CHICAGO, December 6, 2011 ― Last Sunday night, college football released the schedule for its Bowl Championship Series. The only real game out of all of them was the one whose competitors were pre-determined; four of the ten teams that were invited to college’s big dance have two or three losses.
The BCS is in big trouble with anyone north of Louisiana after presenting this line-up of completely senseless garbage.
Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio, Wisconsin vs. Oregon – This is the only one of the five games that doesn’t make the casual fan sick to their stomach. Wisconsin had a solid season, losing only twice on complete miracles and navigating the rest of their season with relative ease. They have two superstars in Montee Ball and Russell Wilson, and winning the Big 10 is never an easy feat.
Oregon could also easily be considered as one of the best teams in the country. Losing only to the resurgent USC Trojans and running into the brick wall of LSU, Oregon redeemed itself by stamping out the Stanford Cardinal undefeated bid late in the season. LaMichael James is easily one of the most explosive players in the game today, and the office only seems to get faster. This is a sensible bowl game; don’t get used to that.
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Stanford vs. Oklahoma State – The only issue that can (and will) be taken with this game is that Oklahoma State won’t be battling for the national championship with LSU, but more on that later. Stanford has exploded with Andrew Luck, their All-World quarterback, and an incredibly balanced offense. Combine that with a solid defense and you get an 11-1 team that completely deserves a BCS game.
Allstate Sugar Bowl, Michigan vs. Virginia Tech – This is the worst of them all, the BCS showing off its fully fledged corruption by staging a Popularity Bowl. There is absolutely no reason for either of these teams to be in a BCS bowl game besides the revenue. There’s literally not one single good reason. Michigan lost to Iowa and Michigan State this year. It’s important to notice how that sums to two losses, whereas one-loss Boise State and a much higher ranked Kansas State weren’t included. BCS bowl officials weren’t even sure if Michigan would finish high enough to be eligible for a bowl, but they swipe a spot at thirteenth? Did you catch the fact that one of the losses was to Iowa? That’s just a little (very) embarrassing.
Virginia Tech did exactly what their coach said, somehow in a boasting tone, that they did: They “lost to the same team twice.” Once again notice how that implies a total of two losses. Boise and Kansas State sure did. Tech lacked the coaching ability to adjust to their first loss and avenge it, which in itself should exclude them from any BCS consideration. Losing to the same team twice in one season sure doesn’t make you seem like one of the most talented, hungry teams in the nation.
The Boise State Broncos are fuming at their exclusion from this game, and rightfully so. Ranked at least four spots higher than both of these teams, and with one less loss, the Broncos are headed to the MAACO Bowl to play a .500 Arizona State team. Chris Peterson, Boise State’s now legendary and usually humble coach, finally lashed out at the BCS at this most recent exclusion, saying that “Everybody is tired of the BCS.” America couldn’t agree more, coach.
Discover Orange Bowl, West Virginia vs. Clemson – No one’s really sure why this is even considered a BCS game. Two teams that, both ranked in the twenties, with three losses, battling in a BCS bowl game. Was this some sort of cruel joke to tell Boise State and Kansas State to shove it? Is winning the Big East really an accomplishment? Is winning the ACC really even an accomplishment anymore? This is the one that’ll most likely have Bronco and Kansas State fans completely furious. Congratulations to West Virginia, you squeezed into the top 25 teams in the country, and also to Clemson, which lost three games this year by an average of 23 points. But these two teams definitely deserve a BCS bowl, and Kim Kardashian deserves donations to help finance her next wedding.
Allstate BCS National Championship Game, LSU vs. Alabama – If you were told about a team that had one loss, didn’t even win its division within its conference, and skipped the last week of the regular season because of that, what would you think? National championship contender, of course! This game is what it would be like if Michael Phelps went into hibernation for the next full year, missed all of the qualifying events, and woke up just in time to compete in the Olympics. It’s like the Lakers sleeping until June and waking up to play in the Finals. It’s the most ridiculous thing this sport has seen in quite a long time. The Alabama Crimson Tide had their chance against LSU, and choked their brains out, turning in one of the least clutch performances seen since that whole Bill Buckner fiasco. Six points in the game of the century sure screams “best-in-the-country” to me. Should they win, their season consisted of splitting the season series with their rival, finishing second in their division, having one loss and being the national champions.
Oklahoma State deserves to be in this game, especially after dismantling preseason number one Oklahoma in its last game of the season. Alabama got its shot at LSU, and they completely blew it. But hey, no one plays college football north of Louisiana, right? Boise State never smacked Georgia, and the SEC East wasn’t a complete crapshoot this year, and LSU and Bama face the toughest schedule in the country when going up against the likes of 2-10 Ole Miss and 6-6 Mississippi State. The SEC doesn’t deserve the credit it gets for being the deepest conference in the nation with those teams.
Alabama had its chance to beat LSU. If American sports fans want what’s best for college football, they’ll turn on their TV’s in January, take five seconds to accumulate mucus, and launch one at their TV. This is terrible.
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