The BCS: A Decade in Review

The ultimate goal of any incoming college football player is to have a chance to play for a championship and possibly get drafted in the NFL. In order to look ahead, we must all take a brief glance at recent history. Here are the BCS National Championship teams and key moments from the last ten years:

2000 Oklahoma over Florida State 13-2

Site: Orange Bowl
Key play: The Decision, by Peter Warrick

Oklahoma awarded Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles a safety in the fourth quarter. Otherwise, Florida State doesn't score at all. Senior linebacker Torrance Marshall won MVP. The Miami native went on to win the same title in the Senior Bowl, then a career in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers.


2001 Miami (FL) over Nebraska 37-14

Site: Rose Bowl
Key play: 50-yard TD pass to start the route

Named "Greatest College Football Team of All Time", what else needs to be said? Revisit the blog entitled, "U Serious?", for the depth chart at key positions. Sophomore wide receiver Andre Johnson caught seven passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Enough, already.



2002 Ohio State over Miami (FL) 31-24 (2OT)

Site: Fiesta Bowl
Key play: First overtime in which Ohio State threw an incompletion on fourth down, behind 24-17, then the official tosses a late penalty flag

Take your pick with this game for pivotal plays. Any of the four turnovers, leading up to the point when Willis McGahee suffered a triple-ligament rupture in his knee in the fourth quarter. Roscoe Parrish's fumble after catching a 34-yard pass (5 total TO's) with under five minutes left is a worthy candidate. Perhaps head coach Larry Cocker lost confidence after such an obvious call, as well as his team. The Hurricanes have not been quite the same since.


2003 LSU over Oklahoma 21-14

Site: Sugar Bowl
Key play: Marcus Spears interception return for a score in the 3rd quarter

Heisman trophy winner quarterback Jason White of Oklahoma could not stay upright long enough to generate the smallest amount of offense. The other half of the time, he was watching LSU tailback Justin Vincent skew the Sooner defense for 117 yards and a touchdown. Head coach Nick Saban departed for the NFL soon after capturing the 2003 BCS National Championship.


2004 USC over Oklahoma 55-19 *

Site: Orange Bowl
Key play: Each time Oklahoma quarterback Jason White walked to the line of scrimmage

Bob Stoops' offense proved to be a bit too predictable and could not mask the playmaking deficiencies of his quarterback. Whenever White ran plays under center, this was a marshmallow of a tip for a hand off to freshman running back Adrian Peterson. Also like clockwork, each time White was planning to pass, he was lined up in shotgun formations. Between Matt Leinart (5 TD), tailbacks LenDale White and Reggie Bush, and receivers Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith (3 TD), the scoreboard screamed of USC's 38-10 dominance - at halftime. Although USC was forced to vacate their entire 2004 season, no one can change what happened on the field in south Florida.

2005 Texas over USC 41-38

Site: Rose Bowl
Key play: 1st and 10 with 6:42 left in the game - Texas down by twelve (Enter stage right, Vince Young)

The Texas playmaker single-handedly manufactured eighteen fourth quarter points to bring the Longhorns its third national championship. Young passed for 267 yards and rushed for 200 more with three touchdowns, almost effortlessly. Some often forget that Selvin Young and Jamaal Charles were running backs on this particular team. The 2005 Rose Bowl Game went down as one of the most exciting bowl games in college football history.

2006 Florida over Ohio State 41-14

Site: Fiesta Bowl
Key play: Chris Leak's 14-yard TD to Dallas Baker after OSU's Ted Ginn, Jr.'s game-opening kickoff TD return

The Gators very next drive proved to resemble boiling water, fast and easy, ending with a four yard rushing touchdown by Percy Harvin. The Floridian scoring thunderstorm slowed for the remainder of the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, the proverbial skies reopened vastly in the second quarter with scores from DeShawn Wynn (2-yd rush), Antonio Pittman (18-yd rush), Andre Caldwell (1-yd catch), and two scores from freshman QB Tim Tebow (1 run, 1 pass). This would end up being the second BCS title for the Southeastern Conference in four seasons.

2007 LSU over Ohio State 38-24

Site: Sugar Bowl
Key play: LSU kicker Colt David's 32-yard field goal to stop the bleeding, down 10-3 in the 1st quarter

The 'Bayou Bengal' Tigers were forced to quickly recover from a 10-0 deficit, and convert to shootout mode, in which they succeeded triumphantly. After a 65-yard touchdown run by Beanie Wells on the opening drive and 25-yard field goal on the second drive, quarterback LSU Matt Flynn composed roux on the field in the form of a 14 play drive that led to a Colt David field goal, the Tigers' first points of the game. LSU settled in under the Cajun dome and prevailed, recording back-to-back BCS titles for the SEC.

