Your Home of the Oregon ILLINI. Oskee Wa Wa!

Hail NAVY by beating ARMY today (8-0 for the seniors over ARMY and AF). You guys earned the commander - in - chief trophy this year. Thank you for your service and excellence. You are America's finest, no matter what Kerry thinks.

There is no problem. College basketball doesn't get it. Neither do any of the other play-off systems in the land including the NFL, MLBA, NHL, and every other division in college atheletics. No, the BCS system as we know it (where computers and Terry Bradshaw rule the world) is the best championship system on earth. How could you go against the latest Core-2 Duo processors and a Micorsoft operating system? I put my complete faith in the digital world of 1's and 0's. Why don't you? I love the BCS - nothing could be better.

Thank you UCLA. You just had to go and beat the Trojans and throw the entire college football world into a total state of chaos. Actually, you could argue all day long how the Trojans just didn't capitalize on opportunities, but results are results. UCLA was the better team today on the field in terms of wanting it more than the men from Troy. Nobody was really able to shutdown that high-powered USC offense all year like this. I'm sure a major part of the story in Pasadena yesterday was USC looking ahead to a Glendale matchup with the BUCKEYES. Every major media outlet including ESPN had already give the 'W' to the trojans in the best cross-town clash in the country. This simply wasn't supposed to happen. But, each week is a new beginning in the world of CFB. Anything can happen. If you expect to win, you have to play each game and execute each play to the fullest. How else do you explain the BRUINS upsetting the TROJANS in the ROSE BOWL today? They hadn't beaten the TROJANS in 7 years. Carrol had never lost a game to UCLA, much less to Coach Dorrell.

And let's just face it already. The BCS is broken. We're in year 8 of this disaster. Let's call a lemon a lemon, fix it, and move on. What we have here is a total collapse of logic and fairness at the highest level of competition. If you want controversy year after year, then this is your baby. Keep the bathwater too; I'm not buyin'. It just doesn't work. Forget the N+1 too. We need a playoff. That's it. See my prior blog entry. I fix it all once and for all.

But before I go any further, congratulations to Billy Lane who won $50K in the Dr. Pepper Challenge tonight on the frozen tundra in Kansas City at the BIG-12 Championship. That should have been the Fighting Illini '71 out there pitching the pigskin for $1M. He didn't even come close on the money ball from 20 yards, missing badly to the right. But hey, Billy actually did fairly well. Later, he admitted that his wife will determine how the money would be spent. Another difference between me and Billy, for sure. Who else is sick of these Championship games besides me? I can't drink anymore Dr. Pepper without getting nautious.

And how about those officials form the PAC-10 who called the ILLINOIS / ARIZONA game today? Every time my team broke a sweat they were getting whistled for a personal foul. They blew the whistle against my ILLINI 16 more times today than they did against Arizona. Yeah, right. That's fair. Bite me. I know I'm a little bitter after losing in Phoenix today to Arizona (84-72). It was actually a close game in the 2nd - half after we blew a 16-point first-half lead. This was a lousy game for my ILLNI and the officials who called the game. But, I can't be too disappointed in the outcome. I figured we had no chance to win today. Our two best players were OOP recovering from injuries. We won't be at full strength until mid December when Randle returns to the lineup. Come back soon Brian. We need your points desperately. Nonetheless, I'm proud of my ILLINI b-ball squad. We grew up big-time today on a national stage. Actually, despite the two losses, this has been a great week for my young ILLINI team. We're getting better with each and every possession. I've enjoyed watching my team mature this week. I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. We're on the right trajectory. Coach Weber has us moving forward as our team learns to play from behind and with the lead. This week will go a long way towards our development as we look to challenge for the BIG-10 title yet again. We will rise from these ashes.

And KUDOS to WAKE FOREST after beating GT 9-6 in a baseball game at the ACC Championship. No TD's all day. How exciting was that to watch? I'm glad I didn't. Seriously, great win for WAKE FOREST today. It was their first ACC title in ~ 40 years. They will go to the Orange Bowl next year to take on those Cardinals from Louisville. The CARDS beat the HUSKIES today and benefited from a RUTGERS loss in Morgantown (3OT).

So what about the BCS? Isn't it great? It makes my play-off proposal look like a joke. How arrogant must I be to think that there is a better way. All I can say is give me a title game in the desert between Ohio State and Florida, yes those mean and nasty Gators have earned it. Michigan already had its shot at the BUCKS; and they lost. No way should a team play in the national- title game when it doesn't win its conference title. Plus, when you look at the strength of schedules, nobody has played a more difficult one than Florida. They are clearly the 2nd-best team in the nation tonight after the USC loss. At 12-1 (after beating Arkansas tonight in the SEC championship), they deserve a whack at Ohio State. Their only loss this year was on the road to Auburn. No harm there in my opinion. Check this out, the GATORS have beaten Tennessee, Florida State, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, LSU, Kentucky, and Arkansas in the same year. They've earned the right to lose to Ohio State in Glendale.

So, here are your likely BCS games:

Orange: Wake Forest Vs. Louisville
Rose: USC Vs. Michigan
Fiesta : Boise State Vs. Oklahoma
Sugar: Notre Dame Vs. LSU
Title Game: Florda Vs. Ohio State

So it comes down to the computers, the Harris pole, and the Coaches' poll. Give me Florida / Ohio State or give me death. My best three arguments for the GATORS over the WOLVERINES are:

1) Florida had the toughest schedule in the land (12-1 result). Last time I checked, 12 > 11.
2) Florida won its conference title (more than Michigan can say @ 11-1).
3) Carr and company already had their chance. They lost to Ohio State. No rematches, please.
4) I hate Michigan. What do you expect.