The TCU Horned Frogs finished the 2010 season undefeated, capped with a win over the Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl. It was, in many ways, a dream season for the Horned Frogs, despite being left out of the BCS Championship Game. For their efforts, TCU was ranked No. 2 in both the AP and Coaches' Polls on Tuesday, and will likely be in the same position when the final BCS rankings are released.
You'd think TCU would be upset about missing the opportunity to play for the national championship. The Rose Bowl is a nice consolation, but an undefeated season should earn them the right to play for the title, right? According to TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte, the Horned Frogs are still happy with the BCS, and are embracing the "imperfect system."
"But until they get a system that is going to be absolutely perfect so they can figure out a way to determine those things, we need to celebrate the system we currently have right now."
Is it surprising that TCU is fine with the system? Not at all. Consider the Horned Frogs still played in a BCS bowl and still finished the season at No. 2 in the final polls. Now consider that TCU, a former BCS-outsider, will find itself on the inside when it joins the Big East in 2012.
TCU is simply shying away from biting the hand that feeds it. In 2010, the Horned Frogs saw the financial windfall a BCS game gives, the exposure of playing in one of the biggest bowls out there and the added bonus of a win over one of the "big boys." When they become an automatic qualifier, in 2012, TCU will immediately see an increase in revenue from the BCS every year, no matter if they make a bowl or not.
Simply put, it's not embracing the system, it's keeping those that write the paychecks happy. It's the same reason you see every major conference championing the system. Money talks.
Showing posts with label BCS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BCS. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Nike Uses Oregon Ducks' BCS Championship Loss As Advertising Opportunity
The Oregon Ducks have become Nike's pet marketing project over the years. From the uniforms, branding and use of the Ducks in advertisements, Oregon is Nike's college football cornerstone. It's no surprise, then, that the shoe and apparel company used the Ducks' loss in the BCS Championship as another marketing opportunity.
The ad itself is simple, clean and well-done. It's only a picture, of a hand holding an Oregon helmet, with six words. Those words -- "Everyone loses games. Few change them" -- capture a strong emotion following the Ducks' tough loss to Auburn.
Below the jump, the ad, scheduled to run in Oregon papers on Wednesday.
Of course, it shows how much the corporate world plays a role in college football. The BCS Championship was littered with advertisements, right down to the Nike vs. Under Armor matchup on the field. Oregon has become a walking billboard for Nike, with the trademark swoosh plastered all over their uniforms. With the college football world's attention squarely on Oregon, Nike used the opportunity to cash-in.
Nike always finds a way to capture the college football world's attention -- whether it be the highlighter yellow socks the Ducks wore on Monday or this print ad following the game. In this case, however, it's less flash and more substance for the Portland-based company.
The ad itself is simple, clean and well-done. It's only a picture, of a hand holding an Oregon helmet, with six words. Those words -- "Everyone loses games. Few change them" -- capture a strong emotion following the Ducks' tough loss to Auburn.
Below the jump, the ad, scheduled to run in Oregon papers on Wednesday.
Of course, it shows how much the corporate world plays a role in college football. The BCS Championship was littered with advertisements, right down to the Nike vs. Under Armor matchup on the field. Oregon has become a walking billboard for Nike, with the trademark swoosh plastered all over their uniforms. With the college football world's attention squarely on Oregon, Nike used the opportunity to cash-in.
Nike always finds a way to capture the college football world's attention -- whether it be the highlighter yellow socks the Ducks wore on Monday or this print ad following the game. In this case, however, it's less flash and more substance for the Portland-based company.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
BCS Championship 2011: Why TCU Deserves a Split National Title With Auburn By
At this point the Sears Trophy has already been awarded to Auburn via the Tigers' 22-19 win over Oregon in the BCS national title game Monday night in Arizona. But as we all know, there is still another unbeaten out there, and this year it is TCU.
TCU finished its 13-0 football season with a two-point win over Wisconsin in the "Granddaddy of Them All," the Rose Bowl, nearly 10 days ago.
