BCS Rankings: Boise State Error Proves Stupidity of BCS

Bob Kustra, the president of Boise State, definitely has a right to complain.

The latest BCS debacle, the flipping of Boise State and LSU in the rankings, only proved just how bad a system the BCS is.

When Jerry Palm discovered that Wes Colley's model, one of the six used by the BCS, was incorrect, it became clear (well, clearer, but not clear) that LSU and Boise State were in the wrong places in the standings.

LSU was No. 10 and Boise State was No. 11 at the time, but the mistake was corrected, and the rankings were switched for the two schools.

Kustra, even though his team moved back up one spot into the Top 10, had a right to be angry.

Right now, Colley's formula is the only one made at least somewhat available to the general public. The other five remain hidden, so for all we know, there could be other mistakes in the rankings as well.

What if there was another slip-up and TCU actually should be No. 2 in the country and playing for the national championship?

Plus, there's the whole thing about what the mistake was.

Colley forgot to include the result of a Division I-AA game into his data. Western Illinois and Appalachian State played in the playoffs, but the game was left out of Colley's work.

Now, just stop and think about how stupid this is.

A Division I-AA game caused one team to move back into the Top 10. Not only that, it was a game between two teams that weren't even on either LSU or Boise State's schedule.

What if that game had changed two teams' rankings and caused one to be left out of a BCS bowl game?

The sad thing is, it probably could.

Transparency is sorely needed in the BCS. We're a long way away from getting a playoff system, but is it really too much to ask to let the general public see the way that the standings are calculated?