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We've all got questions for the BCS. Even the kid in the photo is tired from staying up all night with the hopes that his future alma mater will play for the National Championship. But the next four weeks will be crucial for everyone in the country...

BCS 2008: A Simple Game of What Ifs Turns Complicated

by Ron Johnson (Senior Writer)

5

269 reads

Editorial

November 21, 2008

College Football, SEC Football, Big 12 Football, Big Ten Football, Pac-10 Football, BCS Controversy, Editorial

We've all got questions for the BCS. Even the kid in the photo is tired from staying up all night with the hopes that his future alma mater will play for the National Championship. But the next four weeks will be crucial for everyone in the country.

Who would have thought that a simple game of "What if..." would become so complicated in such a short period of time?

What If...Texas Tech beats Oklahoma this weekend?

If the Red Raiders defeat the Sooners tomorrow, this means that the talk about three way ties and Longhorns in the BCS Championship will officially cease. The Raiders will win the Big XII South outright, and if they can beat Missouri, they will win the Big XII Championship and a berth into the BCS Championship.

What If...Michigan State upsets Penn State?

The Spartans win the Big Ten Championship with a victory over the Nittany Lions and an Ohio State loss to Michigan (like that's going to happen). Michigan State is slightly underrated this season, but people seem to realize just how good they are. But are they good enough to beat Penn State in Happy Valley? Some would say no...but anything can happen on College Football Weekend.

What If...Tech, Oklahoma and Texas all finish with one loss?

This is where the Big XII gets complicated. They're saying that they will go with who is ranked higher, but doesn't Tech deserve to be higher than Texas? Since Oklahoma beat Tech, do they deserve to rank higher than Texas? Complicated, ain't it? Here's the simple solution. #3 Texas Tech, #4 Oklahoma & #5 Texas. How complicated can a computer make it?

What If...Florida beats Alabama for the SEC Championship?

If Florida finishes the season with the one loss, they'll most likely move up to #2, therefore setting up a #1 Alabama vs. #2 Florida matchup for the SEC Championship in Atlanta. If Florida wins, they'll have no choice but to place them in the BCS Championship Game in Miami. But the Gators aren't thinking about Alabama at the moment...they're thinking about Florida State in Tallahassee next weekend.

What If...Oregon State wins the Pac-10 Championship?

Yes, it's possible for the Trojans to win the Pac-10 Championship. But it's also possible for the Beavers to win it as well. If in the event that both teams lose one more conference game, USC wins the conference. But if they finish tied atop the Pac-10 at season's end, guess who wins it? Oregon State wins the Pac-10 Conference, and USC's slim hopes of a BCS Championship berth go up in smoke completely.

What If...the current #1 and #2 remain undefeated and win their conferences?

Then all this talk would be for nothing. Texas would most likely play Florida in a BCS game. Oklahoma would have a rematch with Boise State. And the remaining conference champions? Well...that's not important in this part of the conversation. But the BCS Championship Game will have an undisputed #1 and #2 team in Alabama and Texas Tech. But Tech losing to three to Alabama as one fan believes? That's not going to happen.

What If...there was a playoff system in place?

The current system has been flawed since its arrival. No one is expecting perfection, but we are getting pretty sick of the mountain of controversy that seems to be surrounding it year after year. If there was a playoff system in place, the four best teams (record wise) in the Big XII (Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Texas & Missouri) would get a fair shot at the BCS Championship. But it brings more of a catastrophe than a solution this season. You got conference champions, better records and record against Top 25, Top 10 & Top 5 teams.

There are too many teams to make a playoff system now...unless you're thinking the Top 20 teams or Top 12 teams. But even then, there would be someone who would have a problem with this.

So...what if everything happens the way we expect it to happen?

Two simple answers: Grab a beer, some burgers & some alka seltzer to watch the game and if it didn't work out for you this year...sorry about your damn luck!

But that's just my opinion.

Author Poll

Hypothetically, who has more to gain from winning their conference?

  • USC
  • Texas
  • Oklahoma
  • Florida
  • Oregon State
  • Texas Tech
  • Penn State
  • Michigan State
  • Alabama
vote to see results
Author Poll Results

Hypothetically, who has more to gain from winning their conference?

  • USC

    6.9%
  • Texas

    13.8%
  • Oklahoma

    6.9%
  • Florida

    20.7%
  • Oregon State

    3.4%
  • Texas Tech

    24.1%
  • Penn State

    0.0%
  • Michigan State

    6.9%
  • Alabama

    17.2%
  • Total votes: 29
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comments (5) write a comment »

  1. "What If...there was a playoff system in place?"

    You wouldn't have had a very interesting article to write.

    1. Ha ha!

  2. About your answer to the "What If...Florida beats Alabama for the SEC Championship?" question, I doubt if Florida will jump 11-1 Texas if the Gators finish 11-1 themselves.

    That one loss to unranked Ole Miss at home will always hurt the Gators as opposed to a road loss to an unbeaten team whoz currenly ranked #2. We could sit here all day and argue about this but we don't make the decisions. The pollsters and the computers do and most likely they'll keep Florida behind Texas until the Gators beat #1 Bama in the SEC CG.

    If that happens, then the 12-1 Gators SURELY jump Texas. Guaranteed.

    1. Pay attention, Raider. If Florida wins out all the way to the SEC Championship, what will their record be going into that game against Alabama?

      Now if they beat Alabama for the SEC Championship, what will their record be?

      In regards to the Ole Miss statement, Ole Miss is helping Florida whether they know it or not. They are now bowl eligible which makes the resume of Florida better. Next week, I will be unveiling part two of this Texas-Florida fiasco, only if Tech loses to Oklahoma.

      For your sake, I hope that doesn't happen.

      Good luck against the Sooners tonight. We'll be watching.

  3. "If in the event that both teams lose one more conference game, USC wins the conference."

    How? If Oregon State loses to Arizona but beats Oregon, it goes 7-2 in conference play. USC's only conference game is against UCLA. If they lose that one, they go 7-2 as well.

    We have a tie at the top again with only 2 teams having 2 conference losses i.e. USC and Oregon State. H2H tiebreaker says Oregon St. wins the conf.

    However, if Oregon St. loses one more conf game but IT IS TO OREGON, then things get interesting.

    - USC would finish 7-2 having lost to Oregon State and UCLA but beaten Oregon.
    - Oregon State would finish 7-2 having lost to Stanford and Oregon but beaten USC.
    - Oregon would finish 7-2 having lost to USC and Cal but beaten Oregon State.

    I don't know Pac-10 rules but then since we have a 3-way tie, we'd have to declare the team with the highest BCS ranking as the conf. champ, right? So then it would be USC.

    So what you said holds true only if that one conference loss (of OSU) is to Oregon.

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