The Horned Frogs joined a growing list of non-BCS teams to go unbeaten and not even get a chance to win or lose the title on an actual field.
Boise State did it last year.
The year prior it was Utah.
Neither team got its chance to prove its worth, though Utah did send Alabama smarting home after the stomping the Utes handed the Tide in that year's Sugar Bowl.
So is this year's unbeaten non-BCS squad any different than either 2009 Boise or 2008 Utah?
No, not really. But after seeing how the supposed top two teams in the nation looked Monday night, there should be a fight to give TCU a share of the title in the final AP poll.
Oregon looked shaky on both sides of the ball. Offensively the Ducks couldn't run the ball, and Darron Thomas was wildly inaccurate at times. On defense they did not stop the run, allowing well over 200 yards on the ground.
Auburn was equally unimpressive. Cam Newton often threw high, and the Tigers offense scuffled several times inside the red zone.
Opinions will vary, but in mine, neither looked like the odds-on best team in the nation.
If the voters in the press are smart, they will look back to the 2003 season for the right thing to do.
Just to refresh you on that season, Oklahoma had been shocked in the Big 12 title game but still got the bid to the BCS championship against LSU and lost. USC was No. 1 in both polls when the season ended; however, the Trojans were left out of the title game and settled for a Rose Bowl win.
While contractually obligated to give the USA Today coaches' poll and the Sears Trophy to LSU, who had won the "BCS" title game, the AP saw it different. They gave a split national title by selecting USC as the nation's top team.
So why not give the Horned Frogs some love?
Auburn got their Sears Trophy, so what would it hurt to reward a team that may actually be just as good as Auburn on a neutral field?
The bottom line with the college bowl system and the BCS is that there will almost always be someone who plays the role of the teenage girl who doesn't get asked to prom, even though she is as pretty as other girls who do.
The system is in the business of money making with getting the big power schools who draw big-time revenue. The "David's" of the world now have no chance these days. I guess it kind of sounds true to life of what is going on in our country nowadays.
TCU is no little sister of the poor. It has proven it for years now. Fortunately for the Frogs, they are headed to the Big East, which will at least get them an automatic bid for winning their conference.
Unfortunately, the BCS bias for the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-10 will still reign supreme.
It is also unfortunate that many of the members of the press that vote will not care about anything that TCU has done and will give the nod to Auburn as the Frogs end up No. 2.
But when it is all said and done, considering the NCAA investigation into Cam Newton's eligibility earlier this season, maybe Auburn will pull a "USC" and just be renting the trophy for now.
I'm not saying anything illegal did happen with the "Scam Newton" allegations, but the NCAA will protect what is good for the bottom dollar, and Newton and Auburn was that in 2010.
TCU deserves a split, and that is all there is to say about that...unless you want to talk about playoffs?
TCU finished its 13-0 football season with a two-point win over Wisconsin in the "Granddaddy of Them All," the Rose Bowl, nearly 10 days ago.
The Horned Frogs joined a growing list of non-BCS teams to go unbeaten and not even get a chance to win or lose the title on an actual field.
Boise State did it last year.
The year prior it was Utah.
Neither team got its chance to prove its worth, though Utah did send Alabama smarting home after the stomping the Utes handed the Tide in that year's Sugar Bowl.
So is this year's unbeaten non-BCS squad any different than either 2009 Boise or 2008 Utah?
No, not really. But after seeing how the supposed top two teams in the nation looked Monday night, there should be a fight to give TCU a share of the title in the final AP poll.
Oregon looked shaky on both sides of the ball. Offensively the Ducks couldn't run the ball, and Darron Thomas was wildly inaccurate at times. On defense they did not stop the run, allowing well over 200 yards on the ground.
Auburn was equally unimpressive. Cam Newton often threw high, and the Tigers offense scuffled several times inside the red zone.
Opinions will vary, but in mine, neither looked like the odds-on best team in the nation.
If the voters in the press are smart, they will look back to the 2003 season for the right thing to do.
Just to refresh you on that season, Oklahoma had been shocked in the Big 12 title game but still got the bid to the BCS championship against LSU and lost. USC was No. 1 in both polls when the season ended; however, the Trojans were left out of the title game and settled for a Rose Bowl win.
