On the BCS (To Be Read Like A Keith Olbermann Special Comment)

This is nothing NFL related, yet I yearn for a place to express my feelings on the BCS. And this is the place. And now is the time.

Look at the situation. Look at what happened on Thursday, Friday, and Monday. Look at what happened in the Fiesta Bowl. Look at what happened in the Sugar Bowl. Look at what happened in the Rose Bowl. Look at what's happening in college football.

In what may be the biggest controversy in college football since the exclusion of Auburn in 2004, there are currently 5 teams with a legitimate case that they should be national champions. And while that number will become 4 after the "National Championship Game" when either Florida or Oklahoma lose, you still have one huge can of worms. And this can of worms, regardless of tomorrow's outcome, whether it be a 45-10 blowout or a 38-35 thriller decided in triple overtime, this can of worms will not go away.

Just look at who has a legitimate case. We'll start out with the team that should be playing in the national championship in the first place, Texas! We all remember what happened in Dallas, that one fateful afternoon when Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35 and yet somehow, someway, by running up the score on Texas Tech and Mizzou, Oklahoma is in the national championship. What kind of message is this sending? That if you run up the score and be poor sports that you can get your way? There is a difference between blowing a team out and sending a message, which is fine, but when it becomes a 40-point game in the 4th quarter and you're still trying to score, isn't that a little bit much? Hasn't the point already been made? But yet, it seems like the more I think about it, the more those garbage touchdowns have mattered more and more.

The BCS prides itself in a regular season where every game matters. I disagree. I disagree vehemently. It's not if you lose, it's when you lose that matters. It's rare these days that a team from a "major BCS conference" goes unbeaten through the regular season. It is possible that a team can lay an absolute turd week 1, get blown out 45-o and go undefeated the rest of the way and make the national championship. And yet, if a team goes undefeated for their first 11 games, lose their final game by a score 45-0 that team has absolutely no chance of making it to the national championship. How fair is that? Despite everyone in the BCS claiming that they look at the whole body of work, it's not. It's a "what have you done for me lately" system. And by "what have you done for me lately" it's what did you do in the last 2 weeks. And just to slam the point home, look at the final BCS standings.

1. Oklahoma (lost October 11)
3. Texas (lost November 1)
7. Texas Tech (lost November 22)

Notice a pattern here? Now imagine this. What if the Texas-OU game was later on in the season? What if that was the last Big 12 south game of the season? What if the score remained the same? Texas is playing Florida in the national championship game. Colt McCoy is the Heisman Tropny winner. In other words, the entire landscape of college football would be different.

And that's just the argument for one team! Let's move on to USC. The Trojans have one of the best defenses in the history of college football. They beat PSU in the Rose Bowl by a deceptively close score of 38-24. They bashed the Nittany Lions, the Big 10 champions and say what you will about the Big 10, Penn State under JoePa is a damn good football team and USC mopped the floor with them. And look at who they lost to, Oregon State. At the time it was "haha, USC lost to weak Oregon State", but look at Oregon State now! They are a ranked team and they beat Pitt in an, albeit unentertaining, Sun Bowl. USC is more than capable of putting a beat down on Florida and Oklahoma. USC is more than deserving of a national championship.

And lastly, Utah. Whatever happened to going undefeated? Apparently you only get in the national championship game in the FBS if you're undefeated and you play in a major conference. Of course the BCS absolutely ignores the Mountain West Conference. Who cares? Even if they are a BCS conference. They are not a major money maker for them. Therefore, they are shunned away. Forgotten about. Oh, they have an undefeated team? Ah, put them in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama and they'll get blown out. Oh, that Sugar Bowl was a blowout all right. 31-17. Utah beat Alabama. They have more than proven their worth. They beat 4 ranked teams this year. What more can you ask for? What more can they do? How fair is it that a team goes undefeated and is not credited with being a national champion? No matter the outcome of tomorrow night's championship game, one fact will remain the same, Utah is the best damn team in the nation and there's not a damn thing Florida and Oklahoma can do to change it! Oh, what about the rest of their schedule? Can you seriously consider a team that plays Weber State to be a national champion? To which, I quite ask the person who asks that question....what drugs are you taking? YES! You can! Why? It's simple. Look at Florida's schedule. Look at who they played? Notice anything. Wait, what's that? They played The Citadel? Yeah, that's right. Florida played The Citadel! The Goddamn Mother Fucking Citadel of The FCS! (pardon my French, s'il vous plait). So, according to you ignorant people who feels Utah should not be a national championship because they had Weber State on their schedule, surely you must feel the same way about Florida....

The bottom line is everybody has weak teams on their schedule. UT-Chattanooga, Baylor played Oklahoma. Should they be discredited then for playing such weak teams? The answer is a simple no. Utah is the best team in the nation. They beat a damn fine TCU team who more than proved there worth in the Poinsettia Bowl. They beat another solid BYU team. And then there was the Sugar Bowl. 31-17. That's the new rallying cry. 31-17! 31-17! 31-17! 31-17!.....

But alas, the BCS does not care. They don't care about the kids. They care about money. Florida and Oklahoma would make more money than a national championship involving Utah. It would be more appealing to a casual fan. There's no doubt about it. But what satisfies those qualities is not always right. In fact, it hardly ever is.

And maybe it's a blessing in disguise that Fox is covering the BCS. They're crappy production has in part helped to drive the BCS ratings into the ground. And maybe once driven completely into the ground. The ashes that rise up will be that of a new system. One where every FBS team gets treated fairly, regardless of conference. And I'm not totally against having bowl games. I would not get rid of the Bowl system, I'd keep the bowls, as they are a good and fun reward for teams not in the Top 8 to play one more game, show off some hidden talent to the country, and entertain us in the process. And then the top 8 teams in the country, regardless of conference, would use the BCS bowl game sites as a site for the quarterfinals of a playoffs (i.e. the Orange Bowl would be a quarterfinal game, the Rose Bowl another, etc.). Wouldn't that make everyone happy?

But then does that not diminish the importance of the regular season? No! It does not. Every game is still important. But there will still be snubs? Yes, there will be. But isn't it easier to snub a 2-loss team or a 1-loss team that got beaten badly by a sub-.500 team than it is undefeated Utah, Texas, and dominant USC?

But as long as the people in the BCS have any say, that will never happen. They are too blinded with greed to see their own greed. They are too obnoxious to realize their own obnoxiousness. Maybe this will finally snap them out of it. Chances are, they will most likely look at Texas, Utah, and USC and just put there nose in the air and say "hmph! I don't care about you". That would not be any different than what they have been doing all year and to teams like Boise State two-years ago and Auburn in 2004.

I, like most college football fans will watch the national title game. Not because I like laughing at Fox's band shots, not because I want to listen to Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis (and his Mangina), not because I want to see who the best team in America is (that honor for this year belongs to the Utes of Utah), but because of two reasons. A). I want to see two good teams play what should be an entertaining game. And B). I want to say I witnessed history when the shit hits the fan with the BCS.

And all the while, in my head, one thing sticks out in my mind above all else. 31-17......31-17.......31-17.....There it is, BCS. Your true national champions. Utah Utes.

Good night and good luck.