College Football Travesty

Unfortunately, I can't talk about UL getting a lesser bowl game as the travesty. UL didn't get a bowl game period and certainly didn't earn one. Weird feeling for the end of the year. It's the first time in eight years that I haven't been planning a trip somewhere for late December/early January. Whether Mobile, Memphis, Jacksonville or Miami, I was always going somewhere. Amazing what one wrong hire can do to you. From 12-1 with an Orange Bowl win to 6-6 even though the team had returned just about all of their offensive stars and a good chunk of the defense. Sad. I remember when UL had a really good football team. It was January. Oh well, at least I have my memories.



Now, the travesty is the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) that was supposed to decide a national champion. It routinely fails and this year was no exception. A couple of weeks ago Ohio State finished their season, and most thought they had no chance at the BCS Championship Game. Then Kansas, LSU, Missouri, and West Virginia all lost. Suddenly, Ohio State was back in because they only had one loss. Since the only undefeated team is Hawaii who played a really poor schedule (and didn't really look good in a lot of wins), most would assume Ohio State deserves a place in the BCS title game. I don't think they are that good, but I guess that's the system.

The interesting thing was the question of who they would play. Going into the last week, the BCS standings were headed by Missouri, WVU, Ohio St and Georgia. Missouri and WVU lost, and Georgia didn't play. So, did Georgia get the other spot? No way in Hell. Surprisingly voters actually put LSU ahead of Georgia. Makes sense. LSU also has two losses, and as a bonus, they actually won the SEC title game. Over Tennessee. Which means if voters had stuck with their usual inertia, Georgia would have stayed ahead of LSU and been in the BCS title game even though they didn't even win their division, let alone the conference. I was actually hoping Georgia would get in just to help bring down this stupid system.

However, does this mean they got it right? Well, not exactly. Why LSU? Kansas only has one loss. Of course, they didn't win their division or conference either, so no. There are several other two loss teams. Missouri and Arizona State didn't win their conference so toss them out with Georgia and Kansas. Virginia Tech won the ACC and has only two losses, but they lost to LSU earlier this year, so can't jump them. USC, West Virginia and Okahoma all won their conference with two losses. Heck, WVU and Oklahoma both lost their second game when their starting quarterback got hurt early in a close loss (WVU also lost QB Pat White in their first loss). Why should LSU get in ahead of them? LSU may have lost both their games in multiple overtimes, but they have looked shaky in just about all their games since September and were lucky to pull some of them out.

This is the big problem with the BCS versus a playoff. Too much of a snapshot at certain points in the season. Two years ago, the Steelers won the Super Bowl. They entered the playoffs as a 6 seed because they lost some games during the middle of the season. They lost those games when Ben Roethlisberger was hurt. By the end of the season, it was a totally different team. I think WVU can beat anybody with Pat White on the field, and he would be back for a playoff. Plus, I actually think Georgia would have beaten LSU in the SEC title game if they had played them. I think Georgia is a better team right now than LSU and would go farther in a playoff. The regular season has to count for something, but with so many possible teams, it's a joke to pluck just one out.

There's another problem that could result from the BCS system which has been alluded to at times, but doesn't get enough press - officiating. College officials are hired by the conferences. Conferences have a vested interest in getting their team into the BCS title game or as an at large in one of the other big money BCS bowls. As employees of the league, officials may make "judgement calls" in late season games to make sure the conference gets what it wants. Kansas coach Mike Mangino flat accused Big 12 referees of thinking about Texas' BCS chances when a very suspect late game pass interference call went against the Jayhawks. In the West Virginia/Pitt game, there were some very suspect holding calls against Pitt as WVU was trying to mount a comeback. I'm not saying the referees were consciously making those calls (Big East officials are notoriously incompetent), but as long as this system is in place, it's a distinct possibility.