The BCS Selection Show You've All Been Waiting For

Sunday, December 07, 2008

My predetermined guesses of what's likely going to be revealed by the Fox crew at 8 Eastern:

BCS Championship Game: Florida vs. Oklahoma
Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Utah
Rose Bowl: Southern Cal vs. Penn State
Fiesta Bowl: Texas vs. Ohio State
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati

If this comes to pass, I understand why the selections work out this way, but let's face it: I want Boise State in this sucker instead of Ohio State and I'm willing to bet I'm not alone. Granted, three of the five games listed would have some slobber-worthy match-ups for viewers, and since the Fiesta is one of those three, that scenario would draw eyeballs.

The problem is we're obviously using a "what draws eyes" model to determine the best teams in college football rather than a "who made it through unscathed" model with regard to I-A (suck it, Football Bowl Subdivision). We know Boise State can play; the 2007 Fiesta Bowl should have given them some benefit of the doubt. So be it, though.

Debate the actual match-ups here, and any other bowl assignments to come.

46 Comments:

Boise isn't getting in. All the Big Ten bowls have been offered. OSU is in.

Matt said...
Dec 7, 2008, 7:48:00 PM  

I personally would want to see Boise in as well, but alas, we know the BCS wants the eye-drawing matchup.

Did Boise really have a realistic chance?

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 7:51:00 PM  

Yeah, and they have no business being there, in my opinion. Such is the BCS.

Signal to Noise said...
Dec 7, 2008, 7:52:00 PM  

JFein - maybe. There were rumors of putting Utah against Boise in the Fiesta, but the clusterfuck in the Big 12 South killed that, because at the time, either OU or Texas had to go there.

The WAC doesn't have the strength that the Mountain West does at the top.

I just don't like the Big 10 getting an extra BCS bid it doesn't deserve. It's mostly from reputation and audience draw rather than actual football results. USC made a mockery of them and Penn State won the defensive battle in Columbus. I expect Texas to wax the floor with them.

Signal to Noise said...
Dec 7, 2008, 7:55:00 PM  

@ S2N: I actually wouldn't want to see Boise vs. Utah, mainly because it's always fun seeing how they fare against the big boys. Let's see Boise take on Texas. Utah vs. Alabama (that one we probably will see).

While I fell in love with Boise football 2 years ago and really wanted to see them get in this year, at least we get one non-BCS team in.

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:00:00 PM  

FedEx Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati

I just turned in. Was this the first one revealed?

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:04:00 PM  

JFein - Rose Bowl -- Penn State vs. USC

Matt said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:09:00 PM  

wow! way to go out on a limb AA.
espn has been reporting those bowl projections for three days.
where did you do YOUR research?
do you have 'unnamed' sources?

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:13:00 PM  

Well, we knew that one. I was talking about the National Chamionship and such, but having flipped to ESPN and them still talking about any surprises in the game, that was the first one that we didn't know for sure (although it was a foregone conclusion by most).

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:13:00 PM  

Allstate Sugar Bowl: Utah vs. Alabama

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:14:00 PM  

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs. Texas

We can therefore conclude that the National Championship is in fact Oklahoma vs. Florida.

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:15:00 PM  

The immediate fix that the BCS needs to make is that an undefeated conference champion from a non-BCS gets preference over a non-champion, and you have to win your conference title to be eligible for national title game. Really two Little Eleven teams getting routed in the BCS. Cue the Band Shots!

In this system, one of the greatest games in college football history, Miami vs Nebraska in 1984 Orange Bowl wouldnt have happened. Miami was the Boise State of the time.

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:18:00 PM  

Ohio State has no chance against Texas.

Angry snubbed team (Texas) vs. Overrated team (Ohio State) = Texas blowout.

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:20:00 PM  

It's official! Florida vs. Oklahoma

Texas is snubbed the national title game and Texas Tech and Boise State are snubbed the BCS.

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:21:00 PM  

Ohio State vs. Texas could easily be Matt Vasgersian's biggest game of his career.

TJX said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:22:00 PM  

@ SSR: This is going to sound sarcastic but it's not, my best wishes to him.

