Yet Another Playoff/BCS Post

One of b-dowd's comments in his excellent earlier post about the bowl situation struck me and I wanted to comment on it. He said that this is one of the least-anticipated bowl seasons he can remember, and then he speculated on whether or not that was just something he was feeling. And I think the answer is that it's not and that is what makes this as good of a year as ever for a playoff.

In some years, there are three teams with a legit claim to the national title game (think the 13-0 2004 Auburn team that got shut out). In those years, a "plus 1" feels like a great solution. Let the best sort it out at the top, and let all the mediocre teams have their little, meaningless bowls. But then there are years like this one, when there's an argument among flawed teams for even the number 2 slot in the country.

One of my dingbat SEC friends said, matter-of-factly, that "LSU and Alabama are the two best teams in the country." Of course, we also hear all the time about how the reason college football doesn't need a playoff is because "the whole season is a playoff" and blah blah blah. I guess that only applies for everybody outside of the SEC. What a complete sham. Alabama had their chance, just like Houston "had their chance" and Boise "had their chance." They've all lost once. Oh, but since Alabama lost to LSU, they.....get another chance? Gee, I wonder if Boise would love another shot at TCU, who they lost two by one point, or if Houston would love another crack at Southern Miss. But I digress.

In college basketball, some years there are a handful of absolutely dominant teams and then the "rest," right? In those years, you wind up seeing everyone pick the same Final Four, or something very close. Lots of 1 and 2 seeds making it. But then there are those years -- like 2011 -- when there is maybe one or two dominant teams (or no dominant teams) and nobody has any idea who will win the championship. And aren't those the most exciting tournaments to watch? This year could be that in college football.

Sure, we know that LSU is #1 and they absolutely deserve it. For all the bashing we do on the SEC mouth-breathers, let's make no mistake here: LSU has earned every bit of the respect they have. But after that? There can definitely be arguments made, as I quickly did above, that a number of teams should get a look. There is no 100%, clear cut, #2 or #3 team. Everybody could make a claim and so just imagine an 8-team playoff or even a 16-team playoff. Here's what the top 8 in the BCS would include:

LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Oregon, Arkansas, Boise State, Kansas State.

And if we added the next 8, too?

South Carolina, Wisconsin, Va Tech, Baylor, Michigan, Oklahoma, Clemson, Georgia.

Look at that mix. You've got teams that get a "shot" that didn't have a chance previously. You've got the chance to see what Boise State could do against these big shots (if their previous BCS appearances haven't been enough). You've got teams in (like Michigan) who are hitting their stride and have been better and better as the season has worn on. And you've got the requisite number of SEC teams in there, with their chance to prove how dominant they all are, ya'll.

I'm not going to go into all the reasons (money) and points (money) about why the bowl system (money) still exists, but it's got a lot to do with money. And only for the bowl operators themselves. Even Oregon and Auburn lost money (well into the six figures) in the national title game last year. How ridiculous is that?

My point here is that this bowl season is completely boring, and that's because there aren't engaging storylines. We aren't even getting to see a great national title matchup -- we're seeing a rematch of a game that anyone with two eyes and a rudimentary knowledge of football knows sucked. And then we have the rest, none of which matters at all.

Whee! Exciting!

BCS Title Game Quick Thoughts

Oregon's 13th uni of the season.

I was playing golf with my SEC sycophant buddies here in Texas a few months ago and it was about the time Oregon was ascending to the top of the rankings. A guy on the course commented on Oregon and one of my buddies -- an LSU fan -- commented that they hadn't seen a "real defense" yet and if they played a team "like Alabama" they would get smoked. You know, the usual SEC fan propaganda.

As we got back into our carts, I was riding with a buddy who is a Georgia fan (a fan, not a graduate, as he simply grew up in Georgia) and I said, "I can't wait for Oregon to play an SEC team in a BCS bowl and absolutely paste them."

Not surprisingly, he scoffed at me.

It's always interesting how a conference to steeped in tradition and rivalries and intense, quality football is so quick to band together to tell everyone else how awesome they are, collectively. While we sometimes defend the Big Ten, I know that I personally almost always open with "Look, don't make me defend Ohio State..." Yet, these SEC clowns will be cheering for Auburn tonight, despite allegedly hating them all season long. Eh, whatever. Clowns.

