Break out the Fat Darrells, with three games to go Rutgers is your undefeated Big East leader. Every interesting fact or statistic that can prove how absurd this is has been presented by someone already so let's just say congrats to Rutgers for redefining itself (finally) and to Greg Schiano whose asking price just went up $1 million/year last night.As for what happened to Louisville, I think Lou Holtz summed it up best:
"Louisville got caught looking ahead to last week against West Virginia."
Somebody wrap a hot towel around Lou's head.
Already the discussion has begun about Rutgers' chances to play for the National Title and they do indeed look slim at best. That said, it made me think about how most of the reactions you will hear this week in reference to Rutgers and even to Boise State will be in disgust or disdan or some other negative word beginning with dis-. One of the unsaid negative impacts of the BCS (compared to the many well-documented negative impacts) is that we as college football fans have come to resent underdogs.
Most college football pundits are actually rooting against Boise State right now. Why? Because if they run the table they will probably take a BCS bowl spot away from a 1-loss or even 2-loss BCS conference team. That means that instead of showering unheralded Boise State with praise and adulation for pulling off an incredible feat, we are going to resent them because they "stole" a couple million dollars from Tennessee or LSU or Notre Dame. They will have robbed these BCS schools of the money they so rightfully deserve because...well...we're not really sure what entitles them to that bowl berth and that money more than Boise State, but we know that most of the pundits are going to make it seem that way.At least Boise State has an excuse, they're not in the BCS conference brotherhood. Rutgers is just a party pooper. Don't they get it? Only 7-8 teams in all of Division 1-A are allowed to play for the National Title. That's it. If you're not USC, Ohio State, Michigan, Florida, Nebraska, Oklahoma or Notre Dame...don't bother. Not too long ago, we'd shower Rutgers with praise up until January. Now, mark my words, come Monday there will be nothing but complaining about how Rutgers is higher in the BCS than some SEC or Big 12 teams that have more losses.
Ugh, I promised myself I'd never do a BCS rant but I guess its just natural. You blog about college football, you're going to rant about the BCS eventually. But seriously, look at college basketball. They love the underdogs. They revel in the underdogs. They set up an entire postseason tournament that is predicated on the fact that underdogs get thier fair shot. Why is it that we are not only cutting off the underdogs from getting a fair shot in football, but we openly mock and shower criticism on said underdog if they even try to sniff a BCS berth or National Title by continually winning games while others lose?If you want to blame someone for the problems of college football, blame USC for losing to Oregon State. Blame Florida for losing to Auburn and Auburn for losing to Arkansas. Blame Florida State and Miami for being bad when the system is geared to provide them with the best opportunity to be good. It's not Rutger's fault they're 9-0. It's not Boise State's fault they're undefeated. In a system that is designed to protect the elite, if the underdogs begin to threaten that, its the elite's fault.