sportsjabber.net

The national media is good for two things, and those are praise and criticism. But often I find their targets aren’t worthy of either. They’ll either dwell on history to proclaim someone great today, or compare numbers that are irrelevant to strength. If you tune into television or radio, you can’t avoid weekly topics declaring the might of the SEC and questioning the worth of the ACC. The SEC is the power of college football, with the ACC continuing to spiral in decline. Well, that’s if you choose to attach yourself to their words and repeat them. But with one week remaining in this college football regular season, if we look back on all occurrences, would we still find truth to those media suggestions?

On Saturday, Florida paddled Florida State, which was a follow up of the beating they gave Miami. Alabama opened the season by routing Clemson. The SEC’s top two teams impressively finished 3-0 against their much maligned eastern neighbors of the ACC, and an entire nation was informed and aware. What isn’t announced is the remainder of the SEC going a dismal 1-5 to have an overall mark of 4-6 against the ACC. This past weekend showed the Southeastern Conference taking 3 on the chin, as Georgia, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt fell to Atlantic Coast programs.

Now, I’m not judging a history that shows the SEC clearly more dominant. I’m looking at today, and the media’s so called “strength’s and weaknesses” simply aren’t there. As it is, in regard to power (or lack thereof), the ACC is represented by 4 programs in the current BCS standings, and the SEC just 3. For those insinuating that the ACC champion should not be worthy of an automatic BCS bid, I suggest you think again.

AP WATCH

With Oklahoma making the controversial leap over a Texas in the new BCS Standings, it’s time to go on “AP Watch”. The Associated press also crowns a national champion, and the Sooners didn’t make the jump in that Poll. As it is, the AP’s top two (Florida, Alabama) meet on a football field next week, and someone has to lose. This can move Texas into the second AP position, and possibly playing for a title in January. The championship hopes would then rest on their opponent. If OU slides into the BCS championship game, Texas would get a BCS bowl bid. But if the horns draw Utah, and beat them convincingly, I doubt it would be enough to overtake the winner of the BCS championship game, who would likely finish as the AP’s top program. They would need to face one of the more traditional powers to convince the voters to move them ahead of the SEC winner of the championship game or remain above a possible BCS champion Sooners team.  So, by the end of next week, we may see two Big 12 programs possibly aligned to win national titles in the same season.

TROUBLES IN TUBERVILLE

This isn’t the first time that Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville has been under fire. He was being forced out in 2003, with fans and boosters aggravated by the underachieving Tigers. One season later, he was king of the hill, going undefeated and winning the SEC. If you search for the difference between ’03 and ’04, you’ll also find the difference between this year and the last. Al Borges was hired as the Auburn offensive coordinator in 2004. He left the program last December.

DIGITS

Charlie Weis’ seat gets even hotter, with the Irish losing their 7th straight to rivals USC, and losing 15 games in a 2 year span, the worst in Notre Dame’s history.

Washington State surrendered 24 points in their loss to Hawaii, making it a season total of 570 points scored by opponents, an FBS record.

Alabama’s 36-0 victory over Auburn snapped a Tide 6 game losing streak to the Tigers, and marked the most lopsided series victory in 46 years.

The Cincinnati Bearcats will make their 1st ever BCS Bowl appearance, represented as the Big East champions.

Oklahoma has now scored 60 points or more in 4 consecutive games.

Maryland’s loss to Boston College was their 1st against ranked opponents this season. They are now 4-1.

Texas Tech scored 21 unanswered in their come from behind victory over Baylor.

Arizona State defeated UCLA 34-9 on Friday. The 2 teams combined for 0 offensive touchdowns, and the Sun Devils tied a major college record with 4 defensive scores in a single game.

Pittsburgh’s LeSean McCoy ran for a career high 183 yards in the Backyard Brawl victory over West Virginia.

After 14 weeks of football, 4 teams remain undefeated, Alabama, Utah, Boise State, and Ball State.

GALLOPING FINISH

Mississippi State- a farewell to Croom
Mississippi- bowling
Alabama- perfect
Oklahoma- lobbying pays
Texas- head scratching
Mizzou- in a spoiler role
UCLA- see above
Oregon State- biggest Bruins fans in the country
Oregon- still scoring
Tennessee- out with the old and in with the new
ACC championship game – will it sell out?
SEC championship game- there’s your playoff
Thanksgiving – tryptophan, ugh!