BCS Not For Everyone

Heading into week 10 of the 2009 college football season, the BCS has tossed some teams around and in places that make you question: What's the point of this?

Texas and Alabama have flip-flopped for the 2nd straight week in a row, and it seems that the BCS can't decide who to place at number 2 behind the Florida Gators. Right now, Alabama is currently ranked 2nd as Texas tailgates them at 3rd in the nation. I'll tell you what; it doesn't matter whether Texas or Alabama is ranked number 2 right now. Florida and Alabama are going to meet in the SEC championship game on December 5, and will determine who will go to the BCS championship game in Pasadena on January 7th. If Texas runs the table the rest of the season, they will play the winner of the SEC championship game. So, the team that is ranked 2nd has just as much bragging rights as the team that is ranked 3rd. If Florida beats Alabama on December 5, then Texas slides into 2nd and Alabama drops down in the rankings. If Alabama beats Florida, then Alabama steals the number 1 slot and Texas once again will mossy on into the 2 slot and compete for the BCS National Championship.

Here's another dilemma that puts the BCS system into question: USC is ranked higher than Oregon! What? Yeah, that's right, USC is currently ahead of Oregon. USC is ranked 9th in the nation while Oregon sits four spots back at 13. Both teams are currently 7-2 on the regular season with three games to go. Oregon lost to Boise State, currently number 6 in BCS standings, in the season opener and to Stanford at "The Farm." USC lost to Washington, not in the top 25, and was destroyed by Oregon 47-20 two weeks ago. I could understand if USC only had one loss, but no they have 2 just like Oregon. And let's not forget, ONE OF THOSE LOSES WAS A HEAD-TO-HEAD LOSE TO OREGON! How is USC ranked higher than Oregon? It's ridiculous.

I'll throw in one more stumper; LSU actually goes up one spot in the BCS standings after losing to Alabama last Saturday 24-15. How does a team lose a game, and then get rewarded by moving up one spot? It's all in the mystery of the "great" BCS system running college football.

Jahvid Released One Day Later

Jahvid Best, Cal running-back, was released yesterday from Highland General Hospital in Oakland. He suffered a concussion in Saturday's loss to Oregon State. Luckily all of the tests have come back normal for Best.

Jahvid Best was scrambling to the end zone when he jumped over one defensive player from Oregon State, then was accidentally pushed higher into the air by another defenseman. He had to have been lifted about 8 feet in the air, and landed right on his head and upper back. It just keeps replaying in slow motion through my mind. That play had to be the most horrifying and scariest thing I have ever seen in college football to date. As Best landed, his body stiffened up like a washboard, and he momentarily lost consciousness. His arms laid parallel against his body, and his head did not move an inch. As the play unfolded before my eyes on television, I was frightened that Best could be paralyzed. Luckily, after a few minutes, Best was able to move his neck. 13 minutes later, he was carted off wearing an oxygen mask and rushed to the emergency room.

There is no certainty when Jahvid Best will return to football this season, if at all, as Cal looks to turn around a mediocre season. What adds to Best's scary situation is the fact that he suffered a minor concussion in the game against Arizona State on Halloween. He missed two practices last week until he was symptom free for a full 24-hour period. Two concussions within a span of exactly one week makes you rethink forcing oneself back to the battlefield of college football.

Ain't The Hype

Coming into the 2009 college football season there were high expectations for the Heisman candidacy. So far it's been a big flop. Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, and Colt McCoy were supposed to be leading candidates for the 2009 Heisman trophy race, but all three have come up short thus far. The media was predicting that McCoy would win this year; giving all three quarterbacks a Heisman before they enter the NFL draft next season. Or Tebow and Bradford would win a second one before they graduate. Unfortunately, Bradford announced this past weekend that he would have Dr. James Andrews take a look at his shoulder, and that he would be ending his college career. Three words no fan or team ever wants to hear in all of sports are "Dr. James Andrews." Usually when a player sees Dr. James Andrews, it means their career is over, or that player will be out for a length of time.

