The fraud that is OU Football exposed tonight - USC and LSU should meet for the championship

dateline: Texas Stadium | 12/6/03 | Jamail Holloway's fur coat at the Orange Bowl

[Diddle E. Squat]

Congrats to K. State, Big 12 Champs. They spanked the pompous overrated Sooners 35-7 tonight in the Big 12 Championship game. Meanwhile USC and LSU continued to roll with big wins(52-28 and 34-13(with 3 minutes left, respectively.)

No way should OU be chosen by the BCS to play in the Sugar Bowl, the pollsters and computers should drop them hard to at least #3(Michigan is probably better, but they do have 2 losses.) What a fraud the BCS is, can anyone reasonable prove that OU is better than LSU and USC, both of who have dominated late in the season? Yet just like with Nebraska a few years ago, OU will probably back in based on bogus prior rankings, overrated hype, and a scam of a system.

OU didn't just lose, they got their butts whooped. If they had lost by just a few points, one could make a decent argument that perhaps they below in the mythical national championship game. But not after this lame performance, and the impressive play of USC and LSU in the last month. 2 teams are going up, 1 is going down. But once again, the BCS is probably going to show how utterly bogus it is. Besides, I'd say its 50-50 that right now Michigan could beat them all, just as with USC the year before.

Without a playoff, its all just figure skating.

[Skooz]

A playoff system will do to football what it has done to basketball.

No one cares about college basketball until March. It doesn't matter who wins or loses how many games.

College football games in September and October are currently a big deal with much on the line. Under a playoff system, those same games will be like the NFL pre-season. Yawn.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Yep, I agree that that is the ultimate nightmare scenario. So I'm torn, do I root harder against the BCS or the Sooners?

[Lunatic Fringe]

Nobody cares about basketball because 64 teams make the tournament. YAWN.

A limited 12 team playoff would be very exciting and generate more revenue for the schools.

[doug from upland]

Special to ESPN.com
ESPN's Brad Edwards breaks down the impact of Syracuse's 38-12 win over Notre Dame -- a result that may allow LSU to make it to the BCS championship game:

Edwards: "Notre Dame's loss weakens USC and will allow LSU to finish with a better schedule strength than the Trojans. If LSU and Boise State (an 11-point favorite at Hawaii) both win tonight, LSU will end up at least five schedule strength spots ahead of USC, which means the Tigers would only need supremacy in six computers to make up the rest of its current deficit. I believe they will finish ahead of USC in at least six, if not all seven computers.

USC could beat Oregon State by 50, and it won't matter, because LSU doesn't need to jump USC in the human polls. LSU should be in the Nokia Sugar Bowl with a win tonight unless Hawaii beats Boise State, which would make it necessary for LSU to get one-tenth of a point in quality-win bonus from Georgia remaining in the BCS top 10. If LSU is able to jump USC in all seven computers, however, the quality-win points won't be necessary.

If LSU and Boise State both win, USC's only remaining chance would be for Oklahoma to lose and fall to No. 2 in the polls -- between USC and LSU. If the Sooners lose and fall to No. 3 in both polls, then USC would be No. 1 in both polls and finish third in the BCS.

Basically, if LSU, Oklahoma and Boise State all win tonight, I feel confident that LSU will be No. 2 when the BCS comes out tomorrow."

Brad Edwards is a researcher for ESPN. His Road to the BCS column appears every Sunday.

========================================

DFU NOTE: Hawaii leads Boise St. 7-0 in 1st Quarter

[PRND21]

USC and LSU should meet for the championship

USC has the longest winning streak of the once defeated teams.
They still might get ripped off...F the BCS!

[Skooz]

And how many years before those 12 teams turn into 16? Then 24? Then 36?

It will only be a matter of time.

Yes the college playoffs would be very exciting, once they began. But, very few would give a rip until the playoffs (read: real season) began.

Giving college football a two month preseason is not the answer.

