Spring Break
5 Things the Bowl Season Taught Us
Issue date: 2/4/09 Section: Sports
1. The BCS has got to go, but real hypocrites vote AP. In 2003, an 11-1 USC Trojans team was left out of the BCS title game in favor of LSU and Oklahoma, both of whom had one loss. LSU ended up winning the BCS championship, but the Trojans were named the AP champions after beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Now Utah, the only team to finish the year undefeated, is left almost completely ignored by the AP poll. Utah played non-conference games with Alabama, Michigan and Oregon State to go along with a Mountain West Conference schedule that managed to whoop up on the Pac 10 during the regular season. The fact that Utah was not allowed to play for the BCS national championship was an inevitable tragedy of a flawed system-the reality that their season is not recognized by an organization that can and has recognized lesser seasons is an example of rampant stupidity and big-conference bias.
2. The Big 10 and Big East are the red-headed step-twins of the entire BCS. West Virginia scored possibly the biggest non-conference win of the entire season for the Big East by beating 8-4 North Carolina (take your pick over Iowa, Notre Dame, and Navy). With West Virginia having a down year and Cincinnati losing to Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl, the Big East now looks like the Pac-10 sans USC. For its part, the Big 10 lost two more BCS games and managed to go 1-6 overall in bowl play. It is one thing to not be able to play with the BCS' big boys, but the Big 10 now looks sad from top to bottom.
3. The Big 12 proved to be tremendously overrated. Oklahoma lost, Texas needed a last-minute touchdown against an Ohio State team that usually craps its compression shorts against competent teams, Texas Tech got beat by a four-loss Ole Miss team, and Oklahoma State dropped the Holiday bowl to Oregon-a pretty unimpressive record for the top of any league. Some leagues are built on the weakness of the bottom rather than strength at the top, and that was clearly the case with the Big 12 this year.
4. We should not be overly impressed with the Pac 10's 5-0 bowl performance. The only nearly-impressive game was USC's first-half romp over Penn State-a team that everyone knew had coasted on an easy schedule and was a double-digit underdog going into the Rose bowl. When your conference's weak regular season leaves you with only five bowl-eligible teams, one premier bowl appearance, and a contractual obligation to play a Big 10 team in the BCS, then you cannot salvage 14 weeks of wretchedness with five games.
5. Alabama gave the SEC a black eye-but there still is not a better conference. The SEC has now won three consecutive national championships; and wins by LSU, Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss helped redeem the oft-maligned middle of the league. The Big 12 was proven fraudulent, the Big 10 was confirmed as little-league, the ACC is only relevant from November through March, the Big East continues to be a joke, and the Pac 10 continues to be a one-team league.
2. The Big 10 and Big East are the red-headed step-twins of the entire BCS. West Virginia scored possibly the biggest non-conference win of the entire season for the Big East by beating 8-4 North Carolina (take your pick over Iowa, Notre Dame, and Navy). With West Virginia having a down year and Cincinnati losing to Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl, the Big East now looks like the Pac-10 sans USC. For its part, the Big 10 lost two more BCS games and managed to go 1-6 overall in bowl play. It is one thing to not be able to play with the BCS' big boys, but the Big 10 now looks sad from top to bottom.
3. The Big 12 proved to be tremendously overrated. Oklahoma lost, Texas needed a last-minute touchdown against an Ohio State team that usually craps its compression shorts against competent teams, Texas Tech got beat by a four-loss Ole Miss team, and Oklahoma State dropped the Holiday bowl to Oregon-a pretty unimpressive record for the top of any league. Some leagues are built on the weakness of the bottom rather than strength at the top, and that was clearly the case with the Big 12 this year.
4. We should not be overly impressed with the Pac 10's 5-0 bowl performance. The only nearly-impressive game was USC's first-half romp over Penn State-a team that everyone knew had coasted on an easy schedule and was a double-digit underdog going into the Rose bowl. When your conference's weak regular season leaves you with only five bowl-eligible teams, one premier bowl appearance, and a contractual obligation to play a Big 10 team in the BCS, then you cannot salvage 14 weeks of wretchedness with five games.
5. Alabama gave the SEC a black eye-but there still is not a better conference. The SEC has now won three consecutive national championships; and wins by LSU, Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss helped redeem the oft-maligned middle of the league. The Big 12 was proven fraudulent, the Big 10 was confirmed as little-league, the ACC is only relevant from November through March, the Big East continues to be a joke, and the Pac 10 continues to be a one-team league.
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