Did the BCS Set Up Alabama for Failure?

No coach on the planet, living or dead, (yes, not even the Bear) could have prevented the Alabama Crimson Tide from laying the huge egg they planted right on the mid-field logo at the Superdome Jan. 2.

It was the classic "Set-up Bowl" that the BCS continues to produce amidst its insane system for failure.

Fifteen minutes from playing for a national championship as an undefeated No. 1-ranked team, Bama fell just short against Florida. And afterwards, they were rewarded for their 12-1 record by being "allowed" to play Utah in a BCS bowl. Utah, for crying out loud!

Most SEC fans don't even know where Utah is, much less care.

Blame Nick Saban for not having his team ready? You can't do it! Nobody could have had Bama ready for Utah! I keep saying "Utah" in my head like Jim Mora said "playoffs?" years ago! Utah? Utah? Don't talk about....Utah? Are you kidding me?

Now granted, after the fact, I can speak very highly of Utah, and I'm sure all of Bama Nation can too. They are in fact the real deal and deserved to win. They outplayed Bama in every facet and are a very impressive team. Definitely worthy of top 3-5 mention.

But BEFORE the game, there was no way, no how, not now, not ever going to be ANY chance that Alabama would be up for that game.

And for Utah, well, this game was their "game of the century"!  For Alabama, it was their "set-up of the century." A set-up for failure. No way Bama wins that game if they played it every week for the next two years.

How can the BCS, yes, even the BCS, not pair Alabama with Texas or USC or even Penn State for their bowl game? Alabama vs. Texas. Now THAT would have been a game! But nooooooooo...instead we get the "set-up for failure" game.

Count me out of any discussions of respect for the BCS system except for this: their ranking system is fair. To combine computer rankings with human opinion seems to me to be about as fair as it can get outside of a tournament. But beyond that, all common sense stays at home in the bed, under the covers, shivering.

Play No. 1 vs. No. 2, okay, right, good, yeah, that seems to make sense. How about #3? Uhhh.....let's see, yeah, let's play them against No. 10. Uhhhh...Ok, fine, and how about No. 4? Who should they play? UTAH! Oh yeah, that's brilliant.

"For crying out loud" has new meaning to me.