SWC75
Bored Historian
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Here are the final regular season lines for the top teams, (the rankings are last week’s):
FLORIDA STATE 13-0 (452-299) #3 -1-2-3. Versus ranked teams: 64 points, (47 vs. currently ranked teams).
Comment: Well, they managed to negotiate what for them became the mine field of their regular schedule and their conference championship game. They are the defending national champions and have won 28 games in a row. But they haven’t beaten anybody nearly as good as the team they are about to play- or whoever they would play after that.
ALABAMA 12-1 (498-210) #1-2-1-1 in the polls. Versus ranked teams: 171 points, (95 vs. currently ranked teams) .
Comment: It will be Nick Saban vs. Urban Meyer again, just like the old days.
OREGON 12-1 (602-292) #2-3-3-2 in the polls. Versus ranked teams: 91 points.
Comment: They negated their one loss, so they are the next best thing to undefeated. But they don’t have a great record vs. top teams form other conferences: Boise State 32-37 and 8-19, Ohio State 17-26, Auburn 19-22, Louisiana State 27-40, To be fair, they did beat Wisconsin 45-38, Kansas State 35-17 and Michigan State 46-27. But they don’t intimidate other top teams the way they do most of their opponents. (Above scores are since they got really good in 2008)
OHIO STATE 12-1 (588-255) #6-7-7-5 in both polls. Versus ranked teams: 38 points
Sat 12/6 Wisconsin (10-2) (Big Ten title game)
Comment: It’s impressive that they played as well as they have with first a second string and then a third string quarterback. Theya re like the guy floating into the driver’s seat in those old Hertz commercials:
TEXAS CHRISTIAN 10-1 (562-244) #5-6-5-7 in both polls. Versus ranked teams: 135 points
Comment: They and Baylor can meet in the “Miss Congeniality Bowl”.
BAYLOR 11-1 (586-283) #7-5-6-6 in the polls. Versus ranked teams: 65 points.
Sat 12/6 #12-11-11-11 Kansas State (8-2)
Comment: I’d love to see an Baylor-Oregon game. Maybe next year.
We are now down to one unbeaten team, (sorry, BCS fans), and 5 one loss teams. Fans of an eight team playoff, (like me) will be rooting for there to be enough one loss teams that the combined total of them and the undefeated teams will exceed 4. Since 1973, (when the small college playoffs began a major college playoff could have been initiated as well), there have been an average of 2 undefeated teams each year and 5 teams that won every game but one, (some of them had ties). The total of such teams was four or less only 5 times in 41 years. There have been 88 teams recognized as national champions since 1936 by the writer’s poll, the coach’s poll or the BCS. 84 of them have won all their games or all their games but one, so that can stand as the definition of a national championship contender and it appears we will have more than four such teams 88% of the time.
THE PESCI BOWL
I decided to inaugurate a third tier of championships. Why not have the top mid majors, (the best teams not in the “power five” conferences), play off? They aren’t going to make the Final Four and they aren’t in FCS, (which, as 1AA, was originally intended for teams like this). What shall we call it? Somehow, into my mind flashed the image of Joe Pesci, who always plays those vertically challenged but feisty guys. Joe could entertain at halftime with his funny stories.
MARSHALL 12-1 (586-271) #24-19-20-22 in both polls. Versus ranked teams: 0 points
Comment: They are “in” and have been for a while now, the 66-67 loss to Western Kentucky notwithstanding.
BOISE STATE 11-2 (518-345) 23-25-25-UR. Versus ranked teams: 0 points
Sat 12/6 Fresno State (6-6)
Comments: In real life, they will be battling Marshall to a spot in the major bowls promised to the best mid-major.
COLORADO STATE 10-2 (431-281) #UR-21-21-24 unranked. Versus ranked teams: 0 points
Comment: The Rams also lost on the last play of the game- by a field goal to Air Force. In so doing they finished second to Boise State in the Mountain West Mountain Division, (they also have a “West” division, thus the “Mountain West”: clever, huh?), so their regular season was done.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 11-2 (438-307) Unranked. Versus ranked teams: 0 points.
