Think for a moment that only two BCS conference teams will remain unbeaten to the end of the season, and then look at who is left:
Boston College (ACC)
Missouri / Kansas (Big 12)
Ohio State (Big Ten)
Cincinnati / UConn / South Florida (Big East)
LSU (SEC)
Arizona State / Cal (Pac Ten)
That's it.
Sure, it's easy to figure an LSU vs Ohio State or some such. But what about...
South Florida vs. Missouri?
Boston College vs UConn?
Arizona State vs Cincinnati?
Even a minor weirdness, Cal vs South Florida, is mindblowing when you consider that just six years ago -- 2001 -- Cal was a 1-10 football team and South Florida was in its very first D-1A season.
Showing posts with label BCS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BCS. Show all posts
9/26/07
The Kevin Bacon BCS
Michigan's loss to Appalachian State, followed by Appy State's loss to Wofford this week, has no fewer than two College Football News writers musing sarcastic on the chain of logic implications of evaluating teams based on who beat whom. Matt Zemek uses this to show Wofford beating Penn State, and Pete Fiu prognosticates that Central Florida, NC State, Wofford and Appy State should all now be ranked in polls ahead of Penn State and Michigan.
Clever.
But I found the Mother or All Kevin Bacon Seperations from last season. A few more steps than seven, but considerably more ambitious...
1. Grand Valley State won the 2006 Division 2 National Championship, norrowly beating NW Missouri State in the national championship game.
2. NW Missouri State narrowly beat D-2's Chadron State College in the D-2 playoffs on the way to the title game. This was Chadron's only loss of the year.
3. Among Chadron's 12 wins was on the road in the regular season over Division 1-AA Montana State.
4. Montana State was no pushover. They went two rounds into the 1-AA playoffs, getting knocked out by the eventual national champs, Appy State. But weirdly enough, they started the season by going on the road to Boulder and somewhat famously upsetting Colorado... the 1-A team that plays in the Big 12.
5. Colorado won only two games all season. One of them was over Iowa State.
6. Iowa State had only four wins. One of those was against Missouri.
7. Missouri crushed Mississippi (see where this is going?).
8. Mississippi beat Vandy.
9. Vanderbilt beat Georgia (and I should add that Colorado nearly beat Georgia as well, which would have truncated this chain by whacking out stages 6-9).
10. Georgia went on the road and destroyed Auburn.
11. And, of course, Auburn was famously the only loss suffered by Florida.
So there you have it. Eleven degrees of seperation -- a direct line of victories putting undefeated 2006 D-2 champs Grand Valley State (and NW Missouri State, the runner up) on top of the 2006 BCS champs.
Who needs 1-A playoffs? Just send Florida's crystal trophy to Grand Rapids.
Clever.
But I found the Mother or All Kevin Bacon Seperations from last season. A few more steps than seven, but considerably more ambitious...
1. Grand Valley State won the 2006 Division 2 National Championship, norrowly beating NW Missouri State in the national championship game.
2. NW Missouri State narrowly beat D-2's Chadron State College in the D-2 playoffs on the way to the title game. This was Chadron's only loss of the year.
3. Among Chadron's 12 wins was on the road in the regular season over Division 1-AA Montana State.
4. Montana State was no pushover. They went two rounds into the 1-AA playoffs, getting knocked out by the eventual national champs, Appy State. But weirdly enough, they started the season by going on the road to Boulder and somewhat famously upsetting Colorado... the 1-A team that plays in the Big 12.
5. Colorado won only two games all season. One of them was over Iowa State.
6. Iowa State had only four wins. One of those was against Missouri.
7. Missouri crushed Mississippi (see where this is going?).
8. Mississippi beat Vandy.
9. Vanderbilt beat Georgia (and I should add that Colorado nearly beat Georgia as well, which would have truncated this chain by whacking out stages 6-9).
10. Georgia went on the road and destroyed Auburn.
11. And, of course, Auburn was famously the only loss suffered by Florida.
So there you have it. Eleven degrees of seperation -- a direct line of victories putting undefeated 2006 D-2 champs Grand Valley State (and NW Missouri State, the runner up) on top of the 2006 BCS champs.