@ jg: Mark my words, you have Penn State underrated. That Rose Bowl will be a "dandy" as Brent Musberger would say. Ohio State, on the other hand, they will get blown out.

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:28:00 PM  

Can we get a retro add to the Pammies this week?

Mark May just said Alabama was going to have home field advantage on the field at the Sugar Dome.

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:31:00 PM  

i always have said this. you lack of respect for tOSU has really been the only thing that makes me mad AA :). haha.

Okay we lost 2 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN A ROW!
We also (since the BCS was formed) have won 1 Title and a combined 4 BCS games. So we are 4 and 2 in the BCS. We also are better than the media portrays. ANyone would be a fool to disagree. The team vs USC is not the same team thatll play Texas.

On a side note, Notre Dame has no bussiness being in a bowl...at all.

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:35:00 PM  

Oh I want a Pammy added.

Craig James said this twice when asked if Florida should be in...

"Yes, if you beat number one, you BECOME number one!"

wait...really?

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:38:00 PM  

So if UDub played and beat number one they'd be number one?

Sigh....some idiocy knows no limits.

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:42:00 PM  

SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl: Boise State vs. TCU

It's the Poinsettia Bowl, yes, but that should be a good one.

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:49:00 PM  

USC will be up by 4 TD's at half. If the media wasnt so far in the tank for the Little 11 neither team would be ranked that high.

And the title that OSU "won" was a gift from officials when the game was played on the WWL. Interesting what happens the games went to FOX and OSU got exposed for the frauds they are.

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 8:53:00 PM  

Other Bowl games of interest

Cotton Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss

Capital One Bowl: Michigan State vs. Georgia

Konica Minolta Gator Bowl: Clemson vs. Nebraska

Outback Bowl: Iowa vs. South Carolina

Chick-Fil-A Bowl: LSU vs. Georgia Tech

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl: Oregon vs. Oklahoma State

Valero Alamo Bowl: Northwestern vs. Missouri

GMAC Bowl: Tulsa vs. Ball State (that one surprised me a lot; I thought for sure they'd head to the Motor City Bowl, instead that's Central Michigan vs. Florida Atlantic)

For announcers:
http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1228415800

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 9:00:00 PM  

@ jg: Have you seen any Penn State game this year (other than the Iowa game)?

Penn State is for real, no doubt about it and that will be a close game with USC. Did you see them lambaste Oregon State? Did you see them lambaste Michigan State? Did you see them beat Ohio State at Ohio State? Did you see them lambaste Michigan State?

The Big 10 may be a weaker BCS conference but Penn State is for real and they'll prove it against USC. That is a game I am looking forward to.

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 9:06:00 PM  

Great, Texas POUNDS Ohio St and we get to spend all of 2009 hearing how "the Buckeyes won't get the benefit of the BCS doubt this year!" AGAIN!
If being #2 in the BCS dictates getting in the championship over #3, why shouldn't being #8 dictate getting in over #9?
I agree with jg; undefeated conf champ over conf runner up everytime

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 9:09:00 PM  

Texas must be in the National championship tops. There is no way that Oklahoma should even be in a BCS game tops. Oklahoma destroyed a Texas Tech team that peaked by barely beating Texas, and that Tech defense was on the verge of collapse in the second half of that game. Before that, Texas whipped Oklahoma in a game that only Pam Ward would say was close beyond the 15 minutes to go mark in the 1st Quarter.

As for Ohio State, give them the ticket to Orlando for the Capital One Bowl. As it stands, Texas will make the Fiesta a boring bowl game because that game will be over within the first 10 seconds of play or first few minutes if Ohio State goes on Offense first. Boise State would have given Texas a good game win or loss.

As for the national championship, expect another Florida blowout. As of now the National Championship was won last night with a victory over Alabama.

Someone has to file a federal lawsuit in the WAC because there is no way that Boise State should be playing a game before Christmas. If there was at least a 8 team playoff with a play-in and consolation feature, It is clear that Boise State would have out of the playoff picture, but they would have a better shot at a New Year's game. The NCAA needs to interfere and put together at least a 24 team playoff. We can still have the bowls for those teams that don't qualify for the playoff.

