Nice to hear you gove Tebow some love Stew!! I think if he plays a solid game on Saturday and beats FSU, the award should be his hands down. He has really surpassed even Gators fans expectations (which I will admit tend to be on the high side no matter the reality) and has the stats to back it. Seriously, the guy may go 3000+ and 1000+ after a bowl game. He may bring home 3 of these things before it is all said and done. (however I would think that next year his rushing stats will not be as gaudy if UF finds a reliable back, but his yards per carry should go up.)

As for the Gators, they may still get to 10 wins and a January bowl game...pretty good for a team starting about 60-70% freshman and sophmores. I will take 10 wins all day this season but in true Gator fassion, will expect nothing less than a NC next season!!!

Sorry, I just can't give any credit to a team that hasn't played anyone. Perhaps if the Jayhawks beat Missouri and Oklahoma, maybe they will prove a point. But to be ranked 2nd in the country with the best team you have played being the 49th strongest team in the country is ridiculous.

Boise State all the way! The Warriors are getting spanked on their home field this coming Friday! Also, Kansas all the way to the NC game! Traditional schools are too fat and happy. What Mangino at Kansas and Petersen at Boise State teach is a "Team Effort", not individual effort. Just look at Dixon (as sad as it is) or Bradford...without them, their team is nothing. Gators? They'd loose Tebow? Good night...Tebow with his stats makes Florida. And LSU, they will loose one more time because they have been riding their luck for too many games.

Gator fans can certainly take comfort in the star quality year Tim Tebow is having; but, before counting the chickens the Gators will chomp next hear, recall that the path to a national championship runs through Jacksonville where the Gators will have to contend with a packi of black-jerseyed Dawgs- a squad that has their stud QB, future Heisman-winning tailback, experienced O line, numerous skil players and a stellar recruiting class on board. Don't count on your thick skinned reptiles so much as being SEC East champions until you show us what you got. The Streak is over, long live the Streak.

Stew,

Don't you think the winner of the Boise State-Hawaii game is going to the BCS?

I thought there was at least an unwritten agreement that the championship game idea was only possible if the 6 BCS conferences bribed all the outsiders by opening up a BCS slot. But for the BCS championship game idea, those teams outside the BCS conferences would have no shot at a BCS bowl (except for Notre Dame).

The city that hosts the BCS championship game always gets last pick for its regular bowl game. This is the slot opened for the Boise State's and Hawaii's of the world. Not to say Boise State was unworthy last year, but that is the deal.

Georgia is the Hottest Team in all of College football right now. Nobody, not even LSU will want to play them. It is amost like the year that USC lost 2 games but at the end of the year they were the best team in all of football...they finally gelled together and found out who they are. Indeed,,,another reason for the playoff system. Plus the SEC is just WAY to tough to go through undefeated every year....

Oh,,and by the way Alabama,,,I have heard of Appalachian State,,,but I have never heard of Lousiana Monroe...LMAO...You guys paid what$$$$$ for SABAN? Suckers....

I was watching that Nevada-Hawaii game (insomnia) and I was screaming at the TV when that Nevada coach turned into a teenage girl. Seriously, what is that ice-the-kicker crap except the latest fad/trendy psycho-babble of pro and college football? Stewart asks if it has ever worked. First of all, there's no proof it "works", even if you can point to kicker who missed after the timeout, because you have no way of knowing why he missed; it's arrogance mixed with a belief in magic that tells you "hey, it was that brillant time-out you called, Coach, the way you yelled 'Time out! Time out!' really got in that kid's head".

A better question is, even if does work every once in a while, isn't it a much higher percentage play to give your team 40 extra seconds to score if they have to? If he misses, you just run out the extra 40 seconds then. Who came up with the phrase "Icing" the kicker anyway? Ridiculous.

jeff - Kansas is the hottest team in the country. I don't care how well they've played lately, Georgia lost two games, and Kansas has lost none while playing just as well over the recent stretch (if not better) than UGA. I have a friend who goes to Georgia who calls me every time they win and tells me how much better they are than Kansas. I don't dislike Georgia, but Kansas keeps winning now, and they won early. The hottest team in the nation has to be Kansas.

gatorbait - I will not disagree with you that Tebow is incredible and probably deserves the Heisman, but that's only because he doesn't play on a team. He plays behind a decent O-line with no legitimate running back and only one good receiver. Everything's in his hands, and he does very admirably with it, but the whole "Tebow's amazing but his team has a few losses" statement will continue to ring true until Meyer can get some people to help him. I am expecting less than a NC next year for Florida, and you probably should as well.

