Thereby committing the cardinal sin of “campaigning” and ensuring TCU will not, even if it wins eleventy billion-0, win the AP national championship.
Brendan Loy
I’m not sure how that follows. Mack Brown’s “campaigning” for Texas to get the #4 spot over Cal in 2004 didn’t create any such blowback — on the contrary, it seemed to work quite well. (And changed the course of history, I might add. Texas beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl and used it as a launching board for the 2005-06 campaign. Cal has never been particularly close to a BCS bowl since.)
That said, TCU will not win the AP national championship anyway. Winning eleventy billion-0 won’t help, because people will just say that means Boise was overrated. And anyway, if Alabama wins the MNC game, they’ll be the consensus #1 (with wins over VaTech, LSU, Florida and Texas, and of course SEC-is-a-war street cred), and if Texas wins, they’ll have beaten Alabama, so the voters won’t abandon them. Folks dreaming of a TCU title say the Frogs have a chance if “Texas wins ugly,” but it’s highly unlikely any title-game win over Alabama could be “ugly” enough to achieve this. Maybe a 3-0 type result, a la Oregon State-Pitt last season, would do it, but even then, people would probably credit the “staunch defenses.” There have been a lot of “ugly” championship games (Miami-Ohio State in 2002-03 was actually a very poorly played game), but no one remembers that, so long as the ending was dramatic. TCU has a chance to get some first-place votes, like Utah last year, but probably not that many — Utah was competing for those votes with a one-loss team — and certainly not enough to win a championship.
Next year… well, that’s another story. The winner of this game is a legit title contender in 2010-11, as I’ve said repeatedly before.
Brendan Loy
P.S. I just thought of something. If TCU wins tonight, the Top 2 is obviously #1 Bama/Texas, #2 TCU. But if Boise State wins, I’m not sure they’ll be able to pass Florida, which had a slight edge in the final regular-season polls, given how good the Gators looked against Cincy. Meanwhile, TCU and (duh) Cincy obviously fall behind Florida, as does Texas, if the Horns lose to Alabama. So if Boise beats TCU and Bama beats Texas, the most likely final rankings would be #1 Alabama, #2 Florida. IT’S A WAR!!!!!
Brendan Loy
P.P.S. An interesting side question to ponder: how far will Cincinnati drop? At the end of the regular season, there was a big gap between the Top Six (the unbeatens + Florida) and everyone else, because everybody else had at least two losses. And the highest-ranked two-loss team (Oregon) lost. I’m guessing two-loss Ohio State passes one-loss Cincy in the final poll, but does two-loss Penn State? What about the two-loss Orange Bowl winner?
Brendan Loy
My best guess… if Bama wins:
1. Alabama
2. TCU if they win; Florida if Boise wins
3. Florida if TCU wins; Boise if they win
4. Texas
5. Ohio State
6. TCU/Boise loser (unless it’s a blowout, in which case the loser will be lower)
7. Orange Bowl winner
8. Penn State
9. Cincinnati
10. Virginia Tech
If Texas wins (thus creating a can’t-rank-Florida-over-Bama dynamic):
1. Texas
2. TCU/Boise winner
3. Alabama
4. Florida
5. Ohio State
6. TCU/Boise loser (unless it’s a blowout, in which case the loser will be lower)
7. Orange Bowl winner
8. Penn State
9. Cincinnati
10. Virginia Tech
trooperbari
Didn’t it? I seem to remember a fair few national pundits taking umbrage at Mack pleading for votes. Of course, that wouldn’t necessarily stop them from voting for him anyway. I also remember people railing against Nebraska/Scott Frost for pushing voters to pick the Huskers in Tom Osborne’s last year (though again, it might’ve actually done the trick).
I’m an embittered TCU alum, Brendan — I expect the worst. (Heh.™)
Brendan Loy
Oh, there was plenty of umbrage taken, but at the end of the day, Mack’s campaigning worked. Thus, I don’t follow your logic that campaigning = automatic inevitable backlash to the point of making the “campaign” counterproductive.
