Basketball student sections

In the spirit of college football being is officially over for the season, I present my collated (incomplete) list of college basketball student section names. It took me a couple of weekends to put this together; some of these are tough to find and others are quite fluid with their names. Additions and corrections are warmly welcomed. Help me complete this list!

Tennis the menace

I secretly love sports. Watching football and basketball is fun but playing just about any sport is awesome (except for when you play with competitive killjoys). I signed up for a new intramural league sport every semester in grad school and that turned out to be quite useful in a jack of all trades sort of way. I blew my knee out a couple of years back though, as a result of which there is a narrower range of sports that I can play now. No cutting-jumping motions - so no badminton, football, ultimate frisbee, soccer, basketball, and sprinting. Unfortunately those were my favorite sports and now I was forced to find new ones that fit better. I can still play racquetball, racquetball is fun.

I have been trying to get a grip on tennis for close to six years now and most of my best cricketing shots have happened on a tennis court. The muscle memory from playing other racquet sports makes you even more clumsy on the tennis court. Only recently I have managed to get enough of touch that I can actually return a hittable ball to the opponent. But my play is not of exhibition quality, so I mostly pick late evenings and hidden courts to do my dance.

This week, we started playing at the apartment complex court at about 8:30 pm. Twenty minutes in, I was starting to find a groove. A couple of rallies happened. 'I must be getting better at this', I reflected. Just that moment, a balding man with a white t-shirt and frayed shorts walked up to the enclosure. He said something inaudible, so I moved closer. And then the horrifying thing happened.

"Can my son play with you guys?", he requested. He moved aside to reveal a scrawny 8-year old kid clutching a racquet, his pockets bulging with tennis balls. Ignoring all niceties, I inquired seriously, "how good are you?". "Actually, I'm really good", the kid replied nervously. I spat inside my mouth and probably made a face too. "Why not?" my wife said and the kid propped open the gate and entered the enclosure. "Thanks", said the dad and stayed outside to watch.

Now I don't really hate kids and I definitely don't mind playing with them. I just have some scars from my past. I remember playing a reluctant chess game with my (then) 6-year old cousin when I was about 17. He beat me in less than ten moves. Thrice. It hurt bad. I am a pretty competitive person, it is just that I am also simply incompetent. The sensitive ego makes it worse. From then on, I restricted myself to handicap games that still look fair.

So I now had to manage this crisis. I signaled for my wife to join my side of the court. The kid held two balls in his hand. It was surprising that he could fit one in those tiny hands but he held one firmly and bounced the other one on the ground in preparation. He arched back in a perfect semi-circle and let loose his cannon serve at me as I skipped slightly in my spot so nobody would notice me shivering.

BANG! It rammed into the net. I smiled in relief. BANG! The second serve hit the net too. And a third. And a fourth. "Can I just serve like this instead?", the kid asked nervously and motioned to make an underarm serve. "Is that allowed?", I asked my wife with a grin. She ignored me and nodded at the kid.

It was not too bad a game as things turned out. I let the wife serve the entire time. This kid had a talent for apologizing for everything. He raced around the court to take my erratic returns, often with a sorry when he missed (and I chuckled). The dad got his workout around the court enclosure as he picked up and returned balls from my home runs back to the park. I noticed that my wife was a better player than I thought. With a proper opponent, she was able to hit the ball back with a lot of zip on it (though she did not get as many apologies as I did. Ha!). I mostly stared at them play, occasionally chipping in and making the kid run more. Half hour later, it was over and we walked home. I was still grinning.

Lets do this again sometime kid.

 

Swag rag

I absolutely detest douchebag fans. Every last one of them. The ones that will wear a Michigan jersey to a Florida-Florida state game just because. 

I recently met one at an IU-Michigan State football game.

