[bonesmccoy]

BCS = BS

THIS IS SERIES!!!!

[FormerlyAnotherLurker]

Simple computer science term - GIGO.

[Maynerd]

USC is getting hosed. However, the PAC 10 is weak this year as are SC's nonconference opponents. Hence, their strenth of schedule killed them. BYU & Notre Dame are pathetic this year. Auburn and Hawaii aren't exactly top ten teams. And how in the world did the lose to Cal?

[Tall_Texan]

I'm definitely an SC fan now. They deserve to win for getting screwed like this.

Nuke the BCS. Let's go forward to a playoff or backwards to when football people made these decisions, not a bunch of nerds with a Dell.

OU should be odd-man out. They could fix all this by stating that the national title game MUST involve only conference champions (excluding independants).

[Richard Kimball]

"You can't let a computer make decisions for you. Computers are going to take over. The next thing you know, everybody is going to be out of a job. Computers are going to play football. If you let computers run the world, what are humans going to do?"

USC has been terminated.

[Agkistrodon]

with 3 one loss teams some one has to get left out. No way to make it fair. Maybe the real problem is the LACK OF A PLAYOFF. Which, by the way, every other college sport has.

Personally, I've seen all 3 teams play at least once this year and my instinct tells me to rate it Oklahoma-LSU-USC, but...my reason tells me LSU's non-conference was a joke so leave them out. Honestly, LSU's schedule is close to the year BYU was 11-0, and proved how much they didn't belong in a championship.

[Action-America]

Oh, boo, hoo, hoo.

Just more California whining about things that are the result of their own shortcomings.

I don't like Oklahoma a bit, since they are major Texas opponents - especially this year. I really enjoy seeing them lose. I have no particular reason to either like or dislike USC, other than that I occasionally like to poke fun at the granola crowd. But, as much as I like to see OU loose, I have to admit that they were the better team. USC had a much easier schedule than either OU or LSU and probably would not have been in the running, at all, had their schedule had been as tough as that of the other two schools.

But, the key is that the deciding factors were determined long before the season started and programmed into the computer, which is entirely impartial and which rates all factors evenly, unlike humans, who naturally give more weight to what happened yesterday, than something that happened months ago. Coaches, sports writers and in fact, all humans, are susceptible to fading memory and to letting their emotions and personal favorites affect their votes. Fortunately, we have a computer to deal with those human shortcomings. As a result, the Sugar Bowl will be a much better game this year.

A computer weights all factors, exactly as it is told and gives the answer, based only upon those pre-programmed parameters - no favorites, no emotions, no fading memory - just pure facts. Of course, the granola crowd out there in California, always seems to have trouble with facts, when they don't fit their pre-conceived notions.

I know how it feels to have a local team that is almost championship material. I'm from Houston, where we used to watched the Oilers and Astros consistently come up bridesmaids, but never a bride. The granola crowd, on the other hand, can't deal with the fact that USC just wasn't championship material this year, so they will whine about it, in the hope that the NCAA will reprogram the computer to favor them. After all, California is a state that likes set-asides and other preferences for the lower performers.

 

[Yeti]

Go Cocks!

Oh, wait....

Nevermind.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

for concocting a system that prevented the No. 1 team in college football from playing in the national championship game.

Well, maybe. Although in the absence of "the system", wouldn't USC...be playing Michigan in the Rose Bowl?

(Personally, after Saturday, I'd love to see USC play LSU.)

[WKB]

LSU did not beat the spread on Ole Miss
I think Ole Miss should be #1 and Eli should that thing that Heisman trophy thing everybody talks about

[Jhensy]

As anyone who's placed a wager or two can tell you, football is the least reliable sport to predict based on past performances, statistics. The oblong shape of the ball leads to funny, unintended bounces.

A team can completely dominate a game's stats -- rushing, passing, total yards, etc. -- but lose because of a blocked punt or bad bounce fumble return.

The BCS computer can't factor in a quarterback injured, or bad weather, or grudge match rivalries, or horrendous officiating calls, etc.

[WKB]

ping

[squidly]

This year is kind of like the old days, as if the BCS never happened, although back then Oklahoma would have gone to the Orange Bowl while LSU went to the Sugar. So we have a split title if USC wins, so what, there have been many of those over the years. Arguing about championships is one of the great college football traditions.

[RabidBartender]

I don't think anyone's posted this yet, but I thought it would be relevant (though it will be wholly disregarded by USC fans) to determining the best team in college football this year:

Offensive Averages (per game)
OU 45.2 points, 461.4 yards
USC 42.2 points, 450.7 yards
LSU 34.9 points, 426.5 yards

Defensive Averages (per game allowed)
LSU 10.8 points, 259.5 yards
OU 14.8 points, 255.6 yards
USC 18.8 points, 337.8 yards

Of course, LSU plays in the arguably the toughest conference in the country, and OU played games conservatively once they had 35-40 point leads (77-0 after 3 qtrs vs. A & M).

[Snuffington]

An interesting factor is that the Big 12 and SEC conferences have a championship game, and the PAC 10 does not. Has anyone figured out if USC would have made it to number 2 in the BCS had they played (and won) an extra conference championship game against the number 2 team in the PAC 10? It would have improved both their record and strength of schedule.

[Teacher317]

Several indicators of just how bad this system is:

Miami (OH), ranked 14th and 15th in the AP and ESPN polls, is ranked 3rd, 4th, 6th, 9th, 10th, and 22nd by the various other pollsters.

USC, ranked overwhelmingly #1 by both major polls, is #3 in FIVE of the seven "computer" polls.

Jeff Sagarin, one of the "computers", has Miami (OH) 3rd in the country with Kansas St (who just whalloped #1 Oklahoma to reveal this farce) 13th... The NYTimes has Miami (OH) 22nd, and K State 6th.

[Ciexyz]

Yup, there's TWO national championship games. Maybe that's what the big money promoters wanted all along.

[Penner]

It's all about the Benjamins, baby. There's a lot more money to be made with LSU and SC playing in their backyards. And more attention because of the controversy.

[The South Texan]

I just hope the Okies get smoked by LSU.

Geaux Tigers!

[montag813]

I love Pete Carroll. If the Giants don't hire him next year to replace Jim the Fossil, they are nuts.

[kabar]

USC and the sports writers should stop crying in their beer. Until the NCAA adopts a playoff system for Division 1, the BCS will have to do. Everyone agreed to the factors and their weighting before the season started. The factors also include the polls by the way. They just don't accept the results--sort of like the Florida election in 2000.

USC lost to Cal, played in the weakest of the 3 conferences (PAC 10 versus the Big 12 and SEC), and didn't have a conference playoff. If USC is truly number 1, they should stomp little old Michigan--number 4 and get a piece of the national championship through the polls. LSU and OU will have a harder time being Number 2 and 3.

Anybody who knows anything about team sports understands that games are about matchups. K State matched up well against OU and the same could be said about Cal vs. USC and Florida vs LSU. Even if there was a playoff, there is nothing to say that a lower ranked team knocked out earlier in the competition couldn't beat the eventual champion. It is the luck of the draw and matchups.