Posted on 12/07/2009 9:10:25 AM PST by The Pack Knight
This should feel like a just reward for an offseason where the non-automatic qualifiers extolled their virtues in front of Congress, then reached unprecedented heights in the BCS era on the field.
It can't be understated that for the first time, two teams from outside of the major conferences have been granted access behind the BCS' velvet rope as No. 3 TCU and No. 6 Boise State will meet in the Fiesta Bowl. "I think the Fiesta Bowl, to their credit, is putting two very, very deserving teams on the field against each other," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said.
It's a statement, no doubt, but maybe not the one that this landmark moment should deliver, because the Broncos and Horned Frogs are having to play each other.
The Fiesta Bowl has created a matchup that seems more like a cop-out than an achievement; denying the two unbeatens a chance to validate their seasons against the big boys on the sports' biggest stage and opening up an entirely new chapter of BCS bashing/collusion allegations.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/cory_mccartney/12/06/boise.state.tcu/?xid=cnnbin#ixzz0Z1WkeLVo Get a free NFL Team Jacket and Tee with SI Subscription
(Excerpt) Read more at sportsillustrated.cnn.com ...
On the other hand, they've also proven that there aren't two Division 1 subdivisions, but three. If anyone had any illusions that the mid-majors were in any way treated as being part of the same league as the power conference, I think this Fiesta Bowl farce just disabused them.
Agree 100%. This game is a horrible slap in the face to both programs.
All the more reason to scrap the BS and replace it with a playoff system as they have in the FCS.
Sherman Anti-Trust anyone?
Every year we hear the same complaints about the BCS system and calls for a Division I playoff, but I think you are always going to have this sort of controversy no matter how a playoff system is organized. It's a natural consequence of having a sport where it's impossible to have every team play each other during the regular season, and where individual schedules will always promote subjective assessments of the teams when it comes to selecting post-season participants.
TCU was a member of the Southwest Conference up until 1996 when that conference was cannibalized.
More government regulation of a critical industry?
Neiter TCU nor BSU have a right to the national championship game.
Each of the respective conferences gets more cash than ever before.
This is not the No Fun League.
Screw a playoff system.
Collegiate football has the bowl system.
Yesterday,today,and forever.
If you want to see a playoff tournement tune into ABC,NBC,CBS or ESPN for the No Fun League.
I was hoping Texas would loose.
TCU could beat Alabama, esp if Alabama plays like they played against Auburn.
Alabama got lucky, they caught Florida on an off night.
I thought the refs gave Alabama all the calls in the first quarter....near the beginning of the game, the Alabama defensive end grabbing Florida’s tight end jersy before he aught ball...no call...
If these second rate conference teams are so good, then why aren’t they happy playing each other? After all they’re both undefeated, so if they are both as good as the big boys then they should be happy to be playing the other undefeated team. I’m tired of all the whining from these other conferences, they are like political third parties. GO LONGHORNS!
TCU WAS in a major conference before Texas et al. broke up the Southwest Conference.
Second, the last thing we need is government intervention. They would screw it up, and the debate will distract the masses while all sorts of evil would be done in secret.
However, this event shows the farce the BcS is. The BcS committee is blatantly thumbing their noses at the mid-majors because they can.
What was TCU and Boise’s schedule like this year?
Believe me, nothing was going to make any difference, even if Dunlap had played. They just flat out wanted it more.
They are worthy contenders this year
The BCS exists for the glorification of the 6 major conferences. Period.
People who believe otherwise are fooling themselves.
The “BCS formula” is designed to minimize the chance of an “outsider” making the championship game, and it makes perfect sense to me that when basically forced to take two “outsider” teams into the system, that they’d pit them against each other rather than against teams from the “big 6”.
A 12-team playoff, seeded by final BCS standings and no more than 2 teams per conference, would yield brackets of:
(1) Alabama - bye
(8) Ohio State vs (9) Georgia Tech
(4) TCU - bye
(5) Florida vs (14) Brigham Young (#12 LSU and #13 Penn St excluded)
(3) Cincinnati - bye
(6) Boise State vs. (11) Virginia Tech
(2) Texas - bye
(7) Oregon vs (10) Iowa
The BCS is run by P*SSIES! They put these teams together because they knew they would both wipe the floor with whatever big conference school they were matched up against. I hope from now on when one of these schools or one like them play a big school they beat them 49-0 and the game ends with the small school going for two. This system is trash and needs to go. I don’t even have any interest in bowl games anymore.
I remember the days when Texas and SMU were the big names in that conference, and most other schools were also-rans.
More like Texas and Arkansas. SMU was pretty much in the same league as TCU. And for the record, it was Arkansas first bolting the SWC for the SEC that broke up the SWC.
I am a Longhorn fan as well, but on a neutral field TCU would be favored over Texas and probably whip them into next week. Their defense is as good or better than Nebraska and their offense is light years better. I want the Horns to beat ‘Bama, but you should thank God they aren’t playing TCU.
Arkansas and A&M were not "also-rans."
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