Let's take the C out of the BCS

I'm going to start out by apologizing to anyone that reads this, or may stumble across this, for my absence in recent weeks.

In the wake of the final week of the college football season, the BCS has obviously been a hot topic. After both the number one Missouri Tigers and the number two West Virginia Mountaineers lost, the college football polls were jumbled again. The BCS selection show yesterday pitted the LSU Tigers versus the Ohio State Buckeyes in the National Championship to be played January 7th, 2008. I, like many other people around the country, find the BCS to be something of a nuisance, something that should be eliminated from college football. As much as I personally do not want Ohio State in the National Championship, they are much more deserving than LSU. The Les Miles-led Tigers have two losses at the hands of Kentucky and Arkansas. Last time I checked, the regular season actually counted when it comes to deciding bowl games, but after seeing the matchups, it is easy to tell that the BCS has turned into something of a popularity contest. Hawaii, a team that went undefeated in the regular season, is left out of the National Championship in favor of a team that lost two (yes, two) regular season games.

So let's go over this "Hawaii has a soft schedule" argument. Sure, Hawaii may not have played many quality teams this season, but that is no fault of their own. It's not Hawaii that decides not to play good teams, it's the good teams that don't feel like travelling to Hawaii to give them some competition. Before this football season even started, the University of Michigan Wolverines were on the Warriors schedule, but eventually pulled out and switched that game with Appalachian State. That sure makes Michigan look tough. If people want to complain about the toughness of Hawaii's schedule, then go play them yourselves, otherwise keep quiet.

Sure one can make the argument that LSU is the better team, but since when do we award teams for not living up to their expectations? LSU wasn't supposed to lose to Kentucky, much less Arkansas, yet Hawaii EXCEEDS expectations by running the table and gets the shaft. And as Adam Rank of AOL Fanhouse points out, if this was about putting the best teams in the Championship, USC should be there over LSU. Needless to say, there are many problems with the way that bowl games are decided.

Can you say Playoff system?

Feel free to leave comments on what you think of the B(C)S.