Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler National Champions? You decide

i know there are some football fans out there, so the question of the day is, "Who should be crowned national champions?"
A-USC
B-LSU
C-LSUUSC
D-USCLSU

the question for tommorow is, "what should be done about the BCS?"
this one is more open ended...

To be honest..having seen both of them play and been impressed and having no affinity for either I'm perfectly fine to see them share the title.

As far as a playoff system goes, I'm for one (as are most fans), but I'd prefer it's as simple as possible. I think they should take the top 4 teams from the BCS, pair them off 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3, and then have a title game from that. They could move two of the BCS bowls (that still rotate like they do now) up a week in the bowl schedule, and then have the Championship game the same time they have it now.

This would preserve the bowls (for those that care), preserve the BCS (for those with a vested interest), maintain a little controversy over seedings(a little bad press is still good press..see NCAA Bball brackets), and generate more revenue for the NCAA. It's also easy to adopt, and would be quick clean solution for all the naysayers among fans and the press.

I think most seasons fans could agree on the top 4 teams of the country. Playoffs and where to cut off (8, 16, 32, whatever) would be a lot fuzzier I think. For example Tennesee (#8) finished above Miami (#9) by .15 BCS points...even if you could ignore how close that is, could you really make a rock hard case for either team? It also gets ugly then with scheduling.

"My" (not like I'm the first) solution is not without problems either. This year it would have been Oklahoma-Michigan and USC-LSU in the "first round". In hindsite that's wouldn't have resulted in the top two teams in the final, but nothings perfect. Same thing happens in other sports all the time with the AFC being stronger than the NFC or the Western Conference being stronger than the Eastern Conference in the NBA. Besides, per the formula, they WERE 1-4, and 2-3...and without everyone playing everyone and with matching records how perfect can a formula really get? I think it does a pretty good job now considering all it should be factoring.

-Nick

Just my two cents.

I don't follow college football. Two champions? Call me crazy, but that doesn't make sense. Why not have USC and LSU play for the title?

Share the championship...what kinda pansy idea is that?

I like the split championship. Controversy is good -- it gives us something to talk about until (and during) next season. Additionally, twice as many kids get championship rings and will get to tell their grandchildren that they were national champions. I think it's great, and I would hate to see a playoff cheapen the regular season and the existing bowl system.

I don't like the split championship. I wouldn't want some other guy thinking he was on the championship team if I didn't play with him. There is only one champion.

on a slightly different topic, congrats to the American Junior hockey team who just finished defeating our beloved Canadian squad 4-3 in Finland to win the World Junior Hockey Championship. There must be a couple of US hockey fans on here that were watching (or is it just us Canucks now crying in our beers).

Actually, there are two champions. :-)

What I don't like is a team on a two-game losing streak being voted the #3 team in the country. That makes no sense to me.

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I don't follow college football. Two champions? Call me crazy, but that doesn't make sense. Why not have USC and LSU play for the title?
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very funny.

now you know how we feel(or at least some of us).

i do not think USC and LSU should play for the title this year. They each won a championship and to take that away from them would be terrible.

BUT, i think there should be some way to resolve a split championship. i was thinking of a playoff between the top teams myself. in my idea i had the top 8 play in a playoff. But, i didnt see the complications that could arise when deciding between team 8 and 9 and 6 and 7 and etcetera. I like the 4 playoff system though.

I think the worst part about the BCS is not the dual championship part. The worst part about the BCS is the exclusion of teams that happens every year. NIU was ranked top 10 and was undefeated until weak 7 or 8. the ended up 10-2 in a tough conference. But, they are not in the elite conferences and did not go to a bowl game. Northwestern, who is in the big ten(who in my opinion was the most underserving team playing in a bowl at 6-6) ended up going to a bowl. In their 6 wins, they beat U of Illinois(1-10) and U of Indiana(2-9). That is ridiculous. I feel bad for NIU.

Northern Illinois was probably more deserving of a bowl berth than Northwestern or UCLA were, but to say that an unranked mid-major team that didn't make it to its conference championship is deserving of a BCS appearance is just silly.

My vote...Miami Hurricanes.

No need to explain myself...I'm right on this one, just trust me. HaHA

Regarding junior hockey, how many times does a team leading at the end of the second come out in the third and blow it...too many.
The Canadians should have been up 4 or 5-1 after the second, but didn't finish off on a lot of opportunities.
I couldn't believe Fleury banked it off his own player, directly back at himself, and into the net.
Once the momentum changes anything can happen. It was a great game to watch, with lots of action.

I am slightly surprised but completely happy and content that I know absolutely nothing about this. And I call myself a man, too.

I'll agree with you there Rob, it's pretty bad to lose a world championship on a goal that you banked in off the back of your own defenseman.

