tjmpb
1/7/2009, 07:20 PM
Saw this on another board...
http://www.oxfordeagle.com/sports4.html
1/6/09 2008 Ole Miss Rebels worthy of title
John Davis
Sports Editor
If I owned an apparel company, one of the first things I would have done Monday was to create a T-shirt, sweatshirt, any article of clothing, with the following information: Ole Miss Rebels, 2009 National Champions. Below that information, I would have something about the team winning the 73rd annual AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic because well, that was pretty big as well.
If you think I’ve gone crazy, well, I understand. Even in Oxford, that statement will get some looks.
Seriously though, how do you not consider Ole Miss to be the best team in the nation right now. Only Utah and USC looked as impressive as the Rebels did in their bowl win over Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.
(By the way, if I did have a vote in the AP poll, I would be voting for Utah to split the national title with Ole Miss. Not only did the Utes travel over 1,500 miles to play their bowl, they demolished a very good Alabama team that had been ranked No. 1 for several weeks in front of a very pro, rabid Crimson Tide fan base. Add the fact that they will be the only remaining undefeated team left in the FBS, I can’t see how I wouldn’t vote them ahead of Florida and Oklahoma at the end).
Back to Ole Miss and why they should be regarded as the national champion...
If there was a playoff system in place, then the Rebels would be a favorite to beat the next opponent they played. And if not, well so much the better. The Rebels like being regarded as the underdog. They play a lot better with a chip on their shoulder and that would mean bad things for the next team coming down the pike.
Rebel lines are tough
After watching the Rebels pick apart Texas Tech in person, I don’t think there are a lot of teams in this country that can match up with them on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Ole Miss was the only team to stop Florida’s Tim Tebow when it counted and they hung with Alabama, a team the Rebels would now smash into pieces if they met again.
Oklahoma, the Sooners would be child’s play for the Rebels. Even if the Sooners somehow beat Florida, the Rebels just beat the team that beat Oklahoma. Besides that pleasant fact, I don’t think any Big 12 team wants to play a team from the SEC. The SEC is too physical for the Big 12 and while I do have great respect for the league and the coaches there as a whole, this unwritten rule of not playing a lot of press, man coverage stuff during the regular season only makes a school look bad come bowl season.
Utah and Ole Miss would be a good matchup, as would Ole Miss and USC. The Trojans might have a little more speed than Ole Miss, but again, I don’t think they have played a team as physical as the Rebels. Utah is obviously tough up front considering the way they pounded ‘Bama, but I think Ole Miss could give Jevan Snead a little more time than John Parker Wilson got to look downfield and as a result, hit a few more plays against the Utes.
Yep, when you really look at things critically, Ole Miss is the best team in the nation. I know they have four losses, but come on, who doesn’t think they could beat Wake Forest, South Carolina and Vanderbilt if they played again. I know I’m going to be the only person in the nation to write such a story about Ole Miss being the national champs, but who cares?
The people who didn’t think the Rebels should even be in the Cotton Bowl or have beaten Texas Tech really don’t know anything about football in my opinion anyway. So I don’t really care if they send me an e-mail criticizing my story. I’ll just delete it and move on.
Extra games would be great
People that didn’t pick Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl are ones that 1. didn’t have any clue about football in the first place, 2. have a prejudice against the state, the SEC or issues not related to football, or 3. are Texas Tech homers.
Considering the way national champions used to be crowned before the bowls, why can’t Ole Miss claim the 2008 title?
I’m not a bowl basher, they’re great fun for the fans, players and media and Cotton Bowl officials do the best job in terms of hospitality I have ever seen, but until we add some more bowls or games to really decide who the best and baddest team is in the nation, I say we can crown anybody we want. I mean technically, all national champion winners are mythical anyway. Division I-A football has never had anything closely resembling a “true” national champion and likely never will.
That’s fine, I know that’s the way it is. I’ve watched college football for 25 years and it’s been like this so let’s just keep things rolling the way they are. But at the same time, I have seen a lot of great football teams in my day, in person and on TV, and I think this year’s Ole Miss team matches up with any of the great Miami, Florida State, Penn State and USC national champions of the past.
I think the Rebels are as good, right now, if not better, than the 1992 Alabama national title team, the 2003 LSU title team and the 1980 Georgia national title team.
The only real team that Ole Miss probably would have lost to from the recent SEC national title teams was the 1996 Florida bunch. As good and fast as Ole Miss is, that Gator team had great lines, great backs, great wideouts, a great quarterback and a ton of speed everywhere. Plus, that’s when the Ol’ Ball Coach was in his prime and not very many beat him back then.
