Numbers Reversed: Due to BCS Error, Hiram to Play OSU for National Championship

(This article was written last year before Florida beat OSU in the 2007 National Championship game. Since I just joined BleacherReport.com, I thought I would share it.)

There were three teams in the conversation for the national championship, but after USC was upset by UCLA in a defensive thriller, the competition was stiff between Florida and Michigan to see who would play against the Buckeyes in the title game.  Florida bested Arkansas and continued the whole debate at an all new level.  Ann Arbor and Gainesville were all waiting Sunday night when OSU’s competition would be revealed.  Would it be Wolverines or Gators fighting for the right to claim the glass football on January eighth? That was the question. 

As the BCS selection show neared, television cameras were in place in all of the major campuses in the top fifteen of the BCS standings from the week before to see who would get the bowl bids.   

The announcer for FOX was ready to announce it; knees were shaking all over the country.  Who would it be?  He said, “Now is the time to learn whether it will be Michigan or Florida against Ohio State in the national championship.  And it will be…Hiram?”  He wasn’t the only person who was surprised.  The other two announcers had not even heard of the mighty Terriers from Northeast Ohio and were about to ridicule their partner for reading the script wrong when he pointed a finger to the teleprompter to show that indeed, Hiram, a school of less than 1,000 students was headed to Arizona. 

Shots of the other campuses who had earned a right to a BCS bowl had been shown full of energetic students and coaches ready to get their game plans set to face their opponent. All that was there for Hiram was a quick shot in the coach’s office where recently resigned Coach Mike Luzusky filling a box with his possessions to head out and start a job search. The reporter asked, “How does it feel to be headed to the big game?  Your team came out of no where.” Coach looked straight at the camera and glared, “This is not funny, you college students are always playing some game.”  What a quote from a coach about to embark on the biggest game of his life. 

When the numbers were delved into, it was seen that Hiram’s 0-10 record had actually been reversed to 10-0. The strength of schedule you ask? Well some how the NCAC had been confused with the ACC. Both having one A and two C’s it seemed as easy a mistake as any. Margin of victory had also been reversed.  Showing that Hiram had handedly beat their opponents by an average score of 43-9, they now ranked first in the country in that category.  

Originally their best game of the season, a 24-16 loss to Earlham, was now the game that statistically hurt them the most in the standings. It was their games against the College of Wooster and Ohio Wesleyan that helped them gain the confidence of coaches and computers across the country. 

Earlier, OSU had complained about only getting 1,000 tickets to sell to their students. When Hiram President Tom Chema was asked about the dilemma, he looked at the reporter confused and claimed, “What dilemma? With this amount of tickets all of our students will be able to go.” 

Sports journalists all across America wanted to learn about the rich football history that must exist in a town such as Hiram. All they could find was that the Cleveland Browns used to use the campus for their mini camps and that one day Hall of Fame Running Back Leroy Kelly got a wiffle ball stuck on the roof of one of the dorms, Centennial Hall. 

With all of the hype over Hiram’s emergence, the school has decided to cancel the spring 12 week semester and give everyone straight A’s for being in such good support of the football program. 

So the game is set, Heisman Candidate Troy Smith and his Ohio State Buckeyes (not to mention their cool helmet stickers) against the ferocious Terriers of Hiram College with their explosive offense headed by Trevor Henderson, who just happens to have the same number as Buckeye wide out Ted Ginn Jr., Hiram hopes the similarities don’t end there. 

Whether it was because Garrettsville sounds so similar to Gainesville or because Hiram’s third string place kicker Clint Blackberry is a spitting image of Michiganrunning back Mike Hart, the Terriers snuck by Florida and Michigan to claim the number two spot. 

Now the question: Who will win? Let the country start its debate. 

Hiram’s number one fan who is known as “Little Dogg” on campus claims that Hiram’s chances can be summed up in these words, “No way in Hell.” 

What confidence this mighty team has to run on.  Tune in on January 8^th to see the much anticipated result.  No one will be disappointed.  Many experts from ESPN claim that this match up should be even bigger than last year’s Texas, USC game. 

The author of this article can be reached by e-mail at [e-mail].