(NCAA09) 2008 Omnivore College Football Computer National Championship

[Young Drachma]

I looked at this week's Omnivore rankings and thought it'd be pretty cool to use <a href="http://www.easports.com/ncaa09/">NCAA College Football 09</a> to come up with a tournament using the top 16 teams in the rankings.

But after realizing that there are 34 bowl games this year, meaning that there are 68 college football teams playing in the post-season this year, I figured that an NCAA-like tournament for the top 68 teams in the Omnivore rankings would be well...delightful.

The only difference is, if a team is ranked in the Top 68 on the Omnivore rankings, but somehow isn't bowl eligible, they'd be replaced for the next highest team in the rankings that is bowl eligible. The cutoff is this week's rankings, (http://games.omnivore.us/2008/11/30/week-14-november-31-2008/) so teams on the bubble get aced out.

If you want to make predictions, <a href="http://www.bracketmaker.com/predict.cfm?parent=555152">here is the tournament bracket to do so. </a>

[Young Drachma]

I've already run the Wild Card Round of the tournament and here were the results. No upsets, as of yet.

Kentucky 71, Colorado State 26
(@ Kentucky)
Troy 50, Southern Miss 28
(@ Troy)
Notre Dame 58, Florida Atlantic 28
(@ Notre Dame)

The real thing I wonder is, if we'll see any upsets at all in the game, as it's skewed pretty heavily towards major conference teams. But we'll see. Should be fun to see what happens.

I have to run this over the next few days, since I'm only doing this on vacation using my brother's PS3. ;)

[Young Drachma]

All of the games are played using CPU v. CPU, mode, by the way.

[JetsIn06]

This is awesome!

[JetsIn06]

Also, any way you can post the bracket here? The site makes you sign up and stuff.

[Young Drachma]

I'll post it right now.

[Young Drachma]

Try this link to view the bracket. (http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=300205&tclass=)

[Young Drachma]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/kenbama.jpg

FIRST ROUND GAME: Kentucky @ 1) Alabama

Kentucky 38, Alabama 30

We have our first upset. The top seeded Crimson Tide were vanquished despite 540 yards of total offense, had 27 first downs to Kentucky's 9 and yet, in the end, they still head home after just one game in the National Championship playoffs to a Kentucky team that needed to win a wild card game just to get here.

John Parker Wilson was 20 of 31 with 223 yards passing, threw 2 TDs and 1 INT. Randall Cobb was 12 of 26 for 229 yards and 2 TDs for Kentucky.

The difference maker in this game was Tony Dixon of Kentucky, who had 27 carries for 123 yards rushing and 3 TDs.

[Young Drachma]

Here are the first round matchups. All games are using the Weather Channel Live Feed and are played at the home team's stadium until the Quarter-Finals, then we'll go to neutral stadiums (feel free to suggest which ones I should use...) on Heisman difficulty and with 7 minute quarters (I tried 15 once in the first round and the score was so high that I decided we needed to halve it.)

I realize there are a bunch of intra-conference matchups. But I didn't want to start gerrymandering the different teams to avoid these matchups, as it would've been more trouble than it's worth. I think there are more than enough interesting matchups throughout that it should be a lot more fun than the bowl season and still producing a national champion that has been battle tested.

FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS
----
Kentucky @ 1) Alabama
Troy @ 2) Utah
Arkansas State @ 3) Boise State
Notre Dame @ 4) Ball State
Arizona @ 5) Texas
Bowling Green @ 6) Oklahoma
Minnesota @ 7) USC
Hawaii @ 8) Florida
Louisiana Tech @ 9) Georgia
Maryland @ 10) Texas Tech
Buffalo @ 11) Penn State
Wisconsin @ 12) Oregon State
Rutgers @ 13) Ohio State
LSU @ 14) Oregon
Tulsa @ 15) Cincinnati
Navy @ 16) Pittsburgh
NC State @ 17) Michigan State
Vanderbilt @ 18) Boston College
Nevada @ 19) Georgia Tech
Western Michigan @ 20) Oklahoma State
South Carolina @ 21) TCU
East Carolina @ 22) North Carolina
West Virginia @ 23) Missouri
Clemson @ 24) Virginia Tech
Rice @ 25) Florida State
Iowa @ 26) Northwestern
South Florida @ 27) California
Kansas @ 28) Ole Miss
Fresno State @ 29) Wake Forest
Central Michigan @ 30) BYU
Connecticut @ 31) Miami
Air Force @ 32) Nebraska

[Young Drachma]

I won't be doing detailed breakdowns of the stats unless there is a compelling reason to do so in most games in the early rounds. It's just too time consuming. But I will post photos and such alike from the games and post results as I sim them. In the later rounds, I'll do more detailed information. Unless you post ahead of time and let me know what game you want more details about, then I'll key in on it.

