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Strange bedfellows: The BCS and the SEC + The NFL & CFB Picks
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Anyone who reads my scribbling on a regular basis knows how I feel about the BCS and all of its evil machinations. I have well documented my opinions regarding the need for a playoff system in major college football. I have also crowed long and loud regarding the preferential treatment that certain programs receive within the confines of the BCS. I don’t have to go into all of that again.
What I am going to delve into today is something that to the naked eye, is seedier than the BCS.
What I am talking about is a major conferences officials and administartion pandering to its elite teams in order to ensure that all three of them receive BCS berths.
I am of course talking about the SEC, its officiating and the way that a series of mysterious calls / no calls have had a way of benefiting Alabama, Florida or LSU. No other teams in the SEC have received any gifts from the boys in black and white. In fact, Georgia, Arkansas and Tennessee have essentially had ladders kicked out from under them in order to elevate the hyperbole that surrounds the big three.
I really wish that the evidence did not point the way that it does. I would really like to think that despite the corruption that is inherent in the BCS, that something of this nature would not have come to pass. But come to pass it has and I will leave it to your discriminating judgement as to whether you see things the way that I do or not.
The first incident occurred when Georgia wide receiver AJ Green was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for excessive celebration after he caught a pass for the go ahead touchdown against LSU. The problem was that Green really didn’t do any celebrating at all. His team mates did the celebrating and it was in no way excessive considering the circumstances.
Georgia was forced to kick off from their 15 yard line, thus setting LSU up in excellent field position, which led to a game winning score by the Tigers. That LSU win set up a #1 vs. #4 match up between Florida and LSU.
Here is the video
To start off with, I want to know why Georgia wasn’t penalized during its extra point attempt, rather than during the ensuing kick off??? It would seem that a penalty of that nature would be levied on the following play, rather than two plays later. I also want to know what “excessive celebration” entails. It can’t simply be a judgment call by a referee, can it??? There has to be some sort of guideline. These are young kids after all. As long as they don’t act like Miami of the eighties, I think that they are entitled to celebrate a little bit when they drive down the field and score what should have been a game winning touchdown.
The SEC came out the following Monday and admitted that the official had blown the call. That bent me the wrong way. The SEC’s admission did absolutely nothing to change the outcome of the game and Georgia still has an undeserved loss on their record. The boys from the SEC would have done better keeping their mouths shut.
The next week, the LSU and Florida game was pretty well officiated. Neither team was unduly strapped by the referees and the better team won.
The next time that an SEC officiating came to into the public eye was in the Florida – Arkansas game. Oddly enough, it was the same crew that had shoved it up and broke it off in Georgia a couple of weeks before.
This game was a gift to the Gators. That’s the only way that it can be described. I originally covered it here.
The Gators were the beneficiaries of a highly questionable pass interference call and an unnecessary roughness call that should have went against them. Both penalties served to keep the Gators drive for the go ahead score alive. During the same drive, blatant offensive pass interference by Gator receiver Riley Cooper went ignored by the officials.
Two days later that officiating crew was suspended from working SEC games until November. That seriously bent me. A game that would have done wonders for Bobby Petrino’s program at Arkansas was literally stolen away by the boys in black and white and all that the SEC could do was to levy a suspension against the crew that stole it from them. What about the potential recruiting boost that Petrino would have had if the officials would have let the game be decided by the players??? What about revenue from a better bowl game that the Razorbacks might have gotten into had they one more win on their record. What is the SEC going to do about those issues???
The result of the game can’t be changed. Arkansas still has an undeserved loss on their record and Florida is still number one in the nation.
Bull $%@#. Simply Bull $%@#.
This video covers a range of plays that benefitted the Gators
Last weekend, Alabama played Tennessee and another incident regarding a blocked field goal and a helmet being removed while the clock was ticking caused a lot of uproar.
Well, Tennessee folks, I hate to tell you, but the zebras got that one right.