Well enough with the reminiscing and the debating, here’s to the 2008 Ole Miss Rebels, the national champions at least in the EAGLE and to 2009, a year that looks to be just as successful for Ole Miss on the gridiron as it was this year.
http://www.oxfordeagle.com/sports4.html
1/6/09 2008 Ole Miss Rebels worthy of title
John Davis
Sports Editor
If I owned an apparel company, one of the first things I would have done Monday was to create a T-shirt, sweatshirt, any article of clothing, with the following information: Ole Miss Rebels, 2009 National Champions. Below that information, I would have something about the team winning the 73rd annual AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic because well, that was pretty big as well.
If you think I’ve gone crazy, well, I understand. Even in Oxford, that statement will get some looks.
Seriously though, how do you not consider Ole Miss to be the best team in the nation right now. Only Utah and USC looked as impressive as the Rebels did in their bowl win over Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.
(By the way, if I did have a vote in the AP poll, I would be voting for Utah to split the national title with Ole Miss. Not only did the Utes travel over 1,500 miles to play their bowl, they demolished a very good Alabama team that had been ranked No. 1 for several weeks in front of a very pro, rabid Crimson Tide fan base. Add the fact that they will be the only remaining undefeated team left in the FBS, I can’t see how I wouldn’t vote them ahead of Florida and Oklahoma at the end).
Back to Ole Miss and why they should be regarded as the national champion...
If there was a playoff system in place, then the Rebels would be a favorite to beat the next opponent they played. And if not, well so much the better. The Rebels like being regarded as the underdog. They play a lot better with a chip on their shoulder and that would mean bad things for the next team coming down the pike.
Rebel lines are tough
After watching the Rebels pick apart Texas Tech in person, I don’t think there are a lot of teams in this country that can match up with them on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Ole Miss was the only team to stop Florida’s Tim Tebow when it counted and they hung with Alabama, a team the Rebels would now smash into pieces if they met again.
Oklahoma, the Sooners would be child’s play for the Rebels. Even if the Sooners somehow beat Florida, the Rebels just beat the team that beat Oklahoma. Besides that pleasant fact, I don’t think any Big 12 team wants to play a team from the SEC. The SEC is too physical for the Big 12 and while I do have great respect for the league and the coaches there as a whole, this unwritten rule of not playing a lot of press, man coverage stuff during the regular season only makes a school look bad come bowl season.
Utah and Ole Miss would be a good matchup, as would Ole Miss and USC. The Trojans might have a little more speed than Ole Miss, but again, I don’t think they have played a team as physical as the Rebels. Utah is obviously tough up front considering the way they pounded ‘Bama, but I think Ole Miss could give Jevan Snead a little more time than John Parker Wilson got to look downfield and as a result, hit a few more plays against the Utes.
Yep, when you really look at things critically, Ole Miss is the best team in the nation. I know they have four losses, but come on, who doesn’t think they could beat Wake Forest, South Carolina and Vanderbilt if they played again. I know I’m going to be the only person in the nation to write such a story about Ole Miss being the national champs, but who cares?
The people who didn’t think the Rebels should even be in the Cotton Bowl or have beaten Texas Tech really don’t know anything about football in my opinion anyway. So I don’t really care if they send me an e-mail criticizing my story. I’ll just delete it and move on.
Extra games would be great
People that didn’t pick Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl are ones that 1. didn’t have any clue about football in the first place, 2. have a prejudice against the state, the SEC or issues not related to football, or 3. are Texas Tech homers.
Considering the way national champions used to be crowned before the bowls, why can’t Ole Miss claim the 2008 title?
I’m not a bowl basher, they’re great fun for the fans, players and media and Cotton Bowl officials do the best job in terms of hospitality I have ever seen, but until we add some more bowls or games to really decide who the best and baddest team is in the nation, I say we can crown anybody we want. I mean technically, all national champion winners are mythical anyway. Division I-A football has never had anything closely resembling a “true” national champion and likely never will.
That’s fine, I know that’s the way it is. I’ve watched college football for 25 years and it’s been like this so let’s just keep things rolling the way they are. But at the same time, I have seen a lot of great football teams in my day, in person and on TV, and I think this year’s Ole Miss team matches up with any of the great Miami, Florida State, Penn State and USC national champions of the past.
I think the Rebels are as good, right now, if not better, than the 1992 Alabama national title team, the 2003 LSU title team and the 1980 Georgia national title team.
The only real team that Ole Miss probably would have lost to from the recent SEC national title teams was the 1996 Florida bunch. As good and fast as Ole Miss is, that Gator team had great lines, great backs, great wideouts, a great quarterback and a ton of speed everywhere. Plus, that’s when the Ol’ Ball Coach was in his prime and not very many beat him back then.
Well enough with the reminiscing and the debating, here’s to the 2008 Ole Miss Rebels, the national champions at least in the EAGLE and to 2009, a year that looks to be just as successful for Ole Miss on the gridiron as it was this year.