2008 Florida over Oklahoma 24-14

Site: Orange Bowl
Key play: Percy Harvin's 47-yard run with 12:08 left in the 4th quarter (tied 14-14)

Sam Bradford and the Sooners offense had scored over sixty points in five consecutive games, leading up to the National Championship. This particular night in south Florida, however, was not what coach Bob Stoops had in mind. The Gators rode Tim Tebow and his two touchdown passes, with Percy Harvin and his 121 rushing yards to their second title in three seasons, and Southeastern Conference's third in a row.


2009 Alabama over Texas 37-21

Site: Rose Bowl
Key play: Marcell Dareus' interception of a Garrett Gilbert shovel pass, returned for a TD with 0:03 until halftime

Some may have trained themselves to believe the play in which senior quarterback Colt McCoy got injured was pivotal, but freshman quarterback Garrett Gilbert led the Longhorns back to trail only by a field goal, 24-21, in the 4th quarter. The lack of defensive intensity on Texas' behalf was a greater factor than McCoy being knocked out, however neither was key nor pivotal to the outcome to last season's version of the Rose Bowl Game - even though Mack Brown's defensive unit yielded 100-plus-yard performances from Alabama tailbacks Mark Ingram (116) and Trent Richardson (109).


2010 Auburn over Oregon 22-19

Site: Fiesta Bowl

Key play: Michael Dyer's 37-yard gain after landing on top of an Oregon defender in the final drive of the game

Heisman finalist LaMichael James was held to 49 rushing yards, as the 'Prettiest Little School on the Plains' ground out a hard fought sixty minutes against the Ducks of Oregon. Many anticipated a high-scoring affair as both defenses settled in while the offenses sputtered. The result was Auburn giving the state of Alabama its second consecutive national championship, an accomplishment only one other state can claim (Texas), in victory. This also marked the fifth straight BCS title for the SEC. Perhaps Alabama and the Southeastern Conference should give some other school a chance to win it all, or does everyone just need to catch up?

What will the next decade of collegiate football at its top level bring? More of the same?

1 Legends Way

 #2 Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)

Losses: Week 4 vs. Baltimore 17-14
                              Week 8 @ New Orleans 20-10
                              Week 10 vs. New England 36-29
                              Week 15 vs. NY Jets 22-17

First of all, Pro Bowl center rookie Maurkice Pouncey's x-rays came back negative on the injured ankle he suffered against the Jets in the AFC Championship game, so the Florida Gator should be on the field beneath the gigantic scoreboard. Head coach Mike Tomlin takes his top-ranked defensive unit and controversial athlete-playing quarterback to their second Super Bowl in three years. Wide receiver Mike Wallace will have another tough assignment against All- Pro veteran corner back Charles Woodson, in his second season in the NFL. Third-year running back Rashard Mendenhall is destined to have many meetings with rookie sensation linebacker Clay Matthews. Pittsburgh's greatest chance of winning will begin at the line of scrimmage.
                     

#6 Green Bay Packers (10-6)

Defense (points allowed): 15.0 - 2nd in NFL
                Passing yards: 257.8 per game - 5th in NFL

With starting running back Ryan Grant suffering a season-ending ankle injury in the opening game, Aaron Rodgers felt immediate pressure around the shoulder area. This was not from injury, but from the physchological weight of responsibility for the offense. Rodgers ended the regular season with 28 touchdowns and only eleven interceptions and virtually no rushing identity to speak of. The 6'2" 225 pound graduate of Pleasant Valley High School (CA) has led the Wisconsin cheese wagon to Super Bowl XLV by way of a wild card berth and winning three consecutive playoff road games at Philadelphia (21-16), Atlanta (48-21) and Chicago (21-14) in his sixth season. Utility expert destroyer Troy Polamalu will be lurking as a cheetah in total darkness about the African Sahara. The Pack need not run. Linebacker James Harrison will test Rodgers' audible to run. Speedy pass-catcher Greg Jennings should find himself in one-on-one match ups quite often to start the game. Green Bay's fiber of saliva for a victory over the defensively suffocating Steel Curtain will end in the Pittsburgh secondary. Green Bay by four. Maybe.

