As it turns out, the BCS worked again

Part of the BCS’ brilliance is that it keeps college football at the center of the sports world for the better portion of three months, which is far longer than the NBA, college basketball and NHL can combine to do. But every year, the critics have a field day attacking the system. Last year, it was Barack Obama leading the charge. This year, a Political Action Committee against the BCS raised enough money to run a commercial just ahead of tonight’s championship game.

But what everyone, including our President and anyone foolish enough to donate money to Playoff PAC, seems to forget is that the system we all love to complain about has been right the majority of the time. In its first 11 years, you can really only find two years where it truly went wrong. In 2003, LSU and USC split the polls because the Trojans were left out of the BCS Title Game and in 2004, Auburn went undefeated but didn’t finish in the top 2 of the BCS ratings.

Think about it: Florida (2006) and Texas (2005) would never have won National Titles under the old system because they would have been given the opportunity to play the top ranked teams from those seasons (Ohio State and USC). In the past, the Buckeyes and the Trojans would have been contractually bound to the Rose Bowl and would have probably cruised to wins against inferior opponents. The system also worked in 2002, when Miami was the unanimous No. 1 team heading into to the BCS Title game, and lost to Ohio State.

What is it they say about the CIA? Their failures start wars while their success goes unnoticed. The same goes for the BCS. Over 80 percent of the time, the system has been right. If Obama were that good, we’d put him on Mt. Rushmore.

And this year is no different. With all due respect to Boise State, Alabama and Texas provide the most compelling matchup possible, which will draw great ratings and help expand the sport’s popularity. The Broncos and TCU couldn’t beat wrestling in the TV ratings Monday night and those who did tune in saw a boring, second rate football game.

The Broncos were better than every team on their schedule this season -- there’s no arguing that -- but stick them in any of the major conferences (even the ACC or Big East) and there is no chance that team goes undefeated. They aren’t big enough or deep enough to handle a BCS conference schedule and while they have been a nice story, no one can make the argument that they would have a chance again the Crimson Tide or the Longhorns.

Of course, as with anything else, there are flaws. But the system before it was much worse and there’s no guarantee that a playoff would put the top two teams from the regular season in the championship game. Look no further than college basketball to prove that.

Tonight we get two programs with a lot of history, the two best coaches in America, a Heisman winner on one side and a legendary college quarterback on the other. While no one would ever mistake either ‘Bama or Texas as one of the great college teams ever, both did manage to go undefeated in major conferences, including winning conference championship games.

In the end, the two best teams in the country this season will play for a National Championship, proving once again that for those like to play the percentages, the BCS clearly gives the best return.

Prediction: Alabama 27 - 17

Click here to read the rest of this entry >>

Utah's story couldn't get any better

It’s times like these where you start to realize that mom and dad truly dropped the ball. I mean how could they raise me in Connecticut’s friendliest city or you in north Jersey or him in southern California? How could they have brought children up anywhere other than the state of Utah? Ah the Beehive State, where bee stings are the most common form of violence. Gangs aren’t the problem in Salt Lake City – cults are. There is no temptation whatsoever – all forms of gambling are banned; it’s the hardest state to purchase alcohol in; and any drug use might really screw up your hunting season. A wee bit boring if you ask me, but it has to be the safest place in the country to grow up.

There are no real problems in Utah, at least that’s what the state’s Attorney General Mark Shurtleff was saying when he announced that he was going to investigate the Bowl Championship Series for a violation of federal antitrust laws following the University of Utah’s unbeaten football season, in which it was left out of the BCS title game. “Honey, you don’t even have to cook dinner tonight. I’ll be in my den. I’ve got real work to do now.”

My initial reaction to all of this was the same as Pardon the Interruption’s Tony Kornheiser’s: Someone that out of touch with reality should be forced to resign. But then it hit me. This isn’t all Shurtleff’s fault. If everyone else is on board, why shouldn’t an appointed official drive the bandwagon?

After all, Shurtleff is just like you and I. He gets his information and develops his opinions based mainly on what he reads in the newspaper or sees and hears on television. And the fact is, the majority of the mainstream media is lambasting the BCS for not including the nation’s only unbeaten team in the national championship game. Even ESPN’s Rick Reilly is calling the Utes the people’s national champion.