To those skeptics:

Team A:
Per Game NCAA Conf.
Total Offense 449.9 yds 21st 3rd
Total Defense 257.6 yds 2nd 1st
Points Scored 39.5 pts 11th 2nd
Points Allowed 17.4 pts 9th 2nd

Team B:
Per Game NCAA Conf.
Total Offense 500.2 yds 7th 4th
Total Defense 300 yds 8th 1st
Points Scored 45.8 pts 2nd 1st
Points Allowed 14.2 pts 2nd 1st

Team C:
Per Game NCAA Conf.
Total Offense 506.3 yds 4th 2nd
Total Defense 379.8 yds 58th 6th
Points Scored 42.5 pts 6th 3rd
Points Allowed 23 pts 34th 3rd

Team D:
Per Game NCAA Conf.
Total Offense 459.9 yds 13th 2nd
Total Defense 288.6 yds 4th 1st
Points Scored 39.2 pts 12th 1st
Points Allowed 17.3 pts 7th 2nd

The teams? A-LSU; B-KU; C-MU; D-WVU

So in other words, Kansas has a better scoring offense and defense than anyone in the top 4 of the BCS. The defense that has taken shots for the last couple weeks? It's in the Top 10 in both scoring and yards allowed. The argument that they aren't a great team? They are the only top 4 team with a top 10 scoring offense defense and top 10 in yards gained and allowed, not to mention their top ranking in both penalties and turnover margin. So I guess you can keep going with the "they haven't played anyone" argument when criticizing Kansas, because teir offense, defense, and team smarts leave little to be desired.

the Big Ten has some great coaching but this post opens up the coaches that are having a mediocre season and points out that there is some coaching depth in the conference

Chris.

Big Deal. There isn't another team in the top 20 that would not be undefeated against Kansas schedule. If you want respect and to use comparison stats, it would help if you would actually schedule a real team.

This is the MOST BORING HEISMAN YEAR I have ever lived through. You're going to give the Heisman to a sophomore running back, er, quarterback, er, fullback, by default, who may or may not go to a significant bowl game and who will undoubtedly suffer a serious injury before he finishes college if his coach doesn't stop running him directly into the line. Give me a break.

Just remember what sitting at home can do for you -

OSU is 5

KU-Mizzou loser drops off.
KU-Mizzou winner loses Big 12 championship.
LSU loses in SEC championship
WVU loses to UConn.

Wierder things have happened. Like a 51 yard FG that hits the left upright and bangs it off the post and in.

Chris...Get off the short bus. KU hasn't played a ranked opponent. Let's compare stats when they do.

Sorry, but the most outstanding player of the year has been Pat White. Tebow is great, and may win a couple of Heismans in his future. But White is the heart of the Mountaineers team, and deserves a lot of Heisman love.

Perhaps once the curtain is pulled back from the Wizard of BCS's control center (I could see UGA doing that, since Georgia knows they are SOOOOO much better than Tennessee, but may fail to play in the championship), and Kansas and Missouri will each lose in the next weeks (and perhaps even LSU might lose to a bummed out McFadden, who deserves Heisman love as well, but with LSU's apathetic defense, all three teams might become revealed to be NOT that GREAT). Will you guys start paying attention to WVU then?

First, you threw mudballs at the Big East Conference after Miami, VaTech and BC left. (Then WVU beat a good Georgia team in the Sugar Bowl).

When they didn't work, you threw spitballs at the level of the competition within the conference (Then we ended up with the highest season win average against other BCS league teams, and won all FIVE of our Bowl Games).