However, if I were you, I’d be up in arms about the way that every time the Volunteers got anywhere near scoring position, a flag would be thrown on them for holding, an illegal shift or some other nebulous call that can be made on any given play. The Vols were penalized nine times during the contest. Alabama, despite being on the same field and being judged by the same officials were only cited once. A blind eye was turned to ‘Bama miscues on several occasions. The most shining example is that on one play, during Tennessee’s initial drive of the game, an Alabama player was two yards deep in the Volunteer back field when the ball was snapped. That infraction was duly ignored by the refs.
Coming into the game, Tennessee was the second least penalized team in the FCS. Alabama was right in the middle of the pack as the 66th least penalized team in the nation.
Given the controversy surrounding SEC officials, you have to wonder how the Crimson Tide managed to play such a clean game and how the Vols all of a sudden turned into Florida State.
Either way, the Tide still got the win. Nothing changes and the SEC gets to hold on to the top two spots in BCS.
When Lane Kiffin complained about the officiating of the game, the SEC’s reaction to this was to tell him to shut his pie hole or he would be suspended.
Later that day, another little gift was given to Florida. During the Mississippi St. game, Gator linebacker Dustin Doe intercepted an MSU pass and was headed for the end zone when he decided to do a little premature celebrating. He began high stepping and holding the ball as if it were a loaf of bread. An MSU player got to him just before he crossed the goal line and knocked the ball out of his hand and recovered it in the end zone. It was almost a replay of the Leon Lett / Don Beebe play from the 1992 Super Bowl.
You would think that it would be a touch back and MSU would have the ball at their twenty yard line, right???
Wrong!!! Gator touchdown….chalk up the six points.
Florida went on to win the game.
When Mississippi St, coach Dan Mullen complained about the call, which the officiating crew had ample time and video evidence to overturn, he was also told by the SEC to shut his yap, or else.
The MSU Incident
I for one want to know when questions are going to be answered about this string of “coincidences” that have blatantly favored SEC teams that are highly ranked. It is painfully obvious to the rest of the world that the SEC is dead set on having a #1 vs. #2 match up for the SEC title game and that conference representatives are willing to go to any length to insure that they get it.
There has even been talk of a Florida – Alabama match up for the National Championship game, regardless of who wins the SEC championship game.
In that scenario, Texas will end up with the short end of the stick… again. Unfortunately for the Longhorns, I don't think that anyone from the SEC or the BCS gives a rusty rat's rectum about whether Texas gets hosed again or not. If the BCS wants an all SEC National Championship Game, the numbers will be skewed in order to make an all SEC NCG happen.
Now my question is this:
Who is going to stop them???
The BCS won’t. The BCS encourages and even engages in this type of manipulation. The NCAA won’t stop it. The NCAA is a joke as far as college football goes. They do a fine job administrating field hockey and lacrosse, but they are toothless as far as the big time money sports go. They gave up any vestige of power that they had when they let Notre Dame cut its own television deal with NBC.
So, I ask, who is going to rectify this situation??? It seems to me that it has fallen to us, the general public that enjoys college football to throw the BS flag and tell the powers that be that we can’t stand for any more of this crap.
I for one want to see a college footballl team earn a championship rather than having one that is based on enrollment numbers and Nielson ratings spoon fed to it.
Raise your hand if you're ready to get on the band wagon.
The Picks:
WVU -3.5 over USF
Central Mich. +5 over BC
Ohio -7 over Ball St.
Georgia tech -13 over Vandy
Iowa St. +7 over Texas A&M
Toledo -6 over Miami, OH
South Carolina +6 Over Tennessee
Oregon +3 over USC
Houston -7.5 over Southern Mississippi
Miami -7.5 over Wake
UTEP -6.5 over UAB
Mizzou -3.5 over Colorado
Oklahoma St. +9.5 over Texas
NYG -2 Over Philly
Denver +3 over Baltimore
Houston -3.5 over Buffalo
Minnesota +3 over Green Bay
Miami +3 over NYJ
Jax +3 over Tennessee
As usual, thanks for stopping by and reading this tripe.
Peace
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