http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;...s-whyflorida2ndld-writethru&prov=ap&type=lgns Poll voters say avoiding rematch, tougher schedule helped send Florida to title game By RICHARD ROSENBLATT, AP Sports Writer December 4, 2006 Avoid a rematch. Stronger schedule. Conference champion. Those were the main reasons cited Monday by many poll voters for jumping Florida over Michigan on their final ballots, setting up a Gators-Buckeyes matchup in the BCS national title game Jan. 8. "If you beat a team one time, why do they get the national championship if they win the second time?" said Earle Bruce, the former Ohio State coach who votes in the Harris Interactive poll and moved Florida ahead of Michigan. "I mean, they've already played one time and lost." The Gators (12-1), who beat Arkansas to win the Southeastern Conference title on Saturday, moved from fourth to second in the final BCS standings Sunday. The Wolverines (11-1), who lost to the Buckeyes 42-39 on Nov. 18, remained third, while USC dropped to fifth from second after losing to UCLA. "At the end of the day, Florida won its conference championship. Michigan did not," said Harris poll voter Ray Melick of The Birmingham News. "Because there's not a playoff, I think a conference champion ought to carry more weight than a conference runner-up at the BCS conference level." Strength of schedule carried weight with voters, too. It was such a big deal for Jim Walden, a former Washington State head coach, that he picked Florida No. 1 in the Harris poll, calling Florida's schedule "murderous." "In my heart of hearts, I believe that neither Ohio State or Michigan could get through Florida's schedule with only one loss." Tom Luicci, a Harris voter who bumped Florida up to second, said he made his assessment based on Florida's body of work -- not one game. "Michigan has quality wins over Wisconsin, which played no one, and Notre Dame, which won the Commander's-in-Chief trophy (a reference to wins over the service academies) which I don't consider a major coup." As for Florida, Luicci noted its weak nonconference schedule "but that doesn't matter when you play every good team in the SEC and have quality road wins, too." Florida played 10 bowl teams and beat nine, including road wins against Tennessee and Florida State, neutral site wins against Georgia and Arkansas and home victories against LSU and Alabama. The Gators lone loss? At Auburn, 27-17. "Michigan had its shot," said Harris voter Joe Biddle of The Tennessean. "If you replayed that game it would be nothing more than a Big Ten championship -- and I don't think you get mulligans in college football. "If there's a viable alternative, I stay away from a rematch and I think Florida gives them a viable alternative." Jerry Palm, an independent BCS analyst, estimates that 40 of the 113 voters in the Harris poll and 25 of the 62 in the USA Today coaches' poll moved the Gators past the Wolverines. The teams were tied in the computer ratings, the third component of the BCS standings. The Associated Press media poll is not used in the BCS rankings, but 25 of the 65 voters moved Florida ahead of Michigan. AP poll voter Michael Vega of The Boston Globe said he wasn't against a rematch but found it hard to justify one this time. "I had to reconcile a fundamental problem with giving Michigan a chance to win the national championship when it didn't even win a conference championship," he said. AP voter Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News said a rematch was appealing, but Florida deserves a title shot based on strength of schedule. "Beating Arkansas, a 10-win team on a neutral field in December gave Florida that extra push," said Wilner. AP National Writer Eddie Pells and AP Sports Writers Rusty Miller in Columbus, Ohio; Pete Iacobelli in Columbia, S.C.; Joe Kay in Cincinnati; Larry Lage in Detroit and Gregg Bell in Seattle contributed to this report.
Yes, if ever than this year, but they must have an unbelievable tourney again, last year in regular play they didnt even play like a top 10 team and were able to somehow rise to another level come tournament time. And also this time around the usual powerhouses wont be loaded with freshman anymore, these kids are sophomores now with more playing together time, so it will be much tougher...
Michigan. But Fla will get the nod so at least I can watch them get their ass kicked by Ohio. PS Don't forget that's a lot of money to go to one conference. So it's no surprise Fla will play Ohio.
Apparently they do and more... unlike the Big Ten (Ohio State) "It must seem as though the University of Florida is snake bitten when it comes to signing JUCO prospects from the state of California. Over the past several years the Gators have lost out on prospects such as linebackers Lance Mitchell and Larry Grant due to the stringent academic transfer rules the Southeastern Conference applies to incoming junior college players. Grant is currently at Ohio State and will face Florida, the team he originally committed to coming out of San Fransisco City College, in the National Championship game next month."
That is too funny! Yeah I think Florida gets more Bright Scholars then all but 2 schools in the whole country. I'll have to look it up. But I know Florida blows away Ohio State academically. Not even close.
Quote from smilingsynic: Academically, it's not even close (not that that matters to you). Does the SEC even require their players to be able to read? Yeah last I checked Vanderbilt (SEC) has a higher US news ranking than Michigan, as does Viriginia (not SEC but still southern) so you can keep your yankee arrogance to your self
I'm always amused when someone crowing about the academic excellence of a school doesn't know the difference between "then" and than. LOL BTW: and WTF is a "(ful) Bright Scholar (sic). " Is that where Don comes along and pitches the class on pairs? Bhahahahaha.
Let me guess--an SEC graduate? With that kind of writing, you must have graduated cum laude. I said that the Big Ten was academically superior to the SEC ("academically, it's not even close") Well, according to U.S. News and World Report's (it's a magazine, son) 2007 rankings, the top national (undergraduate) universities are as follows: Note: SEC teams are in caps. 14. Northwestern 18. VANDY 24. Michigan 34. Wisconsin 41 Illinois 47 Penn State 47 FLORIDA 57 Ohio State 60 GEORGIA 64 Purdue 64 Iowa 67 Minnesota 70 Indiana 70 Michigan State That ends the Big Ten. 11 to 3, so far 88 TENNESSEE 88 ALABAMA 112 KENTUCKY The rest do not appear on the list. They can be found in the Tier 3 list. Please note that this is just undergrad. Grad rankings may be different. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php Yankee arrogance? No, the problem here is just your own ignorance (on your part, and on Mav's).
Each university has its individual strengths and weaknesses, but in business schools, the Big Ten blows the SEC away. Top Fifty Business schools: 4 Northwestern 11 Michigan 21 Purdue 22 Ohio State 23 Indiana 23 Michigan State 23 Minnesota 28 Illinois 31 Wisconsin 38 Penn State Then comes the SEC (well, a few): 41 Florida 46 Georgia 49 Vanderbilt http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/mba/brief/mbarank_brief.php The rest of the SEC is not on the list. Iowa is not there either, so you have some company. If I have some time, I'll add to this. Then again, why would I have to?