And now, this year, you are trying to disparage the league again by not giving WVU its due. (hell, they have put the #1 NFL draft pick on the edge of not getting to a bowl this year--Brian Brohm)

Wake up America. If this great season did nothing more, it will be memorable for beginning a new era, in which we all figure out, and I sure hope that means the pollsters as well, that ALL teams can beat any other team at ALL times, any week, any time!

GOOO MOUNTAINEERS!!!

Final Score of the BCS GAME:

WVU 35
LSU 31

So put that in your SEC pipe and smoke it, instead of smoking the stuff that you usually do before leaving these blogs here. Not that I would be critical of whatever you might want to put in your peace pipes...just be a little more objective about WVU and Big East football.

Re: item no.4: as a Minnesota fan, it pains me to tell you this, but even I have to admit that it's hilarious. Apparently (this was all reported on a Gopher blog; I refuse to look into it; like I said, too painful) some newspaper on the west coast started a "Glen Mason for Big 10 coach of the year" campaign. The reasoning is simple: if the Gophers' talent level is such that they go 1-11, then how the hell did Mason make it to a bowl game last year (with so many of the same guys) - not to mention all those other years? Anyways - I hate to think about that smarmy bas**rd smiling about this, but even I have to say: Glen Mason for Big 10 coach of the year.

LSU fans...who is the top candidate to replace Miles? It seems weird that he would leave to go to a crappy conference like the Big 10.

"Bowls, Polls, and Tattered souls, etc." was it? How soon we forget... Sorry about that, Stewart. I hope it didn't confuse anybody on his way to the Barnes and Noble. To those jacked up Mountaineer fans (above) who responded negatively to your 'promotion' of Tebow for the Heisman, I can only say that WVU might turn out to be the national championship team they purport to be, but neither Pat White nor Steve Slaton has had the season that Tebow has had. The Mountaineers can still win the mythical national championship -- They just might have to tell their granchildren that they they won the BCS championship without having the Heisman Trophy winner on their team. Nothing wrong with that -- Football is, after all, a team sport.

Average SI ranking of KU's schedule- 72.1. Not only is it ridiculous for them to be ranked 2, it's questionable they should be ranked in the top 25. Period. Mizzo kills Saturday.

KU has had a weak schedule. Since Neb sucks this year, you can't give KU the NC spot. I believe KU fans will face that reality when Mizzou beats them. If you don't agree with me, take a look at KU's schedule. Easy to remain unbeaten I think. It looks likes Haw's schedule, but Haw gets no respect in the polls, even though they are also unbeaten (Heck, they have a 3 loss team ranked ahead of an unbeaten). I think Haw's toughest opponent will be Wash, and not Boise. Question... will Haw get the same respect that Boise got last year, if they have a similar finish? Not likely. I doubt I will ever see a Haw player on the cover of video game (For those who don't know Boise QB on the cover of EA NCAA 08)

The thing is, most of the pre-season Heisman favorites didn't fall out of the race for playing poorly. They fell out of the race because their team lost too many games (and if Tebow's Florida team had a lower profile, three losses would have knocked him out, too) or because they were injured (see Mike Hart).

But Brian Brohm and Ray Rice and Darren McFadden had excellent individual numbers. Their teams took a step back from last year, but, especially in Brohm's case, it was hardly his fault.

Do we really need to see Georgia destroy Boise again. It happened two years ago, and Georgia may be playing even better now. Georgia was just too big and fast for Boise. Speed kills.
OU reminds me a lot of Texas from last year at this point. They had national title hopes and the big 12 wrapped up and then their qb gets hurt and drops their last two so OU won the south instead.
As much as I hate Tebow, he should easily win the Heisman, and if he does not, then there is something fishy going on.

Jennifer,

Your kidding right? Go from a stepping stone type school in LSU to Michigan, one of the most storied and recognizable college teams in the country? You might also not know he played there. Your comments were probably meant as a dig on the Big Ten, but it certainly isn't suprising...

