In the meantime, check out my off-season exploration of who I would have selected as the Heisman Trophy winner in college football over the last 70+ years:
http://mchypesmantrophy.blogspot.com/
Starting on June 1, I will re-award every Heisman Trophy from 1935 to 2008.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
McMisanthrope's Top 25: January 9, 2009
Thoughts:
1. There's not a lot to say here. The bowl games are key factors in determining where to place teams in the final rankings.
2. I am not trying to claim MY rankings are absolute. That's the BCS's job, and it's amazing how many stupid people they are in the world who eat it up.
3. There's not much separating the top four teams.
4. I'm glad this season is over. Maybe by next season, President Obama will have eliminated the BCS.
Rankings:
1. Utah (13-0): They never lost. They scheduled big boys, and they beat the big boys. They played a big boy in the bowl game, and they beat the big boy in a bowl game in the big boy's own backyard. Nothing else to say.
2. Texas (12-1): I'm paraphrasing this line, but the Longhorns also beat the Sooners by ten points on a neutral field. And their only loss was on the road to a 12-2 team, which trumps Florida's HOME loss to a four-loss team. It's a shame how the Longhorns were f**ked by the BCS this year, but maybe it's payback for 2004. I believe in karma.
3. USC (12-1): You've heard it before, and I'll repeat it again, because it's worth reading again. This is the team of the decade, with seven straight BCS bowls and seasons with 11+ wins. The Pac-10 is traditionally ignored by the national media, who seems to think USC has a higher threshold than everyone else. But a loss in Week 3 ending USC's season? It did, although Florida lost in the same way on the same weekend to a lesser team at home. No common sense there at all. USC had, BY FAR, the most dominating bowl performance, beating an 11-1 BCS conference champion to the tune of 31-7 at halftime. No one, including Utah, would beat this team in a January bowl game. It's just silly how the media finds a new reason every year to ignore the Trojans. But history will demonstrate the dominance of this program to be on par with 1950s Oklahoma: the two best dynasties in modern college football history. Just for the record, the only reason USC is behind Texas is because the Longhorns had a "better" loss. Otherwise, these two teams were pretty even in my analysis.
4. Florida (13-1): They lost to a 9-4 team at home. Nothing else to say. Easily the worst loss of any of the top-four teams. They also scheduled The Citadel, easily the worst OOC choice of any of the top-four. They didn't dominate any good teams this year, needing to come from behind to beat Alabama and needing to break a fourth-quarter tie against Oklahoma. They were media darlings, nothing more. Sorry, but I'm not drinking the SEC Kool-Aid. Florida is another BCS "champ" with an asterisk and a hollow claim: in 11 years, we only have four legitimate champs (FSU in 1999, tOSU in 2002, USC in 2004, Texas in 2005). The rest are all controversial and somewhat meaningless. Oh, did I mention that Florida only had three wins over 10-win teams? And five wins against seven-win teams? That schedule isn't all it was cracked up to be.
5. Boise State (12-1): They sure missed a lot of opportunities in their bowl game to win and add more fuel to the debate. But losing by a point to TCU brings no shame.
6. TCU (11-2): They had the best bowl win of the season, since no other school can claim they beat an undefeated team in their bowl game, can they?
7. Oklahoma (12-2): I've never understood why teams try to power they way through on fourth-and-short. Spread the formation and run that way; you have a better chance that way. Regardless, Stoops got what he deserved. He's classless.
8. Alabama (12-2): Sad finish to an otherwise impressive season. Sure, they were never really as good as that 12-0 record suggested, and we all knew Florida would beat them. But they gave Florida a bigger fight than we expected.
9. Penn State (11-2): Like most teams in January playing USC, they got their asses handed to them. This is why the SEC won't play USC in January. But the Nits were one point from playing in the title game. So close, yet so far away.
10. Texas Tech (11-2): Worst bowl loss of any of the Top 10 teams, for sure. But like Kansas State playing in the 1998 Alamo Bowl, do you think the Red Raiders even cared? Their season ended the minute Bob Stoops ran up the score on them.
