The college football season is winding down and, at the moment, the championship game seems perfectly clear. Last year's nightmare that left undefeated Auburn stuck in the Sugar Bowl will be averted this year as only two unbeaten teams remain: USC and Texas.
If your college football season isn't complete without a reason to bash the BCS and holler at the top of your lungs that college football needs a playoff, look no further than the other six spots that comprise the roster of the BCS bowls.
First let's review the basics: there are four BCS bowls, the Fiesta, Orange, Rose, and Sugar with the championship rotating between these four sites every year. As it stands now, there are six major conference champions who receive automatic bids to one of these four bowls. This system stands to be altered in 2008 so that every conference has a chance to gain an automatic bid based upon the performance of that conference in relation to BCS standings over a four-year period.
One clause in the new deal that has raised eyebrows of conspiracy theorists everywhere is that Notre Dame will be guaranteed a spot with a top-eight finish in the next installment of the BCS. This sort of special treatment has many college football coaches and university presidents screaming foul play. What these whiners need to realize is Notre Dame deserves a BCS bid this year and this amendment ensures that there will be no debate next time this premier program puts together a stellar season.
Under the current BCS system six conference champs will receive automatic bids. The problem here is that the Big East is no longer Miami's guaranteed opportunity for Michael Irvin to boast about his alma mater. With the exodus of the elite teams in this conference, West Virginia was able to beat down on a bunch of mediocre squads that our Jumbos might even stand a chance against.
That might be a bit optimistic, but the fact still remains that although the Big East is now the best basketball conference in the land, it does not warrant an automatic bid in football. West Virginia's automatic bid leaves one team in the top eight on the outside looking in heading into championship Saturday. Ohio State, Oregon, and Notre Dame find themselves in a game of musical chairs with the Mountaineers stealing the third seat and the music about to come to a stop.
The team that seems to have the best shot is Ohio State. At 9-2, the Buckeyes' two losses were to BCS-bound Texas and Penn State, and both games were within seven points. They also came in second in the highly-competitive Big Ten with wins over Iowa, Northwestern, Michigan, Minnesota, and the nemesis of the golden dome, Michigan State. This strength of schedule, number of quality wins and unanimous top ranking in the human polls over the other two suitors leaves Ohio State in the driver seat.
Oregon has the Pac Ten and every journalist up in arms about its potential snub as a perfect example of the East Coast bias that plagues college football. The Ducks' argument relies mainly on their 10-1 record, the best record of any of the three teams looking to ring in the New Year with a nice multi-million dollar payout. Just like the front-running Buckeyes, the Ducks' only loss came to a BCS team, top-ranked USC. The Ducks also point to their out-of-conference schedule that featured Fresno State, which ended up with a No. 23 ranking, and two other teams with winning records, Montana and Houston. Their argument is also supported by conference wins over California and Arizona State. Oregon fans have learned to embrace the BCS polls, however, because it is the only one that ranks them higher than Notre Dame.
Despite the cries of the haters, Notre Dame deserves a bid on merit, not just potential gross income for the Fiesta Bowl. The Irish finished the season at 9-2, but with the unique blemish of losing to a team with a losing record. The other loss came at the hands of USC in the game of the year that was decided by Reggie Bush pushing Matt Lienart over the goal line for a touchdown. Critics have been quick to point out that the Irish have only one win over a team that ended the season ranked, and only two over teams that finished up with winning records. But in this race, Notre Dame is still the people's champs, outranking the Ducks in all of the human polls.
Many have predicted that Notre Dame will claim the second at-large BCS bid because of its large national following and ability to sell tickets at a neutral site. Despite this off-field advantage, the Irish have earned their way on the field.
Both the Irish and the Ducks beat Washington relatively easily and Notre Dame had to take it to the wire with Stanford. The huge difference between the two lies in their performances against undisputed heavyweight champ USC.
While Oregon was an early KO, Notre Dame took the champs down to a judges' decision in which a controversial call by the referee decided the game. Another overlooked fact was Notre Dame's quality win at then-No. 3 Michigan early in the season. These two key points should outweigh Oregon's ability to roll over sub-par competition.
Many sports journalists have found many words to answer the question, "does college football need a playoff?" I will answer it in one word: yes. But next to a playoff, the BCS is the best option. It does a decent job in an impossible situation. The system cannot be expected to instantly revalue a conference that has been betrayed by one of its charter members and two other turncoats. So for all of those fans in either South Bend or Eugene who wind up on the outside looking in this year, send your gripes to Boston College, Virginia Tech, and University of Miami, respectively.
Cole Liberator is a senior majoring in history. He can be reached via e-mail at Cole.Liberator@tufts.edu.
