Gee … No Gee Whiz!
by Bob Epling
The Campus Game
Gordon Gee, the bow-tied, bespectacled president of (the) Ohio State University suddenly emerged as the smartest voice in college football during Thanksgiving week.
The man with letters in front of (E. … for Elwood) and behind (J.D., Ed. D.) his name earns an honorary Ph.D. from this old professor by publicly proclaiming what any knowledgeable football fan should know. Neither Boise State nor TCU deserves to play for the national championship.
Welcome back to The Campus Game, where thanks are being given this football weekend to Gee (pronounced with a hard “G”) for passing on the political correctness and stating the obvious. How can a team (Boise) with a schedule that includes Wyoming, New Mexico State, Toledo, San Jose State, Louisiana Tech, Hawaii, Idaho, Fresno State, and Utah State even be in the championship conversation?
Why should a squad (TCU) boasting a slate that shows Tennessee Tech, Colorado State, Wyoming, San Diego State, and New Mexico stand any chance of reaching the BCS title tilt?
To Gee’s point – neither would come close to emerging unscathed playing against a lineup of Miss State, Clemson, South Carolina, Kentucky, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Georgia, Alabama, (and South Carolina once more for good measure). That’s the minefield Auburn’s crawled through this fall. The Tigers could lose to Alabama this week then beat South Carolina in the SEC championship game and still deserve more BCU consideration than either of the inflated duo. It’s an insult to suggest otherwise.
Using the logic of the Boise/TCU cheerleaders in the booth, at the studio sets, and on the web there is a much more deserving team than the Broncos or the Horned Frogs.
Mt. Union.
That’s right, the Purple Raiders of the Ohio Athletic Conference (which has a more storied football past than either the WAC or the Mountain West by the way).
OK – so they play in Division III. So what?
The Mount has won ten of the past sixteen national championships in D-3, lost in the title game three more times, and enter this weekend unbeaten and ranked #2.
What’s that? Oh, the Purple Raiders don’t play as tough a schedule as an FBS division team like Boise? Double so-what!
Similar to the proclamations coming from boys on the Boise bus … they beat the teams on their schedule, they are 58-2 the past four seasons, their closest game this season is two touchdowns, and they are white-hot having outscored their last two opponents 101-0. They may even have purple field turf for all we know. Top that Broncos … gig it Frogs?
If Auburn or Oregon slips up the next two weeks … Boise nor TCU should get to the BCS title game. Take the boys from the Mount instead.
Thanks E. Gordon.
Gee whiz!
The Campus Game 