Comments: They made their case with a 51-17 destruction of a mediocre Bowling Green team in the MAC title game. I don’t think they’ll get the bowl spot they want but they are in the Pesci Bowl playoffs.
The semi-finals:
Marshall vs. Northern Illinois
Boise State vs. Colorado State
THE Ty-De-Bowl
This is a four team playoff to determine who is the worst team in the country, The losers of the semi-finals move on to the “Ty-De-Bowl ”, where the Ty-De-Bowl guy entertains at halftime with his ukulele.
SOUTHERN METHODIST 1-11 (126-496) Point differential: -370 (-30.8 per game)
Sat 12/6 at Connecticut (2-9)
Comment: Connecticut proved to the be the answer to their problems, although they had trouble with the victory play due to lack of experience with it. And they couldn’t find the Gator Aide.
GEORGIA STATE 1-11 (262-520) Point differential: -258 (-21.5)
Comment: The Sun Belt is an entire conference of teams that obviously have no business being in Division 1. How clever to put them all in the same conference so they can play each other and maintain the illusion. The Panthers won their opener by a single point over Abilene Christian, (an FCS team) and have crapped out ever since.
IDAHO 1-10 (275-423) Point differential: -148 (-13.5)
Comments: The Vandals are not really that bad. They’ve lost games by 5, 7 and a couple my 12 points. They seemed a cut above your classic Ty-De-Bowl team. I thought playing Troy would keep them out of this year’s classic but they managed to lose that one, too, 17-34, so maybe they do belong. Yes, they played only 11 games, mercifully.
Plus one of:
COLORADO 2-10 (342-468) Point differential: -126 (-10.5)
Comment: Once upon a time they were 2-2 and in overtime vs. California.
CONNECTICUT 2-10 (186-358) Point differential: -172 (-14.3)
Comment: What does it mean when you lose to the worst team in the country?
EASTERN MICHIGAN 2-10 (182-491) Point differential: -309 (-25.8)
They won their opener over Morgan State 31-28 but have beaten over Buffalo since. Perhaps they shouldn’t have played Florida (0-65) or Michigan State (14-73).
IOWA STATE 2-10 (278-466) Point differential: -188 (-15.7)
Comment: The Cyclones looked Ty-Dee-Bowl worthy against TCU.
KENT STATE 2-9 (179-319) Point differential: --140 (-12.7)
Comment: The Golden Flashes had their game with Buffalo canceled due to the storm, (and it’s irrelevance to the national scene). They then upset Akron, 27-24, to complicate the selection for the first ever Ty-Dee-Bowl playoff. The bastards!. Not we have to consider the two win teams! Why not leave well enough alone?!?
MIAMI UNIVERSITY 2-10 (259-382) Point differential:-123 (-10.3)
Comment: Accurater II is going to be mad at me that her beloved Redhawks are back on the list, (blame Kent State)Maybe calling them by their correct name, (they are the one in Ohio) will placate her. They had a 21=14 point lead over Ohio U. going into the fourth quarter of their last game and gave up ten unanswered to lose it and make the list. The losing kick went over the crossbar as time ran out. Ouch!
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS 2-11 (285-500) Point differential: -215 (-16.5)
Comment: The Rebels managed to beat Fresno State in overtime. Their only other win was over FCS school Northern Colorado.
NEW MEXICO STATE 2-10 (294-469) Point differential: -175 (-14.6)
Comment: The Aggies got off to a great start, beating Cal Poly and Georgia State. They’ve been 0-10 since, including a 7-63 loss to LSU.
TULSA 2-10 (296-471) Point differential: -175 (-14.6)
Comment: The Golden Hurricane opened with an overtime win over Tulane but have beaten only SMU since. They had a chance to avoid this list against Fresno State but lost that one in overtime.
In case you were wondering, if Villanova’s kicker had kicked that field goal, we’d look like this:
SYRACUSE 2-10 (195-286) Point differential: -91 (-7.6)
Comment: We were bad but not Ty-Dee-Bowl bad.
The semi-finals:
Southern Methodist vs. Eastern Michigan
Georgia State vs. Idaho
Remember, this is the Ty-Dee-bowl. The losers in the semi-finals advance to the Ty-Dee-Bowl final.