The other thing is, it may be the Big Two and little nine, but that makes it easier to get back to a BCS bowl every year. The SEC may be tougher, I'll admit that, but it doesn't do the league justice when all of its teams elimate each other from the National Championship game. Heck, LSU will probably be elimated this year, even though I think they are the best/most talented team, simply becasue they are going to lose focus because of the coaching situation.

Oh, and by the way, Go Bucks, we're not out of it yet!

Alabama has a winning record in the SEC and loses to UL-Monroe (sp??). Tennessee loses to Cal, and also ran in the PAC 10. Man, that is one tough conference. Give me a break. Anybody got the out of conference records of the BCS conferences?

What is lost in the losing Miles stuff and the big ten vs. Sec is that if LSU loses and do not win the championship than the LSU fans will want him gone. No coach has done less with more than Miles who inherited the most talented team in the country and has yet to win a SEC championship.
Plus maybe he can bring some speed to the slow Big Ten.

Is it that the SEC is so strong this year or is the SEC average? This is a legitimate question with no ill will meant. Maybe, the SEC teams "beat up on each other", because they are decent, but not great. The OOC schedule is nothing special, so I have to pose this question. If SEC fans justify losses in the conference to the conference being so strong, how will we know when the SEC is having a sub par year? They will “beat up on each other” whether they are great or average. Maybe, it is on past reputation alone that everyone, including the voters, thinks that the SEC is the dominant conference. Think about it for a second…Alabama lost to ULM and UGA struggled with Troy, just to name a few games that stick out in my mind. Of course, one will have many teams bowl eligible, when there are, at least, three cupcakes on a typical SEC schedule. I got this exerpt from the Athens Banner-Herald. Yes, Bulldogs…Your Athens paper. Check it out.

“Still, a closer look reveals another, less-flattering explanation for all those gaudy records: SEC teams rarely venture away from home for non-conference games or play schools from other BCS leagues.

To put it bluntly, they've scheduled a bunch of patsies, a factor that should be taken into account at bowl time. Certainly, it's a lot easier to become eligible for the postseason when you have a 4-0 head start and six wins is enough to get in the mix.”

AND

“Even with the addition of a 12th game to the schedule, the SEC is playing only 14 of its 48 non-conference games (29 percent) against other BCS schools. The Big 12 is the only major conference playing less (11 of 48, or 23 percent).

By comparison, the Atlantic Coast Conference leads the way with 46 percent (22 of 48) against BCS opponents, followed by the Big East (15 of 40, 38 percent), the Pac-10 (11 of 30, 37 percent) and the Big Ten (13 of 44, 30 percent).
No one comes close to playing as many out-of-conference games at home as the SEC, which has seven stadiums seating at least 80,000 and likes to use them as much as possible. The conference has 40 of 47 non-SEC games at home (85 percent), the other being a neutral-site game between Alabama and Florida State in Jacksonville, Fla.

The remaining BCS conferences benefit far less from the home-field advantage: ACC (60 percent), Big East (65 percent), Big 12 (67 percent), Pac-10 (70 percent) and Big Ten (77 percent).

Another stat you won't hear the SEC touting is its 5-5 record against BCS opponents, with four such games remaining. That trails the Big Ten (9-4), ACC (9-8) and Pac-10 (6-4), and is just ahead of the Big East (7-8) and Big 12 (5-6).

Delving a little deeper, the SEC's five BCS victories have been against teams with a combined 25-20 record. No. 11 Virginia Tech (7-2) is the only currently ranked team outside the conference to lose to an SEC school, falling 48-7 at No. 2 LSU early in the season. The five BCS losses have been to teams that are 33-11.

The SEC is 31-0 against everyone else, a major reason its rate of non-conference wins (88 percent) is first among the BCS leagues.
"I can understand the reluctance to schedule other national powers, because week in and week out this conference is very competitive," said LSU coach Les Miles, whose team will face out-manned Louisiana Tech on Saturday. "Sometimes if you play an early opponent that's a national team, it requires every effort to get a victory and it may well slow the momentum of your season if you misfire."