It was a freezing but bright fall Saturday morning. I trekked up College Ave. to the tailgating grounds to meet Lisa and company. The new rotation student Drew had a spot for us with hot breakfast and cold beer. I was a bit surprised by the large turnout all the way up College Ave. and at the tailgating grounds. IU fans had pride; it would take some effort for me to do this chilly outing even in Gainesville, FL. I found my bunch at the tailgate spot and met some new people. Within five minutes I struck up an intense conversation with David, another first year grad student. David was stroking the coals in the bbq rack and seemed to enjoy talking about recruiting classes and 3-3-5 defenses as much as I did, and a mutual respect was quickly seeded and growing. We were talking about pass-catching half backs when we were rudely distracted by a drunk Michigan State contingent in their merry green. We both rolled our eyes and I told David about my thoughts on douchebag fans.

"I saw a Michigan fan like that once. I hate Michigan fans."

"Really?" said David and pulled off his black sweatshirt to reveal an eye-blinding maize T-shirt with blue writing on it - 'Wolverines'.

He was a Michigan fan? But he was cool to talk to! One hasty switch of topics later, I caught Lisa's eye and signaled to her that I wanted to go scalp tickets. We left immediately and I poured to her on the way what I thought about douchebag fans and she sniggered politely.

The tickets were scalped and we were surveying the tailgating scene as we made our way back to Drew's truck. I was really very impressed with the number of people in Indiana Crimson all around. IU has always had an awful football team and these fans really had to either be clueless or just plain stupid to brave this weather to watch them lose to a mediocre Michigan State team. And tailgating before that? Man are they nuts!

We almost reached the truck when I saw him. He was walking up past the intersection of College Ave. and Madison, a stocky guy with short hair, a beer belly and a Nike Pro combat orange and blue jersey from the the 2009 Florida-Florida state game. A Florida fan!! I yelled out to him "Go Gators baby!!!" (scaring Lisa to an inch of her life in the process) and unzipped my faux-leather jacket to reveal a bright orange T-shirt with blue streaks and a roaring alligator logo. I ran over to him as he noticed what was happening and we screamed as we did a chest bump followed by several gator chomps at everyone staring at our war dance.

Yeah I met a douchebag fan that day. That douchebag fan was me.

******

My thoughts go out to anyone that has ever been hurt by arms. I am not smart or motivated enough to drone on about gun control and therapy for criminals but somewhere in the reactions and the political debate, the value for a life lost is shamefully neglected. Let us not sensationalize, politicize or commercialize sadness. The human condition has a responsibility to be better than that.

What is in a name

I have everything that a 27 year old needs. Except for a badass nickname. It matters! Look at what I have to use instead.

Someone came up with a pretty researched list of sporting nicknames a while ago. Here are my personal favorites. And I hate all of you in no specific order.

10. Rahul Dravid - The wall

9. Lionel Messi - La Pulga Atómica

8. John White - The wolfman

7. Usain Bolt -                            
(He doesn't need one. See what I mean? Are you reading this pa?)

6. Marshawn Lynch - Beast mode

5. Kobe Bryant - The black mamba

4. Tim Tebow, Dwight Howard - Superman

3. Sachin Tendulkar - God

2. Tyrann Mathiu - The honey badger

1. Calvin Johnson - Megatron

On loop this week

Brain on the rain

A collection of demotivators made over the years.

What has been on loop:

Midnight inspiration

There once met the Huskies and the Huskers
On the gridiron like raging tuskers
But the predictions got beat
and the corn got eat
and the huskees had become the Huskers

-Based on the 2011 Holiday Bowl

Spread the word

Pro-style or spread offense?

The spread offense has been given this brash new upstart persona even though the concept has been around for close to a century. It could be because most of the teams that are emerging in recent years to national prominence are mostly employing some form of the spread. Or it could be because most opinions on a spread offense are at extreme ends - it either works wonders or fails miserably. Pro-style offensive systems are a lot less under fire with them being called dinosaurs at worst.