See, most people already disliked the BCS, even if it has been correct about 80 percent of the time, but now that there is a poster child for everyone to feel badly for, the heat has turned up a notch. The problem is Utah doesn’t deserve to be playing for a national title anymore than its biggest rival (BYU) deserved to be winning one under a much more flawed system 24 years ago.

The Utes were better than Alabama last Friday night, there’s no arguing that, but stick them in any of the major conferences (even the ACC or Big East) and there is no chance that team goes undefeated. They aren’t big enough or deep enough to handle a BCS conference schedule and while they have been a nice story, there isn’t anyone in their right mind that thinks they would pose a challenge for Florida or Oklahoma.

Today, the story of Utah looks like the BCS’ biggest flaw, but guess what? Under the old system, the Utes never would have gotten a chance to prove themselves against a team like Alabama. And if there was a playoff, if it managed to even get invited, Utah would not be winning a national championship. Go figure, an imperfect system kept the Utes perfect.

So they’re stuck with an undefeated season, a win in a major bowl game and endless national media sympathy. Sounds to me like the Utes got everything it deserved and more.

Click here to read the rest of this entry >>

Random Rumblings

• As I write this, I’m flying Jet Blue to Vegas and if you’re asking “why the hell is he blogging when he has satellite TV?” the answer is simple: My screen is broken. I’m the only guy on the plane not watching Boise State.
  
  Anyways, I’ve come to the conclusion that the guy sitting next to me meets all five of the requirements to becoming a UFC fighter.
  
  !) Shaved head with a goatee. Check
  2) Be over 200 pounds. Check
  3) Drink Budweiser. Check
  4) Be very pale. Check
  5) Have tattoos that cover your arms. Check
  
  The strange thing about this guy is his choice of music. He’s blasting his iPod (apparently UFC guys think college football is for pussies) but the only song I keep hearing is that “To the left, to the left” song. Now everyone has their quirks, but this guy is supposed to be a Bud-drinking badass, the type of guy that refers to everyone as “boss” or “chief” and he’s listening to Beyonce.
  
  You tell me who the pussy is.
  
  Then again, I’m the one with Jonas Brothers tickets tomorrow night at MGM.
  
  
• At this point, the BCS’ approval rating makes George Bush look like JFK, but one guy loving the arguments caused by those faulty computers right now has to be new Big East Commissioner John Marinatto. Because everyone is so caught up arguing who should play for the National Title, no one seems to be paying attention to the fact that Marinatto’s league (Note – he doesn’t actually take over until July) is about to send a very undeserving team to a major bowl.
  
  And believe me, only calling the Big East undeserving is like calling the Knicks only mildly interested in LeBron James. If you asked the staff of Cincinnati’s student newspaper to pick the teams to play in BCS games, they’d opt for Ball State over the Bearcats any day
  
  If you ask me, the biggest disgrace about the BCS is that contract stipulations decide who gets to play and who gets shut out of the major bowls just as much as any computer. No matter how deserving, the Big 12 is restricted from sending a third team to a BCS Bowl game because the barely mediocre Big East is guaranteed a slot.
  
  But you won’t find too many people complaining about this mess; no one has time. And that’s just how Marinatto likes it. For Big East football, no press is the best kind.
  
  
• While I’m at it, Marinatto has another issue on his hands, this time in basketball, the conference’s crown jewel.
  
  The league is expected to place at least eight teams in the NCAA tournament this season and is widely regarded as the best in America, but it also is home to Rutgers, which lost to St. Bonaventure and Lehigh in consecutive games and Providence, which is only the second best team in Rhode Island.
  
  Couple that with the miserable St. John’s program and irrelevant ones like Seton Hall and South Florida, and you start to realize that there almost as many really bad teams are there are good ones.
  
  Thankfully, the Big East won’t be judged by its weakest links.
  
  
• There is a loud drunk girl on the plane (she’s not hot) and she keeps telling her friend she needs to find a black man in Vegas. An “Obama man,” she says. I think UFC guy is going to spear her.
  
  I wonder what his fight music is.
  
  
• Stephon Marbury once said he’d like to play in Italy after his NBA career is over. Now it looks like that statement could become a reality sooner than anyone thought.
  
  That is, until Mike D’Antoni decides to place a call to the old country and get Starbury blackballed.
  
