian Peterson... Sunday Night: How frustrated must Steelers fans be that their team is 9-3 but they are given virtually no chance of winning the AFC?
Dolphins 0-16 Watch: If the question was "Can it get worse for the Dolphins than that 3-0 debacle last Monday in
MNF Tonight: Pats-Ravens. Sizes up as another ass-kicking by the Pats en route to 19-0.
MLB Hot Stove: Yankees closer to Santana than Red Sox because they are willing to give up Phil Hughes? The Yankees have set a deadline of today to complete a deal. Will the Twins pull the trigger or will they lose their leverage? Would the Yankees really pull out, leaving Santana to the Red Sox?
If the Red Sox want Santana, it looks like they're going to have to give up on Jacoby Ellsbury. I know they're high on him, but I'm not sure how they can compare a good, rising outfield talent to the best pitcher of our generation. (Especially if they let the Yankees get him.)
Meanwhile, the Winter Meetings start today, and there's a lot of talk about trades. Not just involving Santana, but Miguel Cabrera is expected to be moved, too. Cabrera is only one of the Top 3 young hitters in MLB. No impact there or anything.
CFB Coaching Carousel: Randy Edsall caught whatever Les Miles had, and turned down Georgia Tech to stay at UConn, either understanding that his current job isn't so bad, understanding a better job is likely if he waits a year or understanding that GA Tech ain't such a good job.
Bo Pelini takes over at
More Bowling: Of all of the non-BCS bowl matchups,
CBB: Couple of very intriguing results in the Pac-10/Big 12 Challenge (or "Hardwood Series"):
Most notably, No. 1 UCLA was taken down at home by upstart No. 8
Meanwhile:
NBA Sunday Stud: Grant Hill, who had 28 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals in what might have been his best game since he was in Detroit and considered one of the Top 10 talents in the league. The Suns rolls over the Knicks, of course, but what an offseason pick-up for
Meanwhile,
Comments System Update: We're trying an experiment. Those of you who read the blog regularly know that the comments section is a, um, lively place. There are generally two types of comments: One-off, stand-alone comments about one topic or another that comes up in the lead morning Quickie post, or a "conversation" of comments that tends to stretch throughout the day.
I wanted to create a place for this conversation to continue, with the participants having a little more control. So, we created dscommenters.blogspot.com, a blog dedicated entirely to the commenting "regulars" who enjoy discussing (and, yes, arguing) about sports topics all day. Participation on that blog's comment section is by approval only.
If you are a commenting "regular" who would like to be part of this group (or just interested in becoming one), please send an email to dscommenters-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com. Include your email address and Blogger screen name that you have used to make comments on the blog before. You will undoubtedly be approved.
Meanwhile, the usual comments will continue to live on DanShanoff.com. They will continue to be "moderated." If you mainly want to make a smart one-off comment about one of the topics covered in the blog, this will continue to be a good forum for that.
Again, this is just an experiment, partly due to necessity, partly due to opportunity and partly due to the terrific community of commenters that has grown and developed since this blog launched last year.
-- D.S.
Posts
51 comments:
i feel that KU, Hawai'i and Ohio State all getting BCS bids is making a mockery of strength of schedule.
if there was a playoff, i'd have my money on USC or Oklahoma. (or Florida!)
If Georgia beats Hawaii, they have a claim to a split national title?
How the hell can one deduce that? If anything, it should be the other way around. What are you going to say about Hawaii not beating anyone once they knock off Georgia, a team that plays in the greatest conference in the history of man?
Sorry, I'm just bitter about Ron Turner throwing away the Bears' game.
It's fitting that a crazy CFB season ended with these crazy CFB/BCS selections.
How does Mizzou get passed over?
biggest.snub.ever!
Just say no....TO COMPUTERS!
I think that this shedule is going to get a split championship. I understand the whole bowl tie-in thing, but like Dan said, the teams that have a shot at the championship arent playing teams that would give them a boost. That is one way to get a clear winner.
The selections (for the most part) are a joke, not because of any personal rooting interest, but simply because it just proves that premium is placed on overall record, not strength of schedule.
Hawaii's best victory? Boise St.?
KU? Kansas St/Nebraska?
OSU? Michigan?
All this does is provide incentive for schools to schedule cupcakes (see KU, OSU, Hawaii's schedule), or refuse to play for a conference title (MU).
I know the BCS/bowl system is all a popularity contest based on attendance, revenue, ability of fanbase to travel, etc. but this is absurd.