As for the game itself, there's no doubt that here at BS HQ the support goes to the Ducks. We don't like a whole lot about them or the program, but we sure do want to see the SEC shut the hell up. Seeing Cam Newton lose also seems appropriate, given the filthy nature of his father. Sorry, but whether the NCAA says so or not, they're dirty.

Comparing the teams is always hard since they play completely different schedules in difference conferences. I'll of course admit the SEC is far superior to the Pac 10. However, when you look at Auburn's schedule, you'll see they had many close games, including some shootouts where they gave up a lot of points. On the other hand, Oregon had only on close call, a 15-13 win at Cal. Otherwise, the Ducks absolutely bludgeoned their opposition. Auburn spent the season "escaping" games with close wins, usually relying on Newton to make magic.

I'll tell you this much -- if Auburn sleeps through the first half like they did against Alabama and goes down 3 or 4 scores, they are cooked. There will be no coming back from a deep hole against this Oregon squad. Sure, Auburn is the only one out there who could but I don't think they will. That said, if the game is close at the end, you'd have to put your money on Cam. (Pun intended.)

I think Oregon will win this game, but that's going back to how I felt during the college football season, which ended almost two months ago. I can barely remember it now. Smooth, NCAA, smooth!

Oregon 38
Auburn 26

An Important Poll Question for BS Readers

Photo not meant to imply Danny Hope will lead Purdue to a national title

This is something that we discussed on the Handsome Hour last week and I think it's fun to debate. I'll put the poll on the site but here's the question:

Between Purdue football and Purdue basketball, which would you prefer to have a national championship in?

The parameters are this:

-- You can only have one.

-- The time period is, let's say, five years from now...2015. I say this so that you don't say "Well, I'd want JJ and Smooge to get a national title, so I'll say basketball."

-- I'm saying, irrespective of who is playing for the teams, which sport would you want to see win a national title more and why?

-- We're aware that the football team is no where close and may never be, etc. But if I could wave the magic wand... which would it be?

It's always fun to dream...

Reading Playboy For The Articles

So in our inbox this afternoon we get a friendly tip from a helpful junior publicist that Playboy's December issue, which is just hitting newsstands, contains their college preview. And that in that college preview, they've named Purdue their #1 team and national champion for 2011.

Wow. Fantastic. Finally, a big media outlet that gets it! Giving Purdue their due!

So I open the PDF of the article he provided and scan it, eagerly anticipating their analysis. And I find this:

Who will win it all? The Boilermakers from Purdue. The team's nucleus -- Robbie Hummel, E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson -- have seemingly played together since the Truman administration. And 2011 is the year the trio will finally stay injury free, perhaps blessed with good health from above by the recently departed John Wooden, a Purdue alum, which should propel them to the national championship. 

Oh.

Oh, I see. You haven't yet heard.

I do like that Playboy thinks Purdue will win the national championship because John Wooden recently died. Hell, I guess that's as good an analysis as any you'll get on ESPN, with buffoons wearing mascot heads or yelling "DOINK!"

An Obligatory Look at Our Awesome Bowl System

I'll tell you, this sure is better than a playoff! Who wants to see exciting games, anyway?

No, let's have a joke of a "selection show" and then we can sit around for a month and then let teams play for mythical titles and have 32 of 33 bowls (97%) mean positively zero.

Awesome.

Let's start with the BCS bowl games, though, followed by some miscellaneous thoughts.

BCS National Championship Game -- Texas versus Alabama, 1/7/10

First, why must this be dragged out to January 7 now? You're more than a month past the final games of these two teams and that's only true because they played conference championship games (which, curiously, are okay and don't impact studying, fans traveling, etc., while a playoff would hinder these things).

Anyway, Texas looked pedestrian on Saturday and Alabama looked dominant. Truth is, Nebraska's defense is very good and Florida was only as good as they were because Tebow was willing them to wins. They were exposed for what they are -- a top five team, but not the best team in the country. This game will be closer than people think right now as long as Colt McCoy and Mack Brown don't forget what a clock looks like. I sincerely hope Texas pounds Alabama so that SEC sycophants shut their pie-holes for a while. The SEC is like any other conference this year -- deal with it.

