BCS - Not If You Lose, It's When You Lose

With the many, many flaws of the BCS scoring system, the one that really sticks out to me is how much the human element is taken into account with the polling formula. And, as we see year after year, when it comes to human rankings, it does not matter if you lose a game, it matters when you lose a game.

If Ohio State had lost to Washington early in the year and then ran the table and finished with the same 11-1 ranking, they would easily be ranked #3 in the nation in all polls. LSU would probably still get the nod at the #1 spot because of the timing of their loss and there is no denying that an undefeated Kansas deserves a #2 spot.

Ohio State deserves to be the #3 team in the nation just as much as West Virginia and Missouri, but because Ohio State lost late in the season, they immediately dropped the standard 5-7 spots in the polls. Once you fall, you can climb your way back up with losses ahead of you, because, they like you, will fall 5-7 spots. Lose early in the season though and you’re all set for a championship run. Lose late and you’re doomed.

This is reason for a playoff system alone. Regardless if it’s Ohio State that gets burned or Arizona State for losing late in the season or the many teams that have felt Ohio State’s pain in years past.

Additionally, Ohio State takes a pounding about their schedule, but is it really about their schedule or the simple fact that they happened to lose a game last year. I’m amazed at how many people are still in shock that Ohio State lost to Florida last year and because of this one loss, they are determined to point all fingers at the Big Ten schedule as the reason for the high rankings and continued winning ways.

Why doesn't West Virginia get this same treatment? Who have they beaten of any significance this year? Check out their mighty schedule and tell me it’s stronger than Ohio State’s. You can’t! As of today, West Virginia has beaten no currently ranked teams.

Kansas is undefeated and I can’t argue with that, regardless of how weak their Big 12 schedule has been. It has been a cake walk for Kansas though. Not one team of significance on the schedule. A couple Iowa / Purdue types, but a non-conference schedule that makes Akron and Kent State look like national powers on Ohio State's schedule.

Being from the same conference, Missouri’s schedule was also no stronger than Ohio State’s. They did play Oklahoma though and got beat.

I’m excited about this weekend and next weekend’s games, as it will be interesting. But I’ll continue to be unsatisfied with this system, like everyone it seems, until there is a playoff in place. And of all conferences to blame, the Big Ten is definitely most to blame for no playoff system. That’s the conference with The Big Ten Network, correct? Bad decision after bad decision and the fans (where the money comes from) are the ones that suffer.

Buckeyes Deserved the Booing Today

Congratulations to Ron Zook and Illinois. Out coached, outplayed and Ohio State goes and proves everyone outside of Ohio correct. Ohio State's defense got pushed around more than Bonnie Bernstein during the post game raucous.

Illinois was giving Ohio State the ball, giving it to them by punting on 4th and 1 with seven minutes left and what does Ohio State do? They call time-out because they don't have the right personnel on the field. Who in the world cares what personnel you have on the field during a punt? You need all the time-outs you can get and they are kicking the ball to you. The ball will be in your hands. You get the ball! Play with 5 guys on the field for Pete's sake. Just let the ball die and it's up to your offense to drive to victory. Horrible coaching.

The Buckeyes defense had all the chances in the world to make a stand in the second half. But not one 3rd down or 4th down stop at all. The number one defense in the country was just getting pushed around. Whatever happened to learning from the past? How many times does a team have to run a QB draw on 3rd down for a defense to figure out their is no chance the ball is going in the air? Evidently the Buckeyes defense and coaching staff is still trying to figure it out.

This is one of the most frustrating loses I have ever had to go through with Ohio State. Not because of the #1 ranking, being undefeated or because the other team was that great. It was just stupid decision after stupid decision all night long. Very poor management of time-outs on defense - one here, one there, another one here and now your all out.

Why throw the ball deep on the last interception? No need at all. Run, run, run, run, run, run! The running game was clicking full steam just as it has done all year in the second half of games. Get down and pound a defense to victory. But not today.

The season is far from over though. Ohio State should beat a weaker Michigan team on the road. They should roll them and with that, the Buckeyes will be in the Rose Bowl in a big time BCS game against a big-time opponent, possibly USC if Oregon goes on to the National Championship game. Would make for an interesting game and set-up for the home and home the Buckeyes have with the Trojans in 2008 & 2009.

I hate, hate, hate when my teams lose. No different than anyone else I guess. I'm going to bed. Yes, it's 4:40 in the afternoon.

