BCMess

Well, 2011 has finally come to an end. And in terms of sports, more specifically college football, it has been one to forget if you ask me. Sure I know it is only because I am a Buckeyes fan, and witnessed probably the worst year in Ohio State football history. But even if you do not like the Buckeyes, the bowl games should be more than sufficient evidence to support my claims. And we can all give thanks to the BCS.

I will focus on the main BCS bowls, only because it has gotten ridiculously fatiguing trying to get excited for the Taxslayer.com Gator bowl; or dare I mention the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl? What, did each player get a sack of potatoes as a bowl gift? But I digress.

Thanks to the BCS this is what we had to see:

1) The third best team in the Big10, a team that did not even play in the conference championship game, who some-how got a Sugar Bowl invite over the team that finished 2nd in the Big10, faced off against the 2nd place ACC team which lost to the same team twice, and that team got 70 hung on them in the Orange Bowl! (more on that later). Don’t give me any of that “overtime thriller” nonsense, that game was a snooze fest and many could argue the refs blew the call in OT.

2) The team that probably should have been in the National Championship game, Oklahoma State, with the freak-of-nature wide out, and two time Belitnikoff winner, Justin Blackmon faced off against future #1 draft pick Andrew Luck and Stanford. In my mind, the Fiesta Bowl was the only one the BCS got right, and it was an exciting game. A shame that Stanford’s kicker could not hit sand if he fell of a camel, but Blackmon and Luck both lived up to the hype. Here’s hoping Blackmon is wearing a Browns jersey come April.

3) The only reason WVU, and Clemson were in the Orange Bowl is because they had to be. Damn automatic bowl tie-ins. Sure WVU scored 70 points, but coming against an ACC team, and a team that lost 2 of their final 3 games on the way to the Orange Bowl it diminishes the accomplishment some. Lest not forget WVU, the Big East powerhouse that lost to Louisville, and Syracuse this year was barely ranked in the top 25, yet still made it to a BCS Bowl.

4) Sure the Rose Bowl saw a record for most points scored, and kudos to Oregon for winning their first bowl game since the second decade of the twentieth century (1916 to be exact). We did get to see Wisconsin lose the Rose Bowl for the second consecutive year, and an assistant coach pick his nose and eat it on TV! (if you don’t believe me just YouTube it, you will find it). This matchup was fine by me, I like seeing the traditional PAC12, Big10 matchup in the granddaddy-of-em-all.

5) The rematch. Just when you try to get excited about the BCS National Championship game you remember the first time Alabama and LSU played to the 6-9 over-time thriller! LSU’s late three run home run in the top of the 10th helped seal the deal. Seriously though, I am with many of the AP voters who would have a hard time putting Alabama over LSU if the Tide won this game. LSU beat Bama at home! Alabama did not even win their SEC division let alone play in the SEC Championship game. But then you have to remember the father of the BCS is Roy Kramer. Who is Roy Kramer? Oh, just the former commissioner of the SEC…

Also, thanks to the BCS, here are few things we were robbed from seeing:

1) The winningest quarterback in college football history, and his number 7 ranked team, Boise State were delegated to the MAACO Bowl on December 22! Hope you tuned into ESPN3 to catch Kellen Moore dismantle Arizona State. Sure Boise State is not in a major conference, but they still finished the season in the top ten in the BCS standings.

2) The number 6 team in the BCS, Arkansas, will face the number 8 team, Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl. Neither of these teams won their conference, but both are ranked higher than the two teams that played in the Sugar Bowl.

3) Good thing we did not get to see the Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Griffith III, or RG3 to some, take his 12th ranked Baylor team to a BCS game. Again Baylor was ranked higher than both Michigan, and RG3

On Monday, January 9th (which also happens to be my birthday) we will get to see two teams who already played each other this year, play again. I predicted the score to be LSU 11 – Alabama 10, and that could be considered high scoring if you consider their last game. My only hope, at this point, is that Alabama wins by a field goal, and the AP voters still vote LSU as their national champions, thus leaving us with a split national championship, and possibly the beginning of the end for the BCS.

Just Sayin!

Now that football is back, this "Just Sayin" segment will be a weekly recurrence. I will preface this post with how "Just Sayin" came about. While working in the restaurant industry my friend Stevie Beebop and I would analyze college and pro football lines, and come up with our picks for the weekend. We always wanted to have a youtube show called "Just Sayin" where we ran through our weekly picks. So, this is as close as we have gotten.

Week one of the college football game usually pits powerhouse against cupcake. However, this year there are a few intriguing match-ups.

Here are my picks for this weekend:

Friday:
TCU -4 @ Baylor: The #14 ranked Horned Frogs lost a lot from a talent laden group that won last year's Rose Bowl, and Baylor boasts one of the best UNknown quarterbacks in the nation in Robert Griffin III. Baylor hangs tough, but falls to a young and improving TCU.

Saturday:
Akron +32 @ Ohio State: Obviously you know who I am going to pick to win. But the Bucks won't cover this spread. A new quarterback (or two) could play for the Buckeyes, who will rely heavily on their running game. And a green and young D will show their youth. Ohio State wins new head coach Luke Fickell's debut, but I will take Akron to cover the spread.

UPSET SPECIAL:
UCLA +3 @ Houston: I normally never like to go for a team that is coming from the west coast. However, UCLA isn't making the trek all the way to the east coast, just to the central time zone. This is a big year for coach Rick Neuheisel, and he has his Bruins ready for the opener on the road.

LOCK of the WEEK:
San Jose State +29 @ Stanford: San Jose State would probably be happy if the NCAA called them and said we are just going to mark you down for a loss by 40. Andrew Luck the pre-season Heisman trophy favorite might throw for 500 yards. Stanford wins this easily, probably by 50.

JUST SAYIN':
Boise State -3 vs Georgia: All this talk about Boise State being a National Championship contender might not get past week one if the Blue Broncos think they are walking into the Georgia Dome with an easy contest. It's not "between the hedges" but this game is practically a home game for the Dawgs. However, UGA is starting a true freshman running back with little depth behind him. Boise State has to watch out, but they should get this victory. Boise State's QB, Kellen Moore? Oh yea, he had a 182.6 passer rating last year, just sayin!

Stevie Bebop: Although he is a homer to LSU decides to take Oregon in the featured match-up of the weekend. #3 Oregon and #5 LSU battle in Dallas to open the season. Oregon returns a ton of talent on offense from a team that nearly won the National Championship last year. Unless this game turns into one of those knock down, drag outside, bar fight, he's going with Oregon, just sayin! (What, too soon?)