.jpg)
Trick or treat: BCS remains suspect to accuracy
by: Andrew O’Brien | Email: aobrien7@gmail.com
One of the more interesting days of the year is merely hours away, and on this Halloween, the BCS is once again dressed up as a cause for concern for college football fanatics.
Trick or treat? This seems to be the recurring question surround the Bowl Championship Series, which essentially determines the college football national champion at the end of each season.
Sometimes it’s a trick to everyone and other times it’s a treat.
Breaking down the BCS
Since implemented in 1998, beginning in week 6 of the college football season, the BCS rankings are nationally released. At the conclusion of the season, No.’s 1 and 2 according to the BCS rankings get a chance to play for a national championship. As it stands now, the champion of any BCS conference gets an automatic bid to play in one of the six BCS bowl games. These conferences include the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10 and the SEC. Additionally, the highest ranked champion of a non-BCS conference will also receive an automatic bid if:
-That team is ranked in the top twelve
-That Team is ranked in the top 16 teams and higher than at least
one BCS conference champion
Lastly, following all the automatic berths, the remaining berths to play in a BCS bowl game stem from ‘at-large’ berths. These are filled from a pool of teams who are ranked in the top 14 and have at least nine wins. These teams are chosen by the individual bowl committees.
Now with the history and process out of the way, let’s take a look as to how this year’s BCS looks halfway into the season.
With the BCS relying on a combination of polls and computer selection methods to determine its rankings, many of the polls vary significantly. For example, the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, the AP Top 25 and the BCS Standings have completely different top five teams.
BCS Standings: USA Today Poll: AP Top 25
1. Florida 1. Florida 1. Florida
2. Alabama 2. Alabama 2. Alabama
3. Texas 3. Texas 3. Texas
4. Iowa 4. USC 4. USC
5. USC 5. Boise State 5. Cincinnati
These rankings show exactly why not everything is 100 percent accurate. There are even more interesting parts to the BCS.
In 2006, when Florida won the BCS National Championship, there was a ton of speculation as to who would end the season ranked first and second. When the Nov. 26 BCS rankings were released in 2006, Ohio State and Michigan were one and two respectively, much like they had been for over a month. But everything was about to change. A showdown was scheduled for Ohio State and Michigan to square off in what was one of the most anticipated games of the season. These Big Ten heavyweights knew a BCS title game spot was on the line. However, analysts and many college football fans speculated a very bizarre situation. Ohio State was No. 1, so what if Michigan beat them? If Michigan were to win and jump to the top spot, would this call for a rematch in the BCS title game? After all, OSU did hold the No. 1 spot in all eight of the season’s BCS rankings. Who says they didn’t deserve a second chance if Michigan beat them? Then things began to get really confusing.
Ohio State ended up beating Michigan in a close game, 41-38. This opened the door for third ranked USC to move into the second spot and have a clear path to the championship.
All the Trojans had to do was beat UCLA. Easy right? Wrong. UCLA pulled off one the biggest upsets of the season, beating USC 13-9. The door opened for Florida, who was sitting at No. 4 and was headed to play Arkansas in the SEC Championship. The Gators handled Arkansas 38-28 and ultimately jumped to No. 2. In the last regular season rankings of the BCS, Ohio State held the No. 1 spot overwhelmingly with all 65 first-place votes. No one gave Florida a chance.
But the Gators did what no one thought they could do…beat the Ohio State Buckeyes. That’s exactly what Florida did, and quite convincingly. Florida won 41-14 and finished No. 1 in the final BCS rankings with 64 first-place votes. Ohio State finished second.
Three years later, all of these possibilities still remain. Much like the 2006 and 2007 seasons, there are non-BCS conference teams like Boise State from the Western Athletic Conference and TCU from the Mountain West Conference that could be potential BCS busters this season.
In 2006, Boise State (13-0) was only the second team in the history of the BCS to have an undefeated season. This earned them a chance to play in the Fiesta Bowl against No. 7 Oklahoma. Boise State was an even bigger underdog than Florida was. But then midnight struck and Boise State knocked off Oklahoma in a game full of suspense and trickery. Most notably was the ‘hook-and-ladder’ play that helped Boise State send the game to overtime. Oklahoma scored first in overtime. Boise State got possession and tied it with a touchdown. Then Boise State Coach Chris Petersen made one of the most memorable play calls of the season. Only needing an extra point to send the game to a second overtime session, Petersen decided he would go for a two-point conversion and the win. He called a statue of liberty, a play where the quarterback fakes a fade pass to the end zone and then hands the ball behind his back to a player coming out of the backfield. It worked perfectly. The Boise State Broncos just won the Fiesta Bowl and showed non-BCS conference teams can hang with the big guys.
Since that game, every season there is always a team that wants the opportunity to do what Boise State did. In 2007, Hawaii, also out of the WAC, got their chance. As the tenth-ranked team, they took on No. 5 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Hawaii wasn’t so fortunate and lost the game 41-10.
Now in 2009, although there is still plenty of football to be played, questions are surfacing as to who will get snubbed by the BCS and who will be favored. It is said that the computers ‘love’ particular teams.
A big matchup this weekend between (5)USC and (10)Oregon will have plenty of BCS implications. The ranks are already raising questions, including USC’s rank. Of course they are good, really good, but are they five spots better than Oregon? Many factors are included in determining the ranks such as strength of schedule along with many other statistics. But USC and Oregon are from the same conference, and although both teams have one loss, Oregon’s seems to be a better loss than USC’s, if that makes sense.
Oregon lost the first game of the season to Boise State, who is currently undefeated and ranked seventh in the BCS.
USC, however, lost to Washington, who is unranked in any of the polls. Not to mention, Oregon is ranked first in the Pac-10 with a 4-0 record, with USC in second (3-1 conference).
There is plenty of football left to be played and most likely the BCS will work itself out. But, it’s still safe to say the BCS can be very confusing and can play mind games.
