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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The BCS makes for strange bedfellows
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the unintended consequences of the BCS is that, for good or bad, it creates a lot of strange bedfellows throughout the sport of college football. Fans who never cared about another school or gave it the time of day in September suddenly are desperately pulling for—or pulling against—that school when calendar turns to November.
There are three weeks left in the regular season and as usual when it comes to the BCS, most teams do not control their own destinies. In fact, only No. 1 Alabama (11-0), No. 2 Texas Tech (10-0), and No. 4 Florida (9-1) are in control of their fate.
The rest need help from someone. Here are just five examples:
1. Texas is pulling for Oklahoma: If No. 5 Oklahoma beats No. 2 Texas Tech Saturday night in Norman, it opens the door for No. 3 Texas to not only play for the Big 12 national championship but the BCS national championship as well. An Oklahoma win would likely create a three-way tie in the Big 12 South among the three schools which could all be 11-1. The team with highest BCS ranking may become the tiebreaker that determines who goes to the Big 12 championship game, where a win would put that team in the national championship game.
Now it’s possible that with a win over Texas Tech, Oklahoma could jump over Texas in the BCS Standings. But that’s a chance the Longhorns have to accept because if Texas Tech wins out they have no shot to get to the big game. In fact, if Oklahoma beats Texas Tech, Texas will be pulling even harder for Oklahoma in its final game at Oklahoma State. Because if the Sooners, who lost to Texas 45-35, beat Texas Tech but then lose to the Cowboys there will be a two-way tie in the Big 12 South. Texas Tech would win the tiebreaker because of their 39-33 win over the Longhorns on Nov. 1.
2. Southern Cal, Ohio State are both pulling for Arizona and Oregon: Arizona (6-4) hosts Oregon State on Saturday. The Beavers are 6-1 in the Pac-10 and are the only team this season to beat No. 6 Southern Cal (9-1). If Oregon State wins its last two games against Arizona and Oregon, then the Beavers go to the Rose Bowl and Southern Cal gets an at-large bid to a BCS game. Southern Cal is pulling for Arizona because it wants to go to the Rose Bowl if it can’t get in the BCS championship game. Ohio State (9-2) is pulling for Arizona because if Oregon State goes to the Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes will probably miss out on a BCS at-large bid and play Georgia in the Capital One Bowl. If Arizona doesn’t beat Oregon State on Saturday, then USC and Ohio State will pull for Oregon (8-3) to get the job done on Nov. 29. But Oregon State will play that game at home.
3. Boise State is pulling for BYU: Boise State (10-0) is ranked No. 9 in the BCS Standings. Normally that would make the Broncos a lock for a BCS at-large bid. But the Broncos are going to get left out of the BCS if No. 7 Utah (11-0) wins at home against BYU (10-1) on Saturday. Only one team from the non-BCS conferences can receive an at-large bid, regardless of their ranking. If Utah goes to the BCS, then a 12-0 Boise State could be playing on its blue home field in the Humanitarian Bowl.
4. Southern Cal is pulling for Florida State, Missouri: Sitting at No. 6 in the BCS Standings, it appears that the only way for Southern Cal (9-1) to get to the BCS championship game is for the SEC champion or the Big 12 champion not to be there. Assuming No. 1 Alabama beats Auburn, the only way that the SEC champ won’t be there is if No. 4 Florida loses at Florida State on Nov. 29 and then beats Alabama on Dec. 6 in Atlanta. With three Big 12 teams in the top five, the only way that conference champion is not in the big game is if Missouri (9-2) upsets Texas, Texas Tech, or Oklahoma in the league’s championship game.
5. BCS critics are pulling for the ultimate Doomsday Scenario: I have to give credit for this one to my good friend, Mark Blaudschun of the Boston Globe. Those who dislike the BCS want to see the worst possible outcome in hopes that it would prompt change. Well here, given the current standings, is the worst possible outcome:
Oklahoma beats Texas Tech, 49-47 in one of the greatest games in history.
Florida loses at Florida State on Nov. 29.
On championship Saturday the BCS Standings are 1) Alabama, 2) Texas, 3) Oklahoma, 4) Texas Tech, 5) Southern Cal, 6) Florida
Florida beats No. 1 Alabama in the SEC championship game.
No. 2 Texas (11-1) loses to Missouri in the Big 12 championship game.
Texas Tech (11-1) and Oklahoma (11-1), two teams that didn’t even win their division, finish 1-2 and advance to the BCS championship game. The human polls try to avoid a rematch and vote Southern Cal (11-1) No. 2 but the computers drop the Trojans into the No. 3 spot in the final rankings because of a weak schedule.
Missouri (11-2) is the Big 12 champion but, under BCS rules, only two teams from any one conference can play in a BCS game. Texas Tech and Oklahoma are already in the BCS title game. What does the BCS do? There is nothing in the bylaws to account for this scenario. Do they invoke an emergency change? Will one of the Big 12 teams get left out? Does President elect Obama invoke an eight-team playoff by executive order? The next three weeks could really be fun.
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