[Young Drachma]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/utah.jpg
Utah 44, Troy 17

I can hear the whining of SEC fans everywhere that Alabama drew an SEC team in the first round, while the Mountain West team drew lowly Troy from the Sun Belt.

Oh well. ;)

[Young Drachma]

Most interesting matchups I see out there include the Boise State v. Arizona State matchup. Also curious to see what happens to Ball State against Notre Dame.

There are lots of other games that interest me, but really, I just wonder how many of the BCS teams will be around when the dust settles after the first two rounds.

Lots of interesting games on tap, though for these playoffs. The idea would be, that you'd start them in December and they'd end around the same time that the regular college football playoff does.

[Young Drachma]

Upset alert:

With 2:30 left in the 4th quarter, Arizona State leads Boise State 15-14 in Boise. Boise State fumbled the ball with about 3 minutes to go and now ASU is getting ready to attempt a 45 yard FG to put themselves up by 4.

[Young Drachma]

But he missed the field goal big time. So Boise gets the ball back with 1:28 left in the 4th quarter down by a 1 point. And on the first play, they threw a pick. I smell an AI rat, but alas, it seems like the Broncos might be falling unless they can get a miracle. Sad too, I was anticipating a Boise State v. BYU matchup in the next round, which would've been a lot of fun.

[Young Drachma]

As if that wasn't enough drama, now it's time for the Ball State v. Notre Dame matchup. It'll be very interesting to see how this one goes. I have no idea what to expect...

[Young Drachma]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/ballstate.jpg

An ill-advised pick by the boys from Muncie, cut their 4th quarter lead to 35-25 with 5:35 left in the game.

I wondered if they could hold on, but the real question was never an issue of their dominance as they looked extremely dominant in the game. They looked faster and more motivated than Notre Dame did.

Miquale Lewis had to leave the game in the 4th quarter with back spasms, but was back by the next series for the Cardinals.

In the end, the Irish managed to score a TD with about 14 seconds left, but didn't recover the onside kick, giving Ball State a 35-32 victory over the Fighting Irish.

[Young Drachma]

Pittsburgh 21, Navy 20

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/pitt.jpg

A late score by Pitt, gave them a 21-20 lead, giving the Midshipman just 26 seconds to work their magic and capture the win.

The Middies got the ball to the Pitt 37 yard line with eight seconds left in the game, they lined up for a 54-yard field goal to win the game and missed it wide left.

[Young Drachma]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/fresno.jpg

Fresno tied the game up at 31-31 headed into the 4th quarter. The Bulldogs got into the red zone and into scoring territory with less than a minute in the game and Ryan Matthews scored a touchdown with 50 seconds to go in the game.

The Deacons had 3 timeouts on their drive and they began airing it out. Things were in their favor to tie the game up.

Wake Forest drove to the Fresno State 25-yard line, with 25 seconds to go and one timeout left and the clock continuing to run.


On second and 12 with 10 seconds left and one time out left, DJ Boldin caught a pass on the four yard line, but on the last play of the game, Wake Forest threw a pick to the end zone, to give Fresno State the victory 38-31.

OTHER FIRST ROUND ACTION:

Nebraska 40, Air Force 9
NC State 59, Michigan State 35

[Young Drachma]

OTHER FIRST ROUND ACTION
Ohio State 25, Rutgers 20
Western Michigan, 34, Oklahoma State 24

[Young Drachma]

FIRST ROUND ACTION
-----------------
I'm enjoying each of these games, as they're continuing to be close and exciting, with most of them going down to the wire.

It's been a blast so far and still another bunch of first round games to chronicle.

Ole Miss 34, Kansas 17
Wisconsin 31, Oregon State 27
TCU 42, South Carolina 35

[Young Drachma]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/rice.jpg

Rice 30, Florida State 10

The Owls took a 17-3 lead into halftime and took the heavily favored Seminoles -- who many assumed were already looked forward to a date with their arch rivals the Florida Gators in the next round of the playoffs -- to the fourth quarter still leading 27-10 after trading touchdowns in the 3rd quarter and tacking on a field goal.

