BCS bowl matchups

It isn't about ratings or exciting games. It's about maintaining the status and money of the BCS conferences. There couldn't be a more perfect example of arrogance than the "Boise needs to play somebody" mentality coupled with the "us go there? We'd lose money" reality of the BCS schools.
College football is a great game. It ends not in a championship, but in a sleazy, disgusting racket. Loan sharking is more honest.

 

America wants to see the underdogs WIN. When Boise's down 34-0 in the second quarter, America will go watch something else.

It doesn't matter if people want to see Cincinnati; if Cincinnati wins the Big East, they get a BCS bowl bid. If they don't, they don't. Simple as that.

By the way, what happened when Utah played Alabama? The game got a 7.8 rating, an improvement of 11 percent over Georgia-Hawaii -- and still the seventh-lowest rating of the 45 BCS games that have been played. Apparently America doesn't really want to see underdogs that much. (America doesn't seem to think much of the BCS bowls in general, of course.)

As for Boise needing to play somebody, Boise can either accept that it may have to play a road game without a return or it can accept being sent to the Poinsettia Bowl when it goes 1-0 against BCS-conference teams and 12-0 against a bullshit schedule. TCU played two this year, both on the road. Utah played two this year, one on the road. I fail to see why Boise can't play two.

Does it suck that the rules are different for Boise? Yeah, maybe. But then again, that's what happens when you play in a crappy conference. Don't expect to receive the benefits of being a BCS-conference team without accepting at least some of the risks of being one. They can't have it both ways.

 

I think I'll just root for Iowa to win out and Texas to win out.

 

So I guess America doesn't care if the underdogs win, either.

 

Both the Hawaii and Utah II games that were low-rated also involved SEC teams that didn't win championships. Maybe the country doesn't want to watch BCS conference runners-up.

Or maybe the Sugar Bowl, which is generally the last-aestetically pleasing game to watch because it's indoor football, was just on a bad night for TV both times.

But mainly we like to watch competitive games. And in both instances the loser clearly didn't belong on the same field with the winner.

 

Does 'mainly we like to watch competitive games' explain why the 2007 Fiesta Bowl was, at the time, the third-lowest rated game in BCS history?

And given that it will have been four months since Boise's one decent win -- and less time since its utterly unimpressive wins over UC-Davis and Tulsa, to name two, what evidence is there to suggest that Boise will be competitive in a BCS bowl? Other, of course, than what happened three freakin' years ago.

 

The BCS is looking like a bunch of crap games this year. I really don't see how the BCS avoids taking both Boise and TCU if they finish undefeated.

Don't Oklahoma State fans travel exceptionally well? If they are competitive with Texas and finish 10-2, I could see them getting consideration for an at large bid. I also think a 10-2 USC team gets a BCS bid if Oregon beats them but it is competitive.

I think we can count on:

2 SEC teams, 2 Big Ten teams, 1 ACC, 1 Big East, 1 non AQC school, 1 Big XII school, 1 Pac Ten for sure.

Now, lets look at the potential options: Does a BCS bowl give a bid to Boise or TCU (whichever is ranked lowest) over a 2 loss USC, Oregon, or Oklahoma State? These are really the only teams I see with a legitimate shot of making the BCS with two losses. I think that USC would almost certainly get picked over Boise or TCU.

If Oklahoma State defeats Texas and finishes as the Big XII south champion and/or Texas gets upset in the Big XII championship game, there's no way 2 non AQC schools make the BCS.

 

Legitimate shot of finishing with two losses? Or of making the BCS having finished with two losses? Because if it's the latter, then you'd best include Notre Dame on that list. If you're saying ND doesn't have a shot at finishing with two losses, then that's fine. But if they finish with two losses, they're getting a BCS bid.

By the way, the ranking of the non-AQ schools is irrelevant. As long as they're in the top 12, the bowls can select either one. So if TCU's No. 9 and Boise's No. 5 (which won't happen if TCU is undefeated), the BCS bowls can take TCU and leave Boise out. There's only one guaranteed spot for non-AQ schools, regardless of how many finish in the top 12.

And USC would almost certainly get picked? Almost? If USC doesn't win the Pac-10, you don't think one of those other bowls is gonna jump at the opportunity to take them? How often do any of the other three bowls get to take USC? Almost never. You think if the Sugar is sitting there with the last pick and can choose Alabama-Boise State or Alabama-USC, Boise has any chance at all?

 

Armchair, Zeke, I'm praying for Oregon to nip USC and win the Pac-10. I'm sick and tired of seeing Petey an his kids in Pasadena for the umpteeth year. There should a be rule that you can't go back to the same bowl if you win your conference so many times in a row. USC has been there (what?) 4 straight years, and laid a beatdown to anyone in their way (except Texas).

Then again, the Pac 10, Big 10, and Rose Bowl isn't going to give up their long-standing agreement any time soon.

 

If TCU finishes at No. 5 and Boise State is at 9, then TCU goes automatically, or vice-versa.

No more than one such team from Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, the Sun Belt Conference, and the Western Athletic Conference shall earn an automatic berth in any year. (Note: a second team may be eligible for at-large eligibility as noted below.) If two or more teams from those conferences satisfy the provisions for an automatic berth, then the team with the highest finish in the final BCS Standings will receive the automatic berth, and the remaining team or teams will be considered for at-large selection if it meets the criteria.

TCU in all probability goes if it wins out. And seeing as how the insufferable Broncos are America's Darlings, if they're 12-0 it would be very tough to take a 2-loss at-large team ahead of them. And Boise State will travel 30,000-to-40,000 fans at least wherever they go, you can count on that.

 

Boise State is not getting a bowl bid ahead of a 10-2 Notre Dame, an 11-1 Alabama or Florida or an 11-1 Penn State.