Your National Champion?

[AJ_II]

Let's play the hypothetical. Say you had a vote in the AP Poll; who would you slot in at the number one position and why? In your eyes, who is the true national champion?

I'll recuse myself from the poll right now...I'll sleep on it and share my thoughts tomorrow. I know all of you just can't wait to hear what I have to say!!! :blah:

 

[Musicologist]

Gator Nation!

 

[givemealiter]

i'm not a texas fan, but theyre only loss came from a last second luck touchdown by tech so my vote would go towards them.

 

[AJ_II]

i'm not a texas fan, but theyre only loss came from a last second luck touchdown by tech so my vote would go towards them.

How was it "luck"?

But if that's your criteria, Florida's only loss was due to a blocked extra point, which could be considered "luck" by some I suppose. Of course, Florida's loss was also at home.

 

[goreds2]

Quote:
Originally Posted by givemealiter
i'm not a texas fan, but theyre only loss came from a last second luck touchdown by tech so my vote would go towards them.


ointer:

How was it "luck"?

What comes around.....goes around. It was LUCK. :nana:

 

[Elwood]

I applaud the AP for pulling out of the BCS, unfortunately it did not bring us closer to a playoff.

Their opinion is simply another data point, I don't think you can argue the AP has unbiased empirical evidence that one team is better than another. For all its faults at least the BCS has more analysis than a bunch of sports reporters trying to stick it to the man.

I mean, do we really want Mark May picking the national champ? Good luck if you are not USC!

 

[AJ_II]

Okay, so for me, this comes down to Florida, Utah, and USC. I throw out Texas because they fail the eye ball test; they weren’t impressive enough for me in their win over Ohio State. Whether it’s fair or not, most people expected Ohio State to be a cakewalk for Texas (10 point favorites), but they just sneaked out of Arizona with the win. I don’t think they could win against either Florida or USC.

Florida, let’s look at the resume. Using the final Coaches Poll, Florida has wins over

#5 Oklahoma
#6 Alabama
#10 Georgia
#23 Florida State
Their loss came against #15 Mississippi at home.


Utah, same thing. Wins over

#6 Alabama
#7 TCU
#19 Oregon State
#21 BYU
No losses.


USC…wins over

#8 Penn State
#9 Oregon
#11 Ohio State
#25 California
Lost to #19 Oregon State away from home.


What am I getting at here? Each of these schools has four wins over season-ending top 25 teams. So if you want to discount Utah because of the perceived lack of schedule strength, you may want to reconsider. Yes, the Mountain West from top to bottom is not as strong as the SEC where Florida calls home…and it stacks up against USC’s Pac-10 a little better, but still doesn’t quite compare. Yet, Utah was the only undefeated team in FBS play, and they have some impressive victories too. This is not last year’s Hawaii, or the Boise State of two years ago. This Utah team is legit. But, as much as I argue for them, I still can’t see them beating either Florida or USC on a neutral field in a championship game. I’d rank them at number two or three.

So for me, it comes down to USC and Florida for who’s best. You can make convincing arguments for either. The Trojan defense is one of the best ever, but Florida’s just held Oklahoma to 14 points. USC’s offense was pretty unimpressive during much of the regular season, but they sure lit up the scoreboard against Penn State. And we all know about Tebow and company. I think this season sets up perfectly for a “plus one†game between these two teams, even though I'm not an advocate for that system. It’s tough to choose, but I’d vote Florida number one. Mainly because I think they’d beat USC, but I’ll admit part of it is also because I picked them preseason to win it all. Can’t change my mind now! Plus, they beat a number one ranked team TWICE (Alabama and Oklahoma).

My Top 5…

1. Florida
2. USC
3. Utah
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma

 

[RoadRunner]

That's 2 Big XII teams and only 1 SEC team.

Why do you hate the SEC so much, AJ!?!

 

[AJ_II]

That's 2 Big XII teams and only 1 SEC team.

Why do you hate the SEC so much, AJ!?!

Haha, I know you're only joking, but I promise I don't hate the SEC! Some of the SEC fans...well that's another story.

 

[TimTimSalabim]

I don't buy your 'eyeball test' for excluding Texas from consideration. USC won the national championship one year in spite of just barely winning several of their games against teams that they should have blown out. But they won them, and that's what counted.

 

[AJ_II]

I don't buy your 'eyeball test' for excluding Texas from consideration. USC won the national championship one year in spite of just barely winning several of their games against teams that they should have blown out. But they won them, and that's what counted.

Yeah, but USC also went undefeated that season and won the BCS Championship in a 55-19 rout.

 

[Wolf]

I voted for the Texas Longhorns, because I use to live in Texas and cheered for them once in a while.

 

[AJ_II]

I voted for the Texas Longhorns, because I use to live in Texas and cheered for them once in a while.

Your objectivity is refreshing, WolfViper!

 

[TimTimSalabim]

Yeah, but USC also went undefeated that season and won the BCS Championship in a 55-19 rout.

Doesn't change the fact they had some unimpressive games against weak opponents, which apparently disqualifies Texas from your criteria (as if Ohio State is a weak opponent). And as I recall, they weren't the only one of the four that had some unimpressive wins this season. Or do you only count the last game played?

 

[AJ_II]

Doesn't change the fact they had some unimpressive games against weak opponents, which apparently disqualifies Texas from your criteria (as if Ohio State is a weak opponent). And as I recall, they weren't the only one of the four that had some unimpressive wins this season. Or do you only count the last game played?

Well unfortunately, with the way college football is currently set up, the bowls are the only resemblance of a postseason we have. So yeah, a lot of my weight went in to the Fiesta Bowl. Out of Florida, USC, and Utah, they were the least impressive to me. And I personally don't think they'd beat either Florida or USC. But hey, if you want to call them number one, I can't really argue. It's just my opinion. This is one of the reasons why the bowl advocates insist on maintaining the current system...you get a lot of debate and people talking about college football.

 

[Wolf]

Your objectivity is refreshing, WolfViper!

Thanks, plus they were playing at the Fiesta Bowl which that stadium is only like 10 minutes from me.

 

[blyons200]

I've thought about this for a while and I've got to go with Utah. 13-0 and some good wins.

1. Utah
2. Florida
3. Oklahoma
4. Texas
5. USC

BTW, Nebraska should of at least been ranked in the final poll. So...

23. Nebraska

 

[AJ_II]

I've thought about this for a while and I've got to go with Utah. 13-0 and some good wins.

The more I've thought about it, the more I agree with you and Utah. Rick Reilly does too - Rick Reilly: No question, Utah is the national champion - ESPN The Magazine

 

[Elwood]

Utah's wins:

Michigan, UNLV, Utah State, Air Force, Weber St, Oregon St, Wyoming, Colorado St, New Mexico, TCU, San Diego St, BYU, Alabama.

Talk about not passing the eyeball test!

 

[goreds2]

The more I've thought about it, the more I agree with you and Utah. Rick Reilly does too - Rick Reilly: No question, Utah is the national champion - ESPN The Magazine

Great article. Yes, they should have at least been in the title game. I vote Utah number 1.