Did anyone notice during the game when they were talking about the USA's top goal scorer...Parise...the camera then panned up to his parents in the stands.
His father is J.P. Parise, the guy who hauled off with his stick, and almost took the referees head off (but decided otherwise the last second) during a questionable call during the 1972 Canada vs USSR series.

I always remembered Phil Esposito as being the one that just about took off the refs head, but it was him that held J.P. back it think, no? Parise was definitely the goon on the team, he ended the Series with the most PIMs @ 28. Maybe he was just frustrated...

His boy is one hell of a hockey player though, the Devils have to be really happy about that pick!

sorry
i didnt make it clear(as usual with my posts). i didnt mean NIU deserved a BCS spot. But, the BCS system the coaches worked out 6 years ago(97') unjustly alligns bowls with big conferences. It is a result of the BCS that NIU did not gain a bowl berth.

I saw the highlight of the goal bouncing off his teamates helmet. kind of funny.

In reply to:

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It is a result of the BCS that NIU did not gain a bowl berth.

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The BCS only involves four bowls, none of which Northern Illinois would have played in if not for the BCS. NIU didn't go to a bowl game because they didn't win their conference and because their fan base doesn't travel well.

Yeah, the NCAA is hard at work on killing most of the small schools. I don't know if anyone's taken time to consider the impact of conferences like the MAC losing Marshall. If you consider the NCAA's rules on size of stadium, facilities, avg. attendance (etc), and think about how that will be affected by the mass exodus of schools to the new "mega conferences" it's a death warrant for a lot of schools.

Which means it's highly likely that NCAA Division I football will be shrinking significantly over the next 10 years...

You combine less schools that need NCAA handouts (I'm
referring to the scheduled whompings that generate precious appearance fees for the smaller schools), larger conferences (with more in-conference games) and what do you get?

1) Less conferences that are bowl eligible (eliminating the concern someone mentioned about smaller schools being "screwed").

2) Possible shorter schedules and opening weeks up for a playoff system.

3) Less money to be shared with the little guys.

Perhaps it's just a conspiracy theory...but I think we're well on the way to getting the playoff everyone wants...a lot of folks just don't realize the ramifications.

Having said that, unless you went to a small school or care about smaller conferences (I happened to go to Western Michigan University a MAC school) there's little reason for you to care.

On the other hand, they talk about how football is the big revenue generator for colleges athletic programs and that's not actually true. Even with a yearly whomping at the hands of Virginia, Virginia Tech or Michigan, WMU actually operates football at a loss. Of course "needing" to do things like shack up all the football players in Kalamazoo's best hotel the night before home games (with room service) means there's a LOT of other problems.

Enough with my ranting!

-Nick

In reply to:

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The BCS only involves four bowls, none of which Northern Illinois would have played in if not for the BCS. NIU didn't go to a bowl game because they didn't win their conference and because their fan base doesn't travel well.

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While this is true to some degree (money - in this case attendence - is the ultimate reason for everything), Hawkson makes a good point. As I remember it, when the BCS system went into place a ton of bowls (and conferences) were guaranteed and assigned slots (IE: #6 Big Ten goes: "here") to stifle whining which in turn did significantly narrow the options for smaller conferences.

More than anything it's just more fuel to my fire. By assigning bowl bids to the major schools, the NCAA is again effectively contributing to the death of smaller Division I conferences.

It should be noted I'm not whining. I'm not even sure it's a bad thing. But it's a thing none the less.

I'm not totally certain on this, but I think the bowl/conference alignments predate the BCS. I do know that they include smaller conferences -- the MAC is guaranteed spots in the GMAC Bowl and the Motor City Bowl. I'm pretty sure these alignments do not come from the NCAA but are negotiated between the bowls and conferences.

I'm not sure what I think about the drive to reduce the number of Division 1-A football programs. I think the intent is to prevent so many schools from losing so much money on their football programs, but I'm not so sure they shouldn't be allowed to make that decision for themselves. I do certainly hope that it doesn't lead to a playoff... I'm a big fan of the pre-BCS bowl system.

Instead of having 50 different bowl games (I seem to remember one in a snowstorm in Utah or Idaho a few years ago), there should be a playoff of the top 16 ranked teams. Start the Saturday before Christmas (so that finals are over for the kids that actually go to class) and be done by the middle of January (which is usually the time that the second semester begins) with a crowned national champion. As far as teams like Northern...Aaron Stecker, a running back from Green Bay transfered from Wisconsin to Northern Illinois when he couldn't get playing time behind Wisconsin's great runners. He now plays for the Buccaneers. Even though great players many times come from small schools (Jerry Rice comes to mind also), small schools cannot compete with the big boys. Yup, they can pull the upset once in a while on a day when the major school is looking forward or resting their stars, but as a whole, they would have no chance in a playoff with the likes of Michigan, USC, LSU, or Oklahoma, not to mention the Florida schools etc.

Not trying to degrade the smaller schools or mid-majors, but honestly, division 1A should be the big boys only.