This year we have found out that Tebow is not Superman anymore. He fell back to earth once kryptonite, a.k.a. defensive end Tyler Windham from Kentucky, knocked him out of the game on September 26. McCoy's numbers overall have plummeted compared to the production he put out last year. He has now thrown at least one interception in all 7 games this season; fortunately Texas is still undefeated at 7-0.

Two guys people should be considering for the Heisman trophy this season are Mark Ingram, running back from Alabama, and Dan LeFevour, quarterback from Central Michigan. Ingram is one of the best running backs in the nation this year. Coming into week 9 of the season, he has over 1,000 yards on the ground with 6.6 yards per carry. That means when he gets his hands on the ball, he has the chance to break for a big run. Unfortunately, this past Saturday was the first game of the season in which Ingram did not reach the end zone.

Dan LeFevour is a stud. He is the most NFL ready quarterback in college football. LeFevour is having one of his best years of his college career this year. He has all of the tools to be a great quarterback in the NFL. He can beat you with his arm. He can beat you with his legs. He's an all-around good athlete. His team is 7-1 on the year, which partly factors into the voting for the Heisman race. The only obstacle in LeFevour's way is that he goes to Central Michigan University, which plays in the MAC-Mid American Conference (a conference that doesn't get a lot of national recognition). A big portion of the voting is a popularity contest like high school class governments. If you weren't recognized across campus, you had a tough time becoming elected.

There's Nothing "Golden" About The Cal Bears

Once again the University of California Golden Bears football team lost another pivotal game...Wait, they didn't just lose, they got destroyed by a decent USC team. USC's domination started from the opening drive when Taylor Mays, USC safety, picked off a wounded duck of a throw from Cal quarterback, Kevin Riley. From there USC never looked back. USC's defense stuffed one of the nation's best running backs, Jahvid Best, for only 47 yards on 14 carries. Jahvid Best's Heisman hopes were definitely wiped away Saturday night after the game. There is no way a running back can compete for the Heisman with other studs across the nation without at least gaining over 100 yards a game, or mixing in receiving yards to compliment low rushing totals in a game.

Once your running back keeps getting stuffed, you know it's time to look for another player to step up in the passing game, most likely the quarterback. But, Riley couldn't throw a complete pass to save his life. Even when Cal put on the perfect trick play in the third quarter coming out of a timeout, he couldn't get the job done. As players lined up on the line-of-scrimmage, Shane Vereen, Cal 2nd-string running back, stood next to the sideline with no defender in sight. Riley then proceeds to overthrow Vereen. If Riley completes the pass, Vereen has the chance to go the distance and take the goose egg off the scoreboard. This was Riley's chance to show the nation that he can compete, and lead his team to victory. He did the opposite.

Then, I start to question Jeff Tedford's, Cal head coach, play calling. In the third quarter, why do you run the Wildcat formation all the way down the field, then on 4th and 2 you put Riley back under center? Once again he throws an arrogant pass. Best was doing great marching the team down the field under the Wildcat formation. In the Wildcat formation, Cal would just run plays with Best and Vereen, while Riley decoyed as a wide receiver. Best and Vereen were making progress every time they carried the ball on that drive, and then on 4th down they don't go with the bread and butter that got them in USC territory in the first place. It just doesn't make sense.

The only good news the Bears got after the game was that they were done with their toughest tasks for four weeks until they host Arizona then go to "The Farm" at Stanford. If they can go undefeated or lose only one game for the rest of the season, Cal still has a great shot at breaking the top 15 by season's end.

It's A Mess

After another week of "upset" Saturday, we saw three top 10 teams fall in the rankings after humiliating loses. Penn State, who was ranked 5th in the AP Poll, loss again to Iowa for the 7th time in the last eight meetings between the two teams, and dropped to 15th in the nation. Cal, who was ranked 6th, was man-handled by Oregon at Autzen Stadium, and dropped to 24th in the nation. Miami, who was ranked 9th, was blown out by Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, and dropped to 17th. The rankings have been a mess with the exception of the the top three teams in the nation: Florida, Texas, and Alabama. Those three teams look like they'll be standing there by the end of the regular season. But are all the "upsets" because opponents have gotten better, or is there something with the rankings system?