Thereby committing the cardinal sin of “campaigning” and ensuring TCU will not, even if it wins eleventy billion-0, win the AP national championship.
I’m not sure how that follows. Mack Brown’s “campaigning” for Texas to get the #4 spot over Cal in 2004 didn’t create any such blowback — on the contrary, it seemed to work quite well. (And changed the course of history, I might add. Texas beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl and used it as a launching board for the 2005-06 campaign. Cal has never been particularly close to a BCS bowl since.)
That said, TCU will not win the AP national championship anyway. Winning eleventy billion-0 won’t help, because people will just say that means Boise was overrated. And anyway, if Alabama wins the MNC game, they’ll be the consensus #1 (with wins over VaTech, LSU, Florida and Texas, and of course SEC-is-a-war street cred), and if Texas wins, they’ll have beaten Alabama, so the voters won’t abandon them. Folks dreaming of a TCU title say the Frogs have a chance if “Texas wins ugly,” but it’s highly unlikely any title-game win over Alabama could be “ugly” enough to achieve this. Maybe a 3-0 type result, a la Oregon State-Pitt last season, would do it, but even then, people would probably credit the “staunch defenses.” There have been a lot of “ugly” championship games (Miami-Ohio State in 2002-03 was actually a very poorly played game), but no one remembers that, so long as the ending was dramatic. TCU has a chance to get some first-place votes, like Utah last year, but probably not that many — Utah was competing for those votes with a one-loss team — and certainly not enough to win a championship.
Next year… well, that’s another story. The winner of this game is a legit title contender in 2010-11, as I’ve said repeatedly before.
P.S. I just thought of something. If TCU wins tonight, the Top 2 is obviously #1 Bama/Texas, #2 TCU. But if Boise State wins, I’m not sure they’ll be able to pass Florida, which had a slight edge in the final regular-season polls, given how good the Gators looked against Cincy. Meanwhile, TCU and (duh) Cincy obviously fall behind Florida, as does Texas, if the Horns lose to Alabama. So if Boise beats TCU and Bama beats Texas, the most likely final rankings would be #1 Alabama, #2 Florida. IT’S A WAR!!!!!
P.P.S. An interesting side question to ponder: how far will Cincinnati drop? At the end of the regular season, there was a big gap between the Top Six (the unbeatens + Florida) and everyone else, because everybody else had at least two losses. And the highest-ranked two-loss team (Oregon) lost. I’m guessing two-loss Ohio State passes one-loss Cincy in the final poll, but does two-loss Penn State? What about the two-loss Orange Bowl winner?
My best guess… if Bama wins:
1. Alabama
2. TCU if they win; Florida if Boise wins
3. Florida if TCU wins; Boise if they win
4. Texas
5. Ohio State
6. TCU/Boise loser (unless it’s a blowout, in which case the loser will be lower)
7. Orange Bowl winner
8. Penn State
9. Cincinnati
10. Virginia Tech
If Texas wins (thus creating a can’t-rank-Florida-over-Bama dynamic):
1. Texas
2. TCU/Boise winner
3. Alabama
4. Florida
5. Ohio State
6. TCU/Boise loser (unless it’s a blowout, in which case the loser will be lower)
7. Orange Bowl winner
8. Penn State
9. Cincinnati
10. Virginia Tech
Didn’t it? I seem to remember a fair few national pundits taking umbrage at Mack pleading for votes. Of course, that wouldn’t necessarily stop them from voting for him anyway. I also remember people railing against Nebraska/Scott Frost for pushing voters to pick the Huskers in Tom Osborne’s last year (though again, it might’ve actually done the trick).
I’m an embittered TCU alum, Brendan — I expect the worst. (Heh.™)
Oh, there was plenty of umbrage taken, but at the end of the day, Mack’s campaigning worked. Thus, I don’t follow your logic that campaigning = automatic inevitable backlash to the point of making the “campaign” counterproductive.