Predictions don't mean a thing these days
Dale Addison, Sports Columnist
Published On: 10/20/2008
Now that this article has finally reached your eyesight, the very first Bowl Championship Series standings of the 2008 season will have already been released and should be ingrained in your memory.
Analysts, fans, and coaches will start touting the resumes of the teams and conferences they believe are the most deserving of the chance to compete for the opportunity to celebrate in a ticker-tape parade.
This is a national debate you can guarantee it will be much more informative and intriguing than anything John McCain or Barack Obama could spout off in primetime.
Regardless of how many supposed experts make predictions for the end of the season as if they were Nostradamus, the real issue at hand should actually be taking each game one game at a time and one week at a time. The most important aspect of the season for any team should be what the final outcome is each time and every time the coin is tossed and the band gets fired up.
There is nothing wrong with salivating like Pavlov’s dog when you contemplate all of the dreams and expectations you had for your favorite collegiate team entering the season coming to fruition, but college football history should have taught everyone by now that looking too far into the future has been, and always will be, a recipe for disaster.
So without making a bold prediction of which team will be crowned national champion, or which player will leave New York with the Heisman Trophy firmly secured in his grasp, let’s just take a moment to discuss what you should have already figured out about the 2008 season up to this point.
Out of all the remaining undefeated teams left in the hunt, only three teams deserve to have the BCS championship game mentioned in the same breath as their name:
1. There is absolutely no disputing the fact that the Texas Longhorns are proving everything is BIGGER in Texas, and they are without a doubt the most deserving team to occupy the No. 1 ranking in each and every poll.
Mac Brown and company are making it look incredibly easy. But with that being said, the burnt orange faithful had better hold on for dear life for the rest of the season because they are facing an uphill battle steeper than Mt. Everest.
Texas’ remaining schedule against top 25 opponents can only be compared to a murderer’s row in a Lone Star prison. If Texas can make it through unscathed, you can expect the city of Austin to take over Miami in January.
2. Moving on, the Alabama Crimson Tide has proved that the Capstone is returning to the upper echelon of college football. However, Nick Saban’s determined and talented squad is realistically only one or two major injuries away on the offensive and defensive lines from witnessing a magical season in T-Town evaporate like water in the desert. Alabama lives and dies by the strength of its line play, but a lack of experienced depth could be a major hindrance for the Tide as the season wears on.
It was more than obvious that Alabama wasn’t the same physically dominating team when Andre Smith was out of the lineup for the Tulane game, or when Terrance Cody left on a stretcher during the second-half of the Ole Miss game.
If you are a part of the Bama nation and believe in a higher power and hope for 1992 to happen all over again, you better start petitioning prayers and keeping your fingers crossed.
3. Witnessing Joe Pa return the Nittany Lions to head of the class in the Big 10 is a serious case of old-school deja vu. Penn State has been one of the most impressive squads to take the field this entire season.
They are the only team in the NCAA that can boast about being ranked in the top 10 in both total offense and total defense. But the problem that Penn State is going to face in the eyes of the voters is the fact that they have yet to face a halfway decent opponent all season long.
If Joe Pa really desires for everyone to take his Lions seriously, it is imperative for Penn State to annihilate the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan State Spartans when they face them. Happy Valley had better start rooting against either the Tide or the Longhorns if they want to avoid becoming the Plains of 2008.
There are only three one-loss teams the rest of the NCAA should fear:
1. Whatever you do, you can’t forget about the NFL-stocked roster of the University of Southern California Trojans. The men of Troy are the absolute most dangerous one-loss team in the land. Pete Carroll’s bunch is going to run up the score for the rest of the season the same way the Dream Team did in Barcelona. The Trojans are the one team you don’t want to have to face in battle with everything on the line.
2. If Florida continues to find a way to be as dominant on both sides of the ball as they were when they chased LSU out of the Swamp, the Gators could be poised to make a serious run at an SEC, and a possible national, championship.
Urban Meyer’s squad appears to be healthy for the first time all season and is clicking on all cylinders at just the right time. If you are an opponent inside or outside of the SEC, that is a scarier thought than the current state of our nation’s economy.
3. Ohio State is a team that you had better not underestimate. Yes, we are all aware that they were trounced by USC earlier this year in the Coliseum, but you shouldn’t forget that the Buckeyes were at a serious disadvantage when they made their adventurous trek out to California.
Jim Tressel’s team was forced to play the most hyped game of the season with a true freshman quarterback. How difficult do you think it was for Terrell Pryor to call the plays from the huddle while having to stare into a backfield that didn’t include All Big 10 tailback Beanie Wells?
But now that Pryor has proved he is worthy of adding some stickers to his helmet, and Wells is back in the lineup running over defenders like a freight train, the Buckeyes are slowly going to find themselves rising up the polls and creeping back into the discussion.
The best part about being a college football fan is you can always expect the unexpected. The majority of the teams still have at least five regular season games left on their schedule. With so much football left to be played, anything can happen. What we think we know today may be irrelevant by the end of next week.
That’s why you have to stay glued to your couch and take all of the action in one game at a time and one week at a time. Is there anything better than college football and the controversy surrounding the BCS? Absolutely not! Let the speculation and debates rage on from coast to coast!
