BCS chaos
December 1st, 2007Pitt beats West Virginia — which was especially surprising, because Dave Wannstedt never beats anybody. Oklahoma beats Missouri.
So who gets to play in the national championship game? Everyone seems to think that Ohio State is a lock. No matter who gets in, there’s going to be a compelling case for somebody else to have been selected instead.
Does Georgia get in ahead of SEC champ LSU? Surely not. But why then is a two-loss LSU team more deserving than a one-loss Kansas team, or a two-loss Missouri team, or a two-loss USC team, or a two-loss Oklahoma team, etc.? You get the picture.
And why are any of the two-loss teams more deserving than an undefeated Hawaii (assuming they beat Washington tonight)?
This is a nightmare scenario for the BCS, and I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s time for a playoff.
I’m pulling for LSU. I am an SEC fan, but I do think getting through the SEC with only two losses means more than some records in other conferences. I would be thrilled to have another SEC team beat OSU in a national championship game!
Hawaii vs. App. State…
Just because they are the only teams left that have gone undefeated against their Div. IA opponents this year!
I hope OSU gets blasted. Though, on the other hand, an OSU victory would restore some credibility back to the slumping Big Ten.
Looks like you can cross Hawaii off the list, unless they make an astounding comeback. They look terrible tonight.
Adam, who wants to bring back credibility to the Big Ten?
Michigan fans do, Dr. Van Neste!
The NFL needs the Cowboys. The MLB needs the Cubs. The NBA needs the Celtics. NASCAR needs the Earnhardt name. And the NCAA Div. IA football needs the Big Ten.
Hail to the team formerly known as the Rainbow Warriors! This year’s Boise State?
Well, the Warriors did actually make that astounding comeback. I couldn’t sleep, so I was up until 2 a.m. watching it.
They deserve a shot at the national championship.
LSU, USC, Georgia, or my Sooners? Even Ohio State is in question, because they get to sit back and watch the rest of the country put their records on the line. Anyone can avoid losses if you don’t play for the last month of the season. You want credibility back in the Big Ten? Then play a conference championship game.
The only way to have a legitimate claim to the title is to let them play it out in a playoff system. Otherwise, every team in the top ten, including Hawaii, will see it as a joke. Which it is.
So why then, do so many people cast aspersions on the playoff system? Last night during the OU-Missouri game, one of the commentators said that even though there needs to be a playoff, there will never be one. Why?? Tim, you’re a sports writer. Tell me why, please. Why are so many people so certain that a playoff system will never happen?
Jason, I heard that same comment from Musberger and Herbstreit, and it ticked me off. They said fans and sports writers should stop wasting their breath talking about a playoff system, because it will never happen. I wondered who died and left them in charge of the NCAA.
Of course, the simple answer to your question is money. People think a playoff system would cost the NCAA money. I think that’s silly, and I think it’s certainly possible to come up with a playoff system that is even more profitable than the one they have now.
It may be time for fans to start organizing a boycott of some of the bowl games, if that’s what it will take to get the NCAA’s attention.
If Hawaii gets in, it will be a travesty. They are undefeated because they played 9 teams with losing records, one team that was 6 and 6, and they beat Boise St. and Fresno St. who played and beat the same teams in the WAC.
The game I would Like to see? OU v. LSU.
I understand the whole strength of schedule argument, but Hawaii can’t help it that the teams in their conference stink. And they can’t help it that other decent non-conference teams have dropped them from their schedule.
If Hawaii wins a bowl game against somebody like Oklahoma or Virginia Tech or Georgia, they’ll be 13-0. So basically, the NCAA has already said before the season began that there’s no way for Hawaii ever to win a national championship.
Those who argue that under the current system the regular season is like a playoff are just flat wrong. If the regular season is like a playoff, then how can a team like Hawaii go through entirely unscathed and still not even come close to being considered for a national title?
I know I sound like a broken record, but it’s past time for a playoff.
