The BCS Is The Best Thing To Happen To College Football. Ever.

To mark my return (or whatever) to this webspace, I'll be doing what bloggers do best: complain about things that bug them to whoever will listen. I've already tackled Brett Favre's return to the NFL, and my disgust over how it is viewed by many, and now, I take a look at the BCS.

National consensus is that the BCS is dumb, it gives us an unworthy champion, and that a playoff is the only logical way to decide a champion. Hell, even Congress has been throwing in their two cents. The argument against a playoff usually boils down to a tradition based argument, that the bowl system is too ingrained in the culture to be challenged or changed.

Both positions are, to be put lightly, bullshit.

The BCS is the natural evolution of the long-held bowl system, a marriage of human opinions (some of which suck badly) and computers (which do pretty good, despite my inherent distrust) (seriously, watch that video, and try to sleep tonight. Slap some basic targeting systems and a minigun on that thing, and good luck kids. Wait, where was I?). What more can you really ask for out of a system? It takes what worked in the past (polling) and utilizes available technology (moreso than baseball) to give the best match up. The best evidence?

Of the 12 games that have crowned a national champ in the BCS era, 6 have involved SEC teams.

Personal bias aside, 5 of those SEC teams won the game (and Alabama is favored by 4.5), and I think the results speak for themselves. People point to years like this, and say this is definitive need for a playoff. Why? How would you decide who gets in and who gets Boise Stated? You're left in the same place, but at the cost of other bowls.

But Daniel, the other bowls don't matter anyway!

Tell that to the UConn team that overcame the heartbreaking death of a teammate to get to play on January 2nd or to Joey Harrington who parlayed one good bowl game into a career that went way too long. These bowls matter to most teams, as the opportunity to be nationally televised is a recruiting boost, allowing a program to be seen by potential recruits all over the country. Sure, there is the occasional team that couldn't care about the game, and mails it in (see Alabama, 2009 Sugar Bowl), but for the majority of teams, these games are paid advertisements, and a good performance matters. Plus, for certain other players who just won't go away, this is a great chance to make an impression on NFL front office people who will decide your fate come Draft Day.

But you know what the best thing about the BCS and the bowl system is? Better than the opportunity to end your season with a win? Better than showing the country (or other countries) your school exists? Better than getting a large contract? It creates more discourse, more arguments, and more passion than anything else in sports. The controversy alone has propelled NCAA Football into that rarefied air, usually reserved for the Shield and nothing else. Even the National Football League (what up Gruden!) has to marvel at college football's ability to capture hearts and minds year round (and if you think the NFL doesn't benefit, you're NUTS). I was debating this point with someone this past summer, and they argued what the whole benefit of the BCS is to the fan, what makes it attractive to those of us who want a definitive answer, what does it offer us?

We were arguing about college football at a wedding in June. What more do you want?

I'm returning to the blog by discussing the weird happenings over the 3 months I've been away. NFL and NCAA Football are done, NBA, you're next.

Hooked

You can't spell, "Hey Buckeyes, stop wasting all of our time" without

B-C-S. I don't care if they win every game they play next year, the highest bowl this team should be eligible for is a pre-New Years Eve one. As a matter of fact, can the BCS drop the Big 10, and pick up the Mountain West, please? Hey, if it works for soccer accross the pond...

*MATHEMATICAL EDIT* - It has been brought to my attention that while the Big 10 (11) sent 7 teams to bowl games, 6 of those teams lost. So, as a conference, they went 1-6. That. Is. Awful.

These are Facts...and Divisional Picks!

Roger Clemens is guilty as sin.

You release a taped conversation with your former trainer where he repeatedly offers to go to jail for you, and asks what you want him to do. Hmm...did another recently embattled star have his trainer sit in jail for him as opposed to ratting him out? Did aforementioned trainer receive a LARGE payment for his troubles? Is Clemens' trainer friend (whose name I have forgotten, and is unimportant) currently hurting for money? Is it suspicious how little the Rocket was saying, with the knowledge he was being taped?

Hmm indeed.

Oh, and to everyone who thinks that his impassioned defense was convincing, and definitive proof that he's innocent? Remember a certain someone else who's defiance was noteworthy and is now facing jail time? This should jog your memory.

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The Big 10 is dead. Long live everyone else.

The SEC and Big 10 champions met in a game to decide the National Champion of College Football. Again. The Big 10 started fast, building a quick lead. Again. The SEC utilized superior speed/size/(insert thing that wins football games here) and dominated from that point forward. Again.

A four team playoff would be best for everyone, as (extremely biased) Georgia President Michael Adams pointed out this week. I wish he had done this last year, because now he just looks like a poor sport, but the fact remains that he has the backing of every major conference save two: The Pac-10 because of the devotion to the Rose Bowl, which does not share the other Fox television contract as the other BCS bowls, and the Big 10, because they can manage their schedule, have the least mediocre team emerge, and bully their way into the title game, boasting stats pumped up against less than quality opposition. Maybe LSU didn't have the statistically best defense in the game coming in, but OSU didn't play 9 bowl teams, and the Tigers did.

