Changes is in the Air...

...But not the kind you think…
The Right Wing is not giving up its dedication to sports or politics, but we will try to focus on other things this year, which makes this post seem all the more ridiculous.

New Years Day is a haven for college football fans. The best games are usually reserved for the first day of January, or shortly thereafter. 1-1-2008 did not disappoint. Michigan took Florida to the limit before disposing of the Gators in Lloyd Carr’s last ride with the Wolverines. Texas Tech’s high powered offense was forced into a last second field goal to beat Virginia. Mizzou took out their frustrations on an unwary Arkansas team, beating the Razorbacks by 31 (a number that, give or take one or two points would be popular). Tennessee and Wisconsin battled in a tight game, the Vols emerging as the winner 20-17.

This brings us to the two BCS games played on the first day of the New Year. The Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl that respectively matched USC vs. Illinois and Georgia vs. Hawai’i. The case can now officially be made that two of these four teams deserved better fates than what they got.

Let’s first examine the Rose Bowl. USC knew they would play in Pasadena, but their opponent was, for a time, a mystery. Ohio State, who would’ve played the Trojans, was out because of a berth in the National Championship game. So the Rose Bowl got first selection of the at large teams, because of the rotation schedule. Immediately rumors began to swirl that the Rose was going to break tradition and select Georgia, creating perhaps the most intriguing bowl match up of the season. The Rose instead opted for its cob-webbed tradition and selected Illinois.

The game was a laugher. Illinois was overmatched at every turn. USC gave the Fighting Illini a steady dose of smash mouth football, eventually beating Illinois 49-17. For the record, the Right Wing prediction staff claimed that USC would win 45-17. Scary, huh?

The Sugar Bowl became a more intimidating match up as football fans in the southeast learned more and more about that Hawai’i could do. They averaged 46.2 points per game. Colt Brennan owned every passing record this side of eternity. They were the only undefeated team standing at season’s end.

All of which meant absolutely nothing to the Dawgs. Georgia was feeling slighted. They were being punished for not playing in a conference championship game while, they thought, Ohio State was being rewarded for the same thing. So you’ll forgive them if Georgia came in with a big chip on their shoulder.

The start couldn’t have been better for UGA. Hawai’i was penalized twice before the first snap of the game. If Illinois was overmatched, Hawai’i was playing out of its league. By halftime Georgia was up 24-3 and not looking back. The balanced offense gave Hawai’i’s Defense fits, and the Georgia D made Brennan and the Warrior offense look like a Pop Warner team. 8 sacks and 4 interceptions later the bleeding was stopped. Georgia pulled off a stunning victory, taking down Hawai’i by the score of 41-10.

So let the argument and debate begin…
Was Georgia snubbed by the BCS because they didn’t play in their conference title game? It would appear that way. Nebraska made it to the National Title game once without playing for their conference title. Oklahoma made it to the Title game a few years back… after losing their conference title game 36-0 to Kansas State. The point is, from a Georgia perspective, it looks like a rule that doesn’t exist suddenly kept Georgia from playing for the National Title.

Also, there is math to be done. Missouri and West Virginia were ranked 1 and 2 going in to the last week of the season. Ohio State was three and Georgia was four. Georgia was already ranked ahead of Tennessee and LSU, even though the voters knew that UGA could not win the SEC. Then the unthinkable happened. Numbers 1 and 2 both lost. Logic would dictate that when 1 and 2 lose, 3 and 4 move up. But, under the BCS mathematics, when 1 and 2 lose, 3 may move up to 1, but 4 must drop to 5. I’m sure that, in somebody’s mind, this all makes sense. The Right Wing doesn’t get it.

Then came the January 2nd BCS bowl game between Oklahoma and West Virginia. WVU had just lost their coach to Michigan. The Sooners were poised to roll in this game. But, Bob Stoops (Head Coach – OU) has earned the nickname SpongeBob BowlFlop from a certain ESPN analyst. Oklahoma lost 48-28.

January 3rd brought about the Orange Bowl, pitting Kansas against Virginia Tech. VaTech looked promising over the last couple of weeks of the season, but a stingy Kansas defense held the Hokies to 21 points. The Jayhawks won 24-21.

The BCS National Championship game featured Ohio State and LSU. The Buckeyes came out of the gate strong, but LSU kept a steady course of SEC football all the way to a 14 point victory, 38-24.

The tricky point, as was pointed out by another ESPN analyst, is as follows: the BCS doesn’t tell you who the national champion is, it tells you who the BCS wants you to think the national champion is. Certain college football writers have stated that a true national title game would actually require seeding ad that, if there were any justice in the world, the four teams seeded for such a mini-tournament would be Ohio State, USC, Georgia, and LSU. Others argue for Missouri.

The point is there is NO consensus national champion this year. Everyone can make a case, and they all have valid arguments.