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| TCU wins Rose Bowl |
The Rose Bowl win proved only one thing. On any given day anybody can win one ball game. TCU showed up 12-0 and ranked #3 in the country and on the surface that looks and sounds great. However, I like to take the wrapper off of my burger before I eat it. Let's get to the core and talk about what 12-0 really is.
Once upon a time not long ago in the land of Happy Valley. There was a team called Penn State that was dominant every year in college football. They had the winningest coach of all-time named Joe Paterno. The Nittany Lions didn't play in a conference for more than 100 years from 1881 to 1990. They won two national titles during that reign (1982 and 1986). Then someone came up with the bright idea to join the Big 10 in 1991. They've had only one perfect season since joining the Big Ten (1994). They haven't played for a national title at all since hooking up with the Big Boys.
There was also a team called the Miami Hurricanes that won 5 national titles in a span of only twenty years. They were one of the most powerful teams in the land. Well... three of those titles came while they were an independent. Meaning they could pick who they played every week. Also three of the titles were won in the Orange Bowl. That's their home field. They joined the Big East in 1991 and won two titles during their tenure there. Then someone came up with the brain fart to move into the ACC where the competition was just a little better and they've essentially fallen off of the face of the earth.
Nobody wanted to call Miami out because they've had so many first round draft picks and they were extremely good. However, they wouldn't have won all of those titles if they were in a legitimate conference from the start.
My point here is this, just because schools like TCU show up in a big bowl game and win it, only means that they won that game on that day. Would TCU have been 12-0 if they had to play teams like Wisconsin every week? Just think of how draining that game was for them yesterday and how banged up they may be this morning. What would happen if they had to turn around and play again next week? We wouldn't be talking about them this morning, now would we?
When they go to the Big East in 2012, they'll have to play teams that are better than those that they've been accustomed to playing. There will be guys on the rosters of the other teams that could've gone to Ohio St or Michigan but decided to play sooner rather than later. Well the guys in the MWC(Mountain West) in which TCU is currently apart of didn't get offers from Texas, OU or USC. Those kids are playing in the MWC for a reason. TCU is so dominant because they are in the state of Texas where they have more D-1 prospects than any other state in the country. So even with the leftovers TCU will out recruit any team in the Mountain West.
The Big East gets a bad rap but even with UConn having four losses coming into the Fiesta Bowl last night they weren't a complete push over. Oklahoma struggled with those guys. The score wasn't indicative of the way the game was played. On any given Saturday UConn could beat Oklahoma. That's what happens in the BCS conferences.
So don't pay any attention to the little guy behind the curtain because it's not always what it seems.The level of competition will always determine how good a team ultimately is. What's your opinion?
Jay Graves
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