Nebraska really stunk up the Cotton Bowl yesterday. The Huskers played exactly the way they've played in all their other losses this season: they came out strong in the first half, but didn't score as many points as their statistics suggested they should have; they then proceeded to stand around and give the game away in the second half, due to an unfortunate combination of turnovers, bad play calling, and worse play non-execution.
So Auburn won the game 17-14. Will this finally get the people around here to wake up and see that Bill Callahan is a fraud as a coach? Probably not. That's too bad for NU. Let's face it: Callahan got the job only because of Athleltic Director Steve Pederson's ego. Pederson didn't want retiring coach Tom Osborne's pick to head the program. He wanted to put his own stamp on the program by ensuring his own choice would coach NU. Frank Solich thus got canned for going 9-3. Callahan thereupon proceeded to drive the program so far into the ground that 9-3 now looks good . . . and now Husker players and fans are saying things like "we nearly have the quality of players we need to play in the highest echelons of the game."
Blech! [I never thought I'd say this, but where the heck is Bob Devaney when we need him?--Ed.]
On the other hand, Boise State is for real. This year's Fiesta Bowl has to be one of the most exciting, improbable, and compelling college bowl games I've ever seen. I am now officially a fan of blue AstroTurf. Or more correctly, of the team that plays its home games on it. There's no quit in those Broncos. After dominating Big XII Champion Oklahoma and building an 18-point lead in the third quarter, Boise State seemed to be collapsing in slow motion late in the game--to the degree that OU took the lead on an interception for a touchdown with about 1 minute to go. Yet the Broncos came back to tie the game with the chestnut Hook and Lateral play, force overtime, and then win with a variation on the Statue of Liberty play for a two-point conversion. [It's so much fun to see old plays being dusted off and put to good use again!--Ed.]
If ESPN Classic isn't replaying this game as an "Instant Classic," it ought to be. I don't get ESPN Classic anymore--my cable company removed it from my tier of service but raised my rates anyway. [How shocking is that? Not!--Ed.] I encourage you to watch the game if you have ESPN Classic and it is playing on that channel. It has to be one of the most exciting college football games I've ever seen.
Considering how many college football games I've seen, that says a lot. Yesterday, I actually was starting to burn out on college football. The Cotton Bowl was embarrassing, the Rose Bowl was a yawn, and there had been entirely too many yapping [not talking, yapping.--Ed.] heads and not enough exciting play . . . until the Fiesta Bowl. If Ohio State loses to Florida next Monday, Boise State ought to get voted National Champion. After all, in that case, Boise State would be the only undefeated Division I A team. That's not the way the Bowl Championship Series works, but that doesn't make it right. At the very least, if Ohio State loses, someone ought to offer to fund a game between Florida and Boise State to determine the national championship for 2006-07 with finality. If Ohio State wins next Monday, Boise State ought to be voted co-champion.
That won't happen, either, and for the same reasons there will never be a true playoff system in Division I A college football. There's not enough money in it for all the schools that would be shut out of a bowl game if a true playoff system were implemented. The current philosophy seems to be the more schools get any piece of the pie, the better. So why couldn't revenue sharing be implemented? I know, I know. It's a question of who decides which schools would get how much of the revenues available. Almost everyone with decision-making power in NCAA Division I A college football seems to prefer the current scattershot system to something that would actually make sense. This most probably because they all fear they'd lose funds if changes were made.
Better the devil you know, I suppose. Nor is it that a playoff system would extend the bowl season to an untenable degree. As far as I'm concerned, that's already happened. Since when do we have to wait until January 8th to find out who gets the coveted "National Championship"? Since now. I have a sneaky suspicion that unless the Orange Bowl and the Sugar Bowl turn into barnburners exceeding the Fiesta Bowl (an exceedingly unlikely scenario), most of us won't care by January 8th whether Ohio State or Florida gets the win and thus the title.
Over time, the loss of interest due to the fans' collective short attention span will cost Division I A more than would any shifting of revenues resulting from a genuine playoff system going into effect.
So it's up to you, Ohio State football Buckeyes. Lose the BCS Championship Game next Monday so that we can kick this debate up "notches unknown to mankind!"
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