By Brendan Loy
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By Brendan Loy
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Wow! RT @denverpost: Rockies' 17-2 rout of the Cubs...11 straight hits: http://dpo.st/aN5AVt | Rox' 2nd straight W after losing 8 in a row. RT @franklinavenue: Good news, Masturbating Bear: NBC might let Conan take his 'Late Night' and 'Tonight Show' bits to TBS: http://bit.ly/aXNoI8 Echofon stores your previously used hashtags. When I type #P, this is the list of suggestions that comes up: http://twitpic.com/2a6n58. Heh. RT @BreakingNews: Bank failure update: Oregon bank 5th of day shut; y-t-d total is 108 http://bit.ly/bsGoJq "The NCAA's rules are often confusing, redundant, outdated, maddeningly impractical or just plain stupid." #omgfacts http://es.pn/c7Ys7a RT @DamonLindelof: Dear Aliens Judging Our Civilization: Jersey Shore premiere had TRIPLE the viewers of Mad Men premiere. We await forthcoming annihilation. Pac-10 ponders annual kickoff game at Rose Bowl: http://bit.ly/cOH0H5. Big Ten as opponent? Screw that; redundant. Make it Pac-10 vs. SEC!!! Loyette this morning, while holding a balloon: "Daddy, can you show me how to go up in the sky?" The amount of rigarmarole & runaround that Bank of America just put me through to get a $75 bonus I clearly qualified for should be illegal. 2009 recession was deeper than previously thought: http://yhoo.it/cDwEKM Heh. RT @gadsdenista: Finally, Obama bows to somebody who deserves it. http://bit.ly/cp0yXM RT @techdirt: An Open iPhone App Market That Doesn't Require Jailbreaking... And Which Apple Can't Stop http://dlvr.it/3C3RB RT @fivethirtyeight: Bet you that @Deadspin hires Arash Markazi, who may be suspended from ESPN for daring to do actual journalism. http://bit.ly/bhLBiT But, but... the SEC is a WAR!!! RT @BrianGrummell: Undefeated teams in conf play since 1990: SEC 11, PacTen 5 - easier to go unbeaten in SEC Has BP oil spill's impact been exaggerated? http://bit.ly/cyujNY "There's just no data to suggest this is an environmental disaster." RT @fivethirtyeight: It's Like Mathematically Unpossible for Republicans to Win the House, or Something http://bit.ly/aYiTOb Tebow agrees to 5-year, $11.25 million deal with Broncos, enters GOP governor's race: http://bit.ly/9FXvbO. (OK, only part of that is true.) RT @ocruscblog: Should USC fans lower their expectations? Kiffin: "I can't imagine SC fans ever lowering their expectations, and we like it that way." I blame Reggie Bush! RT @espn: Arizona placed on two years' probation, must vacate 19 wins from 2007-08 season - http://es.pn/cDHFlU I blame Reggie Bush! RT @espn: Arizona placed on two years' probation, must vacate 19 wins from 2007-08 season - http://es.pn/cDHFlU Heh. Indeed. RT @dmataconis: @brendanloy "not something he should be saying" is something that pretty much applies to everything Biden says Accurate, but probably not something he should be saying. RT @MPOTheHill: Biden calls the economy 'the Bush recession' http://bit.ly/bNOU6u Warning: This Sport May Be Dangerous. http://bit.ly/bkvVPF #heh RT @TheFix: Rob Simmons, semi-candidate for CT Senate gets the Hartford Courant endorsement. http://ht.ly/2i57N Al-Qaeda cell killed by Black Death 'was developing biological weapons': http://bit.ly/aTf1gd. Reads like rank speculation but still: #PANIC Amen! RT @vtktorg: Looking forward to the fall when there is a college football game on just about every evening. Who needs reality TV then? CBO report (PDF) on "Federal Debt and the Risk of a Fiscal Crisis" http://bit.ly/bRwJua #PANIC RT @Reuters: FLASH: U.S. judge blocks part of Arizona law that requires officer to determine immigration status of person detained, arrested "I have no doubt I am being targeted by aliens. They are playing games with me," says man hit by 6 meteorites since 2007. http://is.gd/dOR60 My adopted @midmajority "Other 25" team this winter, the U. of Denver Pioneers, announces schedule: http://bit.ly/9aUyxy RT @schadjoe: Stoops on Pac-16: "Don't take this the wrong way, but I was excited about it. Playing games out West... would have been cool." RT @NASDAQOMX: Did you miss @Pac10 and Pac-10 coaches ringing the bell this morning? Watch it here http://bit.ly/9IwEyR RT @Drudge_Siren: World Record Hailstone in South Dakota -- 2 pounds! http://plu.gd/9Nb RT @nprnews: Report: Google Developing Facebook Rival http://n.pr/ayJ3Qq OH SNAP!! Boise State president goes nuclear on University of Idaho: http://bit.ly/c84LEp. Circle Nov. 12, Boise @ Idaho, on your calendars. RT @jeskeets: "'Jersey Shore' ringing the opening bell at the NYSE explains everything you need to know about the 21st century ..." — http://bit.ly/aB5pjw It's official: Pac-10 will defy numerically challenged conference trend, rename itself to Pac-12: http://bit.ly/dzWsRi The BP oil is disappearing, thanks to microbes, heat, wind and waves. "The Gulf of Mexico is not the Gulf of Alaska." http://bit.ly/dngV5Q Massachusetts Legislature approves plan to bypass Electoral College: http://bit.ly/bNmxl7 #ugh #worstideaever http://bit.ly/bCBS3w Beebe jokes about "name swap" with Big 10, then says (seriously) that Big 12 will study potential name change in coming months (via @espn4d) RT @College_FB: The Year 2012 and Notre Dame's Apocalyptic Schedule http://bit.ly/bJRWLu RT @uscpsycho: Epic fail on USC media guide cover http://twitpic.com/297asv Sad there isn't a worthy player & I think Kiffin needs to be a little grounded.