Who needs 1-A playoffs? Just send Florida's crystal trophy to Grand Rapids.
9/3/07
Unique Thoughts -- Wk 1
Unique thoughts = tryin' to say what hasn't been said already...
How about San Diego State in 2004, destined for a disappointing 4-7 season, coming into Michigan Stadium and narrowly losing 24-21? Michigan finished that season 9-3, barely lost to Vince Young's Texas in the Rose Bowl, and wound up ranked #14.
In other words, look to the big picture. In the last three weekends of college football, going back to last season, we have seen the supposed underdog Boise State shock Oklahoma, Florida defying the odds and blowing out Ohio State, and now the Appalachian State surprise. It seems that odds and rankings and especially computer rankings don't mean a whole lot when you actually put the teams on the field.
Giving a team a chance to win a game on the field doesn't always produce the expected results. While the Appalachian State game surely says something about this year's Michigan team as we begin the season, I'm more interested in what it says about the BCS system at the end of the year.
One win in two years vs. teams finishing in the Top 25 (Penn State, #24 last year)?
Two roastings in bowl games?
As the Tyrone Willingham recruits cycle out at Notre Dame, and the Charlie Weis guys come in, the results are pointing in an eerily familiar direction. I have to think that the Appalachian State story is the best thing that could have happened to Charlie Weis. The media can only ruminate on firing one coach at a time, and didn't have time to dwell too much on the offensive genius that wasn't Charlie Weis.
In his fourth to last game before getting fired, Tyrone Willingham beat Tennessee, a team that finished that year 10-3, finished ranked #14, and won the Cotton Bowl. There were several such wins in the years prior to that for Willingham at Notre Dame. Charlie Weis, beginning his third season, has given new birth to the trademark 30-pt Willingham defeats, but still hasn't gotten a signature win to rival that Tennessee game at the end, or the Michigan win the same year by Willingham, or several others.
Both Michigan and Notre Dame could easily get to Sept. 15 with 0-2 records. If that happens, get ready for the "Jobs Bowl" in Ann Arbor. The presidents of the respective schools might not think so, but the fans of an 0-3 football team are not likely to be silenced.
- Any Given Saturday
How about San Diego State in 2004, destined for a disappointing 4-7 season, coming into Michigan Stadium and narrowly losing 24-21? Michigan finished that season 9-3, barely lost to Vince Young's Texas in the Rose Bowl, and wound up ranked #14.
In other words, look to the big picture. In the last three weekends of college football, going back to last season, we have seen the supposed underdog Boise State shock Oklahoma, Florida defying the odds and blowing out Ohio State, and now the Appalachian State surprise. It seems that odds and rankings and especially computer rankings don't mean a whole lot when you actually put the teams on the field.
Giving a team a chance to win a game on the field doesn't always produce the expected results. While the Appalachian State game surely says something about this year's Michigan team as we begin the season, I'm more interested in what it says about the BCS system at the end of the year.
- The Jobs Bowl
One win in two years vs. teams finishing in the Top 25 (Penn State, #24 last year)?
Two roastings in bowl games?
As the Tyrone Willingham recruits cycle out at Notre Dame, and the Charlie Weis guys come in, the results are pointing in an eerily familiar direction. I have to think that the Appalachian State story is the best thing that could have happened to Charlie Weis. The media can only ruminate on firing one coach at a time, and didn't have time to dwell too much on the offensive genius that wasn't Charlie Weis.
In his fourth to last game before getting fired, Tyrone Willingham beat Tennessee, a team that finished that year 10-3, finished ranked #14, and won the Cotton Bowl. There were several such wins in the years prior to that for Willingham at Notre Dame. Charlie Weis, beginning his third season, has given new birth to the trademark 30-pt Willingham defeats, but still hasn't gotten a signature win to rival that Tennessee game at the end, or the Michigan win the same year by Willingham, or several others.
Both Michigan and Notre Dame could easily get to Sept. 15 with 0-2 records. If that happens, get ready for the "Jobs Bowl" in Ann Arbor. The presidents of the respective schools might not think so, but the fans of an 0-3 football team are not likely to be silenced.
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