Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Gordon Gee, esteemed president of An Ohio State University, whose football team is perhaps best known on the national athletics scene for losing back-to-back national championship games by margins that weren't particularly cozy, would deny undefeated Boise State and TCU teams a slot in the BCS Championship:
In an interview with The Associated Press, the president at the university with the largest athletic program in the country said that TCU and Boise State do not face a difficult enough schedule to play in the national championship game.
As the presiding figurehead over a squad ranked 59th nationally in strength of schedule, Gordon Gee would know from undeserving, we suppose, but why should the Broncos and Horned Frogs be denied the chance to embarrass themselves on a national stage, just like Ohio State?
There's more, and it's worse, somehow:
Gee, long an admirer of the BCS and the current bowl system, said he was against a playoff in the Football Bowl Subdivision because it was "a slippery slope to professionalism."
On this we agree, because if there's one thing athletic departments like Ohio State's that generate nine figures of revenue and run at a net operating loss are not, it's sustainable business models. OSU spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $32 million on football operations last year, including a reported $3.5 million in salary for Jim Tressel, and had to raise ticket prices by $7 (to $70) to "offset losses in the athletic department," but really, this is just for the kids having fun out there. Let the snowy paths of amateur athleticism remain unblemished by the creeping green of American capitalist foliage.
16 comments
1
May 24
3
May 24
1
May 21
23
May 19
2
May 18
12
May 18
7
May 16
Comments
Only one problem...
Sagarin’s ratings are consistently horrible.
Schedule Strength ranks:
1.) Washington State
2.) Washington
3.) UCLA
4.) California
5.) Oregon State
6.) Arizona State
7.) Southern California
8.) Stanford
See anything in common here? What a joke…I’m not saying OSU plays a killer schedule, but I would never base by opinion on anything put out there by Jeff Sagarin.
by kngry7 on Nov 24, 2010 12:10 PM EST reply actions
I had this problem too and I know why.
I once got motivated, and put 12 hours into creating a massive computer generate “unbiased” poll. I ended up with the exact same thing happening with strength of schedule. It is because they all play 9 conference games instead of 8 for the other big conferences. Combine that with the fact that most PAC-10 teams play at least one decent opponent and you get 10 quality oppenents, who BTW, also play 10 quality oppnents so thier calculated strength is increased. It becomes snowball effect that grants all PAC-10 teams with the highest SOS, and an inflated ranking in computer polls.
"Guy giving you a hard time and you get tired of it, punch him in the face"
by mrnuttle on Nov 24, 2010 3:20 PM EST up reply actions
Eh?
How do you go from explaining exactly why PAC10 strength of schedule is always strong to concluding that PAC10 strength of schedule is overrated?
by UtahDuck42 on Nov 25, 2010 6:22 PM EST up reply actions
Let me clear this up for you.
Sagarin with his 8-Ball Strength of Schedule maker has San Jose State 22nd on the SoS list.
Going up against Alabama, Wisconsin, Southern Utah, Utah, UC Davis, Nevada, Boise State, Fresno State, New Mexico State, Utah State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, & Idaho it’s easy to see why these Spartans are 1-10
Sagarin Strength of Sched. = JOKE
It's a stigma you carry for 364 days until you get a chance to remove it, and get that blemish off your soul.
We go Ho' Beepo ?
by cjkanski on Nov 26, 2010 3:27 PM EST up reply actions
Well yeah
Besides the fact that it’s generally considered a top three conference with 9 BCS conference opponents, look at their out of conference opponents: Boise, TCU, Nebraska, LSU, Wisconsin and other top tier teams. That equals strong strength of schedule.
by gally on Nov 24, 2010 7:24 PM EST up reply actions
Et Universitatis Ohioensis delenda est!
by DevilGrad on Nov 24, 2010 12:21 PM EST reply actions
Et Universitatis Ohioensis delenda est!
Not to be that guy but….
probably should be Universitas
/that guy
by jacobus3 on Nov 24, 2010 1:32 PM EST up reply actions
I took the spelling
. . . from Ohio University’s website. But, if it’s wrong, I guess that is just another reason why OU must be destroyed
Et Universitatis Ohioensis delenda est!
by DevilGrad on Nov 24, 2010 1:36 PM EST up reply actions
If they don't deserve a shot,
then clearly they are a lesser team than THE Ohio State.
