TheAgitator.com
The Case for Hawaii
Monday, December 3rd, 2007So if Hawaii convincingly beats Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, shouldn’t they get some serious consideration for the national championship? I realize they’ve played a pretty weak schedule, though I’d guess the fact that the school is in Hawaii has something to do with that. But if they do beat Georgia, they’ll not only have gone undefeated, they’ll have beaten two BCS top twenty teams (Boise State and Georgia). Georgia’s in the top five, and one of the hottest teams in the country. Boise State showed last year that non-BCS conference schools can more than hold their own in BCS bowl games, with their spectacular victory over Oklahoma last January.
The case for Hawaii gets even stronger if LSU beats Ohio State. If the BCS is willing to crown a champ with two losses over an undefeated team from a non-BCS conference that has beaten two top twenty schools, we might as well go ahead and call the BCS champion what it is: the best team among the six BCS-blessed conferences. But not necessarily the best team in college football.
Worse for Hawaii, I’ll bet they’re going to have an even tougher time finding quality opponents willing to play them after their success this year.
I feel like I say this every year, but maybe this will be the final straw to force them to develop a playoff system…
It’s intriguing, but of course Hawaii has to first beat Georgia. Remember, they squeaked by Louisiana Tech, Fresno State, Nevada, and Washington.
I like Colt Brennan and hope they’ll win, but it will take a big big game (and maybe some mistakes from Georgia).
Hawaii hasn’t beaten a ranked team on the mainland in at least six years (and likely much longer). It’s a better team than years past, but they’d be lucky to win 5 games against the top 25 at a neutral venue.
Of course, if they beat Georgia, then they have to be given their due with a top 5 final ranking and perhaps a vote for the national title.
Boise State is not a top 20 BCS team, though they were when Hawaii played them. Boise State is currently (over)ranked at #24. Hawaii got a gift with a BCS game, given that they played only one team even receiving votes in any poll (Boise State).
Even if Hawaii wins, that means two victories over ranked teams. All year. That’s not national championship caliber. Hell, the WAC team would win every national title. Rough up a weak conference, then get lucky in one bowl game and *poof*, national champs! Everyone would want to be in the WAC then, or the Big 12 North.
Don’t tell me that teams won’t play Hawaii because they are afraid to lose. VPI is a stronger program than Hawaii and in the last four years LSU and USC have played VPI in out of conference games, USC on a neutral field!
I’ve always wondered: Of every program in the country, Hawaii should be consistently attract the best recruits. So, why is it that they don’t have a top tier program? If I’m 18 years old, there’s no question I’m picking Manoa, HI over Tuscaloosa, AL (not that Bama’s program is top tier or anything).
Hawaii really doesn’t have much of a case. Yes, if they beat Georgia (Which I’d be very surprised if they did), they’ll have beaten two Top 20 teams, but LSU has beaten 5 Top 20 teams…I’m a Big 12 fan, and I agree that the BCS system has its problems…a playoff system would at least be worth a try, but this year, the SEC was the toughest conference around. They have 6 teams ranked in the BCS and 7 in the AP polls. LSU lost to two very good teams, both in overtime. Those games were not flukes, but they weren’t spectacular upsets either. The SEC was the toughest last year…which is why I wasn’t at all surprised when Florida ran all over the Ohio State.
WFPearson, top recruits want to go to the places that develop NFL talent. You’ll have a tough time making the NFL as a Hawaii player - their offensive players are a product of their wide-open system and their defense has never been noteworthy.
When you see top recruits brave the winters at Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio St. etc. it just shows how unimportant the weather is in Hawaii.
Let’s talk about who got screwed OUT of a BCS bowl. Mizzou. Of the 10 teams in BCS bowls, Mizzou has played three and lost to only one of them. They were 11-1 in the regular season, won their division, and only lost to a BCS top five team all year.
Enter Kansas (lost to Missouri), Georgia (didn’t win conference OR EVEN division), Illinois (three losses, one of them to Missouri), West Virginia (another two loss team, but with one of those losses to Pitt).
I’ll step down off my soapbox, but no one can look at the BCS bowl system and think that it is hunky dorey.
Hawaii plays the University of Florida first game next season. And it will lose big.
As impressive as going undefeated (especially this season) is, when you play the schedule that they have - doesn’t mean a whole lot. (not that the quality of their opponents or the opponents that choose to play them is entirely their own fault)
Their best win was against Boise State and they’ll have an entire month to prepare to play their only game of the season that means anything at the Sugar Bowl. If they played LSU’s schedule, for instance, they would have played a stretch of 5 weeks against teams at the time ranked in the top 12, followed by three weeks in a row playing against teams ranked in the top 20.
Anyone who thinks they’d have gotten out of there undefeated, or even with the two losses that LSU had, is probably overly optimistic about that team.
was supposed to say five week stretch with three games against top 12 opponents..
“Don’t tell me that teams won’t play Hawaii because they are afraid to lose. VPI is a stronger program than Hawaii and in the last four years LSU and USC have played VPI in out of conference games, USC on a neutral field!”
This gets it right. (Disclosure: I’m a Hokie.)
The VT-USC game was neutral, since it was held at FedEx field in DC. Clearly that’s a mostly home field advantage for Tech, but this was a championship year (2004) for USC and Tech dominated the game until a bogus pass interference call late in the 3rd quarter. I’m not saying Tech would’ve won if the officials don’t make that bogus call. I think we would have, given the momentum. Still, maybe not. But holding your own against the #1 team speaks volumes.
