There has been a ton of debate since the BCS top 10 was announced on Sunday. Regardless of the debate of who is more deserving to play undefeated LSU, the decision to allow a rematch between the Tigers and Alabama has a lot of college football fans in an uproar.  (photo courtesy of blogs.ajc.com)

Oklahoma State created the buzz when they not only won the Big 12 (which…has ten teams, but that’s not important right now), and they did so in convincing fashion, blowing out the preseason #1 Oklahoma Sooners 44-10.  Critics of the Alabama pick to play in the title match cite the fact that Alabama didn’t even win their own conference, and that the Crimson Tide lost their game at home versus the road loss the Oklahoma State Cowboys incurred at Iowa State.

As much as I cannot stand the BCS, here are three reasons they actually got it right:

1.  If you’re not in the SEC, you had better go undefeated: Like it or not, the SEC is the king of college football conferences…and it’s not even close.  Even the SEC was a bit watered down this year, mostly due to the underachieving SEC East Division, but here is something to chew on.  The last five (and soon to be six) BCS National Champions are SEC teams, so it’s not just love from ESPN and the media that makes it look like the SEC is the best conference–the SEC proves it and has proven it for the last 60 months.  Because of that kind of track record, the SEC is always going to have a leg up.

2.  The Big 12 was not nearly as good as it showed in the polls. While Baylor and Kansas State have been great stories for college football, other than Oklahoma State, the Big 12 was watered down, and that dilution began before the season even kicked off, when Nebraska bolted for the Big Ten (…which actually has twelve teams…but that’s not important right now).  Add to Nebraska’s departure, Oklahoma vastly underachieving, when you consider they were the preseason #1, a down year for Missouri, a Texas A&M team that was completely whipped in the second half of practically every game, and how in the world Texas was consistently ranked is beyond me–they finished with a very underwhelming 7-5 record and still have no offense.  Bottom line–the Big 12 was a far cry from a BCS heavyweight.

3.  Let’s compare losses: Bama lost at home in overtime against LSU, who is the #1 team in the country.  Oklahoma State lost on the road to Iowa State, who checks in as the #54 ranked team in the country, according to CBSSports.com.  Iowa State finished the season with a not-so-stout 8th place finish in the 10-team Big 12 Conference, just ahead of lowly Texas Tech and Kansas.  Conversely, Bama lost to LSU, who beat the Pac 12 Champ (Oregon), the Big East Champ (West Virginia), the SEC East Champion (Georgia), the #2 team in the nation (Bama at the time) and Arkansas, who ranked #3 at the time and finished the regular season rankings at #7.

Overall Conclusion: You don’t deserve a shot at a national championship if you lose to the 54th best team in the country.  We should expect much more than that from a national champ.  The SEC is going to be king until another conference can knock them off the top of the mountain.

Let us know your take on it…..reply to this post, and feel free to banter on our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/CollegeSportsFeed

With the recent hiring of Urban Meyer at Ohio State, many Buckeye fans are elated at the apparent forgone conclusion of a BCS title and a return to the top of NCAA football.   While there is no doubt that the 47 year old coach has an incredible win percentage, the highest ever through the 2009 season, a deeper dive into the statistics should be enough to have Bucky a little worried.

 1.  Urban Meyer doesn’t stay in a position long – True, in this age of coaching carousels, it’s hard to keep your job long enough to have even a water fountain named after you but with Urban, the problem is one of what professional career coaches call “job hopping.”  Dating back to his high school coaching days, he is yet to stay with a program more than 6 years (which he did only once) and his average tenure as a head coach (Bowling Green, Utah & Florida)  is 3 years.  In all 3 of these positions, Meyer was able to turn average programs into winners but he has always had one distinct advantage…

 2.  Urban Meyer walks into positions ripe for winning. – Lack of game film, a substandard conference and general national ignorance of the Bowling Green program during Meyer’s tenure make it hard to do an in depth analysis of his performance at Bowling Green.  It appears his signature wins were over a middle of the pack Missouri team in 2001 and 2002.  Meyer was handed a talent laden Utah program in 2003, complete with a Heisman finalist quarterback and emerging NFL star in a (sic) down Mountain West Conference.  In similar fashion, Urban took over for one the greatest “Best Recruiter / Worst Coach” dichotomies of all time in Ron Zook at Florida.  With a locker room full of more talent than that of the Dallas Cowboy’s cheerleaders, had Meyer only filled out the roster card and left each game at kickoff, he’d likely enjoyed 10 win seasons.  Picking up a commitment from lifelong Gator fan Tim Tebow within 18 months of his start date didn’t hurt as long as he could keep the 5 star, Parade All American quarterback Chris Leak happy about it.