Then again, if the SEC is indeed the strongest conference in the country, shouldn't it savor those challenges?”


http://www.onlineathens.com
/stories/111007/football_20071110015.shtml

BTW, if you answer my questions with any hostility, I will know you are an SEC homer, incapable of an unbiased opinion, and will dismiss your answer. Let the discussion begin…

just wondering stewart, does that mean you think tebow is the best offensive player in the country and crabtree is the second best?

Just want to you are dead right about the SEC not playing teams except for Georgia. They play Georgia Tech each year, and schedule someone else tough. Clemson, Colorado (not their fault they were awful), Oklahoma St this year, Arizona St. next year, Lville in the future, etc. You are right that Georgia struggled on defense against Troy, but blew them away on offense. The same Troy that blew out Oklahoma St.

Unless Bradford comes back, we might see Texas in the Big 12 championship game. I don't think that OU will handle Oklahoma state unless Bradford rebounds.

Tennessee to defeat KY then LSU in SEC championship match. Go Vols!!!

Very well said G.L. One thing you missed with all those stats, the SEC has lost 9 of 10 versus the Big East and people say the Big East aren't that good a conference. What does that say of the SEC?

g.l. -

Keep in mind that there are a bunch of games that SEC teams play that are required by state legislatures, or by tradition. That's why Clemson and South Carolina close out every season. Ditto FSU-Florida and UGa-GT. LSU and Tulane have been playing each other as long as they've been playing. It's lopsided in this era of BCS games, but wasn't always so. The legislature also intervened in LSU's schedule and required them to play LaTech so LaTech could get a cut of the money LSU is raking in. There was talk for a while of forcing UT and Memphis to play.

Now, 'Bama-ULM didn't really work out for 'Bama, but if you've got a stadium seating 90k, and you've got to pay for it, why would you go to someone else's place to play, even if your fans would pack the place enough to make it a virtual home game for you. At some point, economics come in to play, and college football is not a socialist-communist organization, like the NFL.

Incidentally, it's not like the SEC are the only people to do this. Did you check out OhioSt's "tour of the state" that came through the 'Shoe this year? Get an eye full of OU's home sked? There aren't many BCS road-warrior teams; USC is an obvious exception.
MissSt is going to WVU next year; UGa goes to Stillwater the year after (I think that's when it's scheduled). 'Bama and FSU goes at least one more year too, I think. LSU went to VT a few years ago (my dad was at that game); this year was the return game at LSU, so it's not like the Tigers didn't go to Blacksburg. 'Bama actually went to Hawaii for 2 years 4-5 years ago, and got the return games from Hawaii over the last 2 seasons.

Has anyone mentioned Florida has lost three games? That's one less than Texas Tech.

Has the fact Florida has three losses escaped you Stew? That is one less than Texas Tech.

The fact that i am the biggest buckeye fan in the country it kills me to say but, if tebow doesnt win the heisman... who will? This kid has been phenominal this year, in fact he very well could steal the only two time heisman from us in Archie Griffin

I think the point that GL is trying to emphasize is that too many SEC fans blindly tout the inherent strength of the conference through the "we beat up on each other, so we're good" argument. Unfortunately, statistics don't bear this out (and yes, I know that UF destroyed OSU last year for the NC).

Anyway, everyone wanted to revoke Michigan's 1-A (or whatever they're called now) membership for the loss to a very good App. State team while little to no mention has been made of the obviously embarrasing loss by Bama with "supercoach" Nick Saban at the helm. What's going on there in Tuscaloosa anyway?

And...Ron Zook is for real. I know you UF fans ran him out of town, but Urban Meyer won the NC with Zook's players; this year, in Meyer's third year...three losses with 75% his players...you do the math.

Illinois is back, and the Big Ten will be that much better when Les Miles joins the ranks of Sweater, Zook, and JoPa (who can still recruit defensive players somehow).

The most outstanding college football player this season has been Dennis Dixon, injury or not. Watching him (1) run for a touchdown with a torn ACL, and then (2) watch Oregon's unstoppable offense deginerate with out him proved his value. An injury at this point should not discount what he did this season and at the very least he should be invited to New York.