Orange Bowl -- Iowa versus Georgia Tech, 1/5/10

Yawn. Seriously, who cares besides Iowa and G-Tech supporters? And this is a marquee bowl game, we're told. BCS and all. Yes, it's very nice for these programs to make a BCS bowl and it reaps millions for their programs and conferences. But for those who like meaningful football? Georgia Tech was a great story until they fell on their faces against a mediocre Georgia team. Sure, they won the ACC title game against unranked Clemson, but isn't that like winning your rec league softball tournament? It's fun and your family cheers for you, but does it matter? No.

And Iowa was another great story until the roof collapsed on them, they lost two of three end the season and Stanzi ran the ole "Roll out unprotected in the end zone and then fold your knee sideways" play.

Fiesta Bowl -- TCU versus Boise State, 1/4/10

You suck, BCS. Seriously, you're a bunch of ladies bicycle seats. You've probably heard this argument already, but my first thought was what a bunch of bullsh-t. This is a clever strategy by the BCS to further marginalize these programs. This way, neither of them can beat a big boy and make the BCS looks stupid. Last year, Utah beat Alabama. In 2007, Boise beat Oklahoma. So here's a solution -- have them play each other and you accomplish a couple things:

1) You'll have one less undefeated team making a claim they should have had a shot.
2) You can trivialize the winner's record by still pointing out they haven't played a big timer.
3) You can pretend this is "what everyone wants" by having two undefeated teams play each other.

Of course, one might argue that having TWO BCS bowl games pitting undefeated teams kind of further underscores the point that this could be a perfect playoff scenario. But they'll keep their fingers in their ears and keep squawking that there's "no perfect solution" and since there is no perfect solution, we shouldn't even try to do what practically everybody who has ever loved college football wants. Awesome.

Sugar Bowl -- Florida versus Cincinnati, 1/1/10

Will Florida care? I think yes, since Tebow is probably pissed and wants to run someone over by sixty. Unfortunately, Chattanooga isn't available. Cinci got jobbed, of course, since you can't even claim they're from a non-BCS power conference. And if anyone thinks Brian Kelly shouldn't be considering going to Notre Dame, keep in mind his team has gone 12-0 playing in a BCS conference, they played out of conference teams in the Pac Ten (at Oregon State) and Big Ten (home vs. Illinois) and pounded many quality opponents (i.e., 47-15 over an 8-4 Rutgers team)... and yet still don't get to play for the title. Can you blame coaches for wanting to go where they might be able to get into the biggest games? Games that, you know, matter for more than a payday for your school?

Rose Bowl -- Ohio State versus Oregon, 1/1/10

Two 10-2 teams in one of the few bowl games left with any semblance of the "tradition" we hear so much about. For those bitching about OSU representing the Big Ten poorly in BCS games, well, you can't blame Purdue this year, as our boys gave OSU their only Big Ten loss. Somebody needs to step up and knock these guys off their Big Ten champs pedestal or else we should all shut up.

Which Oregon shows up? This school hasn't won the Rose Bowl since, if you can believe this, 1917. They'll have to be up for this game, especially considering this is probably the only BCS bowl game for which it is not a letdown for the two participants. Think about that, BCS defenders. Aside from the National Championship game, who else got what they wanted out of this vaunted bowl system?

Miscellaneous Bowl Thoughts

Bobby Bowden and his 6-6 Florida State team gets to go to the flipping Gator Bowl -- a Jan 1 bowl game in Florida -- against West Virginia. I have no problem with WVU being there, but Florida State jumped a number of more deserving teams....obviously. And this is just a frreaking shravesty. Because the old man is being forced out, now we're going to pretend we're sad to see him go? And we're going to just make up the rules as we go? I guess we can, since it's a meaningless bowl system. Go for it! Too bad Joe Tiller didn't have more national attention -- maybe he could have asked for a bowl game in his final season despite not deserving it. What a joke. Have fun being rolled by WVU, Bobby. If you even know what's going on anymore.

Minnesota and Iowa State will play in the Insight Bowl on New Year's Eve in the only bowl matchup featuring not one winning team. How awful. I know there are lots of bowl slots, but come on. This shouldn't happen.

Notre Dame decides not to play in a bowl game. The initial reaction here is that they're too snooty and are above Little Ceasars Bowls and the like. While their alums and "fans" no doubt do indeed believe this, I don't think this is the primary reason for not going. It's likely got a lot more to do with what all bowl games have to do with -- money. As in, UND doesn't make enough to make going to one of these tiny bowls worth it. Of course, it would be a windfall for these tiny bowls because people would actually watch, in the hopes that UND could lose to a MAC team. Oh well. Jimmy Heisman has declared for the draft, anyway. I wonder what that magician (with his sparkling 16-21 record at UND) will do in the NFL. Did he declare for the draft from the NFL Hall of Fame?