RT @dmataconis: Republicans embrace "Party of No" label http://bit.ly/btN1Tt As expected. RT @dennisdoddcbs: Bill Hancock just said the BCS oversight committee (presidents) will vacate 2004 USC title if appeal fails.
January 4th, 2010 at 12:15 pm Mountain Time
Thereby committing the cardinal sin of “campaigning” and ensuring TCU will not, even if it wins eleventy billion-0, win the AP national championship.
January 4th, 2010 at 12:32 pm Mountain Time
I’m not sure how that follows. Mack Brown’s “campaigning” for Texas to get the #4 spot over Cal in 2004 didn’t create any such blowback — on the contrary, it seemed to work quite well. (And changed the course of history, I might add. Texas beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl and used it as a launching board for the 2005-06 campaign. Cal has never been particularly close to a BCS bowl since.)
That said, TCU will not win the AP national championship anyway. Winning eleventy billion-0 won’t help, because people will just say that means Boise was overrated. And anyway, if Alabama wins the MNC game, they’ll be the consensus #1 (with wins over VaTech, LSU, Florida and Texas, and of course SEC-is-a-war street cred), and if Texas wins, they’ll have beaten Alabama, so the voters won’t abandon them. Folks dreaming of a TCU title say the Frogs have a chance if “Texas wins ugly,” but it’s highly unlikely any title-game win over Alabama could be “ugly” enough to achieve this. Maybe a 3-0 type result, a la Oregon State-Pitt last season, would do it, but even then, people would probably credit the “staunch defenses.” There have been a lot of “ugly” championship games (Miami-Ohio State in 2002-03 was actually a very poorly played game), but no one remembers that, so long as the ending was dramatic. TCU has a chance to get some first-place votes, like Utah last year, but probably not that many — Utah was competing for those votes with a one-loss team — and certainly not enough to win a championship.
Next year… well, that’s another story. The winner of this game is a legit title contender in 2010-11, as I’ve said repeatedly before.
January 4th, 2010 at 12:35 pm Mountain Time
P.S. I just thought of something. If TCU wins tonight, the Top 2 is obviously #1 Bama/Texas, #2 TCU. But if Boise State wins, I’m not sure they’ll be able to pass Florida, which had a slight edge in the final regular-season polls, given how good the Gators looked against Cincy. Meanwhile, TCU and (duh) Cincy obviously fall behind Florida, as does Texas, if the Horns lose to Alabama. So if Boise beats TCU and Bama beats Texas, the most likely final rankings would be #1 Alabama, #2 Florida. IT’S A WAR!!!!!
January 4th, 2010 at 12:38 pm Mountain Time
P.P.S. An interesting side question to ponder: how far will Cincinnati drop? At the end of the regular season, there was a big gap between the Top Six (the unbeatens + Florida) and everyone else, because everybody else had at least two losses. And the highest-ranked two-loss team (Oregon) lost. I’m guessing two-loss Ohio State passes one-loss Cincy in the final poll, but does two-loss Penn State? What about the two-loss Orange Bowl winner?
January 4th, 2010 at 12:42 pm Mountain Time
My best guess… if Bama wins:
1. Alabama
2. TCU if they win; Florida if Boise wins
3. Florida if TCU wins; Boise if they win
4. Texas
5. Ohio State
6. TCU/Boise loser (unless it’s a blowout, in which case the loser will be lower)
7. Orange Bowl winner
8. Penn State
9. Cincinnati
10. Virginia Tech
If Texas wins (thus creating a can’t-rank-Florida-over-Bama dynamic):
1. Texas
2. TCU/Boise winner
3. Alabama
4. Florida
5. Ohio State
6. TCU/Boise loser (unless it’s a blowout, in which case the loser will be lower)
7. Orange Bowl winner
8. Penn State
9. Cincinnati
10. Virginia Tech
January 4th, 2010 at 1:08 pm Mountain Time
Didn’t it? I seem to remember a fair few national pundits taking umbrage at Mack pleading for votes. Of course, that wouldn’t necessarily stop them from voting for him anyway. I also remember people railing against Nebraska/Scott Frost for pushing voters to pick the Huskers in Tom Osborne’s last year (though again, it might’ve actually done the trick).
I’m an embittered TCU alum, Brendan — I expect the worst. (Heh.™)
January 4th, 2010 at 1:29 pm Mountain Time
Oh, there was plenty of umbrage taken, but at the end of the day, Mack’s campaigning worked. Thus, I don’t follow your logic that campaigning = automatic inevitable backlash to the point of making the “campaign” counterproductive.