 3.  Meyer’s use of the spread offense is unparalleled…it’s also old news – If there is one thing to be jaw droppingly impressed about with Urban Meyer, it’s his use and perfection of the spread offense.  Athleticism alone did not win national titles, his offensive genius had allot to do with it.  With that said, it’s no longer novel and he’s no longer in the “speed state” of Florida.  While he will certainly recruit top talent at OSU (a team that was a full step slower than his Gators) running a spread in the Big 10 will be exciting until they meet the majority of the power teams of the South or a high level West Coast team. Furthermore, the majority of BCS level teams see a spread offense no less than once every 3 games.  While he may run it to perfection, the surprise factor will definitely be gone. 

4.  Meyer has a mess to clean up – Meyer has never had to assume leadership of a team facing NCAA  compliance issues and history is not on his side.  The more egregious the programs sins, the longer it typically takes to recover.  While I certainly don’t compare the current OSU situation with SMU or even current day Miami or USC in regards to severity of rule breaking, self imposed sanctions plus those from the NCAA will make the ramp up time a little slower than the fast paced coach would prefer.  I’m sure someone much smarter than I in mathematics could find a formula for the average number of years it takes to be ranked in the top 5 in coloration to number of scholarships lost.  Don’t Stanford fans read college football blogs?  They should be able to write this program between homework and their next Steve Jobs / iTunes / iPhoto tribute slideshow for their Mark Zuckerburg owned Facebook page.

 I certainly hope my Buckeye readers do not misinterpret this as “hating” on Urban Meyer.  Much like Tim Tebow in the NFL, you may like him or hate him but you have to admit that all he does is win.  My only request is that those same readers take a look at the facts I’ve laid out, ponder them and let the next few years determine his legacy.  While many college football fans are ready to put Meyer among the greatest of all time, I reserve judgment and admit pessimism as to his future success.  I classify the “infamous coaches in NCAA history” into 3 categories.  The most impressive are those that dominated for a great deal of time until the game passed them by. (Bear Bryant, Tom Osbourne, Bobby Bowden, Nick Saban is almost there) The 1B class ,if you will, are coaches that rose, struggled perhaps and then were able to recover to a degree but not at the same level.  These are still great coaches but they all had shorter runs of success followed by less than ideal exits. (Lou Holtz, Steve Spurier, Jimmy Johnson)  The last class would be coaches that so many fell in love with and heralded as the next great leader until they were exposed as being at “the right place and time.”  (Phillip Fullmer, Rich Rodriguez, Pete Carrol, Nick Saban until he came back to Alabama)  I would currently put Urban Meyer in the 1B category and see his next 5 years as the pivot point into one of the other classes.  If he goes on to greatness at OSU, I’ll be first in line to carve him into the NCAA coach Mt Rushmore.  However, if things do not turn out well and the championships don’t come after he’s had the chance to rebuild, don’t say I didn’t warn you…especially if he quits in 3 years…

Week 6 of the college football season is in the books, and once again, CSF brings you a complete recap of the week that was.  Check out our breakdown of five key bits of info you can’t do without as we continue through the 2011 college football season.

No Florida Schools in the Top 25: Florida State was supposed to be the bell cow of the ACC and the state of Florida in 2011, but after suffering their third straight loss to Wake Forest last weekend, the ‘Noles are out of the top 25.  Much hype was surrounding the Florida Gators, but back to back games against Alabama and LSU would be enough to drop anyone.  The Gators were hammered 41-11 by LSU, and the second-straight loss was too much to keep them in the rankings as well.  Miami, USF and UCF have all been mentioned in the top 25 at different points this season, but all have lost critical games this season, and all are on the outside of the polls looking in.

