Happy Friday Fanatics. Cold enough for you out there?
Like many of you, I spent my Thursday evening tuning into the BCS National Championship game between Alabama and Texas.
Steve Deace and I got into a conversation on KXNO Thursday morning and I’d like your input on the conversation.
We were discussing if fans should or shouldn’t root for teams in their perspective conference. Did you root for Texas last night in the national title game just because they are in Iowa State’s conference?
Personally, I didn’t. It’s not that I’m anti-Big 12; it’s more that I see the North teams as Iowa State’s biggest rivals and the majority of the South as that one stuck up lady who hangs out at the country club while wearing a large, funky shaped hat.
“It makes Iowa State look better if the Big 12 does well.”
I’ve heard that a million times. To a point, that statement is correct. I’ll give you that.
But then you have to ask yourself this question too. How much do bowl games actually mean? We all know that at least half of a bowl game outcome depends on who wants to be there more. So is the Mountain West really that much better than the PAC-10? If you play those games in October, I doubt it.
My point is this. Were Texas fans really sitting around rooting for Iowa State during the Insight Bowl? That is very doubtful. Maybe I am way out in left field on this one but I have a feeling some will agree with me. I just don’t see how Kansas, Nebraska, Kansas State etc. winning bowl games helps Iowa State. The Cyclones recruit against those programs all of the time. Does Iowa State really want those coaches to be able to talk up bowl wins to potential Cyclones?
CLICK HERE to join this conversation right now on Iowa State’s most popular message board.
Watching Colt McCoy end his Texas career like that was a real downer. When everything first happened, my friends and I found ourselves yelling at the TV for McCoy to man up and come back in the game. I have to admit, we were pretty harsh. I owe Colt and apology today though. After learning more about the situation, the Texas football staff should be given some sort of award for not putting him back in the game. They were playing for the national championship and chose a young man’s health/future over the chance to bring home the trophy. In the college football culture that we live in today, what the Texas staff did last night is pretty much unheard of.
I’ve always had a ton of respect for Mack Brown. I now put the man on a pedestal.
Quick Hits – Reports are surfacing today that South Florida coach Jim Leavitt has been fired. Could this be an opportunity for Dan McCarney? It’s doubtful that Mac would get this job but I know that thousands of great people in Ames, Iowa would love to see it.
– I’ve been hearing a lot of Boise State = national championship talk over the past few days and rightfully so. I agree that the Broncos got robbed in not even getting a shot to compete but does anybody really think that they’d run the table playing in the SEC? Of course they woudn’t. Yes, Boise should be in the national title conversation but that’s where it should end. Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. In the system that college football goes by, Alabama is the clear-cut national champ. Life isn’t fair. Deal with it. The good news is that Boise will get a legitimate look next season as they are likely a preseason top five team.
– Read this article on the strength of Big 12 basketball this season. It’s pretty incredible. Did you realize that Iowa State is the only Big 12 team that has lost a non-conference game at home this season? The league is 105-1. I’m not trying to throw gas on an already pretty decent sized fire. Just pointing out a pretty incredible statistic.
See you all in Hilton tomorrow.