This is not to say the current system is the ideal market clearing mechanism. It is just better than what we had. Their paper, “Unraveling Yields Inefficient Matchings: Evidence from Post-Season College Football Bowls,” is available for download [pdf].

Preseason polls are interesting and unfortunately matter more than they should as pollsters do not like to move teams above an unbeaten team even if performance on the field indicates they should.  In the last 5 years this has begun to happen and hopefully when justified this will continue.

So in the interest of… interest, I’ll start with a question.  Does this represent where voters believe teams will be ranked at the end of the season or is it a simple list from top to bottom of who would beat whom on a neutral field 2 out of 3 meetings?

Let’s go with the latter and begin.  Three top ten teams should not be there.  Ohio State will win 10 and probably 11 games.  They won’t beat Oklahoma, Florida of LSU on most days and should be at 6 or 7th just a few slots above Wisconsin who should round out the top 10.   Missouri will likely win the Big Twelve North but not likely to get through that half the conference without a loss and the trip to Austin will be a problem.  Move ‘em to 12th.  Lots of changes at West Virginia in both the coaching staff and backfield.  I have trouble with them ahead of Auburn, Wisconsin and Texas.  I could say the same thing about Clemson but the ACC has to show up somewhere don’t they.  

Opps, I’m now thinking where the teams may end the season.  And perhaps the voters have also.  They seem to pick a conference winner knowing they go to a BCS Bowl and with a decent bowl game performance, a top ten finish.   

These could be the words ringing in Kelli White’s mind as her competitor on the track, Marion Jones, heads to prison after admitting to lying about her drug use. And White must ponder what her fate may have been had she not admitted her actions to both the government and the USADA in 2004. Instead of a prison sentence like Jones, she is scheduled to complete an MBA program.

College Presidents,

With all but a few games between this season and the bowls, it is time to preview the morsels available for the college football fan to satisfy his/her hunger before the New Year’s Day Games. The best team in the land according to all polls will continue their hibernation another 32 days before reappearing next year to show the world they deserve the ranking. Give them a bye week for sure, maybe two for good measure, but 6 weeks off. Don’t we want teams playing at their best? Don’t we want to see the best teams play?

Let’s have an eight team playoff using the bowls for the final, semi-finals and those losing out in the first round. The games will make money. And if you are really worried about student athletes not getting to class, get rid of the mid week games. Oh, you can do that for basketball and baseball, too.  I forget, their tournaments don’t get in the way of any real school work.

Back to the playoff system. Wouldn’t it be great if every week, we could look forward to a couple of top 10 teams squaring off to determine who gets to the title game. All are guaranteed a first round game and a bowl game. The last two standing play in a third game to take home the crystal. Why is this so hard?

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Let’s start with the match-ups.  Georgia vs. Hawaii or USC.  Let’s me think about that.  Nothing against the great performance by Hawaii this year.  They certainly deserve a slot and will perform well.  They have one of the best set of receivers to go with a top notch quarterback.  I simply would prefer the Bulldogs vs. the Trojans.

Now back to Missouri.  Yes, they are more deserving than Kansas and that is the decision that should have been made.  Yet, Kansas is deserving and should be there instead of… Illinois.  Yes, 9 and 3 should not get you in the game unless those losses come at the hands of teams ranked at year end in the top 5.  Get the conferences to send a champion and the rest of the slots open to the best teams with an eye toward the best games.

Or simply give us a playoff.

But here we are and more importantly here undefeated Kansas and Missouri with one loss to Oklahoma are, five days before the most important game in the schools football history.  Two high powered offenses will meet to see who goes into the Big-12 Championship game as the Number 2 Team in the nation.  Who knows, the way this season has gone, Arkansas could spoil LSU’s Friday and the winner may be ranked 1st in the championship game.

And if LSU falters is the SEC Championship game, could we see Ohio State and Virginia Tech play for the national championship?

That leaves the lowly Big-12 and Big Ten looking at a possible pairing in the title game should the Tigers of LSU fall in one of the next three games.  An unlikely scenario, but this is an unlikely year.  I picked LSU and Oklahoma earlier this season and that seems to be as good a guess as any right now.  Oklahoma would be aided by beating and undefeated team in the conference final and does not want a rematch with Missouri, so they will be pulling for the Jayhawks to win two more before coming down from the clouds.  If that occurs and Texas and Missouri end with 10 wins, the computers will favor the Sooners and I suspect the human element will also.

In any event, all five need to watch their backs.  Is an upset awaiting LSU in Oxford??

Were the Sooners and Longhorns looking to next weeks showdown in Dallas, while Florida and a slow starting LSU Tigers looking to their meeting in Baton Rouge? Or does this show the continuing parity in college football? Perhaps a little of both. With USC sqeaking out a win in Seattle, we could have a season with no major conference teams running the table.

Clemson welcomed Florida State into Death Valley for Bowden Bowl 9 and stunned Dad and company through the beginning of the third period.  By the time the Seminoles realized this was a real game, the time remaining was too little to complete the comeback.  They join Michigan outside this week’s top 25.

Tennessee, the other top 25 to begin 0-1, put up 31 on California yet gave up 45 points including a punt return for a TD in the loss. Auburn survives a scare from Kansas State scoring with 2:01 left in the 4th quarter to take the lead. The remainder of the Top 25 took care of business mostly with lopsided scores. Here are some notables or should we say embarassments for both the losers and those setting the schedules:

Penn State 59 - Florida International 0
Oklahoma 79 - North Texas 10
Nebraska 52 - Nevada 10
Hawaii 63 - Northern Colorado 6