Florida plays Ohio State!

[philster]

I'm surprised Josh didn't start a thread about this already, guess he didn't want to put the spotlight on the hated Florida Gators, heh.

But I must admit being very pleased, despite being a Gator hater myself, to see the SEC being represented in the national championship game against Ohio State.

I think Michigan already had their chance to beat Ohio State, and lost. To have Ohio State face Michigan again so soon wouldn't have been fair imo, because it's even tougher to beat a good team twice.

So give somebody else a chance at Ohio State to make it fair. Being 12-1 out of the SEC is an AMAZING accomplishment - that is THE toughest conference in the States. I don't think a team will ever go 13-0 in it again, Auburn will probably be the last one ever (and they didn't even get to play the national championship!)

So, I'm glad that the coaches changed their mind on the polls and picked Florida as No. 2. They deserve it, as much as I hate their stinking guts.

Other Bowl Games:

USC and Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
LSU and Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.
Boise State and Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
Louisville and Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl.

Kinda surprised to see Wake Forest and Boise State make it to the bowl games. Guess the bowl selectors are trying to prove a point.

[Venom65437]

I was actually going to do this thread tonight, I have quite a bit I want to say about bowls games, and college football, and I will in a little bit.

By the way Phil, Wake Forest and Boise State won BCS conferences, they have to get into a BCS game.

[Venom65437]

While I can't really COMPLAIN about the match up, I still think Ohio State and Michigan are the two best teams in the country.

And let me say something else, I am so tired of hearing every SEC team every year cry, "We have the toughest conference in the country! We should get a break because of that! Wah! Wah! Wah! You think Michigan could go 12-1 in the SEC??"

Well... do UF fans think they'd just beat Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin? They might get curbstomped by all three. Anyway, I'll talk more about this in a different thread.

As for the game itself, I think Ohio State will win comfortably. I know UF is 12-1, but they really haven't been impressive. They were lucky to get by teams such as South Carolina and Florida State. They can't run the ball well, neither QB is overly impressive, IMO.

Ohio State just has the total package. As long as they don't have any stupid turnovers, they should have no problems winning this game.

I'll talk more about this when the game gets closer, but we have over a month until the game is played.

The BCS is supposed to stop co-champions. It's already happened once anyway. If UF wins by say 3 points, and Michigan beats USC by a healthy margin, I think it could easily happen again.

[philster]

It's not a matter of Florida beating Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin, it's that Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin doesn't have to go thru as tough a gauntlet as every SEC team has to go thru on an annual basis. Every SEC game is almost like a rivalry. Imagine Ohio State having to play Michigan every week.

I'll agree that Florida hasn't run away with many games, but then again, in the SEC you're lucky to just get out with a win.

[Venom65437]

Wah wah wah, the SEC is soooo tough. That's too bad. If this argument was used in any other sport people would think that's ridiculous.

It isn't like no team has ever gone undefeated on the SEC, and it's still not impossible this day. Sure, the SEC is a tough conference, but that isn't a team like Michigan, or Texas fault!

[philster]

If strength of schedule is a factor, SEC wins hands down.

Just be happy FSU wasn't in the SEC this year as bad as they were, they probably would have had two-third of the team out with injuries

[Venom65437]

I think we DID have 2/3 of the team out with injuries.

FSU HAD the chance to join the SEC but Bobby decided to join the ACC instead. I guess he's smarter than I give him credit for sometimes.

[ss]

IMHO, Boise State should be playing for the National Championship with Ohio State, being as they are both undefeated....the retoric about conferences is just trash talkin from everyones biases (mine included)...until someone beats them, they should play undefeated teams and let it alone...

[Venom65437]

I agree completely SS, and if we had a playoff it could happen!

[philster]

Well, if they had a playoff system, I doubt Boise State would advance past the first round.

It's kind of like Morristown West High here against my high school, Maryville. MW's a school that plays mostly team in Northeast Tennessee, went 13-0 and completely destroyed all the teams in their area. The problem was they played NOBODY.

Maryville on the other hand played in a much more competitive divison, in the Knoxville-Alcoa area. Guess what, we killed MW - wasn't even a contest.

Same thing happened when we played Chattanooga Red Bank. They were undefeated too and had destroyed all the teams in their area. We killed 'em too.

I think the better the usual competition, the better your team plays against everybody else.

In the SEC it's probably TOO good, though. A bit too much of a bloodbath for anybody to come out with their full arsenal intact.

So I don't know if SEC teams would actually fare all that well in a playoffs even if there were one. But that's not the point here I guess.

[Venom65437]

Boise State might not get past the first round, but at least their undefeated season would be rewarded with the CHANCE to win it all, and that's my real problem. They went undefeated and have been rewarded with nothin.

[philster]

Yes, I agree there. That's why they play the games. Which they don't in college football, but yeah.