With the departure of Rich Rodriguez from West Virginia to Michigan, it's very easy to compare how Rodriguez handled his departure compared to how the cowardly Petrino handled his change of scenery.  Let's take a look...

Addressing his players.

Rodriguez was a man.  He faced his team, looked them in the eye this past Sunday and informed them of his decision.  Petrino left a letter in each player's locker letting them know he was leaving town. 

Player reaction.

While it may be unfair to compare between college kids and pros, you don't hear words like coward or disloyal coming from West Virginia players.  You don't hear anger in the tones of voices of the Mountaineers.  Falcon players were irate, and when Warrick Dunn calls out the coach, you know something is wrong.  One of the Mountaineers said that he was a man about it. 

Being straight up

Rodriguez was grilled by the media regarding the reports.  Instead of going Nick Saban and saying he won't be the head coach at Michigan, he simply refused to talk about it.  Despite the constant prodding during that press conference, Rodriguez simply refused to comment.  Petrino, reportedly told his owner in the recent days prior to going Bob Irsay on the Falcons said he was in it for the long haul.  He looked his boss in the face, and lied. 

I think Michigan made an excellent choice.  They are bringing in a guy who will put in a type of offense you don't see in the Big 10, and you've seen Big 10 teams struggle with the spread offense.  Simply look at last year's BCS title game and Michigan's first two games.  Ohio State simply couldn't handle the spread, and Oregon simply beat on Michigan like a rented mule, not to mention the App State upset.  Once Rodriguez gets his guys in there, they could very well have the speed to simply dominate the Big 10, and bring that conference into the 21st century.

What a fine mess this wild and wacky college football season has given us.  Two teams, who frankly may not be the best teams in college football will meet in New Orleans for the holy grail of college football...the crystal trophy and the right to be called champion. 

To all Missorui fans:  You should be furious.  I'm not a Missouri fan, but I'm mad for you guys.  You beat Illinois and Kansas on neutral fields, and lost to a very good Oklahoma football team, and your reward...the cotton bowl?  While the team you defeated to get to the Big 12 title game gets the pleasure of spending the new year on South Beach?  Where's the justice there?  I'd love to hear someone explain the logic of Kansas over Missouri in the Orange Bowl, when Kansas played only one ranked team, and were dominated.  Kansas played a joke of a schedule, and avoided both Oklahoma and Texas in Big 12 play.  Va Tech will expose the fraud that is Kansas football in the Orange Bowl. 

I'm also highly disapponted in Mark Richt.  I like Richt.  I like what he stands for.  On this issue, he's off base.  He said, " They said we we're out because we didn't win the conference championship, which I thought was wrong because the rules don't say that."  What Richt must fail to realize is that you cannot be the best team in the country if you're not the best team in your conference.  Nebraska pulled this feat off in 2001 when my beloved Buffaloes put down the beating of a lifetime in Bounder 62-36, yet despite being embarrassed that day in Boulder, they were rewarded with a trip to Pasadena to get beat up by Miami.  Keep in mind that Colorado won the Big 12 that year, yet Nebraska ended up with the shot at the national title.  That year, both Oregon and Colorado were crying foul, and plenty of reason to do so. 

Also, Tennessee has a reason to gripe.  They beat Georgia this year, they won the SEC East, and they get left out of the BCS party, but a trip to Tampa on New Years Day to beat up on a so-so Wisconsin team isn't such a bad consolation prize.  Why Georgia over Tennessee?  Georgia better not overlook Hawaii...a few years back a little known school from West Virginia faced Georgia...and took care of business.

The great thing about the BCS is simple.  It gives nerds like me something interesting to listen to during the day on sports talk radio and blog about.  The bad thing is that we really don't know if the best team is #1, and until some playoff or plus one system is put in place, we won't know the answer, but the money is flowing in every so nicely...and while that is happening, changes aren't likely to come.

Do we have the best two teams?  Based on how the system works, yes, based on what my eyes have seen...no.  I don't think Ohio State is the best team in the country.  I don't think they're better than USC, LSU, or Oklahoma just to name 3 schools.  I'm not sure they're better than Missouri. 

Tigers and Vols fans...you deserved better.