The Texas Christian Horned Frogs, Boise State Broncos, and the Cincinnati Bearcats have two things in common. Presently, they're undefeated and still alive for a 2009 NCAA Football National Championship.
Texas and Alabama will be playing in this year's BCS Championship. That's a fact. But what does it really mean when one recognizes what the BCS means, and how these teams arrived in its championship game?
We all know that the BCS has failed again, but this year it has failed miserably. Currently, the system is stuck with five undefeateds, and upon conclusion of the bowls, on Jan. 7, there will still be two left. Maybe three!
Originally, designed to match the two top-ranked teams in a championship game, it was thought of as the first step in the direction of a college football playoff. But through its own biases and faulty ranking system, nothing concrete has changed. This year, as in years before, we will be left wondering who the best team in the land really is.
For one, have you looked at the BCS and how they determined who gets ranked? The BCS ranking system is made up of three equal parts: The coaches poll, the Harris poll, and the computer rankings.
The coaches who vote in the coaches poll don't get a real opportunity to see the teams they are voting for, and they select a preseason poll, which can handicap teams that get ranked low at the start of the season.
At least the Harris poll doesn't release it's first results until week six, but the dignitaries voting are just about as knowledgeable about the teams, as voters in the coaches poll.
The computers are made up of mathematicians like Jeff Sagarin. And although they pride themselves in being totally objective, as opposed to the opinions contained in the coaches and Harris polls, in many cases, their results have left everyone wondering.
The voters on the coaches poll are the same people who started out TCU at No. 17, and Cincinnati didn't even make their top 25. Both teams had to work their way up the ladder all season while Texas and Alabama started in the Top Five.
Texas and Alabama started in the Top Five amongst the likes of USC and Oklahoma, both of whom ended the regular season unranked. Can we all agree that the coaches are pretty much unable to pick their nose?
The Harris poll, as mentioned before, is first released after week six, and all the voters in the Harris poll have to do, is look at the Coaches poll before voting. They don't have to see anybody play, and it's a good guess they don't.
Miami Dolphins color commentator Jim Mandich is a voter on this year's Harris poll. He travels for Dolphin games, preps for Dolphin games, runs a construction company, and has a daily radio show on WQAM in Miami. When does he get a chance to see anyone besides his beloved Michigan Wolverines play football?
One has to wonder how many of the voters have seen TCU play. Have they seen Central Michigan? CMU won 11 games and beat Michigan State on the road. Do any of them know the difference between Central, Eastern, and Western Michigan?
Have any of them seen Temple? Temple won nine games in a row. Have they seen Troy? Troy went undefeated in their conference and won their bowl game.
Temple and Troy aren't top 25 teams, but how do they know?
If the voters are going to vote without seeing the teams, let's let the mathematicians take care of it—they won't have a bias towards name brands.
So there you have it, the BCS is a failed system just based on the selection process. To use a worn out analogy, having these guys pick who plays in the National Championship game is like asking the arsonist to put out the fire.
That's why Cincinnati, TCU, and Boise State are still alive for recognition as the best team in the country and a possible National Championship. One or two of these teams, depending how they perform in their bowl game, has an outside shot to be selected No. 1 by the AP or some other selector.
That's exactly what happened last year to Utah. Utah finished undefeated after beating Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl, and although a 13-1 Florida team was voted No. 1 by the BCS, and the AP, three other major selectors gave the title to the Utes.
You might remember it happening to USC in 2003. LSU won the BCS National Championship game and USC was selected No. 1 by the AP, New York Times, and five other selectors.
There are 20 other selectors besides the BCS and the AP. Selectors like the New York Times , Sagarin, and Dunkel have been picking National Champions for a long time and frankly, they have a better understanding of what they're selecting than the BCS does—in many cases.
When I look at TCU, and the record the Frogs have produced this season, I honestly question if the wrong team from the state of Texas is playing in the BCS Championship game.
Texas, though undefeated, has struggled in big games. The Longhorns barely beat Oklahoma, 16-13, in the Red River Shootout and we all know what happened against Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game.
In case you forgot, Texas came within one second of losing to Nebraska. When it appeared the game had ended, and Nebraska won 12-10, one second was put on the clock—just enough for Texas to kick a 48-yard field goal for the win.
TCU had close games on the road at Clemson and Air Force but have steamrolled everyone else on its schedule, including No. 15 BYU and No. 23 Utah.
In this year's bowl games, BYU beat No. 18 Oregon State and Utah beat 8-5 California, both of the Pac 10.
TCU's quarterback Andy Dalton has a top-five quarterback rating. He hasn't passed for 3,000-plus yards because TCU has four runners that have each gained over 500 yards on the ground this year. Has anyone heard of this guy?
Nothing against Texas' Colt McCoy, but if TCU was on television as much as Texas, maybe we'd be talking about Andy Dalton more?
Boise State beat the Pac 10 Champs Oregon on the opening night of the season. The rest of its schedule wasn't as impressive as TCU's, but the Broncos get their chance to make a statement when these teams meet in this years Fiesta Bowl.
And we all know about undefeated Cincinnati! The Bearcats beat No. 18 Oregon State, No. 17 Pittsburgh, and No. 16 West Virginia. They won the Big East and nobody's found a way to stop the Bearcats offense.
They lost their starting quarterback for four games in the middle of the season and they kept going. Now, they've lost their coach!
Brian Kelly, former Cincinnati coach, left for Notre Dame after the Big East Conference Championship. He told ESPN that if Nebraska beat Texas, and Cincinnati made it to the BCS National Championship game, he might have stayed to coach.
Maybe he didn't figure his former team would still be playing for a National Championship. If they can go out and beat Florida, in the Sugar Bowl, they stand a good chance of bringing home at least one major selector's National Championship.
It won't be from the BCS, but who cares. If Cincinnati dominates Florida, although it is an 11-point underdog, the Bearcats likely get a championship. And if the school has any class, they'll do what Joe Paterno did in 1994. Paterno's undefeated Penn State team was denied a National Championship by the Coaches and the AP, but he declared them champions anyways and made rings for the players.
So there you have it. Cincinnati, TCU, and Boise State still have a lot to play for. If one of these teams can put on a huge performance, there's a good chance they will be National Champions.
If Texas and Alabama play an error plagued close game, and if TCU, Cincinnati, or Boise State wins by two or three touchdowns, they may end the season with the AP National Championship!
And that's nothing to sneeze at—it may be more meaningful than this year's BCS trophy.
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m draw for next year's football World Cup in South Africa was held Friday in Cape Town. The U.S. Soccer Team is pleased with the teams it will face in the first round.