10 Random Hump Day Sports Thoughts

1. ESPN2 will lead all cable channels in sports ratings tonight. Why? Akron U football is center stage.

2. America's number one sports channel could use a better college football analyst than The Bachelor.

3. I'm eating my words #1 - The Cavs are hurting and need some help. I love the win at Golden State last night, but tonight's game at Utah can tell a lot. Back-to-back road west coast games. Tough way to start season.

4. I'm eating my words #2 - Shannon Brown is disappointing and probably gone next year. Devin Brown is underachieving to date as well. Key to Cavs going all the way is with a Brown though - Coach Mike Brown. Get rid of him and this team has a chance.

5. I'm eating my words #3 - The Celtics are good, real good. The Nuggets are no pushover, but you wouldn't know that tonight. Not sure how Doc Rivers is doing it, but things are looking bright in Bean Town.

6. America hates Ohio State and Red Sox fans. Not so much because the teams have been pretty darn good lately, but because fans of both are the most arrogant there is about their winning ways. Go Bucks!

7. Thad Matta has created an NBA factory with Ohio State hoops and I support it 100%. Better it be O-H-I-O that figured it out, than that team up North.

8. The Sporting News reported a couple weeks ago on who may be the #1 pick in the NBA Draft next season. Yep, another Buckeye - Kosta Koufos. Best 7 foot offensive center in hoops and only a freshman.

9. The rich get richer. No, not the fact that the Patriots have the 49ers first round pick next year. How that happens, I don't know, but because Ohio State hoops have top five rated recruiting classes for 2008, 2009 & 2010. If Koufos goes #1, the Buckeyes could break unprecedented ground with five straight #1 freshman picks in the NBA Draft: 2007 - Greg Oden, 2008 - Kosta Koufos, 2009 - B.J. Mullens, 2010 - work in progress, 2011 - either DeShaun Thomas, Jared Sullinger or Trae Golden (all top 10 recruits). Could this actually happen, no. Am I an idiot, yes. Go Bucks!

10. How does a fantasy football team lose a game by the score of 126.56 to 126.52? Yes, how does a fantasy football team lose by .04 points in head to head play? Shoot me a line and I'll let you know.

How Good are these Akron Zips?

The Akron Zips football team is off to a good start this season with a 3-3 record. Like me, at first glance, most people would consider a 3-3 record as a big disappointment. Digging deeper into the Zips three losses tells a different story.

Their first loss came at the hands of the Nation's #3 team, Ohio State, in Columbus. Of note though, the Zips were in the game at half time and held Ohio State to a season low of 20 points. Akron turned right around and headed to the #29 team in the country, Indiana. Again, they played competitively, but were handed their second loss. Keep in mind that Indiana only has one loss this season and that loss came against Illinois, who are ranked 18th in the country and who have only one loss at the hands of Missouri, who are ranked 10th in the country and undefeated. The Zips 3rd loss came against Connecticut. Yes, Connecticut, the 34th best team in the country and one of only 10 undefeated teams left in D-1 football. And they are in the Big East.

The losses are justified, but where the question of just how good are these Zips is with the wins. They beat a bad Army team to start the year, won a hard fought game against local rival and pretty talented Kent State and won with a thrilling finish at Western Michigan. For those that haven't seen the finish, please play the video below. ESPN is saying the Zips may have an ESPY winner this year. Not big time wins by any means, but wins none the less.

It's always easy to keep up with the likes of Ohio State, but being on the West Coast, keeping up to speed on the Zips is a difficult one. I'm always sure to check up on two blogs that are all over the world of the Akron Zips - Rasor on the Zips and Morgan's MAC Attack. David Lee Morgan had a great quick hitter Monday on the Zips talented wide receiver Jabaru Arthur.

Through 6 games, Arthur has 49 catches for 642 yards and 7 touchdowns. His 107 yards per game is good for 8th best in the country. He is a Senior, so keep an eye on Arthur come the NFL draft next year.

As with everything, only time will tell how good this Zips team really is. They should roll over Temple to get to 4 wins, leaving them with 5 more games. If they can go 3-2 in those five games, finishing the season off with a 7-5 record, the bowls will have to look Akron's way.

