NCAA Football, week 13, 2010

Even though there is sooooo much more to be discussed regarding the elections (there were many referenda (that's plural for referendum), especially regarding gun rights, sections of the recent healthcare bill, and one pretty large one regarding the possible legalization of a recreational drug; oh, and the democrats picked Pelosi to be the minority leader, that happenned too; and screw governor's races) I think it's time for me to again shift gears and to talk about college football, everyone's favorite subject.

This just in -- the BCS sucks.

I'm not just saying this because Penn State is doing awful this year (well, by Penn State standards), I'm saying this because it is fact.



Fact -- the BCS sucks.

There, is that better?

Moving on...

Here we are, almost at season's end, when the race for the national title, still hosted for some reason by the BCS, comes into focus.

4 teams are still undefeated, though really by BCS rules, only two of those count.  So that's not too bad, now is it?

There are 10 teams with 1 loss or less (well, 11 if you count #19 Nevada, but they're not a BCS team, so they don't count).  -- I guess there's still a few more weeks to thin that out.

But then after that you have to get beyond ranking number 16 (Virginia Tech in the BCS standings, Nebraska in the AP top 25) to have any teams with more than 2 losses.

Sure, that number will go down too, as some of these teams face eachother, or even face upsets, but can you really eliminate 14 of the top 16 teams immediately from contention to the national title, simply because of things which can be chalked up to flukes or circumstance?

But Knuttel, if you support a playoff scheme featuring mainly conference winners, wouldn't this also be the case?

Perhaps, but when it comes down to it, these would be much more localized, and would all be conference disputes.  In addition, a small number of at-large bids could rectify close calls.  Having a defining way to declare a conference champion (a conference championship game, for example) would be the best way to clear this up.

This is another issue with NCAA football right now -- too many damn tie-breakers are needed.  Only 3 BCS conferences crown their champion via championship game.  Because of this, Ohio State has won at least a share of pretty much every Big Ten title this decade, including technically sharing both of Penn State's recent titles, despite not being "the winner" for many of them (not being the automatic BCS selection).

So where was I going with this again

OK, yeah, how can you immediately just knock off these 14 teams?  Logically, there isn't much of an argument.  Just wait for either Oregon or Auburn to lose (or both), all hell would break loose.  Ohhhhh, what if Auburn gets into trouble with the current allegations against their QB, sheeeeeiiiit, that would like erase the entire season of its wins, and illegitimize many aspects of (southern) college football.

Damnit, BCS, just cos ESPN, the largest sports news organization (and specifically the largest sports news organization that follows college football), has a vested interest in your existence doesn't mean you should be.

-- Knuttel