[Lunatic Fringe]

The fact that this decision may come down to how the COMPUTERS rank the teams is ridiculous....

[Diddle E. Squat]

Baloney. If its limited to 8-16 teams, a playoff is far different than 64. Integrate the current bowls, then play 2 games after the bowls(highest ranked conf.champs host at home stadiums), followed by a championship.

There would still be plenty of meaning in the regular season, conf. champ. still carries a lot of weight(recall how important home field is in the NFL playoffs), perhaps a system with 6 conf. champs, 4 wildcards, so the 6 champs get a bye before the BCS bowls on New Years, and the wildcards an extra game. With only 4 non conf. champ. teams getting in, the regular season and every game are still huge.

[Lunatic Fringe]

My answer to that would be that only CONFERENCE champions make the playoffs, which would make the regular season matchups important.

[dennis1x]

ummm..the winner of the Sugar Bowl is THE national champion....there are no other scenarios......eg the winner of the Rose Bowl.

[dennis1x]

computers factoring in strength of schedule is not ridiculous at all.

[Lunatic Fringe]

You would have to include all 12 conferences, not just 6. Look at how TCU almost shook things up this year.

[Lunatic Fringe]

computers factoring in strength of schedule is not ridiculous at all.

I'm talking about the computer rankings... not SoS.

[dennis1x]

TCU wouldnt have finished in the top 5 of any of the major 6 conferences..

[Skooz]

That is a recipe for deeming September games almost irrelevent.

Under the current (albeit very flawed) system, every game is of monumental importance to someone. That is one of the things that makes college football so exciting: so much is on the line in every game.

A playoff would take much of that away.

[Lunatic Fringe]

BCS Explained

Poll Average: Average of ESPN/USA Today Coaches and AP Media Polls. Others receiving votes calculated in order received.

Computer Average: Average of Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, New York Times, Jeff Sagarin's USA Today and the Peter Wolfe rankings. The computer component will be determined by averaging six of the seven rankings. The lowest (worst) computer ranking will be disregarded.

Schedule Rank: Rank of schedule strength compared to other Division I-A teams of actual games played divided by 25. This component is calculated by determining the cumulative won/loss records of the team's opponent (66.6 percent) and the cumulative won/loss records of the teams' opponents opponents (33.3 percent).

Losses: One point for each loss during the season.

Quality Win Component: The quality win component will reward to varying degrees teams that defeat opponents ranked among the top 10 in the weekly standings. The bonus point scale will range from a high of 1.0 points for a win over the top ranked team to a low of 0.1 for a victory over the 10th-ranked BCS team. The BCS Standings at the end of the season will determine final quality win points. If a team registers a victory over a team more than once during the regular season, quality points will be awarded just once. Quality win points are based on the standings determined by the subtotal. The final standings are reconfigured to reflect the quality win point deduction.

Notes:
1. Teams on NCAA probation (i.e. not eligible for postseason competition) are not listed in the BCS Standings. Teams with victories over teams on probation will receive appropriate quality winpoints.

2. The Nokia Sugar Bowl on January 4, 2004, will host the BCS National Championship Game and determine which team will be presented The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame's ADT National Championship Trophy.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Brad Edwards at ESPN is now projecting that even if OU falls to #3 in both polls, they will still be #1 in the BCS, LSU #2, and USC #3(and royally screwed).

The BCS is a total fraud.

[Skooz]

My answer to that would be that only CONFERENCE champions make the playoffs, which would make the regular season matchups important.

That would be a good plan. But, it would require that every conference hold a championship game, as well as probably shuffling around some teams to make the conferences more equitable. Also, say goodby (for better or worse) to all independents. They would be forced to join a conference.

[PRND21]

Exactly. You lose, you should drop. You win, you should rise or stay.
Ohio State passed USC two weeks ago after USC won 45-0. What's logical about that?

[Skooz]

Yep. No matter who gets into the Sugar Bowl, one team is going to have a legitimate beef with the BCS.