What is up with the Hogs?

What the hell is going on in Fayetteville? Houston Nutt and now Bobby Petrino? Scumbags both. Petrino does win though........

I guess they will hire Todd Graham next.

JOPA is Gone

Paterno passed away today. Rest his soul. It is a darn shame that the "Sandusky Affair" ruined the legacy of perhaps the most influential coach in the college ranks. Whether JOPA was complicit in some sort of cover up is a moot point. His reputation is ruined forever. It matters little if his name is cleared at a late date. Same type thing with Pete Rose, Roger Clemens, etc. They are seen as damaged goods and their real accomplishments to their respective sports is of little consequence.

They do say that one "oh shit" can erase a whole lot of "attaboys." So true.

Last Bowl Game May Be Worth Watching

Tonight Arkansas State squares off with NIU in the GoDaddy Bowl (the what?). Might be a good game. Arkansas State has had a stellar season and may well be a top 25 team. NIU can play some ball also and perhaps should be included in the top 25 also. Of course, after one year, ASU's coach has won (with the prior coach's recruits) and moved off to "greener" pastures. If Ole Miss can be considered "greener." Coaching the Rebs will flat destroy a career. Hard place to win. Be that as it may, I am looking forward to the last bowl game of the season and am hoping for an Indian err Red Wolves victory. Don't think it will happen but that is who I will be pulling for.

Of course tomorrow night the BCS "National Champion" will be crowned. Hoping for an LSU victory but the Bama crew are wanting a bit of revenge. Whether or not this is the "correct" match up for D1 "national champion" is debatable, but it should be a good game none the less.

IAA National Champion Crowned

North Dakota State earned a tough win this afternoon over a very good Sam Houston State club in the IAA Championship game. It was football played the way it was supposed to be. I was pulling for the local team but having watched both this year I had a strong feeling that NDSU would be able to take this game. They earned the title of National Champion the right way.

The Cotton That Should Have Been Sugar

The Hogs got off to a fast start before the Wildcats got their bearings in last night's Cotton Bowl. It became a pretty good game all around after KSU got some momentum going. The Hogs are hands down the better team here. KSU is a very good team sure but is too one dimensional. If a team can stop their QB from running all over creation, then there is a good chance for a victory over the Wildcats.

It is interesting that neither of these teams were in a "BCS" game. Interesting that numbers 6-9 in the BCS standing were relegated to lesser bowls. (Boise State in particular). Of course it can certainly be argued that the Cotton is every bit as prestigious, historically, than any of these BCS games. Doesn't pay as much though.

I will say it again; A very poor system we have in D1 ball.

Incidentally today the IAA National Championship game will be played. Go SHSU. The champion will be decided the right way......

BCS Bowls That Shouldn't Have Happened

Last night the Orange Bowl was played and victory went to the Mountaineers. Is the ACC that bad? Sure doesn't seem to add up to much. At least the two teams in this particular bowl were their respective conference champions. Still...A BCS Bowl for schools not in the top ten? C'mon.

The Sugar was ridiculous. Neither team should be in one of the premier (and highest paying) games. Neither Michigan or Virginia Tech are top ten squads and certainly should have played in lesser bowls.

Such is the system we have in Division I ball.

Thoughts on the Coogs and Today's Other Early Games

It is half time now in the Rose Bowl and my thoughts return to the earlier contests. Congrats to South Carolina in making the Huskers look a bit foolish. Does a heart good. The Gator Bowl? Should not have even been played.  Ridiculous game. Now this Rose match up is a very good game at this point. Oregon is decked out a bit less silly this time around but that headgear is distracting. I think that Wisconsin will end up with a victory when the smoke clears. We will see shortly........

The only other game of significance was something called the Ticket City Bowl (the what?). Houston, after their untimely loss to USM, was relegated to this minor contest facing a very average PSU squad. The game itself was fairly interesting. Keenum threw for a lot of yards but one gets the feeling that they were not spot on. If they were I would imagine the margin of victory would have been greater. There are already those that are saying "yeah but...." concerning the game. As in "yeah but PSU did not have their starting QB in the game." True enough but they could not score on anyone anyway this season with their starter and that was also before the distraction of the "Sandusky Affair" reared its' ugly head.  To be blunt, PSU was just not very good long before it became apparent that Jerry enjoys "educating young boys" as it were. Allegedly of course. The whole thing became a historic distraction and I certainly feel sorry for the players that had to endure such.

Now if Houston had run the table, would they have been a good pick for a BCS game? Perhaps. They would not be able to play on the same field (3 games out of 4) with LSU, Alabama, Oregon, Wisconsin or Oklahoma State but they certainly would be able to hang with the likes of WVU, Georgia, Va Tech, Clemson, Stanford, etc. They had their chances but one bad game in a non AQ conference destroys chances of national respect. Just ask Boise State this year. The Broncos (along with the Coogs and possibly a couple others) are every bit as good and likely even better than a whole lot of teams in "big time" bowls this year. Yes, even better perhaps than at almost half of the BCS bowl field.

Looking forward to the Fiesta later this evening. There are those that believe the Cowboys are really the team that deserves to meet the Tigers in the BCS "National Championship" game. They may have a point. That will be proven (or disproven) before the evening is through also. Stanford is no joke but probably just not quite one of the truly elite teams this year. Andrew Luck notwithstanding. I look for the Cowboys to take it in rather convincing fashion.

Hopefully this BCS system goes away sooner rather than later.