It is Chaos That We Need

We were so close.
 
So very close. Barely two feet away from complete and utter BCS chaos. One second and two feet saved Texas from throwing away a chance to play for the national title. I’m still trying to process what happened and trying to figure out what was going through the minds of Mack Brown and Colt McCoy during the end of the Big-12 title game. If the clock would have stayed at zero, or the game winning field goal would have held two more feet to the left, we’d still be trying to sort out the mess. The real chaos would have come when the selection committee had to select which team would play Alabama in the title game. 
 
These are the things that we need to have happen in order for there to be any changes to the system. Unfortunately, Texas held on and had their mediocrity rewarded with a ticket to the BCS Championship Game. It is hard to argue with the teams that were included in the BCS, but some of the matchups are questionable.
 
The BCS Championship Game will once again feature two teams from BCS conferences (the SEC and Big-12). There were three other teams which finished the year undefeated but were not afforded a chance to play for the national title. Cincinnati has the biggest gripe since they are a member of BCS affiliated conference. A conference which finished with just as many teams ranked in the top 25 as the SEC and Big-12. You can’t make the argument that the Big East is the inferior conference based on those results, so why is Cincinnati the team that is left out? Simply because Cincinnati doesn’t sound quite as “sexy” as Texas or Alabama. If you watched how Texas handled the last two minutes of the Big-12 title game, how can you feel confident that the Longhorns are the second best team in the nation? It just can’t be explained- another arbitrary selection from the BCS.
 
Pairing TCU and Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl is probably the biggest mistake of the year. By matching two of the so-called “BCS Busters” in the same game, the committee has removed any opportunity for either team to prove that it belongs in the same category of the nation’s elite. These teams, who have both had phenomenal seasons, deserve a chance to compete against the big time programs. Take the Fiesta bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma, for example: it was one of the best BCS games of all time, and it legitimized the Broncos program as a school which could compete with the big boys. While the winner of this game can claim a BCS victory, it will not have the same effect as a win over a team from one of the big six conferences. Why not let TCU play Georgia Tech and Boise State could play Iowa? This was a terrible decision by the committee which will likely result in one of the lowest rated BCS bowl games ever.
 
            One of the better non-BCS games is the Capital One bowl featuring LSU and Penn State. Both teams hovered around the top ten all year but just couldn’t get to that next level. I think they are evenly matched and this could end up being one of the best bowl games of the year. Other notable games are Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl; again, two teams who seem evenly matched, both featuring pretty bad quarterbacks who have shown flashes of decency. The Sun Bowl, Oklahoma vs. Stanford, is another game that should be a fun watch and could actually feature the 2009 Heisman winner in Stanford runningback Toby Gerhart.
 
            Bobby Bowden’s last game is definitely a fitting way to send out one of the game’s greatest coaches: the Gator Bowl, in Jacksonville, will feature the Seminoles vs. West Virginia, the team that Bowden coached at before FSU. This matchup never happens if Bowden doesn’t announce his retirement, but most would agree that he deserves this game as a farewell party.
 
Pittsburgh has to be feeling pretty down after almost shocking Cincinnati in what was essentially the Big East tile game. A critical missed extra point was the difference in the Panthers playing in the Meineke Car Care bowl as opposed to the Sugar Bowl (roughly a $17 million difference in payouts). The future is bright in Pittsburgh with Dion Lewis, a true freshmen, looking like he’ll be one of the country’s superstars in the coming years.
 
The Trojans suffered an extreme fall from grace, going from the preseason number four team in the nation to playing on December 26th in the Emerald bowl against Boston College. It was definitely an irritating year for USC fans who struggled to explain why their team wasn’t producing wins.
 
I have a genius idea to spruce up the bowl season: since we are at the mercy of the selection committee doing an awful job of picking the BCS games, and the political process of schools vying for individual bowl bids, don’t you think it would an awesome idea if the fans got to vote on a bowl game between two teams who didn’t get make a bowl game? We nominate all of the non-eligible teams and vote on the matchup that we wanted to see the most. This year: Michigan vs. Notre Dame would easily be the winner. The regular season meeting was awesome and both teams have nothing better to do, so why treat the fans to this bowl game. It would probably be better than 80% of the matchups that will be shoved down our throats in December anyway. Maybe someone should vote my as the College Football Fan Ambassador.
 
My first item of business when I take office: changing the color of Boise State’s field, then maybe I’ll eliminate automatic bids to bowl games. Someone has to induce enough chaos to cause the elimination the BCS. This year, we were so close…..