The BCS Mess

I love college football. I love sitting in the stands on a cool fall day watching my Cougars, listening to the band play “Hey Baby,” and leaving the normal stress of the week behind for three hours. Yet, over the past decade there has been an underlying feeling of unrest and discouragement. In a day when undefeated teams such as Utah, Boise State, and Hawaii are not even considered for the BCS Championship game, one has to worry about the state of the game. While Sunday evening’s “BCS Selection Show” wanted to mimic Selection Sunday in March, it instead came across like the train wreck that it is. While we all knew it was coming, it was still hard to take the announcement of Ohio St. and two-loss LSU in the championship game. I believe for the first time a number of teams realized what we supposed “mid-majors” have known for years, the BCS simply does not work.

As a BYU fan I learned early the harsh realities of the BCS system in 1996 when it was known as the Bowl Alliance. As one of the best offensive teams in the nation that year, BYU was 13-1 with their lone loss to #13 ranked Washington. They had gone undefeated in the Western Athletic Conference, and beat 22nd ranked Wyoming for the WAC Championship. One could argue that it may have been the greatest football team in BYU history. The Bowl Alliance insisted that BYU might be one of two at-large teams that would get an invite to one of the three original BCS bowl games (Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta). The SEC, Big 12, ACC, and Big East conference champions were guaranteed a spot in the Bowl Alliance, regardless of their records. This gave #1 Florida St., #3 Florida, #10 Virginia Tech, and #20 Texas four of the six available bowl spots. The system was already showing flaws by virtue of the fact that previously unranked Texas had upset then #3 ranked Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game. An 8-4 Texas team now held one of four guaranteed spots. In addition, Nebraska who had been 10-1 and all but guaranteed a Bowl Alliance spot was now 10-2 and appeared to be on the outside looking in. Although the thought in college football had always been don’t lose or lose early, most people felt Nebraska would still get one of the two at-large spots, which they did. Now you had one team that was 8-4 and another team that lost but woulda, coulda, shoulda been there all season so give them a spot, both in the Bowl Alliance. As unfair as it was, there was still one at-large spot available. As a diehard fan I was convinced that my #5 ranked Cougars were going to get this final spot. Having just returned home from Las Vegas and the WAC Championship game, I huddled around the television with my dad and four brothers as the official Bowl Alliance selections were announced. To my shock and utter sadness the second at-large spot was given to #7 ranked, 10-2 Penn State. Why? To this day I have no idea, but I don’t believe it is a coincidence that the Big Ten (the conference Penn State is in) joined the Bowl Alliance two years later when the BCS was officially formed.

BYU was invited to play in the Cotton Bowl on New Years Day where they played and beat #14 ranked Kansas St.. It was a memorable win in the most memorable season I have had as a BYU football fan. However, since that time and as the BCS has evolved more and more, I can’t get the sick feeling out of my stomach that the sport I love most is losing all credibility. As each year goes by I am left wondering what the point is. I guess one could say that I am facing the facts. I am cheering for a team that under the current system in college football will never be given the opportunity to play for a national championship. Maybe I was crazy to think it in the first place, but the possibility, although slim, kept me intrigued. Reality hit me hard in 1996, but I still had hope for the future. This hope was dashed in 2004 when an undefeated University of Utah team was given a BCS bowl bid, but was not even considered for the bowl championship game. Now don’t fill out my Crimson Club membership just yet, I still dislike the Utes as much as ever. My point is BYU and Utah are in the same boat, as is every team in the Mountain West Conference, the WAC, Conference USA, etc.. If an undefeated Utah team with a Heisman candidate / #1 NFL draft pick and with all the hype in the world isn’t a candidate for the championship game, then no team outside of the BCS conferences is. Do I think Utah was the best team in college football in 2004? No, but they weren’t given the chance to prove people like myself wrong. The only thing that has changed since BYU was left out in 1996 is that those in charge of the BCS, in a hollow attempt to add credibility to the system, have thrown some non-BCS teams a bone by having them play as at-large invitees. Don’t let this supposed kindness fool you. If Notre Dame, who according to BCS rules only needs to be a top ten team or have at least nine wins, had been eligible lately, none of these non-BCS teams would even smell sugar, roses, oranges, or . . . tortillas.

Every year as the college football season unfolds the BCS system shows its enormous faults. From Texas in 1996, Oklahoma in 2003, LSU in 2007, and many teams in between, the BCS has consistently failed. Yet, the sad reality is the system will not change. I always expect there to be an enormous backlash against the BCS at the end of each season, but in the end nothing is said. How can Oklahoma, Georgia, USC, and Kansas watch LSU go to the title game this year and not utter one complaint about it? It is because the presidents of these universities will not allow them to say a word. These presidents, along with other university presidents from the supposed “big” conferences, ultimately control the BCS. They will not allow their members to undermine the system. Everyone puts on a happy face and pretends that the system works, so nothing changes. Sure, there are rumors and hints of a possible playoff system, but why should anyone assume this would include the non-BCS conferences. The sport is all about money and the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 10, and SEC are not going to share the wealth. As my life gets more hectic I am finding that I have less time for sports. Something eventually has to go and sadly it may just be the sport I used to love most.