BCS Is a Mess After Oklahoma State Loss to Iowa State

The worst fears for the heads of the Bowl Championship Series have come true. Oklahoma State, who was the second-to-last remaining undefeated BCS school, fell. 

They did not lose to the one-loss Oklahoma Sooners.  No, they lost to a very average Iowa State team that was 5-4 coming into the game. 

It seems like no one wants to face the expected Southeast Conference champion LSU Tigers.  Stanford, with their All American QB Andrew Luck, lost last week to the Oregon Ducks. 

Recent upsets have also eliminated Wisconsin and Boise State from the list of unbeaten teams.  Now the voters and computers will have to pick from a gaggle of one-loss teams. 

Each has some credentials, but each also has a few beauty marks that make them somewhat
less than an attractive dance partner for the BCS.

Based on the rankings prior to this week’s games, here are the candidates for the title contest:

No. 3 Alabama

This would be a replay of a defensive struggle where LSU beat 'Bama at home 9-6 in what was a painful overtime game to watch.  Losing at home is never good in the eyes of voters or the computers. 

Alabama has an inconsistent offense and a terrible kicking game that cost them the LSU game
and a No. 1 ranking.  But they do have the top-rated defense. The Crimson Tide faces Georgia Southern before the grudge match at No. 24 Auburn.

Alabama has SEC wins over then #14 Arkansas, at then #12 Florida and an early-season win at Penn State, who was No. 23 at the time. That ranking proved to be bogus. 

No. 4 Oregon

They have wins at then No. 4 Stanford and at home against then-No .18 Arizona State.  They
possess the fifth-ranked running game and the third-ranked scoring offense. 

They play a tough game against USC at home and then the season-ending game home against Oregon State.  But the one loss by the Ducks was to LSU 40-27 to open the season on a neutral field.  That makes them a less-than-ideal matchup.

No. 5 Oklahoma

The Sooners have an impressive resume with wins at then No. 5 Florida State, on a neutral field against then-No. 11 Texas and at No. 8 Kansas State.  Behind NFL prospect QB Landry Jones, they are third in passing and sixth in scoring, while standing 21st in scoring defense.  But they have lost their top WR Ryan Broyles for the year to a knee injury.

They have two more big games left on the schedule, at No. 22 Baylor and No. 2 Oklahoma State.  The second game will look a little less impressive since the Cowboys' loss to Iowa State. 

But Oklahoma had a bad loss at home to a 4-2 Texas Tech team that is now 5-5 with three consecutive losses beginning the week after their upset of the Sooners.

No. 6 Arkansas

The Razorbacks have some impressive wins, including at home against No. 14 Texas A&M 42-38 and No. 9 South Carolina 44-28.  They are 11th in passing and 13th in overall scoring.

Arkansas boasts a solid defense which is 29th overall.  But they have already lost at No. 3 Alabama 38-14 and will travel to No. 1 LSU in their final game. 

If the Razorbacks beat LSU, BCS officials would jump off bridges after throwing the computers off first.

But what happens if LSU falls in the SEC Championship game to a two-loss No. 14 Georgia?  More jumping off the bridge and throwing of computers would be the result.

So which team would you select?  There has been some talk about a rematch with Alabama and LSU, but a lot of people don’t want to see that.  The Ducks would also be a rematch, although Oregon
is clearly a much better team than the one that last Week 1 to LSU. 

Frankly, each candidate has some baggage in addition to a few things that recommend them for the championship game.  What we really need is a playoff of the top four teams with 2 meeting 3 and 1 meeting 4 in the bowl games followed by a plus-one championship game the following week. 

While that is not a perfect system, it would provide some credibility.  However, that will not happen until the big-money contributors tell the college presidents they will stop making donations until a playoff system is in place.

With the luck of the BCS, each of the teams above will lose a game with the cherry on top of the soda being the Razorbacks' or the Georgia Bulldogs' defeat of LSU.  Then maybe the BCS can borrow the
NBA’s ping pong machine to pick a couple of teams that would play for the glass football. 

That would have just about as much credibility as the BCS has now.

That is what I think.  Tell us what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits http://fryingpansports.com and hosts the Internet radio version of News, Notes and Rumors M-Th at 6 PM EST on http://mooheadradio.com/2.0/.  He has also published several novels on http://www.eBooks-Library.com/Contemporary/ (select William E. Smith in the author list) and a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/.