With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Owls controlled the clock to try to hold onto their lead and to escape Tallahassee with a win.

Chase Clement and the Owls did just that, on the arm of his 27 for 39 passing for 393 yards, 3 TDs and no picks.

OTHER FIRST ROUND ACTION
----------------
Florida 70, Hawaii 14
Clemson 63, Virginia Tech 35

[Young Drachma]

Here are the first round games that haven't yet been played:

BYU v. Central Michigan
LSU v. Oregon
Nevada v. Georgia Tech
Bowling Green v. Oklahoma
South Florida v. Cal
Buffalo v. Penn State
East Carolina v. North Carolina
Northwestern v. Iowa
Texas Tech v. Maryland
Missouri v. West Virginia
Vanderbilt v. Boston College
Tulsa v. Cincinnati
Miami v. UConn

[MrBug708]

Stupid UCLA not being in :(

[Young Drachma]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/byu.jpg

Kellen Fowler's interception return for a touchdown to start the game, frankly let you know early on that this one was not going to be close. Despite that, the Chippewas were ahead at halftime 35-28. Too bad for them, that the game didn't end that way. Final score: BYU 53, Central Michigan 38.

[Young Drachma]

Stupid UCLA not being in :(

I know. I didn't even realize they weren't bowl eligible until I looked. Part of why I was happy about the 68-team limit was because they made it in with their ranking until I referenced and noticed they weren't bowl eligible.

Oops.

[Young Drachma]

Nevada 20 Georgia Tech 13
Nevada led 10-5 at halftime, but sloppy play and turnovers in the second half cost them the win, as the Yellowjackets won.

LSU 45, Oregon 16

[Young Drachma]

REST of the 1ST ROUND MATCHUPS

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/mizzou.jpg
Missouri 22, West Virginia 20
(Only game in the first round that was played in snow.)

Down 22-20 in the 4th quarter, Pat White and the Mountaineers sprung into action, driving down the field before throwing the interception that would seal the deal for the Tigers.

Oklahoma 55, Bowling Green 20
Cal 44, USF 34
Penn State 38, Buffalo 10
North Carolina 56, East Carolina 14
Iowa 34, Northwestern 27
USC 73, Minnesota 14
Texas Tech 53, Maryland 27
Vanderbilt 44, Boston College 13
Cincinnati 43, Tulsa 29
Miami 45, UConn 24

[Young Drachma]

Here are the matchups for the second round of the Omnivore CFB National Championship Tournament

Kentucky @ Nebraska
NC State @ Pittsburgh
Fresno State @ Ball State
Western Michigan @ Ohio State
Wisconsin @ TCU
Rice @ Florida
Clemson @ Georgia
LSU @ Georgia Tech
Cal @ Oklahoma
North Carolina @ Penn State
Iowa @ USC
Missouri @ Texas Tech
Vanderbilt @ Cincinnati
Miami @ Utah

[Young Drachma]

Among these teams left, who are the favorites?

Here's the bracket (http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=300205)

[MJ4H]

Arkansas isn't bowl eligible.

[Radii]

Final Four picks:

Ohio State
Clemson
Oklahoma
Missouri

Clemson/Florida and USC/Missouri are huge potential sweet 16 matchups in the NCAA09 world.

[Young Drachma]

Arkansas isn't bowl eligible.

You sir, are correct. My bad. After checking the rankings, I've replaced them with the next bowl eligible squad on the list and that'd be Louisiana Tech. I'll resim a game between UGA and Louisiana Tech then and then go from there.

Thanks for noticing.

[Young Drachma]

FIRST ROUND MATCHUP
------------------
Georgia 52, Louisiana Tech 14

[Young Drachma]

Started the second round of the tournament and in the first game, Kentucky and Nebraska are tied 38-38 and will go to overtime, the first game of these 2008 playoffs to do so.

[Young Drachma]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/kentucky1.jpg

Kentucky scored a TD on fourth down, to setup the game-tying extra point to send the game to double overtime.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/missed.jpg
They followed that score up with a touchdown on the first play of double-overtime, but they missed the extra point, paving the way for the Cornhuskers to win if they could get downfield.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/nebraska1.jpg
They did just that, booted the extra point and as a result, the Nebraska Cornhuskers escaped with a victory 52-51 over the Wildcats of Kentucky.

[Young Drachma]

Ball State missed a 41 yard field goal with 36 seconds left in the game, after recovering a fumble with about 59 seconds left.