The rankings are overrated, especially the first few weeks of the regular season. At least one top 5 team has lost every week since the season began, Penn State and Ole Miss(who lost last Thursday) being the latest victims. Teams themselves are overrated, and undeserving of the rankings they are set in the preseason and the first couple weeks of the regular season. National polls should not be sent out until after the fourth or fifth week of the season. For most teams the first three games are not against tough opponents nor conference opponents. The first third of the season can be categorized as Cinderella upsets, or "exhibition games" for Heisman hopefuls to pad their stats. Plus, Florida State seems to be playing flip-flop with the top 25 rankings. They lose to Miami in the first week, the drop from the rankings. They beat BYU, they jump to 18th in the nation. They lose to South Florida then dropped once again out of the rankings. The national polls are just a mess for the first four or five weeks of the season every single year.

Beware of The Ducks

The University of Oregon Ducks demolished the California Bears this past Saturday in front of a sellout crowd at Autzen Stadium. Cal looked like they were the team to beat in the Pac-10 coming into this game after USC lost to Washington the previous week.

As the game unfolded, it looked like the Oregon offense was able to do just about whatever they wanted against the Cal defense. If they wanted to run the option, they ran all over the Golden Bears. If they wanted to throw the ball, they threw the ball with ease. Jeremiah Masoli, quarterback for the Ducks, picked apart the Bears' defense tossing three touchdowns on the way to a 42-3 victory(there were doubts about Masoli after the win against Utah). LaMichael James has filled the shoes of LaGarrette Blount, the running back who was suspended for the season after the game at Boise State, and has become a stud on the Oregon offense. On the other side of the ball, the Oregon defense was able to hold Heisman hopeful and Cal running back Jahvid Best to only 55 yards on the ground on 16 carries, and was held out of the end zone. Best's longest carry was only 11 yards, compared to the first three games of the season in which his longest run was never under 30 yards. This could serve as a blueprint for every defense that plays Cal the remainder of the season: shut down Best, and force Kevin Riley, Cal quarterback, to beat you.

This Oregon team is rebuilding its offense from scratch after the Boise State game at the beginning of the season. They look like a completely different team from that Thursday night in Boise, Idaho. If Oregon doesn't beat themselves with penalties and turnovers, they can be the team to beat in the Pac-10. If they beat USC Halloween night at home, the rest of the nine teams in the conference could be eating duck feathers by the end of the season.

The 'U': Pretender or Contender?

The era of Miami football is back! The University of Miami Hurricanes are going into their week 3 matchup against Virginia Tech with a 2-0 record, and are ranked 9th in the AP poll. The Canes bring a solid offense to the grudge match in Blacksburg, leading the ACC in pass efficiency, passing offense, and total offense. Their offense has put up ludicrous numbers against ranked opponents (Florida State and Georgia Tech), but let's not forget about their defense which has been able to hold its own. Last week against Georgia Tech, the Canes' defense held the Yellow Jackets in check from the opening kickoff. The Yellow Jackets, who are known for their rushing ability, were held to 95 yards on the ground, and a total of 11 negative plays. The Canes' defense last year gave up 472 rushing yards and 41 total points to the same Georgia Tech team. One year has proven to have made a difference for this Miami defense.

The next couple of weeks will truly tell America where Miami stands in the national championship picture. Are the Canes pretenders or contenders? Back-to-back games against Virginia Tech (ranked 11th) and Oklahoma (ranked 10th) will definitely challenge the heart and toughness of this young Miami football team. If Miami goes 4-0 or 3-1 in the first four games of this season, I can see them having an outside shot at a large bowl bid come January. Just losing one game, though, automatically takes them out of the national championship picture with the likes of Florida, Texas, and Alabama standing in their way.