First BCS Standings Released: Leaves Questions

A full day has passed since the initial Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings have been released and already there is questionable decision-making.

Granted it is the first standings of the season and since its inception we have come to expect fans cry foul right away.

The first three teams listed you can’t make an argument about, Florida at one, Alabama at two and Texas at three.  Florida and Alabama are on a collision course to meet in the Southeastern (SEC) Conference Championship Game.

If both finish the regular season undefeated, the winner of this elimination game would advance to the BCS National Championship.  Texas controls its own destiny, as Kirk Herbstreit likes to say, if they win out they likely face the winner of the SEC’s title game granted they are undefeated.

What is not simple is the tendency for these top teams to lose down the stretch.  Florida survived a scare this past weekend to visiting Arkansas, winning the game on a last second field goal. 

All three top teams face match ups for the remainder of the season they cannot overlook in their respective conferences.

Boise State, Cincinnati and Iowa are ranked fourth through sixth providing a hint of credibility to the WAC, Big East and Big Ten.

Should Boise be ranked this high?  That is something I disagree with when it comes to looking at their schedule.  They did play Oregon to open up the season, but that is a team that just now is picking up form.  If Boise were to play Oregon now, who destroyed No. 6 California 42-3, the Duck would have taken the win but ifs are nothing but an excuse.

Boise may be ranked this high but there is no way that they should even be considered for a championship game if they run the table and go undefeated two of the team’s ahead of them loses.  The WAC schedule is just not strong enough to say that the Broncos should be ahead of any one-loss BCS team at the season’s end, especially with national title implications.

It is evident Boise’s schedule is weak when the USA Today and the AP polls continue to push Boise down every week when the rankings are released.

The one baffling thing about the BCS is that LSU is ranked ahead of Miami.  Both the human polls have the Hurricanes ahead of the Tigers.

The Associated Press has Miami ranked 8th and LSU one spot behind them at 9.  The coaches’ poll (USA Today) has Miami at 9 and LSU at 10.

This is where the SEC’s bias comes plays a role.  For LSU, they have only faced two ranked teams this season.  On the road at No. 18 Georgia, they needed a last second touchdown to break a tie.  Last weekend’s showcase game against top ranked Florida proved to be more hype than action in a 13-3 loss at home.

Close encounters against Washington and Mississippi State have also led the Tigers to be exposed as pretenders this season.

On the other hand Miami won three of their first four games and on top of that all four opponents where ranked in the top 18 when they faced them.  If anything Miami’s schedule alone merits them to be ahead of LSU.

The most reasonable answer is that Miami lost their only game three weeks ago on September 26th.  LSU’s loss came a week ago.  The college football system is designed to penalize those who lose as the season goes instead of those who lose early on. 

By virtue of this logic alone Miami should be ahead of LSU in the standings. 

There is stil a lot of football to be played and if any one of the teams overlooks an opponent national championship dreams and berths in the BCS bowl games go away.