College Football's 11 Best 11s: A House Divided Cannot Stand

"A House Divided Cannot Stand," shouted Abraham Lincoln. We know the old saying popularized in the 19th century.

The phrase still has a meaning in the political world; however, let us now review only how it relates to the college football scene of the 21st century.

How long can this current BCS system continue to exist? Half BCS and half non-BCS?

Half free to go to selective bowls and championships and half "non-free" to do so?

What right does any nominated board have in telling a university like Utah, Boise State, or Brigham Young that, unless certain circumstances regarding the arbitrary rankings of other schools rescues them, they have no right to participate in a "BCS" Bowl?

"BCS" Bowl, little more than a politically correct phrase to replace the more specific  "Major" Bowl designation of halcyon days gone by.

Perhaps we can even dredge up a lookalike of the late former Alabama Governor George Wallace.

He can stand at the door of the Rose Bowl and exclaim "I'm sorry, we can't allow any non-BCS teams in here; BCS today, BCS tomorrow, and BCS forever!"

And so the die is cast.

The 2009 season, more than any other, will feature the absolute destruction of the accepted past practice of ignoring deserving non-BCS conference teams in favor of supposed BCS "powers" like the allegedly fifth-ranked Oklahoma State, conquerors of Georgia in Week One.

Just ask the Houston Cougars.

                                    THE 11 BEST 11s

Ranking This Week                                 Ranking Last Week          

1. Southern California                                         5.                                 

2. Florida                                                               2.

3. Texas                                                                 1.

4. California                                                           3.

5. Alabama                                                             6.

6. Boise State                                                       7.

7. Brigham Young                                                8.

8. Penn State                                                         9.

9. Louisiana State                                                10.

10. Ohio State                                                        4.

11. Oklahoma                                                       N/R

On The Porch, Ga Tech, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Michigan, and Miami.

Over the past weekend, Florida's Gators proved to be devastating on both sides of the ball. The Gators have earned the right to maintain their No. 2 ranking in the 11 Best 11s.

The Southern California Trojans performed with pulse-pounding intensity from the opening kickoff until the dragon of Jim Tressel in his Horseshoe was finally slain.

USC is deserving of the highest ranking in this, the third week of the season.

Texas, however, was singularly unimpressive at an altitude of 7,200 feet in Laramie, Wyo.

Trailing late in the second quarter, leading at half by only three points, this squad did not have the look of a national champion against the middle of the road "non-BCS" Cowboys. 

An attempt to "run up the score" in the second half against the outmanned but heroic Cowboys, playing in front of their families and neighbors, did little to add any glamor to the reputation of past great Texas teams.

Because of this so-called "performance" by the Longhorns, Texas drops behind Florida and Southern California in the 11 Best 11s for Week Three.

Stating, as Texas coach Mack Brown did Saturday, that his team was "may have been affected by all this crisp air and evergreen trees surrounding the stadium up here" says nothing about his lack of preparation for the biggest game ever played in the state of Wyoming.

Truly, such an off-hand excuse for the weak performance sheds more light on the environmental conditions surrounding Austin, Tex., than it does the hostile environment the Longhorns encountered in the vast clean air of Wyoming.

Thus, let the challenge be laid down to the Texas Longhorns: In order to regain their top ranking in the 11 Best 11s, they must play their finest game each week, regardless of who is on the other side of the field.

The great teams do not compete against the opponent; they compete against themselves. By doing this, they seek to improve each passing week.

Hook 'em, if you can.