I’m sure President Gee will insist on scheduling both TCU and Boise State in the non-con in the near future.
by Ben Mitchell on Nov 24, 2010 1:06 PM EST reply actions
Ohio State Called
TCU pretended they weren’t home.
“In late December of 2007, Ohio State said it had reached a deal to open the 2009 season at home against TCU. Army had recently backed out of a planned series, and the Horned Frogs, coming off an 8-5 season, were set for a one-game trip to Columbus. According to Ohio State, the game had been agreed to but the contract was never signed by TCU.
It's a stigma you carry for 364 days until you get a chance to remove it, and get that blemish off your soul.
We go Ho' Beepo ?
by cjkanski on Nov 26, 2010 4:08 PM EST up reply actions
Boise State > Youngstown State
Just sayin’
by LegendOfVinnyT on Nov 24, 2010 2:54 PM EST reply actions
My response to folks like Gee...
…is the same as it always is to people who bitch and moan about schedule whenever a non-BCS team gets ranked too high for the establishment’s comfort: “Think Boise/TCU is overrated? Go play them there and prove it, name brand.”
[/Johnny Cash middle finger]
Signed,
Fan of the BSU that’s not located in Idaho
by Papa Lou BSU on Nov 24, 2010 9:00 PM EST reply actions
From a competition standpoint...
Sure, go play Boise at Boise.
From a standpoint of a school such as OSU, with one of the largest Athletic Departments in the country, one that has never cut a sport to maintain “compliance” with Title IX, giving up a game at home (which seats 102 paying customers) to play in a stadium where the best crowd in school history was this year with 34K is financial suicide.
Boise St has to understand that, why else would they play a neutral site game against Va Tech?
Scheduling in general is a joke. I blame KSU and to a lesser extant Notre Dame for this. Both used ridiculous schedules in the past to maintain overinflated rankings in an attempt to make a big money bowl (ND in 2006 10-2: 3 B10, 3 P10, 2 ACC (2-0), 3 Service Academies (3-0) = Sugar Bowl). The big boys saw this and realized there wasn’t a penalty if you scheduled garbage teams.
by MSULaxer27 on Nov 25, 2010 1:06 PM EST up reply actions
Add to that the 1 Million dollars
Boise State demands to play,(We’ll play anybody anywhere – Coach P.) & it’s no wonder more teams don’t step up. I’d love to see any 4 of Oregon, Stanford, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Alabama, LSU, & Auburn pony up the cash all in the same year. Let’s see Boise make it thru that September 4-0.
It's a stigma you carry for 364 days until you get a chance to remove it, and get that blemish off your soul.
We go Ho' Beepo ?
by cjkanski on Nov 26, 2010 2:56 PM EST up reply actions
Financial suicide?
Gee should just go ahead and kill himself already. OSU had to raise its ticket prices by 10% this year to cover an athletic department deficit.
If you really think OSU has a revenue issue, then you probably also think that Doctor Elwood G. Gee would be the perfect guy to turn around Fannie Mae.
Et Universitatis Ohioensis delenda est!
by DevilGrad on Nov 30, 2010 10:19 PM EST up reply actions
Please...
No one is saying that TCU and Boise are not great football teams. I think they could beat any team in the country right now. We’re saying that they simply don’t deserve a shot because of the teams they play throughout the year. As an Ohio State fan, I’m well aware that alot of the teams in the B10 aren’t even close to “good” but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a lot of talent. Boise and TCU don’t face Ryan Kerrigan, Mikel Leshoure, Denard Robinson, Adrian Clayborne, Dan Persa, etc, etc on a weekly basis when they play their week teams. Even ‘bad’ teams in the the major conferences have the possiblity of upsetting good teams each week (See OSU/Illinois in 2007, OSU and Purdue last year, Northwestern vs. Iowa). There is basically no chance of this happening w/ the pathetic teams the really good non-BCS teams face in their conference. This is the difference. BCS conferences have the talent to at least put up a fight. 2 decent/mediocre non-conference opponents does not a championship-worthy schedule make (VTech, Oregon State).
by Lesterh on Nov 26, 2010 10:34 AM EST reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed