# BCS works well for the first time. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 1, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234 "2008-12-01T19:56:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/81 "2008-12-07T18:43:24Z")
Bowl games Tulsa vs Ball State Texas vs Ohio State Alabama vs Utah Penn State vs USC Good start don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/82 "2008-12-08T02:30:51Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Basketball would be easy to address. Add one game and every team would be invited. Go from 64 to 128. Of course some podunk school somewhere would still bitch . I take your point, but it would take adding two games, I think. There are a lot more schools that play D1 hoops than do play football. The Big East has 8 teams for football and 16 for basketball, for instance (that includes Notre Dame which used to play D1 football too, but also includes Marquette, Providence, G-Town, St. Johns, etc.), plus the Ivy League, the Horizon League, the Atlantic 10, etc.. ---
**Author:** ![HookerChemical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/83 "2008-12-08T16:16:12Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Bowl games > Tulsa vs Ball State > Texas vs Ohio State > Alabama vs Utah > Penn State vs USC > Good start don’t you think? I don’t see a problem with Tulsa vs Ball State. BS lost a game they had to win late in the season and had a weaker schedule than any team that made the BCS, so there’s not much of an argument for them in the BCS. The BCS games **gonzo** lists aren’t too bad, but there’s a decent argument that Ohio State is a marginal pick. Still, OSU is clearly more deserving than: **No. 12 Cincinnati at No. 19 Virginia Tech** Really? These confrences have automatic bids. It’s too bad some of the teams in the confrences don’t go out and earn their bids. Any system that results in Virginia Tech in one of the marquee games over Boise State is fundamentally flawed. The Mountain West Confrence (nine teams) has three ranked teams against two from the ACC (12 teams), yet Virgina Tech from the ACC an automatic BCS game because it’s confrence is stronger? Pure crap. As for a non-BCS bowl, Notre Dame finishes the season 6-6 and still gets a bowl game. I hope a very mediocre Hawii crushes them into fine dust to continue the streak of Notre Dame bowl losses. That said, Boise State vs TCU should be almost as good as I hoped Utah vs Boise State would be. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/84 "2008-12-08T16:43:34Z")
> [@HookerChemical](#): > > Still, OSU is clearly more deserving than: > > **No. 12 Cincinnati at No. 19 Virginia Tech** > > Really? These confrences have automatic bids. It’s too bad some of the teams in the confrences don’t go out and earn their bids. Any system that results in Virginia Tech in one of the marquee games over Boise State is fundamentally flawed. Yeah- I incorrectly referred to it as Cincy-BC the other day, forgetting the championship game, but this is screwed up either way. There are two unbeaten teams out there and I think about eight with one loss. The fact that some of them are out of the BCS entirely is absurd. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/85 "2008-12-08T16:53:34Z")
Boise State already proved they should be in a BCS bowl game when they beat Oklahoma a few years back. They need to get out of that conference… join the PAC or something. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/86 "2008-12-08T17:27:17Z")
> [@Hi\_Neighbor](#): > > Boise State already proved they should be in a BCS bowl game when they beat Oklahoma a few years back. They need to get out of that conference.. join the PAC or something. Plus they have that nifty blue field. What more can you ask? ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/87 "2008-12-08T17:44:47Z")
Spare a thought for Texas Tech–they played their best season ever, only lost to a team playing in the BCS Title game…and their “reward” is to play in the Cotton Bowl against a four-loss Ole Miss team. They get to watch Ohio State, which got blown out against USC and lost one of the ugliest games of the year to Penn State (really, the score of that one was no indication of how bad they were) go the BCS ahead of them. That said, there are a few intriguing bowl matchups this year. Boise St.-TCU looks like the pick of the December bowls. Utah vs. Alabama looks interesting too. Penn State is going to fare a lot better against USC than many give them credit for, even on their home turf. And the title game could be one of the best ever, if both teams hold their current form. On the other hand, there are a lot of clunkers. We’re probably going to see Ohio State get torn to pieces for a third time this year. Cincinnati and Va. Tech play in the “glad to be here” BCS bowl. And it just seems like there are more and more mediocre teams playing in mediocre bowls to fill up ESPN’s schedule. I realize the Worldwide Leader has to play something in December, but geez. Any system that lets Notre Dame play in a bowl after a 6-6 season where they lost to Syracuse at home is cracked beyond repair. