BleedGopher
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per Ivan:
As one one-sided semifinal bled into another Saturday, as 12 months of anticipation, fueled by three months of regular season, fell apart like a sand castle at high tide, all I could think was this:
Thank goodness. Maybe this will quiet the talk of playoff expansion.
The playoff semifinals fit in nicely with the rest of this December. If you judge the December bowls the way we judge most football seasons these days, you would fire the coach. The games stank. Average winning margin: 20 points. Of 27 bowls played going into Monday, only 10 had a one-score margin at any time during the fourth quarter. Things got better over the past two days, when nine of 11 games were decided by one score (eight points or fewer).
As for the semifinals themselves, No. 3 Notre Dame, beset by injuries -- which can happen when a team plays an opponent with bigger/stronger/faster players -- fell apart in the final minute of the first half against No. 2 Clemson.
No. 4 Oklahoma came out against No. 1 Alabama and played the worst first quarter in a big game since, well, Oklahoma played the BCS final 14 years ago. Those Sooners took a 7-0 lead against USC and trailed 38-10 at the half. The Trojans won 55-19.
So it's crushing. We discovered that Alabama and Clemson, the consensus No. 1 and No. 2 to start the season, are every bit as good as predicted.
Being right is no fun, is it?
http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...-football-playoff-simply-create-more-blowouts
Go Gophers!!
As one one-sided semifinal bled into another Saturday, as 12 months of anticipation, fueled by three months of regular season, fell apart like a sand castle at high tide, all I could think was this:
Thank goodness. Maybe this will quiet the talk of playoff expansion.
The playoff semifinals fit in nicely with the rest of this December. If you judge the December bowls the way we judge most football seasons these days, you would fire the coach. The games stank. Average winning margin: 20 points. Of 27 bowls played going into Monday, only 10 had a one-score margin at any time during the fourth quarter. Things got better over the past two days, when nine of 11 games were decided by one score (eight points or fewer).
As for the semifinals themselves, No. 3 Notre Dame, beset by injuries -- which can happen when a team plays an opponent with bigger/stronger/faster players -- fell apart in the final minute of the first half against No. 2 Clemson.
No. 4 Oklahoma came out against No. 1 Alabama and played the worst first quarter in a big game since, well, Oklahoma played the BCS final 14 years ago. Those Sooners took a 7-0 lead against USC and trailed 38-10 at the half. The Trojans won 55-19.
So it's crushing. We discovered that Alabama and Clemson, the consensus No. 1 and No. 2 to start the season, are every bit as good as predicted.
Being right is no fun, is it?
http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...-football-playoff-simply-create-more-blowouts
Go Gophers!!