I’ve always had a problem with the BCS. Sure it’s worked out most of the time. And, certainly I’ve never complained when my teams benefit. But it’s always seemed to favor the big schools and traditional conferences at the expense of the little guy. Boise State never got a shot at the national title besides having the winningest stretch of this millenium. TCU had to wait until other schools moved out of BCS conferences before they had a chance to be in one. Weren’t the days of independent Miami wining titles better? Wasn’t it fun when BYU was in the title discussion? I know I’m not breaking any new ground with these pronouncements, but I don’t think I’ve articulated them here.
My dream every year (besides SMU and UT facing off in the national championship game) is for fairness. And if the system can’t be fair (and it hasn’t been to Boise, TCU, Hawaii, Utah, Houston and Auburn at times) then I want BCS chaos. I want an undefeated BCS conference team to be left out. I want multiple non-AQ teams (aka the little guys) to be undefeated. I want senators to bring the BCS into question. And, of course, at the end of the day I want my teams to benefit.
That’s why last weekend was so fascinating. Both Notre Dame and Alabama were losing late in their respective games. And Kansas State‘s Heisman candidate at quarterback got hurt in the third quarter. And USC kept up with Oregon‘s potent offense until right there at the end. We almost had the top four teams in the BCS lose all on the same weekend. And that would leave only two division one teams undefeated. These teams are Louisville who is ranked ninth in the BCS standings, clearly being undefeated doesn’t mean as much as it used to and Ohio State, who is ineligible for post season play because two years ago they were given permission to play players in the post season who were ineligible to play in the post season (yes, that really happened).
But the top four all won. And they all have reasons to play in the title game if they stay undefeated. Alabama is the defending national champion and is playing in the conference that has won the last 6 national titles. Kansas State plays in the second hardest conference and will have beaten several ranked teams, some handily. Notre Dame is playing what (at the beginning of the season) was called the hardest schedule in the NCAA. And Oregon has been shafted before and has probably the most explosive offense in all of college football. I have the teams I’m rooting for, sure. But if that can’t happen I want them all to win out, or all to lose because that would create the chaos I want.
Before I forget….since they did win and since it might be a letdown game for the home team and since the road team has something to prove and since this is the last ranked team the home team will play in the regular season and since it does feature two top 15 teams, Texas A&M at Alabama is my Game of the Week.
Other Games I’ll be Watching:
Kansas State at TCU – If Collin Klein can’t play this game becomes very, very interesting.
Oregon State at Stanford – The other matchup between top 15 teams.
West Virginia at Oklahoma State – First team to hold the other to a field goal wins.
UMass at Akron – These teams are a combined 1-18, it could be the worst game of the season.
* This whole post was either thought up by Dustin or it’s a figment of your imagination. I guess we’ll never know.