At least in College Basketball, schools such as Gonzaga/Memphis are forced (due to the seeding process) to schedule competitive out of conference games to make up for a lack-luster in-conference slate.
Even if we never see a tourny in CFB, at least some consideration of SOS would be a strong step at lending credibility to the BCS.
Until then, I can only hope for another split NC just to reinforce the ridiculousness of the system as it stands today.
Why USC?
Do you realize they beat as many teams with winning records as Kansas..TWO
Plus, what people tend to overlook, especially this season, is who did you lose too.
Is it Ohio State's fault that the Big Ten and Washington were down this year? NO
But... they did beat every team rather handily, except 1. A top 15 and BCS team in Illinois.
I agree this system has its flaws but, the emotion after a major upset (WVU, LSU, etc..) in recent weeks is 150% more then a Browns loss to the Cardinals today.
Anyone who says, Illinois, Ohio State, KU, Hawaii are going to get creamed need to remember the regular season.
This Georgia fan isn't too disapointed. Need to take care of business against Hawai'i and put a stamp on a good year.
Well, Dan, we get to see this game after all.
I bet Tressel doesn't let those damn Buckeyes blow this #2 opponent off like they did last year...
As a lifelong UGA fan, I'm not sure if we deserved to be in the championship, but I do think we're a better team than LSU. Since the VT game, they have not been impressive. Based on how teams have been playing, I think OSU and USC may be the two best teams in the country with UGA at 3rd and Oklahoma at 4th. I was really hoping for a UGA-USC Rose Bowl.
USC and Oklahoma also got BCS bids, big picture, so what are you whining about?
True, Hawaii played a weaker schedule than others but as Boise State proved last year, a non-BCS conference school can absolutely compete on the big stage. Being the only undefeated team in the country, they have earned that shot.
And wow, nice slurp of Dan at the end there. That's not something you see often here. Well done.
Biggest Argument: Missouri
- Beat Kansas and Illinois who both made BCS games yet Mizzou gets put in the Cotton Bowl. Can anyone explain that to me (a Mizzou student)?
And speaking of split title... what if Hawaii beats Georgia? What if Hawaii beats Georgia handily? Talk about a lot of mad people asking for a playoff or a plus one, it will be a ton of people
And if there is a plus one, only more bedlam can come of it.
And... you think the controversy is bad now, wait till January comes, the BCS bowls will only create more controversy once the games begin.
I hope Hawai'i beats Georgia, just to undermine the entire system.
I don't see Hawaii doing much against UGA. Remember when Boise St. played UGA and everyone predicted an upset? It was an asskicking from hell. Besides, Kentucky and their unstoppable offense only scored 13 against UGA. Of course, I am a homer.
If even one of Oklahoma's two losses were to a ranked team, then I'd say they have a gripe. But before this weekend Oklahoma was ranked behind Georgia, LSU, Kansas, Va-Tech, and USC. I know they beat BCS #1 Missouri (did anyone actually think Missouri was the best team in the country) but I don't think that was enough to jump all the teams above them.
Georgia sat at home, watched the teams ahead of them lose and dropped a spot while Ohio State did the same thing and went up two.
Where did Illionis come from? They get a BCS bowl bid with 3 L's over teams that were ranked ahead of them, including Missouri who was the "#1 team" and who beat Illinois. Man I hate conference ties to bowl games.
We need a playoff.
I am astonished that LSU was able to leapfrog 4 other teams to get to this point. If the voters sat and said, "They are a good team and shouldn't have lost those two games in triple OT," My point is if they believe in them this week, why vote them lower in the previous weeks?
If the writers and coaches are arguing against KU & GA because they were not in their own conference championship game, how do they justify having OSU in there? Just because they couldn't be in one makes it ok not to have one? Sorry, just have a problem with LSU jumping as far as they did.
here's another stupid playoff theory / proposal, but this would have worked out perfectly... top 12 get spots, 1-4 get byes. first two rounds are played at the higher ranked team's place, giving 1-8 one home game a piece... the "final four" could be played on neutral fields. If this had been the rule this season, not a single BCS conference team with a 2-loss or better record would have been left out (and hawaii would get their chance). illinois and asu (and a few others) would have beef that a 3-loss florida team got in, but that's a little better than the mess now (and the gators are obviously the best 3-loss team IMO). Again, this is totally stupid and never gonna happen.