While contractually obligated to give the USA Today coaches' poll and the Sears Trophy to LSU, who had won the "BCS" title game, the AP saw it different. They gave a split national title by selecting USC as the nation's top team.
So why not give the Horned Frogs some love?
Auburn got their Sears Trophy, so what would it hurt to reward a team that may actually be just as good as Auburn on a neutral field?
The bottom line with the college bowl system and the BCS is that there will almost always be someone who plays the role of the teenage girl who doesn't get asked to prom, even though she is as pretty as other girls who do.
The system is in the business of money making with getting the big power schools who draw big-time revenue. The "David's" of the world now have no chance these days. I guess it kind of sounds true to life of what is going on in our country nowadays.
TCU is no little sister of the poor. It has proven it for years now. Fortunately for the Frogs, they are headed to the Big East, which will at least get them an automatic bid for winning their conference.
Unfortunately, the BCS bias for the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-10 will still reign supreme.
It is also unfortunate that many of the members of the press that vote will not care about anything that TCU has done and will give the nod to Auburn as the Frogs end up No. 2.
But when it is all said and done, considering the NCAA investigation into Cam Newton's eligibility earlier this season, maybe Auburn will pull a "USC" and just be renting the trophy for now.
I'm not saying anything illegal did happen with the "Scam Newton" allegations, but the NCAA will protect what is good for the bottom dollar, and Newton and Auburn was that in 2010.
TCU deserves a split, and that is all there is to say about that...unless you want to talk about playoffs?
2011 BCS Championship Game To Feature Less Brent Musburger, Says Brent Musburger
ESPN's top-shelf announcing crew is on the mic for tonight's BCS National Championship Game in bucolic Glendale, Arizona: Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit will steer the broadcast, with Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi providing backup vocals. The lead dog, however, will be slowing his roll on this august occasion: Musburger says he plans to scale back on the chatter this evening and let the game speak for itself.
"I'll be quieter than usual, won't try to over talk. I know they'll be some people who, believe it or not, won't know where Auburn is, so we'll mention it. But I think the bigger the game, the less you need an announcer. I'll just let people enjoy it."
That's a kind boon to an audience that, though jacked, is probably at the end of its patience after a title game eve full of Bob Davie's bons mots, although one could argue the duo are feeling slightly dejected at the prospect of not having Ohio State in this game, and thus being denied the opportunity to bellow, "THAAAA BUCKEEEEYES!" at every turn.
Don't tease him too much about his particulars, though: Turns out ol' Musby knows all about your reindeer games, gentle viewers.
[The] so-called Musburger drinking games that pop up on the Internet — instructing viewers how much to imbibe at Musburgerisms such as "pardner" and "folks" — might be affected. "I still kind of chuckle about those. But I won't be playing to the Musburger drinking games."
Consider your livers: Brent Musburger could've made all of us drink ourselves to death with a few well-placed phrases for who knows how long now, and has stayed his hand. Is he not merciful?
"I'll be quieter than usual, won't try to over talk. I know they'll be some people who, believe it or not, won't know where Auburn is, so we'll mention it. But I think the bigger the game, the less you need an announcer. I'll just let people enjoy it."
That's a kind boon to an audience that, though jacked, is probably at the end of its patience after a title game eve full of Bob Davie's bons mots, although one could argue the duo are feeling slightly dejected at the prospect of not having Ohio State in this game, and thus being denied the opportunity to bellow, "THAAAA BUCKEEEEYES!" at every turn.
Don't tease him too much about his particulars, though: Turns out ol' Musby knows all about your reindeer games, gentle viewers.
[The] so-called Musburger drinking games that pop up on the Internet — instructing viewers how much to imbibe at Musburgerisms such as "pardner" and "folks" — might be affected. "I still kind of chuckle about those. But I won't be playing to the Musburger drinking games."
Consider your livers: Brent Musburger could've made all of us drink ourselves to death with a few well-placed phrases for who knows how long now, and has stayed his hand. Is he not merciful?