BS Tourney Challenge -- Still Up For Grabs

It seems like weeks ago that we started the BS Tourney Challenge. Oh, yeah, it was. Since then, the Boilermakers have achieved about what we thought they might, the Big East was anointed the best conference ever by Digger Phelps, and Penn State won a national basketball championship.

And here we are, with just one more college basketball game to go this season. Remember, the winner of the BS Challenge gets a snazzy t-shirt (similar to picture) and the chance to voice themselves on our airwaves (Webwaves?), while second place only gets a t-shirt. Third place gets an ass-grab from Tim. And remember, coffee is for closers.

So where are we? Our leader in the clubhouse -- and winner if UNC wins the whole thing -- is DELA WHERE????, who accurately prognosticated MSU versus UNC in the final game. Nicely done.

Hail Leroy hangs on to second place and will continue to hang on with a UNC win.

But who can derail these two? The top 8 in the standings all have UNC winning and thus will all remain in lockstep if that happens. However, Digger's Stinky Palm and The Bracket have MSU winning it all and, thus, will finish 1-2 if that happens. Interestingly, only about six entries have Sparty winning it all. So either Purdue's blowout over them made people think they didn't have what it takes or everyone began believing the ESPN hype about the Big East.

If you wind up being the winner -- and really, the only two winners can be DELA WHERE???? or Digger's Stinky Palm -- please shoot us a note at boiledsports@gmail.com so we can correspond and get your guest-spot set up. Your brilliance will be required by early afternoon on Thursday and will be posted Friday morning so start thinking about what to say. It's kind of like the Oscars.

Good luck, all.

KU Wins; Somewhere Roy Williams Cries Softly

I can't even imagine what it feels like to see your school win a national title... so congrats Kansas fans. This must be amazing, especially to win such a terrific championship game.

I've always liked Kansas personally, and I think I've picked them to win it all about a half-dozen times (at least) over the last ten years. Their a consistently solid program that just isn't as inherently hate-able as Duke, UNC, UCLA, etc. Sure, there are those who hate them, but I think it's generally harder to. Maybe that's just me.

I have never liked Memphis, however, especially since the day back in about -- what? -- '96 or so, when Lorenzen Wright ghetto-balled the Tigers way past the Boilers in the tourney.

Still, as much as I've never liked Memphis, as this game got down to the final minutes, I really did find myself feeling bad that somebody had to lose. The game -- and the Final Four, really -- had what we all want: Exciting games between the best teams in the country. Can't ask for much more... unless you root for Memphis, that is.

Memphis' free-throw shooting finally did do them in, though I think it was more that Kansas was just a very resilient team. Either way, good show. Put Dickie V, Digger and Old Man Knight back into their formaldehyde jars now.

Midnight Madness in just seven months.

The Boiled Sports Championship Series

Hey, I have a wild idea -- how about making the Bowl Championship Series an actual, you know, SERIES? I know, I know, this is crazy talk I'm spouting here. But it is called a "series" and it's really anything but. And yes, I know we need to get used to the idea that universities and the old, crotchety men who control the bowl games are not interested in a playoff.... BUT, it's fun to talk about this time of year. And I think one of the main reasons it's fun for me to talk about is that it's just so damn simple and logical to come up with any number of better scenarios to close out the college football season than the way they currently do that it's laughable.

First, the arguments against a playoff or bracket-type tourney need to go away. This argument that the players are in school and all that crap is downright insulting to the rest of us. College basketball players miss tons of school since many of their games are played on weeknights and then nearly all conferences have a conference tourney in early March followed by the famous gigantic nationwide tourney for the rest of March and into April. Yet they all seem to get by.

And let's not forget that college football players travel all season long. And they play spring ball. So to suggest a few more games in late December or early January -- when nearly every single school in the nation is on break -- would hurt these guys academically is disingenuous at best and a giant F you to the fans with working brains at worst.

How about the idea that they shouldn't play so many games since they're only in college and aren't professionals. This is similar to the argument too many OTs are "dangerous." Please. Where was the concern over additional games when D-1 schools were allowed to add a 12th regular season game a few years back? Where's the concern about those conferences that have a conference championship game?

