Sugar Bowl 2012: Michigan and Virginia Tech Shouldn't Be Playing

I cannot believe what my ears have heard and my eyes have seen. Michigan, ranked No. 13 in the BCS and Virginia Tech, ranked No. 11, are both going to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl.

The cause for such outrage stems from the more enticing matchup in the Cotton Bowl between No. 8 Kansas State and No. 6 Arkansas.

The outrage doesn’t stem from Arkansas being excluded, because BCS rules state that only three teams from one conference can be in a BCS bowl, the outrage stems from Kansas State being excluded.

One may ask why only now would my outrage emerge? Being that we are currently in the worst part of bowl season, now feels like the appropriate time to voice my outrage.

The concept of rewarding a team like Michigan for not even appearing in their conference championship game and Virginia Tech for losing the ACC title game feels more like a crime than anything else.

This matchup validates the people who already dislike the BCS and the current system. I am not here to say that the BCS system is broken or needs to be thrown out. All I am saying is that they could have done a better job creating a matchup, especially considering that Baylor is ranked ahead of Michigan.

The only reason I could come up with why the organizers of the Sugar Bowl would create such a matchup is that these teams have more established and prestigious brands. And since they are more prestigious brands, they might bring in higher ratings than if they had, say, Michigan State and Kansas State.

If that is the case, then it further validates the objections brought by certain vocal opponents of the BCS system as it currently is. If anything, this Sugar Bowl matchup is more egregious than the National Championship matchup.

Even if Kansas State was excluded because they did not beat either Oklahoma or Oklahoma State, that shouldn’t matter. Even if Michigan did beat Ohio State.

Michigan’s win didn't mean anything because Ohio State is on probation and lost Terrell Pryor, their star quarterback. And Kansas State has wins over Texas and Texas A&M (a team that is a lot better than their record).

In conclusion, the current matchup is probably the most objectionable Sugar Bowl game, and for that matter, BCS bowl game that has ever been concocted by the mad scientists representing the BCS bowl system.

It is my hope that more people tune in for the true BCS caliber bowl game that is happening at Jerry’s World in Arlington, Texas between Kansas State and Arkansas.

If people do not tune in for the Cotton Bowl, then I think Yahoo has a great article on five common job interview mistakes, which would sadly be a better use of time than watching the Sugar Bowl.