NCAA Football 2011: Why the Syracuse Orange Could Earn a BCS Berth

The BCS needs to be reformed. I try to defend it, but when UConn football earns a bid last season, it's hard to try to stick up for such a flawed system. If The Syracuse Orange earn a bid this season, it will be even more indefensible.

When you think of college football dominance, Syracuse isn't necessarily the first team that comes to mind. The university produced Mike Williams and Donavon McNabb, but in today's college football world, this is a team that simply doesn't even come close to deserving a BCS bowl bid. 

Syracuse was close to winning the Big East last season. They finished only one game out of first place, and in an extremely close race, they could easily pull it out this season with just a little bit of good luck. 

Their offense figures to improve quite a bit. While they did lose their leading rusher, Delone Carter, Antwon Bailey should be ready to step up and fill the void. He recorded over 500 rushing yards last season on nearly five yards per carry. They also return their starting quarterback Ryan Nassib and all three of their leading wide receivers. 

With a fairly high-powered offense, Syracuse can certainly make a run at the BCS. In the Big East, it honestly doesn't take all that much these days. With UConn losing stud running back Jordan Todman, Pittsburgh losing Jonathan Baldwin, and considering West Virginia's inconsistency in the recent past, it's not that far out of reach.

Think about that for a second. Syracuse playing for a BCS bowl. While I may not have proved that Syracuse should be the favorite to win the Big East, it's definitely possible. The real question becomes, should the Big East retain their automatic BCS bid? For the time being, I believe the answer has to be no.