Hawaii (12-0) vs. Ohio State (11-1) would be the BCS Championship matchup if this were a fair world.
Why would this be fair? Because the people who argue that no playoff is needed because the regular season is the playoff have to acknowledge that Hawaii won “the playoff.”
Is Hawaiii the best team in the country? Only one coach thought so in this week’s coaches poll. But we will never know, will we? Because there is not a playoff.
Boise State proved last year in the Fiesta Bowl and Appalachian State proved this year that teams who aren’t supposed to beat other teams sometimes do. That’s why it’s settled on the field. This year the national championship will not really be settled on the field because two teams that may or may not be deserving will be “chosen” to play for the title. What a joke.
So now it’s official.We have a 2 loss team going up against a team that got in by virtue of playing no one in the past 3 weeks.
Can someone please list for me the reasons that we don’t have a playoff? I’ve got my shotgun ready. PULL!
BTW, nothing is going to change about this playoff thing until it starts hitting them in the pocketbook. I say we simply boycott the BCS. If they insist on putting this garbage on TV, we should refuse to watch it. It’s a complete farce.
So it’s Ohio State vs. LSU in the BCS title game.
Virginia Tech vs. Kansas in the Orange Bowl.
Oklahoma vs. West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl.
Hawaii vs. Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
Illinois vs. USC in the Rose Bowl.
Good column by Gene Wojciechowski:
Chaos doesn’t legitimize ignorance or stupidity of flawed system
Also, a question I just thought of for those who say that Hawaii doesn’t deserve a national title shot because of schedule strength, or lack thereof.
How come that’s not an issue for Ohio State? Nobody questions that OSU deserves to be in the title game. Their schedule was pathetic. Why is it an issue for Hawaii, but not for Ohio State?
Joel,
Maybe we should organize a boycott, starting right here. I could start a post where people could sign up to boycott the bowls this year. Maybe get a little grassroots word of mouth, and who knows where it might lead?
Thoughts?
Let me be the first to refuse to watch any of the games this season. Where do I sign up!?! What is more, I will pledge not to intentionally watch another college football game until things change. How is that? Anyone care to join me?
j razz
I’m all for it Tim. Aside from being disgusted with the whole system, nothing will change till the TV ratings go down. Despite all the high minded rhetoric about how student athletes don’t need to miss any more school (What about the basketball schedule?), does anyone doubt that they would have a playoff tomorrow if they started losing ratings and money on the current BCS system? I say we boycott the whole thing. What does the BCS settle anyway?
I promise not to attend any bowl games this year.
It still irritates me to no end that the only undefeated SEC team this century did not get a shot at the BCS title, so to see a two-loss SEC team get a shot at it…
…well, it could be seen as vindication of just how tough a conference we’re in, but the system is so thoroughly broken that, to me, every commentator who appeals to the results it generates comes off as a fool or a liar.
The BCS is a massive charade, perpetuated and defended by con men who stand to make money by it and by those who simply don’t know any better.
Does the proposed boycott of bowl games include listening to the radio broadcast, or just watching the Fox (or in the case of the Rose Bowl, ABC) telecasts? And also, is it just for the January bowl games? Is it okay to watch the minor bowl games in December?
Just seeking clarification. Because where I live, Illinois going to the Rose Bowl is HUGE.
Bob,
I would say that Illinois having a great season is huge, and going to Pasadena for a game is great. Now whether winning the Rose Bowl actually means anything more than just another victory, that’s another thing altogether. Like I’ve always said, the games themselves are great, they just don’t mean anything after the final whistle blows. It’s a shame too.
Oh yeah Bubba, check out ESPN. The sales job for these meaningless bowls has already begun. Kirk Herbstreit has already started toning down the anti-BCS rhetoric. This is as funny as Chris Berman trying to tell us that a Ravens-Giants Superbowl was “one of the more interesting match-ups” in history. Giveme a break.
www.boycottthebcs.com
and
www.boycottbcs.com
are both already taken, but the first is up for sale for any of your entrepeneurs (sp?) out there.
