2008
THE RANKINGS
B.C.S. Top Ten: 1. Oklahoma, 2. Florida, 3. Texas, 4. Alabama, 5. USC, 6. Utah, 7. Texas Tech, 8. Penn State, 9. Boise State, 10. Ohio State
A.P. Top Ten: 1. Florida, 2. Oklahoma, 3. Texas, 4. Alabama, 5. USC, 6. Penn State, 7. Utah, 8. Texas Tech, 9. Boise State, 10. Ohio State
Andrew: Ah, much more organization here than last year’s clusterfuck. While I said there were no great teams in 2007, there were maybe too many great teams in 2008. There was a trio of big-timers in the Big XII, all of whom had wins against one another: Oklahoma and their juiced offense (51.1 PPG!) led by Heisman winner Sam Bradford, Texas and their equally juiced attack (42.4 PPG) led by runner-up Colt McCoy, and unlikely Texas Tech led by Graham Harrell and stud wide receiver Michael Crabtree. Crabtree’s last second touchdown against the Longhorns was probably the biggest highlight of the ’08 regular season. In the now-dominant SEC, you had Florida, who lost early on to a good Ole Miss team then routed the rest of their opponents before taking down undefeated Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. The resurgent Crimson Tide and their stout defense was in the top two from late September all the way until their loss to 2007 Heisman winner Tim Tebow and Florida, which was 4th in the country in offense and 4th in defense. Damn. USC was the preseason #1 (again) but they lost early on at Oregon State before dominating the remainder of their Pac-10 schedule with an incredible defense, surrendering only 9 points per game. These teams were friggin’ stacked! The last remaining undefeated team after the bowls was Urban Meyer’s old team Utah, who beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl to match their dream season in 2004. Big Ten Champion Penn State would have gone undefeated in the Big Ten if not for a late loss on a last-second field goal at Iowa.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS…
Nick: Let’s get this out-of-the-way first: Florida is No. 1. They won the SEC in a year where the SEC had several very good teams, and Tim Tebow seemed to be unstoppable at the end of the season. Where it gets interesting is with the next three spots. Alabama deserves some consideration, as does USC and Utah. However, you also have the so-called Big 3 of the Big 12 in Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech. Those three teams traded losses all year-long, with Oklahoma getting the opportunity to play for the Big 12 title based solely on their BCS ranking. However, they took advantage of that opportunity, and for that I’ll give them the No. 2 spot. But what about Texas and Texas Tech? The Big 12 may have deferred to the BCS standings, but I won’t. I’ll go Texas Tech at No. 3 and Texas at No. 4 based on their head-to-head results. (1. Florida 2.Oklahoma 3.Texas 4. Texas Tech)
Andrew: Oklahoma made their case simply because they got invited by the Big XII over Texas and Texas Tech to play in the conference title game, where they beat up Missouri. The main reason was because they lost earliest, giving them the highest B.C.S. ranking, which was the tiebreaker. I still saw Florida as the best team going into the game, although I vaguely remember some favoring the Sooners to win the title game (They lost 24-14). This is a situation where #1 and #2 rankings are debatable, which can change the semi-finals completely. I have Florida at #1 because of the strength of the SEC followed by Oklahoma and Texas. For my last spot, as mad as this will make Nick’s fellow Hard Traveling Fanboy and fellow B.C.S. Buster Greg Phillips, I have to take USC over Alabama. USC’s defense was statistically just as good, they won their conference, and their offense was better. Utah played some good teams like TCU, BYU, and Oregon State, but there just is no room this year. Four awesome teams, though, leaving out two other terrific teams in Alabama and Utah.
