BCS SNAFU, as it should be

by Suckatsports

I'm not going to do a college review today, because frankly, my head is spinning. And all that talk about how the game happened is really all irrelevant a this point. Everyone knows what happens, they just want to know what happens now.

With West Virginia having possibly the biggest choke of all time, and Missouri showing that the program still has room for improvement, it's Ohio State in the national championship game, right? Right?! The BCS would wish it was so easy, because this year is the most fucked up, convoluted situation ever. And not the BCS, nor the humans know what's going to happen. In fact, there's about nine teams that have a legitimate case for being #2. And how ironic, that the most hated team, the one ripped all year is the only "deserving" participant. I'll go in order of the current BCS standings.

Georgia. This is easy, because they were #4 to begin with, and the top two teams lost (for the second time this season), and thus should move up. They have two losses, but so does everyone. They're considered by experts, the same experts that picked Missouri and WVU to win, as one of the hottest teams right now. But, they didn't win their conference, or even their division, suffering two embarrassing losses: one by 20 at mediocre Tennessee and one by 3 vs. terrible South Carolina. Plus, they didn't play a game last week, and the experts tell me that's "backing in" to the game, and that's bad.

Kansas. One of two one-loss teams from a BCS conference, and their only loss came to a ranked team at a partially neutral site. That's not a terrible loss. Like Georgia (sans a loss) they also won neither their division nor conference, not even playing in the championship game. They also did not play anyone else this year, their schedule being one of the worst in the country. They had an anomaly where they played none of the regular power hoses from the Southern division.

Virginia Tech. Won it's division, and conference, has only two losses, both to ranked teams. Played this week,and was one of the teams that actually did what they were supposed to do, and win. They're one of the hottest teams right now, having lost their last game on Oct. 25th in a 2 minute blitzkrieg led by Matt Ryan. In fact they seem like the perfect candidate if not for their blowout loss at LSU. And why is that a problem, because...

LSU. One of the most perplexing teams this year. They played one of the toughest schedules in the country, yet managed to lose to some of the worst teams on it. Do they play down to the competition? Possibly. Should championship teams do that? No. They clobbered aforementioned Virginia Tech at home 48-7, but I think we can all agree, that team was much different from the current version of the Tigers playing yesterday. Their wins are unparalleled, but so are their losses. The SEC propaganda machine was in full swing, calling both losses suffered by LSU not really losses, because they happened in overtime. This is a bunch of shit. LSU has a claim, but this is th e team that would have it's THIRD chance at a title. They've been ranked 1st twice, losing both times to unranked teams, one at home. They've won their division and conference, but losses to uranked teams, one at home should hold them down, as ell as backlash.

USC. Why not? They won a major conference and have an equal number of losses to just about everyone else mentioned. They're possibly the hottest team right now, and both their losses came when they were extremely battered by injuries. Never mind that one loss was to the worst team in the Pac 10, an unranked, 40 point underdog Stanford that shocked the world. The other was at then juggernaut Oregon with their backup quarterback leading them for a tying score. Since then they've demolished every team they faced, although scoring only 24 points on a team Notre Dame beat is a real shot in the nuts.

Oklahoma. Won their division and conference, and had to beat the #1 team in the nation to do it. That just about seals your fate for the national championship game. But wait, their two losses came to two bad and thus unranked teams: Colorado and Texas Tech. However, unlike everyone else that has suffered losses this year, they came on the road and were both nail biters, that's almost like overtime.

Missouri. Yes, that Missouri. They lost their last game and now have two losses, but the week before they beat a top 5 team. In fact, their only two losses will have come again Oklahoma, a team that will be a consensus top-10 (at least) in the final poll. They won their division, but not their conference, at least making it to the championship game, something Georgia can't say. Don't scoff, they have just a good a case.

West Virginia. No, I don't really believe they'll complain if they don't get in, they're busy burning couches in grief. However, two losses to unranked opponents, one at home and one on the road looks oddly similar to one LSU. They also had two chances, starting out the season high, and then building a crescendo of false hopes until the last game. They already won their conference and have a mere two losses. And mind you, they beat Mississippi State, that beat Auburn, that beat Florida, that beat Kentucky that beat LSU and Arkansas! Mountaineers #1!

So, how about Hawai'i. Yes, that Hawai'i. Why not in this crazy topsy turvy season? Their case is as legitimate as anyone's. They're one of the hottest teams in the country as any, having lost... never this year. That's right, they're the only undefeated team in D-1A. They won their conference by beating a fine opponent and beat a major conference team in Washington. Any other year, this would be unquestionably wrong, but with all the flaws and circular logic for all the other teams, there's a case to be made. Their schedule is horrible, yes, but they beat everyone on it. This is just as good a claim as any to be national champions.

So how do you solve this? The humans are obviously perplexed, and we don't trust the computers because they are flawed and don't watch the games. No answer will be right or wrong this year. I wrote that a playoff is not the answer to this, but it would certainly be the lesser of two evils. Can't have a 4 team playoff, because then conference champions means nothing. Can't have a 6 team playoff because the hottest teams in the nation wold get left out.

There's no good answer, because CFB is a different animal. They don't play each other enough, and the sample size is too small. Still, the possibility of this happening was probably calculated at the inception of the BCS to be nearly impossible.

Photo: Ha Double Hockey Sticksie

This post is cross-published from We Suck at Sports.