OK has a poor history of beating weak teams (see Boise St/TCU results). I think the league is in better hands with Texas.
Tenn over LSU? Tenn has wet its pants in most of its big games this year. Give me a break.
I think the Sugar will pick Fla over GA, assuming LSU goes to the NC. GA won the match between them but Fla will put more $$$ in the till.

I'm sick of people dismissing the Big Ten as the Big Two Little Nine.

Look it up people, between 1998 and 2007 eight of its eleven teams have won or shared the conference championship.

It's a deep conference and winning is, as Ohio State did yesterday, should give its champion considerable national clout.

Stewart

Your blog irritated me as usual. This time your carp about the Mizzou defense. Re: Saturday game, MU led KSU 49-25 before giving up a garbage TD with 2 minutes left. another KSU score was due to a blocked punt. The MU defense is solid, holding NU to 6 points (KU gave up 39!, KSU 73!) and the highest ranked offense (stat wise) TexTech to 10. Meanwhile, KSU Coach Prince said Mizzou was better than KU (MU won there 49-32, KU won there 30-24). So did Colorado's coach. MU won in Boulder 55-10, KU won there 19-14. Meanwhile, you chose a random player for the 11th place team in the cconference to help you rate the teams (since you obviously never bother to watch them -- won;t CNN pay for the Fox Sports cable package?). The stats tell the story already, but after beating KU, MU will continue to shine. You will likely be the only one who misses it -- probably calling up that flirty bar fly they must have supplied you in Eugene a few weeks ago.

for Netizen - When I was growing up the Big Ten was usually the Big Two and the Little Eight. But that was a long time ago. How can you let dribble upset you? The way I see it is that if hearing someone say its the Big Two is the worst thing that happens to you today then you've had a pretty good day.
Currently Pn St & Wisc are very solid, Mich can be, and Illinois may be better than all of them. But OSU is a step or two ahead of the rest. What's your take?

The SEC isn't heads and shoulders above any league this year. In the year of college mediocrity, no conference is that much better than the other and it seems that no team is that much better than another. With that said, here's a couple facts, questions and opinions.

SEC in BCS games since 2001 = 7-1.

Only one-loss teams to win a national champioship since the BCS = 2 SEC teams (UF and LSU)

As for SEC's schedule, we'll learn a lot next weekend in the annual SEC/ACC rivalries (UGA/GT, FSU/UF, USC/Clemson and, this year, Vandy/Wake).

Did you know: Every West Division team has had at least one 10 win season in the past decade.

Also, name the last time that an SEC team repeated as SEC champions.

When's the last time an SEC team lost in the title game? As for you Big-10/11 fans, what's your BCS record? How's the depth in your league?

As for the Big East, you're still living on the WVU win over UGA three years ago. I know you went undefeated in your bowl games last year, but have you looked at your bowl tie-ins and who you played? It's a joke.

There's enough data out there that you can prop up or tear down any conference this year. The bowl games will decide what fans and media can only debate.

Fla to the Sugar bowl over UGA? give me a break...If Hawaii goes undefeated UGA is going to the sugarbowl. Stafford and Moreno will laydown some Warrior A$$... Just like they did to the Florida Gaytors. And as far as Kansas goes..."over rated" I'm not sure I would even watch their bowl game....especially if they play LSU...it would be a smack down...Hell..even their running back Hester is probably faster than the WR's at Kansas....lol..

Tim Tebow is a good player. There is no doubting that. However, are his #'s any greater than Chase Daniel or Graham Harrell? I know, they're "system" QB's. But, then, isn't the same true for Tebow. It's just that his "system" allows him to also be a FB in addition to a QB. Systems are systems and if this is something that must be considered when awarding a Heisman, then every RB that won a Heisman and played for a team that ran the option, or the wishbone, should have an asterisk next to their name. Silly I know, but I don't see the difference when comparing the accomplishments of these RB's to the accomplishments of QB's like Chase Daniel and Graham Harrell.

