Are you a MIIIICHIGAN fan? Either that or a Big 12 hater or a huge big ten fan.Anyway in the 3 big postions(QB,RB,WR) Michigan is better in 2 of those 3. Henne is better than Young. Benson is better than Hart. And Edwards is way better than any receiver that Texas has got.Michigan has a better offense and is the better team. Also you all know why ND's record so bad right? Yes thats right they just so happen to play the toughest by far scehdule in the country.Michigan lost to Norte Dame AT Norte Dame and lost to Ohio State AT Ohio State.2 road losses in rivalry games. In every rivalry its even no matter whos playing.
Is today the first time ever that two Heisman finalists played together in high school? Reggie Bush and Alex Smith both played at Helix HS (San Diego area).
So, is anyone else ready to sit down and enjoy the spectacle of the EMERALD BOWL! I mean, c'mon, the EMERALD BOWL! Steeped in such tradition, it is what college football is all about...perhaps they are planning a whole series of gem-based bowl games in the near future....an anxious nation can only wait. *yes, I'm laughing very hard right now*
If Auburn wins, it will not be undisputed. There is a reason the NCAA does not recognize national champions in Division 1-A.
Sebring, the championship is there regardless of whether the NCAA recognizes it or not. There are two polls that award national championships- the B(C)S, and the AP. The reason last season's championship is split is because 1) USC was the #1 team in both of the human polls before the bowls 2) Oklahoma had been exposed as a fraud by Kansas State. They were unworthy of the B(C)S championship game 3) LSU had the good fortune of playing Oklahoma instead of USC. A Trojan victory in the Sugar Bowl would have united both polls, and 4) USC won the AP poll after the bowls had been played. #4 is the big one. Both the AP and B(C)S pollsters knew before the bowls who the nation's best team was. The AP pollsters acted on that knowledge, and several of the B(C)S pollsters threatened to do the same and vote USC ahead of the B(C)S game winner because of that knowledge. LSU's half of the championship came because and only because the coaches were forced to vote for them, not because anyone really thought they were the nation's best team. None of that is happening this season because no one feels that way about Auburn, and there's no reason they should. The Sooners are Big XII champions. They are the #2 team in both human polls, with Auburn at #3. OU is the obvious first choice opponent for USC. After the Georgia game, I thought Auburn was the best team in the country, and I'd still love to have AU and OU play for the right to face the Trojans in Miami, but that ain't gonna happen. What you guys need to do is improve your non-conference schedule, and beat Bama the way the Trojans beat Notre Dame. But you do have a chance. If Auburn somehow wins the AP poll, I'll come back here and call them co-national champions, regardless of the outcome of the Orange Bowl. But if they don't win the AP poll, there is no dispute- Auburn will have to be content as SEC champions and owners of an undefeated season.
A LOT of people feel that Auburn is the best team in the country. Mel Kiper says 90-95% of NFL scouts believe Auburn is the best team of the 3. Those are the ones that actually watch film of EVERY game, unlike the coaches, sports writers, and computers. USC and OU started 1 and 2 preseason, and there was no way Auburn was going to jump them. People can blame the non-conference schedule all they want, but it has nothing to do with it (LSU got into the BCS championship game by playing just about the exact same non-conference schedule last year, and we also had to find last minute replacements for Ga Tech and Bowling Green). Auburn has 4 wins against 9 win teams, more than the entire Big 12. More than the entire Pac-10. If Auburn beats Va Tech, and UGA, UT, and LSU win their bowl games, that will be 5 wins against 10 win teams. I don't know if that's ever been done. And why do you say we need to beat Alabama like SC beat ND? Why use that as an example? Why didn't you say you need to beat UGA (they were #5 when we played, and smoked, them) like you beat UCLA? It looks a lot different now doesn't it? UGA and UA are our 2 biggest rivals, and we play them back to back every year. Just like SC plays ND and UCLA back to back every year. SC, to put it lightly, got the benefit of a questionable call to aid them in their victory over UCLA. You should know it's hard enough to win rivalry games back to back, much less blow both of them out. Fact is, all 3 teams are deserving to play for the National Championship, but there's only 2 spots.