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I will do more NBA stuff soon, I promise. But until then, I present to you the site I wish I made...

http://heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com/

Yes, it's a real site, and yes, it does track Larry Hughes' shooting every night. If you're a Cavs fan, beware. If not, it's worth reading even if you just look at the loss to Atlanta last night (Wednesday).

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Home teams are in bold.

Green Bay (-8) over Seattle

Their secondary isn't that good, Favre is WORLD's better than Todd Collins, who almost mounted a comeback in round 1, and Ryan Grant is playing like Ahman Green/Dorsey Levens in their prime. Aside from all the Hasselbeck jokes we've endured this week, this team just isn't ready to make the leap over a 13-3 squad that looks to do something special this post season.

Plus, Favre is 35% magic. Can't forget that.

Jacksonville (+13.5) over Terminators

Just to be clear, New England gets the win, just not nearly 2 touchdowns of the win. Call me nuts, but as long as the secondary for Jacksonville even remotely shows intrest in Randy Moss, they won't get blown out. It's really tough to blow out teams that rarely turn the ball over, have a dominant running attack, play solid defense, and don't get penalized often. I mean, if anyone can do it, it's the Terminators. I just don't think so.

Indy (-8.5) over San Diego

Wait a minute. What happened in Indy? Was there a chemical fire that cost Payton an eye? How is this line so low? Is there any chance the Colts don't win by 2 touchdowns?

Wait a minute. If betting were legal, I could 2-team tease Favre at Lambeau, and Manning and Dungy taking on Norv Turner at the RCA dome, hoping that both favorites win by more than a field goal? In the words of Rich Skrosky, it's like stealin', men.

Giants (+7.5) over Cowboys

I'm just about to pick Eli Manning on the road to lose by less than a touchdown (oh, you better believe he's gonna lose). I hate myself.

National Title Game...Yawn...

I can finally respond to this huge football weekend/day, because I don't have internet at my house until Wednesday (thank you Comcast)

Well, after about a month, it's finally here. LSU v. Ohio State. It's amazing really, that this team is being given a second chance after last year's debacle, but these are the breaks (break em up, break em up, break em up...). Anyway, expect to see the same as last year, blowout pt. 2. Position by position, the Buckeyes are just over matched and outclassed against a superior Tigers team.

Quarterback: Boekman has never thrown more than 30 passes in a game, while the duo of Perriloux and Flynn have been leaders to a fault for this team.

Running Back: Here's where everyone thinks OSU has an edge. But, I'll let you in on a little secret. No matter how good Beanie "Chris" Wells is, Jacob Hester is better. He may not be faster, but I defy you to show me one time an opposing player brought him down on his own.

Receivers/Fast People: HAHAHAHA...Early Docet and Trinton Holiday do NOT play for the Buckeyes.

O-Line: First real edge for OSU, having only given up 13 sacks this year. They didn't play anyone, but that's still impressive.

D-Line: A very healthy, very rested, very anxious Glenn Dorsey means LSU has the edge here.

Linebackers: The person taking all those post-season trips with Dorsey? Mr. Laurinaitis, that's who. While I still think that he is undersized, you cannot deny results.

DBs/Other Fast People: One team lost two starters for off the field infractions. The other has a man named Xenon trolling the defensive backfield. And, since the SEC doesn't follow NCAA behavior guidelines, the edge goes to the Tigers.

Final: LSU 31, OSU 17

Now if they meet again in the NCAA Basketball Title Game, I quit.

What a Pile of BcS

Another regular season in the books, another BCS controversy on our hand, right on time. You could set your calendar by this flawed system screwing up an entire Bowl Season, and be all right for a year. For what it’s worth, this has been the nuttiest NCAA Football season in memory, a season which saw Mizzou somehow attain the number 1 overall ranking, and yet not get selected to play in any BCS games when the time came. Some call this an injustice, but I would rather take solace in the words of a lifelong Mizzou supporter:

"The natural order of college football has been restored." -- Todd Abrams

And, by God, he’s right. Remember earlier this year, with all the talking heads prognosticating about what could happen if USF, Kansas, or Hawaii were to play in the BCS National Title game? Well, all of that worked itself out in the end, as there are two apparently deserving teams in the National Title game. Apparently. Maybe.

*Allow me to preface this whole next section by admitting that I am a Georgia fan, but I also realize we were in no way going to the National Title game, so the call for reform stems not from that*

It is this lack of certainty that has everyone carrying pitchforks and torches, clamoring for a playoff system, or at least a plus-one game to decide the National Champion. Color me one of these teeming masses. This is a fundamentally flawed system that in 10 years of existence has undergone 7 changes in calculation, and seriously screwed up no less than 3 times. College football elicits the most passion nationally out of any sport, yet it is the only one with no definitive method of naming a champion. How does the #4 BCS team get leapfrogged on a weekend they did not play? Does that make any logical sense to anyone else? I understand that it is a mathematical equation, and that the win in a conference title game adds to the quality win total, but doesn’t it also go to say that if you were to win your conference title game by 2 touchdowns, when your opponent was the number 1 team in the nation, that it would be a more quality win than another conference title win? Or is that just too nuts for everybody?