From Worst to First

With so much parity in the NFL theses days, teams that were considered 'bottom-feeders' and 'cellar-dwellers' from last season are competing for playoff spots and division championships. After going 4-12 in '09 and 2-14 in '08 seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs are chopping their way to a potential AFC West title through key draft picks and opportuned free agency.

Round One:

Upper management and the coaching staff possessed the fifth overall selection in this year's version of the NFL Draft and collectively decided to pick 6' 0" 211 pound strong safety Eric Berry form Tennessee. Berry would be expected to thrive in defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel's aggressive style of play.


Round Two:

The Chiefs selected another SEC player in multi-purpose dynamo Dexter McCluster out of Ole Miss and nickel corner back/ return guru Javier Arenas from Alabama (from Atlanta Falcons) in the second round. These two picks alone has made special teams reluctant to kick the ball in bounds, to say the least.

Round three resulted in a sleeper-like selection as Todd Haley and staff snagged 6' 3" 245 pound tight end Tony Moeaki out of Iowa. In his first twelve games, Moeaki has managed to grab 38 receptions for 451 yards and three touchdowns. Kansas City also acquired running back Thomas Jones from the New York Jets to join speedster Jamaal Charles in the Chief's backfield.

As of week fifteen, the Chiefs maintain first place in the AFC West with an 8-5 record behind the NFL's top-ranked rushing offense, averaging 165.4 yards per contest.

Minority Report: NCAA's Top Level

There will always be controversy in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I, as long as the BCS is the primary component in the highest level in college football. Various opinions from different sources have made the sport more popular than it has ever been. At Tazsports, we'll provide you with a preview of the NCAA's 2010 "postseason".

Ohio State Buckeyes:

The Heisman Trust Committee is keeping a close eye on 6'6", 233 pound junior quarterback Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes' offensive attack. Second on his team with 463 rushing yards and four touchdowns, Pryor is the primary catalyst to the success of Ohio State getting to a BCS bowl this season. Talented junior tailback Daniel Herron has also contributed, leading the Buckeyes in rushing with 634 yards and 12 touchdowns.


Boise State Broncos:

The idea of a non-traditional school like Boise State is something new which is uncomfortable to certain eyes, but the facts remain evident. No matter the opponent before them, this group won those games.  Appalachian State upset a fifth ranked Michigan squad by the score of 34-32 in '07. Jacksonville State over Ole Miss in week one, or James Madison stunning Virginia Tech by keeping the Hokies out of the endzone the entire second half in week two proves one thing. These teams indeed did not win games they were absolutely supposed to win.

South Carolina Gamecocks:

A select few are annoyed that everyone appears surprised a Spurrier-coached defense is among the best in the nation when the Heisman winning quarterback unleashed top notch, ravenous defensive efforts onto the Southeastern Conference throughout the 90’s with the Florida Gators. Freshman tailback Marcus Lattimore will more than likely end up playing on Sundays.  


Oregon Ducks:

The 'quack attack' currently has the nation's top offense, averaging 55 points per game behind the sophomore sensation tailback LaMichael James. James leads the nation in rushing with 1,331 yards and 17 touchdowns. The Ducks will more than likely end up featured in the BCS National Championship Game.

Rankings usually mean nothing until teams take the field with chinstraps fastened. Traditional reputation and a school's performance from the previous season play a major part in consideration with the human element of the BCS formula (33% Coaches Poll, 33% Harris Poll, 33% computer simulation). Pollsters won't admit it, but the selection process of teams for the BCS is the twin sister of the preseason rankings procedure. Don't be surprised if a non-qualifying school gets into the big show through the back door, going forward.

 BCS Ranking in ( )

1.   Boise State (4)

2.   Oregon (1)

3.   TCU (3)

4.   Auburn (2)

5.   Nebraska (6)

6.   LSU (5)

7.   Stanford (6)

8.   South Carolina (23)

9.   Wisconsin (7)

10. Ohio State (9)

Today's Lesson: Always Embrace Greatness

Over the last ten years of Fantasy Football, plenty of owners have debated endlessly over who's the best players for their rosters. Luckily, Tazsports would like present its All-Decade Fantasy team for the 2000's.

QB - Drew Brees / Kurt Warner
Take your pick of either of these Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks. Brees is ultimate proof that one does not have to be 6'5" to play the the position at a world-class level. Warner, on the other hand, has been to the Super Bowl three times with two different teams (St. Louis and Arizona).

RB - Marshall Faulk
Some owners are wishing he never retired to this day. Faulk pierced through the hearts of Fantasy opponents, grabbing 87 receptions while rushing and receiving for over 1,000 yards at the beginning of the decade.