The incorrect use of the words spread and shotgun interchangeably can really be confusing. Though the basics of the spread offense starts at the offensive formation, it is not about how the snaps are taken. Both pro-style and spread offenses can be run out of the I-formation, the shotgun or what have you. A pro-style offense is about balance. It is about utilizing your talent to beat the opponent. Whether the QB takes the snap under center or in the shotgun, it is how he goes through his reads and picks the right receiver to pass to. It is about how the receivers' complicated yet complete route running skills are utilized. It is about how you play physical smash mouth football to beat the opponent. The focal point of a spread offense on the other hand is to create mismatches and open routes up for running or passing the ball.

A spread running offense primarily utilizes the read option to create mismatches either in size or speed. For success in that set, nimble speedy backs, big-sized pass catching tight ends and a quarterback who can also run the ball would be ideal. The 2009 Florida Gators team is a typical example of a spread run-first offense with speedy backs in Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey, a big sure-handed tight end in Aaron Hernandez and a running QB in Tim Tebow. A spread passing offense on the other hand focusses on using a stable talented receivers with a quick releasing and accurate QB. These offenses tend to create big passing numbers by beating the secondary with speed, size and sound catching ability. Most passes are quick and sometimes premeditated, before the pass rush gets to the QB. Most of the successful big 12 teams use this style but a typical example is the the 2007 and 2008 Texas Tech Red Raiders team with Michael Crabtree and Graham Harrell putting up some serious numbers.

A pro-style offense can also depend more on the run or passing ability based on personell and the nature of the defense. A typical run-based pro-style offense would be the 2009 Alabama Crimson Tide team which won the national championship despite only 58 passing yards in the game. The victory was all about the supremely talented Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson breaking through tackles and running straight through defenders. A typical pro-style passing offense would be the 2009 Notre Dame team with QB Jimmy Clausen, WRs Golden Tate and Michael Floyd and TE Kyle Rudolph. Clausen put up big passing numbers with Golden Tate winning a number of close games but the Irish defense failed to show up through the season.

The success of a spread offense would definitely depend on how good the players are and how effectively they suit the system but it also depends critically on how many mismatches are possible with a given defense. And because of that it is true to a certain extent that a primarily spread-based offense may not succeed as an NFL system. However the spread systems cannot be simply dismissed that way.

The reason for the feeling that a spread may have limited success in the NFL goes back to the original focal point of a spread offense. To create mismatches. Now a spread offense where Jeff Demps was faster, Hernandez was bigger and Tebow was more powerful than most defenders allowed the gator offense to sneak past most college defenses where many players are simply average quality or lesser but talent-loaded NFL teams with defenders that have Tebow's size and close to Demps' speed (the kid is really the fastest!) would not have a very hard time stopping at least Demps (Tebow is still more powerful) and handicapping the spread attack. This is evidenced by how the speed of Demps and Rainey were negated by top defenses like Alabama. A top-quality secondary with ball hawks like Troy Polamalu would make life extremely difficult for Graham Harrell or Colt Brennan's passing ability with both speed, size and power in the secondary. The bottom line is that there are few cracks in an NFL defense to exploit because they are made of the choicest players.

However still, there are a number of myths about spread offenses and spread offense players that are unnecessarily out there. For starters, there was a belief that talent in a spread offense, especially from a QB or WR spot does not translate to the NFL; the big numbers generated are simply side-effects of the system against bad defenses. While it is true that pro-style routes and progressions are very different from the spread, and some NFL teams may like players with experience in pro-style routes, it still does not negate the ability of a player to adapt to a new playing style. The top rookie receivers from the 2009 NFL draft - Jeremy Maclin, Michael Crabtree and Percy Harvin all came from spread offenses and had decent success with one of them even winning rookie of the year. Vince Young with his exceptional running and passing ability won similar honors in his rookie year and now is the starting QB for the Tennessee Titans. There are numerous such examples of non-prototypical players who have come through by sheer talent and ability. It was believed that Urban Meyer's spread experiment at Florida in 2005 would never work against SEC defenses. Suffice to say 5 years later that Urban's offenses are not doubted so much anymore.