Needless to say, watching the AI execute a 2 minute offense is painful, given the dizzying decisions it makes. But then, maybe it's a lot like real life when you watch and wonder what the heck coaches are thinking late in games.

Fresno State kicked a 40-yard field goal with 1 second to go in the game, giving the Fresno State Bulldogs a 40-37 victory ending the dream season of the Ball State Cardinals in Muncie.

[Young Drachma]

MORE SECOND ROUND ACTION
----------------
Ohio State 44, Western Michigan 7
TCU 41, Wisconsin 27

[Young Drachma]

Any ideas on what neutral sites we ought to use for the Sweet 16 and beyond?

[Young Drachma]

MORE SECOND ROUND ACTION
----------------
Florida 72, Rice 24
Georgia 48, Clemson 13

[Young Drachma]

MORE SECOND ROUND ACTION
----------------
LSU 20, Georgia Tech 17
Oklahoma 59, Cal 31
Penn State 41, North Carolina 34

[Young Drachma]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/texa.jpg
Texas Tech 55, Missouri 45
Texas Tech iced the game with a late TD to put it effectively out of reach for the Tigers, as they advance to the Sweet 16.

USC 52, Iowa 6
Vanderbilt 31 Cincinnati 17



Utah, Miami
Miami was stopped in the red zone and kicked the game-tying field goal on 4th down to send the game to double overtime. In 2OT, Miami scored and Utah answered, to send the game a third overtime, the first game of the playoffs to do so.

In the 3rd OT, Utah kicked a field goal to go up 40-37. Miami had to respond. Watch here to see if they did:

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<div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://www.easportsworld.com/en_US/video/2502246" target="_top">EA SPORTS World: NCAA Football 09 Video</a></div>
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[Young Drachma]

Conferences represented in the Sweet 16:

BIG XII: Nebraska, Texas Tech, Oklahoma (3)
BIG EAST: Pittsburgh (1)
WAC: Fresno State (1)
BIG TEN: Penn State, Ohio State (2)
SEC: Ole Miss, Georgia, Florida, Vanderbilt (4)
MWC: TCU, BYU (2)
Pac-10: USC (1)

[Young Drachma]

I noticed two more mistakes.

Virginia isn't bowl eligible. Neither is Arizona State (I got confused reading this list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowl_eligible))

So I'm redoing the bracket. Arizona will play Texas at home. Then we'll do that part of the bracket again as a result. Boise State gets a second life, facing off against the winner of Arkansas State and Northern Illinois at Arkansas State.

Hopefully that won't stop the flurry of comments that are coming in. ;)

[Young Drachma]

MAKEUP GAMES
----
WC rd: Arkansas State 42, Northern Illinois 41
1st rd: Texas beat Arizona 55-52 in 2 OT.
1st rd: Boise State 59, Arkansas State 21
2nd rd: Texas 48, Ole Miss 35
2nd rd: Boise State 40, BYU 38

[Young Drachma]

Sweet 16 & National Championship Quarterfinals locations

ALAMODOME
Nebraska @ Pittsburgh
Fresno State @ Ohio State

RELIANT STADIUM
TCU @ Texas
Georgia @ Florida

METRODOME
LSU @ Boise State
Penn State @ Oklahoma

GEORGIA DOME
Texas Tech @ USC
Vanderbilt @ Miami

[Young Drachma]

Round of 16
San Antonio, TX

Pittsburgh 57, Nebraska 20
(I had a video of a run-back for a touchdown, but it was taking forever to upload, so I gave up. Game wasn't close or pretty.)

Ohio State 49, Fresno State 29

[Young Drachma]

Round of 16
Houston, TX
------------
Florida 27, Georgia 23
Texas 45, TCU 17

[Young Drachma]

Round of 16
Minneapolis, MN
---------------------
LSU 43, Boise State 30
Penn State 45, Oklahoma 41

[Izulde]

That Florida/Georgia game must have been one hell of a game.

What about the Penn State/Oklahoma shootout?

[Young Drachma]

Those games were crazy. I'll start covering the highlights and such for the future games. I've been rushing through so because I need to finish these tonight.

[Young Drachma]

Round of 16
Atlanta, GA
--------------

USC tied it at 7-7 in the first quarter, before Texas Tech just blew the roof off the game in the second half.

