Upon Further Further Review (Week 14)

Pressure

By the time we have reached this point in every college football season for the past several years, I am tired, so I know the players and coaches involved must be exhausted. 

The physical grind is as tough as ever, but, these days, the psychological toll of being one of the top programs is absolutely ridiculous. 

I thought of this as I got the news Sunday night that Florida head coach Urban Meyer had checked into a hospital in the early morning hours after the Gators lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship game.  "I've lost a lot of weight this season," he said. "I just have to take better care of myself. It's been a tough season. A great season, but a tough season."

If there is one big difference between this year's Gators, and the championship teams of the past, it is the fact that they started at the top this year, rather than coming from behind. The pressure mounted weekly, and the media feeding frenzy was so persistent and shameless that I was actually embarassed for my former colleagues in the world of sports journalism.

Tim Tebow's concussion had to be the most scrutinized sports-related injury ever.  It literally got to the point where sports news websites would write an entire story just to tell us that there was nothing new to report.  I thought it was stupid at the time, and I said so.

Then, one Florida player is arrested, and it is immediately splashed on websites across the universe and scrolling across the bottom of the screen on each of ESPN's many channels.  Meanwhile, half of the Michigan State squad storms  a party like members of a goon squad, and assaults a room full of people.  Two players were kicked off the team, and eight others are suspended for the Spartans' trip to the Alamo Bowl against Texas Tech.  But, somehow, that gets buried at the back of the sports section.

I suppose there are rewards that come with riding the top of the rankings for most of the season, but the effect of the pressure, apparently, can  be enough to require hospitalization.


When Every Game Matters

I understand the desire to establish a college football playoff in the FBS (Division I).  On the surface, it seems like the American way.  Let them decide it on the field.  Play until there is only one team standing. 

But part of what makes major college football exciting is the fact that every game really does matter.  In past years, top teams could recover from an early loss, but not this year, not in a season in which five unbeatens still remain at the end. 

The stakes are enormous, and the pressure intense.  And look what we ended up with at the end; an SEC Championship game that was basically a play-in for the BCS Championship game; a Big 12 Championship game that meant all or nothing for Texas, and was obviously pretty important to Nebraska too; Oregon and Oregon State playing for the right to go to the Rose Bowl, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and Georgia Tech and Clemson fighting to the bitter end for the top spot in their respective leagues, East Carolina squeaking by Houston to win Conference USA.

It was an exciting ending to an intriguing regular season.  And it was all the more intriguing because every game mattered.


Bandwagon Update

Since I proclaimed my new-found love for Idaho and Richmond back on October 27, they have had their share of struggles.  It appears that I do not have the luck of the Irish.  Or anybody else.  And neither do the teams that I adopt.


The Vandals lost four of their last five games, but still managed to finish 7-5, and earn a trip to the Humanitarian Bowl to play Bowling Green. 

While I'm sure head coach Robb Akey would have preferred a stronger finish, it is still the most regular season wins for Idaho since they went 7-4 in 1999.



Although they still have the coolest helmets ever, Richmond had some struggles of their own.

After starting the season with a win at Duke, and charging to an 8-0 record, the Spiders lost at home to Villanova on November 11, and then lost to Appalachian State in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs, finishing the season at 11-2. 

The biggest loss,though, may have come yesterday, when it was announced that head coach Mike London would be leaving to take the head coaching job at the University of Virginia.