School Pride and Prejudice: Nine BCS Teams the Media Loves, Hates, and Overlooks

Yes, we all know that Notre Dame has the most AP titles (nine), but what has Notre Dame done lately? Notre Dame is 0-3 in BCS bowls, not to mention the fact that were defeated soundly in each of their BCS appearances.

Lately, Notre Dame has struggled significantly, but somehow the media covers them, regardless of how good or bad they are. Heck, despite Notre Dame's poor performances, NBC chooses to repeatedly sign deals with Notre Dame, broadcasting all of their games nationally.

Media Figureheads: Most every medial outlet, but mainly Lou Holtz and Lee Corso

I know, Oklahoma is tied for the most BCS bowl appearances at seven, but they have a terrible record in BCS bowls at 2-5. How many times is the media going to salivate over Oklahoma and keep picking them to win BCS Championships over SEC teams or USC?

It's not going to happen anytime in the near future. I do believe Stoops is definitely a good coach, but as a coach in major games, I believe he grossly overrated by the media.

The only huge win he had in BCS Bowls was when he was not expected to win, as OU beat Florida State in 2000.

Does anyone recall Oklahoma being beaten by LSU in 2003-04, then being selected over Auburn in 2004-05, only to be destroyed by USC? The media's favoritism of Oklahoma over Auburn (who was undefeated in the SEC) had a lot to do with this selection.

Media Figureheads: Mark May, Lee Corso

This is Alabama Football...Bear Bryant...Seven AP Titles (12 according to Bama fans), the list goes on. Of course, Alabama was arguably one of the most dominant programs ever in college football during the reign of Bear Bryant, but last time I checked, Bear Bryant is dead.

Oh, but they have Nick Saban. Let me be very clear. Nick Saban is an excellent coach, probably on the level of Urban Meyer and Pete Carroll, but Alabama, like Notre Dame, was terrible during most of the 2000s.

Yet, any time Alabama appeared to be doing well, the media really jumped all over them (SEE 2007-2008, when Bama started 6-0, but finished 6-6).

Certainly, Alabama has a great team in 2009, but let's not forget how Bama got punched in the face by Utah. I am in no way saying Alabama at some point shouldn't deserve media bias, but let's see Alabama win a BCS bowl first.

Media Figureheads: Bruce Feldman, Pat Forde, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso

To put it mildly, the past three years, Florida has been pretty unstoppable, at least on offense, with two BCS Titles, and a possible third looming. The Gators of 2007-2008 were definitely suspect on defense, but the Gators' offense was a machine.

Since 1990, between Spurrier and Meyer, Florida has arguably been the most dominant program in college football. And when Florida is put in the big game on the national stage, they win, and usually in a dominating fashion.

Media Figureheads: Kirk Herbstreit, Stewart Mandel

USC boasts a 6-1 record in BCS Bowls and is tied for the most BCS Bowl appearances. While USC seems to slip to lesser opponents each year, such as Oregon State, Washington, etc., when in the national game or put in the spotlight, USC produces.

Further, each time USC loses a heisman-caliber QB, they seem to keep re-loading.

Media Figureheads: Both ESPN Gameday Crews and everyone else

LSU seems to be mediocre in every other year or so, but they play in the best conference, the SEC (or at least the best since 2000).

Yet, despite mediocre years here and there, LSU has been a huge player in the SEC recently, going undefeated in BCS Bowls and tie-ing conference foe, Florida with two BCS Titles.

Media Figureheads: Chris Fowler, Rece Davis, Lee Corso

2004-2005 season. Nothing else really needs to be said. Auburn waltzed through the SEC, posting a 12-0 record before defeating Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.

Yeah, sure their non-conference schedule included games against the Citadel and La-Monroe, but Auburn played at least four ranked opponents in the SEC that year (LSU, Tenn, UGA, Tenn in SEC Champ).

In the BCS era, Auburn has been the only team in addition to Tennessee to go undefeated in the SEC. Toward the end of Auburn's 2004 season when they were tied with Oklahoma in the polls, media analysts, such as Herbstreit claimed that if Auburn beat then No. 6 UGA and Alabama, they should get into the National Title, assuming they won the SEC championship.

Auburn destroyed UGA, and struggled against Alabama. People said Auburn shouldn't have struggled against Bama and that it hurt them. However, when No. 1 USC struggled to beat UCLA, that was a rivalry game.

But, I guess AU-Bama wasn't a rivalry game. Lou Holtz even once called Auburn University the University of Auburn.

Media Figureheads: Kirk Herbstreit, Lou Holtz, Mark May

Certainly UGA being ranked No. 1 at the beginning of last year and being picked by many to win the national championship, did not help UGA's cause when posting a disappointing 10-3 record.

Further, getting walloped by Alabama at home on a ESPN Gameday National broadcast didn't help the media to view UGA favorably either.

However, much of the media overlooked how many injuries UGA sustained to its offense and defensive lines. Recall in 2007-2008, UGA finished No. 2 behind LSU.

Certainly, a lot of the media called them one of the hottest teams at the end of that year, along with USC, but the media completely wrote off UGA possibly being in the National Title game because they did not win the SEC.

I definitely agree that a BCS Championship representative should win their conference, but there needs to be a rule stating this. Until a rule states this principle, a team should not be ruled out, and it did not stop Nebraska from reaching the Title Game in 2002.

Let me also note that Georgia has just as many BCS Bowl appearances as heavyweights, Texas and Notre Dame. Further, UGA has the best record in the SEC since 2000. But they just don't seem to receive the same coverage.

Media Figureheads: Mark May, Lou Holtz, Stewart Mandel, Dennis Dodd

Call me crazy, but an argument could be made for Texas. I think for the most part that they receive proper media coverage, but it is definitely inferior to OU's coverage.

Last year, they beat OU, but every media outlet seemed to be convinced OU was so much better than Texas. Something tells me Vince Young should have won the Heisman, too. Colt McCoy is debatable.

Media Figureheads: No one in particular, just not on the same level as Oklahoma, when Texas has performed well in BCS Games, going 3-0.