"Nevermore"-Big East, ACC and the BCS

    LOOKOUT!!!! Controversy is on the horizon for the BCS. Of course, we have seen these things before. Debates have consumed this preposterous program since its inception. Ohio State, USC, are all a part of its dubious history.

     The pundits, in their efforts to be politically correct, constantly say that this is what makes college football special. Every week is a playoff. They repeat this like Poe quoting the raven - "Nevermore." Half of the fun is in the debate they say.

     There are two main problems with the system that we are married to like a cheating trophy wife with a million dollar inheritance. One problem is obvious to us all. If Texas Tech and Alabama do not finished the season unblemished, then chaos will ensue. Which one-loss team is more deserving? USC? Florida? Texas? Oklahoma?

      The "play it out on the field" arguement sounds great. However, if Texas Tech does fall to Oklahoma, which Big 12 team is most deserving? Texas lost in Lubbock so can they be placed over a Tech team with the same record? Oklahoma will have beaten the Red Raiders so shouldn't they go to the title game? Wait, Oklahoma lost to Texas so . . .

      If Texas Tech doesn't beat Oklahoma then there is no perfect way to decide - at least with the current system, in which the remedy is the problem. As a point of fact, the BCS standings are to be the voice of reason. The team that finishes the regular season ranked highest in the BCS will be awarded a trip to the Big 12 Championship game. Luckily in the SEC the two major contenders, the Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide, will decide it on the field.

      Most of us have heard all this before. If you have been paying attention, then none of this is news to you. I want to bring to your attention what ISN'T being said. Problem two with the BCS is the inherent, inalienable rights of the elite of college football. There are six automatic bids-the champions of the Big-12, the SEC, the Big-10, the PAC-10, the Big East, and the ACC. Then there are four "At-Large" selections.

      While everyone is focused on the BCS Championship Game, the is another story brewing. While I believe undefeateds should have a chance, even if they are Utah, what is more appalling is the rhetoric that excludes them. The "geniuses" of college football continue to say things like "How can you put Utah or Boise State in a championship game, when they don't have to play the same type of conference as the 'Big Boys'"? Simple question - If North Carolina was undefeated would they make the same arguement to exclude them? NEWS ALERT- The highest ranked team in the ACC is North Carolina at #19. The highest ranked team in the Big East is West Virginia at #20(and the lost last night). THE MOUNTAIN WEST HAS 3 TEAMS RANKED ABOVE ANY OF THESE TEAMS! Utah, TCU, and BYU are all ranked 17th or better.

      So, while most of the focus has been on the National Championship game, face this fact. If Alabama or Tech loses then understand that all of the one-loss teams have a chance. If the ACC or the Big East had a one loss team they would plead there case as well. If they had an undefeated team, they would have a championship game spot without a doubt. Those two conferences are so pathetic that neither is the case. They are horrible. So, why do they have a chance? Why do they get a spot? Why do they get a guaranteed position in a BCS Bowl regardless of their futility?

     Let's not forget that these two conferences are not only going to take a position that could go to an undefeated, and yes unproven, Ball State or Boise State-they are going to take a position from the Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma Sooners, or the machine that has been the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Only two teams from any conference can compete in a BCS Bowl game during a given season. So, as spots are guaranteed to the ACC and the Big East, eating up possible bowl game positions, they will exclude the deserving and make match-ups after New Years that will send us quickly into basketball season. Do you really want to see Florida vs. Cincinnati?

     One of the primary things that the BCS really has done is move the controversy that used to exist after the last bowl game of the year to December. Before the BCS, we all waited for those final polls to see if the National Championship was won by our favorite team or somtimes even shared. The rules of the game are now clear-at least on that point. The winner of the official BCS Title Game is the National Champion. I have always had a problem with this. Without a playoff leading up to that game, there is no proof that those are indeed to two most deserving.

     The pundits say every week is a playoff. So, why not the biggest games of the year? Let's play the what-if game. What if the National Title game becomes Texas vs. Florida and the Gators win an ugly game that is riddled with turnovers and bad play by a score of,say, 9-7. Earlier in the week Utak blows out a one loss Oklahoma 41-7. That is just a scenario and unlikely, but then again this is college football that we are talking about. That would cause Utah to be undefeated AND to have beaten 5 top 25 teams including a top 4 Oklahoma during their season.

    The problem here is that the bowl games don't count anymore. The title game obviously does, but none of the others do. I would love a playoff system; but since that will never happen, I long for the good old days. Let them play it out on the field. Let them play the season till the end. Make me want to watch the Rose Bowl even though I hate the Big-10 and the PAC-10. Make me want to watch the Holiday Bowl again. Rememebr when the Holiday Bowl capped a National Championship season for BYU. Other than my favorite team winning - that BYU season, and NC State and Villanova winning National Championships in college basketball, were the greatest moments in my sporting life. Let there be possibilities again for those kinds of upsets. Right now the answer is, "Nevermore."

      By luck, some of this will straighten itself out. But ACC and BIG East teams ARE going to play in the BCS. One of the triumverate of Texas, Oklahoma, or Texas Tech will NOT. Ball State will NOT play in the BCS. Utah will NOT play in the title game.  No matter who wins or loses in the next month, those things are true for this season. These things are true for every season. Logic and common sense are "Nevermore."