And the real National Champion is...............

[SOONER44EVER]

.....................Boise State.

Bosie State beats Oregon State, who beats USC, who beats Arkansas, who beats Auburn, who beats Florida!

And they are the only undefeated team left. :D

[SoonerLB]

I agree, but I'm bettin' Auburn claims it. They're like that you know!

[SOONER44EVER]

I agree, but I'm bettin' Auburn claims it. They're like that you know!
Surely you mean Alabama or USC.

[soonerloyal]

No offense to Boise State, they've proven their worth. Will the polls crown them #2?

And with so many players lost to graduation, I wonder what their preseason ranking will be?


Oooohhhh - I HATE off-season.

[soonerloyal]

I meant to add that Boise State and Florida are the only two teams that don't make me hate orange. Much.

[garland sooner]

I meant to add that Boise State and Florida are the only two teams that don't make me hate orange. Much.

yeah, well the reason is because they have another dominating color like blue to cover up the orange, if needed.

[soonerloyal]

Whew, thanks for giving me that out...I was going to have to negspek myself.
:O

[garland sooner]

no problem.

[Rogue]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=ApJVqSpxSpKA.l84QQ4WhRw5nYcB?slug=dw-bcstitle010807&prov=yhoo&type=lgns


What about Boise?

By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
January 8, 2007


GLENDALE, Ariz. – A week ago Jared Zabransky stood on this same field and declared that his Boise State Broncos – the People's Champion, America's Team – deserved a crack at the national title after its wild victory over Oklahoma pushed them to 13-0 and full national respectability.

It won't happen, even if it should, even if America would rather have seen Boise State play again than Florida whip Ohio State 41-14 in what likely will be the lowest-rated championship game ever, a buzz-less blowout that took place too far after the other bowl games.

No offense to Florida, the rightful and worthy BCS champion after its domination here Monday, but this college football season peaked back on Jan. 1, its traditional day, when a non-traditional team riveted the country.

That was an instant classic. This just will be instantly forgotten by many.

The Gators (13-1) may be the champs, quarterback Chris Leak may be the feel-good redemption story and the SEC may be proven as the dominant league this season, but here at the conclusion, with the confetti raining down, something was missing.

Boise State.

"[Florida] earned a national championship," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel conceded.

But only because the Gators had the chance to earn it.

Conventional wisdom would say that if Florida played the way it played Monday against Ohio State – ferocious on defense, fast on offense, smart at quarterback – then Boise wouldn't stand a chance, no matter how many trick plays coach Chris Petersen drew up.

But then again, conventional wisdom said Ohio State was going to roll the Gators and Oklahoma would humiliate Boise.

"Yeah," said UF coach Urban Meyer, "let's play them next week."

He began smiling.

"I know Boise State. I would not want to do that. We're good. We're done. We're finished."

He laughed some more. Maybe, a bit, in relief.

"There is probably five, six, seven great football teams in this country, and there is one way to figure out who the better team is and that's to go play the game."

The strength of the college game is its diversity, its differences. No two offenses are alike, no two conferences similar, no two schedules the same. Division I-A has 119 teams competing for one title (pro leagues have around 30) making all comparisons impossible.

There is no way, no formula, no mix of opinion polls and computers that ever consistently can select the top two teams. If there ever were a sport that demanded a tournament, it is college football – even more so than pro sports where there is a comparative body of regular season work.

No matter how hard it tries, this championship system turns up paper contenders as often as not (Oklahoma 2004, 2003; Nebraska 2001). No one doubted Ohio State's credentials getting here; the Buckeyes were 12-0 and virtually untested and boasted the Heisman Trophy winner, Troy Smith, at quarterback.

But they never stood a chance in this one, as Florida's superior speed, execution and hunger turned the game into a lopsided affair before halftime hit.

Tack on a 51-day layoff for Ohio State in a game scheduled a week after much of America had given up on college football in favor of the NFL playoffs (and in a game held far from a tradition-rich campus in this architectural disaster in the sprawl of the desert), and this was a great night only if you were a Florida Gator.

While a perfect world would have given Boise a shot to keep playing and to keep winning, make no mistake: The Gators are the undeniable champion. The system is the system, and Florida is the undisputed champion.

Boise State doesn't deserve a share of the title, just a chance at it.

For Florida, this was complete satisfaction, but too many questions remain. Debate will rage. Could the Gators have handled Zabransky, Ian Johnson and Petersen's playbook? Could Cinderella have done it again, ridden a wave of momentum and emotion to shock the Gators the way they did the Sooners?

Monday may mean everything in Florida, as it should, but to most fans, Nirvana was hit when Boise proved that anything is possible in the greatest game anyone had ever seen.

Then, at 13-0, the Broncos were told their season was over – not because they weren't good enough this season but because decades ago they weren't good enough to get into the proper blueblood conference to generate schedule strength.

So rather than a potential thriller, rather than building on all that momentum from the trick plays, the big comeback and the marriage proposal, rather than continuing to captivate the country, we got this – a mismatch that made millions but thrilled few outside Gainesville.

One-loss Florida was wonderful. But unbeaten Boise State, and the rest of the country, is left wondering.


Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist. Send Dan a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

[Harry Beanbag]

The media disgusts me. Their egos are so overinflated that they feel they must lash out to defend their honor for shamelessly pimping Ohio State. The Buckeyes were by God the best team in the land without a doubt for 3 months, now they didn't even deserve to play for the title. :rolleyes: I was rooting for Florida last night, but as a Sooner fan I empathize with the Buckeyes.

[SoonerTerry]

Is it me, or does this fluf seem a bit disjointed......

[Partial Qualifier]

Anything seems disjointed this early in the morning ;)

What about Boise? They're a good team, played a soft schedule compared to Florida & OSU so although at 12-0 (before they played us) they had no business being in the champ. game so the "Boise State deserves a piece of the championship" talk is all hollow, meaningless filler as Beanbag said - take the focus off Florida because they were so in love with OSU ........

[GEN4AU]

I agree, but I'm bettin' Auburn claims it. They're like that you know!
Nah, this season we're content knowing that 1 in the Gators record is there because of us. :D

Time for a playoff!

[SouthCarolinaSooner]

.....................Boise State.

Bosie State beats Oregon State, who beats USC, who beats Arkansas, who beats Auburn, who beats Florida!
Wlel if you want to play like that Kentucky beat Georgia who beat Auburn who beat Florida!

[OUinFLA]

Lakeland Fl High School went undefeated. Dont they deserve a shot too?
I mean, you gotta remember David and Goliath.
Boise, Neuter Dame...........GET IN A CONFERENCE.
And all conferences...........HAVE A CCG!

[aero]

What's so amazing is how the media wants to crown BSU as the champ but they refuse to honestly assess that OU was not that good this year, played a poor game, and still barely lost on trick plays. I never realized it until after the Fiesta but apparently we had one of the best college football teams ever assembled in history this year. Geez, the things we take for granted.

[tbl]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=ApJVqSpxSpKA.l84QQ4WhRw5nYcB?slug=dw-bcstitle010807&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Notice that we were paper contenders is 03 & 04... Sure we folded like paper in 04 & lost to KSU in 03, but we could have beat LSU. No telling what could have happened with USC had the team (and coaches) decided to show up. I agree with Harry... We can definitely empathize with tOSU fans. The stinking media pukes are going to do everything they can to cover their tracks.

[KABOOKIE]

No matter how hard it tries, this championship system turns up paper contenders as often as not (Oklahoma 2004, 2003; Nebraska 2001).

Hey jackhole. I don't exactly remember LSU steam rolling OU in 2003. Maybe you meant to put VaTech 1999, or Ohio St 2006?

[SOONER44EVER]

Wlel if you want to play like that Kentucky beat Georgia who beat Auburn who beat Florida!
Yeah but I don't think Kentucky went undefeated. I'm pretty sure BSU did. :D

[cvsooner]

Quote:

For Florida, this was complete satisfaction, but too many questions remain. Debate will rage. Could the Gators have handled Zabransky, Ian Johnson and Petersen's playbook? Could Cinderella have done it again, ridden a wave of momentum and emotion to shock the Gators the way they did the Sooners?


No. You think the Bozo State Bronchitis will ever be able to sneak up on anybody ever again? Ain't happenin'...

[soonermeteor]

What's so amazing is how the media wants to crown BSU as the champ but they refuse to honestly assess that OU was not that good this year, played a poor game, and still barely lost on trick plays.

Remember now, we are "mighty" oklahoma. Forget what they said back when we were 3-2. ;)

[soonerloyal]

Apparently, I "must spread some Reputation around before giving it to OUinFLA again."

Allrightythen...

[Texas Golfer]

This is what makes a playoff not good for college football. Had we had a playoff, the season would be over and there'd be no more discussions about this year. The entire focus, if there'd be one during the off-season, would be on what to expect next year. And even this discussion probably wouldn't take place until spring practice.

With the current system, we continue to get articles such as this one and threads such as this one, too. We'll be talking about this past season until spring practice. Then we might move on to next season.

Bring on the debates because it's those debates that makes college football fun.

[Luthor]

.....................Boise State.

Bosie State beats Oregon State, who beats USC, who beats Arkansas, who beats Auburn, who beats Florida!

And they are the only undefeated team left. :D


No, I'm pretty sure Upper Southeastern Appalachian Consolidated Tech went undefeated as well. If we're going to include the little people we have to make provision for them all.

I know. Let's just hand out MNC trophies to everyone and include a nice dixie cup of strawberry ice cream. Remember, this is the era of no one left behind so let's keep lowering that bar.

[jwlynn64]

I love how BSU handled us to the point of losing an 18 point lead and handling AD into the endzone on the first play of OT. And how they handled theirselves to having convert two forth downs just to tie.

A person who had no knowledge of the Fiesta Bowl would read the current articles about that game and come away with the impression that BSU dominated us the same way that Florida dominated tOSU last night.

[Desert Sapper]

Did anyone notice when the heavens opened and the dove floated down upon the Boise State Broncos, thus enabling them to pull off the three perfect trick plays to win? I wasn't at the game. :rolleyes:

I'm pretty sure they won't ever have that many things go their way in a football game again.

[NorthernIowaSooner]

boise ended at #5 in both polls