College football gets political
If you're a regular reader, you know this little blog is all about politics. So it only comes natural for me to rant about the political fallout of the current college football controversy.
Not sure what I'm talking about? Just turn on ESPN or any other sports talk show and listen to all the high and mighty "experts" talk about the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) national championship game. Here's the skinny...Ohio State will play Florida for the division 1 national title on January 8th in Glendale, Arizona. But how we got to those two teams is the source of controversy. Then again, what about the BCS isn't controversial.
The BCS is the antiquated formula the NCAA uses to decide who is No. 1 and No. 2 at the end of the college football season. This formula uses computers and voters to try and figure this mess out. It seems having a playoff like every single other college sport is just too complicated for the NCAA. So they rely on the calculations of plastic box, coaches who are too busy to watch any game but their own and writers who only cover their local teams and have never played a snap in their sports crazed lives.
And with such a convoluted system comes the margin for error…which seems to be more about keeping the error small than simply getting things right.
So we have two football teams that will battle in the desert for a championship. And if you ask me, I hate to say it, but I think the BCS got it right. But there is more to this story. Today the headlines are all reading the same about how Michigan got screwed.
ESPN.com columnist Gene Wojciechowski says... "If you're Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, how do you explain to your players that they won't be in the BCS Championship Game?"
ESPN.com columnist Pat Forde says... "If we've learned one lesson from recent BCS history, it's this: Whiners win. And that will only breed more whining in the future."
Tribune columnist Dave Del Grande says... "The BCS made its biggest possible mistake this season: It might have invited the third-best team to the grand finale rather than No.2."
You see, Michigan was ranked No. 2 when they played Ohio State in their regular season finale. The Wolverines lost to OSU by 3 points, but didn't drop in the polls. So their season ended at 11-1 while holding their No. 2 spot. But other teams continued to play. UCS beat Cal and Notre Dame, which vaulted them into the No. 2 spot a week later. USC was poised to play for the title until they lost to UCLA last weekend. Michigan would be back at No. 2 right? Well, the Florida Gators were sitting there at No. 4 and proceeded to beat FSU and Arkansas in the SEC title game. So in the final week of voting, Florida jumps past Michigan to No. 2 with an SEC title and a 12-1 season.
But you'd think the Duke Blue Devils had just gotten the invite to play for the title by all the carping by sports writers.
Forgive me for asking...but didn't Michigan already lose to Ohio State? What about that result says they deserve a chance to play Ohio State for the national title? And what about that result does it tell Ohio State? You beat the No. 2 team in your conference in the season finale, but we think you have to do it again to win the title.
And so the politicking is running amuck in the world of NCAA football as Michigan supporters cry foul and Florida fans feel justified. And rightfully so!
Like I said, you have two teams with one loss asking for a chance to play for a title. One can't win their conference. The other does and they win it with the tougher schedule. You tell me who is more deserving.
(For the record, I picked Ohio State to play for the title at the begining of the season.)