The Rest of College Football

[whodean]

This year 4 teams would have been ideal.

LSU vs. Stanford, Bama vs. Okie St.

Hopefully the Big10 isn't successful at blocking it for 2014.

[iam416]

A 4 or 8 team playoff would have still, ultimately, produced the same game.

[hack]

Okie State deserved a chance to play ALABAMA for the MNC, not LSU as last night's game demonstrated. The fixation on a "perfect" record is overblown.

Couldn't disagree more. The won-loss record is the ultimate measuring stick and the reason this stuff is interesting in the first place. No other can or should trump it. Few would care if the outcome of games were subject to the folly of what the French judge thought of the hitch in the QB's throwing motion, or the Australian judge was swayed by a team using an Auzzie punter. We already have far too much of that sort of thing in college football.

[hack]

Talent, that's fine. Not perfect, but a further step away from the silliness I'm talking about in the post above this one.

[entropy]

slive wants a playoff because I believe he feels the top 3-4 teams each year are in his conference.

[Rocky Bleier]

Talent,

I imagine you took the Steelers' loss as hard as me. Can't believe they let Tebow beat them on a 20 yrd. pass.

[entropy]

In Postgame News Conference, Pushing the Boundaries
By GREG BISHOP

NEW ORLEANS ? After Louisiana State lost to Alabama on Monday in the Bowl Championship Series title game, Tigers Coach Les Miles and two players climbed a podium for their news conference. It started like most news conferences do, in that key figures were there to answer questions and reporters were there to ask them.

After Miles made an opening statement, the moderator opened the floor to questions. The first came from Bobby Hebert, a local broadcaster and former Saints quarterback, whose son, T-Bob Hebert, plays center and guard for L.S.U.

Hebert started, according to the transcript: ?Coach, did you ever consider bringing in Jarrett Lee, considering that you weren?t taking any chances on the field? Now, I know Alabama?s defense is dominant. But, come on, that?s ridiculous, five first downs. I mean, so it?s almost an approach, I?ll tell you from the fans? standpoint, that how can you not maybe push the ball down the field and bring in Jarrett Lee??

In the often mundane world of post-event news conferences, where coaches spew clich?s and reporters worry about deadlines, this rant, in all its fan-like anger ? from a broadcaster to the man who coached his son ? registered somewhere near the level of ?bombshell,? as the room fell silent and faces filled with shock.

In theory, such news conferences are supposed to be attended by objective reporters, which doesn?t mean that always happens. But even then, this was unusual, too. In the press room after the game, talk of Hebert?s lack of decorum dominated conversation more than Alabama?s transcendent championship performance.

Lee served as the Tigers? quarterback for much of the season, when Jordan Jefferson, who played all of the game Monday, was suspended for his alleged role in a bar fight. Lee, in the Tigers? locker room Monday, said he ?thought I might get? a chance to play when Jefferson and the L.S.U. offense remained stagnant from the first half into the second. But that, of course, never happened.

So back to Hebert. He continued with his ?question,? later, again according to the transcript, adding, ?I know the pass rush of Alabama, but there?s no reason why in five first downs ? you have a great defense, L.S.U. is a great defense, but that?s ridiculous.?

At that point, the moderator interrupted, asking, ?Do you have a question??

Hebert responded: ?That?s the question. Do you think you should have pushed the football more down field??

Miles answered: ?I think if you watch our calls that we did throw the football down the field. We didn?t necessarily get the football down the field.?

Shortly afterward, Miles said he did consider playing Lee, who was replaced by Jefferson after L.S.U. beat Alabama earlier this season, despite a poor offensive output. Hebert, meanwhile, and his son were profiled this week by the local newspaper, The Times-Picayune. In the story, it said, ?The former Saints quarterback is now a broadcaster for WWL-AM sports shows, often sounding more like a caller than a host.?

In fact, there are other documented incidents of Hebert blurring, or crossing, the line between fan and journalist. In a Dec. 2009 post on the Web site Pro Football Talk, Hebert is cited as celebrating a Saints? touchdown in one press box and ?giving Bud Adams a few ideas? in another. Then came the news conference on Monday night.

Before most, if not all, sporting events, officials make an announcement. It usually goes something like, ?There is no cheering in the press box.? It?s understood that the same goes for ranting in a news conference. But not on Monday night, as this Herbert rant will perhaps live longer than what most saw as a boring game.

[Wild Hoss]

A 4 or 8 team playoff would have still, ultimately, produced the same game.

That, IMO, is ultimately the problem. The SEC is more or less living life in the 1980s whereas the rest of the nation has moved on to a point where at least some emphasis is placed on the "college" part of college football. They can get essentially anyone qualified, are as close to unlimited scholarships as you can get with their ruthless oversigning policies, and their programs are rife with the stench of financial corruption.

I mean really...six straight national titles, and an almost-certain seventh on the way. Am I to believe that one conference is just that much inherently better than everybody else? Because of what? They try harder? Please.

All I can say is this; when Nebraska had a great coach and something approximating a level playing field in regards to fielding athletes we dominated that SEC-ass. Hell, for much of my life the SEC was an afterthought...they were nowhere to be found in the 1980s, nor the 70s outside of Alabama. They got better in the 90s, but still only won 2 NCs, and one came against a crippled Florida State team. Nebraska by itself defeated their conference champion three times in that decade, resoundingly in each occurance. Kansas State did as well on one occasion. And now nobody can compete with them.

