College's "True Rivalry Week" Didn't Disappoint!

By Nostradamus.

The true "Rivalry Week" in College Football certainly didn't disappoint.

So what did we learn?

SEC defenses, and Georgia, are simply overrated.

The Big 12 three-ring circus will culminate in a vote by their fellow BCS coaches and voters.

Oregon State's dream run was ultimately exposed.

The ACC didn't need to play out their schedules this year, and Boise State or Ohio State?

SEC: The mighty SEC was dealt a pretty solid blow to their ego this weekend. An ACC team that isn’t even playing in their respective conference championship game defeated the third best team in their conference, Georgia, at home.

South Carolina got their heads handed to them by their rival, and yes, ACC opponent as well. For the year, that makes the SEC record against BCS opponents 6-8, and more importantly 4-5 against the supposedly 'pathetic' ACC conference.

When you consider that three of the four wins by the SEC over the ACC were via Florida and Alabama, it gets to be more of a glaring differential. Especially since the two teams from the ACC playing in their championship game did not play a single SEC team this year.

As for the mighty SEC defenses? Georgia Tech rolled up 409 yards rushing and 45 points against the vaunted Georgia defense. That is the single most points gained by Georgia Tech this year; it was also the third highest rushing total of the year, only behind fellow SEC member Mississippi State and Miami.

Of the nine games contested between the ACC and SEC, only one of those contests did not include a team from the SEC that did not finish with a record in their top six teams of conference play, Mississippi State. Take away Florida and Alabama's victories over ACC opponents, and the SEC record vs. the ACC is 2-5.

At the beginning of the year, I posed the question to SEC teams to show us just how great the SEC really is. I got my answer. They aren't any better, if any, than any other conference out there.

A 6-8 record against fellow BCS competition pretty much states that fact. When five of those games were played by your three best teams (Alabama, Florida, and Georgia), you really don't have a leg to stand on in claiming conference superiority. At least not now you don't.

Georgia: I hate to kick a dog when it is down, but for a team and fan base that was pining for respect before the season started; you deserve every slam against your underachieving team that is thrown your way. 9-3, including a loss to "inferior" in-state rival Georgia Tech.

I already mentioned the 409 yards rushing that the Techsters put up on the 'Dawgs, but what is even more ridiculous is the fact that Georgia Tech attempted only six passes, completing ONE, in their victory over Georgia.

How can a team as talented as Georgia get beat at home by a purely one-dimensional opponent that has half of the talent that they do? Before the contest, I thought the 'hard hitting' secondary from Georgia would make the difference in this game.

I couldn't have been more wrong. I have never seen more arm-tackle attempts in my life than the ones offered up by the girlish "Dawg" secondary yesterday. If that were supposed to be a physical SEC team, I'd hate to see one that isn't. One might even go as far as pulling out the dreaded "P" word to describe that defensive effort.

Oregon State: A hearty congratulations is in order for the "run" that the Oregon State Beavers made this year. We also need to thank Oregon for putting them out of their misery as well. Without a Duck victory yesterday, we would have been treated to a Rose Bowl rematch between OSU and Penn State.

After the pasting that Oregon put on the Beavers yesterday, I doubt the previous final score of 45-14 would have been much different. Either way, it was a "helluva" coaching job done by Mike Riley up in Corvallis. With a team that lost their entire front seven defensively, and were led primarily by an undersized freshman RB, it truly was one of the more spectacular coaching efforts put forth anywhere in the country.

Big 12: Let the three-ring circus begin. The perfect BCS Big 12 storm came to fruition over the weekend when Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma all came away with victories.

Now, all three teams sport identical 11-1 and 7-1 conference records, and due to the tiebreaker system, will simply rely upon their fellow coaches, voters, and computers to make their decision on who plays in the Big 12 Championship game. How this simply doesn't come down to a vote of Big 12 coaches boggles my mind. Now, the Big 12 is going to let their champion very likely become decided by anybody but their own.

The debate over the next two months is going to be heated. What is even more sickening is the fact that coaches are now pleading to the media and voters to cast their ballot for their team. Save it.

If you had simply won all of your games, then you would not be in this predicament. Anybody that loses a game simply needs to sit back and deal with the fate that is handed them. Regardless, the cry for a BCS playoff is going to gain more steam than ever before after this year. You could make a solid argument for roughly eight or nine teams that deserve a shot at the National Title this year. Let the bitching begin...

ACC:  When all was said and done, the ACC didn't even need to bother playing out their schedule this year. They should have just invited last year's contestants and called it good.

With all the mayhem that ensued in this conference this year, it is hard to believe that the same two teams came out on top yet again. A huge congratulations must be sent out to both of the coaching staffs at these fine universities from Boston College and Virginia Tech. Without a doubt, the ACC was the most highly competitive conference in the country this year.

Not only did they fare well against fellow BCS competition, but also every team but one finished with at least three conference victories, and eight teams finished with .500 conference records or better. You can bag on the ACC all you want, but I'll argue that this is, from top to bottom, the best conference in the country this year. And I'm quite sure that they will show very well in their bowl games this year.

Ohio State or Boise State?
That will likely be one of the questions that the Bowl Selection committees will have to answer. And I doubt that the Boise State faithful will be all that pleased with the answer.

I realize that there are a lot of Big 10 and Ohio State fans out there, but quite frankly, this Ohio State squad does not deserve a BCS bowl bid this year. Ohio State's biggest win this year was over a 9-3 Michigan State team. Boise State's biggest win was over a 9-3 Oregon team. This is also an undefeated team, in which their closest win was the five-point victory over Oregon on the road.

Ohio State on the other hand has two losses. Granted, they were both to top 10 teams, but they are still losses. I'm sure most people outside of Big 10 land would be much more interested in seeing a Boise State team take on a BCS school, than to watch the Buckeyes take on the SEC runner-up in the Sugar Bowl...wouldn’t they?

Nebraska: Time to be a homer. However, what I witnessed on Friday afternoon was one of the more unrealistic wins in Husker history. Trailing 31-30 with less than two minutes to go in the game, my 'Skers were faced with a fourth and 25 at the Colorado 40-yard line. After a timeout, I saw our frail kicker trotting onto the field. My first thought?

"You have got to be *$%^#@ kidding me?!?"

Alex Henery's longest field of his career up to that point was a...

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