tomoc (01/03/83)
After all the bowls were done, and the final poll was taken, Penn State was given the number 1 ranking in both the UPI and AP polls. SMU, though the only major college team that went undefeated, was number 2. I think Georgia fell to 4. It`s a shame the NCAA can`t come up with some kind of tourney for the big schools so we don`t have to rely on arbitrary ratings. SMU did get some first place votes, but because Penn beat the old #1, that seemed to make everyone else believe that they deserve the #1 ranking. I`m not trying to take anything away from Paterno`s team, just making a casual observation on the method of choosing #1. I guess the problem with a tournament would be - which bowl gets the championship game. Congrats to Penn State anyway. They handled Herschel pretty well, and definately deserve to be considered for the #1 spot. Can anyone tell me how Penn`s 82 schedule matched up with SMU`s as far as strength of competition goes? Tom O`Connor ixlpc!tomoc
tsd (01/04/83)
In my opinion (admittedly biased towards Penn State) SMU has themselves to blame as much as anyone else if they're upset over Penn States selection above them. They cooked their own goose by not going for the 2 point conversion (and the win) against Arkansas. "NO GUTS, NO GLORY!!!!!!". Paterno would have put it on the line, and I think thats recognized by the poll people. Just look at his past record. As for schedules, everyone would be hard pressed to match PSU head to head on toughness of schedules. I've seen polls on the subject where in fact Penn State's schedule was rated the toughest in the nation this year. Teams they played that were ranked at one time or another in the top 20 were Maryland, Nebraska, Alabama (Joe will never get his chance to beat "the Bear"), West Viginia, Boston College, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh. Love'ya Lions Tim Davidheiser BTL-CB cbosg!nscs!tsd Also, no one has more of a flame at the rating system the Penn State. They had 3 previous unblemished seasons and came up short in the polls every time. I too would love to see some kind of post season championship playoff as is done in the other divisions. Now that would be exciting!!!