BCS Rankings 2011: Southern Miss and Teams That Deserve More Respect

The name brand isn't always better than the off-brand you've never heard of.

This concept can be applied to clothing—and college football as well.

Take No. 21 Southern Miss for example.

They have the 14th-best offense in the nation, averaging more than 37 points per game, and they have just beaten the second-to-last undefeated team in college football in the Houston Cougars.

Not only did they win, they beat them by 21 points!

They sport a win against the underrated Virginia Cavaliers on the road and have scored at least 44 points in six of their games.

An early-season loss to Marshall is a distant memory—this team is peaking at the perfect time and deserve better than the 21st ranking and a date with Nevada in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

These teams deserve to complain about the computers as well:

No. 18 TCU Horned Frogs

Remember these guys? You know, the team that ruined No. 7 Boise State's season?

They are a 50-48 stomach-punching loss to Baylor in Week 1 and an OT loss to Southern Methodist short of being undefeated with a win against a top 10 team on their resume. They are ninth in the nation in scoring (41.7) behind a rushing attack, churning out 210 yards per game.

While a BCS bowl game may be out of the question because of the Southern Methodist loss, they deserve to be in the top 15, potentially even knocking on the top 10 door.

Instead, they are stuck playing Louisiana Tech in the Poinsettia Bowl.

Unranked Cincinnati Bearcats

They may be somewhat of a name brand, but let's be real—once Brian Kelly bolted, everybody wrote this school off as a basketball program once again.

They shouldn't.

Butch Jones and his staff registered an impressive 9-3 record despite losing the incredibly versatile QB Zach Collaros with a month of games left.

They predictably failed in their first game with backup Munchie Legaux under center, but they proceeded to win their final two games in must-win situations to give themselves a real shot at making a BCS bowl.

RB Isiah Pead (1110 yards, 11 TDs) is a star, and the defense is quietly ranked 20th in the nation, allowing 20 points a game.

They deserve to be in the Top 25 and should certainly be ahead of five-loss teams like No. 24 Texas and No. 25 Auburn.