[NU Sports] UCONN in BCS; observations

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

>     For the most part, the Big East's demise was
> a fallacy until this year, with strong teams from West
> Virgina and Cincinnati, and to a certain extent
> Pitt.   But this year, the Big East isn't
> deserving, and Paul, Randy Edsall is from York County (Pa.),

Look, I'm happy for UConn as much as anybody - better than Wanny and Pitt getting in and a classy coach - but a lot of folks were decrying Boise State or TCU and their soft schedules recently and you have to do the same with UConn.

This team got shut out by Louisville. Not exactly a defensive powerhouse.
They got crushed by Michigan, the 7th place team in the Big Ten.
They lost to Temple, the fourth best team in the MAC.

And the Big East's demise has been known for years by the B(C)S folk, yet they ignore it. Aside from West Virginia's upset of Oklahoma to thumb their nose at RichRod for leaving, the league has done absolutely nothing in major bowls and usually gets embarrassed. The one year of the Big East poll hype was all from inflated records of playing each other and fizzled when they played someone. This league has not been worthy of a B(C)S bid since Miami departed.

As for UConn's fans, traveling for basketball and football are two different things. Five thousand fans can be a big boost for an NCAA tourney game, but they will be surrounded by empty seats in Phoenix. It really makes more sense for Stanford to stay west and UConn to stay east (and VaTech usually travels quite well to their bowl games - they just have foes that don't fill their seats). But then again, it would make more sense for Stanford to be in Pasadena and the B(C)S has never been about logic.

I'm rooting for UConn against the Sooners, but let's not try and justify their role while everyone was dissing Boise just last week. VaTech lost a hangover game to JMU, but their other loss was to an 11-1 team and they finished 11-2. Boise lost to an 11-1 team and finished 11-1, beating an 11-2 team. UConn was 7-5 with losses to some pretty bad teams and no real big win aside from West Virginia.

But for the Fiesta or Orange - Go You Huskies! :)

>    Illinois.  THe Fightin' Zookers must
> be the the most bizarre team in 1A; a maddening combination
> of a punishing offense, bonehead  execution, and a

I think you hit the nail on the head there. Sadly, only the first one showed up in Wrigley.

We'll see how the bowl shake out today, but word here is growing on an Iowa vs. Nebraska Insight Bowl that will play nicely into the Huskers' addition next year and get that rivalry going. It's also a nice matchup for the Insight with two preseason top 10 teams and two fan bases that should bring a lot of people to Phoenix for a beautiful setting in Tempe for a bowl game.

And Texas Tech seems likely to be our opponent. Hopefully, with practice Watkins will be ready to go in a shootout and we can get the win!

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
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