Conference Title Game Seen as an Obstacle

[clevfan]

November 26, 2007
Conference Title Game Seen as an Obstacle
By PETE THAMEL
NY TIMES

In a college football season that has rendered predictions and prognosticators nearly useless, there is still the comfort of one certainty: There will be controversy over which two teams play for the national title.

The situation sure to rile up folks, especially those in Southeastern Conference country, appears the most likely to play out. If West Virginia beats Pittsburgh on Saturday and Oklahoma beats Missouri in the Big 12 championship game, as the teams are favored to do, teams from the Big East Conference and the Big Ten Conference will play for the national title.

This is noteworthy for two reasons. The first is that those conferences are considered the weakest of the six major conferences. The second is that neither conference has a title game as the Big 12, the SEC and the Atlantic Coast Conference do.

“The two most important things to have are a good schedule and no conference playoff,” said Danny Sheridan, the sports analyst and oddsmaker. “It’s very uneven. It’s not a fair playing field.”

A look at the breakdown of the teams in the Bowl Championship Series standings shows that West Virginia is the only Big East team in the top 20. The Mountaineers won the conference title by beating Connecticut, a team that Sheridan said could be beaten by “a high school team in Alabama.” He said a combination of the best players on Connecticut and Pittsburgh still could not beat a middle-of-the-road team in the SEC. Whether that is hyperbole or fact, it is clear that neither the Big East nor the Big Ten is perceived very well.

The Big Ten’s reputation has been hammered this season since Michigan, which was ranked No. 5 in the preseason, lost to Appalachian State in the opener. Ohio State’s out-of-conference schedule of Youngstown State, Kent State, Akron and Washington did not give many people faith in the Buckeyes, who are ranked third in the B.C.S.

The Buckeyes (11-1) have not played since beating Michigan on Nov. 17 and can do nothing but tune in and root for the Sooners on Saturday night.

A victory in the SEC title game last season helped propel Florida to the national title game by giving voters a showcase to see the team one final time. The victory helped the Gators jump Michigan in the final B.C.S. standings, and they went on to rout Ohio State for the national championship.

This season, the SEC’s only shot at having a team in the title game would be if Missouri and West Virginia lose. Even in this most improbable of seasons, that result seems unlikely. And who would move up — Georgia, which is No. 4 in the B.C.S., or No. 7 L.S.U. — if it wins the SEC title?

“I think there’s advantages and disadvantages to having a championship game,” said the Big East commissioner, Mike Tranghese. “It brings exposure and an incredible amount of revenue. You can play your way in and you can also play your way out.

“The size of the Big East and the Big Ten allow us not to have a championship game. Once you get to 12 teams, there’s no other way of settling it.”

According to Sheridan and others around the country, there may be no settling who the best team in the country is this season, either.

“West Virginia and Missouri are not the two best teams in the country,” Sheridan said. “I think it’s safe to say when the final two teams have emerged, it’s not a fair playing field.”

Making Up Ground

West Virginia quarterback Pat White probably made his loudest statement toward winning the Heisman Trophy on Saturday.

He had a maestrolike performance, directing an offense that ran for 517 yards.

White, though, spent a majority of the afternoon throwing up. He said he was not sure if it was something he ate or if he had a flu.

“All I know is I can’t keep anything down,” White, a junior, said.

Even with that, Connecticut could not keep him down. White ran for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns on 16 carries.

White’s running partner, the junior tailback Steve Slaton, did not have as productive a day as usual.

He ran for 54 yards on 10 carries, but might have done his best work as a blocking tailback. West Virginia Coach Rich Rodriguez said that he used Slaton in a new two-back formation with the freshman Noel Devine to give UConn a new look.

Devine showed his potential by rushing for 118 yards on 11 carries. And some of that came with Slaton’s help.

“I want to mention that,” Rodriguez said of Devine’s success. “When he was making some of his big runs, Steve Slaton was making some of the best blocks.”

He added, “The unselfishness of that is pretty neat to watch.”

Coaches Wanted

The other predictable part of this season is the number of job openings. Some of the wild events of this season may have led some coaches off the sideline. Michigan stunningly lost its season opener to Appalachian State, a Football Championship Subdivision team. While Lloyd Carr said he had decided before the season to retire, the drumbeat for him to step down steadily increased with that loss.

Texas A&M and Nebraska lost to Kansas, a perennial doormat that turned into a Big 12 power. Those losses surely did not help the fate of Aggies Coach Dennis Franchione, who resigned, and Cornhuskers Coach Bill Callahan, who was fired.

With so many teams flirting with the top of the polls this season, it was inevitable that fans would think their team could get there, too.

“People see Missouri’s up there in the top 10 in the nation and you’re sitting at a program that might have a better budget or that has won on a consistent basis more and you’re saying: ‘Why are they winning? Why aren’t we winning at that level?’” Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel said in a telephone interview. “All those pressures make a difference.”