I'll be on record as saying I'm glad Florida is in the National Championship. They won their conference. They had a much tougher schedule. They have more quality wins. That said, its just embarrassing that I or anyone else has to prove themselves this morning no matter what side of the argument you are on. Is it a waste of time for me to say there must be a playoff? Whatever. So all of that said, here's what Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr had to say:
"My statement is that I don't think [Florida] would have moved ahead of us if USC had won their game. I don't know what the voters were thinking -- you'd have to ask them -- but I don't think there's any question that if USC wins, we remain No. 3."
He's absolutely right. And there's all the proof you need as to why my favorite sport is so horribly flawed. Besides the obvious one that everyone's talking about this morning, there's a few other big questions from the fallout:
Why are the BCS match-ups almost always uninteresting? Seriously, in previous years it was considered a bonus if even one of the other BCS games sounded like something you were genuinely interested in watching. This year, USC-Michigan is going to be a great game, especially with the ginormous chip on the Wolverines' shoulders. Otherwise, do any of the other three BCS games excite you? Unless you're related to one of those schools, what the hell is so interesting about any of them. The Sugar Bowl is going to be a debacle. The Orange Bowl has a team that backed into its conference win and another whom many people didn't even realize played Division 1-A football before this year. As for the Fiesta, as much as it pains me to say it, yes, having Boise State there hurts the game. Doesn't help that Oklahoma doesn't excite me either. I think the #3 bowl match-up out there isn't even a BCS game, its the Capital One Bowl between Wisconsin and Arkansas. This is all the more reason to abolish the BCS and do it right.
How can Rutgers possibly get excited for the Texas Bowl? I don't know. A year ago today Rutgers would have killed for the Texas Bowl. That was before Ray Rice. That was before being ranked in the Top Ten. That was before being 9-0. That was before flirting with the National Championship. That was before talk of a Big East Title and BCS berth. Just a complete gut-punch, between the way they lose the West Virginia game to the bowl fallout. When I was back home I was talking to Rutgers alumni about attending the Rose or Orange Bowls and they were giddy like little kids. I hope they can muster the same amount of excitement for the 7-5 Kansas State Wildcats in the Texas Bowl on December 28th, but I don't think they will. Are any of those other Bowl games worth watching? Not really. Florida State vs. UCLA is mildly interesting if for no other reason than to hear who Bobby Bowden will blame next for his son's firing. Cal-Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl will probably be a good game, as will Navy-BC in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. For the most part, it looks like blow-out city, which 6-6 teams aplenty. What the hell do we get excited over bowls for again? Cause that's the point, isn't it...we keep the BCS and this bowl system because we love the tradition and the pageantry. Honestly, do we? I can see four, maybe five out of thirty-two games that interest me and I'm a huge college football fan.
Will there be a playoff soon? Of course not. Just look around at all the coverage this morning about this. Here's the dirty little secret...they love it. They love that we all complain for weeks about it. Cause at least we're talking about it. With the playoff, there's no controversy (except when the officials screw up). The sooner you accept that the sooner you stop hitting yourself in the head with a hammer.