Saturday, December 04, 2010

12/05 Sunday Quickie: BCS Yes

Repeating myself: I couldn't have been more wrong about Auburn and Oregon in my pre-game prediction. So so so wrong.

And in vanquishing fairly substantial challenges -- enough of a challenge that I doubted their chances to win -- both teams left no doubt of their worthiness to play for the national title.

There will be no BCS controversy -- sorry, TCU. It is virtually impossible to make the argument that these two teams don't represent the top two teams in the country.

Auburn, in particular, which will likely finish with the toughest schedule in the country, which makes Cam Newton's performance all the more incredible.

South Carolina was as good of a defense as there was in the SEC this season, and Newton absolutely shredded it: 300+ yards of passing with 4 TD, plus another 70+ yards of rushing with 2 more TDs.

It wasn't just a Heisman-worthy performance -- any voter who doesn't pick Newton as his Heisman winner should have his voting privileges revoked.

That Newton had such a monster game in such a monster moment -- capping a season of monster stats (becoming only the 2nd QB ever to go 20/20 for TDs passing and rushing), including last week's miracle win over Alabama -- I honestly wonder: Have we just witnessed from Cam Newton the finest individual season in college football history?

Consider that it's me -- the ultimate Tim Tebow partisan -- saying that. There were plenty of people who could (and did) argue that Tim Tebow in 2007 produced the greatest individual season of all time; Newton in 2010 was even better.

It is going to be a spectacular national-title game. I don't think Oregon will be able to stop Newton.

Alternatively, though I think they will be able to put up a few TDs, Oregon this season has not seen a defense anywhere close to as physical as Auburn's (the last time they did, they lost in the Rose Bowl to Ohio State). I don't think it will be close.

But that's for a month from now. For now, an awesome performance from Auburn -- and a there-is-no-debate game from Oregon.

For now, no debate.

*****

More:

*Yankees reach a deal with Derek Jeter: Of course they did. Did anyone actually believe they wouldn't?

*Red Sox ready to deal for Adrian Gonzalez? This will help Boston more than re-signing Jeter will help the Yankees.

*Duke beats Butler: As expected. (Less expected, and way more interesting: Illinois decisively put down Gonzaga in Spokane. Perhaps even more interesting: UNC beat Kentucky.)

-- D.S.

1 comment:

Michael W said...

Auburn have the toughest schedule? I think you have forgotten that Oregon State played Boise State, TCU, Stanford, and Oregon this year. Ouch. Can't be too surprised that they aren't seeing a bowl game this year. If they had gone with a cupcake non-conference schedule, they would likely be in there with 7 wins. Is that guts or stupidity?

The SEC and Pac-10 have battled it out for the top spot in Sagarin's rankings all year, and SEC finishes by a nose. Good enough to give Auburn the #16 schedule and Oregon the #20. Of course, once you factor in margin of victory, Sag also thinks Alabama is still better than Auburn, so take it for what it's worth.