Mark Sanchez was 22 of 43 with 252 yards passing. He threw for 1 TD and had 5 interceptions in the game. Graham Harrel was amazing, going 34 of 58 on 479 yards passing with 5 TDs.

Final score, Texas Tech 45, USC 7.

Miami 30, Vanderbilt 10
The Commodores led 10-7 at halftime. The Hurricanes scored 17 unanswered points in the third quarter to take a 24-10 lead and went on to win the game and advance to National Championship Quarterfinals.

The U. logged 561 yards of total offense in the game, to Vandy's 334. Miami rushed for 301 yards on 56 carries, led by Graig Cooper's 254 yards and 1 TD on 45 carries.

[Young Drachma]

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS
Superdome
Pittsburgh @ Ohio State
Texas @ Florida

University of Phoenix Stadium
LSU @ Penn State
Miami @ Texas Tech

[Young Drachma]

So the verdict leaves us with eight teams, all from BCS conferences that have advanced this far. A very strong field if I say so myself with lots of interesting matchups and the schools from the little conferences had their say and an opportunity to prove it on the field and they fell short.

So now, we embark on the road to title.

[Young Drachma]

Ohio State 32 Pittsburgh 29
Pittsburgh led 14-9 at halftime, but despite a late push in the fourth quarter, The Ohio State University prevailed . Terrrelle Pryor went 22 of 32 for 355 yards with 2 TDs and 3 INTs.

Bill Stull threw for 400 yards and 3 TDs with 2 INTs and Chris Wells rushed for 2 TDs for the Buckeyes, as they advance to the College Football Final Four.

[Young Drachma]

TEXAS 64, FLORIDA 28
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/tebow.jpg
Turnovers were the name of the game in this one. Florida turned the ball over five times -- 3 fumbles and 2 picks -- that gave the Longhorns more opportunities to capitalize on and they did just that.

Colt McCoy went 24 of 33 for 403 yards with 4 TDs and a pick. Tim Tebow went 26 of 44 with 387 yards passing, 3 TDs and 2 INTs.

The Longhorns led in total offense 599 to 509. If the Gators could've held onto the ball more, this game might have been a lot closer.

[Young Drachma]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/pennstate.jpg

LSU 34, Penn State 30
This interception by the Nittany Lions ended what was their final shot at a rally to try to win the ballgame. The Tigers advance to the Final Four in a nailbiter.

[Young Drachma]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/ucla.jpg

MIAMI 40, TEXAS TECH 27
A 52-yard field goal to start the 4th quarter, gave the Hurricanes a 34-21 lead. Hard to consider the Hurricanes a Cinderella story, but you have to like the work they've done to get themselves in a position to be here.

A touchdown with 2 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, cut the Miami lead to 37-27, but Texas Tech failed on the two-point conversion.

Graham Harrell had his fourth straight 400+ yard passing performance, but threw two interceptions with his two TDs. The Hurricanes found a way to neutralize Michael Crabtree, leaving the Red Raiders passing game a bit stunted.

Leonard Hankerson ran for 121 yards on 9 carries with a TD and Robert Marve was 30 of 50 for 335 yards, 3 TDs and an interception.

The Hurricanes advance to the Final Four, seeking their first national championship since 2001.

[Young Drachma]

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINALS
@ Rose Bowl

Ohio State v. Texas
LSU v. Miami

[Young Drachma]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/lsu.jpg
LSU 44, Miami 16
Neither team's QB threw for a TD in this game. Robert Marve of the Hurricanes threw four picks and Miami had six turnovers in total. LSU had 488 yards of total offense to Miami's 328 in what was a defensive battle. LSU's defense returned a fumble and two interceptions in the drubbing that sends the Tigers to the national championship game.

Ohio State 57, Texas 13

[Young Drachma]

LSU had 545 yards of total offense, Ohio State had 5 turnovers in the ballgame as the Tigers claimed the 2008 Omnivore CFB National Championship. Jarrett Lee was 24 of 35 with 285 yards passing and 3 TDs (with 1 INT) and Terrelle Prior was 22 of 43 with 291 yards passing with 2 TDs and a pick. Charles Scott rushed for 242 yards on 50 carries in the game with a touchdown, the real difference maker in this game for the Tigers.

What does this exercise teach us?

1) Smaller playoff fields to eliminate fluke wins.

2) Make sure the bracket is rigged to ensure better games later in the field.

3) Parity isn't fun in college football like it is in the NFL.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc113/Dynasty_DC/lsu.jpg

LSU 37, Ohio State 27