A Tough Day for Sports Fans
December 7, 2003
If you know me very well, you know that I bleed two colors: Jayhawk Blue (basketball) and Georgia Red (football). And at this time of year those two passions overlap for around a month as the football season winds down and the basketball season limps into stride. All these facts combined made Saturday a taxing day, as #1 ranked Kansas fell to Stanford in California and the 5th ranked Dawgs lost to #3 LSU in the SEC championship in Atlanta.
It is now Sunday morning, and I have some distance from the night before. I no longer have the urge to throw random objects at my television (or streaming radio feed of the Kansas game). And now I have a fresh perspective on what happened yesterday, as two teams suffered very different losses. That difference sums up everything that is great about college basketball, and also everything that is horribly wrong with college football.
First we look at Kansas, who played rather poorly but still almost won against a good Stanford team. But that's OK. KU will almost surely lose again this year, perhaps several more times. But come March, open up the paper to that beloved 64 team bracket (ready for the office pool) and you will probably see KU, maybe even with a high seed, with a roadmap to the championsip laid out in front of them. Free to win their way right to the Final Four and also free to lose to Ball St., Gonzaga, or any other Cinderella (kid out of nowhere..). That's the beauty of the tournament.
The mood in Atlanta however was much different. The Dawgs fate had been sealed a month ago with a loss to Florida, and the only thing a win would give them was a BCS bowl birth, but not THE BCS bowl birth. Now UGA goes to the ever prestigious Capitol One Bowl, or maybe the Peach. So make sure you are prepared when you head for the office tomorrow, because I am sure the Bowl Prediction Pools will be flying around...or maybe not. The pool got even murkier as Oklahoma got throttled by Kansas State. Thanks KSU, now go away and leave the other teams to play for the national championship.
So now we have three teams with legitimate credentials (according to the BCS anyway) to play for the title. So let's split that Superdome field into a three-legged piece of turf, ready for a three team deathmatch, maybe Vince McMahon can help. Hey, it is just as preposterous as our current system.
So why not a playoff? Div I-AA does it. The NFL does it. Just think about it. Take these teams: Oklahoma, USC, LSU, Michigan, Texas, Ohio State, Georgia. Now put them in an 8 team playoff and let the chips land where they may. You don't have to do away with the Bowls. Let teams who didn't make the playoff compete there (kinda like the NIT) and then use the big-time bowls to play the playoff games. Naaa, I am probably crazy, who would wanna watch that...
Comments
Ace says:
I agree with the Good fellow from the K.C. area. Reality is that the CATS beat the "mighty" Sooners??? They held the "high powered" offense to 7,(seven) points! As for Georgia, I really think the Mizzo Tigers could beat them right now!
Pitifull performance against the LSU club.
Brad Daily says:
Yea, I knew the Wildcat sympathizers would come out of the woodwork. There is just that whole "strength of schedule" thing!
Ace says:
I do believe the day of college basketball dominance is OVER! There are too ,many good players to retain the ole #1 ranking for very long unless you pad your schedule. Ex. last nights loss by Florida.
Comments are closed for this entry
hickert says:
How about December madness? That way the purple cats from the little apple can get in the picture since they are probably playing better that anyone in the land right now! It would also take the sportswriters, who fabricate all of the controversy to justify their existance out of the picture. Do they have hotels in Montreal?? And, if they do, are you ready for the KC Hicks in June?? That's a scary thought I'll bet.