Off-Tackle: 10 Post-College Football Season Thoughts
by Matt Miller
By Matt Brown
With another year of college football finished, it is time to reflect on the season and give, in no particular order, 10 opinions on the sport based on what happened in 2007.
1. The Big Ten is not that bad.
There is no question that it was a down year for the Big Ten. Michigan lost to Appalachian State and was embarrassed the next week by Oregon in Ann Arbor, Ohio State moved to 0-9 all-time against the SEC in bowl games and both Wisconsin and Penn State disappointed with four-loss seasons. But every time an SEC team beats a Big Ten team (of course, the Big Ten does have a 14-13 head-to-head advantage over the SEC in bowl games in the last ten years), the same points are rehashed, saying the Big Ten is a joke and doesn’t even compare to the SEC. Of course, last year the Ohio State loss to Florida made people forget about Wisconsin beating Arkansas and Penn State beating Tennessee, and this year, LSU’s win made people forget that Michigan beat Florida. It is clear that the SEC is currently the best conference in the country, but the disparity between it and conferences like the Big Ten is exaggerated. The balance of power in college football changes, and right now the SEC clearly has the advantage. But the Big Ten will not be down forever.
2. The feel good story of the year was in Bloomington, Indiana.
A story that deserves more attention is the season that the Indiana Hoosiers experienced. Following the death of head coach Terry Hoeppner in June, Bill Lynch led the Hoosiers to a remarkable season, considering the circumstances. Indiana had not been to a bowl game since 1993, and by beating rival Purdue in the final game of the season, they secured a winning season and their first bowl bid in 14 years. A loss to Oklahoma State in the Insight does not hurt how how great of a story this was.
3. Even in a dream season, nothing is bigger than money. .
This was the best season in the history of Hawaii football. June Jones, Colt Brennan and the Warriors finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record and earned the school its first major bowl bid. While they were overmatched against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, the loss does not take too much away from the season Hawaii had, especially considering where the program was before Jones took over. But, just days after the season ended, Jones left the poorly-funded athletic department at Hawaii and will take his run-and-shoot offense to a $2 million-per-year contract with SMU. This is no criticism of Jones for leaving. This situation just proves that, even after a dream season, money is the most important thing for a major college football program. Hawaii has substandard football facilities and a small athletic budget, and now the coach that saved the program is headed back to the mainland.
4. Based on the current system in place, the BCS got it right. .
Using the system that is currently in place, the right two teams played for the national title in New Orleans on Monday night. Ohio State finished the regular season 11-1 with its only loss being against No. 13 Illinois. Plus, the Buckeyes won their conference. As the winner of the SEC, LSU clearly deserved to be in the national title game too. I am a firm believer that teams should have to win their conference to get a shot at the national title. It’s just simple logic. If Georgia wanted a chance, it should have beaten Tennessee and won the SEC East to get a shot at the SEC title. If USC wanted a chance, it should have defended its home turf against a bad Stanford team. If Oklahoma wanted a chance, it should have beaten a mediocre Colorado team. If Missouri wanted a chance, it should have beaten Oklahoma. And like Georgia, if Kansas wanted a chance, it should have won its division and conference. Of the conference winners with two losses, LSU had the “best” losses.
5. Parity is at an all-time high in college football. .
Only thirteen teams ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 finished the season ranked. Appalachian State beat Michigan. Stanford beat USC. Colorado beat Oklahoma. Pitt beat West Virginia. The second-ranked team in the country lost in seven out of the last nine weeks of the regular season. For the first time in BCS history, a team with two losses won the national title. Parity is at an all-time high in college football, and I don’t expect it to go away any time soon.
6. Sometimes, one player can make the difference. Just ask Oregon. .
With Dennis Dixon, Oregon was ranked second in the polls and appeared poised to make a run at the national title. The quarterback who used to be inconsistent became arguably the most valuable player in the country and emerged as a Heisman Trophy frontrunner. Then he went down against Arizona, and the Ducks lost the game. Then they were shut-out in a loss to UCLA and fell in overtime to rival Oregon State to close the season with a three-game losing streak. Oregon had a lot of talent outside of Dixon, but there is no question how important his ability as a runner, as a passer and as a leader was missed once he was gone. It can be amazing to see what one injury can do to a team’s season in some cases.
7. The NCAA needs to be consistent about statistics. .
Kevin Smith had one of the greatest rushing seasons in NCAA history for UCF this season, but with all due respect to him, it would not have been right for him to break Barry Sanders’ NCAA single-season rushing record. Barry Sanders rushed for 2,628 yards in 11 games in 1988, back when the NCAA did not count bowl statistics as part of season totals. This season, Kevin Smith rushed for 2,567 yards in 14 games, as he had the luxury of a 12-game regular season, a conference championship game and bowl game statistics that counted. If the NCAA wanted to change the rules about bowl statistics counting, then it should update its record books to reflect every season.
8. The BCS belongs on ABC/ESPN. .
There are a lot of complaints about ESPN these days, but one thing that it gets right is its college football coverage. And the majority of the big games during the season are on ESPN or ABC and the majority of the bowl games are too; until the BCS, of course. FOX broadcasts no college football regular season games, but because of money, it has the rights to the last four games of the season. Simply put, ESPN is a veteran of college football coverage and FOX is not. The FOX BCS broadcasts feel like their missing something and have an NFL feel to them. Like them or not, Brent Musberger has an unmistakable big-game voice, and Kirk Herbstreit is arguably the best college football analyst on TV today. Those two and ESPN belong doing the biggest game of the season.
9. Trash talk is at an all-time high? and that’s not a good thing. .
Call me old-fashioned, but the trash talking and celebrating are getting a bit out of hand. I’m sure I am not the only one who noticed more showboating and more jawing between players this bowl season. As fun as he is to watch as a runner, Mike Hart is a prime example of this, as it seemed like he made it a point to say as much as he could to the Florida sideline throughout the Capital One Bowl. Hart was certainly not the only one either. Coaches need to step up and teach their players to show more class. There is nothing wrong with a little bit of trash talking, but now it’s just getting excessive.
10. College football is still the best sport in the world. .
This column is filled with both positive and negative thoughts stemming from the 2007 college football season, and while there are definitely plenty of things wrong with the sport, I still feel as if it is the best sport in the world. The pageantry, the traditions and the pure excitement are very hard to match, and the 2007 season was as exciting as any in recent memory. Let the countdown being until the 2008 season.