So is a pro-style better than a spread offense? The 2009 Crimson Tide team after demolishing the Gators at the SEC championship would certainly like to claim so. But a match-up the previous year between more or less the same roster ended with a win for the spread-happy Gators. The 2009 Oregon Ducks offense was all over a well-rated USC Trojan defense while the acclaimed Trojan offense with Damien Williams, Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford could barely get within 30 points of the Ducks. The plays are call to the players strengths but it is who played well on that day and made the catches, tackles and runs.

A match-up of different playing styles only creates intrigue and nothing more. Whether you run the pro-style, the west coast, the run-option, the air-raid, the triple threat, the run and shoot, the wildcat or simply mix it up, make sure you bring your best on gameday because that is all that matters.

My biased perspective

I am a very faithful fan of the Florida Gators.

However I still somehow like all their rivals. I would root for the Seminoles, the Vols, the Bulldogs and the Tigers on every other game. I love their uniforms and their traditions. The one rival I dislike is the Miami Hurricanes. Bad orange uniforms and too much cockiness in the name of swagger (the U? really?). All the other rivals have more swagger than you without mentioning it. I love FSU's uniforms. I love Neyland stadium. It is bigger than anything I have seen. I love game nights at Tiger stadium. I love Georgia for being the quintessential SEC team.

I "hate" most traditional powers. That means you Ohio state, OU, USC, Notre Dame, Michigan and Alabama. You are the lot that has exploited the capitalist nature of college football over the years and will continue to do so. I do not think much of your traditions and I will always root against you even if you play each other. I hate your cocky fans. I somehow have still managed to like Texas because they have great uniforms. I like Texas' fight song and the hook'em horns sign. I hate you the most Notre Dame. For someone what has not won a bowl game in twenty years, you have way too much time, money and media focus invested on you just because you did well before the cold war started.

I hate most of the Big Ten because they marginalize a lot of money and still perform badly. You are arrogant because you have eleven members and still call yourself ten because you want to. I hate Ohio state's blinding scarlet uniforms (with grey!). I hate Michigan and its fans and hope they have another bowl-less year. Somehow despite all their acclaimed tradition some logic still does not sit with me. You are called the wolverines but have no mascot. Your slogan is not go Wolverines but go blue and thats not your mascot either! Is it because you cannot make up your mind on which yellow is yours - maize or chrome or whatever else your fans show up in? If I wanted to see all the different yellow hues in the world, I would go to Michigan stadium. Even your official site is mgoblue.com! Awesome.

I however do like Wisconsin, Penn state and Michigan State because they are smart recruiters and do a good job with their colors. I love Wisconsin's jump around. I love the Penn state white out. Michigan state a lot less because its a traditional basketball power. I do not like it when a basketball school does well in football too. So I sometimes root against you Blue Devils, Tar Heels, Spartans, Wildcats, Bruins and a lot of the Big East. You have your seats in basketball, let football belong to some others. I like Illinois. I do not know why though. Probably because they had somebody called Juice Williams play for them.

I do not like the monopoly that is coming to the SEC. It is like the SEC is becoming the new big ten. But it still has become the peak performer in recent years and is relatively less polarized than the other big conferences (except for in 2009). I do not like the polarized Pac-10. It should have been renamed to 'USC and its minions'. I love Washington because they have the loudest stadium in football. I love Oregon state because they have the potential to beat anyone. I like the Sun Devils for some reason. I love the Bruins because of their rivalry with USC. If your home ground is the Rose Bowl, you are balling. I like Cal's logo and new uniforms. At some moments, I hate USC more than I hate religious fundamentalism. I hated you for O. J. Simpson, I hated you for your recruiting and I hated you for a thug called Rey Maualuga. Now I hate you even more for Lane Kiffin. I love your fight song though. Oregon. I don't know man. I liked Oregon in 2007 because you were an emergent power and had some nice new uniforms. And then you dropped an axe on your own toes. You have these awful new uniforms. Nobody knows what your colors are anymore. Even the day you actually wear green and yellow, it does not match what your fans show up in. You seem to have become Nike's guinea pig. They even messed with your mascot for a while. I don't know what to make of you. But a rivalry game called the Civil War is good. I root every year for the beavers though because their uniforms are relatively less gay.

