Launching my Campaign for a Playoff

As part of my Writing and Rhetoric class I need to construct an argument regarding anything I choose. I had to choose a medium and a cause. I chose to create a website/blog using Twitter, Facebook and email to spread the word about this project. Please take some time to look around and give me your input. You can email me at vincent.moreschini@colorado.edu or tweet me at @timbe2.

Today begins my argument for the Bowl Championship Subdivision (BCS) to change to a playoff system. I think I have the right solution. The recent situation of TCU and Boise State being chosen to participate in the Fiesta Bowl is a real disappointment. Two non-BCS teams bust into the BCS Bowls, and they force the two teams to play each other. This is a lose-lose for the BCS and every college football fan. We all wanted to see a BCS team, play a non-BCS team, and now we have been robbed of this opportunity. Keep checking out the blog and please leave comments.

1998-2008 Highs and Lows of the non-BCS Busters

Below (in the two graphs I have displayed) there are 15 different examples of how the BCS has not treated undefeated teams from the non-BCS fairly. In 1998, Tulane finished the season with a record of 11-0, was ranked #7 in the country for BCS and yet was left out of all 5 BIG GAMES: The FedEx Orange Bowl, The All-State Sugar Bowl, The Tostitas Fiesta Bowl, The Citi Rose Bowl, and the National Championship game presented by Citi.

This also happened to Marshall in 1999 when they went 12-0, TCU in 2000 when they went 10-1, and in 2003 Miami Ohio when they went 11-1.

Not until 2004 did this change when Utah made it to the big show. Utah went 11-0 ranked #6 in the BCS and squashed Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl, 35-7. The next two years 2004 and 2005 Boise State and TCU were left out respectfully. Boise State going 11-0 while TCU went 11-1.

2006 was a big turn of events for non-BCS teams in the BCS. An undefeated Boise State team went 12-0 and ended up being matched up with Oklahoma(a big BCS powerhouse)in the Fiesta Bowl. I don't want to spoil the excitement of what happened(video to come in next post), but nevertheless, Boise State ended up winning and really stating a case for non-BCS teams to be allowed to play in BCS games.

In 2007 non-BCS teams Hawaii made it to the big games. Hawaii ended up losing 41-10 to the Georgia Bulldogs. This really left the media skeptical of the WAC(Western Athletic Conference) (non-BCS) teams.

In 2008 there were three eligible teams, yet only one made it to the game. Utah 12-0, Boise State 12-0, and TCU 10-2 all had strong campaigns for a BCS bowl, but Utah was the only one to make one where they beat Alabama 31-17.

2009 non-BCS Busters

This year 3 non-BCS teams are fighting for a shot at a BCS Bowl. And this is where it gets interesting. Boise State 13-0, BYU 10-2, and TCU 12-0 all are eligible for a shot. Boise State and TCU were both chosen by the Fiesta Bowl, which is completely counter-productive! Both TCU and Boise State had great seasons, went undefeated and now two non-BCS teams will meet in a BCS Bowl! You would think that they would get a match-up with a BCS team to prove they are worthy to duke it out among the best. As a fan, this makes me embarrassed. Robbing two worthy programs of getting a chance to play "Real Time" BCS teams.

http://www.fiestabowl.org/index.php/about/about_fiesta_bowl/

Fiesta Bowl 2010: TCU Vs. Boise State

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Welcome to the BCS Buster Bowl.

No. 3 TCU and No. 6 Boise State will meet in the Fiesta Bowl, marking the first time a BCS game other than the championship game has a matchup of unbeaten teams.

It's also the first time two teams from conferences without automatic bids to the BCS have played in the five big-money bowls in the same season.

Mountain West champion TCU (12-0) earned an automatic bid to break into the BCS for the first time in school history.

Western Athletic Conference champ Boise State (13-0) became the first team from a non-automatic qualifying conference to receive an at-large bid.

"We think it's a matchup that's credible," Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker said. "If there was a glass ceiling, we think we've taken a chunk out of it."

The Horned Frogs and Broncos played in the Poinsettia Bowl last season. TCU won 17-16 to hand Boise State its only loss of the season.

This time, the so-called little guys will move their tussle to the big stage – and Junker said the Fiesta didn't mind staging a rematch, which he said got a thumbs-up from TV partner Fox.

"We're not the NFL," he said. "There's new players, new stories, new energy. These are two teams that have been atop the rankings all year long, and we're very excited for a chance to match them."
They might want to roll back the roof at Glendale's University of Phoenix Stadium on Jan. 4, because the game should provide plenty of offensive fireworks.
Boise State has the nation's highest-scoring attack, averaging 44.1 points per game. TCU ranks fourth at 40.7 points per game.