Complain all you want about Ohio State's schedule...they are in the title game. They do play USC next year. I wouldn't have minded playing them in the Rose Bowl, but every team choked this year (except Hawaii I guess).
Rough loss for the Browns today. I thought Winslow would have landed in bounds if he didn't get pushed out, but their turnovers lost them the game. Anderson looked horrible early on.
You realize, of course, the BCS got so lucky. Look at VT's computer and poll numbers (#1 comp, #5/6 polls). Imagine if that was USC, and not VT. The screaming that would cause is enough to give me a headache.
On November 16, I posted this:
Natsfan74 said...
OK, I started along this line on Monday, but Arizona kind of beat me to the punch. I thought Oregon would lose at UCLA, but I knew they wouldn't finish 11-1.
1. LSU - loses to Arkansas
2. Oregon - Done
3. Kansas - loses to Missouri
4. Oklahoma - loses to Texas Tech
5. Missouri - Loses to Oklahoma
6. West Virginia - loses to Cinci
7. Ohio State - Beats Michigan. Plays in BCS Championship game
8. Arizona State - eh
But, I had the wrong team beating West Virginia....
All in all, I like a lot of the bowl match-ups. The Cotton Bowl, Capital One Bowl, and Outback Bowl will all provide good games to watch on Jan 1. The Gator Bowl should also be fun -- seeing Chris Long get after Graham Harrell. But, UVa has no pass defense, so they are probably in trouble.
Like last year, the system got blown up on the final week-end, so the voters had to be more cognizant of the situation. If Either WVU or Mizzou wins, then OSU bumps up to play that winner and there is no controversy (kinda like if USC had beaten UCLA last year) and Georgia would still be # 3. But, since the presumptive favorites to be in the Championship game all dropped out, that gave the voters the task to decide who the top two teams in the nation actually are -- not just who has momentum. LSU was not a good team down the stretch (lost to Arkansas, barely beat Tennessee with the help of a few Ainge Interceptions). But, given a month + to get healthy, they will be back on track and probably be a lot closer to the LSU team that played Virginia Tech.
Go Bucks!!!
No mention of Florida vs. Michigan? Maybe not that glamorous since the teams combined for 7 losses, but hey... always nice when 2 big name schools meet in a lesser bowl.
I was right on Friday - all the "regulars" have abandoned the blog, in favor of the new dscommentators blog... as a casual sports fan, I enjoy both the regulars and the one-hit wonders (not including the morons) who post on ds.com. I suppose I will have to get used to going to two different blogs now.
Just a request to you "regulars" over on the dscommentors... keep in touch over here, because some of us are interested in what you have to say about what we think.
What a shame. Less Miles caught the Nick Saban disease. I was really hoping that those 2 losses would keep them out of the championship game and he would come and save Michigan football...and I really believe that his intention was to do that...but then he realized that he might actually play for the "national championship" and so he stayed...now that he has backtracked I am more spiteful of him than I am of Sweater Vest. Yes, I am actually rooting FOR the Bucks to knock off Less Miles.
Nat'l Championship should be Hawaii/Ohio St. btw.
Yes, as a Steelers fan the only thing more painful than winning and knowing you still have almost no chance of making it to the Super Bowl is that - we already DID make it to the Super Bowl as a 6 seed ;-)
Seriously, if you can't run the ball against the Bengals and you commit four turnovers it doesn't make you feel good about facing the Pats. My hope is the Pats will be tired after playing tonight. Sigh.
Can't hold Kansas strength of schedule against them. Not when they have no control over their conference schedule and those teams sucking. They just went out and had an 11-1 record. Their weak schedule is why they're 8th and not playing in the BCS championship like OSU.
Illinois being in the BCS is the joke of this entire thing. Rose Bowl needs to forget this whole Pac 10-Big 10 thing. I won't be watching that game.
Arguement against Missouri? Don't lose by 3 TDs on national TV when everyone in the country is watching. Though truthfully they probably should be there over Kansas. Though I'm not going to complain.
I actually think that VT may be the best matchup for KU. VT's offense doesn't impress me much (from what I've seen) so KU's defense will hold it own. The question is can KU's spread offense score on the Hokies. I think they will put up at least 3 TDs, but will it be enough?
As a Vol fan living in Atlanta, it is killing me to hear all the UGA fans and even the AJC saying the Bulldogs got screwed out of the title game. They also say that based on Saturday's game, they would have KILLED LSU? Sure LSU barely won because of some mistakes by the Vol QB, but that is the same Vol team that drilled Georgia.