Tim Tebow is a good player. There is no doubting that. However, are his #'s any greater than Chase Daniel or Graham Harrell? I know, they're "system" QB's. But, then, isn't the same true for Tebow. It's just that his "system" allows him to also be a FB in addition to a QB. Systems are systems and if this is something that must be considered when awarding a Heisman, then every RB that won a Heisman and played for a team that ran the option, or the wishbone, should have an asterisk next to their name. Silly I know, but I don't see the difference when comparing the accomplishments of these RB's to the accomplishments of QB's like Chase Daniel and Graham Harrell.

Tim Tebow is a good player. There is no doubting that. However, are his #'s any greater than Chase Daniel or Graham Harrell? I know, they're "system" QB's. But, then, isn't the same true for Tebow. It's just that his "system" allows him to also be a FB in addition to a QB. Systems are systems and if this is something that must be considered when awarding a Heisman, then every RB that won a Heisman and played for a team that ran the option, or the wishbone, should have an asterisk next to their name. Silly I know, but I don't see the difference when comparing the accomplishments of these RB's to the accomplishments of QB's like Chase Daniel and Graham Harrell.

Either way...we need a PLAYOFF...bowl games have no meaning anymore...Who cares about the "Tostito Bowl" "Nokia Bowl",,they lost all meaning when the NCAA sold out a long time ago.

OH..one more thing about the guy who did all the stats in an earlier post..hahahaha...dude...be for real...If you want to compare stats and not look at strength of schedule then Hawaii would be the best team "OF ALL TIME"...Geeess..dude...get real

I've read alot of ridiculous post on here tonight. Let me start by saying that I'm a huge West Virginia fan. With that being said, I'll leave the following thoughts:
I believe that Dennis Dixon or Tim Tebow are definetely the front runners for the Heisman trophy. Pat White is good and had a good year, but he didn't do AS mch as these other two, in my opinion. I think WVU has a strong chance to end up playing for the National Title. I hope they show up for that game if it takes place. By that I mean, I'm not sure if the WVU defense can handle the speed of a team like LSU. I'm also not sure the WVU offense (as high powered as it may be) is enough to outrun the fast defense of LSU. We've seen alot of upsets this year in the college ranks, especially every #2 ranked team. This season proves, more than any other I can remember, that there needs to be a playoff system.
You have an undefeated Hawaii team that is ranked below teams with 3 losses. How can that be?
I'll leave you with this....it warms my heart to see Notre Dame SUCK this bad. I hate the Irish with all of my being and soul. For me, this has been a great season to remember.

I'm sure I'm going to ruffle the feathers of a lot of Florida fans here, but...

Why is nobody talking about the fact that Tebow is a product of the system that Urban Meyer employs in the UF offense for all his ridiculous numbers? I mean, last I checked why does Florida even have a running back on the roster? Now, this is not to disparage Tebow in any way, or to cheapen his accomplishments. It's just that universities like Texas Tech normally have their numbers discounted (notice I used a Big XXII team and NOT Hawaii...so no competition argument can be used) as products of a "system," so why does Tebow escape the criticism when considering his Heisman consideration?

To all those SEC haters who want to manipulate their stats to make sorry conferences look tough, I will let a panel of 8 national professional sports analysts pick the best conference over you kool-aid drinkers any day.

Bill Trocchi said it best in his Conference Power Ranking column recently:

Eight experts take a crack at ranking BCS conferences.

The combined BCS conference rankings of eight experts

Conference Points
1. SEC (8) 48
2. Pac-10 36
3. Big 12 31
4. ACC 20
5. Big Ten 17
6. Big East 16
** First place votes in parenthesis.

That pretty much sums it up. Good night.

Hey SEC_Rules...most of those people had OSU winning the NC last year, and probably Miami in 2002. We'll see what happens at the bowls. The SEC may play itself out of the NC entirely if LSU keeps playing undisciplined...now wouldn't THAT be ironic?

To the poster citing the 'national sportswriters' as the basis for the SEC superiority...

Those would be the same sportswriters who wouldn't be caught dead predicting USC/Standford outcome...or ULM/Alabama...or (ironically) vote Kansas number 2 (since they couldn't POSSIBLY be a good TEAM since they played 'weak' non-conference and big XII teams having 'inferior' athletes themselves - btw, since when does athleticism absolutely predict outcomes...this is football not track)...