You should talk to Joe Paterno about being jumped even when you win (Nebraska did it in '94). It has happened. Auburn was closing fast on the Sooners after the UGA game. They had a perfect opportunity to blow Bama out and leapfrog OU, but they didn't, and they didn't. LSU played The Citadel? I didn't know that. Not kidding. No one is saying Auburn hasn't had an incredible run. They have. UGA and UCLA aren't the traditional football rivalries that Bama and Notre Dame are. Besides, USC smoked Notre Dame worse than Auburn smoked UGA. Admittedly, the Trojans scraped by UCLA, while Auburn did the same with Bama. So are Utah and Boise State, by that logic. I'm not disagreeing with you -I'm a big supporter of a D1-A playoff. USC has had to share its last two championships with SEC teams (1978 w/Alabama after beating the Tide in Birmingham during the regular season, and last season after a horribly structured B(C)S allowed LSU to play OU instead of playing USC) because there is no playoff. I'm tired of that myself. But the Utes and Broncos are just as undefeated as Auburn. Why are they not a part of this discussion? The SEC is probably the strongest conference in the nation, but there are teams that would have done at least as well in the SEC as Auburn has. USC, OU, Utah and perhaps even Boise State are those teams. But, as you said, there can be only two. When Oklahoma was unimpressive, Auburn had the chance (and the support) to pass them. They didn't do what was necessary against Bama to keep that momentum. And a tough game against the totally unimpressive Vols in the SEC title game didn't help, either.
Western Illinois, a D-IAA team. AU-UGA is the oldest rivalry in the deep south. And we get MANY of our best players out of Georgia, so it's the biggest game for them (Carlos Rogers, Ronnie Brown, Marcus McNeill... to name a few). Anyways, I'll quit my complaining now. Good luck to the Trojans. Just wasn't meant to be for us this year.
AP Champ - USC BCS Champ - LSU Two seperate trophies, two seperate parades, two seperate SI Special Edition Issues = Split National Championship
Wrong. The BCS was created for two reasons: 1) People didn't want the national champ to be decided solely by the polls. 2) People wanted one national champion. The AP poll is part of the BCS, just like the computer rankings and strength of schedule are. I hate the BCS as much as anyone, but that's why it was created, to avoid specifically the type of split championship that USC claims to have won last year. My giving Ball State a trophy and a parade doesn't make them the national champ.
Those aren't the reasons. 1) To make sure the top 2 teams, according to some ranking, could play each other, regardless of conference affiliation. 2) To make sure the major conferences were guaranteed have their teams playing in high-profile, big-money bowls. Not anymore. USC's claim to a national championship is as legitimate as that of any other team that has claimed a national championship based on the AP poll since 1936. There is no official national championship. It has been a convention to call the team(s) atop the final AP and coaches' polls national champions. Just because there's a relatively new method of assigning bowl matchups called the BCS, that doesn't mean the AP pollsters' ability to evaluate the results and choose who they think is best has changed.
Since this is a discussion thread about the games & not the BCS, I will not get into MY feelings about the BCS. I'll leave that for another time & place. I'm getting VERY PSYCHED for the Rose Bowl (the ONLY bowl game I will watch). Can't believe it's the FIRST meeting between the Wolverines & the Horns. Should be an awesome game. Wish I was there but not enough $$. The way I see it, the key to a Michigan victory is how Chad Henne & Michael Hart, as freshman, handle their first trip to Pasadena & the pressures that come with it. If they show composure, I can't see Texas' defense stopping us. The UT defense is tough, they showed that v OU, but the offense doesn't scare me ONE BIT and the Michigan defense should be able to focus on stopping Cedric Benson. If Benson has a big game, we could be in trouble. But I can't see Michigan losing 2 straight Rose Bowls. GO, BLUE!!!!
I honestly didn't find 800+ yards of combined passing and 300+ yards of combined rushing for the two teams very exciting. The average was over 8 yards per down I think. Virtually zero defense from either side.
For me, the big one is tomorrow. Go Dogs!! Beat Virgina!!! Let's have another mid-major school beating a BCS conference school.
Michigan has not seen a defense as big, or as fast as UT's this season. There are plenty of big backs in the Big 10. Benson won't be the problem. Michigan has not played against a dual-threat QB the caliber of Vince Young. He may run all day against the Wolverines. Prediction: Great Game - Texas 28 Michigan 24
At some point, there is such a thing as "too much offense." It was just too easy for each team to score. That's not exciting.