Sloppy Potatoes

Playoffs? Yes, we need playoffs

I’m no college football expert, but Jay-Mo is one of the most knowledgeable fans I know. I asked him to craft an opinion piece regarding Utah’s win and what it means for the BCS, playoffs, etc., and he penned this gem of a guest post. Enjoy. — EP

It took less than 12 minutes into the Sugar Bowl for the Utah Utes to prove a point, a message most of Division I college football insiders refuse to acknowledge.

Three touchdowns against one of the statistically best defenses in the country, not just in the so-called defense dominant Southeastern Conference, but the entire nation. A nation of 117 Division I teams the Alabama Crimson Tide once stood atop of for several weeks.

Utah played just as fast as Alabama , and in the end, physically outplayed the Nick $aban-led Tide. Nearly 350 total yards of offense proves that. The Utes also held Bama’s vaunted running game to just 31 yards.

So why not let Utah have a chance at the Texas Longhorns, which looked very vulnerable against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl? Or, how about a Utah versus USC Trojans match up?

Yeah, yeah … USC would probably run all over Utah. That’s what the experts said about Alabama!

Here we are on the eve of the National Championship Game, and we’re still left wondering, what if? Let Utah learn its lesson. Maybe, just maybe, USC would learn theirs?

We need a BCS playoff

A playoff is the only fair thing to do. We fans deserve it. Heck, the players have earned it.

It doesn’t have to be a 16- or 8-team playoff. A simple extension of the current bowl system will work. Let the major bowls play out on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, and take the winners to play in a quarterfinals round on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9, while giving the top two BCS ranked teams a bye. Semifinals would be the following week, and the BCS championship could be played the week before the Super Bowl. What a lineup of football games, eh?

What we would have is Utah facing USC and Texas facing the Virginia Tech Hokies in the quarters. The winners then play the top two, leading to the championship matchup.

Yes, there will still be teams left out … but it would afford a few more teams a chance to create some excitement. More importantly, it would make the major bowls relevant again!

A case for Utah, Boise State, even Hawaii

Utah certainly deserves a chance. Boise State sent in a request for one two years ago, knocking off the Oklahoma Sooners, a team with a few veteran players who remember what it’s like to play a formidable non-BCS foe in a major bowl.

Utah led off the campaign four years ago, beating an overmatched Pittsburgh Panthers squad.

Even though Hawaii forgot to lick the envelope last year, its message was still worthy of reading. What would’ve happened if Hawaii had a chance to play closer to home, say in the Rose Bowl? I’m sure the effort would’ve been better. Ask the Penn State Nittany Lions what it’s like traveling nearly 3,000 miles away from home to play a team in its backyard?

Wouldn’t a December filled with three weeks of college football playoffs be better than the hodge-podge of exhibition games we’re now faced with?

Pundits say a playoff system would devalue the regular season. I say that’s baloney

Yeah, according to the pundits, every regular season game is a playoff. If a team wants to earn its chance for a BCS championship, they say, “just win your games.” Makes sense outside the box, yes. Ask Utah if that’s true?

I’m sorry, I don’t want to view Penn State’s game against the Iowa Hawkeyes as a playoff game. Penn State losing on a last second field goal shouldn’t cost them a championship, which it did. A weak out of conference schedule should. Regardless, a playoff would allow Penn State to make up for its one slip of the season.

Oklahoma and the Florida Gators were afforded second chances this year. Heck, the LSU Tigers were given two mulligans last year in route to their second championship this decade.

A playoff system would’ve been nice in 1991-92 when the Miami Hurricanes and Washington Huskies finished undefeated. I’m sure Penn State in 1994-95 would’ve liked to have a shot at the Nebraska Huskers.

Following Bama’s loss to Florida in the SEC Championship Game, Saban said his team still was the only team to have an undefeated regular season in a “real BCS conference.”

After beating several ranked opponents, and now ‘Bama in the Sugar Bowl, I guess Utah ’s coach Kyle Whittingham can claim his crew is the only team to go undefeated in a “real BCS season,” even if the BCS system didn’t afford them a fair shake.