BTW, under a 8 team playoff using the BCS conferences, Texas and Alabama would be the at large bids.

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 9:17:00 PM  

Penn State at best would be .500 team in SEC or Big 12

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 9:19:00 PM  

Ah, Ohio State won't be blown out of the Fiesta, they've won their last four appearances in that game.

JamesCraven said...
Dec 7, 2008, 9:28:00 PM  

I'm making a prediction.

Because of the sucktacular matchup (Western Michigan vs. Louisiana Tech) when there was the possibility of having Boise State or Ball State (if they stayed unbeaten) and a projected low attendence along with a lack of a sponsor, the Independence Bowl will suffer the samwe fate as the Silicon Valley Classic.

It will lose NCAA certifacation after this year.

JamesCraven said...
Dec 7, 2008, 9:36:00 PM  

True, but Ohio State lost the last two championship games and they deserve to be in Orlando for the Capital One Bowl, not the Fiesta Bowl. Any team that loses to USC and Penn State via blowout isn't supposed to be in a BCS bowl.

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 9:37:00 PM  

IIRC, the Penn State game was closer, like, 13-7.

JamesCraven said...
Dec 7, 2008, 9:44:00 PM  

The Independence Bowl will likely not lose NCAA certifacation, but will assign the Sun Belt winner and another conference's runner up to that bowl. Bowls I see losing certification are the International Bowl in Canada, the Birmingham Bowl, and either the Forth Worth Bowl or Texas Bowl. The Silicon Valley Classic was renamed the Emerald Nuts Bowl.

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 9:44:00 PM  

@ James Craven: I agree.

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 9:47:00 PM  

I would have rather seen Texas-Utah and Alabama-Boise St. Ohio State getting in the BCS is a joke. The Big 10 did not deserve two invites. Of course, what REALLY should have happened was Texas-Utah and Alabama-Texas Tech, but due to them pesky BCS rules about a conference not having 3 teams in the BCS (though let's face it, OK, TEX, TECH have a shot at all being in the BCS Top 5 at the end of the year) no go. I say 8 team playoff, which would have looked like this first round:

Oklahoma-Penn State
Florida-Texas Tech
Texas-Utah
Alabama-USC

With likely semifinals of OK-Bama/USC and Texas-Florida. Anyone really not watching any of those 6 games in the first and second rounds? That's fucking excitement folks!

And yes, for all you BCS whores, the regular season still matters (see Ohio State, TCU, Cinn, Ok State, GA Tech, GA, BYU, et al.) And please don't start about the students losing time from school, um, last time I checked, most schools are out from about 12/15 until 1/15 or so, and I don't think any kid is going to complain about losing XMas break to go to the BCS PLAYOFFS! They won't school, they won't suffer academically, you play the first round the week before XMas, the second round the last week of Dec, and have the Championship around 1/5. Keep all the bowls, have the first round of the playoffs at home, the semis and national rotate through the big 3-5 bowls (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange, and Cotton, once it moves into the new Cowboys stadium) with the bowls not in the semi-NC picture that year getting pick of the litter of non playoff teams for more great matchups.

Now, in my scenario, Boise gets shafted regardless, and that sucks, but guess what, wine and dine the Pac 10, get in there (along w/ Utah) and that way, if you go undefeated, you won't get left out ever again.

Let's face it folks, the good teams in the bad conferences need to be added to the good conferences and let the rest go down to I-AA, err, FCS.

And yes, I am looking at you Notre Dame. Big 10 (11, 12, 13, 14 whatever) or bust domers!

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 10:00:00 PM  

The Silicon Valley classic and the Emerald Bowl are two different games. Check Wikipedia. It was Northern Illinois (along with Troy) that killed the Silicon Valley Classic, along with a monsoon unseen in the Bay Area in December and bad press.

JamesCraven said...
Dec 7, 2008, 10:05:00 PM  

Moral of the story: Get your damn facts straight.

