-Did the Arizona Cardinals just win in New York?
-Is the University of Arizona's #20 BCS ranking justified?
-Are the Arizona State Sun Devils on the way to a second consecutive bowl-less season?
-How would I fix the BCS?
Keep reading below for the answers to all of these questions...and MORE!
- Yes, the Cardinals just shocked the football world by dominating...yes...dominating the New York Giants on Sunday night. The final score was 24-17 Arizona but in actuality the game wasn't nearly as close. The Cardinals probably should have scored 40+ against a Giants defense that was on its toes from start to finish. New York quarterback Eli Manning looked flustered and shaken against an aggressive and opportunistic Cardinals D. This is a signature win for Arizona...a win that should clearly separate them from San Francisco and Seattle in the NFC West race. With Carolina coming to town next week, the Cardinals should be careful...letdowns happen often in football...with that said, I'll put AZ's division title chances at somewhere between 90-95%. Also, can you believe the Cards are 3-0 on the road this season and currently have a road winning streak of four? Quite impressive.
- Yes, the Wildcats do belong at #20 despite two road losses thus far in 2009. They opened the season with a dominant defensive performance against a strong Central Michigan offense than has not been tested since (the Chippewas' only loss was to UA) before cruising past Northern Arizona. Iowa handed the 'Cats a 10-point defeat in Iowa City, but considering the Hawkeyes are still unbeaten, that loss doesn't look too bad at this point. Nick Foles replaced Matt Scott as the starting QB at Oregon St., where Arizona came up with a signature 37-32 victory. The loss at Washington on a fluky play was tough, but the win the following week against Stanford in a game they really didn't deserve makes up for it. Foles looked shaky against UCLA this past Saturday, but Arizona's defense played as well as they have since Central Michigan en route to a 27-13 win. From here, the 'Cats have a week off before facing a porous Washington St. team...and then the schedule gets tricky...at California, the home finale against Oregon, at Arizona St., and at USC...tough, tough road ahead. I'll say 8-4 and a Sun Bowl appearance with wins against WSU, Oregon, and ASU, though I wouldn't rule Cal as a guaranteed loss. Still, the Wildcats are quite a ways up from the program I saw while going to school there (2001-2005).
- This one is a toss-up. If ASU loses at home against Cal this weekend, I'll say no bowl for the Sun Devils...if they can pull off the upset, I think they go 6-6 and head to the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. On Saturday night ASU's offense reared its ugly head again...while its defense for once didn't play much better. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cal game is very close...the Bears are constant underachievers and the Devils simply need this game more. If I were Dennis Erickson, I wouldn't make a permanent change at quarterback this season...we all know Danny Sullivan is below adequate...but throwing a true freshman, Brock Osweiler, into the wolves (Cal, USC, @ Oregon, @ UCLA, UofA) isn't necessarily the right move either.
- The BCS is always going to be under constant debate...but the fact is, football isn't like basketball...you can't play two games a weekend and the recovery time between games (i.e. injury risk) is much greater...therefore a large postseason tournament doesn't make sense. Even 16 teams is far too many...that's potentially four extra games on the schedule for those two teams who play in the championship game. So let's make it simple here folks...an 8 team tournament including:
-The conference champions of the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, and ACC (5)
-The highest rated champion of the Big East/Mountain West/WAC/Conference USA (1)
-The two highest ranked at-large teams who do not meet that criteria (2)
So based on the current BCS Standings, here is how the current 8-team playoff would look:
1-Florida (SEC) vs. 8-Georgia Tech (ACC)
2-Alabama (at-large) vs. 7-Oregon (Pac-10)
3-Texas (Big 12) vs. 6-TCU (non-BCS conference champ)
4-Iowa (Big 10) vs. 5-USC (at-large)
Oregon and USC face each other this weekend...and the loser will fall out of this bracket, therefore Boise St. or Cincinnati would move up. The only problem with my proposal is when three or more non-BCS conference teams go undefeated (and I'm not including the Big East as a BCS conference as you can tell...I just don't believe the competition level in football is that great), at least one will likely miss the tournament.
Base the seeding on BCS rankings (among the eligible teams) and for locations use the Chick-Fil-A, Cotton, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange, and Rose Bowls for the first six games...and keep the BCS Championship Game in place for the final matchup.
Someone please tell me why it can't be that easy?
Eric
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