In just a few hours, Texas will take the field against the Ohio State in a made-for-TV matchup of top-tier schools. The Longhorns are 11-1 and were left out of the BCS national championship game, mostly because Oklahoma ran off some big wins at the end of the season, and the Longhorns lost later than Oklahoma did. Ohio State comes in at 10-2, a team that probably got in the game more because of their name than their talent.
What is at stake? Well, if you are one of those calling for an end to the BCS, here is your dream scenario -- Texas blows out Ohio State.
The Longhorns move to 12-1, with wins over Oklahoma, Ohio State, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Kansas. For the BCS committee, nothing could be more dreadful.
What am I getting at? With a Texas win, four teams could end this 2008-09 season with legitimate national championship resumes.
First, you'd have the BCS winner. If Florida takes the title they would be 13-1, with big wins over Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Florida State. We would be talking about the SEC champion and default national champions, even if the SEC had a down year by its lofty standards.
The biggest problem? Utah, who finished its season undefeated, also beat Alabama, along with TCU and BYU.
Now USC jumps in the picture. A big win against Penn State in the Rose Bowl has the Trojans, who their head coach proclaimed to be as good as anyone in the nation, at 12-1. Along with Penn State, Southern Cal beat up on Notre Dame, Oregon, California, UCLA and Arizona.
The final player is those pesky Longhorns. The team that never got a chance could have another huge win tonight over a team with an amazing head coach, an even better history and a fan base that is sure to make it tough on Colt McCoy and company (trust me, just down the road from my apartment in Scottsdale, Ariz., Buckeye Nation is doing exactly what you'd expect them to be doing right now).
Utah, Southern California, Texas, and Oklahoma or Florida.
If you're looking for the BCS to die, you might only have to wait just a few hours. If Texas rolls, Bevo and company might be responsible for breaking this flawed system's back.
Tell me this: Who wouldn't be excited for a four-team playoff with this group of teams? If you want change, cheer for Mack Brown tonight. If you do so, the BCS might die with the potential 2009 split national championship.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
I, for one, am not excited for a playoff.
There is a multi-million dollar contract with television, BCS, NCAA, advertisers, and bowl venues in place. Regardless of the outcome of tonight's game, or even if there was somehow a 4-way split for national championship (I know this isn't possible, relax), the contract will not disappear.
For better or worse, we are stuck with the BCS for another few years AT LEAST (2012 I believe is when the contract is up). And lets also remember that the BCS is still a huge improvement compared to the 90s and before.
The only solution is an eight team playoff. Start with four New Year’s Day Bowls, the Gator Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Rose Bowl and Citrus Bowl for the eight teams. That leaves the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl. These three bowls could then rotate each year, with two bowls being used for the semi-finals, and the third bowl hosting the championship game one week later. This way, on January 8 the four winners would play, for instance, in the Orange Bowl and the Sugar Bowl, with the Championship Game being played on January 15 in the Fiesta Bowl. With this system, the regular season is still important; all of the Bowls still get all of their money; TV still gets all of its money; the NCAA and BCS schools still get all of their money; and most importantly, we get a playoff and National Champ!
I for one . . . . . am very interested in a play-off. Ridiculus not ot have one, only major sport without one. The other NCAA football divisions have a playoff, why not Div. 1?
Just do it! It is not complicated than the current joke of a system.
If you're happy with the BCS system, then it's all good. Unfortunately, it seems like most people are not. Like VN stated, there is no incentive to change anything as the money continues to flow in. However, if you have enough people stop watching these games and their ratings decline, and the sponsors are less likely to pay as much as they currently are, and the advertisers won't be willing to pay as much for their time, etc., etc. things would change. Unfortunately, some people (those that simply cannot turn off their televisions and not watch these BCS games) just like to flap their gums and continue to give them reason not to change it because the ratings do not decline. Oh well, and you wonder why our economy is doing as well as it is.
I don't really care for the BCS but they got it (close to right) right this year. Oklahoma and Florida arguably are the 2 best teams out there. Texas fans, although they did beat OU heads up are forgetting one "cardinal rule" in college football: YOU DON'T LOSE LATE IN THE SEASON if you have any hopes of a national title, and they were a little lucky in pulling out their last minute win against Ohio State. They certainly didn't look like a # 1 team to me for most of the game. And another thing...this "neutral field site" in the annual Red River Shootout is a bunch of BS. They should play this game at the respective schools stadiums every other year. Texas is a fine team no doubt, but they didn't have a shot at the national title after the loss to TT. As far as Utah is concerned, (another BYU 1984) does anybody really think they'd have run the table if they played in the Big 12, SEC, or Pac 10? I doubt it highly. Great season, top 5 finish. The only other team in the equation is USC. Now they could make an argument for the top spot. Barring a playoff, let's get back to the major bowls and let the voters choose. It was always more interesting (that way) after January 1.
NY SoonerFan - well your a little biased being a Sooner fan. What if it was reversed.
I think that cardinal rule is garage in college football personally. I think it's more important who you lose to.
As for Utah - they beat 6 bowl teams with a beating of the a team that was number 1 until the SEC championship. Tell me they shouldn't be playing for the title.
Texas - well, true you did lose by at the end. You also played 4 undefeated top ten ranked teams in a row. But it's the Big 12 you should hate. It was their stupid tie breaker that cost you. If you had the SEC tie breaker, Texas would be in the national game (3 BCS teams - lowest is thrown out, than head to head).
I'm not a college football fan because this is a joke. Colleges vote on who's great but they don't watch all the teams (They can't - take Utah). The smaller schools can't win. Big programs schedule weak out of conference games (IAA and such) and aren't penalized. Finally, preseason rankings mean alot - when it's preseason no-one has played a game.
College football where votes and politics instead of actually playing the game, you deserve what you get.