Thanks, Southern Cal. Thanks a lot. So much for your eight-Pete (or whatever “-Pete” you were on). Way to go and screw it all up.
Now it becomes the waiting game. Florida looked okay in their SEC championship game win. The points brought up in that game, about the strength of schedule, were telling. I think Florida edges Michigan out of the number two spot for three reasons. One, Michigan’s impressive season ended three weeks ago (four, if you look closely at the Ball State game) while the Florida victory is fresh in the voters’ minds. That’s important when they have to get their votes in tonight. Two, whether it’s true or just a figment of SEC fans’ imaginations, there is the mindset that the SEC is the tougher conference and that’s going to nudge Florida up in the voters mind as well. Three, how will SEC coaches vote in their poll? That could be the difference.
So what do you want to see? I’d like to see Florida in for the obvious reason — the Buckeyes would kill them. I’m not worried about playing Michigan again, but I’d like to see Florida just for a change of pace. And it’s been said a million times, but it bares repeating — what would a rematch prove? The results would be most unsatisfactory.
So the BCS picture is a mess. Things will be all worked out tomorrow and the picture will be crystal clear. And the wailing and gnashing of teeth will commence.
(On a side note, did you catch Danielson’s remark near the end of the Florida/Arkansas broadcast? Something along the lines of, “Let’s face it, Michigan is a second place team.”
Ouch.)
Boy, what a mess.
In my opinion, both Florida and Michigan have a valid claim. Having said that, Florida deserves the shot more than Michigan does. Their body of work has been consistently more impressive, and Carr had his shot.
UM only looked impressive against Notre Dame, and with their loss last week, and USC’s loss today, that showed how useless using Notre Dame as a benchmark is.
I don’t know that the Buckeyes would “kill” Florida… I think on paper, OSU is a better team… but I remember lots of folks that said Miami would “kill” OSU in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. I’d hate to have to eat crow!
My “gut” tells me that the coaches would collectively be A – N – G – R – Y if UM got its mulligan. Same goes with the Harris voters.
Think about the coaches’ view… what would they want if they were in Meyer’s and Carr’s position? That’s what they’ll think when they cast their vote. And they’ll all think, “well, Carr had his shot just two weeks ago.” Right or wrong, that’s what they’ll think.
Same with the Harris voters. These guys come from the same mold.
One other thing – everyone is assuming that UM will beat Florida in the computers… but that’s not a given. UM’s numbers were going to drop today no matter what. If USC had won, UM’s numbers would drop a lot, if USC lost, UM’s numbers would drop a little because of the lower SOS (opponents’ opponents records, vis a vis Notre Dame).
In other words, USC’s loss today makes Notre Dame’s SOS numbers drop, which then dominoes into UM. Add into the mix the increase in Florida’s numbers… and UM and Florida will be closer in the computers than what most people think.
Know what’s a shame? Everyone’s talking about what’s fair for Florida or Michigan. NOBODY’s talking about what’s fair for OSU. That could work in OSU’s favor come January.
Please let it be Florida….I would rather lose the Natl champ game to Florida than Mich just on principal alone. I know one thing Tressel and co got their work cut out because Florida runs that stupid gimmick offense…..