Ohio State -5 over USC TOTAL 53.5

[Boone Moone]

Hey Beefcake, er,uh.....Brutus........As a matter of fact, yeah - that West Coast offense worked beautifully in that Super Bowl.......problem was, it was Jon Gruden operating the thing from the other side of the field......he took his playbook with him when he left us the year before.........Just thought I'd point that out even though it has nothing to do with this game ........

But I can see why you'd want to take the attention away from the game at hand.........I mean, every team WE played were overrated, like the nationally ranked Arkansas, Nebraska, Oregon, California, and Notre Dame..........While you characters were beating up on huge powerhouses like Northern Illinois, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, Northwestern and perrenial doormat Indiana.........Wow! What a tough schedule !!......The reason USC is No #2 (for now), and Michigan is below them, even though they both have one loss, is spelled out in the BCS formula itself......MICHIGAN HASN'T PLAYED ANYONE !!!.........

Now you say you like arena football, shit, I'll bet you enjoyed the hell out of that 42-39 "Big Ten" game that Ohio State struggled to win.....AT HOME.......with 100,000 screaming fans rooting for them !!

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, that's what this website is all about, but I understand it's hard work collecting cans and cleaning the dirt out of old pop-bottles.....And I just hate to see you throw away your hard-earned money on another overated "Big Ten" patsy.

Good Luck son.

[hart attack]

I am from Florida (and NOT a gator fan at all) but it is obvious that conferences like the SEC are at a decided disadvantage because of the conference championship games that they must play prior to the bowls, not to mention that top to bottom the SEC has only one or two patsies. Is Ohio St that great? Hard to say since they didnt exactly have a rough schedule, BUT they did handle the few decent teams they faced. Is USC that good? Who knows? They play lots of teams that cant play a lick of defense. I think the opening game at Arkansas was a fluke and if they played again it would be very tight just like if Tenn played Cal again. Early season opening games tend to distort the true picture by the end of the season.

College football NEEDs a playoff system. Maybe anywhere from 4-6 teams. This BS of excluding a one-loss team from consideration because they lost their "one game" towards the end of the season is asinine. I sure hope Boise St plays well in their BCS bowl. Rutgers I will be rooting for as well. Time for some new blood. These "big-time" programs that recruit the top talent then hide behind schedules full of limp wristed pansies should try a few seasons playing a conference schedule that might include Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Auburn, or Lsu. Then throw in an annual clash with FSU (yes they blew chunks this year) AND a conference title game and lets see how many undefeated records emerge. AGAIN, I am NOT a gator fan(Miami actually), but they seem to be getting phukked in this whole BCS thing.

THERE NEEDS TO BE A PLAYOFF! LET'S DECIDE THE BEST ON THE FIELD.

[woodee12]

Good dicussion...love reading it! From Big Ten Country here and don;t think OSU is all that great either and haven't watched USC enough to make a good argument. But do think that even in the Pac 10 where there is not much D played perception wise, the BIG 10 schmos do load up on some sally's early in the year. I watch Iowa quite a bit and saw first hand what USC did to that team in the Orange Bowl when Carson was there a few years back. Think its the same type of game here just subbing OSU for Iowa. Big 10 is overhyped as is USC but put them on the same field and think USC wins and covers rather easily.

Just curious, what was the spread on the Iowa/USC Orange bowl back when Plamer was there? I know I took Iowa and was golden after the kick return TD but then it went the other way fast from there as I watched from the stands in Miami. But the tailgate was awesome!

[Brutus1]

Boone,
Way to resort to name calling and slinging. Can't we just have a civil discussion without you turning into a mudslinger? If you prefer, I'll sling along with you.

The Raiders also used the West Coast offense in the Super Bowl. I should know, I'm a Raiders fan, too, and that game was pathetic. It's not a great time to be a Raider fan , but the defense has played well enough this year to give me hope for the future. Now that you mention it, I would love to have any version of the West Coast in Oakland. Better yet, any offense would be nice.

Back to the topic at hand, I'm not dogging SC. They certainly deserve to be there. I think it's going to be a great game. From what I've seen of SC, granted not as much as you have seen, they don't appear to be as strong as they were with Bush, White and Leinart (duh). They did look good aginst ND. The team from the last few years just looked unbeatable every time they were on tv.

