December 8, 2008

• BigotedCS

  I warn you, this is an angry, possibly offensive rant… Those with weak hearts or stomachs should look away now…

  

  The BCS is BS, and we all know it.  In fact, all three letters are wrong.  B=bowl, and since the precious matchups are not preserved for all bowls as they were, the ‘bowls’ are not the bowls they once were; C=championship, and last time I checked, most ‘championships’ are not split and everyone has a chance to win it; and S=series, since only one game matters every year, and the rest are semi-pointless exhibitions.  But there is actually something worse about it… the BCS is actually bigoted.  Racist (or it’s equivalent).  Now, I am not trying to say a game of football is as bad or important to the oppression of Jim Crow and Apartheid, but it’s the same idea: The good ol’ boys keeping the club, the rich getting richer, separate but equal.  Here is my beef.

  Boise State was snubbed, and the BCS game was given to a very undeserving Ohio State team (sorry Steph).  Why?

  It’s not the rankings.

  AP Top 25

  • 1.Florida (50)
  • 2.Oklahoma (9)
  • 3.Texas (6)
  • 4.Alabama
  • 5.USC
  • 6.Penn St.
  • 7.Utah
  • 8.Texas Tech
  • 9.Boise St.
  • 10.Ohio St.

  USA Today

  • 1.Oklahoma (31)
  • 2.Florida (26)
  • 3.Texas (4)
  • 4.Alabama
  • 5.USC
  • 6.Penn St.
  • 7.Utah
  • 8.Texas Tech
  • 9.Boise St.
  • 10.Ohio St.

  		BCS		Harris Poll			USA Today			Computer Rankings
  	TEAM	BCS AVG	PRVS	RK	PTS	%	RK	PTS	%	COMP AVG	A&H	RB	CM	KM	JS	PW	%
  1	Oklahoma	.9757	2	2	2699	.9554	1	1482	.9718	1	25	25	25	25	25	25	1.000
  2	Florida	.9479	4	1	2776	.9827	2	1481	.9711	3	22	24	23	21	22	22	.890
  3	Texas	.9298	3	3	2616	.9260	3	1408	.9233	2	23	22	24	23	24	24	.940
  4	Alabama	.8443	1	4	2442	.8644	T-4	1309	.8584	6	20	21	21	20	20	19	.810
  5	USC	.8208	5	5	2413	.8542	T-4	1309	.8584	7	17	23	19	19	19	18	.750
  6	Utah	.7846	6	7	2119	.7501	7	1134	.7436	5	24	19	22	22	21	21	.860
  7	Texas Tech	.7840	7	8	2090	.7398	8	1132	.7423	4	21	20	20	24	23	23	.870
  8	Penn State	.7387	8	6	2186	.7738	6	1193	.7823	9	18	16	17	16	16	17	.660
  9	Boise State	.6980	9	9	1938	.6860	9	1034	.6780	8	19	18	18	18	18	20	.730
  10	Ohio State	.6354	10	10	1858	.6577	10	1004	.6584	11	16	17	16	12	11	15	.590

  Remember, these are the man’s rankings, the man’s system.  Boise beat that system, got ranked 9th in all polls, significantly ahead of Ohio State, and they STILL gave it to Ohio State.  The only reason, which in theory should have NOTHING to do with the decision, is the almighty dollar.  They want to keep the money in the family and/or they think they will sell more tickets with OSU.  Oh, but it is about the student athlete, right?  Now THAT is BS.

  What is the difference in the bowls?

  Poinsettia Bowl

  TCU (MWC) v Boise State

  December 23

  $750,000

  Fiesta Bowl

  Texas (Big 12) v Ohio State

  January 5

  $17 million

  Yes, that’s a difference of $16.25 Million, or 22x as much money.  Remember that the conferences split that money too, and Ohio State was already getting a share of Penn State’s BCS bowl money, so now, the rich Big 12 gets twice the money, and the WAC gets some pocket change.  Not only is the BCS designed to not give non-BCS teams a chance, but now they are basically colluding against the mid-majors.  If I was Boise State and the WAC, I would sue the BCS for discrimination, with a minimum damage of $16.25 Million.  I’m not trying to say Boise deserves to play Florida in the championship game, but you can’t be this obvious in your bigotry.

  EDIT: According to Karl Benson, WAC commish (who emailed me back), the difference is more like $4 million, which is still too much money and does not make this any less unfair.

  As an aside, I think this conspiracy runs deeper than everyone thinks.  After the 2004 Utah win, which was a given, and the unexpected win by Boise in 2005, the BCS has been actively looking to embarrass the mid-Majors.  Why else would non-BCS teams play SEC teams that are bad matchups for them in SEC territory.  Utah could play well against any of the spread offenses (Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Texas Tech, ~Ohio State, ~Penn St, Va Tech, Cincinnati, etc.) because of their excellent secondary.  Alabama is the WORST matchup for them.  I guess I need Tin Foil for my head…

  Of course, as I have said before, there is a solution.  As promised, here are my seeds, with assistance from the BCS rankings and Fernman.

  1. Oklahoma*
  2. Florida*
  3. Texas
  4. Alabama
  5. ‘$c*
  6. Texas Tech
  7. Penn State*
  8. Utah*
  9. Boise State*
  10. TCU
  11. Ohio State
  12. Cincinnati*
  13. Virginia Tech*
  14. East Carolina*
  15. Buffalo*
  16. Troy*
  *=automatic bid, won conference

  So, 16 would play 1 (Troy vs. Oklahoma), 15 vs. 2 (Buffalo vs. Florida), etc.  In my plan, the first round would be at home, and the bowl games would take up the remaining games (more details here).  And you know what?  Florida and Oklahoma might still play each other for the championship in this universe, but that’s not the point.  This way, it would be a real championship, because the actual champion could be decided ON THE FIELD and EVERYONE would have a chance.  I know, sounds odd… With this system, if they are gonna put BCS teams in automatically, why don’t we just skip the season, and just have ‘$c play Georgia like everyone wanted in August and let the BCS schools just pillage the treasury over and over and over…

  Momentum is growing for a real championship, and if you can, do the only thing that can make it happen: stop caring, like me.  That means: don’t watch the other BCS games, don’t spend money on the BCS, and complain, complain, complain to everyone you know.  In fact, I am going to send part of this to the WAC and Boise, in hopes that a lawsuit might come of it.

  

  I know of at least one person on my side.

  P.S. If you look below, you will notice I am reading a book (guess who)!  I know, I hate to read, but I think I can get into reading historical nonfiction.  My aunt bought it for me, and I felt obligated to read it, but I really like it.  This will be my first book for pleasure since Mongolia and that makes only 2.5 in the last decade.

  • 9:04 pm
  • 10 Comments