Categorized | Domestic Affairs, Entertainment, Football, Media, Point of View, Sports
BCS Bunk
by exeye
Posted on 06 December 2009 | 12:31 am 
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Well, the National Title game seems to be set. Texas kicked a – literally – last second field goal to beat Nebraska. Alabama beat Florida – whose quarterback had bible verse (16:33) on his eye-black (I guess jesus didn’t love him).
I was actually rooting for Texas to lose, since this would FINALLY have pointed out the idiocy that is the BCS “Championship” ranking system. It had sportscasters, who have to know better, seriously talking about whether Cincinnati or TCU should wind up in the championship game should Texas lose.
Cincinnati? TCU? Boise State? Seriously?
Look, I’m not saying that they don’t have good, even great, teams. I’m not saying that, on any given Saturday, that they might beat some team from a Major Conference. I’m not saying that they don’t work as hard, or give as much effort, as their Big Conference counterparts. What I’m saying is that they, in NO WAY, face the same “strength of schedule” that seems so important in determining the computer rankings. Sure, they beat some ranked opponents pre-season, but then they went into THEIR conference, and the big schools went into THEIRS.
Anybody who’s a fan of the Pac 10, or the Big 10, or the SEC, or the Big 12, knows that EVERY week is some sort of “rivalry”. And that EVERY week, the other team comes out attempting to take your head off. I’m sure there are rivalries in the smaller conferences, but they’re not decades old, they don’t have the history. In the Oregon/Oregon State game, Erin Andrews showed TWO helmets that had had to be replaced because they were broken – cracked, split. One of the major defenders got a broken leg, and others were knocked out for plays, or for the game.
My point is that, while the smaller-conference schools might have 11 starters on offense, and 11 on defense that could compete with anyone, they DO NOT have the same “depth” as the major-conference schools do. At USC, the third string players were “All State” players in high school. The big conference schools NEED that depth because they KNOW that they’re going to have injuries, there’s going to be wear and tear, just due to their conference schedule. TCU, Cincinnati, and Boise State, ALL had “squeakers” within their conference – how would THEY have done if they were playing Nebraska?
I doubt that anyone who knows anything about college football could look me in the eye and tell me that TCU, Cincinnati, or Boise State, would be undefeated if they were playing in a major conference.
There are the apologists who say – “Well it’s tough for anyone to go undefeated. It doesn’t matter WHO you play.” Really? Well, then, Notre Dame has it all wrong. They’re scheduling top teams when they should just schedule bottom-dwellers, and go undefeated, and go to the championship game. If it really doesn’t matter, then let’s get rid of that silly rule about Division II teams not counting towards your ranking – let’s just have Michigan play them, maybe some high-school teams, go undefeated, and show up for the championship.
Am I being ridiculous? Yes, but so are those who say that “It doesn’t matter who you play”. The “strength of schedule” is artificially inflated for the small conferences, so as to inflate the interest of the viewing audience and boost ratings. If not, please look me in the eye and tell me that any of the three teams I’ve mentioned would be undefeated if they had to play in, say, the Big Ten – which is having a down year. How “undefeated ” would they be if they’d had to play Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern, etc. week, after week, after week? Look at the SEC. Florida has ONE loss – to Alabama. If Alabama were NOT in their conference, those two teams might play for the National Championship, but they are. How many Florida’s, Nebraska’s, did TCU, Cincinnati, Boise State, have to get through to be “undefeated” and be seriously considered for the National Championship game?
I realize that there are many matters that have more importance, but still, relaxation is vital nowadays, and college football is a favorite of many. So why do they resist a playoff? Ratings and money. Going to a bowl game can garner millions for your school, and many more for the networks who broadcast the game. If there were a play-off system, interest in the other bowl games would be reduced – both because the REAL contest was being settled on the field, and because the best teams would be playing each other, rather than scattered throughout the other bowl games. These bowl “committees” figure in how well each team being considered “travels”, meaning how many of their fans actually travel to the game, show up, and how many tune in. And, in our capitalistic system, I guess money is the truest way to judge who’s the best.
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242,007 Comments Since March 2009 
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Not that anyone cares
– but my Super Bowl Champs Steelers just lost their fourth in a row – now 6 and 6 for the season. 
It was a Sunday of upsets — Miami beat New England also too.
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December 6th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
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Bummer, mh.
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December 6th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
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Thanks, bear. Some blown opportunities – but there it is. That’s sports – unpredictable at times! It’s going to be extremely difficult for them to get into the playoffs now.
Indianapolis looks unstoppable – 12-0.
btw – hats off to exeye for a sports thread!
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December 6th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
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So sorry, come down to BFE and I’ll buy ya a beer. He also carries wine (at his mother’s and my insistence.).
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something about testicles, got it…
sorry, i don’t know jack about football…..or any other sports with balls or ball-like objects…..
but hi, exeye!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDOhFIX3sWE&feature=related
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
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HI Kitty. Knowing about football is NOT required for U.S. citizenship – except in Texas, so it’s O.K.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
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wait. you mean Texas is still in the U.S.?
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
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Unfortunately, I believe so.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
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Only because not enough of the “secessionists” can write their names on the petition.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
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so there is no Texas Acorn?
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December 6th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
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Texas has PLENTY of nuts.
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December 6th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
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December 6th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
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but apparently required for meeting repubes….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV18EEzj9Co
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December 6th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
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December 6th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
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LOL! That was a funny movie.
