While people in the Big 12 are going bananas over the Kansas Jayhawks' historic season, let it be known that they didn't have the grace of Grace Walker on their side.
Growing up, I had a friend who was a huge Missouri fan. He always bragged about how good the Tigers were, and talked about Columbia, Missouri as if it were New York City.
What I didn't realize at the time was that Missouri had a history of being on the wrong side of history—most notably the 1990 "Fifth Down" game against Colorado and the 1997 game against Nebraska, when Scott Davidson tripped over his own teammate to get into the end zone.
It had been almost 40 years since Missouri won a conference title of any kind, the last one coming in 1969.
When it came time for the biggest Border War showdown in the series' history, I wrote on my friend's Facebook wall begging for grace to be with Missouri as they inched closer and closer to a No. 1 ranking and a BCS title shot.
Behind the strong arm of Chase Daniel on a cold Kansas City night, Mizzou defeated Kansas to earn a right to play for the Big 12 Championship and a shot at the national championship against an Oklahoma team that beat them in October in Norman.
Although grace was on Mizzou's side against the Jayhawks, grace wasn't on their side in the Big 12 Championship.
Maybe the Tigers forgot the most important thing about being on top—be wary of your opponent and don't worry about the hype surrounding them.
Or maybe Oklahoma, a nine-point favorite coming into the game, was simply the better team.
But the big theme from Missouri's dream season isn't how they self-destructed—it's how they received probably the biggest snub in BCS history when Illinois, a team that lost three games, got the nod for the Rose Bowl...and Kansas got invited to the Orange Bowl, despite losing to Missouri and playing a cheesecake schedule in September and October.
While Mizzou made a New Year's Day bowl too, the disrespect put a damper on the celebration.
Hopefully grace will be with the Tigers against Arkansas a week from Tuesday.
But I don't think divine intervention has anything to do with Missouri football.
Then again, I could be wrong.
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6 months ago
You might want to update your MU apologist pundit-soaked "Cupcake Schedule" line to exclude October. The Jayhawks that month had road games at Kansas State, Colorado, and Texas A&M in that time period. If you are calling those three resounding wins cupcake, your article ends there with a neon FAIL tag.
As to September, noncon games are meant to be won, because any team that loses a noncon game is out of contention for a national title. Every team schedules a D-IAA school, the Jayhawks choosing Southeast Louisiana, who, like Texas Tech last year, chose them when they were rising stars in the Southland conference, finishing 2004 with a 7-4 record. A 'handfull' of other Bowl teams scheduling a D-IIA team for their Noncon schedules:
[BCS Championship] Ohio State vs. Youngstown State
[Orange Bowl] Virgina Tech vs. William & Mary (fifth place in CAA Southern division)
[Rose Bowl] Hawaii vs. Lowly Northern Colorado
[Citrus Bowl] Michigan vs. Appalachian State (Need reminding that D-IIA took this?)
[Cotton Bowl] Your Missouri Tiggers vs Illinois State (An embarrassingly close game)
[Cotton Bowl] Your opponent Arkansas vs. Chattanooga
[Rose Bowl] Georgia vs. Western Carolina
[Rose Bowl] Illinois vs. Western Illinois (another D-IIA victory)
[Music City Bowl] Kentucky vs. Eastern Kentucky (D-IIA prevails)
[Motor City Bowl] Purdue vs. Eastern Illinois
[Gator Bowl] Texas Tech vs. Northwestern State
[Humanitarian Bowl] Georgia Tech vs. Samford
[Independence Bowl] Alabama vs. Western Carolina
[Papa John's Bowl] Cincinnati vs SE Missouri State
[Outback Bowl] Wisconsin vs. Citadel (Another embarrassingly close game)
[Chic-Fil-A Bowl] Clemson vs. Furman
[Alamo Bowl] Texas A&M vs. Montana State
[Sheraton Hawaii Bowl] Boise State vs. Weber State
[Insight Bowl] Indiana vs. last place Iniana State
[Champs Sports Bowl] Boston College vs. Massachusetts
[Emerald Bowl] Maryland vs. Villanova
[Insight Bowl] Oklahoma State vs. Sam Houston State
[New Mexico Bowl] Nevada vs. Nicholls State
I could easily have added the countless games scheduled against D-IA bottom of the barrel teams in bottom of the barrel divisions that literally ALL of the successful Bowl teams scheduled. So, let's break down the "Cupcake" schedule that Kansas played in September. It'll be one more bit of analysis that you couldn't provide in your own article:
1. Southeastern Louisiana: A D-IIA school. We just completed the reason why this is a non-point in any team's glass house.
2. Central Michigan: Won the MAC the last two years standing, won their bowl game in 2006 and is in another this year.
3. Toledo: Has been a part of the Jayhawk schedule twice in the past three years - years that that squad finished 8-4, 9-4, and 9-3. Their slump this year is absolutely not any fault of the Hawks for scheduling them. It was a solid choice for a noncon opponent.
4. Florida International? The same puffball team that Arkansas, Miami, Maryland, and Penn State chose this year to scrimmage against.
Any smart quips to counter any of that? Because if all you got is more of this vomit soup logic that you lapped up off the desktop of some angry Missouri fans who can't accept their fate with grace, then you should stop now. Either way, you need to be schooled in the ways of the game before offering what you proffer to be sound commentary.
The Kansas weak noncon schedule argument is a non-point regarding their record this year - and regarding the won-lost record of any other school, for that matter. Learn the well-established rules of the game: Noncon schedules are meant to be won. You won't get a shot at a championship if you falter even once before your conference schedule starts, and you don't have much of a tenure as athletic director if you don't schedule accordingly. D-IIA opponents aside, every powerhouse D-IA school schedules to win. Pointing out that Kansas didn't schedule their early games vs. all the '06 BCS bowl winners is bent punditry, because how they scheduled their games is the norm in NCAA football.
6 months ago
Misfire, in case you didn't pick up on it, I meant D-IAA and not D-IIA anywhere the latter appeared in the comment.
6 months ago
I know about the cupcake schedule that both schools had. The point I was trying to make and ultimately failed at establishing was the fact that while Missouri played Oklahoma and Texas A&M in the conference, Kansas gets a free pass by not playing neither of those teams in conference play.
Missouri had quality wins over Illinois and Kansas and played a close game against Oklahoma the first time around. Kansas had two quality wins that turned into duds when they beat Kansas State and Texas A&M. If Nebraska had been any good, you could probably put Kansas' beatdown on the Cornhuskers up there, but a win over a non-bowl team wouldn't even count as a notable win in my book.
6 months ago
Missouri should have received the at-large bid over Kansas. Period. Playing in the Big 12 Championship game should not keep a team out of a well deserved BCS game. Kansas is a good team, but you can't argue with the fact that they benefited from not having to face Oklahoma in an extra December game.
6 months ago
It shouldn't. I believe if you put their schedules side-by-side, it would clearly show that Missouri had the best schedule and the best talent. No, they didn't win it counted, but hell, that shouldn't take away anything that they've accomplished. The reason why they didn't get it was because the BCS couldn't take more than two teams, which is a load of shit to me.
Dump the BCS, for heaven's sake.
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