 |
| HOME | PRICE GUIDE | STORE | SPORTS | BUSINESS | NEWS/UPDATES | CONTACT | ARCHIVES |
NCAA College Football 2006-07 FINAL Top 25
|
DTMagazine Home NCAA Top 25 Pre-season Rankings
|
NCAA College Football Top 25 - 2006-07 FINAL The Gators deserve to be #1, barely (see notes below)
Rick Gagliano | 1/9/06
Through games of January 8, 2007
--- Final Championship Notes below ---
It's Official - Florida is #1
One of the greatest college football seasons of all time ended on a very dull note last night as the Florida Gators humbled the Ohio State Buckeyes, 41-14, capturing the National Championship, with an uncaptivating performance.
Florida scored two quick touchdowns nearing the end of the first half to build an insurmountable 34-14 lead, essentially putting the final outcome beyond any doubt. Ohio State lost its star receiver, Ted Ginn Jr., early in the first quarter (after he took the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown), but it's unlikely he would have made much of a difference.
Florida completely dominated the Buckeyes in every aspect of the game, holding them to 82 yards of offense and one touchdown, plus Ginn's return. Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith was held to 35 yards passing, completing only 4 of 14 attempts. Smith was sacked 5 times for 51 yards and intercepted once.
As earnestly as Florida's defense played, the Gators offense was a model of efficiency, rolling up 370 yards on 80 plays for an average of 4.6 per play. Quarterback Chris Leak, who was named Offensive Player of the Game, completed 25 of 36 passes for 213 yards and one touchdown. Leak was sacked just once for 7 yards and did not turn the ball over.
Making matters even worse for the Buckeyes was Florida place kicker Chris Hetland, who booted field goals of 40 and 43 yards. Hetland was the one big question mark for the Gators, as he had struggled all season with inaccuracy.
This game - the first BCS Championship Game - hardly rated as memorable or indicative of whether Ohio State was even the second best team in the country. A case could be made that either Boise State (undefeated at 13-0), Louisville (12-1), USC (11-2) or LSU (11-2) could have played a better game than the Buckeyes.
Some may say that the Buckeyes weren't the same team without Ginn, but that only makes the case against them even stronger. High caliber teams are supposed to win (or at least be competitive) without a top players. Ohio State folded when it mattered most.
As far as the final rankings in Downtown Magazine's Top 25, I had been leaning towards naming Boise State as national champions if Florida won, but considering how the Gators won and the overall strength of their schedule, they appear to be more than deserving of the title.
As stated more elegantly than I might by Yahoo! Sports' Dan Wetzel, Boise State deserved a shot at the title, but they were denied by an antiquated, money-hungry bowl system and the horribly flawed BCS.
So we are left only with comparisons between Boise State and the Gators. Sure, the Broncos were undefeated, but Florida lost only one game, at Auburn, a team that subsequently won their bowl game and finished the season 11-2.
Boise State, besides their Fiesta Bowl thriller over Oklahoma, did beat five quality teams in the regular season - Nevada, San Jose State, Utah, Oregon State and Hawaii. Of those, Utah, Oregon State, Hawaii and San Jose State all won their bowl games. Nevada lost by a point to Miami, so the Boise State regular season wins stand up very well.
How about the Gators? Of bowl game participants, they beat SEC rivals Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina, plus Florida State and Southern Miss. out of conference. Additionally, they lost to Auburn, and the Tigers won their bowl game, 17-14, over Nebraska. Of the rest, all but Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama won their bowl games. Tennessee lost by 10 to Penn State, Arkansas fell by 3 to Wisconsin and Alabama lost by 4 to Oklahoma State.
That gives Florida wins over 6 bowl winners, plus a loss to a bowl winner. The case can also be made that the bowls won by the Florida opponents were of a higher caliber, and they clobbered Ohio State, which has to count for something. After all, the Buckeyes were ranked #1 all season long. In terms of strength of schedule, Florida wins, though not by very much.
The BCS opened the door to other conferences this season and Boise State walked right in with maybe the most exciting football game of all time. They also allowed Notre Dame into the mix again, and once again the Irish disappointed badly. Notre Dame played one of the weaker schedules in college football and fell apart every time they faced a quality team, as evidenced by their losses to Michigan, USC and finally to LSU. Coincidentally, the scores of the LSU-Notre Dame and Florida-Ohio State games were identical, 41-14. Is the SEC that dominant, or is the BCS choosing teams that really don't match up well?
In the final analysis, Florida deserves the claim to the national championship; Boise State must settle for runner-up (though they'll be back next year); and the bowl games and BCS need to give way to a playoff tournament.
There were 32 bowl games this season. A single-elimination tournament involving the top 32 teams (yes, 32 teams!) would produce 31 games. There's enough money to be spread around to keep much of the bowl apparatus, atmosphere and venues intact. Four games could still be played on New Year's Day and they all would be meaningful if the playoffs extended just one week further than what we currently have.
32 teams, 5 weeks (from the 2nd week of December to the middle of January), with every game meaningful and a deserving, undisputed national champion at the end. For the good of all involved, it's time to give serious consideration to a tournament format.
Sign up for the Back Issue Price Guide newsletter to receive updates and special sale info.
Subscribe by entering your email address:
|
Onsite Sports Links
NFL Schedule
NCAA Football Schedule
MLB Baseball Schedule
NHL Schedule
NBA Schedule
NASCAR Schedule
NCAA Basketball Schedule |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
