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 With the conclusion to college football fresh in our minds, I would like to make some closing comments.
The season ended in a way that I’m sure surprised many. Utah beat Alabama, the Pac-10 went undefeated in bowl games, and the national championship game only saw 38 points on the board. If you take a look at all of the bowl games in their entirety, several undeniable facts reveal themselves. Number one, the SEC and the Big 12 are overrated. I am sick of hearing about that SEC speed and those Big 12 offenses. Alabama, a team ranked #1 for the majority of the season and heralded for its outstanding defense, allowed Utah to put up 31 points. The SEC went 6 and 2 in bowls this year, but how much credit do you want to give Kentucky for beating East Carolina? Or Georgia for hardly beating Michigan State? And as for the Big 12, Oklahoma, having the most prolific offense in the history of college football after scoring 60 points in five straight games, couldn’t put up more than 14 points against an untested Florida defense. What would Oklahoma have looked like against a defense like USC’s or Penn State’s? Oklahoma State and Texas Tech got beat by Oregon and Ole Miss respectively; both teams were in the race for the Big 12 championship. Texas Tech was ranked #1 at one point. And perhaps the biggest disappointment of the Big 12 bowl games was Texas’ last minute victory over Ohio State. Yes Texas should have been in the national championship after beating Oklahoma. Yes Texas won the game. But they were playing Ohio State, and they only won because Ohio State gave the game away in the last 2:05 seconds. Like they always do. I wonder when analysts and writers will stop buying into teams that are untested. The Big 12 and the SEC are overrated every year when they beat up on each other in interleague play. Oklahoma scored a lot of points this year, but against who? Mizzou and Texas Tech? It only shows that the Big 12 lacks defense. And I’m sorry, but if you look at Florida’s schedule, who did they play? Alabama and Georgia, both of who we now know suck. Last words, the Pac-10 went 5 and 0 in bowls. USC thumped Penn State without incident, Oregon State beat Pitt in a close game, Oregon beat Oklahoma State handily, Arizona took down a strong BYU team, and California beat Miami. The Pac-10 deserves much more respect, and this year's bowl season proves that. |