Thanks to the BCS, Washington State’s victory against Oregon State affected the national championship race more than South Carolina’s rout of Florida, Northwestern’s dramatic upset of Iowa or Oklahoma State’s first victory against Texas in the history of the Big 12.
The Bowl Championship Series has made whether Hawaii is better than San Diego State a relevant question.
Here’s a better question: How is this good for college football?
THE BIG STORY
Seriously, Washington State dealt a blow to the national championship hopes of Boise State and TCU. You see, Oregon State played both the Broncos and Horned Frogs earlier in the season and the Beavers were supposed to represent a quality victory for the two.
Losing to the Cougars, who hadn’t beaten an FBS opponents this season, makes Oregon State look bad, which in turn makes Boise State and TCU look not as good – some would argue. Others would argue differently. Neither answer would be particularly compelling, the argument would go nowhere and ultimately a bunch of people and computers are left to give their best guesses as to whether the Broncos or Horned Frogs are better – and if either is better than Oregon or Auburn.
Here’s another question that was actually posted by a Boise State fan supporter on Twitter on Saturday: “SDSU is (equal) or less than Hawaii.”
In a college football world with no playoff system, where two teams are picked from 120 to play for the national championship, determining whether the third-best Mountain West Conference teams is better than the third-best Western Athletic Conference team is vital.
There is no better proof that the BCS is not just a flawed system but a bad one.
That thrilling race in the Big Ten, which was trimmed from four top-15 teams vying for a conference title to three when Northwestern knocked off Iowa? Unless you’re a fan of Wisconsin, Ohio State or Michigan State, why should you care?
South Carolina is going to the Southeastern Conference championship game for the first time, which is great for its fans. But in the big picture, what Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks earned was a chance to play spoiler against Auburn in the national championship race.
Oklahoma State was picked last in the Big 12 South. The Cowboys are now two victories away from winning the division and playing for their first Big 12 title. It’s big news in Stillwater because the Cowboys could also earn their first BCS bid, a trip to the Fiesta Bowl to play – the Big East champion. Woo-hoo.
There are three weeks left in the season and only the games involving Oregon, Auburn, TCU and Boise State can radically change the national championship chase.
All the other good teams are playing for trophies and warm-weather bowl trips.
In the new book “Death to the BCS,” Yahoo! Sports reporters Dan Wetzel, Jeff Passan and Josh Peter argue – correctly – that a playoff would not hurt the college football regular season, as BCS supporters suggest, but help it by adding more meaning to late-season games.
Here’s another reason: The debate that has dominated this college football season, whether two very good teams – TCU and Boise State – from so-so conferences without automatic bids to the BCS are worthy of playing in the national championship game, has is overshadowing some great stuff on the field.
Yes, Boise State and TCU look as if they can compete against any team in the country. Yes, their schedules are not nearly as tough as those of the teams that play in the SEC, Big Ten or Pac-10, so their unbeaten records should not be valued as highly.
We can go back and forth forever.
“Death to the BCS” suggests a 16-team playoff. Eight sounds good, but gets complicated. SEC commissioner Mike Slive himself wanted the BCS to go to a four-team playoff called the plus-one.
Any of those models would be an improvement over spending the final three weeks of the season trying to decide how impressive it is to beat Oregon State.
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QUICK HITS
– The ACC Coastal race is all about Maryland. The surprising Terrapins (7-3, 4-2) have two games left against the other two teams in the race. If they can beat Florida State on Saturday and North Carolina State the week after, the Terps go the Atlantic Coast Conference title game for first time. Regardless, it’s a nice bounce back season by Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen.
– For the first time, all the services academies will play in a bowl game. Army (6-4) became bowl eligible with a 45-28 victory at Kent State on Saturday. Navy (7-3) and Air Force (7-4) have already clinched winning seasons. If Army can beat Notre Dame or Navy, all three schools would finish over .500 for the third time since 1960. The other two were 1963 and ’96.
– Wisconsin’s 83 points against Indiana were the most by a ranked team since No. 16 Houston beat SMU 95-21 on Oct. 21, 1989. Was Badgers coach Bret Bielema running it up? Is there such a thing as running it up between two teams from the same conference? A vote for no here.
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LOOKING AHEAD
No. 14 Virginia Tech can wrap up the Atlantic division of the ACC by winning at No. 24 Miami on Saturday. The Hokies have won eight straight since starting the season with a crushing loss to Boise State and a stunning loss James Madison.
In the Big Ten, No. 8 Ohio State is at No. 21 Iowa. The Buckeyes have won or shared the last five Big Ten championships.
An Iowa victory would help No. 11 Michigan State. If the Spartans and No. 6 Wisconsin finish tied atop the Big Ten, Michigan State goes to the Rose Bowl because it beat the Badgers. In a three-way tie, the BCS standings determine the Rose Bowl bid and could favor Wisconsin.
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Ralph D. Russo covers college football for The Associated Press. Write to him at rrusso(at)ap.org.
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