I'd have to think the line for the game will move down because everyone should bew taking SC as a dog.

I really don't think that the SC speed will be twice as fast as OSU's. We will see, though.

Good job on that 2 team parlay.

[Jeff]

First off, I have no alliance to any one conference. So this is an unbiased view.......

I hate to punish a team because of their schedule. Especially when, regardless of the schedule, they beat everyone put in front of them. So, in this case, I believe Ohio State belongs in the game. Not so sure about USC.

That being said, I think you can question BOTH schools schedule strength.

Yes, USC beat Arkansas to start the year, but let's not forget it was an Arkansas team playing without it's starting QB and running back.

USC also beat a decent Nebraska team. Not a great Nebraska team. Just a decent one.After that, it gets a bit sketchy. They beat Cal. But 26-20 over Washington? They beat Notre Dame, but big deal. ND, in my opinion, is one of the most overrated teams in the country.

I wouldn't count UCLA as an automatic win either.........I wouldn't be shocked to see an upset.

But hey, Ohio States schedule, and no fault to them, is a joke as well. In the Big 10, once you get past Mich and Wisky, who is there? The Big 10 is down this year.

If Florida beats Arkansas, they deserve the slot in the title game.

The SEC is by far the strongest conference this year.

Look at Floridas schedule

tenn
bama
georgia
lsu
auburn
vandy (no patsy this year)
sc
fsu
arkansas

Cmon......now that's a schedule without much breathing room.




.

[Brutus1]

I don't think Florida helped themselves by playing Western Carolina
in week 11. You don't play a 1AA team that late in the season, regardless of reason.

If you play in a major conference and win all your games, then you should be in the title game. Sorry Boise. If we have more than 2 undefeated majors, then we'll have doubters, no matter what.

USC scheduled and played Nebraska, Arkansas and ND. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding each game, they had a big time non conference schedule.

The BCS is not perfect, but until we can get a mini, 4 team playoff, what's going to work any better?

[Boone Moone]

I say it time and time again, but this forum is great..........It's nice to share views and thoughts with knowledgeable people that know their stuff.........All of the above replies have hit the nail on the head in one way or another.

Brutus : By nature I am not a mudslinger or uncivilized by any means, as a matter of fact, I'm quite a nice guy......But you hit below the belt on that uncalled for Raider stuff, and although I'm a die-hard, win-or -lose Raider fan through good times and bad, I don't appreciate having my nose rubbed in it......Don't mess with my Raiders........anything but that (smile).......Guess that's why I reverted to the tactics that I did -- having snapped at you like I did after dealing with a long, hard day on the L.A. freeways and traffic scene.....what a mess.

Anyway, it's true that the Trojans don't have the game-breaking weapons that they had last year in Leinart, White, and Reggie Bush, but they're a much more tight-knit group of team players that play with a lot more emotion than last year's edition........While QB John David Booty is not in the league of Carson Palmer or Matt Leinart just yet, he's certainly no slouch.........neither are receivers DeWayne Jarrett and Steve Smith........Jarrett is arguably the best in the nation at what he does..........I realize the Buckeyes are a good team and deserve more credit than I've given them, but as Woodee pointed out, this game reminds me alot of the 2003 Orange Bowl revisited........See below.

Woodee : You must be a mind reader.......I get the same feeling and thoughts that you're thinking in regards to comparing this game to the meeting between Iowa and USC in the 2003 Orange Bowl Game.........Iowa came in at 11-1, with the hightly touted Brad Banks at QB........the media hyped-it up as the first meeting (at the time) between the Heisman Trophy winner (Palmer), and the runner-up (Banks), and Iowa opened up at about a 1 1/2 point favorite, and went up to 3 points just about everywhere, by game time.............The game was a close one up until the kick-off, and then USC went on to beat 'em up 38-17.......And probably could have won by much more.........Heck, I think coach Pete Carroll got the Gatorade shower sometime in the 3rd quarter.............Banks, the big "Big Ten" boy of the year, went on to be undrafted by any pro team, and Carson Palmer?.........Uh, did anyone see the game last night?......You get the picture.