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College sports for, instance, is such a huge money game now. My son’s first year at Tulane, they had the first good football team they had ever had. But their coach (one of those Bowdens) left them high and dry because he got lured away by more money. Left even before Tulane’s bowl game. Then son’s law school alma mater, Univ. of Memphis had something similar happen this year. Their basketball coach left them high and dry after being lured away to KY. Not only that– but he took all the talent that UM had PAID him to recruit. Then U of M lost their status from the year before, because one of the players had not even taken his own SAT! This guy is with the PROS now, even though EVERYTHING should be revoked from HIM, not from the team! He goes his merry way playing for the pros, and there’s no criminality attached to his having paid someone to have taken his SAT. Not only that, but that same coach who recruited him (and you know he helped in the cheating), is now sitting on his high horse at KY making a shit load of money and being fawned over by everyone.
And we expect our politicians and leaders to be any different? We exalt and applaud these people and millions turn out for this entertainment.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
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A contract means nothing to these guys. And no one seems to care that they break their contracts. They just expect it and think it’s o.k.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
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Yeah. I consider myself pretty smart, but I don’t get that. When did abiding by contracts become “Optional”?
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
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We need the bat light to call EP over.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
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Actually, in sports, at least, it started because owners and College Deans folded. The player, or coach, would threaten to “hold out” – not play or coach – leaving the team without a key player, or their coach. So, they’d fold and accede to re-negottiation – which explains the obscene paydays that the top atheletes and coaches receive, and why they tend to “show off” whenever possible.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
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OIC! So they all play the game: (wink, wink, nod, nod).
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
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Exactly. What behavior are we encouraging? One thing that makes me grind my teeth, is when someone will make a great play – in any sport – and the sportscasters say “Now THERE’S a MAN!” Really? A guy playing a game? THAT’S the image of a man we want to sell?
Another teeth-grinder is when a basketball player will slam-dunk, then pound his chest – even though his team is down by 20 with 1 minute to go in the game – or a football player does a “touchdown dance” in the end zone when his team trails by 21 in the 4th.
These are our heroes? These are “Men”?
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
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I have _never_ liked those little displays in the end zone or after a slam dunk. They’re paid enough damn money – they should be scoring points. Besides, it’s always a TEAM effort. Argh.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
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My all-time favorite football player Barry Sanders – to my, and many others mind, the greatest running back of all time – NEVER did an “end zone dance”. He just handed the ball to the ref. He said “That’s my job.” Not many like him unfortunately.
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I’m sorry. I don’t speak footballese. but good post, exeye
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
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I am here to educomate.
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December 6th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
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Thank gawd somebody is.
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Excellent post, Exeye! I am going to send it to my son….he’s the sports fanatic…
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
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Thanks.
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Ex, you hit the nail right out of the park…..heh. You kicked the winning home run from center ice on this one.
All kiddiung aside, you’re absolutely right. Teams are now scheduling “daisys” so that they have a chance of going undefeated. Top 25 teams are trying NOT to play each other. It’s ridiculous.
Go to a play-off like every other team sport and even DivII and III football programs.
Gotta go, seeya.
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December 6th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
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Thanks SI. You’re right, the current system leads to “watered down” regular season games, and a lot of ridiculous Bowl match-ups as well. We’re at the point that any major team that wins 6 games goes to a Bowl Game – isn’t that special!
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December 6th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
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Sorry ex, I know less about football than I do about repressed Republican sexual hangups.
…
but am hugely appreciative that you did a sports post!
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
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And these posts are great to draw in more folks into the discussion. Sometimes I think we drift off into the overtly female discussions–which is great, too.
But I’m also happy for a big tent, too! (just no trolliage!!!!).
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
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Very true. We need more fellas.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
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LOL! Trolliage.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
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Well, I think it’s important that we don’t get TOO fixated on just the political spectrum. Social issues (including sports) factor prominently in how the public reacts to political issues, and so, understanding sociological tendencies gets you a “foot up” on understanding the reactions to various issues.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
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sadly, “social issues” seem to be at the very heart of much of the political chitchat
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
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‘zactly. That, plus mob mentality curiosities.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
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And guys are experts at “Pitching big tents”.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
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Tee-hee. I was hoping someone would catch that!
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
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Bear – repressed sexual hang-ups are why most of the best football teams come from southern states.
Can’t get laid? Go knock some heads, either on the field, or overseas.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
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Puts a whole new spin on southern football rallies.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
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Well, I bet my nephew sold a lot of consolation beer after the game.
Boohoo. I know my family was down at the bar watching the game.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
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MY condolences.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
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No need, he just opened a bar called B F E, for Beer, Food, and Entertainment. He needs all the help (beer sales) he can get.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
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Then I hope it’s in Michigan. (Ducks, looks for Noch)
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Nice post, exeye. Although I don’t follow college football closely, I’ve always been confused about how the champion is determined. A play-off system would be more accurate, for sure. Will it happen? Probably not for the reasons you cite – money and prestige for all of these colleges that probably wouldn’t stand a chance in hell of competing against the big schools. I like watching the bowl games (and I really hate that they now name them after sponsors – yech), but it seems like a very ambiguous way of choosing who’s first.
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December 6th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
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They take “The Coaches Poll” – the rankings by the coaches (who have a vested interest in creating “drama” about the season), the “AP Poll” – Done by sportwriters who have a vested interest in creating “drama” about the season, and use it as part of a “mathematical formula”, that they enter into a computer, along with the “Strength of schedule” I spoke about, wins, offensive and defensive stats, etc., and the BCS computer vomits out the rankings.
I didn’t get into it, but, not only is the “strength of schedule” for Small Conference schools inflated, but the “stats” that figure into this formula are based, for the most part, on in-conference play. So, some small-conference school runs up some great numbers against Hofstra, for instance, and moves up in the rankings, while – like in the recent match-up – Texas looks like crap against one of the best defenses in the country in Nebraska, and sportscasters are questioning whether they should even GO to the Championship game.
The fans, the players, ALL want a play-off system. Only the ones who make money off of these games do not.
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