Oregon Cheerleaders Don New Uniforms In BCS Championship Game
Not to be outdone by their male compatriots in the 2011 BCS Championship Game, the Oregon Ducks cheerleaders have new uniforms of their own, provided, of course, by the school's bottomless Nike connections:
Traditionally outfitted in sports bras and micro-minis, these uniforms are a departure in that they're ... different sports bras and micro-minis! Say what you want about the color scheme, but they at least adhere to the school's stated palette of yellow and green, unlike the muted silver and gray currently being rocked by the actual football team. (Can you call a uniform muted if it includes neon yellow socks? We need a ruling here.) And if you can spare a moment from ogling the ladies, cast a sop of sympathy towards the boys, whose racerback-looking shirt patterns are doing them no favors.
Stay tuned to this StoryStream throughout the game for more live score updates, and connect with Oregon and Auburn fans at SB Nation's Addicted To Quack and Track Em Tigers.
Traditionally outfitted in sports bras and micro-minis, these uniforms are a departure in that they're ... different sports bras and micro-minis! Say what you want about the color scheme, but they at least adhere to the school's stated palette of yellow and green, unlike the muted silver and gray currently being rocked by the actual football team. (Can you call a uniform muted if it includes neon yellow socks? We need a ruling here.) And if you can spare a moment from ogling the ladies, cast a sop of sympathy towards the boys, whose racerback-looking shirt patterns are doing them no favors.
Stay tuned to this StoryStream throughout the game for more live score updates, and connect with Oregon and Auburn fans at SB Nation's Addicted To Quack and Track Em Tigers.
Cam Do! Auburn Wins BCS Title 22-19 Over Oregon
Auburn running back Michael Dyer never heard any whistle, so he just kept running - past the tackler who thought he had him down and deep into Oregon territory.
Dyer broke stride, then took off on a once-in-a-lifetime run in the final minutes, setting up a short field goal on the last play that led No. 1 Auburn over the No. 2 Ducks 22-19 in the BCS championship game Monday night.
The freshman running back upstaged Auburn's Heisman-winning quarterback Cam Newton with a 37-yard run, in which he appeared down but wasn't - his knee never hit the ground - as he rolled over defender Eddie Pleasant to put the Tigers in scoring position.
Three plays later, Dyer ran 16 yards to push the ball to the 1 and set up Wes Byrum's 19-yard field goal with no time left. It was his sixth career game-winning field goal - the one that capped off a perfect, 14-0 season, brought the title back to Auburn for the first time since 1957 and left the Southeastern Conference on top for the fifth straight year.
"Fifty-three years, baby!" coach Gene Chizik said to the cheering crowd. "This is for you. War Eagle!"
Dyer was the star of a classic sequence that closed out a wild finish - five crazy minutes of football that made up for the first 55, which were more of a bruising battle than the offensive masterpiece everyone had predicted.
The craziness began when Casey Matthews, son of the 1980s NFL linebacker Clay, knocked the ball from Newton's hands while he was trying to ice a 19-11 lead.
Oregon's offense, shut down by Nick Fairley & Co. for most of the night, moved 45 yards over the next 2:17 and Darron Thomas threw a shovel pass to LaMichael James for a touchdown. Thomas hit Jeff Maehl for the tying 2-point conversion with 2:33 left and the game was down to the last possession.
And that possession will be remembered for one incredible play.
Dyer, who chose jersey No. 5 because that's how old his brother was when their father died in a car accident, took the handoff from Newton and ran off right tackle for what looked like a 6- or 7-yard gain. Nothing routine about this one, though. He never heard a whistle, wasn't sure his knee hit the ground, so, urged by his coaches on the sideline, he popped up and kept going. Almost everyone on the field had stopped playing, but the referee never blew the play dead. Dyer made it to the Oregon 23. An official's review ensued and the replay showed that, indeed, his knee had never touched the turf.
"I was going out there, trying to make a play. I just kept my feet moving," he said.