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/88 "2008-12-08T19:38:39Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > Any system that lets Notre Dame play in a bowl after a 6-6 season where they lost to Syracuse at home is cracked beyond repair. Notre Dame isn’t going to a very good bowl though, unless you think the Hawaii Bowl against Hawaii on Christmas Eve is a good bowl (and it isn’t.) The Irish are hardly the only 6-6 team either. NC State is going bowling after losing to South Carolina 34-0. Notre Dame had some ugly losses, but then so did Minnesota, which lost its last game to Iowa 55-0. Notre Dame getting special treatment is not the problem with the bowl or BCS system. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/89 "2008-12-08T19:42:13Z")
I hope Notre Dame gets a bowl every year. I like watching them lose. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/90 "2008-12-08T19:52:16Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Notre Dame isn’t going to a very good bowl though, unless you think the Hawaii Bowl against Hawaii on Christmas Eve is a good bowl (and it isn’t.) We should all suffer such a slight. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/91 "2008-12-08T20:02:07Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I hope Notre Dame gets a bowl every year. I like watching them lose. They do that enough in the regular season. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/92 "2008-12-08T20:03:14Z")
I still don’t know why USC and Penn St. didn’t get more consideration for the championship game. The way I see it, the BCS never works. Championships are won on the field, not by polls or computers. I think that if you are in a BCS conference and are conference champion, you should have to play another BCS conference champion during the next regular season. Unfortunately, schedules aren’t that flexible, usually. Under my solution, Cincinnati, Penn St. and Va. Tech would be very popular opponents for USC, Florida and Oklahoma. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/93 "2008-12-08T20:57:46Z")
> [@Ataraxy](#): > > I still don’t know why USC and Penn St. didn’t get more consideration for the championship game. I think it was decided long ago that an 11-1 record in the Big 12 and SEC this year was going to trump anything short of 12-0 in any other BCS conference (non-BCS conferences need not apply of course). Now, agreeing to that for the Big 12 makes sense this year: there were three monster teams in that conference, and very good squads in Missouri, Oklahoma State, and Kansas. Half of that league was serious quality. But why the SEC got the same cachet is beyond me. There was a significant drop-off in quality in that conference after the top two–a lot of overrated teams and disappointments. There was even talk this year amongst some observers that if Penn State had finished 12-0, Oklahoma and Florida would have been picked for the title game ahead of them. I doubt that would have happened but the fact that some writers were even thinking it was interesting. Personally, I don’t see why Oklahoma and Texas shouldn’t have been able to meet for the title game. The computers have them 1-2, and at various points in the season both of them have looked as strong as any team this decade. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/94 "2008-12-08T21:42:40Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Notre Dame getting special treatment is not the problem with the bowl or BCS system. I don’t even know if you could call it special treatment. Making it to a bowl is just not that impressive nowadays. You know how many bowl games there are? 34 (so 68 teams) You know how many bowl eligible teams there were? 72 That means only 4 teams, all 6-6, were left out of bowls. 9 6-6 teams DID get into bowls. Really, the only reason you wouldn’t get a bowl if you had a 6-6 record or better is if someone thinks you can’t draw fans at all. ---
**Author:** ![HookerChemical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234/95 "2008-12-09T02:53:14Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > Spare a thought for Texas Tech–they played their best season ever, only lost to a team playing in the BCS Title game…and their “reward” is to play in the Cotton Bowl against a four-loss Ole Miss team. They get to watch Ohio State, which got blown out against USC and lost one of the ugliest games of the year to Penn State (really, the score of that one was no indication of how bad they were) go the BCS ahead of them. I agree that TT got the short straw. As did Texas. As did USC… Any of the one loss teams has a good argument for being in the title game. With 7 one-loss teams (not including Ball State), five of them get the short straw, as do any mid-major undefeateds. If only there were a way of starting with a field of 8 or 16 deserving teams and determining who was the best in a head to head competition. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-works-well-for-the-first-time/475234.md?page=4)