The BCS is about to win – again

Florida and Texas, the preseason favorites, remain undefeated and on a collision course for the title game.  Alabama lurks, ready to take down the Gators and get at the title instead.  USC was given it’s chance to crash the party, as it always is, but is out after losing twice.  And everyone else gets to watch.  Boise State and TCU will get no shot, as usual because the old strength of schedule will do them in even if they win out.  Boise looked like they had an outside shot once Oregon, who they beat handily in week one, surged into the top ten.  But a loss to Stanford by the Ducks ruined the quality win that Boise was counting on having.  Iowa was undefeated until this week and ranked number four; they could have least caused an argument by finishing unbeaten, but they lost to Northwestern today.  So all the would be suitors have been rejected, either directly or indirectly, leaving the favored few in line for the brass ring.

We all know that the head honchos want the BCS goodies to be divvied up among the big six conferences and, if they win enough games that year, Notre Dame.  We also know that there are favored schools within that group; Vanderbilt may be in the SEC but no one wants them in the title game, ever.  They have the perfect system set up now to achieve their desire every year; there are just too many trap doors to keep schools that aren’t ‘made guys’ from playing in the BCS title game. You have to win every game, and have enough quality wins to get the strength of schedule points you need.  That just can’t happen for the Boise States of the country.  The best they can hope for is a game against Oregon, and they won’t get more than one in a season.  So their hopes were that they’d beat Oregon (which they did), and that the Ducks would win the rest of their games (which they didn’t).  An 11-1 PAC 10 winning Oregon with the one loss against Boise would have given the Broncos some major ammo to argue for a title game berth, especially if more than one of the exalted three (Florida, ‘Bama, Texas) were to finish with a loss. But a 10-2 Oregon team with a loss to Stanford trashes the status of the biggest win on Boise’s schedule and screws them over.  And TCU is stuck playing Utah as it’s quality opponent.  I don’t think that will help them much.

Look, I don’t think that Boise or TCU or Utah or BYU could go 12-0 in the SEC or Big 12.  But be that as it may, it’s not fair that they don’t get their chance to at least get blown out by Florida or ‘Bama and remove all doubt.  At least in the NCAA basketball tournament we get to see that Xavier and Davidson aren’t but so good.  No such luck with the football.  And now that they’ve beaten a major program like Oregon, good luck getting an LSU or ‘Bama or Texas to play them anywhere except in their home stadium.  But again, this is what the big boys want.  They want an impenetrable fortress, on where they get all the prizes and shut out those they deem unworthy.  And for one more year, they have it.