  
• I’ve never hidden the fact that UConn basketball is the one team I truly care about, so by extension, I’m a huge college basketball fan. But I have to admit, I can’t blame fans for not filling the gyms for any of these preseason tournaments. The games have been hard enough to watch on television.
  
  Every team lets the shot clock run down and then throws up a wild, low percentage shot. I think a lot of people downplayed the extended 3-point line, but it looks like it’s going to be an issue for even the best teams (see UConn).
  
  
• Well, as I might have mentioned, I’m in Vegas now and won’t be posting until Tuesday or Wednesdays. Check back then for an updated podcast and all new posts!

Click here to read the rest of this entry >>

Gators getting raw deal

Update: What a silly post this turned out to be. You gotta love college football.

Florida has a chance to win the Southeastern Conference Championship tonight.

Yeah, but so what?

Been there, done that. Five times. The Gators know the only real championship game in college football will be played Jan. 8, and no matter what happens in the Georgia Dome this evening, their season won’t make it that far into the new year.

Despite having the same amount of losses as Southern Cal and Michigan, it seems like most people are completely content with the idea of the Trojans playing themselves into the BCS Championship game opposite Ohio State or the Wolverines getting their rematch on neutral grounds. No one has love for the Gators.

Sure it’s disenchanting to hear Urban Meyer lobby for his team like he’s still coaching a school no one watches. And no, they probably can’t beat the Buckeyes. But disliking a coach’s actions or just assuming a team is a bad fit for the title game should never play into one’s vote when it comes to the national rankings. That’s what has happened in Florida’s case.

It used to be that losing early hurts a team less than, oh say, losing its final game of the regular season. Not this year. The Gators lost to Auburn two weeks before USC lost to unranked Oregon State and five weeks before Michigan dropped its last game. Somehow, they were still jumped by the Trojans while the Wolverines stayed ahead of them the whole time. All because the voters have inexplicably decided they can’t do as well against the Buckeyes as their counterparts.

A lot of the media points at many of Florida’s games being close as a way of deeming them unworthy. Apparently winning by a few points isn’t as valuable as losing by a few.

It’s hard to understand what exactly they’ve done wrong. It’s certainly not about who they lost to. Auburn is far better than Oregon State. Then again, it’s not about who they beat either. LSU and Tennessee are probably better than Notre Dame and Wisconsin.

Assuming things play out as expected and both Florida and USC win today, people might start calling the Gators’ season a blessing in disguise.

After all, this year more than any other suggests a four team playoff would work better than a “plus one” game or an eight team tournament. They won’t get their crack at Ohio State, but they’ll have their SEC title, win the Sugar Bowl and maybe one day be remembered as the team that helped destroy the evil BCS.

You can bet on what Meyer and his team will be thinking.

“Yeah, but so what?”

Let’s stick it to them all – Saurian Sagacity
Gators had better win big or shut up – SC Football (the go to USC football blog)

Click here to read the rest of this entry >>

Big East hurt by Rutgers' success

Successful college football in Jersey was once a farfetched dream. After Thursday night, it’s a dreadful reality for the Big East.

Rutgers’ stunning –and that’s not saying enough– 28-25 win over Louisville all but confirms that the black sheep of BCS conferences will not send a team to the national championship game, even if the Scarlet Knights win out.

This isn’t even about the undeniable need for a playoff in college football. That’s not going to happen. It’s about the Urban Meyer’s of the world that voiced their disgust with Louisville possibly playing in the title game. It’s about all those coaches that didn’t speak out, instead using a top 25 poll to state their opinion. It’s about Jason Whitlock, who still voted the Cardinals tenth on his writer’s poll ballot even after last Thursday’s win over West Virginia.

All of them were right. The Cardinals do not deserve to play for the national championship. But if it wasn’t for last night, they would have been there Jan. 8. No one outside of a few columnists trying to be different actually believes Rutgers is BCS title game worthy. But a team that could have finished second in the country would have been.

Now Florida and Texas and USC and all of the “stronger” one loss teams can breathe easier. One of those schools will back into the title game without having to worry about some unbeaten Big East team, no matter what Rutgers’ record is.

In the long run, a strong team from the biggest media market in the world will be help the Big East thrive. The future of the league is promising.

It’s the present that's looking cloudy.

Here’s the scenario that it would take to get to Rutgers to the BCS title game – Why don’t we get drunk and blog?

Click here to read the rest of this entry >>