In a statement released after the game, Big Ten referee Bill LeMonnier said he was confident of the call: "The ruling on the field was there was nothing other than the foot that touched the ground," he explained.
The freshman finished with 143 yards and was chosen Offensive Player of the Game - no small feat considering he had Newton playing well on the same offense.
Newton threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 64 yards, most in short, punishing bites. He wrenched his back and had to go to the trainer after the game. All in a night's work: "I'm OK. It was worth it," he said.
It was a good performance, but not spectacular - par for the course in a game that was projected as a possible 60-55 shootout by South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier and a 74-point touchdown-fest by the oddsmakers who set the over-under.
Wearing white jerseys with gray numbers, green pants and DayGlo shoes and socks, the Ducks got only 49 yards rushing from James. An offense that had been held under 37 points only once all year managed just the two touchdowns. The last one came on a simple shovel pass from Thomas, who finished with 363 yards passing - 81 of which came on a long pass to Maehl that set up the first touchdown.
Oregon didn't come close to its nation-leading 49-point average and the fast-paced offense that turned most opponents into mush in the second half couldn't wear down Auburn.
"When it comes down to a field goal at the last second, you can always point to play here, a play there, but it really doesn't do much for you," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. "We're a forward-thinking operation, and we'll learn from this thing and move forward."
Fairley, Auburn's 298-pound defensive tackle, had the Ducks moving backward much of the night. He lived up to his reputation as a game-changer for better, with three tackles for loss, including a sack - and for worse, when he got a 15-yard penalty for shoving James' face into the turf after the whistle.
Newton was a game-changer, as always, keeping Auburn ahead through most of this tight game, the final outing in a season shadowed by an NCAA investigation into his failed recruitment by Mississippi State. The governing body cleared him to play before the SEC championship but said his father, Cecil, solicited money from the Bulldogs.
Cecil, not in the stands Monday night, missed a heck of a finish.
And the end of a memorable season for Auburn, the school that has loads of tradition - the Tiger Walk, the War Eagle yell and a case full of Heisman and other big-time individual trophies - but not nearly as many titles to go with it. Bad luck in the polls doomed their one-loss season in 1983, probation kept them from capitalizing on a perfect record in 1993 and the vagaries of the BCS left them on the outside in 2004, maybe the most painful of all the snubs.
So, really, this one is for all the Bos and Beasleys and Terrys and Tracys in the Auburn family who came close but couldn't close the deal. And it fashions a nice symmetry with that team up the road - Alabama - which took home the Heisman and the same crystal championship trophy one short year ago.
Tide fans, of course, will remind you that it still has five more AP titles than the Tigers. But this celebration is going on at Toomer's Corner in Auburn, where the traditional toilet-papering of the drugstore and the rest of the street was going on in full force in the bitter cold as Monday night turned into Tuesday morning.
"Winning a championship for the Auburn family, I can't really describe it right now," Chizik said. "To try would probably cheapen it."
At Auburn, the words "War Eagle" would almost surely suffice.
Dyer broke stride, then took off on a once-in-a-lifetime run in the final minutes, setting up a short field goal on the last play that led No. 1 Auburn over the No. 2 Ducks 22-19 in the BCS championship game Monday night.
The freshman running back upstaged Auburn's Heisman-winning quarterback Cam Newton with a 37-yard run, in which he appeared down but wasn't - his knee never hit the ground - as he rolled over defender Eddie Pleasant to put the Tigers in scoring position.
Three plays later, Dyer ran 16 yards to push the ball to the 1 and set up Wes Byrum's 19-yard field goal with no time left. It was his sixth career game-winning field goal - the one that capped off a perfect, 14-0 season, brought the title back to Auburn for the first time since 1957 and left the Southeastern Conference on top for the fifth straight year.
"Fifty-three years, baby!" coach Gene Chizik said to the cheering crowd. "This is for you. War Eagle!"
Dyer was the star of a classic sequence that closed out a wild finish - five crazy minutes of football that made up for the first 55, which were more of a bruising battle than the offensive masterpiece everyone had predicted.