**Get your votes in as well. Zippy has made it through 4 weeks and is in the final 12 of the Capital One Bowl Mascot Challenge. Zippy is up against Seymour from Southern Mississippi and with my vote is trailing by only 133 votes at 13882 to 13749. Get your vote in by clicking here!

Why Risk an Injury?

Why do teams insist on getting running backs 100 yards when a game is a blowout? Fantasy football fanatics love it in the pros, but in college football there are no fantasy fans to please and an injury to your best back could kill your season.

The Buckeyes have worked their way up to 8th in the rankings, are now considered the front runner in the Big Ten and today were dominating an overwhelmed Northwestern team going into the second half. But because Chris Wells only had 96 or so yards, the Buckeyes coaching staff decide they have to get him his 100 yard game. As fate would have it, Beanie gets his 100 yards, but he also limps off the field in extreme pain.

Things look like they will be alright, but what do the Buckeyes do if Wells wakes up in the morning with an ankle the size of his thighs? Brandon Saine is already on the shelf for a couple weeks after his surgery this week.

It's great that coaches try to pad a player's stats every now and again, but would Beanie rather have 96 yards and be in full health heading into next week or have his 101 yards and be hurting? Which would Ohio State and the fans rather have?

Stats are great, but the only one that counts in the end is wins and losses. If a game is in the bag, there really is no decision that should be made. You have to keep your starters on the bench. It only takes one play and hopefully that one play doesn't cost Beanie Wells and Ohio State heading into next week and the rest of the season.

The Media Needs to Calm Down

I guess Portland was picked to win the NBA Championship this year and I missed it. Greg Oden missing his rookie season does not mean the franchise should shut down, does not make Oden the worst #1 pick ever and does not mean his career is over. Oden was not drafted to make an immediate impact, but to bring great success to the franchise in the long-term.

How many rookies have ever, especially at Oden's age and with only one year of college, made that big of an impact in year one anyway. Lebron and Malone may be the only ones. Kobe certainly didn't and Amare, who Oden should be compared to the most now, didn't take his team to the promise land.

Oden has been and will be a work in progress. He was pushed around a lot in college, was not even the most valuable player on Ohio State's team last year and has a long way to go. I'm sure Portland understood this, but the media never has for some reason. He's a big man and will fill out nicely in around 5 to 6 years, but his rookie year in the NBA was going to be a rough one. Portland needs to stuff as much food in this guy as possible this year and have him working out 3 times a day.

Portland was going no where this year anyway. You can't throw all these new faces on a team and expect them to gel and win right off the bat. They will win and win with Oden, but they are still years away. Looking long-term as Portland is, getting another high draft pick next year may be the best thing that could happen to them. You just can't build dynasties with free agency in the NBA.

USF Proves Florida is tops in HS Football

Being from Ohio it's unthinkable for me to believe that any other state, be it CA, PA, TX or FL is more dominant than Ohio when it comes to High School football. Kirk Herbstreit is definitely on this same page. But what proves that both Kirk and Swope Blog are wrong is the emergence of the University of South Florida football program. They clearly prove that Florida is the dominant state in high school football.

The USF football program has only existed for three years and already they are one of the top programs in the country. There are hundreds of programs around the country that have been at it for hundreds of years and still can't compete with major football programs. Ohio has many schools that fit into that category including Toledo, Miami (OH), Akron, Kent State, Cincinnati (getting there), Ohio U, Bowling Green and more. But, USF does it in three years? They did it because of the talent right in their own backyard, something Ohio just doesn't have any more.

Programs are built, rebuilt and sustained with in-state talent. Florida is absolutely loaded with in-state talent year after year. Separate from all the recruits that stay in-state to play ball, take into account all of the players that leave Florida each year for major programs throughout the country. Ohio State lands just about all the 4 or 5 star recruits the state of Ohio has, with very few big time prospects left over.

USF is also competing against 3 major programs in-state for recruits in Florida, Miami and Florida State. Even after losing the best of the best to the big boy's in-state and throughout the country, they still have 97 players on their current roster that played high school football in Florida (not all active for games of course). Using The University of Akron as an example, they have 34 in-state players, but what's even more telling of the lack of talent in Ohio compared to Florida, is that Akron has 12 players from the state of Florida. The high school throw aways that Ohio State doesn't want are just that - throw aways. Ohio just doesn't have the talent and has no where near the deep talent pool that Florida has.

Florida may not have the same tradition that Ohio has with high school football, but one thing is for certain, Florida does have better high school football.