Maybe after they win eight or nine more titles in the next ten years the other conferences will get together and demand some changes to level the playing field. Until then I will continue to care less and less. I didn't watch one second of that game last night.

[whodean]

Final AP poll:

1. Alabama (55)
2. LSU (1)
3. Oklahoma St (4)
4. Oregon
5. Arkansas
USC
Stanford
Boise St
South Carolina
10. Wisconsin
11. Michigan St
12. Michigan
Baylor
TCU
Kansas St
Oklahoma
West Virginia
Houston
Georgia
Southern Miss
Virginia Tech
Clemson
Florida St
Nebraska
Cincinnati

Thats got to be the worst final poll performance for the Big10 in a long time.

[hack]

The football they play is still quality football so I'm unlikely to stop watching, but the SEC is going to cheat its way into lower ratings and a lack of credibility for the sport as a whole. It's obviously not a level playing field.

[hack]

And, man, I hope these fixes are sooner rather than later. The NFL is increasingly sucky. It's an opportunity for the college version of the sport.

[Hannibal]

That, IMO, is ultimately the problem. The SEC is more or less living life in the 1980s whereas the rest of the nation has moved on to a point where at least some emphasis is placed on the "college" part of college football. They can get essentially anyone qualified, are as close to unlimited scholarships as you can get with their ruthless oversigning policies, and their programs are rife with the stench of financial corruption.

I mean really...six straight national titles, and an almost-certain seventh on the way. Am I to believe that one conference is just that much inherently better than everybody else? Because of what? They try harder? Please.

All I can say is this; when Nebraska had a great coach and something approximating a level playing field in regards to fielding athletes we dominated that SEC-ass. Hell, for much of my life the SEC was an afterthought...they were nowhere to be found in the 1980s, nor the 70s outside of Alabama. They got better in the 90s, but still only won 2 NCs, and one came against a crippled Florida State team. Nebraska by itself defeated their conference champion three times in that decade, resoundingly in each occurance. Kansas State did as well on one occasion. And now nobody can compete with them.

Maybe after they win eight or nine more titles in the next ten years the other conferences will get together and demand some changes to level the playing field. Until then I will continue to care less and less. I didn't watch one second of that game last night.

I think that the cheating has been ramped up around the country. I have noticed what seems like an increase the past four or five years particularly of kids in the Midwest who end up at SEC schools and PAC-12 schools that didn't used to pull kids from here (e.g. Trey DePriest, Aundrey Walker, DeAnthony Arnett, etc). I'd be interested in knowing how far back the oversigning goes, whether it started a long time ago or if it's something that has entered into the SEC West picture this decade. Regardless -- there is definitely not a level playing field. There is the amateur part of the country and the semi-pro part of the country.

[Wild Hoss]

I think that the cheating has been ramped up around the country. I have noticed what seems like an increase the past four or five years particularly of kids in the Midwest who end up at SEC schools and PAC-12 schools that didn't used to pull kids from here (e.g. Trey DePriest, Aundrey Walker, DeAnthony Arnett, etc). I'd be interested in knowing how far back the oversigning goes, whether it started a long time ago or if it's something that has entered into the SEC West picture this decade. Regardless -- there is definitely not a level playing field. There is the amateur part of the country and the semi-pro part of the country.

That is exactly how I’d describe it.

I am not suggesting everybody else is squeaky-clean by any stretch of the imagination, just that the SEC has taken it to absurd levels, akin to bringing the local Legion team into a mixed softball league. Sad thing is...its not that nobody seems to even care, but rather the media and SEC fans enjoy crowing about the subsequent string of run-rule games that follows. Its almost comical. They should be embarrassed.

Its really making it more and more difficult for me to get emotionally invested college football anymore. My focus the past few years continues to narrow; I used to follow the sport as a whole; knew the best players and coaches from all over the nation, and made time to watch big games from all different conferences. Now its just Nebraska and its immediate environs, as it really doesn't matter who does what outside of the SEC. I couldn’t name twenty players from outside the Big Ten if my life depended on it.

For that to happen to somebody who was as big a college football fan as I used to be...I don’t think that bodes well for the sport’s future unless something is done. I cannot be the only one out there who feels this way. Maybe I am.

[Jamie H]

I mean really...six straight national titles, and an almost-certain seventh on the way. Am I to believe that one conference is just that much inherently better than everybody else? Because of what? They try harder? Please.

Part of it is that they have rigged the system so that an SEC team is one of only 2 teams allowed to play for a BcS title in most years, and this year were the ONLY teams allowed to play for a BcS title.

Whey you are handed one of only 2 spots in the title game every year, of course you are going to win more titles than anyone else. The SEC has done so much politicing that their 1 or 2 loss teams are ALWAYS taken over anyone elses.

Sure, they still had to win the final game, but you can't win the game if you aren't allowed in it. And 2 of those titles were automatic, given than when Ohio faces an SEC team, it is an automatic SEC victory.

[Jamie H]

Alabama's the national champion, and I don't have much quarrel with that.

Not really. Alabama is the BcS champion. There IS no real "national champion" and never has been in 1-A football.