Abolish the coaches' poll!

Jim Tressel abstains from voting in the final poll. Let's talk about it.

Here is the primary problem:
“We are disappointed with coach Tressel’s decision, but our oversight role does not grant us authority to compel his participation,” USA Today’s managing editor for sports Monte Lorell said Sunday in a statement. “The agreement with the American Football Coaches Association obligates the panel of coaches to disclose final regular season ballots, without exception.

Coaches are said not to vote, anyway. Some are even on record as saying they have their assistants or ADs fill out ballots every week. And because USA Today stupidly doesn't require any disclosure until season's end, coaches are unaccountable. To think that something so important (at least in this backwards realm) is met with such apathy is truly frightening.

In college basketball, polls are unoffensive because, like any other reasonable sport, college hoops determines their champion on the court. Polls are merely a talking point, nothing more. To that end, they're harmless as they contribute close to nothing when things get hashed out on Selection Sunday.

Honestly, though, don't people realize how demanding and time-consuming life is for a Division I-A college football coach? Doesn't anyone grasp the scope of how impractical an idea it is and how impossible it must be for coaches to rank and grade every team in the country. THEY'RE COACHES. 150 billion hours a week of practice, footage, gameplans, dealing with your "student-athletes" and all the trouble they get into either socially or academically, their own family life, boosters, fundraisers, etc. It is quite literally impossible to concentrate on anything but your team. Maybe you have an idea of how good other teams in your conference or on your schedule are, but come on, what does the ACC representative know about competition in the WAC? They know nothing!

Ah, but here's the rub, people. Here's why Jim Tressel's actions are defensible:

“After consultation with my director of athletics, Gene Smith, and based upon our unique position in the BCS standings, I believe it is only fair that we not participate (in) the final poll,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said in a statement Sunday.

He's right. He's right! As the system stands, Jim Tressel has no business casting a vote in that final ballot. Why? Well, for the same reason that betting among athletes is supposedly taboo: he has insider information that will directly benefit his team. Let's say Tressel voted for Florida, what would the fallout be? Well, I'll tell you. Tressel would've been flayed for dodging a rematch with Michigan, an opponent he barely beat at home. Why would he take his chances at a neutral site? And why would he reward his arch rival with an appearance in the national title game? Bias, bias, bias. Now, let's say Tressel voted for Michigan over Florida. Well, in that case, Tressel already has full knowledge of what the Wolverines are capable of. Maybe a little Big Ten "homer" backlash, too? Definitely. It's lose-lose, no matter which way Tressel goes and remember that this situation is unique because his vote actually goes toward determining who his team will play. He and the Buckeyes will have a perceived edge regardless of which way they voted. Either take Florida because you're afraid of Michigan or take Michigan because they've already shown you all they've got and you're biased towards the Big Ten.

Jim Tressel made the right choice by abstaining because there is no way of eliminating a bias, here. What the hell does Tressel know about Florida? Up until this weekend, they've been completely off his radar! The coaches' poll offers no perspective. Even with full disclosure, how can you prevent a situation like the one Ohio State was presented with this weekend? It is impossible. Yet another reason (number 308, if anyone's counting) why we need a playoff system.

- Side note. While we're ripping on college football and chopping down a coach who actually deserves commendation for his foresight, I think it sucks that out of 207 bowl games, there isn't any room for UofA. Granted, all bowl games except for the championship game are utterly meaningless, but still. I see 8 wins next year for Arizona, though, and a top four finish in the Pac Ten. Bear Down.

Typical freaking Raiders

Imagine it, you have a bad Houston Texans team on your home turf. You've held the illustrious David Carr to 32 yards passing all game. You actually held a 14-7 lead at halftime. How do you contrive to lose? Well, when you're the Raiders, you find a way. There's a so-called committment to excellence here, after all. Committment to the tune of five turnovers (5! What are we? Rex Grossman?!) and good old Sea Bass going 0-3 on field goals. Houston didn't win this game, oh no. Oakland lost it. I suppose the only thing sadder is that Detroit also lost, yesterday, so we're still tied for the #1 overall pick in the draft. Next week, Raiders travel to Cincinnati. Better avert your eyes because it's going to get ugly.

The question of Florida

Like the recount of 2000, the Disney World state is the eye of controversy. Once again, my stance remains that the B(C)S is total and utter crap. That being said, I don't have a major problem with Florida playing Ohio State for the national title (by the way, it'll have been 51 days between games for OSU when they take the field in Glendale. Tell there's nothing stupid about that!). Why Florida is worthy:

1. Tougher strength of schedule than Michigan. And not by only a little bit either. The Gators faced 10 (!!!) bowl-eligible teams this year and beat them all except for Auburn. Sure, Florida did play Western Carolina, but Michigan played in the Big Ten which, aside from Ohio State and Wisconsin, was unforgivably pedestrian this season. Florida's wins over LSU and Arkansas, to me, outweigh Michigan's victories over Notre Dame and Wisconsin.

2. SEC champions. In my oh so humble opinion, it should be a prerequisite that in order to play for the national title, you must at the very least win your conference. The B(C)S has earned many an enemy because of this oversight (Nebraska '01, Oklahoma '03) and still, I'm not about to credit them, now, but Florida should definitely be rewarded for winning what was by far the toughest football conference in America this season. Not only did Michigan fail to win the Big Ten, their competition wasn't nearly as stiff as the SEC.

3. Michigan had their shot and lost. Cry all you want about a rematch, but we've already seen it. Does Michigan undoubtedly deserve a second chance more than Florida deserves their only chance? No. It doesn't make sense (which makes it somewhat of an upset, given that this is college football we're talking about -- where the system is perpetually broken).

These are three infallible points that justify Florida's selection to the title game. All that said, however, on a neutral field, head-to-head, I strongly believe that Michigan would beat Florida. But this is a subjective view that will always (should always) yield to objective data. So what's to be done? And if it's really a matter of who is the best 1-loss team in the land, who is to say that Louisville didn't simply have the misfortune of playing in the Big East or that unbeaten Boise State couldn't have their day in the sun or that Wisconsin -- who never played Ohio State during the regular season -- couldn't beat the Buckeyes? The whole things stinks and that, folks, is chapter 307 on why college football is a disaster.

A couple more Gator notes...

First off, seems to me like the Florida basketball team have come out looking like the regular season version of themselves from a season ago. How quickly we forget that they were a 3-seed in last year's tournament and far far far far from a lock for the Final Four. Last night's upset loss to Florida State was a bit of a hiccup and reports are that the Noles are pretty decent this year, but I wonder if Florida is saving it all for the final stretch. Then again, their two defeats this year have been against Kansas in de facto Lawrence and away to an in-state rival. Maybe I'm being a little harsh. Then again, we're talking about a dominant defending national champion that returned their entire starting lineup.

Secondly, Florida alum and Chicago Bear quarterback, Rex Grossman's numbers from yesterday: 6/19 passing, 34 yards, 0 touchdowns, 3 interceptions. This was against Minnesota, so Chicago still managed to win, BUT, this was against Minnesota. Grossman is awful and the Bears will without question fall in the playoffs if this keeps up.