I like the ACC despite Miami because of FSU and Virginia Tech. I love the blue-collar attitude of the Hokies. I love the Enter Sandman pump-up entrance. I like the seminole war chant. I would have loved Clemson if it was not for that god awful purple that they throw in with the orange. I have already shared my views on that with Divya.

I like Cincinnati's emerging program. I like Baylor's jerseys. I like Texas Tech trying to hold its own in the big 12 south. I like Iowa doing the same up north. I do not like Arizona and Oklahoma state for some odd reason. Despite the recent bad record and the easy mockery, Gamecock fans are still loyal and make a great atmosphere and for that I love South Carolina.

I like spread offenses but I like traditional-arm quarterbacks like Colt McCoy. I like it if quarterbacks run more than they throw unless it is an zone-read option play. I like big running backs like John Clay. I like catching tight-ends like Jermaine Grisham. I like tall recievers like David Nelson. I like strong linebackers like Eric Norwood. I like unconventional defensive-backs like Joe Haden. I like one-man army linemen like Ndamukong Suh.

I wish every year that a new team win the national championship though I would not mind it at all if the gators won again. This year, my secret wish is for the Boise State Broncos to win it. With 21/22 returning from a brilliant season, no less can be expected. I like all the non-BCS schools whether the perform well or not. I have a special like for Utah, TCU, Fresno State and Buffalo. I love Buffalo's colors. I love the fact that they turned down a bowl game in protest of racist college football rules.

I do not like the high end capitalist nature of college football. I like the NFL for its relatively socialist policies. I do not have a particular team to follow so I generally root for someone that has not won a superbowl before. Of the ones that have, I like the Colts because of their old-school feel.

I like my views.

Some offensive theory

Well, you start with recruiting, and the interim coaches, with help from Urban, seem to have done their best to fill holes because you cannot coach talent. What you have to do however is run an offense and defense to suit them. What I love most about Urban Meyer is that he is smart and knows what he wants. He does not recruit a top-class player who does not fit his system but is just too good a playmaker not to have (google: Russell Sheppard, LSU). Meyer even knows how to recruit a complete nobody and turn him into a complete freak (google: Joe Haden - from passing quarterback to monster cornerback).

Meyer's coaching philosophy has a clear framework. 3-4 defense with tall, agile defensive ends and athletic, powerful defensive backs. Spread offense from the shotgun formation. Excellent special teams.

Charlie Strong's pro-style 3-4 defense changes little after his departure with NFL import Teryl Austin taking on his duties. The young defense will still be loaded with heavy talent and not much should look amiss despite the personnel lost. There is not much doubt about the defensive production from the current roster.

What needs to be more addressed is changes on offense. How do you account for the loss of Tim Tebow and the still missed Percy Harvin?

Contrary to popular belief, Urban Meyer's offense is not about pure spread option. In fact it is not about spread at all. It all starts with watching tape. Meyer's offense is about exploiting the defense's weaknesses and doing that with speed. So if you block the run, the passing game will be used to spread the field out and create running lanes (google: Purdue spread). If the secondary steps closer, the run is established to create space for the recievers (google: Northwestern spread). Throw in some zone-read option for short yardage and red-zone offense and you still have a very rudimentary understanding of Meyer's spread offense.

