SCOTT JACOBS

It sure must be nice to be Notre Dame.

Bowl eligible at a far from mind-blowing 6-4, the Irish are in prime position to nab themselves not only a decent bowl, but a very, very respectable bowl.

Set aside the fact that their best win came against Navy, and that they’ve lost nine bowl games in a row, and I still can’t stay calm about the current bowl system.  It’s a popularity system where the best team becomes victim at times to its lack of fanfare.  Notre Dame comes with national notoriety.  A much better team like Oklahoma State comes with well, a well known booster.  And the beat goes on.  Notre Dame is expected to beat 2-8 Syracuse this weekend, before getting beatdown against USC, which would leave it 7-5.  Yet, bowl games are lining up as if the Irish were undefeated.

It’s part of the territory that comes with the popularity system, the good guy gets pushed out of the way for the has-been with the strong following and even more well known history.  Notre Dame lives off of its glorious past, and doesn’t ever get penalized for it’s very mediocre recent present.  Bowl committees flock to them as soon as it becomes apparent that they will get into a bowl.  So a team that under a fair system would land in one of the very early bowls, is instead a hot candidate for a mid-day New Year’s Day bowl.

The Sugar Bowl or one of the other BCS other bowls would probably bite too, but that would come with scrutiny beyond belief.  So instead, they leave the Irish to the tier two bowls.  Bowls like the Gator Bowl.  Bowls like the Cotton Bowl.  Well respected bowls, that see the crowd the Irish will bring as bowl execs salivate at the possibilities.

Forget the game.  The game is just a setup.  Because if it was just about the game, Notre Dame wouldn’t have a prayer.  But this isn’t about fair, or about who belongs.  This is about reputations, and a big catholic school that plays the field and not the other way around.  It already aggravates me that Notre Dame is too cool to be affliated with a BCS conference, but each year, when I see the uninmposing Irish choke in another big bowl game that they have no right to be in, it just annoys the crap out of me.

Notre Dame is not even a top 25 team, probably not top 35, but they have a brand.  They have a national broadcasting TV partner in NBC, and they have Lou Holtz, who nauseausly pushes for their rise to prominence even when its clear that there is none on the horizon.

I’ve never liked the Irish, because I think of them as the spoiled, undeserving rich kid that gets whatever he wants.  The Irish are like the high schooler who pulls in straight C’s and gets rewarded with a Lamborghini.  They get rewarded for mediocrity.  They’re the popular kid.  They don’t play by the same rules as everybody else.

Instead, when the bowl pecking order comes about there they are.  Navy is much higher ranked in SI.com’s power rankings, but they’re looking at a glorious date at the brand new Congressional Bowl the first day of bowl season.  The Irish are looking at a spot reserved for someone who should be far better then they.  But it doesn’t work like that.

The Irish have played the system, and they’ve got bowl organizers by a string on their finger.  They’re the puppet master and the bowls are the puppets.  I think I’ve made my point clear.  When Notre Dame wins seven games, it’s like nine.  When Oklahoma State wins nine game, it’s like they’ve won seven.

So when the inevitable happens, and the Irish get invited to what is considered a respectable bowl game, I’ll be the one sitting there, not the least bit surprised, but not happy either.  It’s a popularity game and Notre Dame is number one where it really shouldn’t count.

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SCOTT JACOBS

Texas started the day. Oklahoma State just about finished it, and somewhere in between the titans (s0-called that is) of college football’s top five fell like the troops fighting against the 300 men of Sparta. O, this wasn’t a big Hollywood blockbuster, but boy did it feel like one. Number one, number three, and number four all fell, and all fell hard, and in that 24hour time period, a whole heapload of stuff changed in the road to the BCS Championship.

The Big 12 is loaded
From five to one, o it can be done. After the Longhorns impressive win over previously unbeaten and number one Oklahoma in a thrilling Red River Shootout (that lived up to its name) the Longhorns jumped from good team that hadn’t really been challenged, to potentially elite team ready to compete for a national championship. In a game that had it all, including come back after comeback, bizarre penalties (including one of the best acting jobs ever by a punter), gutsy calls (like Oklahoma faking a punt on 4th and 6 and only getting 5), and brilliant quarterback play (Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford threw for five TD’s and lost!), the dust settled, and Texas emerged victoriously 45-35, dethroning the Sooners at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Colt McCoy was clutch, and stood toe to toe with Bradford, and in doing so, proved he might be good enough to lead this Longhorns team to a championship. But first things first: the Longhorns have to survive a brutal Big 12. Next week, they get Missouri (also knocked from the ranks of the unbeatens by surprising Oklahoma State) and that will be a huge game, that doesn’t even have implications within their own division. Just how good is the Big 12?

