Stranger Fruit

Going bowling, but where …

Posted by John Lynch on December 2, 2007
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As I stayed up late last night to watch Hawai’i stumble past a mediocre Washington team (who are last place in the Pac-10), I got to thinking. Sure, Colt Brennan is a very talented kid who has been able to work well with some good receivers, but the Warrior’s record of 12-0 is vastly overrated and not deserving of a BCS bowl slot. They took on a single ranked opponent (Boise State) but the rest of their schedule was powder-puff: Northern Colorado (1-11), Louisiana Tech (5-7), UNLV (2-10), Charleston Southern (5-6), Idaho (1-11), Utah State (2-10), San Jose State (5-7), New Mexico State (4-9), Fresno State (8-4), Nevada (6-6), Boise State (#19, 10-2), and Washington (4-9). That’s a combined record of 53-92, with only three opponents ending the season with 0.5 record or above.

Let’s compare that to ASU’s opponents: Jose State (5-7), Colorado (6-6), San Diego State (4-8), Oregon State (8-4), Stanford (4-8), Washington State (5-7), Washington (4-9), California (#21, 6-6), Oregon (#5, 8-4), UCLA (6-6), USC (#11, 10-2), and Arizona (5-7). That’s a combined record of 72-74, with three ranked opponents and six opponents at 0.5 or above.

I guess what I’m getting at here is this. I cannot see why Hawai’i is ranked as high as it is and certainly why it eligible for a BCS game. As I type this, the AP rankings have placed Hawai’i at #10.

BCS title game prediction: Ohio State v. LSU

Update: AP are reporting that ASU (#11) are heading to the Holiday Bowl to take on Texas (#19, 9-3).

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Comments

  1. #1 John S. Wilkins
    December 2, 2007

    I have to ask. Is it required of furriners who live in the US that they must take local sports seriously? Is it a condition for getting a Green Card? Do INS track your subsequent conversations for evidence of going native in this way?

    If so, I’m screwed…

  2. #2 John Lynch
    December 2, 2007

    Yes :)

    But you can ignore professional football and *any* baseball. I do.

  3. #3 Mike Haubrich, FCD
    December 2, 2007

    I just find it odd that college football has not, in over a century, been able to work out a playoff system. It’s hard for me to get interested in the national championship thing because of this. I know that it has a great deal to do with the New Year’s tradition and t.v. money and all.

    I just think college sports have crooked with all perspective, anyway. The football players raise revenue like the pro’s do, but the college gets it all, unless the players are able to work with alums to successfully subvert the system.

    The thing that really got my goat about college sports was when T-Bone (T. Boone) Pickens gave millions of dollars to Oklahoma State University and all of it went to athletics. OSU is primarily an agriculture research center – couldn’t some of his money gone for that?

  4. #4 Chris Marks
    December 3, 2007

    I would certainly prefer a playoff to the current system and believe that only Mizzou has more to cry about than ASU. Washington did the Pac-10 a huge disservice by not accepting the gift that Hawaii tried to give it. However, I think there are a few positives about the way things worked out.

    I believe that a 12-0 team (against almost any schedule) should get a shot at a BCS game. I liken it to the small/weak conference champions getting an automatic invitation to March Madness. This is good for the game.

    I appreciate that the Rose Bowl respected history and picked a BigTen school when they could have picked Georgia. This had the added bonus of allowing an SEC team to play in the Sugar Bowl.

  5. #5 Sean
    December 3, 2007

    ASU shares the Pac-10 championship with USC, Dennis Erickson gets Pac-10 Coach of the Year and yet they don’t get to go to a BCS bowl? That’s a bit of an “eyebrow raiser” if you ask me.