Meyer's true genius is not because he adapted spread elements to the shotgun formation but because he can run any style of offense from the shotgun. In the 2008 SEC championship game, the gators faced a run-stuffing, physical Bama squad that was ready to defend the speed option that Meyer's team used so often that year. Instead, Meyer used a completely out of character West-coast offense for three quarters (except for he ran it out of the shotgun) and had Tebow throw accurate and short passes to the most eligible reciever within a small-window, very close to the defender and he accomplished all of this without Percy Harvin. During the 2009 Sugar Bowl, he executed a high efficiency air-raid offense, something that most critics claimed that Tebow never fit.

The point is that spread is not the focus of Urban Meyer's offense. It is simply the use of talent to exploit the defense's weakness. He just seems to like using the spread out the shotgun more often. And that is why Meyer's offense is hard to defend. You do not know how to prepare if you don't know what you will be served.

So how does Meyer use this philosophy to account for these offensive changes besides just recruiting the best?

It has always been thought that a dual-threat quarterback like Tebow forms the centrepiece of Meyer's offense. Most spread offenses could use that and certainly Meyer's was no exception. However, he still won a national championship with a pure passer in Chris Leak. What has been most consistent with Meyer's offensive schemes through the years is the feature catching tight-end. Though this has been well under the radar until recently, Cornelius Ingram and Aaron Hernandez have had a lion's share in establishing the potency of their offenses. A catching tight-end creates such size mismatches that even a short pass guarantees an additional seven yards. Meyer exploits this heavily with the spread creating one-on-one match-ups. Very little can be done to defend these size mismatches and look for Meyer to continue using a punishing tight-end in Gerald Christian.

Meyer's teams have never had a feature reciever or running back with great yardage over the season. Even the spectacular Percy Harvin never made more than 900 yards recieving or rushing in any season. This is often blamed on the fact that Tebow carries the ball so much and that, in part, is true. However the real reason is the fact that Meyer does not really look to have such a featured back or reciever. In fact, Meyer tries to spread the ball around to different players so much, everytime the ball is snapped, you have a different offense coming at you. That is why a stable of speedy athletes have been recruited every year.

So how do you run an offense with a more pure passer in Johnny Brantley? Do you become more of a passing offense? Actually you don't. You first move Chris Rainey to the slot position and use his speed and deception for big plays. Use Andre DeBose, Chris Dunkley, Deonte Thompson and Frankie Hammond Jr. with a host of others at the two other reciever positions. Use Emmanuel Moody and Mack Brown t0 establish a power running game and use Jeff Demps to turn corners and for bubble screens. Make Mike Gillislee the feature punt and kick returner. Keep using the catching tight-end on important downs. Do not lose the zone-read option. Use Demps and Rainey out of the T-formation (in the shotgun!) for a zone-read/direct snap option with Johnny Brantley running a blocking route to the slot. And finally use Brantley's feet much like how Texas uses Colt McCoy when the play breaks down, the guy can run. Do this and there will be forty points a game again.

Build an offense around the talents of the players Coach Meyer. As always.

Some thoughts about the coming year

So, one of the greatest college football players - Tim Tebow is gone. With a host of other defensive and offensive playmakers that formed the winningest class in the SEC. The Gators start a new year with a new roster and a tough schedule with LSU, FSU, Bama, Georgia, Tennessee, an improved South Carolina and USF involved. Coach Meyer's health is drawing a lot of critics to dismiss Florida's chances this year. What record would you predict for this team? 9 wins? Maybe less?

It probably does not matter. Obviously no team contends for a national championship annually. Even if a team could be a potential contender (google: Boise State), the fiscal gods have to will your presence at the championship meeting. For all other bowl teams, the week between the regular season and the bowl allotment day seems to be good enough to forget the failure to make the podium and prepare to hate a future opponent. The flawed, yet unchanging BCS system will ensure that at the end of the year, a profitably matching opponent is drawn for the gators. Win the bowl game and one is happy. The fan mindset can change much quicker than most people think. Fans of the Michigan Wolverines - the winningest team in the history of the game - may possibly get a chance to celebrate bowl eigibility and I guarantee you, they will celebrate it like they have never made a bowl game. So what would determine a general satisfaction quotient with any current team?