The teams in the title game did take care of business when it counted in the end. OSU won the Big 10 and beat Michigan and LSU played when it counted (finally) and won the SEC. Arguments could be made for Oklahoma and VT, but that is about it.
Keep Ellsbury. You can't base your decision on one team and one player, but please remember - Santana could not beat the Indians in 2007. Ellsbury and the pitching staff at Boston did a fine job to dismantle the Tribe. Don't get too hyped about this guy. If you cannot beat Championship Choker (CC) - you don't deserve the money.
mr. ed-
We appreciate your comments and your comment from Friday was actually brought up on dscomm.
Pittsburgh posted the only L on San Fran's 15-1 season in 1984....
I agree with Mr. ed....I am not a regular commentor, but I am definatley a regluar reader and enjoy the "sports" comments by the regulars...I may need to post more often now, but by the time I read these most comments have been made...
PLAYOFF. GET A DAMN PLAYOFF. THIS IS INSANITY.
This system, as it stands, is a joke. It's embarrassing to think that we're being sold on the "there's no better way!" answer, when that is really, honestly and truly not the case.
I don't know about you, but if I could have ticket for only one of those games, I'll choose OU-WVU in a heartbeat.
In my opinion it's the best matchup, way better than the national championship
So I understand if a coach stays at UConn to wait on a better gig than GT next year, but where does Les Miles go that's better than either: a) LSU or b) Michigan?
Really, there's nowhere else for him to go (unless he really saw through to the lack of support in Michigan's program now).
I'm sure, too, that the hints of possibly still manning a spot in the NCG played a part to dissuade him. That would be a LOT of distraction given the current fruition of that scenario.
So next year becomes what? Miles aims to defend a National Championship until that 1st loss (don't think this year's 2-loss scenario will happen in back-to-back years). Then he can focus on the "opening du-jour"? Win/win for him I guess.
(Of course, that hypothesis is predicated on LSU rolling THE Ohio State in the NCG this season.)
Andy Pettitte returning to the Yanks, will not retire.
This is huge news for the Yanks. If they do make the trade for Santana, that leaves them with a rotation of:
Santana
Pettitte
Wang
Chamberlain
Mussina.
And I would venture to say the dealing won't be done. I could see Kennedy or Wang moved to try and get Haren.
Hawaii got jobbed. They should be in the National Championship Game over LSU and its 2 losses.
Also, not a fan of your solution to the commenting issue.
Santana
Pettitte
Wang
Chamberlain
Mussina.
It's going to get worse for the Yanks before it gets better.
Pettitte and Mussina won't scare anyone. Chamberline is still unproven as a starter.
I think that you either make all teams have a conference championship game or you have none. Mizzou gets screwed playing their plus 1 game when they would have been the Big XII champion without the extra game. OSU doesn't play and makes it in to the BCS title game. It seems to me to be a mess, amoung other problems with the BCS system.
sparty-
I think the Twins may opt to take Kennedy and Hughes for Santana, and the truth is that he's worth it.
Not only that, but now that you know that Pettite is taking his option if you get Santana you can still use Wang, Joba, and Moose to round out the rotation.
So why wouldn't you give up both Kennedy and Hughes? You still have 5. Not every team can be the Red Sox with Beckett, Schilling, Dice, Lester, Wakefield, Bucholz.
Sure it would be nice to have the option to send Joba back to the bullpen. The Red Sox had the option with Papelbon and they took it. That doesn't mean that it's an option you need to have.
nobody wants to face Pettitte in the playoffs, the guy is money.
Those Missouri fans have a legit argument to be in a BCS bowl, but not over Illinois, Georgia or Hawaii. Their only possible beef is with the selection of Kansas. Remember that only two schools from a conference can be selected to BCS bowls. Oklahoma, Kansas and Mizzou couldn't all make it at the expense of one of the other teams selected.
Also, the split-title talk is a bit premature. Everyone has bashed Ohio State all season, and where did they finish? With one loss, a Big 10 title, and a spot in the national title game. You can not argue that OSU does not deserve to be there. I don't believe Tressel will allow a repeat of last year. OSU will at least provide a competitive game, and is very capable of beating the champs of an overrated SEC conference.
BOOTY! BOOTY! BOOTY!
What a great and crazy season.....Other than another BC(as)S title screw up I am interested to see how these games turn out.
USC - Illinois - Juice versus the ferocious and healthy D.
Georgia - Hawai'i - Black jerseys versus leis.
