Hate the BCS and Want a Playoff? Top Five Things To Root for in 2009

Five Things To Root for if You Hate the BCS and Want a College Football Playoff

It is that time of year again when bashing the BCS becomes as fashionable as the Thanksgiving Day turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  I will readily admit that the BCS system is the best college football has ever had, but it seems that with each passing year, some other unanticipated controversy develops. 

The Bowl Subdivision of college football remains the one and only NCAA sport without some type of tournament for determining the champion.

What do I route for towards the end of every college football season?  Actually, it is very simple.  I route for as much chaos as possible.  Heap on the controversy and maybe, one day, the powers that be will finally see the light and abolish this crazy system of crowning a so called “champion.” 

So, if you despise the BCS as much as me, here are five things to root for in the closing weeks of the 2009 college football season:

1.) Alabama and Florida continue to win out and meet in the SEC Championship.

These two juggernauts, currently ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the BCS seem to be on a collision course in the SEC Championship game on Dec. 5.  Alabama has a home date with Tennessee Chattanooga followed by a road trip to traditional rival Auburn in the annual installment of the Iron Bowl. 

Meanwhile, Florida has home dates against mighty Florida International and a Florida State team that is a shadow of their former selves.  It would take a monumental upset for either team to drop any of the games remaining before the SEC Championship, which will become a de facto National Championship semi-final game.

2.) Texas wins Big 12 Championship.

Given that the loser of the SEC Championship is bound to drop in the BCS standings, the door will be open for BCS No. 3 Texas to move up and earn the other spot in the BCS Title Game.  All Texas has to do is beat Kansas on the road and then Texas A&M at home to close the season. 

The Longhorns would then face a weak Big 12 North opponent to be determined in the Big 12 Championship Game before packing their bags for Pasadena and the BCS Title Game. 

3.) Cincinnati remains undefeated and wins the Big East.

Cincinnati finishes with a home game against Illinois followed by a key road test at 9-1 Pittsburgh.  If they can somehow escape both of these final tests and finish the year a perfect 12-0 in an improving Big East conference, who is to say they don’t deserve a spot in the BCS Title Game? 

They would have beaten a minimum of two teams ranked in the BCS Top 25 on the road (Oregon St. and Pittsburgh), in addition to defeating bowl eligible teams Rutgers, West Virginia, Connecticut, South Florida, and Fresno St.

4.) BCS Crashers TCU and Boise St. each complete undefeated regular seasons.

Lately, the biggest bur under the saddle of the BCS has been the rash of teams from the so-called lesser conferences posting stellar seasons.  This season, TCU and Boise State can be the first pair of teams from the non-BCS conferences to go undefeated in the same season.  Both teams will be heavy favorites the rest of the year. 

Boise’s win over Oklahoma in a memorable Fiesta Bowl a few years ago and Utah’s win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl last year proves that these teams are capable of not only competing with the big boys, but beating them as well. 

If both TCU and Boise go undefeated, who is going to look those kids in the eye and say, “Sorry, your perfect seasons aren’t good enough to qualify you to play for a national championship?”

5.) If no undefeated teams remain, then hope for a bunch of 1-loss teams.

I think it is a pretty good bet that most of the above will happen this year.  But if there is one thing we have found to expect from college football, it is the unexpected.  So, if several of the above unbeatens are knocked off in the coming weeks, then the best we can hope for is that all of the unbeatens are upset at least once. 

Either Alabama or Florida will almost certainly lose because they likely will face each other.  However, if all of the other currently undefeated teams happen to each lose once, and current one loss teams (Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh) win out, we are looking at a real fine mess where seven teams would finish with just one loss. 

How would you like to be responsible for picking the two to play for the BCS Title from that mix?  Gee, why not set up an eight-team playoff whereby everyone could have a shot to make their case on the field?

Let chaos reign supreme!