# Tell me who will win the BCS (college football national championship)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 10, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252 "2002-08-10T05:29:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/1 "2002-08-10T05:29:49Z")
BCS: Funny interpretation #1, Bogus Crappy System. Anyhoo, it is the system we have. I will not predict a winner. I will say that my team (University of Florida Gators) will probably not win the national championship. This is due to a brutal schedule that includes Miami and Tennessee in the first three weeks. We could be the third best team in the country and start out 1-2. Sorry, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, UCLA, etc., this is a biased southeastern interpretation. So, prophets, visionaries, handicappers, doperosophers, lay your great wisdom upon me. Who will win the college football national championship this year? Reasons for your selection would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/2 "2002-08-10T06:22:06Z")
The Minnesota Golden Gophers. What?! ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/3 "2002-08-10T06:28:42Z")
Has anyone figured out the Quantum math they use in this system yet? I think they should do it like they do the basket ball and make most of the season a few big tourneys and have the big bowl at the end , ---
**Author:** ![Jerrybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jerrybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerrybear)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/4 "2002-08-10T18:51:21Z")
Hail to the Victors Valiant, Hail to the Conquering Heroes Hail, Hail to Michigan, the Leaders and Best! Hail to the Victors Valiant, Hail to the Conquering Heroes Hail, Hail to Michigan, the Champions of the West!!! Does that answer your question of who I think will win the college football mythical national championship??? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/5 "2002-08-10T23:27:06Z")
Arizona State ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/6 "2002-08-11T05:15:38Z")
University of Miami Hurricanes ---
**Author:** ![diku](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@diku](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diku)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/7 "2002-08-11T16:53:17Z")
Second on Miami(FL). Besides, they won it in NCAA 2003 for the PS2. At least on my system. Beat Texas. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/8 "2002-08-12T18:15:03Z")
Who will win? Presidents of major conference universities. Who will lose? Everyone who realizes that college football is a sham until there is a meaningful playoff system like the ones in place for every single other NCAA sport. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/9 "2002-08-12T19:15:30Z")
**Mississippi** Their defence needs a bit of work but I’ve always been a fan of the Manning boys. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/10 "2002-08-12T19:43:56Z")
University of Colorado. Good luck stopping the ground attack. Actually, while I think the best teams and best conference is the Big XII (by a longshot) I don’t think the national champion will come from there because the depth of studly teams will knock each other out of the picture at inopportune times. I expect a 2 loss team to win the conference title (much like CU last year.) ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/11 "2002-08-13T12:01:37Z")
My guess is the best two teams may be the winner of the Florida State-Tennessee-Florida-Miami round robin (they each play each other at least twice) vs the Oklahoma-Texas winner (or Big XII champion). HOWEVER, with those rigorous schedules and tough conferences, 2 unbeaten teams might not come out of that group (like Mullinator says). It could be Michigan vs Washington in the Fiesta. Imagine that: a national champion that 4 or 5 teams could beat. Like Michigan in 97. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/12 "2002-08-13T12:06:35Z")
Elwood, I don’t think a playoff could work in D-IA college football. Stadiums are too big. Cities like Miami, Pasadena, Tempe, etc don’t want to lose their bowl games. Even if the Clemson-Virginia Tech Gator Bowl matchups don’t look good to 90% of the country, it’s still 50,000+ paying tourists. ADs and conferences do not want to lose the multimillion dollar payouts. The AD at my alma mater, Nebraska, tries to justify a pathetic schedule (McNeese State?) with 8 home games just to break even. Imagine if the bowl money is removed. So, the solution becomes to use the bowls as playoff venues. An 8-game playoff would mean 3 straight games. Your team’s first round in San Diego, 2nd in New Orleans, final in Miami. How many fans can afford to make those three trips in three weeks? Air, hotel, car, meals, tickets. Never mind the cancellation fees if your team doesn’t make round 2 next week. Or fans scrambling to make last-minute reservations if #8 seed Washington State happens to upset #1 seed Miami. You can’t do it with 80,000 people expecting to fill each stadium. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/13 "2002-08-13T12:36:45Z")
