The BCS has been no stranger to controversy in its decade of existence—and 2007 will be no exception.
If anything, in fact, the BCS picture is more muddled than it's ever been—even after Oregon's loss to Arizona.
As it stands, only the LSU Tigers control their own destiny, but Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma are virtually in the same boat.
And it doesn't get any clearer from there.
Kansas plays Missouri next week for the Big 12 North title. The winner will play Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship
If Missouri wins both games, the Tigers might be kept out of the title game for a midseason loss to Oklahoma.
LSU's remaining schedule consists of Ole Miss and Arkansas. Even if Les Miles and Co. beat Ole Miss in Oxford this weekend, they'll still have to find an answer to the Razorbacks' dynamic rushing duo.
Let's not forget that the last time the Tigers were voted No. 1, they lost their next game—an SEC road matchup—to Kentucky.
LSU faces another SEC road matchup this week.
The final test for the Tigers will come in the SEC Championship Game. LSU is likely to face either Tennessee or Georgia in Atlanta, depending on whether Tennessee wins out.
Both the Vols and the Bulldogs have two losses, but Tennessee owns the tiebreaker.
In any event, either team will pose a challenge for LSU—and it's by no means certain that LSU will be in New Orleans on January 7th.
If Kansas wins out, I'd have trouble keeping them out of the title game, for two reasons.
First, they'd be undefeated. And second, their winning out would add two more top-five wins to their resume.
If Missouri wins out, I'm not entirely sure what would happen. If the Tigers beat Kansas or Oklahoma by more than 15 points, I'd probably have them playing for the championship.
My final BCS prediction?
The fans demand a playoff system before next season.
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6 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
If OU, KU, and MU all win this weekend, the Big 12 should be assured of a spot in the BCS Championship game. Oregon's loss helps Missouri's chances should it win out.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
The BCS is a joke. Even high schools have a "real" playoff system.
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CHRIS WILLIAMS about 1 year ago
I agree that if the "big 3" win out this weekend, the Big XII should FOR SURE have a spot in the BCS championship game without a doubt in my mind. I have some weird feeling though that if oklahoma skates by tech then they would overtake the #2 spot in the BCS race, with Kansas and Missouri following in the number 3 and 4 spots resectively..(with regards to both of them winning this weekend of course). The reason being is because Tech is a better opponent then Iowa State and since the Sooners have to travel to Lubbock as well. That should set up a #3 vs. #4 match-up at Arrowhead the following weekend...pretty sick if you ask me...
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Even a playoff system is flawwed. Who do you choose to be in the playoffs? Rankings? Conference champions?... That won't work. Plus, sometimes-like with USC vs. Texas in 05, there is no need for a playoff.
How about just a plus 1(4 team) system? More in the following comment...
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Having more than 4 teams would be getting out of hand. Unless you were to drastically change the season format of D1-A football(which won't ever happen), then the one week playoff game double header would be good enough to suit everyone(has there ever been an argument for the #5 team to get to the title game? No). Last year, the 4 teams would have been Ohio State, Louisville, Florida and Boise State. This year, it looks like it should be LSU, the Big 12 champ, WVU, and Arizona State/Ohio State. Random draw would determine the matchups, and must be a conference champion to be eligible. The games would be held after the conference championships, and the winners of the games would play each other in the title game(an actual bowl, ei-Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta). Using the bowls as playoff games is not the answer, either. That would take away, even more so, the tradition that the bowls have. More in the following comment...
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
But of course... we wouldn't have to have a playoff if the voters would just vote with common sense and not with their wallets/bias. Seriously, we all know Oklahoma didn't deserve to be in the title game against LSU a few years ago that resulted in a split title. I say take rank every team in a lot of statistical categories(winning %*, points accumulated*, opponents' win.% average...then maybe throw in margin of victory ranking, total offense and defense combined ranking--ranking in scoring and yardage for both offense and defense.) That would basically tell you statistically who would be the best team overall. If you go undefeated, while playing against no 1-AA teams, playing against teams with decent winning percentage... then a team would have nothing to worry about. Then if you did all that, and were #1 in scoring offense, yards, scoring defense and defending yards, it would further solidify that team as the best in the country. As it is now, the voters look no further than school name, conference, and the records of teams to make decisions. That's why LSU, USC, and Oklahoma only fell 4 spots in the polls after they lost, while Cal, USF, BC, OSU, WVU, ASU, and every other team fell more than 6 spots when they lost for the first time.
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