Thoughts on the BCS Bowl line up

Heisman Trophy:

Theoretically it is for the outstanding player in college football. Realistically it is for one who touches the ball alot and gets a lot TV time and is talked about constantly in sports magazines and on ESPN and FSN. Michigan's Woodson would not have won the HT in '97 if he were simply the best cornerback in college football, breaking up passes or covering so tightly the ball was seldom thrown to his region of the field. It was his interceptions and returns and kick returns, along with his occasional play as a WR that won it for him.

Theoretically it is for the outstanding college football player in the season it is given. Realistically the career statistics and publicity about players are very much taken into account. There are some (and not just Texas fans) who deplore that Cedric Benson was not even a finalist for the HT this year, and usually they point to his being 6th (?) in career rushing yards. So it's not just winning the HT that takes into account career statistics, but also the "Why not..?" side.

Theoretically it is an individual award. Relistically the most outstanding player in college football may have little regard and no chance of getting Heisman votes. A running back can not gain big yards, nor can a quarterback pass for big yards and lots of touchdown, without players around him who also do their jobs. Neither Jason White nor Adrian Peterson would have accomplished so much this year without one of the best offensive lines in college football at Oklahoma.

As for measuring a HT winner's value by what he does in the NFL, that's bogus. The Heisman and all individual awards are not awards of pro potential, but are of accomplishments. There are many reasons an outstanding player in college does little or nothing in the pros, just as many high school all-state players are not even regarded as having college playing potential at all. Evaluating players for the next level is very different from awarding accomplishments at their current level.

Now, onto the subject of this thread... the most intriguing BCS matchup IMO may be the Fiesta Bowl, Utah v. Pittsburgh. It's 'intriguing' because whatever happens in that one shows nothing. Utah appears to be the better team, but they have not really been challenged. Pittsburgh is a 'goat' for a lot of teams-- California, Georgia, Boise St.-- who are believed to be a better BCS contender, but still Pitt is going becasue of the automatic bid for Big East, weakened by derelicts. But then both head coaches in the Fiesta Bowl are "lame ducks," and serious fans know they are concerned more now with where they are going, and recruiting for those schools and meeting their 'heavies' among the atheltic departments and boosters. So while both teams want to show that they 'belong' there, this could be a close game or a blowout either way, and we may never know the reasons.