Kirk Bohls says the Big 12's two best teams are playing in the championship game in Kansas City. That may be true with McCoy hurt, but overall, I beg to differ. As bad a collapse as this has been, you can't convince me that if Colt McCoy never gets hurt in Manhattan that Texas doesn't win either that game or the A&M game, if not both. Some will point to the lack of a power running game and to the breakdowns in the secondary and say that Texas was bound to lose, and there's some truth to that - no doubt. Still, something discernably changed when Colt got hurt. Without being on that field in in the locker room, I can't tell you what, exactly, changed... but something definitely did.
USC jumps to #2 in the BCS standings, passing Michigan. I'm fine with that, on the basis that a Michigan-Ohio State rematch is problematic, but it's been pretty pitiful to hear the media trip over itself changing its tune week to week. The last month or so has exposed the inherent problems with the way they carry out their jobs. After Louisville beat West Virginia, Kirk Bohls jumped the Cardinals to #2 on his ballot. After Michigan played Ohio State tight, all we heard was rematch-itis. Kirk Bohls, once again, getting carried away in the moment, his column titled "Ohio State-Michigan worthy of an encore." And now, here we are, and he's changing again, voting USC #2 on his ballot this week. Seriously, what changed from last week, Kirk? USC beat Notre Dame by 20 points in Los Angeles? So what? Michigan beat Notre Dame by 26 in South Bend. If you wanted a rematch of Michigan-Ohio State, that's fine. It's defensible. But it's pretty pathetic to change your tune just one week later, for no reason other than USC beating an overrated Notre Dame. Kirk's not alone, of course - it happened across the country. It's just symptomatic of the paucity of deep thinking in most mainstream sports people today.
The DMN breaks down the Big 12 bowl situation.
SI's Cory McCartney says the Irish don't deserve a BCS bid, echoing our own 54b. I have to agree with them both. Notre Dame's been exposed by both the good teams it's played, and have a seriously lacking resume. With apologies to my Notre Dame friends: their inclusion in the BCS is a fraud.
Later today on BON: our Top 25, MaxwellPundit Award ballot, Around the Big 12, and more.
--PB--