BCS Conspiracy Theory: Conference Champions Leap Up Polls

Clearly the BCS committee and those voting in the polls deem a conference championship a requirement to contend for the BCS National Championship. Just one look at the shakeup in the polls this week and you'll see the scare that went through every voter and computer in deciding the title matchup.

Let's back up to last week's BCS poll. Georgia was ranked ahead of every team in the SEC even though they would not play in their conference championship. Voters knew this and gave the Dogs a higher ranking anyway, but it wasn't an issue because Georgia had no shot at the national title game.

But No. 1 and No. 2 lost. Naturally, No. 4 Georgia expected to move up two spots. But, No. 6 Virginia Tech, No. 7 LSU, and No. 9 Oklahoma all leap-frogged into the Top Four ahead of Georgia, who dropped in this week's BCS poll.

Why did this happen?

Obviously Georgia remained idle while the three teams ahead of them went out and won their conference championships. Each team played a formidable opponent, with Oklahoma even beating No. 1 Missouri.

But were the wins so impressive to justify the giant vault in their rankings and even get several No. 1 votes in various polls? Maybe, but this was not the reason why the teams shot up so suddenly. A deeper look at the circumstances unveils an unusual situation.

Voters were left with Georgia and Ohio State at the top after the losses by Missouri and West Virginia. This was unacceptable to BCS minds everywhere because Georgia did not win their conference championship game. Next in line was Kansas, but they too did not compete for their conference championship.

So what are the great BCS minds to do?

Coaches and voters everywhere scrambled to vote for the winners of the three conference championships into the No. 2 spot so that the BCS would not be busted by another strange series of events. This surge, caused by the emphasis on the No. 2 spot, shook up the BCS Top 10 substantially.

Consequently, Va Tech, LSU, and Oklahoma received a huge boost in votes with the national title so wide open. These teams all benefited from those votes and catapulted up the rankings. Meanwhile, UGA and Kansas, who were curiously not viable options, dropped a combined four positions in the polls.

I postulate that, had West Virginia and Missouri won, Kansas and Georgia would find themselves sitting in their No. 4 and No. 5 positions today instead of falling in the polls (despite wins by LSU and Va Tech).

So to sum up, Kansas and Georgia were hurt by two of the teams in front of them losing. How is this possible? It's just another day in the BCS/non playoff era.