Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Enter the subject of Penn State. Now, JoePa may lose at Iowa and make this simpler for voters like myself everywhere. This would be fine with me, because all a fan can really root for with the BCS is chaos, chaos, and more delightful chaos. A Penn State loss clearly does this, as it leaves Texas Tech and Alabama as the only remaining major conference teams without a loss. Since no one seems to believe the Red Raiders will go undefeated and Alabama has to likely play Florida in the SEC title game and rival Auburn (one obviously tough, another a rivalry game) this means the eventual national title contenders will probably each have at least one loss in this scenario.
If Penn State doesn’t lose to Iowa, or to Indiana, or Michigan State, then let loose the dogs of careless argument in the college football punditocracy. There are two cases to be made: the pro-Penn State argument, and the anti Penn State argument.
First, the pro, sponsored by the Law Firm of Sebben and Sebben.
1. Penn State will be the undefeated Big Ten Champion. This = National Title Slot. In a world without another undefeated major conference team, the team without a loss goes to the game. Simple enough case there; no major logical errors. Their strength of schedule is relatively weak, but they beat the teams on their schedule including Oregon State, who defeated USC and is a contender for the Pac-10 title.
2. Penn State impresses by the numbers. Their offense has averaged 41 points and change for the season, their defense only allows 11 points a game, and their worst stat is punt return yardage, and that is only the case because they’ve had such good field position thanks to superb play by the offense and defense.
3. JoePa deserves it. Penn State was shorted a shot at the national title in 1994 with an undefeated team, and this would provide a mulligan of sorts for the legendary coach, completing a dream season and allowing the greatest coach of his generation to retire at the top.
Now, the con, sponsored by the Law Firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt.
1. Penn State has not played anyone of note. The 56th ranked schedule in terms of difficulty will only get weaker when contests like Indiana and Iowa are factored in, placing an undefeated Penn State team below Texas, Texas Tech, Florida, Oklahoma, and even Ohio State for the year in terms of strength of schedule.
(For fun, please note that current No. 1 Alabama has the 59th ranked SOS prior to week 11. That brick you just threw over here Tide fans? I’m ducking it as fast as I can.)
2. Down does not begin to describe the Big Ten. Penn State is paying two mortgages for any condemnation of their shot at a national title. They are bearing the burden of Ohio State’s two decisive losses in the last two title games, and also feel the looming weight of the Big Ten’s perceived weakness as a whole. In other words, it’s not you, Penn State, it’s the people you choose to hang out with that may be turning off voters.
3. Who plays in the game has nothing to do with the past. The worst of the arguments here is the sentimental one. Joe Paterno is great. He is old. He is the coach of a very good football team right now. Only one of these should impact the current situation. Attempting to boil up emotion and the ghosts of the 1990s will only make choosing Penn State look even less tenable to critics of the BCS, and ABC isn’t helping:
It is moving, heartstring-tugging, and has nothing to do with the situation at hand ... and yet will undoubtedly impact the voters, who will happily vote Penn State in with their heart and not their heads. The BCS gives you little to work with in terms of evaluating rankings, something Pete Carroll summed up nicely this week:
"What is the criteria of the process? Is it to pick the team that has the best season, that has the season that you like the most and feel best about voting for? Or is it the best team at the end of the year, the team that would win a playoff system if you did have it?"Um ... we don’t know, Pete. None of us know. I do know this, though: the idea of this Penn State team playing a game like they did against Ohio State in the national title game repels me. The last thing I want to watch in the last college football game of the year is a sludgy, ultra-conservative puntfest devoid of creativity or interesting play. (Which the game against the Buckeyes was, though Penn State is not entirely to blame here: Tressel’s playcalling was girdle-tight in the game.)
The alternative, though, could be worse: not having Penn State in the game defies the only shreds of logic left in the fabric of the BCS. As distasteful as the idea of Penn State in the title game may be to me, taking the last bit of reason away from the increasingly nonsensical BCS would be disastrous. If that happens, just let Fox have the Patriots play a New York Yankees squad in pads for ratings and throw Lingerie Bowl 4 on at halftime. It would make just as much sense as keeping an undefeated major BCS conference champ out of the game, and the ratings would be insane.
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
13 comments
Comments
"A Penn State loss clearly does this, as it leaves Texas Tech as the only remaining major conference team without a loss."
Alabama didn’t lose to Ole Miss.
by shinsational on Nov 7, 2008 5:00 PM EST reply actions
mucho gusto.
by shinsational on Nov 7, 2008 5:00 PM EST reply actions
Ahem,
There is a certain college football fanbase that feels that 1994 was more Penn State’s comeuppance vs. Penn State being "shorted" given that in 1982 there was certain late 4th qtr play in a certain game where the refs decided to expand the field of play by 2 to 3 feet, allowing PSU to convert a 1st down and eventually, score a winning touchdown.
Indeed, from your own employer…
"Someone brought up 1982, when Penn State won the national championship with an 11-1 record. Nebraska went 12-1, the lone loss being at Penn State, 27-24. In that game, the Nittany Lions made a catch well out of bounds, but it was ruled legal by the official and set up the winning touchdown."
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_n3_v219/ai_16231739
I love me some Ivan Maisel. So in sum, 1994 brought Karmic realignment, and it did not unbalanced the universe.
by meatybob on Nov 7, 2008 5:00 PM EST reply actions
Ahem meatybob,
Nice job of picking and choosing by only mentioning the one blatant bad call that favored PSU from the ‘82 NU/PSU game. Why not bring up other ones like the "fumble" that was called when the PSU RB "caught" a ball in mid-air only to immediately be hit and drop it before either of his feet landed on the ground. I never heard/read a complaint about that catch that didn’t have any feet in-bounds.