RB - LaDainian Tomlinson
There has not been a more productive running back since Emmitt Smith retired. L.T. has accumulated over 16,000 all-purpose yards and 153 touchdowns (rushing and receiving). No one is anywhere close to these numbers since the TCU grad has entered the NFL.

WR - Terrell Owens
The Alexander City, Alabama native is showing no signs of slowing down as he enters his fifteenth season. Owens has received for over 1,000 yards in ten of those years, for a total of 1,006 catches for 14,951 (yards) and 144 scores with popcorn as a prop. And yes, T.O. ranks number one (2nd in TD's) in each of these categories this decade. What else would one expect from a player who was groomed by the legendary Jerry Rice?


WR - Randy Moss
In his thirteen-year career, Moss has managed to put together 1,000 yard performances in eleven of those seasons. Tied for the most touchdowns in '09 with 14, the 6"4' 210 pound gazelle has caught the most touchdowns since 1998, with 144. Moss is also only 486 receiving yards behind the decade's leader, Terrell Owens.


TE - Tony Gonzalez
He needs only one catch to reach 1,000 for his professional career. He has over 11,000 receiving yards and 82 scores and has only missed two games in fourteen seasons. At 6'5" and weighing 243 pounds, the term beast seems rather appropriate.


K - Adam Vinatieri
The South Dakota native kicks field goals at a 82 percentile rating (not to mention giving New England three Super Bowl wins in four years) including a fifty-seven yard boot in 2002. Not bad.

DEF - Baltimore Ravens
Allowing a league best seven and a half points per game in '09, the Ravens defense has stood tall year after year. The black and purple birds earned the title of Greatest Defense off All Time in 2000, winning four consecutive regular season games without scoring an offensive touchdown.

Needless to say, the upcoming decade, starting with this season, shall be gigantic!

Growth

Some believe if one moves forward while being aware of the past without dwelling, things will work themselves out over time. One of the most imperative components to relocating is property taxes. Everyday living expenses present massive presence as well.
Taxes only affect selective economical groups. After the state and local government get their ten percent, all taxes don't affect everyone. A person with an annual salary of  $17 million stands to save $2.3 million on property taxes in Florida. A motorist will undoubtedly be affected by fuel taxes while not affecting one who walks or rides a bike to commute. A heavy drinker living in Wyoming would spend much less on alcohol taxes, since it's the least taxed state. Although each state adds its own algorithm to budget funds, a single hockey mom who doesn't play the lottery would be unaware of taxes off winnings, even in West Virginia where a sixty-one cent tax is sprinkled in as the largest rate in the nation. Sales taxes are dependent on the amount spent on goods and services, which also vary from state to state.
With merely mentioning tobacco, property and inheritance, pension, and Social Security, no matter the state of residence, the citizens control how much is spent on taxes for the most portion. Controlled spending is not a drastic recession, therefore, shouldn't be depressing when taxes are raised. How long before a nation realizes this?
Fast forwarding to June 2011, the Miami Heat should be facing the Los Angeles Lakers in the year's version of the NBA Finals.

Donkey Kong

Imagine a time when chat rooms were actual social gatherings. An era in which $1.75 could buy two "frozen cups", a Chico Stick, a box of Boston Baked Beans, Lemonheads, and a bag of Hot Fries from the candy lady. Games were played primarily outside and Solitaire was played with real playing cards. Look briefly over your right shoulder to glance at nostalgia. The year of 1987:

3 Men and a Baby was the #1 box office smash in theaters.
Postage stamps were twenty-four cents
Television programs 21 Jump Street, Matlock, and Duck Tales had debuts.
Prozac debuts in the U. S.
Vinny Testaverde was selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL Draft.
Fox Broadcasting Co. aired for the first time on prime time television.
Hollywood celebrities Bow Wow and Hillary Duff were born.
Ronald Reagan was President.
David Robinson was the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs.
"Love you down" by Ready For The World was the #1 single on Billboard.
Gas was eighty-nine cents per gallon.
The Miami Hurricanes won the National Championship in football by defeating Oklahoma 20-14.
Disposable contact lenses hit the market for commercial distribution.
The Simpsons aired for the first time on The Tracey Ullman Show.

Some long for the past. A time when there was no internet or mp3 players, just stonewashed jean-jackets and Panasonic double cassette players. If everyone can remain aware of the past without dwelling, while focusing on the present, the future should be bodacious.