Another BCS Rant

It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: college football has got to get rid of the current BCS system. Every year at least one team gets shafted, sometimes worse than others: remember a couple years ago when Auburn went undefeated, won the SEC, and their bowl game and finished second? Yea, I know there are other more prominent ones, but this is the one I remember. Most fans will be quick to share their favorite sob story before you can even finish the question. The problem, though, does more than just tick off a few fans every year; it dampens the excitement of a great sport. Sportswriters can talk all day about who they think will win on paper, but as it’s been said, the game isn’t played on paper. That’s the reason all that time and money is spent actually going out to the field and playing the game. You never know what can happen, which is precisely what makes it so exciting.

For example, take Boise State’s thrilling win in the Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma on Monday. You’ve probably heard about this by now even if you aren’t a sports fan because it’s been everywhere. Yesterday I heard mention of it in discussion groups I’m a part of, on NPR, Sports Center, the evening news, the newspaper, heck they were still talking about it today in the news. For those that don’t know the story, it goes something like this: Boise State came into the game as an underdog and no one gave them a chance to win outside of the Boise State campus. As Terry Bowden put it in his column today:

I couldn't find one college football analyst or expert who picked them. Who possibly could have predicted that Boise State, which moved to Division I-A just a decade ago, could beat Oklahoma, the team with the highest paid coach in college football (well, as of Jan. 2), the best facilities, the best athletes, seven national championships and arguably the best winning tradition anywhere?

But they did win and they did it with more excitement than has been seen in awhile. In case you didn’t catch the two trick plays that tied and won the game, you can find the hook and ladder play here and the statue of liberty play here. The amazing thing is that these plays, especially the latter, are a part of football folklore and haven’t worked in a game in years. But they did on Monday.

And that’s just it. Depriving 13-0 Boise State of a shot at the title, as well as all the other teams with good records, is depriving the country of a really great story. Of course there are far more important issues in our world, but sometimes the only way to deal with the day to day difficulties is to get your mind off things. That’s why we like sports, they let us act out our frustrations and emotions in a controlled environment. Games like Monday’s Fiesta Bowl unite and inspire and I guess I’d just like to see more chances for those kinds of moments.