Look at any tape of the game. It was the only play of that game that had its replay shown over and over because of being incorrect. I don’t know about you, but I’d say a turnover has more impact than a 15-yard pass on 2nd down.
Incidently, the sideline pass did not "allow" PSU to score, it just made it easier. It was a 2nd down play, not a 4th down play, nor was time expiring on the next play when PSU did score.
by Mufasa on Nov 7, 2008 7:54 PM EST reply actions
Something everyone seems to forget about this year is ALABAMA WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ON PENN STATE’S SCHEDULE THIS YEAR BUT THEY PULLED OUT.
Look it up. The fact they pulled out caused PSU to schedule Coastal Carolina. I have a bit of sympathy to Penn State for something that was out of their control. I mean, Penn State can’t be faulted for their schedule when Alabama pulls out. Note, PSU and Alabama will play a home and home series in 2010 and 2011. Should be exciting!
by liveTunes on Nov 7, 2008 9:31 PM EST reply actions
Sir, there was 9 seconds left in the game and if the play is called correctly, PSU would have been on the 20 yd. line. I think I can safely say that the odds of going 20 yds when you have to score a touchdown in 9 seconds is nil. Not to mention, I think PSU was out of time outs, so any pass play that was not a TD (of which I am sure that there would have been around 5 defenders at that time) nor out of bounds (and quick) would have been the end of the game. Therefore, PSU chances of winning was greatly assisted by that play. Without, chances are next to nil. (now, PSU may have tied the game, but no OT in CF then, and NU still wins NC since PSU already had one loss to bama)
Secondly, the gray area of that fumble is way, way grayer than the fact that the TE literally caught the ball at a min. 2 ft out of bounds in front of an official who was in the perfect position to make the right call. Methinks the out of bounds call was hella more clearer to call correctly.
Lastly, it was at the very end of the game and that ref committed the more henious of cardinal sins in that call, the officating became the storyline. Can’t do that.
by meatybob on Nov 8, 2008 1:16 AM EST reply actions
YAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNN. Tommy Tuberville picked up this banner in 2004 and was called a whiner for it. The Mythical National Championship is a disgrace to what we watch every saturday people. Until there is a playoff of some sort we are pulling for young men who are playing their hearts out on saturday to determine it on the field only to lose a beauty contest at the end of the year to see who gets to play for the MNC, nothing more than a beauty contest/fundraiser. I’m lookin at you ESPN/ABC.
by BARTW4 on Nov 8, 2008 3:40 AM EST reply actions
Trust me, Iowa won’t be beaten by just a field goal this week…Nittany Lions 34 Hawkeye’s 10
by Hyacenth House on Nov 8, 2008 8:38 AM EST reply actions
This is why I hate the BCS… Say Penn State, Alabama, and Texas Tech go undefeated, Penn State will be left out of the title game. There are also a bunch of quality one loss teams like Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, and USC that would be great in a championship game. I hope that sometime in a near future there will be a playoff in the FBS.
by GCM on Nov 8, 2008 12:52 PM EST reply actions
liveTunes,
I don’t have my bookmarks handy @ home, but this came up the other day. The basic gist is that it was moved up so Alabama could get a different OOC opener, and it helpd two other teams schedule each other in a way that was better for all three schools. I hope that helps.
by jaek on Nov 8, 2008 1:00 PM EST reply actions
Sir, there was 9 seconds left in the game and if the play is called correctly, PSU would have been on the 20 yd. line.
Sir, if you would have written things correctly, you would have correctly stated the ball was on the 17 yard line.
I think I can safely say that the odds of going 20 yds when you have to score a touchdown in 9 seconds is nil.
Why would it be nil? That is plenty of time for two plays.
Not to mention, I think PSU was out of time outs,
But, I will mention that PSU still had a timeout left. I notice a trend of some information being provided by you to be factually incorrect. I hope this isn’t a deliberate attempt to portray things in a worse light.
so any pass play that was not a TD (of which I am sure that there would have been around 5 defenders at that time) nor out of bounds (and quick) would have been the end of the game.
Why would this be so? PSU only needed 4 yards for a first down and have the clock stop even if your mis-information had been correct.
Therefore, PSU chances of winning was greatly assisted by that play.
I did not deny it helped.
Without, chances are next to nil.
This is your opinion.
Secondly, the gray area of that fumble is way, way grayer than the fact that the TE literally caught the ball at a min. 2 ft out of bounds in front of an official who was in the perfect position to make the right call. Methinks the out of bounds call was hella more clearer to call correctly.
First off, where did "grayer" come in? It is right or wrong and they were both blown. As for which may be easier to have been seen, I think when someone is noticeably in mid-air is a lot more clearer than someone whose foot just got picked off the ground. Seeing which of the replays were shown on TV at that time, I’d say someone else agreed with me.
Lastly, it was at the very end of the game and that ref committed the more henious of cardinal sins in that call,
Again your opinion. To put it another way, I could say the chances of PSU scoring more often earlier in the game if things were called correctly throughout were much greater and therefore, the chances of the outcome being affected by that last bad call were "nil".
the officating became the storyline.
Thanks to the media. Hmmm, the media not presently all the facts on an issue involving PSU…big surprise.
by Mufasa on Nov 8, 2008 2:37 PM EST reply actions
I bet Coach P will be like Woody Hayes, and die like 25 days after he retires.
by L'etat, c'est moi on Nov 8, 2008 7:51 PM EST reply actions
Penn State never ceases to come up short.
by savings on Oct 21, 2009 10:29 AM EDT reply actions
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