By process of elimination, Boise State moves in on a BCS bid.
By running over Notre Dame, Toby Gerhart moves closer to becoming a Heisman Trophy finalists.
By having both participants lose to SEC rivals, the Atlantic Coast Conference gets another lackluster championship game.
The Big Story
The BCS officials need to approach Boise State the way one might approach cough medicine. It makes you cringe at first, but in the long run it’s good for you.
No matter what the bowl executives in the brightly colored jackets say, they can’t be thrilled with the idea of having Boise State in the BCS – even though it’s clear that’s the directions the Broncos are headed.
Bowl organizers like marquee teams, brand names with national followings. But those type of teams have spent the last month and a half playing themselves out of Bowl Championship Series contention – with Oklahoma State (yes, calling the Cowboys a marquee team is a stretch, but hey, desperate times) being the latest.
efeated, but that shouldn’t be a problem
It seems only a Nebraska victory over Texas in the Big 12 title game, which would send the Cornhuskers to the Fiesta Bowl, the Longhorns into the at-large pool and create a crazy debate over who should play the SEC champion for the national title, can keep Boise State from landing the BCS at-large bid its fans have been crying for and its conference has been lobbying to get.
The Western Athletic Conference hired a public relations firm to handle its “Boise State belongs in the BCS” campaign.
While some might hail the Broncos’ inclusion as a victory for the little guys and a blow to the system, really this is just about the best thing that can happen for the BCS.
If the blue-turf Broncos get in, it helps BCS supporters refute complaints by detractors that the system is inherently unfair to teams that do not play in the six automatic-qualifying conferences. That it’s a cartel bent on keeping the money and the power in the hands of college football’s blue bloods.
What better way to shoot down that theory than a BCS lineup that does not include USC, Penn State, Miami or Virginia Tech but does have TCU and Boise State?
This will be the second consecutive season and third time overall the Mountain West will put a team in the BCS, with TCU following in Utah’s foot steps.
r seasons the league has a team in the BCS.
Because of that, WAC commissioner Karl Benson has not been a vocal critic of the system.
He advocates changes that would allow teams with credentials like Boise State’s – undefeated league champion with a top-six BCS ranking – to be able to earn an automatic bid, regardless of what teams from the other non-automatic qualifying leagues do.
“If Boise State does not get in with that record and ranking, there might be some pressure to change it,” Benson said Sunday in a telephone interview.
If Boise State does get in, there’s no outcry.
Last season, undefeated Boise State was left out because Utah earned the so-called BCS-buster automatic bid. And the Broncos were staring at the same fate this season, losing out to TCU, before Oklahoma State fell on its face in Norman.
If Texas takes care of business against Nebraska and Boise State gets invited to a big-money bowl, BCS officials won’t have to spend next Sunday after selections are announced explaining why the Broncos were snubbed.
And considering the history of the BCS, anytime controversy is averted the guys in charge should chalk it up as a victory.
Toby Heisman
Toby Gerhart wouldn’t be the first Pac-10 player to ride a scintillating final regular season performance against Notre Dame in prime-time to the Heisman Trophy.
in a 44-13 victory against the Fighting Irish that pretty much locked up the statue for the Southern California quarterback.
Gerhart’s monster game in the Cardinal’s 45-38 victory on Saturday won’t lock up the Heisman for him, but it should seal an invite to the presentation ceremony in New York on Dec. 12.
The punishing tailback ran for 205 yards, scored three touchdowns and threw an 18-yard TD pass. He leads the nation in total yards rushing with 1,736, is second in yards per game at 144.7 and leads in touchdowns with 26.
ACC letdown
Georgia upsets Georgia Tech and South Carolina upsets Clemson, and once again the Atlantic Coast Conference is left with a title game relegated to so-what status on championship Saturday.
Even if the Yellow Jackets and Tigers had won their rivalry matchups, the ACC game in Tampa, Fla., would have trailed far behind the SEC and Big 12 title games in importance and interest.
This has been a recurring problem for the ACC since the league expanded and started playing a championship game in 2005. The game has been played in Jacksonville or Tampa, which would be a great idea if Florida State and Miami were regularly playing in the game – as was expected when the Hurricanes left the Big East.
n Raymond James Stadium
Attendance will be better this season because of Clemson’s participation, but the last thing the ACC needed was to have fans of its division-winning teams deflated and reconsidering whether to make a road trip.
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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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