I predict the University of Houston Cougars will not win… a single game. Much like last season. I love my college. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jerrybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jerrybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerrybear)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/14 "2002-08-13T17:12:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HubZilla \* > \*\* > > Imagine that: a national champion that 4 or 5 teams could beat. Like Michigan in 97. \*\* Them’s fightin’ words, pardner! Try talking that trash about my Wolverines on the corner of Stadium and Main in Ann Arbor. I dare you! Michigan was definitely the best team in the nation in 1997. Mr. Heisman Charles Woodson would have been running circles around the Nebraska Cornsuckers. :wally :wally :wally ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/15 "2002-08-13T18:34:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jerrybear \* > \*\*Michigan was definitely the best team in the nation in 1997. Mr. Heisman Charles Woodson would have been running circles around the Nebraska Cornsuckers. \*\* Vegas would’ve had Nebraska as a 7 to 10 point favorite. In nearly all the unbiased computer polls (including all the ones that would comprise the BCS), Nebraska and Florida State were ahead of Michigan. [http://www.masseyratings.com/cf/compare1997.htm](http://www.masseyratings.com/cf/compare1997.htm) Plus, you might find this of interest: [http://home.earthlink.net/~dbelen/NUvUM.htm](http://home.earthlink.net/~dbelen/NUvUM.htm) ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/16 "2002-08-13T19:38:01Z")
Auburn University. WooHoo! WAR EAGLE! Go big Blue! Ok, well not really, but I can dream. Anyhow, I seriously doubt one of the SEC teams is going to take it this year. I’ve seen the scouting reports and they’re all pretty good (well, except for Kentucky and Vandy - that shouldn’t suprise anyone), but I don’t see anyone as unstopable and the parity is so much within the conference that the teams will eat each other alive. The conference favorite is probably, oddly enough, LSU, and I don’t see them making it through conference play with less than two losses. I want to go with a team from the Big XII, but conference parity hurts those choices too, as **Mullinator** pointed out. Elsewhere, Florida State does not impress me (no ACC team does - I’m looking at you Maryland), I have problems taking UCLA seriously, and I have a hunch that Miami will find a way to self destruct after the stellar performance the 'canes put in last year. So I am going with a slight darkhorse with a decent, but not exceptionally strong schedule: Oregon Go Ducks ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/17 "2002-08-13T20:55:50Z")
That team with the steroid-enhanced block heads who pretend to be students will win it all this year. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/18 "2002-08-14T07:35:14Z")
The system sucks: 3 Miami: 2 Minnesota: 1 (I feel your pain) Michigan:1 Arizona State: 1 Mississippi: 1 Yeah, we’ll see about that. October 5. Steroidzillas: 1 Auburn / Oregon: 1/2 each. Auburn, eh? Naah, this is vengeance year. Oct 19, it’s circled already. Throw in a few detailed analyses I cannot easily summarize, and that is where we are now. Basically, tough schedules suck if you want to win it all. This is not good for the game. **Where is the Big 12?** Hello?! _tapping on middle America and Texas_ Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/19 "2002-08-14T17:19:08Z")
The reason NCAA 1-A football doesn’t have a playoff is the same reason Star Wars isn’t on DVD yet–they haven’t figured out a way to make the most money from it. It can be done. The only problem is the NCAA is about as stubborn as the People’s Republic of China and probably less logical (see their handling of the Colorado football player/Olympic skiier). ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252/20 "2002-10-29T03:53:30Z")
Ok, well, lets see how some of these predictions are going. Miami: 7-0, AP- #1, USA Today/ESPN- #1, BCS- #2 Michigan: 6-2, AP- #15, USA/ESPN- #13, BCS- #13 Arizona State: 7-2, AP- #17, USA/ESPN- #17, BCS- NA Oregon: 6-2, AP- #19, USA/ESPN- #16, BCA- NA Minnesota: 7-1, AP- #23, USA/ESPN- #19, BCS- NA Auburn: 5-3, AP- #30, USA/ESPN- #37, BCS- NA Nebraska\*: 6-3, AP- #33, USA/ESPN- #32, BCS- NA Mississippi: 5-3, AP- no votes, USA/ESPN- #41, BCS- NA [BCS Standings](http://espn.go.com/abcsports/bcs/rankings_full/2002-2003.html) as of 10-28-02. It seems **WSLer** is closest. But then again, it’s not like he went out on a limb. [sub]\*I equated ‘Steriodzillas’ to mean the Huskers[/sub] 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-who-will-win-the-bcs-college-football-national-championship/123252.md?page=2)