11. Ball State (12-2): Well, they sure laid eggs at the end, didn't they? Their season mirrors Alabama's somewhat.
12. Oregon (10-3): The Pac-10 is weak, right? It's funny how the "experts" can revise their Big XII appraisals in order to suck off Florida, but they won't revise their Pac-10 appraisals to suck off USC. The Pac-10 was the best conference in bowl season, period. Little good it did USC, since everyone wrote off the Trojans in September. The arbitrary and selective deductions made by "experts" to promote the BCS just reeks. Why do people believe it?
13. Georgia (10-3): Weird how this team was everyone's "darling" after their finish last year. They struggled to win their bowl game, too, pulling it out late in the fourth quarter against a really overrated Michigan State team. This team never could win when it mattered, could they? NFL buyers of Matthew Stafford, beware.
14. Ohio State (10-3): No shame in losing their bowl game. They played better as the season went on, and if it wasn't for USC, maybe they'd have run the table again. They probably will for the next three years, so be prepared.
15t. Tulsa (11-3): Nice finish to their season, RUTSing it up on Ball State.
15t. Rice (10-3): Quietest ten-win season ever? Perhaps.
17. Cincinnati (11-3): Nice season for a team no one would have expected to win the Big East.
18. BYU (10-3): The Cougars are not as bad as their bowl loss indicates, but that was a bad effort.
19. Oregon State (9-4): Bowl wins of the 3-0 variety are never pretty, but good teams find a way to win no matter what the circumstances. Consider they played their last three games without their best player, and maybe this team wins the Rose Bowl. Two years in a row a team from Oregon gets snake-bit by injuries.
20. California (9-4): Yeah, the Pac-10 sucks, right? Whatever.
21. Florida State (9-4): Plastered a bad Big Ten team in their bowl game. Ho hum.
22. Virginia Tech (10-4): Quietly, they've become the class of the ACC.
23. Missouri (10-4): Quietly good season, in light of all the love sent to the Big XII South.
24. Iowa (9-4): If there had been a big tournament for the football title, like there is in basketball, who would have wanted to draw Iowa in the first round? Didn't think so.
25. West Virginia (9-4): This is a nod to Pat White. College football will miss you. You're better than Tebow, that's for sure.
Teams also receiving consideration: Mississippi, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, Western Michigan
1. There's not a lot to say here. The bowl games are key factors in determining where to place teams in the final rankings.
2. I am not trying to claim MY rankings are absolute. That's the BCS's job, and it's amazing how many stupid people they are in the world who eat it up.
3. There's not much separating the top four teams.
4. I'm glad this season is over. Maybe by next season, President Obama will have eliminated the BCS.
Rankings:
1. Utah (13-0): They never lost. They scheduled big boys, and they beat the big boys. They played a big boy in the bowl game, and they beat the big boy in a bowl game in the big boy's own backyard. Nothing else to say.
2. Texas (12-1): I'm paraphrasing this line, but the Longhorns also beat the Sooners by ten points on a neutral field. And their only loss was on the road to a 12-2 team, which trumps Florida's HOME loss to a four-loss team. It's a shame how the Longhorns were f**ked by the BCS this year, but maybe it's payback for 2004. I believe in karma.
3. USC (12-1): You've heard it before, and I'll repeat it again, because it's worth reading again. This is the team of the decade, with seven straight BCS bowls and seasons with 11+ wins. The Pac-10 is traditionally ignored by the national media, who seems to think USC has a higher threshold than everyone else. But a loss in Week 3 ending USC's season? It did, although Florida lost in the same way on the same weekend to a lesser team at home. No common sense there at all. USC had, BY FAR, the most dominating bowl performance, beating an 11-1 BCS conference champion to the tune of 31-7 at halftime. No one, including Utah, would beat this team in a January bowl game. It's just silly how the media finds a new reason every year to ignore the Trojans. But history will demonstrate the dominance of this program to be on par with 1950s Oklahoma: the two best dynasties in modern college football history. Just for the record, the only reason USC is behind Texas is because the Longhorns had a "better" loss. Otherwise, these two teams were pretty even in my analysis.