Speaking of which, one of the other idiotic arguments that are always brought up is that you can't ask a school's fans and alumni to travel to multiple playoff games. Why not, exactly? They play 4-6 road games a year and fans travel to those. And the aforementioned conference championships put teams into "playoff" type games far from home already once.... and then you add a bowl game, so you're already asking the fans to travel many times. What's a couple more? Do people really think that Ohio State fans or LSU fans or Oklahoma fans or Michigan fans or USC fans wouldn't travel to multiple playoff games? Really? Of course not... nobody really believes that the fans wouldn't be there. It's idiotic and, again, insulting to suggest that. People go to the effing Music City Bowl; they'll come to playoff games.

So what do I propose? Well, I propose what I've proposed to anyone who will listen for several years now. A small playoff, consisting of the top 6 teams in the country. Feel free to continue to use the BCS formula to determine this listing. And feel free to keep all the crappy bowl games that currently exist. Sure, they won't mean anything but, guess what -- they don't mean anything now, either!

Your top-6 BCS ranked teams are as follows:

1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Va Tech
4. Oklahoma
5. Georgia
6. Mizzou

Sure, we've eliminated teams like USC, Kansas, WVU and Hawaii. But you can make easy cases to exclude them just like the cases made to exclude them from the title game: USC lost to a 41-point dog at home, Kansas played the 109th schedule in the nation, WVU just lost to Dave Wannstadt, and Hawaii plays in a joke conference.

Another supposed ill of a playoff is that it would make the regular season not mean as much. I beg to differ. Notice that Michigan is still gone? And USC? And one-loss Kansas? I'd say those teams would find their regular season games just as critical as they do under the current system, wouldn't you agree?

And if you're going to complain that "perfect" Hawaii doesn't get a shot under my system, then you're right. But they get no shot under the current system, either. And let them play four or five tough nonconference games and then their cupcake conference and maybe their strength of schedule will get them into the top 6.

In addition, one more way to make the regular season continue to "matter" and those to keep those top 2 spots just as coveted as they are now, would be to give teams #1 and 2 a bye in the first round of the Boiled Sports Championship Series (BSCS).

First up, for argument's sake, is #3 Va Tech versus #6 Mizzou. And let's just say that's played in the Sugar Bowl. That same weekend is #4 Oklahoma versus #5 Georgia in, for example, the Fiesta Bowl.

Now, even in this college football season where there has been so much upheaval and no clear above-the-cut teams, imagine the possibilities here. First of all, Oklahoma versus UGA would be an awesome matchup that a lot of people would love to see. It'd be like the current BCS Orange Bowl except that, after it's over, the winner would be moving on to another huge game.

So now we've got two winners from the first weekend of the BSCS. Let's say, just for fun, that it's Oklahoma and Mizzou. Well, now we bring OSU and LSU into the fray and continue with highest seed playing lowest seed, and so forth.

The National Semi-Finals would be #1 Ohio State versus #6 Mizzou in the Rose Bowl, while #2 LSU and #4 Oklahoma would tangle in the Fiesta Bowl.

And then what might happen? Could Mizzou's dream season continue and perhaps put them into a National Championship against the one team able to beat them (twice) this year, Oklahoma? Or maybe OSU and LSU would wind up against one another for the title anyway. Who knows?

What we do know is that this would make for an impossible-to-dispute national champ and it would take all of three weekends. Looking at this year's calendar, how about 12/22, 12/29 and 1/5? Or 12/29, 1/5 and 1/12? It's right in the same wheelhouse as the current bowl dates and the most your team would play is three total games, or two more than they're currently playing.

Now, obviously, there are those who would love a system like this to be expanded to two dozen teams or things like that. But I've got no problem with keeping it exclusive. I do agree that one of college football's wonderful things is how critical the regular season games are. Expanding this playoff field much bigger would indeed minimize that importance.

Beyond these six teams, as I said, the other bowls that litter the landscape of college football could very easily continue to be played without upsetting anything or anyone. Those 7-5 teams out there would still love some postseason football and the bowls would love the cash. It's a perfect match.

As for the BCS bowls, you just keep rotating them as to who has the first round, semi-finals, etc., just like they currently rotate the national title game. It's really not that hard. Hell, I was able to come up with this and I think about boobs most of the day.

Your thoughts are welcome in the comments.