FLORIDA STATE 13-0 (452-299) #3 -1-2-3. Versus ranked teams: 64 points, (47 vs. currently ranked teams).
Comment: Well, they managed to negotiate what for them became the mine field of their regular schedule and their conference championship game. They are the defending national champions and have won 28 games in a row. But they haven’t beaten anybody nearly as good as the team they are about to play- or whoever they would play after that.
ALABAMA 12-1 (498-210) #1-2-1-1 in the polls. Versus ranked teams: 171 points, (95 vs. currently ranked teams) .
Comment: It will be Nick Saban vs. Urban Meyer again, just like the old days.
OREGON 12-1 (602-292) #2-3-3-2 in the polls. Versus ranked teams: 91 points.
Comment: They negated their one loss, so they are the next best thing to undefeated. But they don’t have a great record vs. top teams form other conferences: Boise State 32-37 and 8-19, Ohio State 17-26, Auburn 19-22, Louisiana State 27-40, To be fair, they did beat Wisconsin 45-38, Kansas State 35-17 and Michigan State 46-27. But they don’t intimidate other top teams the way they do most of their opponents. (Above scores are since they got really good in 2008)
OHIO STATE 12-1 (588-255) #6-7-7-5 in both polls. Versus ranked teams: 38 points
Sat 12/6 Wisconsin (10-2) (Big Ten title game)
Comment: It’s impressive that they played as well as they have with first a second string and then a third string quarterback. Theya re like the guy floating into the driver’s seat in those old Hertz commercials:
TEXAS CHRISTIAN 10-1 (562-244) #5-6-5-7 in both polls. Versus ranked teams: 135 points
Comment: They and Baylor can meet in the “Miss Congeniality Bowl”.
BAYLOR 11-1 (586-283) #7-5-6-6 in the polls. Versus ranked teams: 65 points.
Sat 12/6 #12-11-11-11 Kansas State (8-2)
Comment: I’d love to see an Baylor-Oregon game. Maybe next year.
We are now down to one unbeaten team, (sorry, BCS fans), and 5 one loss teams. Fans of an eight team playoff, (like me) will be rooting for there to be enough one loss teams that the combined total of them and the undefeated teams will exceed 4. Since 1973, (when the small college playoffs began a major college playoff could have been initiated as well), there have been an average of 2 undefeated teams each year and 5 teams that won every game but one, (some of them had ties). The total of such teams was four or less only 5 times in 41 years. There have been 88 teams recognized as national champions since 1936 by the writer’s poll, the coach’s poll or the BCS. 84 of them have won all their games or all their games but one, so that can stand as the definition of a national championship contender and it appears we will have more than four such teams 88% of the time.
THE PESCI BOWL
I decided to inaugurate a third tier of championships. Why not have the top mid majors, (the best teams not in the “power five” conferences), play off? They aren’t going to make the Final Four and they aren’t in FCS, (which, as 1AA, was originally intended for teams like this). What shall we call it? Somehow, into my mind flashed the image of Joe Pesci, who always plays those vertically challenged but feisty guys. Joe could entertain at halftime with his funny stories.
MARSHALL 12-1 (586-271) #24-19-20-22 in both polls. Versus ranked teams: 0 points
Comment: They are “in” and have been for a while now, the 66-67 loss to Western Kentucky notwithstanding.
BOISE STATE 11-2 (518-345) 23-25-25-UR. Versus ranked teams: 0 points
Sat 12/6 Fresno State (6-6)
Comments: In real life, they will be battling Marshall to a spot in the major bowls promised to the best mid-major.
COLORADO STATE 10-2 (431-281) #UR-21-21-24 unranked. Versus ranked teams: 0 points
Comment: The Rams also lost on the last play of the game- by a field goal to Air Force. In so doing they finished second to Boise State in the Mountain West Mountain Division, (they also have a “West” division, thus the “Mountain West”: clever, huh?), so their regular season was done.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 11-2 (438-307) Unranked. Versus ranked teams: 0 points.
