Nebraska's No. 1 Ranking
Dear BLITZ:
Finally, someone got it right. This is exactly the point many people outside of the Bowden clan and New York City have been screaming about. Something is seriously wrong, when the ACC and Big East meet in the so called Championship game. Believe me, if this happens again next year, there will be a revolution.
Disney is the devil with a mickey mouse face. They are trying their hardest to manipulate this system to their liking. No wonder they are in a hurry to renew the BCS contract with the NCAA. Someone let Bill Byrne (University of Nebraska athletic director) have a voice in this. He is extremely upset over what ABC is trying to pull off with their paltry $400 million renewal. The basketball championship got a 1.2 billion dollar renewal. When 19 of 23 bowl games are on ABC or ESPN, there isn't much room for dissention.
Just because the Fla..St. and VA Tech game was like a track meet, doesn't mean it was a great game or that it must have meant these were the two best teams. It means neither team had a defense of championship caliber. Even Tennessee was better than both the teams on Tuesday night. Nebraska is better than both those teams. If this is the way it is going to be, we will soon have to let the WAC champion play for the title with an 11-0 record. Sooner or later a school like Nebraska and Texas are going to sue over the current situation and win.
Thanks for the great article!
>> Respond to this letter >> Share Your Opinion
Jan. 7, 2000
Dear BLITZ:
That is exactly what I've been trying to tell everyone this season. The B.C.S. just adds up wins and losses to determine strength of schedule. But Virginia Tech and Florida State played few if any teams that could offer a challenge. Its too bad a team like V.T. can coast through a pathetic schedule and play for the title. Even a small playoff system would fix that flaw.
>> Respond to this letter >> Share Your Opinion
Jan. 7, 2000
Dear BLITZ:
I totally agree that Nebraska should have been the National Champion or at least shared the title. Both Florida State and Virginia Tech played nobody and struggled with the opponnets they played. Its all about the bottom dollar and ABC and ESPN have their hands in it.
>> Respond to this letter >> Share Your Opinion
Back and Forth Banter With a Bama Fan
Dec. 26, 1999
Dear BLITZ:
It looks like you have your 5 favorite teams ranked accordingly. This is obviously a biased website promoting Big 10, Big 12 over the rest of the country. I won't be back, so put what you want on your website.
>> Respond to this letter >> Share Your Opinion
Jan. 1, 2000
Dear JERRY:
I am one of the editors of collegeBLITZ.com and when we received your e-mail some weeks ago, I decided to wait until the bowls have come to respond. I gather that you are an Alabama fan, and I pass along my condolences. It was unfortunate that Ryan Pflungner's extra-point went wide right, but Michigan's hard pressed victory showed that the Big Ten team was better than the SEC team in this contest. You say our site is slanted toward the Big Ten, well it is not. The site reflects coverage of the best teams in college football, and truthfully, in our opinion, the Big Ten is the best college football conference.
Furthermore, your criticism of the Top 20 is unfounded. Four of the Top 5 are in B.C.S. games. That means that more people — and more computer polls — figure those teams to be best than just us. Michigan State, the team not featured in a B.C.S. game played on New Year's Day and played another SEC team, Florida, and... beat them.
In our poll, Alabama is No. 7, ahead of Penn State and just behind VIRGINIA TECH, which is playing for the National Championship — according to B.C.S.
Alabama is a tough, young and speedy football team. It seems to be going in the right direction and may be headed for the National Championship Game in 2001. Perhaps it'll face another tough Big Ten team and produce another great match-up like we saw with tonight's Orange Bowl.
Of course we'll have our season predictions coming in August — hey, this year we picked Wisconsin No. 1 and they didn't make it there, but it did produce a Heisman Trophy winner and did finish strong with the 17-9 Rose Bowl win.
You may notice a high level of Penn State coverage, and that is because we are headquartered in New York and they are a top level team that is close by — we picked them No. 2 in preseason rankings — and they deserve high level coverage. Hofstra, the Div. II-A team is also covered week-to-week on our site.
As you said, you don't have to visit our site, nobody's forcing you. You're free to roam the internet as you please. I just wanted to let you in on our thoughts as to the college football coverage.
MICHAEL SISAK
Editor, collegeBLITZ.com
>> Respond to this letter >> Share Your Opinion
Jan. 2, 2000
Mr. EDITOR:
YOU SAID: You say our site is slanted toward the Big Ten, well it is not. The site reflects coverage of the best teams in college football, and truthfully, in our opinion, the Big Ten is the best college football conference.
I say: You just proved my point. You say your site is not slanted toward Big Ten, and the very next sentence you say that your opinion is that Big Ten is the best. Pretty silly comment.
YOU SAY: It was unfortunate that Ryan Pflungner's extra-point went wide right, but Michigan's hard pressed victory showed that the Big Ten team was better than the SEC team in this contest.
I say: A missed extra point does not mean one team is BETTER than the other. I could say that because UM fumbled at the goal line, Bama was better. I could say that the field goal that was blocked makes Bama better. You simply cannot justify your statements using that logic.
Simply put, UM is a very good team, and well coached. They have fine players. You could also make the same point for Bama now couldn't you? UM is loaded with Seniors while Bama has lots of young players.