Going into the day Oklahoma was number one, Missouri was number three, Texas was fifth, Texas Tech was seventh, Kansas was 16th, and Oklahoma State was 17th. That’s half the conference in the top 20! So while people are all ready to crown the SEC as the superior conference in college football, maybe those pundits should take another look. The Big 12 is loaded!

Oklahoma will probably drop to 7th or 8th, Mizzou is likely to fall to around 10th, Texas Tech will most likely move into the top five (even after their nailbiter over Nebraska in OT), Kansas will move up after pushing aside Colorado, and how about Oklahoma State! The Cowboys are 6-0, already bowl eligible, and they have a huge program building win after stunning Missouri on the road 28-23.

I remember reading a story a few years ago that Rick Reilly wrote about how T. Boone Pickens, a filthy rich alumni, was flooding the football program with huge donations. The number, $163 million, was considered controversial at first, because people felt it could have been best served going to academic departments. Well, that money went to new facilities, and state of the art equipment, and lookie now- the Cowboys are looking good. I should note that while wins quiet issues, the money probably would have been served best elsewhere going to a department that needed it. But for Oklahoma State they’re now back on the map.

With Oklahoma State’s resurgence came a stunning fall from grace for Missouri, which was coasting along in it’s bid for number one. Chase Daniel went 27-31 in the second half, but three of those were interceptions, including a bad forced throw that was picked late in the game, sealing the deal. Now, the Tigers have to rebound against potential number one Texas (we’ll get to that in a moment) at Austin. Remember, the Tigers didn’t have to play the Horns last year, and so next week should be really interesting. Going into the nightcap, Missouri fans foresaw a top five clash once again, but the only smash they felt tonight was the pain of their national title hopes crashing and burning.

This just in: No chance of LSU repeating in 2008
51-21. LSU went into the Swamp, and got mutilated on Saturday Night. They fell behind 20-0 , made it a game early in the third with a touchdown which made it 20-14, and then the Gators just ran the Tigers out of Gainesville. A full on bullying display by the number 11 Gators not only ruined LSU’s previously unbeaten season, but it also ended any chance they had of getting back to the national title game. When you lose a game, voters look at how you lost. Was it a close game, did you blow a big lead, were you just downright embarassed? Chalk LSU’s status to that last one. In the meantime, the Gators turned a lot of heads on Saturday with their 30 point thrashing, but they really just knocked out a team I said was over-rated a few weeks ago. It’s a great win, especially over a top five team, but c’mon! The Tigers don’t have a quarterback right now, and their offense has been inept. I said a few weeks ago that one Tigers team (In the LSU-Auburn game) would beat the other, and then a few weeks later the other Tigers team would get exposed. LSU beat Auburn, and today got destroyed by Florida. The Gators add a nice bounce back win to their resume after that debacle two weeks ago against Ole Miss.

So who’s number one?
Number two Alabama was off this week, but at 6-0 they have a case.

Number five Texas made the biggest statement of the day, taking down number one Oklahoma, and making numerous comebacks to do it, including one from 21-10.

Number six Penn State slaughtered the free falling Wisconsin Badgers 48-7 at Camp Randall to improve to an impressive 7-0.

Number seven Texas Tech just snuck by Nebraska 37-31 in overtime, and they’re now they’re 6-0.

So who’s number one?

Here’s my rankings after a wild weekend:

1. Texas- their win was impressive enough, coupled with three top five teams falling and Alabama not playing to claim number one.  But there’s no rest for the Longhorns who have Missouri, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech back to back to back.  Wow, is that a brutal upcoming three game stretch!
2. Alabama- they didn’t lose, they didn’t win. They stay where they are for now.
3. Penn State-Joe Pa’s still got it, and the Lions look like legit championship contenders.
4. USC- Guess who’s creeping back into the picture: USC. After they throttled the Sun Devils 28-0 they jump Texas Tech.
5. Texas Tech- the Red Raiders top five? After a shaky win over the Huskers at home, they find themselves here because practically everyone else lost.
6. Oklahoma- That Texas game was really close most of the way. This team is still very, very good.
7. BYU- Forget BCS busters. The way this season is playing out, could the Cougars (6-0) contend for a championship?
8. Florida- their obliteration of LSU merits their spot here. But LSU is over-rated I tell ya.
9. Georgia- Not an amazing win over the Vols, but sufficient enough.
10. Oklahoma State- It’s the way they beat Mizzou, with defense, that impressed me the most.

What do you think?

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