Comments on: COUNTDOWN: 92 DAYS

By: Jeff from LA

Jeff from LA — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:04:59 +0000

For those unfamiliar with Rey’s greatest hits, here’s a youtube clip, aptly named “Don’t F*** with Rey Maualuga:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=owXgLCbw5YU

By: UgasTexan

UgasTexan — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:12:29 +0000

Rose Bowl = Joke

By: ChemE93

ChemE93 — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:44:35 +0000

MikeLew @ 23 — you’ve got the process wrong. The Rose gets first pick (because of OSU at #1) and can take any eligible team that isn’t locked into another game because of a conference championship tie-in. The Rose could have taken Georgia, Missouri, Kansas or West Virginia. Any one of those would have been a better choice than Illinois.

By: bk

bk — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:32:55 +0000

I’m not blaming Illinois, just frustrated with the system.

By: oc phil

oc phil — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:37:23 +0000

USC vs LSU or Georgia would have been a very good game. With the way USC was playing at the end of the year, anyone else would have been crushed.

By: Illini FTW

Illini FTW — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:26:55 +0000

Although I was optimistic about the game at the time, Illinois was not a match for USC talent wise last January, whether or not there was a better option to play USC i don’t know, but I don’t think any of the teams mentioned with the possible exception of UGA would have been able to beat the trojans. USC had talent from top to bottom last year and would have been in the championship game had it not crapped its pants and lost to Stanford. And to you bitter Mizzou fans, OSU was originally going to go to the Rose, not us, and had the Tigers beaten OU in the Big XII championship game Mizzou would have been in the BCS champ, not OSU. Don’t blame Illinois for benefiting from circumstances beyond their control.

By: MikeLew

MikeLew — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:24:55 +0000

@22-

Unfortunately, there really weren’t any better choices for the Rose….

BCS NCG- OSU & LSU
Sugar- Georgia & Hawaii
Fiesta- Oklahoma and WVU
Orange- Kansas & VaTech
Rose- USC & ???

No more SEC teams, no more Big XII teams, so you need an ACC team, a Big East team, a Pac 10 team, or a Big Ten team…..so, the options are Boston College(10-3), UConn(9-3), ASU(10-2), or Illinois(9-3).

BC had played poorly down the stretch, UConn played no one, and ASU would have been an all Pac 10 game. Then, consider that Illinois had just beaten the #1 team in the nation, and had looked pretty impressive in the second half…..they were really the only choice- it was just a funny year.

By: bk

bk — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:11:19 +0000

To clarify, I am fully aware of the only 2 schools per conference rule and, rest assured, I am more bitter about Kansas selection than Illinois selection. But the only reason Illinois made the Rose was because of the “tradition” of having a Big 10 team. There were more worthy candidates for the spot than Illinois.

But, that’s over, and now I can look forward to a schedule free of Oklahoma. But Kansas gets them this year, so that will be amusing.

By: cmw

cmw — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:17:10 +0000

Exactly. It is about the Sugar Bowl and not the Rose.

Besides, Mizzou beat Illinois by only 6 points without their starting QB playing.

What makes you think that Mizzou would have been a better pick for the Rose Bowl.

By: Pants McPants

Pants McPants — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:16:01 +0000

Maualuga vs. Chris Wells….cannot wait to see this….

By: Brian O'Blivion

Brian O'Blivion — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:06:30 +0000

I often don’t agree with the Best Picture winners, but they sure got it right the last two years.

By: DC Trojan

DC Trojan — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:49:27 +0000

Does “Rey SMASH!” rise to the level of principle? Because if so, young Mr Maualuga is a very principled man indeed.

By: ryan

ryan — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:39:35 +0000

nicely played orson

By: CincySooner

CincySooner — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:36:41 +0000

now now #13… lets take a deep breath before we call the NCAA and cry foul

if you read the article, it looks like OUs just taking steps try and avoid being Bomar’d again.

There is nothing in the article about the payments being illegal. I also don’t read anywhere in the article that OU demands that local businesses cheat. (shrug)

By: MikeLew

MikeLew — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:56:40 +0000

@ Still Bitter…..

Why are you blaming Illinois? You should be blaming Kansas- even if Illinois hadn’t gone, you couldn’t have gone, because the BCS has a “only two teams from a conference rule”.

And for those who wanted to see USC-UGA in the Rose(like I did), the Sugar Bowl had the right of first refusal on UGA….ie, no one could pick UGA until the Sugar passed on them(which they never did).

So, it sucks, but we got stuck with USC-Illinois in the Rose, but it’s because of the rules, not because of the Rose selection committee.