It was Conference Championship Weekend in College Football Friday and yesterday, and great works of gridiron art were NOT produced. Of the five Power Five championship games, only one of them can be termed an exciting contest: Oklahoma's 30-23 overtime victory over Baylor.
The Big Ten game held promise of an exciting upset when Wisconsin led Ohio state 21-7 at halftime, but the Buckeyes then got serious and scored 27 unanswered points in the second half to win 34-21, and the game turned into a yawner right after OSU scored within two minutes to open the half.
The other three games featured scores of 37-15, 37-10, and 62-17 (a comment on that one a bit later). Let's hope that the semi-final and final CFP games that will be played will all be more competitive and exciting than what we witnessed this weekend.
As I type this at 10:25 on Sunday morning, here's how I see the rankings coming down later today:
- LSU
- Clemson
- Ohio State
- Oklahoma
The committee could flip-flop Clemson and Ohio State, but since #2 plays #3 on a neutral field in the semis, that ranking is, essentially, meaningless.
As for Clemson, this is the team that I will definitely be rooting against as the Playoffs unfold. I switched over from the Ohio State game late last night to see how the ACC game was going. What I saw was Clemson with the ball inside the Virginia five yard line with less than minute and a half to play, and leading 55-17. Most coaches, even Bill Bellichick, would have taken a knee right there and let the clock run out. Not sanctimonious Dabo Swinney, though. He chose to run it up the gut and win 62-17. After the game, Dabo, who loves to invoke the Jesus' name when talking about his sacred football program, probably cited a passage in the Bible to justify that play call.
I can find reasons to root for any of the other three teams, but, like I say, I know what team I DON'T want to see win in the CFP.
Speaking of lopsided scores, did you notice that a team won the PIAA Class 2A state championship on Friday by beating another team 74-7. The coach, whose name and school I am not going to mention, was quoted in the paper about what a "great victory" this was for his "program." I mean, honestly, how proud could this coach be of watching his 15, 16, and 17 year old kids beating up on another school's 15,16, and 17 year old kids?
Hey, if an NFL team runs up a score like that on an opponent, I say "tough shit" to the losing team. You're pros, so start playing better. I can even be a little more tolerant of elite NCAA schools doing it, although I still don't like it, as my comment about Swinney above attests. However, it just ain't right that this happens in a high school game. I don't know if this coach cleaned his bench in the second quarter and was playing his fifth stringers in the fourth quarter and did nothing but run plays straight into the line. Maybe he did, or maybe he really tried to run it up like that, but in any event, a 74-7 win is nothing to be proud of.
And this is purely a personal pet peeve, but I have a problem with high schools who talk about their football and basketball "programs." When I was in high school, my school's football coaches were an algebra teacher and a history teacher. Neither of them thought that they were Vince Lombardi or Tom Landry, to name the two top coaches of that era. I believe that they perceived that they were coaching an extracurricular activity, and I am guessing that they thought a "football program" was the booklet sold before the game that listed the players numbers.
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