The task was simple enough for Oregon State – beat Oregon on Saturday night and they would set up a date with Penn State in the Rose Bowl. But the Ducks crashed the party, beating the Beavers in a wild, 65-38 shootout in Corvallis.
Oregon State still has a shot at the Rose Bowl, but now they must have USC lose to UCLA next week. That would put the Beavers in a three-way tie with Oregon and USC, which would mean all hell breaks loose. If USC beats UCLA, then the Trojans would play Penn State in the Rose Bowl and open up an at-large bid for either Boise State or Ohio State.
Even though Boise is undefeated and the Buckeyes have two losses, the Broncos won’t necessarily get the at-large bid because they don’t play in one of the bigger conferences ala Ohio State. It might not be fair, but it’s the way the system is set up. Essentially the BCS only cares about one thing – figuring out which two teams are the best in the nation. They could care less about the rest of the matchups.
You could essentially make an argument for either team. The only team Boise beat with any substance was Oregon. But they beat the Ducks in Eugene, which happens to be one of the toughest places to play in college football. Ohio State’s most impressive victory was in East Lansing when they beat Michigan State, although how would Boise have done against USC and Penn State (two teams that beat the Buckeyes)?
Personally, I say Boise deserves the at-large bid more. It’s tough to go undefeated – I don’t care who’s on your schedule. But I think Ohio State will get the bid because the folks handing out the at-large invitations are more worried about having two schools from bigger conferences than whether or not the teams are deserving.