Oklahoma - West Virginia - Bradford versus White (if he's healthy).
Kansas - Virginia Tech - How does Mizzou get left out just because Kansas had one loss???
The OSU - LSU - Let's hope it's not another ass kicking by Miles on Mr. Sweater Vest.
While I do not like the BCS system, I read that any changes made this coming April will not impact the system until the 2011 season.
Anyone else sick of Les Miles griping about the "old system" where he'd be 11-0-2?
You want to talk old system? How about pre-BCS where OSU would be playing USC in the Rose Bowl and the winner of that game would win the AP National Championship and you'd be left out of the picture.
Everyone should pull for the Buckeyes to shut his conceited, lying ass up. WE ALL KNOW YOU TALKED TO MICHIGAN LES. Going on TV and saying you didn't does not make it true.
Blame Herbie and SC for making LSU pass everyone. They kick started the groupthink that made it so right after OU locked up the game Saturday night. I agree with Richt, if you are going to make LSU #2 this week, why weren't they listed as #2 on your ballot last week?
While I don't like the BCS at all, you'd have to say its working. What is everyone talking about today? Probably the "hottest" sports topic? The BCS!
I called Les Miles the next Nick Saban...I am so anxious to see if he was being honest Saturday. If they showed that stupid clip one more time, I wouldn't have a TV in my family room!
I think the BCS is humorous and the way everyone is crying for a playoff system is funny to me. Now, of course, I am a non-analytical female, and I usually just take things as they come, PLUS my team is #1 in this goofy system, so I really don't have much to complain about. I think Missouri got robbed. I'm kind of glad Ohio State is not playing USC since they are on a big roll right now. I hope the Juice cuts through that Big D like he did against tOSU.
I am a huge BLUE fan against those Gators too!!
For those of you who do not consider yourself a regular you can still join the other site if you do not want to wait for your comments to be post and you want to have a more live conversation. That is basically what the new site is about same great conversation just at a quicker pace.
Yeah -- I officially decree that it makes no sense to comment on blog at a different blog.
i am going to go to deadspin and comment about dan's posts today. see you there.
Difficult to see why the concept is so hard to understand:
The DSCommenters blog is meant for the DS.com commenting community to enjoy their real-time, wide-spanning, on-topic conversation in their own dedicated place.
Comments on DanShanoff.com will continue to be moderated. They'll be posted in an "ASAP" model, and if you have a one-off piece of analysis to make, it's a great place to have your say.
Otherwise, feel free to join the community at the other site. This is no different than if we had a message board system that was off-blog.
For a first day, I think it's working amazingly. Again, it's just an experiment, so you never know if it's sustainable. But there was no harm in trying, to say the least.
Obviously the big story is the BCS and the what ifs and playoff gripes. But as an alum, I have to mention how BC got royally hosed. They're in a shit bowl against the 8TH PLACED Big 10 team. That's royal bullshit.
People can say all they want about travelling fans, but A) BC is a Northern school and most bowls are played in the south (thus more difficult and expensive to make the game for us), and B) craptastic bowls get lousy crowds regardless of the teams. The added cache of a "big name" player like Matt Ryan should have been good enough for a better, more high profile bowl. Besides, Clemson (one of the teams that jumped BC) had a shitty outing in a bowl game against Syracuse back about 10 years ago despite the fact the game was playing in Florida. The TV network even interviewed the ONLY two Clemson fans they could find in the "crowd". This is the third consecutive year that BC got a lesser than deserved bowl and considering the fact that they were the effing runners-up this year makes it all the more irksome.
This is just more backward, Civil War envy bias that continues to perpetuate the American culture, including sports. Memo to the rednecks, get over it, we kicked your ass 142 years ago.
RE - Split NC
Dan, I challenge you to make a coherent argument that Hawaii doesn't deserve at LEAST a split of the NC under the following scenario.
Hawaii beats Georgia handily
LSU beats OSU in a tight, ugly game
You're telling me that an undefeated team doesn't deserve the NC but a two loss team does?
verbal,
its really gonna piss you off when the Spartans beat Matt Ryan (which btw, is a total homer pick, and playing against him scares me shitless).
BC did get hosed, and I say that as a Virginia fan. There's only one way to get over that reputation as not traveling well, though, and that's to bring a good crowd to crummy bowls, much like my Hoos did in Charlotte at the Tire Bowl a few years back. Can't wait to go to Jax on New Year's Day!
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