The Inside and Outside of College Football

Robert Stephens, Writer

Stephens provides his take on big time college football.

December 7, 2011 - The BCS should change its name to the BMM (Bring Me the Money) after their recent ratings came out Sunday with LSU rated as the number one team in the USA. No problem here the Tigers have played one of the toughest schedules in recent memory. The Crimson Tide of Alabama who lost to LSU 9-6 in overtime at Tuscaloosa are rated number two don’t really have a problem with that. Oklahoma State is rated third andStanford is rated fourth to round out the top four.

Where’s the problem? This past weekend the PAC-12 held its first ever conference championship with Oregon defeating UCLA, the replacement for USC in their inaugural money making marketing machine.

The last time I saw Stanford they were attempting to stop the Ducks’ video game offense at home and suffered their first of the season which enable them to sit at home and watch the Ducks capture the first PAC-12 Championship game. The reward for the Ducks by the BCS was a number five ranking behind the Cardinal ! Stanford finished the regular season
at 11-1, the Ducks finished their campaign at 11-2. That’s not a big difference in college football at this level.

The most perplexing development in all of this is highlighted in the ACC Conference where Virginia Tech with a record of 11-2 is rated 11th while Clemson the ACC champion with a record of 10-3 is rated 15th in the latest BCS poll. Lets check the results for 2011. The first meeting at Blacksburg resulted in the Tigers denying the Hokies a touchdown
in a 23-3 win. This past weekend in the ACC Championship game at Charlotte, the Tigers trounced Tech 38-10. (Huh?)

Terrell Pryor was a money maker for Ohio State and others, with his jersey being a top seller (file photo).

The giggling you heard from the BCS office came when my personal Favorite, the Houston Cougars, laid an egg in their Conference USA Championship contest against Southern Mississippi. I know I should be neutral but the Cougars fought hard all season to reach the top ten in the final poll and then the bottom fell out. Gotcha !

Let’s take a look at the BIG TEN Conference. Thank goodness the athletic department doesn’t teach math because there are actually twelve teams in the conference. The BIG TEN is broken into two divisions, The Legends and The Leaders. Michigan and Michigan State are in the
Legends division.

Michigan State won their division and faced Wisconsin for the BIG TEN Championship. The Badgers defeated State 42-39 in a thriller. State finished their season with a record of 10-3. The Wolverines who sat at home because they lost to the Spartans 28-14 in conference play were rewarded with a BCS bowl (Sugar) and their opponent will be Va. Tech. I guess that only seems right that the two of them would meet. Michigan State who finished their season with a record of 10-3 was 17th in the final BCS rankings. Michigan finished their regular season with a record of 10-2. Michigan State will face Georgia in the Outback Bowl.

So who got left out, Boise State (11-1) ranked 7th in the BCS poll was victim number one. Boise has a track record of doing well in bowl games and has a legitimate gripe based on performance but coming out of the Big West you have to be undefeated. Arkansas ranked 6th in the BCS is a victim of you can only have two teams from the same conference participating in BCS bowls. The Razorbacks who finished their season with a record of 10-2 will face Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl. The irony of that actually makes the Cotton one of the more intriguing bowl match ups.

I find it interesting that the human polls - USA TODAY/ COACHES and AP poll which consist of the writers - like Stanford over Oregon. They do however agree that Clemson is better than Virginia Tech any day of the week wherever they play. They flip flop on Michigan and Michigan
State, with the writers ranking State over the Wolverines. I’m going with the writers on this one. If head to head competition doesn’t count for something then I am in the wrong business.

So that leaves us one interesting point, the FCS which according to sports enthusiast takes the top 16 according to the rankings; They do allow for automatic bids one per conference that’s it. My point is Arkansas is a prime example of the collusion that is presently taking place in college football. The FCS will take four teams from the same conference if deemed worthy. That will never happen in this scenario and I’m just waiting for the next bomb to drop and its on the way trust me !

So let the games begin and a note to Houston, TCU, Boise State, and Southern Mississippi; you have to go undefeated and win big, this year the BCS got just what it wanted and there is nothing that will change it.

The Department of Justice has started their inquiry on how colleges select their companies and they determine their royalty rates. The target of this investigation is IMG, which represents over 200 schools. The top schools that IMG represents are Michigan, Alabama, Auburn, Texas,
Florida and UCLA. IMG officials are cooperating with officials of course.

Stilett sports magazine which tracts the selling of colligate apparel had Florida rated as the number one jersey seller for the 2009-2010 season. Alabama was second and Ohio State was third. Terrell Pryor’s number 2 was rated as one of the top sellers that year. Show me the money, just show me the money !