The main arguments against the proposed playoff system is that it would extend an already long season, it would be hard for fan bases to travel, and of course, the money issue. The answer is the same to all three questions – drop all conference title games, drop the 12th game, take the 6 BCS conference champions, and 2 at-large bids, and play out the playoffs. The finale can still have a month of build up, as the semis would fall on what is now Heisman night…push that back a week and we’re all set. You can still populate your bowls with the other teams, or better yet, name the playoff rounds after big-bowl games. It’s not a perfect answer, but it’s better than what we got now.

And even if you don’t change the system, at least change some of the match-ups we’re stuck with this. Most of these BCS match-ups are going to be blowouts, and not at all interesting. I know that much was said about the tradition of certain bowls, but what if USC played Georgia in the Rose Bowl, while Hawaii face Illinois in the Sugar Bowl? You get two wide-open offenses clashing in Nawlins, while two historical football powerhouses battle it out in one of the most historic venues in sport, all the while giving me an excuse to go to LA. Out of the other three BCS games, Oklahoma/West Virginia actually looks interesting, while Virginia Tech will roll over Kansas. We’ll discuss the National Title Game (Snuff Film) at a later date. And as for last weeks number 1 team in the nation, those Mizzou Tigers? They’ll be slumming it in the Cotton Bowl with the Arkansas Razorbacks, and the look that will be on their faces when Darren McFadden comes barreling over, around, and through that ‘defense’? Priceless.

There is something to be said about the BCS: it gives us something to talk (read: complain) about each year around this time. Without it, how would we spend this stretch until Bowl Season is truly upon us? I bet Pat Forde’s head would explode if we ever do get to see a playoff system; that’ll be the newest pro-BCS argument, they’re sparing his life. This is all just idle talk anyway…

The BCS is still under contract until 2010.

NCAA Thanksgiving, BCS nonsense, plus PICKS!!!

Big post today, been working on something on the side that will be a big joy to the NBA heads out there. Pretty much me and Olson, but it will still be a fun read. RIP Sean Taylor.

God I love Thanksgiving. Great food, some family time, the Falcons looked like a real football team for a quarter. All and all, not a bad four days. I was, however, discouraged by listening to the talking heads spew on and on about how the SEC is down, and teams like Kansas and Missouri have risen to the top of the college football world. Amused by this assertion, I celebrated Georgia’s win and Kentucky’s loss (I’ll explain that later) and I sat back and watched the Big 12 North’s best slug it out. The end result?

I’m still waiting for the first hit.

Somewhere, the competitiveness of this game proved to someone that the SEC is overrated, that there are other elite conferences besides it and that whoever won this game is better than whatever comes out of the SEC. This is not that place, and I am not that person. All day, there were no hits that made you wince, no running backs going down the midline of safeties (McFadden, Tebow, Hester), there was no dominant defensive presence (Dorsey, Joiner, Johnson), there were no super-athletic playmakers (Harvin, Doucet, Bailey), and only pale imitations of strong armed game altering quarterbacks (Tebow AGAIN, Woodson, Stafford). People are pointing to the triple overtime loss to a team that lost the first three SEC games as to a reason why LSU is no longer the best team in the nation. How about mentioning the fact that they play in the most physical place in football and haven't been full strength in months? How about mentioning the fact that the only conferences with any depth this year (and I cannot believe I’m typing this) are the SEC and the Pac-10? No, these things don’t matter. At least we might get UGA vs. USC in the Rose Bowl. Or as I call it, Mr. Olson, a perfect storm. I just can’t wait to watch the tremendously talented Sooners destroy this upstart Tigers team for the second time this year.

Oh, and as for why I didn’t want Georgia to play in the SEC title game? Well, they’re going to get a BCS at-large bid as it is, and if they win that, they are a mortal lock to be a top 5 team preseason next year, and no matter how much they shouldn’t, preseason rankings matter. Don’t think this is really the best thing for the Dawgs? Call me Saturday, after they medivac Tenessee out of the Georgia Dome after running into the machine that is an angry, super-talented LSU squad.

On to the picks, home teams in bold.

Green Bay (+7) over Dallas
Houston (+4) over Titans
J’Ville (+7) over Indy
KC (+5.5) over SD
Atl (pick) over STL
Snitches(+1) over Miami
Min (-3.5) over Det
Philly (-3) over Seattle
Wash (-5.5) over Buffalo
San Fran (+3) over Carolina
Cleveland (pick) over Arizona
Denver (-3.5) over Oakland
Giants (-2) over Chicago
Tampa (+3) over Nawlins
Pitt (-7) over Cincy
Terminators (-20) over Ravens