Comments: They made their case with a 51-17 destruction of a mediocre Bowling Green team in the MAC title game. I don’t think they’ll get the bowl spot they want but they are in the Pesci Bowl playoffs.
The semi-finals:
Marshall vs. Northern Illinois
Boise State vs. Colorado State
THE Ty-De-Bowl
This is a four team playoff to determine who is the worst team in the country, The losers of the semi-finals move on to the “Ty-De-Bowl ”, where the Ty-De-Bowl guy entertains at halftime with his ukulele.
SOUTHERN METHODIST 1-11 (126-496) Point differential: -370 (-30.8 per game)
Sat 12/6 at Connecticut (2-9)
Comment: Connecticut proved to the be the answer to their problems, although they had trouble with the victory play due to lack of experience with it. And they couldn’t find the Gator Aide.
GEORGIA STATE 1-11 (262-520) Point differential: -258 (-21.5)
Comment: The Sun Belt is an entire conference of teams that obviously have no business being in Division 1. How clever to put them all in the same conference so they can play each other and maintain the illusion. The Panthers won their opener by a single point over Abilene Christian, (an FCS team) and have crapped out ever since.
IDAHO 1-10 (275-423) Point differential: -148 (-13.5)
Comments: The Vandals are not really that bad. They’ve lost games by 5, 7 and a couple my 12 points. They seemed a cut above your classic Ty-De-Bowl team. I thought playing Troy would keep them out of this year’s classic but they managed to lose that one, too, 17-34, so maybe they do belong. Yes, they played only 11 games, mercifully.
Plus one of:
COLORADO 2-10 (342-468) Point differential: -126 (-10.5)
Comment: Once upon a time they were 2-2 and in overtime vs. California.
CONNECTICUT 2-10 (186-358) Point differential: -172 (-14.3)
Comment: What does it mean when you lose to the worst team in the country?
EASTERN MICHIGAN 2-10 (182-491) Point differential: -309 (-25.8)
They won their opener over Morgan State 31-28 but have beaten over Buffalo since. Perhaps they shouldn’t have played Florida (0-65) or Michigan State (14-73).
IOWA STATE 2-10 (278-466) Point differential: -188 (-15.7)
Comment: The Cyclones looked Ty-Dee-Bowl worthy against TCU.
KENT STATE 2-9 (179-319) Point differential: --140 (-12.7)
Comment: The Golden Flashes had their game with Buffalo canceled due to the storm, (and it’s irrelevance to the national scene). They then upset Akron, 27-24, to complicate the selection for the first ever Ty-Dee-Bowl playoff. The bastards!. Not we have to consider the two win teams! Why not leave well enough alone?!?
MIAMI UNIVERSITY 2-10 (259-382) Point differential:-123 (-10.3)
Comment: Accurater II is going to be mad at me that her beloved Redhawks are back on the list, (blame Kent State)Maybe calling them by their correct name, (they are the one in Ohio) will placate her. They had a 21=14 point lead over Ohio U. going into the fourth quarter of their last game and gave up ten unanswered to lose it and make the list. The losing kick went over the crossbar as time ran out. Ouch!
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS 2-11 (285-500) Point differential: -215 (-16.5)
Comment: The Rebels managed to beat Fresno State in overtime. Their only other win was over FCS school Northern Colorado.
NEW MEXICO STATE 2-10 (294-469) Point differential: -175 (-14.6)
Comment: The Aggies got off to a great start, beating Cal Poly and Georgia State. They’ve been 0-10 since, including a 7-63 loss to LSU.
TULSA 2-10 (296-471) Point differential: -175 (-14.6)
Comment: The Golden Hurricane opened with an overtime win over Tulane but have beaten only SMU since. They had a chance to avoid this list against Fresno State but lost that one in overtime.
In case you were wondering, if Villanova’s kicker had kicked that field goal, we’d look like this:
SYRACUSE 2-10 (195-286) Point differential: -91 (-7.6)
Comment: We were bad but not Ty-Dee-Bowl bad.
The semi-finals:
Southern Methodist vs. Eastern Michigan
Georgia State vs. Idaho
Remember, this is the Ty-Dee-bowl. The losers in the semi-finals advance to the Ty-Dee-Bowl final.
