Fiu's Daily Cavalcade of
Whimsy
The Debate Over No. 1 ... Jan. 9
a.k.a.
Frank Costanza's Festivus Airing of the Grievances ... or the obvious attempt to keep readers coming to the site on a
regular basis during the off-season.
By
Pete Fiutak
What's your beef? ... Fire
off your
thoughts
This Week's Whimsies: Thursday -
The Jagodzinski situation
Wednesday -
Auburn's big coaching moves
Monday -
10 Reasons Why Florida Will
Win |
10 Reasons Why Oklahoma
Will Win
Past Whimsies: Tuesday -
The Andre Smith suspension
Monday -
NFL Mock Draft (top 10
picks)
Tuesday -
Holiday Wish List For All
119 Teams
Wednesday -
Chizik, Gill, & the Race
Card
Friday -
Why Paterno isn't too old
"Excuse me. l'm askin' Your Honour,
is this justice? ls this justice?"
"Never stop fighting till the fight is done."
"What did you say?"
"l said, never stop fighting till the fight is done."
"What?"
"You heard me, Capone. lt's over."
"You're nothin' but a lot of talk and a badge."
"Here endeth the lesson." ... I cannot believe I have to
write this because it's so obvious, but apparently, I have to take time
from my post-season nap because of all the dopey talking heads out
there, along with an incoming president who needs to spend every waking
second figuring out how to come up with 3 million new jobs, who can't
seem able to compare and contrast teams by actually turning on this
new-fangled thing called a "TV" to watch them play.
Florida is the best team in America for 2008 by every and any measure
you want to go by. Period. End of story. National champion, Florida
Gators. Done.
If you want to rail on the system, go right ahead, but your day was a
month ago when the final BCS standings came out. If you want to debate
Florida vs. the rest of the country, as the Clovers would say, bring it
on.
This is not an anti-USC, Utah, or Texas argument, but today, and this
season, is all about Florida. And here's why ...
1. Florida played 11 bowl teams. 11, and that doesn't count Tennessee or
Arkansas. Take a step back and let that one sink in for a moment. It
beat two No. 1 teams, and outside of the loss to Ole Miss, before the
SEC championship game, no one came closer than 23 points.
2. If you're going to bring up the Ole Miss loss as evidence of
anything, you either a) didn't actually watch the game or b) are totally
incapable of putting that game in the context of the other losses out
there this season. From a blocked extra point, to two missed touchdown
passes late, to Tebow getting stopped on a fourth and inches, to a blown
coverage, several things had to happen for Florida to lose to the
eventual Cotton Bowl winner, and 15th ranked team in the final polls, by
one point. Absolutely, a loss is a loss, but it's not the indictment you
probably think it is.
3. Stop bringing up the fact that Utah beat Alabama by 11, just like
Florida. No, I don't believe Bama beats the Utes if Andre Smith was
playing, but if you can't understand how vital the No. 2 pick in the NFL
Draft and the best left tackle in college football is, and how Utah was
able to destroy the Tide offense that was down to a third string left
tackle, then I can't help you. Also, Florida beat the Tide without Percy
Harvin, arguably one of the five best players in America. If you don't
think that matters, you didn't watch the national title game.
4. Again, notice the margin of victory in the Florida games this year.
Utah needed missed kicks and an epic late drive to get by a TCU team
that Oklahoma throttled. The Utes also got pushed by a miserable
Michigan team and played three other games this year decided by seven
points or fewer, including a 13-10 tussle with New Mexico. If you think
that Florida's defense, the one that held the greatest scoring machine
in the history of college football to 14 points, couldn't deal with the
speed and precision of the Utah attack, then again, I can't help you.
5. USC couldn't handle Daryll Clark and the Penn State offense in the
second half of the Rose Bowl, so what makes you think for a split second
that it could stop Florida's offense? Don't you dare. Don't ... you
... dare ... suggest that USC's D took its foot off the gas in the
second half of that game, because then I'll have to give you a helmet
and a shiny ball of tin foil to play with over in the corner. If you try
to bring this up, then you simply have no clue about the pride of a USC
defense that wanted DESPERATELY to make an all-timer of a statement
against the Nittany Lions.
6. USC would've beaten Ohio State no matter what, but it has to keep
being brought up ... if you can't tell the difference between the Ohio
State team that battled Penn State and lost to Texas and the one that
soiled itself against the Trojans, again, can't help you. If anyone out
there actually bothered to watch the 17-10 win over Arizona, the 17-3
win over Cal, the 28-7 win over UCLA, the Oregon State loss, and also
watched the entire Florida season, and yet still wants to make a case
that USC is the best team in the country based on speed, talent, and any
other measure, then again, can't help you. If you want to thump your
chest over shutting down Arizona State, Washington State, Washington and
Notre Dame, and you want to compare that to beating 10 bowl teams and
two No. 1s including an Oklahoma offense that scored over 700 points ...
yeah. You know.
7. In deep down places you don't talk about at parties, when you watched
Texas need everything in the bag to get by Ohio State, did you really
think that this was a national title team? If the Ohio State defense
could keep the Longhorn offense in check, and if a still-emerging player
like Terrelle Pryor, who wasn't allowed to throw the ball five feet in
front of him, could get the offense moving just enough to get by, then
can you imagine what Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes, and the motivated Gators
would've done? In the end, yeah, there's no dogging the Texas win over
OU or the Longhorn season in any way, the Texas Tech loss might be the
most forgivable big-game defeat of the regular season, but the second
best regular season win was against ... Oklahoma State? Missouri? Don't
laugh, but Rice? If the Big 12 turned out to be exposed this bowl
season, and the SEC turned out to be strong, then Florida has to be
given more than just the benefit of the doubt here.
People, it's not like I have any horse in this race. The last thing I
need in my world is yet another off-season of dealing with jazzed up SEC
fans who don't believe the rest of the country plays college football,
and I'm going to waste at least 19 days of total time in 2009 explaining
to them that teams like USC, Texas, and even Boise State, going into
next year, really are fantastic. If the shoe was on the other foot, and
USC had done what Florida had done this year, I'd be Mr. Trojan right
now (keep your comment to yourself). But for otherwise knowledgeable
media types (cough, Mel Kiper, cough) and others to claim that there
isn't a No. 1 team is absurd.
Florida won the national title. Don't like it? Then play up to your
talent level for 12 games next year, USC, and you'll get your chance to
knock the big boys off the throne. Win all your games in blowout fashion
you non-BCS team, so fartknockers like me will sit here and beat their
heads against the wall defending your case. Beat Oklahoma again next
year, Texas, and you'll get the benefit of the Big 12 doubt from
everyone.
The issue was settled on the field this year. Debate over.