Todd: The resurgence of Big 12 football, at least since the heyday of the mid and late 90s Nebraska teams was in full effect this year with Oklahoma and Texas. Lots of good teams here, most notably an absolutely stacked Oklahoma team that had last year’s Heisman winner Sam Bradford with a solid group of WRs and an All-American safety valve with All-American TE Jermaine Gresham and the electric DeMarco Murray in the backfield all making Oklahoma a very powerful weapon in the explosive Big 12. Texas had the precision of Colt McCoy along with the sure hands of Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby but a few gems on defense in Brian Orakpo and Sergio Kindle. Of course, Florida had ***TIM TEBOW***, hitting his full stride as a transcendent sports figure by this point after Florida, in the most Florida of moves, lost to Ole Miss at home early on in the season, leading Tebow to give one of the most heart wrenching, tear inducing, moving, inspirational speeches that could be equally as powerful playing Oklahoma for the national title or storming the beaches of Normandy. I’ll echo the idea that USC gets the nod in a playoff scenario over Alabama. Not a slight to the Tide, but I think winning your conference, especially a solid Pac-12 is important, especially considering the SEC is represented by Florida already. I’ll go 1. Oklahoma, 2. Florida, 3. USC and 4. Texas. Why Texas at #4? Texas was Oklahoma’s lone loss and arch rival. USC won their conference, so I’ll give them the nod for the tantalizing TV that would be the Red River Rivalry for a chance at a national title appearance (part two, since the first was essentially the same thing). Also, towards season’s end, Texas ran an advertising campaign to remind voters they were the sole loss for Oklahoma, while Oklahoma returned fire with a campaign reminding voters Texas had lost to Texas Tech in one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen. Either way, it’s too good an opportunity to pass up.
The Decision: A lot of great teams and three very different polls make for an interesting compromise. Florida got enough votes for #1 while Oklahoma is right behind at #2 (which included a first-place vote by Todd). Texas hangs on at #3 to preserve the rematch while the last team in is USC.
THE FINAL FOUR
#1 Florida vs. #4 USC in the Orange Bowl, #2 Oklahoma vs. #3 Texas in the Cotton Bowl
Nick: It’s hard to imagine anyone stopping Tim Tebow in 2008. Granted, USC was as close as you’d find to SEC speed or SEC talent outside of the SEC itself, but Florida had already been through the fire against Alabama in the SEC title game. Gators down the Trojans, 31-20. Oklahoma against Texas, meanwhile, would have been an absolute barnburner. The two teams battled it out in the regular season, and either could have made an argument to be included in the actual BCS title game. While it would have been an unbelievably close game, it’s very difficult to beat a team twice in a single season. I’ll go with Oklahoma, 28-27.
Andrew: This would have settled a long-standing debate that never really got solved involving how well Pete Carroll’s loaded Trojans teams would have held up against the SEC during its peak years. We lost out on the opportunities in ’03 and ’04, and now we finally get a chance. In our B.C.S. Busters series, USC lost to LSU in ’03 but took care of Auburn in ’04, so this would be the rubber match. USC’s defense was the real deal and would have given Tim Tebow fits just like Oklahoma did, but the explosiveness for the Gators on both sides of the ball in creating turnovers and big gains on the ground would have just gotten the win over the Trojans. In the next great rematch, I see Oklahoma getting a comfortable win over Texas on a neutral field. I thought OU was better and at their peak while Texas was a year away from truly becoming great.
Todd: I think that had Florida and USC met in a playoff this particular year, Florida had just enough momentum and USC was starting to come back down to earth just enough for the Gators to get the job done. I think both defenses would be the x-factors in this game, as both are largely forgotten thanks to how exciting and star powered the offensive units were. I’ll take Florida in a 41-35 type game. As for a Red River rematch, I’ll echo the sentiment that at this particular point, Oklahoma was peaking, whereas Texas was still missing something. Both were great teams, but I think that this Oklahoma team had too much going for it and too much momentum by this point to lose one to Texas. OU wins 28-17.
THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
#1 Florida vs. #2 Oklahoma
Nick: Same game we got, with the same result. No one was going to beat Florida that year. Ole Miss was a giant fluke, and Tebow was unstoppable from that point on. Oklahoma was a great team, but Florida was just on another level. Florida 34, Oklahoma 17.
Andrew: We get the same match-up that we saw in the Orange Bowl for the B.C.S. Championship. Many gloss over the SEC’s national title streak by lumping this game in with the other beatdowns, but this one was much closer than people remembered. OU’s defense really hounded Tebow and forced two turnovers, but the Heisman winner Bradford (and some fourth down calls by Stoops that did not pay off) were overwhelmed by Florida’s speed on defense. Florida wins by 10, just like they did in reality.
Todd: For the purpose of these snippets, I like to pretend that what happened in real life didn’t yet happen, to be fair and neutral. Sort of how I think there’s a chance that USC beats Texas for the Rose Bowl a good 70% of the time. In this case? Florida probably beats Oklahoma 9 times out of 10, real life or Place to Be Nation revisionist history. I take Florida by at least 10.
The 2008 B.C.S. Busters Champion is… the Florida Gators!