Jeff & Hart Attack : It's nice to see unbiased viewpoints from what you say about Florida Jeff, and what Hart Attack is saying about Boise State.........About the one sure thing that everyone here agrees on, is that there damn well should be a playoff system installed by some degree........just to see how a team like Boise St. would do against to more accomplished programs in the country......Until this takes place, I guess we all can just play it out here on the forum.

Sorry if I got a little overbearing or ruffled anyone's feathers, but I get into this stuff a little more seriously than I should at times..........It's all in fun............Good Luck to each of you.

Note: Thanks for the compliment on the Thursday parlay Brutus.......hope you scored.

[Jeff]

Here's an intetesting take on the BCS, written by Dave Compton. Dave has run a free pick site since the early days of the internet and has had some great years with College football.

Here is a link to his site....the article is pasted below-

http://home.earthlink.net/~compton15/index.html

More BCS Madness

The Bowl Championship Series will feature Ohio State is in the mythical championship game.

The very WORST USC can do is play in the Rose Bowl versus Wisconsin.

If USC leapfrogs that game and plays in the mythical "Championship Game", the Rose Bowl AND all the other BCS bowls except the big one will actually be an afterthought - almost meaningless except for the massive dollar amounts they generate for the participating institutions.

The only meaningful game is Ohio State vs. "whoever".

The other four BCS games have just become window dressing for this stupid system that pretends to be something it certainly is not.

A championship!

It seems all this crap has finally tilted over a majority of the Division One coaches into the "favor a playoff system" column.

Unfortunately the college presidents a.k.a the PMGBs (parsimonious money grubbing boobs) are the dopes making the call on this and they are not about to screw up the money train by doing the right thing for the integrity of the college game.

Supposedly, the Bowl Championship Series was created to determine a true Division I champion.

The REAL reason the series was created was and is to retain the control of Division I football in the hands of MAJOR conferences (and the still very powerfull Notre Dame) along with the zillions of dollars and handouts (tax free gifts) meted out by a corrupt "bowl" system.

There is an "on the field" championship playoff in virtually all NCAA sports with one exception- Division I-A football.

Among the more idiotic excuses offered up by the imbeciles like Miles Brand (one of the true egomaniacs of our time) at the NCAA as to "why" we can't have a real playoff are:

Athletes would miss too much class time.

WHAT?

You guys ever hear of March Madness?

An extended playoff would be too demanding on the Athletes. (I had an NCAA official tell me this one to my face.)

Well Mr. NCAA smartass :

How about your 16-team playoff in I-AA football

or

How about your16-team playoff in Division II or III football

Are you saying the athletes at those lower levels are better suited to handle this physical and emotional drain than the supposedly premier athletes at Division I schools ? This is moronic thinking!

Want some more?

There are currently almost 120 Division I football schools. When we kicked it off in August there were only about 20 of those schools with ANY CHANCE WHATSOEVER of playing for the counterfeit national Championship in Arizona next January no matter WHAT their record is at seasons end.

Let's be even more clear.

Around 85 - 90 of those Division I competitors have ALREADY been declared INELIGIBLE (by the NCAA) to win the big prize BEFORE the season ever even kicked off.

Team like Boise State or even BYU could go undefeated from now til forever and NEVER even sniff the big game. It makes virtually NO DIFFERENCE who they beat or how badly - they are SCREWED!

The NCAA says it really is not about the money.

That is an OUTRIGHT LIE!

The system ASSURES that these millions of BIG BOWL dollars say within that small handful of powerful schools year after year.

If over 70% of ALL Division I schools have already been ELIMINATED from your so-called championship BEFORE the season even kicks off......

someone PLEASE tell me WHY this unethical system does not SUCK !

[Brutus1]

Boone,
I'm a Raider fan too, that's the only I brought that up. Sorry if that struck a nerve. In the words of Harry Dunn: "It was just a goof".

[Boone Moone]

Touche Jeff..........You come across like a Poet Laureate............Wadsworth himself couldn't have said it any better..... ........By the way, you mean to tell me that college athletes actually attend classes?

[Jeff]

Boone. I'm just the messenger.......Dave Compton wrote that piece.