4. Florida (13-1): They lost to a 9-4 team at home. Nothing else to say. Easily the worst loss of any of the top-four teams. They also scheduled The Citadel, easily the worst OOC choice of any of the top-four. They didn't dominate any good teams this year, needing to come from behind to beat Alabama and needing to break a fourth-quarter tie against Oklahoma. They were media darlings, nothing more. Sorry, but I'm not drinking the SEC Kool-Aid. Florida is another BCS "champ" with an asterisk and a hollow claim: in 11 years, we only have four legitimate champs (FSU in 1999, tOSU in 2002, USC in 2004, Texas in 2005). The rest are all controversial and somewhat meaningless. Oh, did I mention that Florida only had three wins over 10-win teams? And five wins against seven-win teams? That schedule isn't all it was cracked up to be.
5. Boise State (12-1): They sure missed a lot of opportunities in their bowl game to win and add more fuel to the debate. But losing by a point to TCU brings no shame.
6. TCU (11-2): They had the best bowl win of the season, since no other school can claim they beat an undefeated team in their bowl game, can they?
7. Oklahoma (12-2): I've never understood why teams try to power they way through on fourth-and-short. Spread the formation and run that way; you have a better chance that way. Regardless, Stoops got what he deserved. He's classless.
8. Alabama (12-2): Sad finish to an otherwise impressive season. Sure, they were never really as good as that 12-0 record suggested, and we all knew Florida would beat them. But they gave Florida a bigger fight than we expected.
9. Penn State (11-2): Like most teams in January playing USC, they got their asses handed to them. This is why the SEC won't play USC in January. But the Nits were one point from playing in the title game. So close, yet so far away.
10. Texas Tech (11-2): Worst bowl loss of any of the Top 10 teams, for sure. But like Kansas State playing in the 1998 Alamo Bowl, do you think the Red Raiders even cared? Their season ended the minute Bob Stoops ran up the score on them.
11. Ball State (12-2): Well, they sure laid eggs at the end, didn't they? Their season mirrors Alabama's somewhat.
12. Oregon (10-3): The Pac-10 is weak, right? It's funny how the "experts" can revise their Big XII appraisals in order to suck off Florida, but they won't revise their Pac-10 appraisals to suck off USC. The Pac-10 was the best conference in bowl season, period. Little good it did USC, since everyone wrote off the Trojans in September. The arbitrary and selective deductions made by "experts" to promote the BCS just reeks. Why do people believe it?
13. Georgia (10-3): Weird how this team was everyone's "darling" after their finish last year. They struggled to win their bowl game, too, pulling it out late in the fourth quarter against a really overrated Michigan State team. This team never could win when it mattered, could they? NFL buyers of Matthew Stafford, beware.
14. Ohio State (10-3): No shame in losing their bowl game. They played better as the season went on, and if it wasn't for USC, maybe they'd have run the table again. They probably will for the next three years, so be prepared.
15t. Tulsa (11-3): Nice finish to their season, RUTSing it up on Ball State.
15t. Rice (10-3): Quietest ten-win season ever? Perhaps.
17. Cincinnati (11-3): Nice season for a team no one would have expected to win the Big East.
18. BYU (10-3): The Cougars are not as bad as their bowl loss indicates, but that was a bad effort.
19. Oregon State (9-4): Bowl wins of the 3-0 variety are never pretty, but good teams find a way to win no matter what the circumstances. Consider they played their last three games without their best player, and maybe this team wins the Rose Bowl. Two years in a row a team from Oregon gets snake-bit by injuries.
20. California (9-4): Yeah, the Pac-10 sucks, right? Whatever.
21. Florida State (9-4): Plastered a bad Big Ten team in their bowl game. Ho hum.
22. Virginia Tech (10-4): Quietly, they've become the class of the ACC.
23. Missouri (10-4): Quietly good season, in light of all the love sent to the Big XII South.
24. Iowa (9-4): If there had been a big tournament for the football title, like there is in basketball, who would have wanted to draw Iowa in the first round? Didn't think so.
25. West Virginia (9-4): This is a nod to Pat White. College football will miss you. You're better than Tebow, that's for sure.
Teams also receiving consideration: Mississippi, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, Western Michigan
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