Sunday, December 4, 2011

Random Thoughts

Joselyn Cano is attractive.

It's Sunday and Michigan didn't play football yesterday.

I am lost.  So here are some random thoughts about football and other things:

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Wisconsin beat Michigan State last night.  Bret Bielema and Mark Dantonio are the two biggest tools in the Big Ten, but Dantonio takes the cake.  And the reason Dantonio's team lost was its stupidity and lack of discipline shown by running into the kicker during a critical play at the end of the game, allowing Wisconsin to get a first down and run out the clock with a 42-39 lead.  Maybe if Dantonio didn't condone criminal and unsportsmanlike activity from his players, he might have a Big Ten championship.

Sorry, people, but Alabama deserves to play in the national championship game.  Their lone loss came to an undefeated juggernaut in the form of LSU.  Oklahoma State lost to a 6-6 Iowa State team.  Stanford got blown out by Oregon.  Houston lost to a Southern Mississippi squad that had two losses, to schools such as UAB and Marshall.  Boise State plays a weak schedule and lost to the weakest TCU team we've seen in a few years.  The Crimson Tide played five teams that are ranked at the end of the season; they went 4-1 against those teams and the loss to LSU was in overtime by a score of 9-6.  In those other four contests, the average score was 36-12.  The closest margin of victory the whole year was a 16-point victory over Penn State.  If no other team is a compelling candidate, then a team with a three-point overtime loss to the 13-0 shoo-in deserves a rematch.

The sad thing about rematches is that they don't necessarily solve anything.  If Alabama gets to the national championship game (and I think they will) and beats LSU, then the two best teams will be 1-1 against each other.  The only way for the championship game to be completely satisfying is for LSU to win.

I laughed when I saw Southern Mississippi head coach Larry Fedora exclaim that his team "proved" that they deserve to be in a BCS bowl game.  You play in Conference USA, you ignoramus.  The only thing you proved is that Houston isn't that great, either.  There is a long list of teams that deserve BCS bowl game berths ahead of Southern Miss.  Get over yourself.

Michigan beat Iowa State in basketball yesterday by a score of 76-66.  I don't know much about basketball, so I keep my thoughts on that sport to a minimum . . . but the team's starters look solid.  The bench is very iffy.  Good teams can bring guys off the bench who jump start the offense or at least fit in somewhat seamlessly.  I don't see that with Michigan.  If they can stay healthy, though, they might be able to make another run in March.  It was nice to see the Wolverines beat some former Big Ten castoffs.

I know I'm late to the party, but I just watched Blue Chips for the first time.  If you don't know what it is, it's a movie about big-time college basketball recruiting starring Nick Nolte, Shaquille O'Neal, Anferneee Hardaway, and some of the worst acting I've seen in a long time.  It was poorly written, poorly acted, and completely ridiculous.  The only good thing about it was the basketball action looked somewhat realistic, unlike sports movies such as The Program and Major League.

7 comments:

  1. Everybody talks about the Oklahoma State loss but talk about their Wins 5 vs top 25 teams compared to Alabama 1 vs top 25 teams. So dont be selective and look at the wins too. And yes they did lose to Iowa State after the tragic plane crash two nights before.

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  2. I want OSU in the title game because the outcome clearly determines who is the national champion. If OSU wins, everyone will say the SEC was overrated, if LSU wins they clearly were the best team in college football this season.

    Alabama lost at home by 3 points while Michigan lost on the road by 3 points in 2006. If Michigan didn't deserve a shot 5 years ago, there is no way that Alabama deserves a shot this year. If Alabama were to pull off a win, not only would there be confusion as to who the best team in the nation was, but a team like OSU would have a legitimate claim that they could be the best.

    Just let them have their shot, plenty of other 1 loss teams have had a chance at a MNC.

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  3. " The only way for the championship game to be completely satisfying is for LSU to win."

    If Oklahoma State beats LSU, I'd be completely satisfied also.

    Comparing losses is fine...as a starting point. But lets look at those losses more closely. Alabama's was with homefield advantage on their side. If the game had been at Baton Rouge, I'd be for a rematch, but LSU's already taken 'Bama in the most difficult circumstances possible. Losing to Iowa State is definitely worse but that was a 3OT game and was on the road. Shit happens.

    To me, a rematch is a last resort, and in this case there's a viable alternative. Looking at the other 90% of the season: Bama and OSU have resumes that are pretty darn similar. Too similar for a conclusive decision.

    As you said, nothing would be proven by the all-SEC title game. Another team getting a shot is preferable if the system is going to make any sense at all...or maybe they should just cancel the game and have OSU/Bama play so that we can settle the more interesting debate of who is #2.

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  4. Your article is incorrect on Alabama's record against top 25. They only played 3 teams that ended up in top 25 (LSU, Arkansas, and Penn State). Alabama has only two wins against the BCS top 25 and OKSU has five. I agree it is close though, as Alabama's loss is much better.

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  5. If it is Alabama, this might be the first National Championship game I'll miss because I so actively dislike both programs. I can hardly stand the idea of either winning.

    I kinda like Lankownia's idea. I'd like to see OK State and Alabama go at it myself.

    My favorite team of all time, any sport, the 74-5 Michigan Basketball team, featuring Joe Johnson, Wayman Britt, Steve Grote, CJ Kupec and Campy Russell, won a Big Ten Championship and then beat a very solid Digger Phelps coached Notre Dame team that featured Adrian Dantley and Bill Laimbeer among others, to advance to the great eight with a six minute a game bench that consisted of Lionel (The Maintrain) Worrel and nobody else.

    That was BIG FUN.

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  6. idk how approving/disproving you are of me posting a link to something non TTB but here's a FB page for everyone who dislikes the BCS's decision. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vote-With-Your-Remote-Boycott-the-BCS/123231487791121?sk=info spread the word! also, i listed my argument for OSU over alabama there if any1s interested in solely that. i appreciate the likes!
    -horn

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  7. Random thought:

    Vincent Smith has the highest YPC on the team...and the highest QB rating.

    All Hail!

    [Actually Gallon had the highest YPC but he ran it as often as Smith passed it.]

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