Answer - respect. You get that with a 6-6 season, you are thrilled. However, since sport allows for show of undiluted, primitive hate and love, getting respect can be tricky business. The 2008 7-6 Vanderbilt team definitely got more respect than a more talented 2009 13-1 Florida team that went through its regular season unbeaten. Wins in big games can earn some love but what fans like most is drama, charisma and good, old-fashioned razzle-dazzle to keep them happy. That is probably why, despite just a single loss to the eventual national champion, the Gators look so ordinary all season.

So does Urban Meyer need to win a national championship again this year to bring it all back? Actually no, that would increase the hate for the Gators. What Urban would have to do is win against the biggies - Alabama and LSU and let slip a couple of losses to a good team like Georgia or South Carolina. And win the bowl game. Somehow, that does wonders for the off-season and builds up for an exciting and media-loved following year. Losing to a good team is easy but how do you beat the defending champions on their home-field? How do you account for the loss of so many stars and the one and only Tim Tebow? Next post.

Wiki war

Probably from a Gophers fan

Alien Vs He15man

Goosebumps

Aw Shaddup

The pity fest for the Utah Utes over their BCS title denial and the subsequent BCS bashing over the last six months had not disturbed me until today when I saw an interview of Utah senator Orrin Hatch who has been at the helm of the crying.

Yes Utah went 13 and out and indeed it has been a tremendous effort to go from unranked to #2 on the AP poll (#4 on the Coaches poll). Coach Whittingham has done a great job in repeating Coach Meyer's 2004 effort and I hail the Utes - Sugar Bowl champions. However, demanding a title shot over forefront teams Texas, USC, Oklahoma and Florida and whining and crying over it still is unreasonable.

Utah like all the other 1-A teams signed a contract with the BCS for that year stating their satisfaction and association with its rules. It thus is evident to them and everyone else that this system would demand a high quality schedule strength, dominant performance and all-round ability to contend for the national title. Utah scheduled just two BCS opponents - an all time low Michigan team that lost also to Toledo amongst others in their unfortunate 3-9 run and an Oregon state team that was unpredictable from start to end. That allows very less risk tolerance to Utah and tells me clearly that Utah never wished to contend with the bigwigs when they scheduled. Part of the scheduling included Utah backing out of a game with Texas. The rest of it was made of MWC minnows that all did nothing but play each other to win (with the exception of a Wyoming team that beat a fully depowered Tennessee team; BYU achieved the bowl game that it lost without beating a single quality team). Texas scheduled Oklahoma (which ended in the national championship), amongst nine other quality BCS opponents. USC played all BCS opponents including Ohio State which ended up in a BCS bowl almost winning against Texas. Oklahoma trounced through its brutal schedule which included a 35-10 blow out of a TCU team that Utah barely scraped through. Florida blew out reigning champion LSU and preseason #1 Georgia, amongst eleven other BCS opponents six of which won their bowl games. If computers had made an error in assessing the intangible reasons for Utah's title game qualification then the remaining human poll based assessments (which is 2/3s of the final positioning) were still unconvinced.

Utah fans must, as voluntary members of the BCS system, realize that a perennial power does not become one just in a day by throwing greens at the pollsters. They make the position because they schedule and play other perennial powers year in and out and prove themselves on the gridiron every year to retain their positions. No matter how much money a school has, on the gridiron the money or recruiting does not make them play. Ask Notre Dame who have been recruiting splendidly for a long as they have existed and still won only their first bowl game in 16 years in 2009. Ask Michigan whose 3-9 record was made by a top 15 recruiting class. A school with the contention quality of Texas, USC and Oklahoma is made only because they establish themselves by winning through a season or more of murderous scheduling. Bigger schools are in fact equal or bigger victims of the flaws of the BCS because they cannot afford mistakes despite their brutal schedules. Would Florida or USC have made the title game with Utah's schedule just because of their current legacy? Rhetorical question. No.