For a few hours on Saturday night, it looked as if the Horned Frogs might slip into the BCS title game. No. 3 Texas found itself in a protracted defensive struggle with No. 21 Nebraska in the Big 12 playoff, and a Longhorns loss may have cleared the way for TCU to become the first school from a non-automatic qualifying conference to play for the national title.

But Texas pulled out a 13-12 victory, stunning the Cornhuskers and TCU coach Gary Patterson.
"I had to walk outside. ... I didn't even say anything," Patterson said. "I got up. ... I walked out in my bare feet, walked down the street, it was cold and I didn't even feel it. What else was I going to do. I had the same feeling when Utah scored at the end of the game a year ago (a 13-10 Frogs loss while Utah went on to be BCS buster). You get so close, but yet you're so far away."

It might not have mattered because unbeaten Cincinnati finished ahead of TCU in the final standings anyway.

The Horned Frogs, 12-0 for the first time, will settle for a trip to the desert for their BCS debut.
Patterson told his team it can still play for The Associated Press national championship. It's a long shot, because the Horned Frogs are third in the latest AP Top 25, behind Texas and Alabama, which are meeting in the BCS title game.

"That's what I told them, I said our whole deal is we're going to have to show the nation in this next bowl game that we belong, that we're one of the top two teams in the nation," Patterson said. "You can still win the AP, so that's what our whole goal is within the next month, to try to get ourself against a very good opponent, which is going to be hard to do anyway because they're a very good opponent."
TCU chews up 265.5 yards rushing, fifth nationally. Quarterback Andy Dalton ranks fourth nationally in passing efficiency, with 22 TDs and only five interceptions in 279 pass attempts.
Boise State players, parents and fans gathered in the new press box at Bronco Stadium to watch the bowl selection show.

The crowd erupted when the pairing was announced. But moments later, the crowd reacted with much less enthusiasm when TCU was announced as the Broncos' foe. Bronco fans had been hoping for a matchup with a Big Ten team like Iowa or Penn State.

Boise State coach Chris Petersen said he wasn't disappointed to face the Frogs.
"We got what we wanted," Petersen said. "We're playing a great opponent. With tough opponents there is great opportunity.

"I just think there is so much respect out there for TCU," Petersen said. "People say they should be playing in the national championship game. Maybe they should. I think that just adds to the excitement for us."

The Broncos will make their second Fiesta Bowl appearance in four years. Most fans distinctly recall their first trip.

In January 2007, the eighth-ranked Broncos used a passel of trick plays to stun 10th-ranked Oklahoma in a game still regarded as one of the great bowls in college football history. Afterward, tailback Ian Johnson proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend, giving the Fiesta Bowl an indelible image of the underdog-as-conqueror.
The Broncos are led by quarterback Kellen Moore, the nation's top-rated passer.
____
Associated Press Writer Todd Dvorak in Boise, Idaho, and AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins in Fort Worth contributed to this report.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/06/fiesta-bowl-2009-tcu-vs-b_n_382030.html

http://www.broncosports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=48553&SPID=4061&DB_OEM_ID=9900&ATCLID=204845132

BCS Remains Broken with Three Unbeatens Left

By David Mayo | The Grand Rapids Press

December 07, 2009, 8:00AM

 
AP PhotoHunter Lawrence hit the game-winning field goal to send Texas into the BCS national championship game.

On the occasion of another system-induced quandary, we address three topics on college football's front burner -- the Bowl Championship Series results, Michigan State's bowl berth, and the Heisman Trophy:

The last-second field goal that sent Texas to the national championship game against Alabama sent conspiracy theorists to work, too, not all of them from outside the system.

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini went ballistic after his defense's courageous work was unraveled by the kick that made Texas a 13-12 winner in the Big 12 championship Saturday night, and which Pelini insisted should not have happened.

Pelini went into a tirade immediately after the result became final, motioning angrily at reporters and saying the reason the Longhorns got their last-ditch opportunity at victory was "the BCS -- the (bleep) BCS."

As you probably know, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy languidly threw an incomplete pass out of bounds -- with a timeout still at the Longhorns' disposal -- on the play before the field goal.

The clock hit :00.

It was clear, both during the live play and upon review, that the timekeeper had a ponderous finger and at least one second should have been preserved.

That's exactly what officials ruled, waving jubilant Nebraska players back to the sideline and allowing Hunter Lawrence to kick a 46-yard field goal and put the Longhorns in the Jan. 7 championship game.

However, Pelini's point is well-taken, regardless whether the clock ruling was accurate or not.