JamesCraven said...
Dec 7, 2008, 10:06:00 PM  
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 10:27:00 PM  

@ James Craven: The Silicon Valley Classic lost certification in 2005. The Emerald Bowl was started in 2002. The bowl that replaced the Silicon Valley Classic was the Poinsettia Bowl but they are two different games. In other words, the history of the Silicon Valley Classic is not a part of the Poinsettia Bowl (like the Citrus Bowl and the Capital One Bowl, where it was just a name change).

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 10:52:00 PM  

BTW JFein, what did you agree with me on, the Independence Bowl losing NCAA Certification?

JamesCraven said...
Dec 7, 2008, 10:52:00 PM  

That comment JFein (10:52 PM) should have been directed at Anon 9:44 PM.

JamesCraven said...
Dec 7, 2008, 10:54:00 PM  

It was directed to both of you really. You just happened to be the latest to post on that discussion. Just expanding on a discussion. And yes, the Independence Bowl losing certification. It just always feels, bleh. There have been some close ones, yes, but that's just one of the bowl games I just can never get myself excited over to watch.

Justin F. said...
Dec 7, 2008, 11:09:00 PM  

also for whoever said fort worth bowl..
fort worth bowl= armed forces bowl

Anonymous said...
Dec 7, 2008, 11:15:00 PM  

Here's the playoff schedule I put together last month:

Quarterfinal 1
Orange Bowl
December 18th, 8p est
(8) Penn State vs (1) Oklahoma

Quarterfinal 2
Fiesta Bowl
December 19th, 8p est
(7) Texas Tech vs (2) Florida

Quarterfinal 3
Holiday Bowl
December 20th - 430p est
(6) Utah vs (3) Texas

Quarterfinal 4
Chick-Fil-A Bowl
December 20th - 8p est
(5) USC vs (4) Alabama

-----
-----

Semifinal 1
Rose Bowl
January 1st - 430p est
QF 2 winner vs QF 3 winner

Semifinal 2
Sugar Bowl
January 1st - 8p est
QF1 winner vs QF 4 winner

-----
-----

Championship Game
Dolphin Stadium
January 12th - 8p est

-----

too bad it will never happen

-dan

Anonymous said...
Dec 8, 2008, 10:08:00 AM  

How about adding a sixth game to the BCS placing the Big East champions in it?

My suggestion: Add the Disney World Citrus Bowl (now known as the Capital One Bowl) and place Orlando in the BCS championship rotation starting with the 2015 event. In addition, a second non-BCS team could be added based on the same criteria, and a third team from any BCS conference if they're in the Top Ten. Here is how this would look:

* Citrus: Cincinnati vs. Texas Tech.
* Rose: Penn State vs. Southern California.
*Orange: Virginia Tech vs. Ohio State.
* Sugar: Alabama vs. Utah.
* Fiesta: Texas vs. Boise State.
* BCS Title: Oklahoma vs. Florida.

What do you think?

JamesCraven said...
Dec 8, 2008, 11:30:00 AM  

@James

It wouldn't look like that though.

Fiesta had first at-large pick and it doesn't matter how many games you add, they were ALWAYS going to pick Ohio State. They'd be stupid not to. With the money that's on the table, OSU will always trump everything else.

What's REALLY killing this is the automatic tie-ins.

The only thing that would've likely changed is that Texas Tech would play Alabama and the two undefeated non-BCS schools would be playing each other in your new bowl.

Unknown said...
Dec 8, 2008, 12:00:00 PM  

@-Zack: The only changes would be Cincinnati vs. Texas Tech (becuase of the new Big East tie-in in the Disney World Citrus - nee Capital One Bowl), The Ohio State University to the Orange Bowl to play The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and Boise State to the Fiesta to play Texas. The Rose, Sugar and BCS Title Game would remain unchanged in my proposal.

Also, ESPN on ABC would get four games under the new pact - Citrus, Rose the rotating third game (Fiesta 2011 and 2014, Sugar 2012 and 2015, Orange 2013) on January 1 and the Title Game the following week - with ESPN getting the other two games.

JamesCraven said...
Dec 8, 2008, 6:22:00 PM  

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