#1 team in the country
As this point after seeing pretty much a lot of teams on tv, I would put Cincinnati at #1. They have been impressive but they should go to the national championship if they win out including the win over WVU and Pittsburgh(who has been a surprise this year).
Florida has been struggling for the last few games. Alabama had a brief scare against Tennessee(they will be a monster in a year or two under Kiffin). None of the top teams looked particularly impressive which tells me that it's a pretty weak year up on the top compared to the past.
Thoughts?
October 25th, 2009 at 12:12 PM ^
With the scholarship limit reduction now firmly in place you're starting to see the desired effect: the top of the top teams has been cut off and the bottom of the bottom teams. you've got a lot of teams in middle that go from "pretty bad" to "pretty good."
I haven't been particularly impressed with Florida, Alabama, Texas. They're all very good football teams but no great teams, no dominating teams. I think this has been the case for 5+ years. Without dwelling on the situation for quite some time, I can't really think of the last dominant team I saw.
Cincinnati has looked very good as well. I'm pulling for them because they -- not boise -- might be the hope to crack the BCS nut. Say they run the table and Florda and Texas run the table. you're going to exclude a program that has arguably looked better than both #1 and #2? Why? because they don't have the decades-long legacy of college football prowess? *crosses fingers*
October 25th, 2009 at 1:04 PM ^
"Crack the BCS"? Cincinnati is IN the BCS. Jeebus.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:29 PM ^
yes "crack the BCS"
The point is much like Auburn 2003 (I think that was the year) you could exclude a BCS conference team from the title game despite doing exactly what you tell them to do "win your games." You could have say Alabama 12-0, Texas 12-0, Cincinnati 12-0 and an odd team out. hence the crack in the system yet again. I hope that cincy and boise and alabama (or Florida) and texas all run the table. I want to watch every conference scream because it has happened AGAIN. I want it to happen every year till this stupid system is asploded. Its COMPLETELY ridiculous. No one bats much of an eye when Utah gets excluded as an unbeaten but when you have three BCS conference teams run the table and someone gets booted...well that's tricky now isn't it?
its not the dream scenario but its close. I'd much rather have like 5-6 one loss teams from BCS conferences to see just about every conference have a gripe at it.
October 25th, 2009 at 12:33 PM ^
I think Cincinatti is pretty good this year, but I would still say Texas vs. either Alabama or Florida.
October 25th, 2009 at 4:46 PM ^
You're assuming both T and the SEC champ finish the year unbeaten, by no means a safe assumption.
What would be an interesting scenario:
- 1 out of T and the SEC champ finishes unbeaten, the other w/ 1 loss.
- Cincy finishes unbeaten.
Does Cincy get passed over?
(I started a similar thread about a hypothetical scenario like this earlier in the season, albeit with a slightly different cast of characters.)
I think they do because ultimately the BCS is about ratings and money, and T vs. the SEC champ is sexier than one of those vs. Cincy.
However, if it were to happen that Cincy gets passed over in a scenario like this, that'd be pretty egregious and the BCS gets clearly exposed for the sham it is.
I actually hope this happens. Though it would suck for Cincy, they would have a revered place in my college football pantheon as the sacrificial lamb that brought about a greater good, i.e. the end of the BCS.
October 25th, 2009 at 11:05 PM ^
I was predicting that Texas and either Florida or Alabama would win out. I agree that it would be interesting to see what decision the BCS would make, but I would assume they would take the SEC winner and Texas. I can't really blame them because Cincinnati has a fairly weak schedule. They've only played one team that is ranked so far and no one who they play is currently ranked above 15. I would take the SEC champ, Texas, and even Iowa over them if all of those teams won out.
October 25th, 2009 at 11:12 PM ^
I guess I can't really call Cincinnati's schedule weak. They've beat some solid teams like Southern Florida, Oregon State, and Fresno State. What I meant to say was that I don't think they have proven that they can compete with the best teams in the country like those other teams will in order to win the rest of their games.
October 25th, 2009 at 12:41 PM ^
Cincinnati at #1 would bottle the mind.
October 25th, 2009 at 12:46 PM ^
How does one's mind become bottled?
October 25th, 2009 at 12:58 PM ^
You know, when things are so crazy it gets your thoughts all trapped, like in a bottle?
October 25th, 2009 at 12:53 PM ^
You sound a lot like Holtz from last weekend, he said to put USC, Alabama, UF, and UT all tied for 4th because none of them has shown they're better than the others.
Humorous in its own way
October 25th, 2009 at 3:30 PM ^
did he also thay nd thould be at the number one thpot?
he's so impartial, which is why i have so much respect for him.
October 25th, 2009 at 5:46 PM ^
My favorite line so far from Holtz to May this year,
I haven't given them [ND] a Helmet Sticker because I didn't want to show any bias, unlike youI have not laughed that loud in a long time, Mark May's face was priceless, I think he crapped a brick after that lol
October 25th, 2009 at 12:55 PM ^
This is exactly why we need a playoff. There aren't really clear-cut #1 and #2 teams anymore. And that's not even mentioning the BCS bias - why the hell are the human polls still ranking USC fourth, ahead of four different undefeated teams?
We've reached a point where it's not feasible to determine the best team in the nation without having them play each other; until a playoff is added, the title will be disputed every season, and someone will always come out feeling robbed.
October 25th, 2009 at 1:02 PM ^
Patience - we're barely halfway through the season. Plenty of time for these teams to separate themselves.
October 25th, 2009 at 1:18 PM ^
Sure, there's still time - but will we really be able to narrow eight down to two? Even if we do, doesn't it probably still amount to dodging a bullet because of a fluke game or two? Some of the teams will differentiate themselves by the time BCS selection rolls around, but I find myself doubting that the top two choices will be free of bias and ambiguity.
October 25th, 2009 at 1:27 PM ^
I'm guessing SC is ahead of a number of undefeated teams because pollsters don't think TCU, BSU, Cinci, or Iowa would beat them heads up.
October 25th, 2009 at 12:56 PM ^
I like Cincy as well.. Texas really hasn't done anything for me this year to prove they're the number 1 team in the country. I think yesterday was really their first impressive win all year. Bama and Florida haven't done much for me either, but I do like Bama still to be at the top. I would love to see a Bama/Cincy match up for the National Title, but that unfortunately won't happen.
October 25th, 2009 at 2:00 PM ^
I'd definitely put Texas at #1 right now, Florida continues to have close games with mediocre competition, and they've continuously benefited from really bad calls going for them.
Time to call for a playoff? Not quite yet. The season is still young my friends.
October 25th, 2009 at 2:08 PM ^
... began at least a decade ago.
As for rankings: Texas, Alabama, Iowa, Cincinnati, Florida, Boise, TCU, USC.
October 25th, 2009 at 2:52 PM ^
Iowa number three? Are you joking? They should have lost to us and MSU.
October 25th, 2009 at 3:21 PM ^
But they didn't. And remain unbeaten.
October 25th, 2009 at 2:07 PM ^
I think Alabama could easily be the top team if they had a halfway decent offense. They just can't score points. Their defense may carry them to the National Championship, though. I hope both Florida and Alabama lose a game or two this season. I want to see a team like Cincinatti make it or TCU (highly unlikely) and then have everybody pissed off about how the BCS screwed over a clearly better team.
October 25th, 2009 at 6:44 PM ^
I want Cincy to play OSU so they can finally lose to an instate team