The BCS remains a caste system, as evidenced by the two historic monoliths being selected for the championship game over three other unbeatens -- Cincinnati, Texas Christian and Boise State.

Now, for the first time, an on-the-field ruling has created at least some suspicion that unseen powers could bear responsibility for gerrymandering results for maximum visibility.

If Lawrence had missed that field goal -- or not been allowed to attempt it -- Cincinnati would have played Alabama for the national championship.

Pelini's unspoken suggestion was that college football's Big Brother wanted nothing to do with that, so in a circumstance under which the game could have been declared over, his team lost a conference championship in favor of a more desirable national championship pairing.

The BCS is the most broken, sadistic, insulting championship system in major American sports.

Never was that clearer than now.

And never were the negative ramifications of the faulty system clearer than in Pelini's unspoken suggestion of unfairness -- and the wincing thought that he might be on to something.

So Texas plays for the national title, with its own state title undecided. TCU is awfully good, after all.

2006 Rose Bowl Victory Texas Longhorns over the USC Trojans 41-38

http://www.mlive.com/sports/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/12/bcs_remains_broken_with_three.html

Mark Davis: TCU bowl game outrage

Mark Davis: TCU bowl game outrage proves need to scrap the system

06:19 PM CST on Tuesday, December 8, 2009

On Jan. 7, the University of Texas may be crowned national champions of college football. But the best team in America may have already played days earlier.

The Texas vs. Alabama winner will be 13-0, but so will the winner of the Fiesta Bowl matching undefeated TCU and Boise State on Jan. 4. The University of Cincinnati could also finish 13-0 by beating Florida in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.

Despite three undefeated teams, we would be expected to shrug and say the winner of the so-called National Championship Game is precisely that.College football fans have long been forced to accept a phony champion determined by polls rather than a series of actual games. So what rips this issue from the sports pages and puts it on this op-ed page this year?

Because the best team in college football right now may not play in Austin or Tuscaloosa, Ala. It may play in Fort Worth.

After a 12-0 season against admittedly lower-caliber opponents, TCU has nonetheless earned the right to prove itself against an elite opponent in a BCS bowl game.



Since 1998, the fraudulently-titled Bowl Championship Series has given us a mix of human voting and computer rankings and a resulting snootful of appearances by Oklahoma, USC, Florida and LSU, along with other major conference champs like Texas, who won it all in 2005.

But in any of those years, was there an undefeated team from a lesser conference who might have beaten the BCS champion? Before the cobbling together of the BCS, polls of coaches and sportswriters anointed the participants in the national championship game.

This has always been ridiculous. No major sport has ever picked two teams and said, "Here, you guys go settle it all," banishing any other hopefuls deserving of a shot. Even in college football's separate division for smaller schools, there is a 16-team tournament. Four weeks, 15 games, one genuine champion.

Why doesn't this happen in all of college football? Thank the entrenched hodgepodge of unrelated bowl games, which will start next week with obscure matchups in far-flung locales, building through the holidays to games featuring larger schools in more storied venues. Sixty-eight teams will play in a bowl of some sort, all enjoying some nice travel and a nice payday.

Big-time schools in big-time conferences are scared to death of losing to undefeated upstarts like TCU or Boise State, so the system relegates them to the equivalent of the childrens' table at Thanksgiving. This has always been wrong. But this year the outrage comes home. Texas' near defeat against inferior Nebraska last weekend has the nation wondering whether TCU might actually be better.

Who knows? Maybe the Longhorns would beat the Horned Frogs by 40. Maybe not. TCU's Fiesta Bowl appearance will bring unprecedented visibility and money, and that's great. But that's not what Frog Nation wants and deserves.

There should be a showcase right now to settle whether the occasional undefeated team from a conference of smaller schools might actually measure up to national championship caliber. This is not just about TCU. Boise State and Cincinnati fans have the same valid complaint. Surely others will follow.

Texas Rep. Joe Barton seeks a legislative remedy, suggesting that the BCS is a "cartel" improperly hoarding money and prestige to the detriment of smaller schools and their fans. His bill would prevent the BCS from using the term "national championship" until it provides one on the field.
Good luck with that. As long as American baseball's championship is called the World Series, truth in advertising is a hard argument to make in sports.

But the argument that needs to go forward from this year's mess is that the current archaic and unsatisfying college football postseason needs to be scrapped.

I'll be thrilled if Texas beats Alabama and wins the national championship next month. But I will forever wonder if an even better team played its games this year at Amon Carter Stadium.

Mark Davis is heard weekdays from 8:30 to 11 a.m. on WBAP-AM, News/Talk 820. His e-mail address is mdavis@wbap.com.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-markdavis_09edi.State.Edition1.2e9b623.html