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Reflection on the Regular Season |
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Written by BBSooner
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Wednesday, 10 December 2008 |
Well, If you know me then you know I hold back no opinions ever. I am usually one of the first here to blast off my opinion, weather it is right or wrong. For example, I thought Georgia would not only beat Florida, but would win the SEC. Obviously that was not correct at all. Georgia was much worse than I expected. I guess that blowout of Hawaii in last year's bowl game was more that Hawaii sucked than Georgia was great. Wierd huh?
The Big 10/11, I predicted that UM would grow during the season and pull off the upset of Ohio State. Again, I was waaaaaaay off on that one. Michigan was pathetic this year. It wasn't even like they tried. They were this year's Notre Dame so to speak. Terrible. I will say that I think Rich Rod will turn this thing around soon. Michigan is just too big a school and program to stay down long. I also did not see Penn State coming in and winning the Big 10. They just played at a very high level and looked great doing it. I think they will give USC all they want in the Rose Bowl and JoePa returns for another glorious year in 2009.
The ACC was a wreck this year. They were easily the worst BCS conference in college football this year. I don't know if they will win more than 2 bowl games this year, which would be the same as last year. I did however know that VT would win the ACC. I think they were the only team that looked like they could going into the season. I also knew that GT would be on the rise with new head coach Paul Johnson. I have nothing but respect for this guy and this year is just the first step to winning ACC Championships regularly. He is the one of the best coaches in the ACC and GT will be a contender as long as he is there. FSU and Miami were easy to call coming into the season, but they were both better than I expected. I did not think either would have a winning record and both did. Congrats to them on that amazing feat. And a huge pat on the back to Butch Davis and NC on an amazing season in the ACC, I did not see that one at all.
The Big East was a good conference this year, but not with the usual suspects. I mean did anyone see Cincy winning it outright? I did not! I am not surprised, but I did not think they would win it this year under 2nd year coach Brian Kelly. And Pitt? Wait, Pitt came in 2nd in the Big East...WTF??? WVU was decent, but not there best year. Same for USF. This conference was exciting to watch, I just wish they would decide who will be their annual champion team. Nobody seems like they can stay on top in the Big East. So, who will it be next year? The 'Cuse? Unpredictable! I had WVU winning it BTW.
The PAC 10. Well, I am not even sure where to start with this conference. There is USC and, as usual, the rest. The thing is this was the year that USC was right to fall, but nobody else seemed to want to take them down. There was this Oregon State team that could have proven that somebody else could win the conference, but when it came time to do it gets pounded by a below average Oregon team. Then you have a terrible Arizona team finally stepping up to beat their equally bad rivals Arizona State. Wierd year in the PAc 10 indeed. However, at the days end...USC will play for Roses as usual. ~Yawn~
Now you have the SEC, where smashmouth football is the norm. That held somewhat true, but there was little offense to speak of outside of Florida. Like I already stated, I thought the Dawgs would be there at the end. They diappointed. I did however see and predict the demise of LSU. I knew they lost too much to overcome and would be average this year. I also thought Arkansas under 1st year head coach Bobby Petrino would be better than they ended up being. They were just bad this year. I think they also have the right guy to get it done soon, but this year was a huge mountain for them to climb as a program. I also said going into this year that I did not think Florida would win any more games then they did last year. Last year they lost 4 games and I expected the same, or worse. Obviously I was mistaken. I can't put my finger on it, but this conference seemed to roll over and play dead for Florida. Other than Ole Miss and Bama, nobody wanted to beat the mighty Gators. Speaking of Ole Miss, I did predict that Nutt would play spoiler in his 1 season there and he did not disappoint. Nutt is an energy guy and he took plenty into Mississippi. Good for him and the Rebels. On another note, I did not see Auburn firing Tommy this year. Talk about a team that I thought would compete for the SEC crown playing bad football, well the Tigers did just that and it cost Tommy his job. He will land elsewhere soon, but that was unexpected for sure. Crazy year in the SEC indeed!
As for the Big 12, I will say that I predicted a 3rd straight Big 12 Championship for my Sooners. I wish it had come a little differently, but it is what it is. So congrats to my team in Norman on a great year. 3 in a row under Lord Bob Stoops, WTG. I also predicted that Tech would be very good and I said that I feared them the most this year. They played up to the hype all year and lost a heartbreaker to my Sooners. I did not see Texas being as good as they ended up being. They played great football all year long and lost a close one to Tech thus sparking much controversy in the conference. I did not think that Oklahoma State would end up being as good as they were and they ended up 4th in the South. 4th with the year they had. I wonder if anyone realizes that oSu lost to Texas, Texas Tech and OU. That is it! 3 Losses for the lowly Pokes from Stillwater...Great job Gundy! I also did not see Mizzou being as average as they ended up being. Nebraska was better under Bo, but not what I hoped for in the win column. Kansas was okay, but not as dominant as they were last year. Looks like the North and South just assumed their usual positions. The Crazy year for the Big 12 as well, but easily the best conference in football this year.
So as usual it was a strange year for football and the madness that is the BCS is still the madness we have come to expect. I predicted that UGA would play USC for the BCS Championship and thankfully in that case. I was wrong!
Congrats to all the conference winners on a great year and good luck to your teams in the bowl games. Here is to having a great Bowl Season with no injuries to these young athletes that we love watching play the game. BOOMER! |
