I still hate the BCS. I hated it last season when Texas went to the Rose Bowl with an at-large berth. I will hate it on December 3rd when Texas clinches a berth in the national championship game. And I will continue to hate it after the season. I don't want to hear one person say that the BCS works or even that it worked this year.
As we all know there are only two undefeated teams left, USC and Texas. And if both win their final two games, they will play each other for the national championship and at season's end we will have just one undefeated team. Great. Jump up and down. Thank someone quickly for the BCS. The stars will have aligned to produce the only scenario where anyone could actually argue with a straight face that the BCS is a good system. Given any other scenario the BCS fails. It has failed in the past and certainly will fail us again, maybe soon.
Texas and USC are great teams and appear to be significantly better than anyone else. But what happens if one or both get upset before season's end? The Trojans still play a feisty Fresno State team with a conference championship and nothing to lose and then a rivalry game with a good UCLA team. Texas plays a road rivalry game against a team needing a victory to go bowling and against a coach who may need a win to save his job. Then after we successfully skirt that landmine, we head to Houston to play most likely Colorado. I went to Irving in 2001. We had easily handled CU at home 41-7 earlier in the season. I sat in the end zone and watched Chris Simms throw the ball repeatedly to the wrong team. So, don't tell me that there is no way we get upset. The Big 12 championship game has a history of crazy upsets (Kansas State 2004, Colorado 2001, A&M 1998, Texas 1996). What happens if we are left with one unbeaten? What if USC beats UCLA but Texas stumbles? Could we still play for the title? It's happened before. Would conference champs Miami or Penn State or LSU not be given a shot? What about if both lose? We could easily have USC, UCLA, Oregon, Texas, LSU, Alabama, Miami, Va Tech, and Penn State all with just a single loss? And how let's not forget Ohio State who is playing as well as anyone or Notre Dame who is an inbounds fumble away from a number 2 ranking.
It is nearly impossible to go undefeated in major college football but we are lucky to have just two left. Miami dropped a field goal attempt against FSU in their lone loss to start the season. Penn State lost at Michigan on the last play of the game with one second remaining after Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr successfully had the refs put two seconds back on the clock during the Wolverines closing drive. LSU blew a 17 point lead at home in the 4th quarter in a game they thoroughly dominated from the opening kickoff. And let's not forget TCU. The Horned Frogs were so happy and unfocused following their upset victory over the Sooners in Norman that they lost the following week to SMU.
So as USC and UT pile on touchdown after touchdown, the BCS begins to look better and better. Please fans do not forget that the BCS sucks. It "works" on occasion but not with regularity. I have stated before my preference for an eight team playoff over three weekends. Imagine the excitement. Four games on December 10th, two on December 17th, and the national championship game in early January. I imagine I am speaking to the choir but I had to rant anyway.
--AW--