Until the end of the Sugar Bowl there was not a word from the Utes or the senator on their dissatisfaction with the BCS. But immediately after the victory, the Utes' pride swelled beyond the point that their brains could retain control and they belted out on their prerogative to everyone and their brother. That, without a doubt, remains a blind and irrational argument from the Utes and their fans and it definitely is not going to help their future progression.

Whatever the BCS system may be, it is better than its predecessor - the basic poll system. There actually is a proper national championship game to settle that final argument. The teams that ended up in the national championship have been teams that dominated a brutal schedule and emerged running. However, it has a lot of holes and complicated flaws and therefore every year there are teams that are unsatisfied with its verdict and claim to be victims of its convolutions. Nevertheless Utah cannot be one of them. Indeed if there were a team that had the right to complain, it was USC, with its top ranked defense, highly ranked offense and dominant performance against eleven purely BCS opponents 5 of which won their bowl games.

That said, for sure the BCS system is flawed and is no alternative for a true playoff and indeed a playoff must replace it very soon allowing deserving teams to take it all. But senator Hatch's sob story is not why it should happen. It should happen because it is what is right for everyone and it should happen to remove the fiscal monopoly of the traditional and perennial powers. It should happen because every year each team should be allowed to contend for the title on the same fresh page independent of their track record. That is how it should be fought and beaten. Saying that Utah deserved Florida's position is completely in relief of one's brains and rationality. If a Ute still continues to whine then he should consider requesting his team to defect to the 1-AA system that actually has a playoff. That way they can play clean and challenge Appalachian State (who also beat Michigan in Michigan) for the national title.

Damn you Bama for sleeping at the driver's seat and losing the Sugar Bowl.

Why college football?

Since a countdown seems to have been well appreciated by my wonderful reading community (Archana and Manohary on the author's request), I will use the same here.

10. Because American football is a fun game. I have no knowledge of its roots or its relationship with the beautiful game but it is good fun to watch on its own.
Because games end in three hours so you can do something less productive for the rest of the day.
Because it has the statistics, the strategies and the diagrams for the pundits and just lines to carry a prolate spheroid across using 11 players for less informed skinny non-immigrant graduate students.

9. Because of talent, effort, strategy and skill being involved.
Because it involves brains as well as brawn.
Because reading the opponent is every player's job.
Because a single person playing well does not clinch the game. Because the word team carries a lot of meaning.

8. Because the tradition is at least a 100 years old in almost every college.
Because professors wear orange and blue on fridays and wish you 'go gators' when they see you. It is funky enough to note that colleges are that old but to have a well encouraged non-curricular activity for that long makes it something to want to be part of.

7. Because the Florida Gators are one of the hottest college football teams (Obviously I wouldn't lend my support a bunch of pansies to make me proud).

6. Because it involves young kids trying to make a career out of it. You cannot buy them and sell them. Nor can you fix games.
Because the players play come sun, rain or snow. And the crowd endures it with them.

5. Because it is a great feeling to watch fellow students and games that you saw in person being in the national spotlight every weekend.

4. Because Subbu now calls the beautiful game soccer. And went to a Bulls game. A year ago he called football a disgrace in the name of the beautiful game.

3. Because a loss can crush your mood, but not your team spirit.
Because of unique cheers, bands, songs and trademark action sequences for every team and crowd.

2. Because being at the Swamp is like being at a rock concert. Only better.
Because you being part of 90,000 frenzied, screaming rowdy reptiles DOES make a difference to the players.

1. For the top reason I will use the phrase "A video speaks 30 x 1000 words per second"