Jason Whitlock on Texas being snubbed by BCS
Posted by Anthony Stalter (12/01/2008 @ 10:00 am)
Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City-Star reacts to Texas getting the shaft after Oklahoma leapfrogged over them in the BCS standings.
AP and Harris voters could comprehend a simple, unavoidable fact: On a neutral field, Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35 this season.
There’s nothing left to debate. It doesn’t matter that Oklahoma’s nonconference victories are more impressive than Texas’. It doesn’t matter that Oklahoma is playing “better” football at the end of the season.
Texas beat Oklahoma.
And I don’t care about the three-way tie, and the fact that Texas Tech beat Texas. We’re allowed to use common sense when deciding a complex situation.
The Red Raiders lost a game by 44 points this season. The Red Raiders barely beat Baylor this season.
The Red Raiders needed a last-second touchdown to slip by Texas.
Tech had a magical year, beat up a bunch of cupcakes early and hung on for an 11-1 season. It’s a fluke. Oklahoma exposed the Red Raiders and Mike Leach’s gimmicky offense.
Look, my main point is that it’s criminal Oklahoma will get to play for the Big 12 crown and not Texas.
Everybody allegedly wants a playoff system, but it appears we reserve the right to ignore what happens on the field when it suits our purpose.
As Whitlock points out, there really is nothing to debate. Texas beat Oklahoma on the field. Texas beat Oklahoma on…the…field. Texas beat Oklahoma on the field. TEXAS BEAT OKLAHOMA ON THE FIELD!
Only in the BCS system could a team beat another team on the field and not benefit from it. It’s a complete crock of crap, but unfortunately not even something as ludicrous as this will force a change. I’m of the mindset now that we’ll never see a college football playoff.
Oklahoma jumps Texas in the BCS
Posted by Gerardo Orlando (11/30/2008 @ 9:44 pm)
This makes me sick on so many levels. I have no alliegence to Texas, but they got completely screwed by this retarded system. Texas beat Oklahoma. Enough said.
Even worse, Bob Stoops is being rewarded for being a complete ass. I understand that style points matter, but do we really need coaches who run a no-huddle offense in the fourth quarter with a 50-point lead? Every year we watch Bob Stoops run up the score during the regular season, only to have his team choke in bowl games.
Of course, we need a playoff system, but even BCS critics like Ivan Maisel seem unable to get past the arguments advanced by BCS apologists.
A playoff is not the panacea to cure college football’s ills. A playoff would present as many problems as it does solutions. A playoff is politically unfeasible unless the regular season is shortened, which is financially unfeasible. A playoff could suck the life out of the regular season, much as it has done to college basketball.
A playoff wouldn’t ratchet up the tension throughout November — National College Football Arguing Month — the way the BCS does.
His first sentence makes no sense. If you assume an eight-team playoff, only five games need to be added – four playoff games one week following the regular season, and then one championship game following the bowl games that would cover the semi-finals.
His second sentence is even worse. Is he really comparing an eight-team playoff to the 64-team tournament used in March Madness? This year there would have been a mad scramble for the last several seeds, as teams like Utah, Boise State, Ohio State and Georgia would be playing for a spot in the playoffs. Also, we’d have a huge fight for the first four seeds, who would be hosting first-round playoff games in their home stadiums under this proposed system (wouldn’t it be great to see a Big-Ten team hosting Florida in a playoff game up north in November?). This would create plenty of tension in November.
Remember when baseball purists argued that expanded playoffs would ruin pennant races? They were wrong.