Solid post and very well said Matt.

If the Gators can't be there....I'm pulling hard for K-State!

:)

I find it hard to describe most Big 12 teams as slow and plodding. Ever watch Texas Tech? Oklahoma State? West Virginia? Baylor last year? The majority of Big 12 teams play a very wide open spread offense that looks similar to Oregon, based on the several Oregon games that I've watched this year. When KSU played OSU this year they were in the top 5 of most national offensive categories, KSU beat them 44-30 and it wasn't as close as the score indicates. But hey, I hope we get to determine who is right!

Wasn't this basically what was said about Alabama/Oregon last year?

You think Kansas gets no respect, imagine how I feel, born and raised in Boise, Idaho. Until this year, that little upstart team, the Broncos, would go unbeaten (but ranked) and get no BCS love at all. I feel your pain, Matt.

Has there ever been a #1 team that has received LESS credit than Kansas State?

Yes, University of Virginia was #1 for three weeks in 1990.

Good point. I'm a big fan of the underdog, so despite my Big 12 bias I enjoyed watching them beat OU in the Fiesta Bowl a few years back. I suspect that Boise State is another team that can't wait for a playoff.

Probably, but what happened between Alabama and Oregon last year? Did they even play each other??

I thought that in the bowl games, Oregon ran all over the place and "outquicked" and defeated a slower Big 10 team (Wisconsen?)

I think Alabama would have had a difficult time beating Oregon last year.

Maybe it wasn't last year (my college football memory isn't the best), but I do know that Alabama faced Oregon's much hyped "blur" and shut it down.

For pretty good reason, IMO.

They'd go unbeaten, but they very rarely play any decent team.

This year is a good example. They've played one ranked team (Top 25). And the Broncos lost that game.

Compare that with, say, Alabama, who has had to play 4 top 15 teams so far.

Or Florida, who plays 5 ranked teams this year.

Or Oregon, who also plays 5 ranked teams this year.

I think the Broncos are a very good team, but you're never going to get much of respect beating a bunch of unranked minor league teams. It's not really their fault they are in a weak conference and have a very weak schedule, but it is what it is.

Maybe you're thinking Auburn the year they won it all?

Maybe I'm on drugs, but I don't recall Alabama ever playing Oregon, much less shutting them down.

Auburn whupped the ducks...I loved it!

they won the game - barely -- but if it helps your mental health to call it a whupping, then by all means Paul

you mean Denver?

IDK what exactly I was thinking. I'm probably mashing up a bunch of different games in my head.

I'll go sit over in the corner silently and watch.

Someone above said it.... ratings, $, ratings, $, ratings, $. ESPN could give a rats ass about sports anymore. As far as I'm concerned they jumped the shark quite a few years ago.
I hope K State does runs the table, along with Oregon. Screw ESPN & the BCS. I think it would be a good game.
Oh and there are reasons the SEC is so good. I won't get into that right now, wouldn't be politically correct.

LOL, don't do that!

My sense is that while there are a lot of experts on a lot of subjects here, there really aren't any huge college football watchers here. Mostly just casual observers, like myself.

I think you were thinking of Auburn, who narrowly beat Oregon last year to win it all.

Auburn wasn't a "3 yards and a cloud of dust" kind of Big 12 team. They were a very athletic SEC team, they had Cam Newton on offense and Nick (?) Fairley on defense, both of who were pretty dominant players (both are already NFL stars).

I think the top SEC teams can generally beat the top PAC 12 teams, for sure. Let's face it, the SEC is the toughest conference in college football. So Auburn edging out Oregon, I don't think, was a big surprise to anyone.

I don't think any Big 12 team matches up well with Oregon, though.

Amen.

I'm pretty certain I was thinking Auburn as well (Auburn is in Alabama, righ? CLOSE ENOUGH). I just remembered the hype surrounding the "unstoppable" Oregon offense and how there weren't any defenses capable of stopping them, not even the mighty SEC teams.

Now, Oregon isn't assured a spot in the title game yet, not with their remaining schedule. And while I do not begrudge that program any success, nothing would make me happier than to see Notre Dame face KSU for the title. No SEC, no PAC-12, no Big Ten. Just a "no-name" school from the Big 12 and a non-conference team. Take that, BCS.

nuthin' else to do down there (except in La.)

Go Ducks!

College needs the playoff system asap...as with any given sunday....a top caliber team can win/lose !
SEC makes me sick.