Monday, December 05, 2011

Broken BCS

I don't care much about college football and haven't for years. I think one reason, besides having better things to do with my Saturdays, is the screwed up system by which the best team in the country is "chosen" each year. The BCS system was supposed to solve these problems by using a computer program that takes the human element out of the equation. Of course, the computer program relies heavily on the rankings done by humans and the programmers, who I assume were probably human as well. This year, like every year, there is major consternation in who is playing for the national title. In many years, it is the protests of the upstarts, those instantiations of the American dream that exist outside the major conferences but compile perfect records and thus argue that they deserve their Rockyesque shot. This year those teams all suffered at least one loss (perennial also-rans TCU and Boise State and newcomer Houston) and so rightfully fell out of the debate. But what about that one loss team from Oklahoma, or those Stanford Cardinals who have been all but forgotten since Elway walked away oh so many moons ago? Instead we get a rematch of the game of the century dud that was the 9-6 LSU victory over Alabama. Now it is certainly plausible that Alabama is the second best team in the country. As I said, I've only caught a few games this year, and never made it through a whole one. But shouldn't some other team with one loss have a shot at LSU, the obvious number one? Oklahoma State did suffer a loss to the mediocre Iowa State, but had a tougher schedule than Bama and finished on a high note with an impressive victory over cross-town rival OU this weekend. Or what about Stanford, who played in the increasingly tough Pac-10, which ended up with three teams in the top 10? College football used to offer a nice way to pass through the Saturday or New Year's Day hangover, but have spread out their hype so much, and undermined their credibility to such a great extent, that I wonder why anyone even bothers to pay attention any longer.

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