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Musings on a completed season
Thoughts to take into college football's offseason: 1. The BCS worked. Technically. Truth is, Oklahoma bailed out the computers and commissioners who devised the three-year-old Bowl Championship Series. Miami should have been in the Orange Bowl, not Florida State. And even then, Washington would have complained. (My view: Washington's big win over Miami wasn't enough to offset four wins by a total of 15 points against teams that lost 25 games among them.) I hate the thought of a playoff, which would turn college football into the NHL, but I also think financial inertia will make a playoff happen when the current BCS contract expires in five years. Until then, the BCS needs more tweaking, mostly in the form of some sort of common-sense clause that allows for weighting head-to-head results. If you beat somebody who's alongside you in the running for a BCS berth, that should count for a lot. In general, the computers need to be studied, because some of their numbers don't make sense and I won't accept that programmers are just plain smarter than the rest of us when it comes to football games. 2. Bob Stoops can coach. College sports are sick with overglorification of coaches, who make too much money and have too much power. Players make plays and win games and championships. There's still something magical, however, about a guy who can turn a few dozen teenagers into a force. Two years ago Oklahoma had a roster of fairly talented players who were out of shape, unmotivated and directionless. Wednesday night they proved they were the best football team in the country. Bob Stoops has both a good mind and a bottomless well of passion. That's a tough combination. And, no, I don't think he'll leave Oklahoma to take the Ohio State job, but it wouldn't shock me if he did. He's ambitious, too, or he'd still be working in Steve Spurrier's shadow, making 300 grand a year (he makes more than $1 million now), winning titles and avoiding the heat. 3. Florida State could stumble. It's always hardest to see a player/fighter/coach/team/program slip from greatness when we have become accustomed to excellence. That's why so few experts blinked when Florida State was made a 12-point favorite over Oklahoma. In the game, it was obvious the 'Noles desperately missed Snoop Minnis (I called that one in mid-December, thank you very much) and Tay Cody, when he went out in the first quarter. But look at the big picture: In the last two years, Bobby Bowden has lost assistant coaches Chuck Amato and now Mark Richt, the two most valued guys on his staff. When Bowden agreed to stop calling plays in 1994, it was because he trusted and believed in Richt. Replacing Richt will not be easy. I'm not suggesting that FSU will suddenly start going 6-5, but I wouldn't be surprised if the 'Noles lose to Miami a few more times in the near future. 4. The Pac-10 rules. With bowl dust settled, it looks to me like the best conference in the country -- at the top -- was the Pac-10. (Yo, Butch Davis, I agree with your argument that your Hurricanes should have been in the Orange Bowl, but not because the Pac-10 is weak; do your homework, man.) There's not a league in the country with a better Big Three than Washington, Oregon State and Oregon. Second place: the Big 12, with Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas State. The ACC stinks, which is why Florida State's schedule wasn't nearly as tough as the computers said. 5. What if ... ... Miami played in the Orange Bowl? Better game, same result. ... Michael Vick was healthy all year? Virginia Tech would have taken Miami right down to the wire. And, yes, my gut feeling is that Vick will enter the NFL draft. ... Heisman voting concluded after the bowls? Josh Heupel wins. Duh. ... Northwestern brought the varsity to the Alamo Bowl to play Nebraska? Oh, they did? My bad. ... the 2001 season started today? I'd take hard looks at Texas (if Mack Brown is ever going to win big -- a fair question -- this is the year) and Michigan (if Drew Henson returns), but if Michael Vick is playing college football, all bets are off. Reserve hotel rooms for the Hokies in Pasadena. Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden covers college football for the magazine and is a frequent contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a comment.
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