It didn’t come as a surprise that LSU will play Alabama in a rematch for the national championship of college football, but the BCS got little else right.
In what can only be described as an embarrassment, the Allstate Sugar Bowl will match a pair of two-loss teams when Michigan faces Virginia Tech.
Even more pathetic is the Discover Orange Bowl game that will have Clemson facing West Virginia, both of which have lost three games.
If ever there was a time to blow up the BCS, now is the time to do it.
When two of the four major bowl games feature teams that shouldn’t have been invited, it makes a mockery of the BCS’ motto “every game counts.”
Obviously, not every game counts. If that truly was the case, then Arkansas, Boise State, Kansas State and South Carolina would be playing in the major bowl games.
Because the BCS limits each conference from sending more than two of its members to the major bowls, the system sometimes forces matchups of undeserving teams or allows the bowls to make selections that frankly make no sense.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl would have invited Arkansas had they been allowed to do so.
The Hogs would have represented the traditional invitation given to a team from the SEC, but since Alabama and LSU are playing for the national championship, the Sugar had to select at-large teams.
A Sugar Bowl with Arkansas playing either Boise State or Kansas State wouldn’t be a marquee matchup, but at least it would be a game between two deserving teams.
Based on the final BCS standings, the Sugar Bowl should have invited Boise State and Kansas State.
So why didn’t they?
Because a game between Michigan and Virginia Tech will sell tickets and fill up hotel rooms.
When a bowl game invites teams for no other reason than their ability to positively effect the local economy, then it’s time to start over.
Kansas State and Arkansas will face off, but they’ll play in the AT&T Cotton Bowl. Meanwhile, Boise State is stuck playing in the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl against 6-6 Arizona State.
That means three of the top eight teams in the final BCS standings won’t play in one of the major bowls.
I’ve defended the BCS to an extent because the system at least attempted to create a No.1 vs No.2 matchup for the national championship.
Despite its flaws, the BCS eliminated split national championships that were all too common prior to 1998.
But the system has clearly evolved into a popularity contest that doesn’t create matchups between the most deserving teams.
If the BCS doesn’t serve the intended purpose of rewarding teams that have had successful season’s, then there’s no point in having it.
Having failed so dramatically this year, it’s no longer possible to defend the indefensible.
The BCS either needs to be done away with or undergo a complete overhaul.
College football deserves better than this, particularly the players and coaches of those teams that get left out for all the wrong reasons.
