....according to this misguided writer they do.... http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-florida-diaz25-2009aug25,0,7956343.story For the record I don't agree...
What a load of hooey... The Gators losing won't derail their title. Florida has 3 NCs to their credit and none of them were undefeated. Not one. Florida has had one undefeated season and that was in 1911 under GE Pyle. (they went 5-0-1). Florida has NEVER gone unbeaten and untied. So what will a loss mean? Nothing. The pundits will tell you that Florida losing just shows the overall strength of the SEC while teams that go unbeaten come from pussy conferences who can't compete.. No matter how much the on field results conflict with media reality. It's a nice gesture by this kid, but all in all, Florida is going to have to lose 2 games before anyone starts talking about dropping them out of title contention. hell, that goes for any major SEC team. The system's a joke.
Yes Corey but as I have pointed out before Florida has ended their NC seasons playing and beating the #1 ranked team in the country...the best team available ranking wise. The same cannot be said for all of ND's titles as I once pointed out. The "system" could be worse..... :wink:
To be fair, the last ND title the Irish played and beat the #1 team in the country in Miami, then beat the #2 team in the Country in USC, and ended it by beating the #3 team in the Country in WVA, we were unable to play the #1 team in the country because WE WERE THE #1 TEAM IN THE COUNTRY!!! Oh yeah and to open our season we beat the Wolverines when they were ranked #3! So we played and beat 4 top 5 teams (at the time we played them). The only member of the final top 5 we didn't beat was FSU. So while not taking anything away from the UF championships, you attempting to take something away from ND championships is disingenuous.
Disingenuous??? I think Sid hit the nail on the head. Terry, you were further off centerline than most of my Tee shots used to be.
My point was on topic. The author said that UF needs to lose to open up the NC race to all..I simply stated that a single loss by UF won't even slow down their title hunt hopes. Since moving to the BCS system, we've seen that time and time again. The author, at least to me, almost seemed to write that with an air of superiority as if no one is even out there to compete with you. Again, a laughable notion given that you've yet to go unbeaten in the modern football era. You brought up ND playing 1 vs 2 games. Since 1936, when the AP began to rank these things, ND is 5-2-2 All-time in those games, winning the last 3, and they are 4-0-1 in 1 vs 2 games in which they entered as the top ranked team. In 5 of ND's 11 NC seasons, they have played in a 1 vs 2 matchup going 3-0-2 in those contests. BTW, all of these numbers of 'pre-Rockne' That doesn't even touch teams like ND's 1989 team that finished with 1 loss to Miami and out of the NC picture despite beating the #2 team in the nation in the Orange Bowl (Colorado). That Notre Dame team beat FOUR conference champions (there were only 9 conferences then) when they beat the champs of the ACC, Big10, Big8 and Pac10) They also played 3 of the top 5 independents that season (with ND being one of the indies they didn't play, FSU the other.) Miami got the NC shot/game that year by virtue of head to head only to have the head to head argument ripped away from the Irish in 93. The schedule Miami played that year was laughable. ND has had its share of seasons like that... at Florida, you get a title and a dynasty for it.
No doubt ND has had some great teams in years past.....ones worthy of playing the #2 team in Jan. for all the marbles and probably beating most of them. Fortunately Florida has had the opportunity to bolster their championship luster by beating #1 ranked teams..... in the last game of the season.... This Gator team borders on "dynasty" if you will because last season the Gators closed out by beating TWO #1 ranked teams......in a row.....at the end of the season.
Frank Leahy on the Gold courtesy phone for AJ. Leahy's lads in 46, 47, 48 and 49 went 36-0-2. They won 3 NCs in a 4 year span. The year they didn't win the NC, they went unbeaten but finished #2 behind Michigan. in 46 they outscored their opponents 271-24 in 47 they outscored their opponents 291-52 in 48 they outscored their opponents 320-93 in 49 they outscored their opponents 360-86 Point being... no matter what the beat writers say, AJ, there's been a few great dynasties. Who is best? who knows. What I do know is... teams that can't run the table aren't even in that discussion. So we'll sit back, enjoy another alphabet soup NC bowl game in which someone tells us how much fun we're having..and someone will write an article talking about how great the system is... yawn
A dynasty it is: http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20090827/ARTICLES/908279978/1136?Title=Gators-have-become-dynasty .....in the SEC at least and maybe nationally if they win it all in 2009.
AJ- What? Now we got all these rules? You want guys wearing facemasks, I want guys who aren't in prison.. sheesh, everybody wants something Dave, My point stands. Florida's run is great. You can still say 'we beat #1 at the end of the year' as if that means something. There's been a lot of bad #1s exposed in bowl games before. Any system that is suppose to give us the 'two best teams' that hasn't found a way to get you guys and USC together yet is failing terribly.
Good point Corey but every season is different with regard to team strengths and weaknesses. Good thing for me USC did not play UF at the end of 2007 or I would never hear the end of that one.... :lol:
Since we don't have a playoff, and never have had one in the past. All Nat'l Champions, from the 1st to the Gators, just won a vote and can be considered flawed of course. But it's all we have. Some Nat'l Champions have played tough schedules went undefeated and for the most part left no doubt that they were the best, most though left some team saying they were better for this and/or that reason.
T, Good point, which is along with what I was saying.. a loss won't keep the Gators out. Dave, That article is funny... While covering the 'dynasty' of the Gators that author misses one glaring factoid that few people seem to want to address. Since the creation of 'SEC 2.0' in 1992, as the writer referred to it, the SEC East has been the accepted better of the two divisions. Since 1992 Florida has dominated the SEC East, but they have struggled a bit with many in the West. Hell, even Ron Zook dominated the SEC East. Since 1992 Florida's record against Kentucky 17-0 Vanderbilt 17-0 South Carolina 16-1 Tennessee 12-5 Georgia 14-3 Meanwhile vs the SEC West: Arkansas 7-0 LSU 12-5 Auburn 9-5 Alabama 6-4 Ole Miss 3-3 Miss State 3-3 Several years ago, I made this suggestion but it was laughed off because the West was perceived as being obviously worse than the SEC East. Now that some time has passed by, I don't think you can make that claim anymore. If Florida plays in the West, it looks like a different situation.