2008-09 College Bowl Game Pickem

[Tom McManus]

There is a pickem group set up for us on Yahoo. If you are interested in joining here is the information: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/bowl/register/joinprivategroup_assign_team?GID=12007&P=discgolf    The group id is 12007  The password is discgolf.  This is a confidence pickem. It is a one time deal so make sure you get your picks in before the first bowl game starts.

This is for free and for bragging rights, but sidebets and trash talking are certainly welcome.

Good luck and have fun.

[Tom McManus]

One more match-up to be announced.  Seven Big Ten teams, along with Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, and Central Michigan.  Hmmm no Michigan. Sorry JD.

And if you got kids send them to ND to play football. 6-6 gets you a trip to Hawaii.

The first bowl game is December 20.  Be sure to sign up and make your picks prior to the first game.

[Tom McManus]

There is a pickem group set up for us on Yahoo. If you are interested in joining here is the information: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/bowl/register/joinprivategroup_assign_team?GID=12007&P=discgolf    The group id is 12007  The password is discgolf.  This is a confidence pickem. It is a one time deal so make sure you get your picks in before the first bowl game starts.

This is for free and for bragging rights, but sidebets and trash talking are certainly welcome.

Good luck and have fun.

So far there are six of us. Bowl season starts tomorrow. Get registered and get your picks done.

[Tom McManus]

8 players. Get your picks in, don't miss out.  Two new discs go to the person who finishes first.

[tacimala]

Don't forget Buffalo and Ball State from the MAC too Tom! I went with all of the Mac teams to win and none of the Big 10 I think.

[CEValkyrie]

Wow, total domination!

[Tom McManus]

Wow, total domination!

Are you talking about the MAC or yourself? 

[CEValkyrie]

What a semi final game that was last night.

College Football is a joke. There are so many good games during the year and you get all this crap at the end to finish it off. I know these guys love making the money but haven't they learned from college basketball?

Utah, FL, USC, or TX? Just another meaningless season.

[Chainmeister]

What a semi final game that was last night.

College Football is a joke. There are so many good games during the year and you get all this crap at the end to finish it off. I know these guys love making the money but haven't they learned from college basketball?

Utah, FL, USC, or TX? Just another meaningless season.

Brett, you should have played the under(whelming).  Me, I saw 43 shots get stopped by a hot goaltender.  Unsatifying finish but a much more satisfying viewing experience.

[Dan Michler]

What a semi final game that was last night.

College Football is a joke. There are so many good games during the year and you get all this crap at the end to finish it off. I know these guys love making the money but haven't they learned from college basketball?

Utah, FL, USC, or TX? Just another meaningless season.

I saw a quote from Obama in response to a question about whether he would intercede to change the BCS system to a playoff.  You know things are a little out of control when people seriously think the President needs to be worrying about college football.  At any rate, 99.9% of college football fans would be happier with a playoff, so it will happen one day I guarantee.  That day could be 10 years from now though, who knows.  We might need the people who have the power to change this to either die or retire from their posts so that some fresh blood can come in and change the system.  I'd love to see the Big 10 have less than a 1 month layoff in between the regular season and the BCS Bowl games as well.  The Big 10 is screwing themselves there.

[CEValkyrie]

As a big 10 fan I will be the first to admit that the big 10 has been down. However with IL and PSU traveling to USC the past  2 years it's brutal. How about another home game for USC. Let's play that game at Soldier Field and see what the outcome is.

How about that game last night. Nice home field for Florida. LSU had serious home field over Ohio St a few years ago. We can go on and on why this system sucks.

I can't believe college football has gone this long without a playoff. It's not about these guys going to school. It's not about them getting hurt. It's all about $$$.

[Mike Clark]

College Football is a joke. How can you take a month off and expect to have any kind of a decent game? It happens almost every year. The first half sucks or 1 team gets completely blown out because they were not prepared. Just suck it up and play a 16 team playoff during the month of December. Call them the old bowl names if you want. Keep the crappy bowl games for the crappy teams that get off playing a crappy bowl game. Then play the championship game in January. Its all about the money figure out how to split it up and be done with the bullshit.

The Big 10 got exactly what they wanted when they got the Rose Bowl agreement decades ago. It was a recruiting tool for the Big 10. The Big10 Champion game gets to go to sunny California and play a football game in January. Back then the Big10 used to kick the crap out of the PAC10. Not fun the when it is the other way around is it. My message to the Big 10 is play modern day football and stop thinking college football is about running the football and playing defense. That is for the Pros where the talent level is more equal. Modern day college football is all about who has the best athletes. Learn to recruit. May as well learn to play their style of football cause there will probably never be another college bowl game played in a cold weather environment ever again much less a championship game.

AD's and Colleges don't care about the fans, players, students, or anybody else. All they care about is money and more of it. They do not want to share it with anyone. Perfect example Notre Dame. There is only 1 reason why their football program is not part of a conference. Money. They have a better TV contract then the NY Yankees. They will never share that money with anyone. And I am glad to see that they are paying the price for their arrogance.