Red River Blowout: Many (including myself) thought Texas was way overrated coming into this game–the Longhorns were ranked as the #11 team in the nation, but very few predicted the kind of beat down the Sooners would deliver last weekend.  The OU defense outscored Texas in this one, accounting for three touchdowns.  The fast-paced OU offense did their damage as well, on their way to a 55-17 blowout victory for Oklahoma.

Michigan off to the quietest 6-0 start in history: The dominance of Wisconsin and the implosion of Ohio State have been the main topics of discussion this season in the Big Ten.  That has overshadowed a fantastic start by first year head coach Brady Hoke’s perfect start in 2011.  Hoke has done a lot with very little, especially on the defensive side of the ball, but the Wolverines aren’t getting much love.  A win at rival Michigan State this weekend would not only make the Wolverines bowl eligible in mid-October, it would also serve as notice to the college football world that, while Michigan is still not a top 10 team, Hoke has cleaned up Rich Rod’s mess much faster than anyone could have imagined.

Mark Richt gets 100th win: After starting the 2011 season with a loss against Boise State and a heart-breaker at home to South Carolina in week 2, the Bulldogs won their third straight game last weekend at Tennessee.  The win was head coach Mark Richt’s 100th as a head coach in Athens.  Richt, who came into this season on the hot seat, has Georgia playing better than any team in the SEC East.  A win against rival Florida on October 29th could buy him an extra year and vault the Dawgs into an SEC Championship Game.

In a stunning revelation, Ohio State is the “poster child” of compliance:  I was under the impression that massive suspensions of key players, the untimely departure of a hall of fame coach amid controversy, inappropriate dealings with boosters and free tattoos and gifts from a known Columbus drug dealer were signs that an athletic program wasn’t keeping very good tabs on its student-athletes.  Fortunately, for people like me, who were completely misunderstanding the situation at OSU, their president Gordon Gee took the liberty of clearing up that slight misconception.  Gee informed the Ohio State faculty last week that OSU is the “poster child” of compliance.  In the wake of that announcement, Charlie Sheen is expected to announce that he is the poster child of child care, Lindsay Lohan is expected to announce that she is the poster child of sobriety, and Carrot Top is expected to claim he is the poster child of comedy.

Week two of the season came and went this past Saturday and while it certainly didn’t offer the same drama on the field within the Big 12 Conference, the Topsy-turvy on goings of the conference’s realignment only continued to boil.

The domino effect related to what will eventually be decided by suits in Norman, Oklahoma has everyone related to the current Big 12 Conference on pins and needles. Message boards are busier than ever and conspirators have plenty of opinions to share as this drama continues to unfold. The internet era, more influential than ever, has influenced the spread of bad feelings, jealousy and uncertainty that envelopes fans everywhere.

And all the while, I still wonder, why can’t we just make the most sensible thing work?

I speak, like many of you, to the notion of maintaining the Big 12 Conference. Of all the options present to each and every of the conference’s members, mending our differences seems like a no-brainer.

Let’s stay together and make this work. Is that really too much to ask?

Is keeping a conference housed of several Texas schools, headquartered in the Lone Star State, that utilizes and capitalizes on a hotbed of homegrown talent worthy of being ripped at its seems?

Last I checked, exactly half of the conference (five teams) is ranked in the AP top 25. If Nebraska was still welcome at the dinner table there would have six. If Missouri had won Friday night in Tempe, there would be seven. Can any other league say that?

Still, it’s the Big 12 Conference that has slowly become little brother to ‘better cultural fits’ in the SEC, a more suitable ‘match’ for the Pac 12 and an ‘upgrade to the academic best interests’ that the Big 10 offers.

Excuse me?

Do we need to be reminded of just how powerful, influential and trend-setting this conference was, still is and should continue to be? Until this season, the Big 12 was the only league that originally formed with 12 members in two different six team divisions. Remember when that was seen as forward-thinking, smart and innovative?

This was the only league that, from its inception, included a ‘post season’ league championship game. While other leagues decided their conference champ via mind-bending tiebreakers, the Associated Press or even worse, a vote amongst conference presidents (yep, this is how the Big Ten chose it’s conference representative for the Rose Bowl for an eternity), the Big 12 staged a title game.