Is it so outrageous that parity has hit the SEC as well?

Dr. Freud, paging Dr. Freud. Dr. Freud please go to a white courtesy phone...

The overwhelming and universal need SEC fans have to constantly proclaim their superiority smacks of classic overcompensation. I'll bet somewhere in the back of their minds they doubt that they're really as good as they say they are. What else explains their constant need for affirmation?

I suppose nothing short of a congressional resolution proclaiming the SEC the permanent home of the NCAA football championship will satisfy their need.

Tim Tebow is by far the best college football player in America this year. I can't name one other player in college football that means more to his team than Tebow. He should win the Heisman. Florida is going to be scary for the next few years.

You're all mindless whiners. I'm not a Kansas fan by any stretch, but I'm able to see the facts and not be blinded by idiocy.

Plain and simple: When you're in a BCS conference, and you've played through 11 games, and you're the ONLY UNDEFEATED SCHOOL left from a BCS conference, you deserve the number two position. PERIOD.

It is not Kansas' fault that they didn't play UT or OU or a good A&M team this year. Their non-conference schedule is one thing, but Nebraska sucking? Nebraska's fault. Don't blame Kansas for that.

It doesn't matter. Even after Kansas wins the Big 12 and sits at 13-0, you'll all think they don't deserve to be there. Well, the fact is that they do now, and they will even more so then. PERIOD.

The sugar bowl is about money. If Tenn plays LSU for the title the Sugar bowl gets its pick of SEC teams. It won't take Tenn. If GA plays LSU GA ends up with 3 losses. Let's be honest. GA on one channel, Fla & Tebow on the other. 11 out of 10 watch the Gators, right?

For Matt - The teams with the best record in the Big 12 are OK, Tex Tech, Missou & Texas. How has Kansas done against them this year? Right, they haven't played the four best teams in their conf and their non-conf sched is Cent Mich, SE La, Toledo and FIU. At this late date can you imagine a BCS team having done less to deserve a ranking?

Whatever opinion one may have of Hawaii's schedule and record, little comment has been made of Hawaii's coach, June Jones, the other unbeaten coach on this year's schedule. That is a pity.

In Friday's game against Nevada, Coach Jones' showed his commendable character once again. In the final drive, with 2:16 left and starting from Hawaii's 12, a field goal was needed to sustain the season. With everything (BCS, perfect season etc) on the line and with Heisman candidate and superstar quarterback Colt Brennan available, Jones chose to remain with (regular second string) quarterback Tyler Graunke. Graunke duly drove the Warriors to the Nevada 27 for kicker Kelly to win the game.

Obviously Jones believes he has a great team that could get it done even without Brennan.

What is interesting about the team is none was recruited to Hawaii as a highly touted prospect direct from any mainland high school, unlike Pete Carroll and his 10 high school All-American running backs. According to Jones, Hawaii's record for recruiting such blue-chip players is 0 for 500. Not surprising given Hawaii's extremely meager recruitment budget (2% of say Florida). Yet 7 of last year's Warriors were drafted or invited to NFL training camps.

This little noticed amazing achievement is only possible because unlike some coaches with tremendous records, Jones makes his players better by actually teaching them individually the skills needed to play their positions effectively and not depend just on the skills the players brought with them. His former players in college and the professional ranks , like Jeff Ulbrich and Ashley Lelie, will attest to that.

Jones coaching skills were immediately evident in his first year at Hawaii when he took essentially the same squad that went 0-12 the previous year (under Fred Von Appen) to 9-4 becoming the CNN/SI Coach Of The Year.

For all the teams looking for a new coach, don’t bother contacting Coach Jones with your check book. He took the Hawaii post for $320,000 initially, declining a multi million offer from the San Diego Chargers. Sighs a disbelieving Bobby Beathard, then general manager of the Chargers, “He told me it was his dream to be the head coach of Hawaii. He told me he wanted to be the father of a football tradition.”

June Jones. Great coach. Great teacher. A great educator of young men.

If Hawaii should end this season unbeaten, it is time to honor him again as Coach Of The Year.