Joel, Illinois winning the Rose Bowl would be huge because of the opponent, USC.
http://www.weboycottthebcs.com/
and
http://www.wewillboycottthebcs.com/
are both open.
j razz
The best thing going for us is that the BCS games will largely stink this year.
Ohio St. played one ranked team and lost that game. They will, again, get shelled by the SEC champ. UGA, who I believe has played the best football in the country the last two months, will destroy Hawaii. USC will kill Illinois. Oklahoma will kill West Virginia. VA Tech will own Kansas. And it bothers me that a network that doesn’t do college football all season will broadcast all of these games.
Of course, in the year of the upset, I could be wrong on all counts.
Bubba,
Auburn’s undefeated season is the white elephant in the BCS room.
Very similar to Asians being the white elephant in the affirmative action room.
I agree with you Tim, why shouldn’t Hawaii get a shot?
Of course if they were to pull off the upset, there would be those clamoring for the asterisk since it must have been a fluke that a team from the WAC beat the best the major conferences can throw out there. “If they played OSU ten times, blah blah blah…”
A playoff system will perhaps reveal that the lesser conferences can consistently beat the big boys and that is what the majors do not want. Oh yeah there is the money issue.
Oh yeah there is the money issue.
WHAT money issue?
You can’t possibly tell me that the NCAA, the conferences, and the individual schools wouldn’t make MORE money on a playoff system like the one Wetzel wrote about last week, where the first several rounds are hosted by the schools. The NCAA can name their price for the TV rights. The only people losing out are the bowl sponsors, and as a fan, I don’t give a rip about them.
Also, just like with the basketball tournament, the fact that upsets are possible only adds the the excitement and TV ratings, so everyone makes more money.
I agree they would make a lot more money for the schools. And I don’t buy that it would take away from the players studies(playing more games).
So, it looks like I’ll be watching the Illini in the Rose Bowl, then. My feeling is that boycotts don’t accomplish much, especially this whole B(C)S system. I’ll turn on the telecast, turn down the sound, and fire up the radio broadcast with the local Illini announcers, Brian Barnhart on play-by-play and former Illini QB Kurt Kittner with analysis.
My original question was: Does the above suggested boycott of the bowl games also extend to listening to the radio broadcast as well?
Don’t matter; I’m watching and listening.
GO ILLINI!
Why is Illinois even in a BCS bowl? USC vs. Florida would be a much more intersting matchup and Florida is ranked higher.
Ray–
Because the Rose Bowl typically hosts the Big Ten and PAC 10 conference champs, unless those teams are involved in the national title game (like Ohio State).
Bob,
You can cheer ,wave, stomp, and whatever the heck makes you feel good. You can even beat them 45-0 for all I care. I hope you enjoy the game because when the final whistle blows, other than having just won a game, you’ve accomplished absolutely nothing. There’s no moving on, no moving up, no hope for another game or another step in the process. That’s it. So enjoy it for all it’s worth ’cause that’s all there is.
It’s kind of like eating a wonderful appetizer, only to find out that there is no entre. As for me? I’m not eating till they offer me the full-course meal.
Joel, Illinois winning will do a lot for the future. Illinois already possesses in its head coach one of the best recruiters in college football. Combine that with a Rose Bowl victory over perennial powerhouse USC and the future only gets brighter.
I understand your comment completely Joel. In the grand scheme of things, perhaps nothing is accomplished. I just wonder if you feel that way when Your favorite team is involved. Living just 15 miles north of Urbana-Champaign, I can tell you that this will be talked about, win or lose, for the next several years. But it is, after all, just a game.
Ray-
Illinois is in the Rose Bowl for the reason Tim mentioned, Illinois having finished second in the Big Ten conference this year. The Rose Bowl is no longer bound to the Pac 10 and the Big 10, but had contracts with them both for so many years that they like the matchup when they can get it.