I’m open to the idea that Hawaii should’ve gotten more consideration. But I’m also open to the idea that voters should’ve thrown out all the previous polls and ranked teams based solely on how they’re playing now, after a full season.
That said, “the best team among the six BCS-blessed conferences” is probably accurate. College football needs a playoff.
College Football does have a playoff. It has a playoff at every level of Football except the top tier. Apparently academics don’t mean as much in those lower tiers since the stated case against a playoff always contains some refrain of “won’t someone think of the student athletes”.
Hawaii’s 2008 non-conference matches:
08/30 @ Florida
09/06 Weber State (FCS)
09/13 @ Oregon State
11/29 Washington State
12/06 Cincinnati
Without Colt Brennan, Hawaii will definitely not do as well as they did this year. But hopefully they will be able to beat a few of the BCS conference teams and also win the WAC championship again.
Georgia will light Hawaii up, and that team will finally be exposed for the fraud that it is. The WAC sucks, and if Colt Brennan played against legitimate defenses, he’d be average at best. Hawaii shouldn’t be in a BCS game. They had to come back against the only BCS team they played, and they struggled even in their cupcake schedule.
I hate Georgia, but I can’t wait to see the SEC beat down that they have in store for Hawaii.
And I’m counting the days until my man Tim Tebow can hang half a hundred on June Jones. Maybe on the long flight back that hack can think about what an “average,” “system quarterback” Tim Tebow is.
If HI does indeed beat GA, then they have a valid claim to #1.
Seems way back in 84, pre BCS, BYU was the left as the only undefeated team in the nation and rightfully claimed #1, despite all the screaming across the nation about soft schedules and on and on and on. They did it!
University of Utah, non BCS, has attended 6 consecutive bowl games and won every one of them! Quite frankly, had they been allowed to play the championship game they more than likely would have cleaned some clocks as well. Urban is now in FL.
Point being is that HI will provide one hella good game for the viewers and that is what I think all bowl games have been about and even the BCS has to create couplings for the same reason. Some of these game provide a small country ton of cash back to the schools playing, advertisers, sponsors and TV are the source for these funds. So making sure as best they can a game will pay out is probably a factor sitting in some BCS computer but never comes to the light of day, that causes some of the games to be set up the way they are.
But of course all this ranking stuff makes for great fodder for the masses and alumni as well!
I’ve been wondering about teams like Hawaii and last year’s Boise State team. My question is: If you’re essentially ineligible to win the national title, are you really Division 1?
Many moons ago, IIRC, BYU was awarded the National Championship (this was before the BCS fiasco) while never beating a team that finished above .500. They beat 6-5 Michigan in the Holiday Bowl, sending Michigan to 6-6 while remaining undefeated.
We need playoffs. I’d always thought that the top 8 BCS teams qualifying would do it, but lo and behold, Hawaii is ranked #10. Any ideas, anybody?
John Jenkins,
What’s up with the random Big 12 North bashing? Why single it out? There’s plenty of other weak divisions and conferences. Anyway, let me ask you this, who did Ohio State play? The best team they played (Illinois) they lost to. Seriously, how can you say Hawaii shouldn’t be in the championship but be okay with Ohio State? Even Kirk Herbstreit (an Ohio State alum) has admitted we don’t know how good they are because they haven’t played anybody.
I don’t think Hawaii will have any trouble getting quality opponents. I mean, Notre Dame has been somehow convincing other teams that it is a good idea to go all the way to South Bend to play them for years now.
At least Hawaii’s got the climate on their side.
It’s not Hawai’i’s fault that nobody wants to play them (for any number of reasons: expense, fear of loss, travel time, etc.) So as someone else said, if teams like UH and Boise State are essentially ineligible because nobody decent wants to travel to the islands (c’mon, you can’t make UH play 8 or 9 road games a season), does what they do on the field every week really count for anything?
J Mo,
I live in Oklahoma, so bashing the Big 12 North is a requirement, but Kansas managed to play in the Big 12 North and play exactly 1 team even getting votes in any poll. It’s just not a good half-conference right now. I never said I was happy with Ohio State, either. I’d prefer 8 12 team conferences with conference championships and an 8 team playoff, and tell the voters to blow off.
David Z,
Yes, what Hawaii does every week counts for something. It would just count for more if they could do it against good teams. The “nobody wants to play me” card just doesn’t cut it, especially since Hawaii has Florida next year.
If Hawaii had 2 quality wins against BCS conference teams this year, Hawaii would probably be playing for the national title.
Yes, there are too many I-A teams (or whatever it’s called now). There should be 96.
I have no time for BSC (previous misspelling corrected). It does nothing but give self-appointed kingmaker wannabes something to torture the airwaves with. If a national champion is that important, let them decide it on the field. Otherwise, at the end of the season there are conference champs, good for them, and possibly a bowl (exhibition) invite. And while we’re at it, could we bag the coach’s poll? Too much agenda voting going on there for it to be taken seriously, and seriously, don’t they have enough on their plate riding herd on their own team’s season?
The BCS champion will be the winner of the “championship game.” That’s how it’s set up. Being a Nebraskan, I must admit that some BCS quirks have been very beneficial to the Huskers in the past (Rose Bowl, anyone?), but Hawaii really did get screwed this year. Ohio State is slow and hasn’t played anyone impressive either.
The main problem with this season of college football: no one deserves to be the national champion. There was not one single, standout team (let alone two to play each other for a championship) like what fans have been used to in the past.
And now that Nebraska has Pelini, you will have to quit making fun of the Big 12 North.
Glory! Glory, to Ol’ Georgia. Expect to hear a lot of this:” 1st down, Jawja” in NO.