[Tom McManus]

I know that I am in the minority here, but I prefer the bowl system.  There doesn't always have to be one winner.  The bowl system isn't perfect, but how many teams are going to go to the playoffs?  College basketball has 65 teams, and there are always teams complaining that they got screwed by not getting an invite.

8 teams, 12 maybe?  How about 16?  There will still be teams complaining.

Playing in a bowl game should be a reward for guys who are never going to make it to the pros.  Too many bowl games? So what, don't watch them.  Somebody must or else they wouldn't play them.

As far as the Big 10 goes, getting their ass kicked in Pasadena is pretty much an annual event.  Since 1966 there have been only 4 Rose Bowls that haven't had a Big 10 Pac 10 match up. In the 40 games with that match-up, the Big 10 has only won 13 of them.

Right now the SEC and Big 12 have the better athletes and the better teams.  Some of it has to do with weather, some of it with grades, some of it with coaching.

The Big 10 is down right now, but I believe it is short term, not long term. But only time will tell.

[Sr.]

Agree! The playoff system won't work either. There will always be controversy. There will be teams on the bubble. People will argue no matter what.

[Dan Michler]

I know that I am in the minority here, but I prefer the bowl system.  There doesn't always have to be one winner.  The bowl system isn't perfect, but how many teams are going to go to the playoffs?  College basketball has 65 teams, and there are always teams complaining that they got screwed by not getting an invite.

8 teams, 12 maybe?  How about 16?  There will still be teams complaining.

Playing in a bowl game should be a reward for guys who are never going to make it to the pros.  Too many bowl games? So what, don't watch them.  Somebody must or else they wouldn't play them.

Tom, I don't understand this argument.  Is there always teams arguing that they should have made the NCAA Basketball tournament?  Of course.  But after the tournament is over, I don't remember ever hearing arguments that perhaps we have a false national champion because one of the 'bubble' teams had a legitimate argument that it was the best team in the nation.  Keep all the Bowl games, fine!  Most of the Bowls will not be a part of the playoff.  People just want to legitimately determine on the field who the 1 'National Champion' is.  The current system does not provide that.  An 8 team playoff would.  The argument that the #9 ranked team is the best in the country is not nearly as fierce as the #2 ranked team who went undefeated and had no chance to be the national champion.  We can stop splitting hairs over all the major 1 loss teams, determining whose loss was the worst.  They can settle it on the field.

If you want there to be more than 1 winner, great, but they only crown 1 'national champion', so they might as well crown a team who fully earned it.

[Mike Clark]

I know that I am in the minority here, but I prefer the bowl system.  There doesn't always have to be one winner.  The bowl system isn't perfect, but how many teams are going to go to the playoffs?  College basketball has 65 teams, and there are always teams complaining that they got screwed by not getting an invite.

8 teams, 12 maybe?  How about 16?  There will still be teams complaining.

Playing in a bowl game should be a reward for guys who are never going to make it to the pros.  Too many bowl games? So what, don't watch them.  Somebody must or else they wouldn't play them.

As far as the Big 10 goes, getting their ass kicked in Pasadena is pretty much an annual event.  Since 1966 there have been only 4 Rose Bowls that haven't had a Big 10 Pac 10 match up. In the 40 games with that match-up, the Big 10 has only won 13 of them.

Right now the SEC and Big 12 have the better athletes and the better teams.  Some of it has to do with weather, some of it with grades, some of it with coaching.

The Big 10 is down right now, but I believe it is short term, not long term. But only time will tell.

I kinda like the bowl system itself. But the NCAA set a higher standard than just a bunch of kids playing in some bowl games. The NCAA are the ones who call it a National Championship Game. Now the fans and the players/teams want a National Championship Team. The argument is that their current bowl system doesn't not do that. Either fix it or do not call it a National Championship. Make it a true bowl system. I wish it would go back to the days when it was just for fun and pride. But I think those days are long gone. People want a National Championship Game. More in line with what basketball does. Yes there will be people complaining about who got into the playoff. But there would be no complaining about who the National Champion was.Well maybe a little people also are going to find sometime to complain about. If they do go with a playoff system they it would be a shame if they took away the smaller bowls. I do not think they would do that. I think they already made a step in that direction with the BCS bowl games.

The Big 10 is going to have a tough time keeping up with recruiting. Be honest where would you rather play? Up here in the cold or down south or out west where it is warm. These are kids we are talking about. The other things are all a level playing field. It sucks I would like to have good football teams around here. The last few years have just been brutal for the Big 10.

[Dan Michler]

I read this article last year and thought it was interesting.  It details a major reason why there is not a playoff system and indicates while a playoff would bring in more money, it would not guarantee the money goes to the same people its going to under the current system.  Remember, Division I-AA, Division II, and Division III all have playoff systems.  There is no legitimate argument against a playoff system.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=jo-delany010507&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[Sr.]

My brother in law is a football coach at Aurora University and they made the playoffs this year.  He has plenty of arguments about it. He's totally against it. Whether it's legitimate is another issue.