And Your National Champion Is....

Ok, so Florida won last night. And made a good case that they are way better than Oklahoma. Either that or Tim Tebow is really the second coming of Christ and God just couldn't bear to see them lose. But I now want a playoff game between Florida and Utah. Which probably should have been a possible championship match up to begin with.

Florida lost one game this season. But after the loss to Ole Miss they won all their games until the SEC Championship game by at least 28 points. They made a good case and I have no problem with them being the champion. But poor Utah never even got a chance at the title. They managed to go undefeated all season. And then they thumped Alabama in their Sugar Bowl. Alabama spent a good portion of the year as the number one ranked team. Utah made a great case to be in the title bowl. The problem is no one heard it.

Voting members of the BCS poll have openly admitted that they never saw Utah play until the Sugar Bowl. Or that they really couldn't remember if they had or not. They just assumed since Utah plays in the Mountain West that they were not as good as the other teams. Now there's the problem with the BCS system. It's not just the computer polls, its also the people voting.

What better proof does there need to be to get a playoff system. One of the best teams in the country wasn't even watched by some of the voters. With a playoff system these questions would be answered. The Mountain West went 6-1 against the Pac-10 this year and won all their bowl games. That's more impressive than most conferences including the ACC and the Big Ten and they both get automatic BCS bids.

So once again there is a legitimate argument for two National Championship teams. If I was from Utah, I'd be claiming they are the actual National Champions. The BCS is so busted. President Obama will be inaugurated in a few days. So he has almost a whole year to fix this system. It really can't be that hard. Until then, we'll just have to settle for disputed championships

Potato Bowl

Schizophrenia seems to have its downsides. The Terps, at one point poised to go to the Orange Bowl, or at least the ACC Championship game faltered down the stretch and are now going bowling in Boise, Idaho. So instead of getting to play in the post season in some warm locale that fans are willing to flock to, the game will be played on the blue field at Boise State, estimated temperature at game time 34 degrees.

The Terps will be playing in the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl against Nevada. This really sounds like one of those bowl games that people make up to make fun of the bowl system. But trust me, this is all too real. The sponsor, Roady's is the largest truck stop chain in the country. (I looked it up.) And it happens to be based in Idaho. I have no idea why it is the Humanitarian Bowl. I guess people in Iowa are just extra humane, or the truck stops promote being humane. Really, I would have guessed the potato bowl, but what do I know. If anyone out there can explain the bowl name to me I'd appreciate it.

Maryland is playing Nevada in the Potato Bowl. All I know about Nevada is that they play in the WAC conference. And apparently are not very good because they were also vanquished to the Potato Bowl. Sorry about this, but I refuse to do research about a team I won't think or hear about for years after Maryland is finished playing them in this meaningless game. So my next few predictions should considered with that knowledge.

I think Maryland will win this game. I say this just because I'm a Terps fan. They have played well in crappy weather all year long. They also play well in the afternoon, when this game is being played. If this was a big bowl game being played in prime time they'd probably lose. But if you look at the meaningless factors I've just mentioned they seem to have a pretty good shot.

I think it's justified to completely ignore Nevada in this assessment. Maryland didn't seem to care who they were playing all year. They played badly against bad teams and well against good teams until the end of the season when they just collapsed. They played better in bad weather and worse at night. This team has been impossible to predict all season, which is probably why they're playing in the Truck Stop Potato Bowl anyway. There is very little on the line for this game. I don't know which way that will break for Maryland. I'm still a little bitter this game is in Idaho. But I still hope we win.

GO TERPS!!!

For more on College Bowl season go to http://www.gunaxin.com/blog-bowl Articles about all the bowl games can be accessed here by tons of great bloggers.

Maryland Wins Big on Bye Week

For the mercurial Terps, the bye week might have been there biggest victory so far. They did not have a chance to play while Florida State and Georgia Tech slugged it out. Luckily for Maryland, Georgia Tech won, which places Maryland on top of the ACC Atlantic Division. Which means, Maryland is now in control of it's own destiny. If the Terps continue to win, they could go the ACC title game. That's right, the team that barely beat Delaware and lost to Middle Tennessee is now a legitimate contender for the ACC title.

Maryland is now 6-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play. They go to Virginia Tech this Thursday for a nationally televised game. Virginia Tech is no longer ranked but maybe Maryland will step up because this is a nationally televised game and play the way they have in big games. Maybe they have finally gotten their act together and will continue to play to their potential. Since their first bye week, they have won two in a row. One to an unranked team, in the pouring rain. So maybe this will continue. (By the way, can someone explain to me why they get two bye weeks, I'm not complaining, I just don't remember this happening before.)

Maryland is now ranked 23 in the BCS poll and the AP poll and 21 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. They are bowl eligible and keep up the good play could be looking at something better than the Tire Bowl or Toilet Bowl or whatever lame bowl games they've gone to in recent years.
I know this is a lot of optimism and hope to put on the line when talking about a team that sometimes fails to show up, but I've been very pessimistic lately and am trying to see the glass as half full.

The ACC has been wide open and very volatile this year. The standings change pretty dramatically every week and Maryland has a tough schedule for the last 4 games playing VT, UNC, Florida State and Boston College, all of which have winning records overall and only Boston College has a losing conference record. I think this is actually a good thing for the Terps. They tend to play to the level of their opponent. So when they have a tougher opponent, they tend to play better than against a cupcake team.

No matter what happens throughout the rest of the season, I've been pleasantly surprised by the Terps this year. Despite their struggles and some ugly wins, they have done better than I expected. This probably means I've jinxed them and they will go off the Lithium and go back to being bipolar, but I guess I can live with that. I mean pretty much every team that is bowl eligible gets to go to one now. Even if it is the Toilet Bowl.

Whatever, I'm still excited for Thursday's game. GO TERPS!