The craziness began when Casey Matthews, son of the 1980s NFL linebacker Clay, knocked the ball from Newton's hands while he was trying to ice a 19-11 lead.
Oregon's offense, shut down by Nick Fairley & Co. for most of the night, moved 45 yards over the next 2:17 and Darron Thomas threw a shovel pass to LaMichael James for a touchdown. Thomas hit Jeff Maehl for the tying 2-point conversion with 2:33 left and the game was down to the last possession.
And that possession will be remembered for one incredible play.
Dyer, who chose jersey No. 5 because that's how old his brother was when their father died in a car accident, took the handoff from Newton and ran off right tackle for what looked like a 6- or 7-yard gain. Nothing routine about this one, though. He never heard a whistle, wasn't sure his knee hit the ground, so, urged by his coaches on the sideline, he popped up and kept going. Almost everyone on the field had stopped playing, but the referee never blew the play dead. Dyer made it to the Oregon 23. An official's review ensued and the replay showed that, indeed, his knee had never touched the turf.
"I was going out there, trying to make a play. I just kept my feet moving," he said.
In a statement released after the game, Big Ten referee Bill LeMonnier said he was confident of the call: "The ruling on the field was there was nothing other than the foot that touched the ground," he explained.
The freshman finished with 143 yards and was chosen Offensive Player of the Game - no small feat considering he had Newton playing well on the same offense.
Newton threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 64 yards, most in short, punishing bites. He wrenched his back and had to go to the trainer after the game. All in a night's work: "I'm OK. It was worth it," he said.
It was a good performance, but not spectacular - par for the course in a game that was projected as a possible 60-55 shootout by South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier and a 74-point touchdown-fest by the oddsmakers who set the over-under.
Wearing white jerseys with gray numbers, green pants and DayGlo shoes and socks, the Ducks got only 49 yards rushing from James. An offense that had been held under 37 points only once all year managed just the two touchdowns. The last one came on a simple shovel pass from Thomas, who finished with 363 yards passing - 81 of which came on a long pass to Maehl that set up the first touchdown.
Oregon didn't come close to its nation-leading 49-point average and the fast-paced offense that turned most opponents into mush in the second half couldn't wear down Auburn.
"When it comes down to a field goal at the last second, you can always point to play here, a play there, but it really doesn't do much for you," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. "We're a forward-thinking operation, and we'll learn from this thing and move forward."
Fairley, Auburn's 298-pound defensive tackle, had the Ducks moving backward much of the night. He lived up to his reputation as a game-changer for better, with three tackles for loss, including a sack - and for worse, when he got a 15-yard penalty for shoving James' face into the turf after the whistle.
Newton was a game-changer, as always, keeping Auburn ahead through most of this tight game, the final outing in a season shadowed by an NCAA investigation into his failed recruitment by Mississippi State. The governing body cleared him to play before the SEC championship but said his father, Cecil, solicited money from the Bulldogs.
Cecil, not in the stands Monday night, missed a heck of a finish.
And the end of a memorable season for Auburn, the school that has loads of tradition - the Tiger Walk, the War Eagle yell and a case full of Heisman and other big-time individual trophies - but not nearly as many titles to go with it. Bad luck in the polls doomed their one-loss season in 1983, probation kept them from capitalizing on a perfect record in 1993 and the vagaries of the BCS left them on the outside in 2004, maybe the most painful of all the snubs.
So, really, this one is for all the Bos and Beasleys and Terrys and Tracys in the Auburn family who came close but couldn't close the deal. And it fashions a nice symmetry with that team up the road - Alabama - which took home the Heisman and the same crystal championship trophy one short year ago.
Tide fans, of course, will remind you that it still has five more AP titles than the Tigers. But this celebration is going on at Toomer's Corner in Auburn, where the traditional toilet-papering of the drugstore and the rest of the street was going on in full force in the bitter cold as Monday night turned into Tuesday morning.
"Winning a championship for the Auburn family, I can't really describe it right now," Chizik said. "To try would probably cheapen it."
At Auburn, the words "War Eagle" would almost surely suffice.
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