Experience was on UM's side, but the future is on Bama's.
I will say that the Big Ten and the SEC are the TWO toughest conferences in the country. The two match up very well from top to bottom. I will not say that one is truely better than the other. Georgia beat Perdue by a field goal, MSU beat UF by a field goal. UM wins by a missed extra point. To say that one is better than the other because of a missed extra point cheapens the fine efforts that both teams have put out all season long.
As far as Wisc. and Dayne go, the Badgers are lucky that Stanford didn't clean their clock. Any team in the top 15 could beat the Badgers. Dayne is nowhere near the best back in college football. You saw the best in the Orange Bowl. He wears No. 37 for the Crimson Tide. He can run, he can score, he can catch, and he can block. Dayne can run, and he can score if he has the right blocking. Who would you pick to play for you? A guy that can do it all, or a guy that can only do some? The NFL will prove to be Dayne's undoing. In five years from now, Dayne will be washed up, but Shaun Alexander will still be having a stellar career in the NFL.
JERRY BAXLEY
cfinders@unix.cde.com
>> Respond to this letter >> Share Your Opinion
Dec. 24, 1999
Dear BLITZ:
The people who say Joe Paterno must go are crazy. We have entered a time where there is great competition in college football and the Big Ten is the best of all conferences with intense games week in and week out. The problem is that the good Big Ten teams play and knock each other out, like with happened to Penn State this year. In years past there was not this kind of intensity of play. Paterno has to deal with what is handed to him, and that includes a shaky offense and a line that is not up to par. Hopefully they can salvage a win in the Alamo Bowl and finish with a 10-3 record, which is not half bad.
>> Respond to this letter >> Share Your Opinion
PREVIOUS LETTERS
Oct. 24, 1999
Dear BLITZ:
My problem is Virginia Tech. If I were a pollster (and thank God geniuses like the Philadelphia Daily News' Mike Kern are, producing pre-season quotes like, "And until Tennessee loses, I will keep the Volunteers No. 1."), I'd rate Virginia Tech no better than ninth.
Half the teams I've seen in the Big Ten would beat the Techsters, it says here. You think Virginia Tech would solve Drew Brees and his illegal-pick five receiver offense? Or match up with Penn State's defense (which, yes, is definitely the stronger half of the Lions)? Or not get crumbled to the earth physically by Wisconsin.
The point: week-by-week pounding would wear the Gobs down and they'd be toast by mid-season, probably no better than 6-2, 2-2 maybe 5-3, 2-2 in the Big Ten. And they whine about no respect.
Hey, they were lucky to stay ahead of Pitt Saturday night. If Lotz makes that chipper field goal in the first half to cut it to 17-10, how important is that when Pitt's defense stiffens in the second half and it pulls within 27-20 instead of 27-17?
Think Virginia Tech's defensive collar gets a little tighter? I sure do.
Anyhow, very much overrated and the Bowl Championship Series is a lot of computerized B.S. Any strength-of-schedule battle should push Virginia Tech down.
Same for Nebraska, which lucked out at Kansas.
Ciao. Go Lions.
PAUL SMITH
Michigan City, Ind.
[Paul Smith is a football maven from the Midwest who roots for his alma mater, Villanova.]
>> Respond to this letter >> Share Your Opinion
Nov. 1, 1999
Dear BLITZ:
Christ, Sisak, you're worse than Corso and the ESPN morons. Penn State had close to 600 yards total offense -- including returns -- and about 215 rushing against a team that totally shut down Michigan in the second half. They did it in Champagne. They made their halftime adjustments the way all great teams do and took care of business. The Illinois QB said it was the best defense they have faced by far. You need to get DirectTV.
BILL C.
Turnersville, N.J.
>> Respond to this letter >> Share Your Opinion
Nov. 2, 1999
Dear BLITZ:
I like your web site. Kevin Thompson [the Penn State passer] has an arm that can throw the long ball. He'll be doing that in the pros next year.
JOE DEVINE
Lampeter, Pa.
[Joe Devine is a native of Lebanon, Pa., where Kerry Collins, the former Penn State quarterback who is now a Giant, learned to throw a football.]
>> Respond to this letter >> Share Your Opinion
Nov. 3, 1999
Dear BLITZ:
Hope you've noticed that JoePa has about a seven-back rotation going. You never know who's going to be in there. It appears JoePa has decided if he's going to recruit all these Parade all-Americans, he's going to use them. That's one reason for the lack of continuity. As long as it adds up to 200 or more yards, I can dig it. Injuries have made them thin on the offensive line, though.
BILL C.
Turnersville, N.J.
>> Respond to this letter >> Share Your Opinion
Nov. 23, 1999
Dear BLITZ:
What was Penn State in when Derek Fox got beat twice by Minnesota? The kid
has been burned so bad he wears a #16 sunscreen. Too bad Barry Alvarez
didn't change QBs before the opener; you'd be No. 1. The Hokies laid a
fearsome whipping on our Alma Mater. They could have scored 90.
BILL C.
Times Square
>> Respond to this letter >> Share Your Opinion
>> Share Your Opinion with The Sack,
a new feature on collegeBLITZ.com
|
