The BCS is a joke. It's like anything else in college sports. It's all about the bottom dollar. Yet the BCS isn't run by the NCAA. It just operates the exact same way the NCAA does. The "computers" determine rankings based on a whole set of factors that apparently objectively rate each team each week. So at the end of the season, where teams are rated in the BCS standings determines which schools go to the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, Rose, and championship bowl games. So in this particular year it would be pretty hard for anyone to argue that LSU and Alabama shouldn't play each other for the championship. They have certainly looked like the two best teams on the field this year. It's the other BCS bowls that are totalling baffling.
All the Big Six conference champions earn a bid. Then the remaining four teams are chosen at-large. Ok, well the issue is that Virginia Tech and Michigan were invited to the Sugar Bowl. These two teams won 10 games and had really good years. But Virginia Tech lost twice to Clemson, including a loss in the conference championship game. Late losses generally work against a team. Michigan, after a wonderfully resurgent year, did not even compete for a conference title! How on earth do both of these teams get a bid to the Sugar Bowl?? Boise State, everyone's favorite underdog small school, lost one game this year in the middle of the season to a decent TCU team. What are they thinking?
The whole thing is so ridiculous. Virginia Tech and Michigan were chosen because their fans travel well and can be found everywhere. They are two of college footballs best brands. The amount of fans heading to New Orleans on January 3rd will be a boon for that area. Not only does the city make money, but the bowl itself makes money and the schools make money to continue their dominance of college football media publicity year after year. These schools don't deserve to play in the Sugar Bowl. Why are computers determining the best teams in Div.-I football? It's the most assbackwards thing I've ever heard of.
This has obviously been going on for years, but this year with this Sugar Bowl matchup, I think people are realizing there is no equity in the BCS. One or two loss teams are at the mercy of selection committees. In every other level of college football and every other sport, there is a tournament/playoff. Everyone knows whether professional or amateur, playoffs are exciting, nerve-wracking and dramatic. Where is the drama in computer rankings? There are none. Behind the computers are guys that are determining which games will bank the most money for the respective BCS games. These teams aren't going to play until one team stands alone. They are going to play one game and have to ask "what-if".
I'm as big a fan of more college games as anyone. I'm going to watch a lot of the bowl games. Of course, I can't watch them all since there are nearly 40 of them. (Seriously, like half of all FBS teams make a bowl game. 6-6 teams are getting into bowls. Aren't you supposed to be good to play in the post season?) That's only because I'm a football fan. I'm not watching because of the merit of a championship. Lord only knows which team is actually the champion. Hopefully, we won't need many more seasons like this for something to change. As far as I'm concerned, until the results are truly determined on the field, all national champions are only champs on paper. Let them play it out. Sports is all about the rise of a champion. The only way to witness that ascent is let the best play the best. Keep the decision-makers (and the money) out of it.
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