Decided between white lines. Played in a city and stadium that an NFL franchise called home.

Yet, just 16 years after this ‘game changing’ league formed, it appears this conference is the one truly in jeopardy of falling completely apart.

I suppose something could be said for the advent of the 16 team ‘super conference.’

There isn’t an Aggie I know who isn’t thrilled for weekend road trips to achievable-in-one-day driving distances being replaced with airfare to college towns four and five states away.

The notion of playing in the Pac 16 is more than logical for Oklahoma. After all, they have a legion of alumni in Oregon, California and Washington.

We all know it’s best to throw out the records when Nebraska and Purdue face off this time of year.

For those schools likely to be left in the dark, their inevitable move, whether it be to the Big East, Mountain West or Conference USA, would have our fans foaming at the mouth to welcome new rivals Air Force, Boston College and Memphis to town.

Give me a break.

The Big 12 Conference, it’s schools and its fans deserve better. The direction of college athletics (football in particular) is the problem.

The temptation of bigger TV contracts, heightened exposure in new markets and stability in an unstable college football landscape has certainly caught the dollar-filled pupils of many.

If and when, those same people realize these factors have had absolutely nothing to do with what makes college athletics so unique so celebrated ever comes into play, we’ll all be okay.

Until then, the Big 12 Conference has some new invitations to the dinner table that need to be mailed out.

The Big 12 Conference is looking more like a countdown for a space shuttle launch than it is a football conference these days.  The 2011 season will be the first year since the inception that, despite still being called the Big 12, the conference will only have ten teams.

Nebraska bolted for the Big Ten (which now has twelve teams) and Colorado moved to greener pastures and potentially more revenue with their move to the newly established Pac 12 Conference.

Over the last few days, there are more and more rumblings of Texas A&M moving to the SEC, which would likely be straw to break the dwindling Big 12′s back.  But the move to college football’s most powerful conference won’t go through without the Big 12 Conference pulling out all stops to maintain the status quo (if there is one).

Regardless of what the Big 12 officials and the state of Texas choose to do, in the end, A&M would be crazy not to jump at this opportunity.  The SEC has long been the best conference in all of college football, and with their recent contract with ESPN, their recent dominance of the BCS National Championships (an SEC team has won the National Championship in each of the last five years), and recent talk of courting Florida State or Virginia Tech to create two, separate 7-team divisions, the SEC shows no signs of looking back.

When the dust settles, we take a quick peak at where the other teams in the conference could end up:

Texas: The Longhorns should be kicking themselves for not jumping at the opportunity to join Colorado when the Pac 10 came calling last year.  Instead, Utah jumped at the chance to get out of the BCS purgatory known as the Mountain West.  Look for the Pac 12 to become the Pac 14 in an attempt to rival the SEC 2.0 version in 2012 or 2013.

Oklahoma: Like their hated rivals, Texas, there was a lot of talk last year of the Sooners joining the Pac 12, despite the fact that Texas and Oklahoma are nowhere near the Pacific coast, which was the original geographic concept of the conference when they were the Pac 8.  You lost yet?  Anyway, look for the Sooners and Longhorns to continue their rivalry within the same conference, which will likely be the Pac 14.

Missouri: Like the Huskers, the Big Ten courted the Tigers last season, but Mizzou opted to stay, especially once it was confirmed that Texas was staying.  The Big Ten would love to bring on the Tigers and bring a great rivalry with Nebraska inside the conference.  This would make the Big Ten’s thirteenth team, and maybe at this point, they really should think about dropping the “Big Ten” name, even though they have retained that name despite having eleven teams since Penn State joined the conference in 1993.

Oklahoma State, Baylor, Texas Tech, Kansas, Kansas State, and Iowa State will have to scramble to find a home.  These programs have had flashes, but unlike Mizzou, Oklahoma and Texas, they haven’t quite been able to crack or stay in the Top 25 for more than a year or two at a time.  And that will hurt them and possibly leave them with no choice but to join a new version of the Mountain West, but for basketball, Kansas may have to pull a Notre Dame and go independent.  Confused yet?

Rumors and scenarios will run rampant in the coming months, but one thing is for sure.  The Big 12 was already on life support, and A&M’s likely departure will be the death of the conference.