Gregg Doyel of CBS Sports writes that both Texas and USC should stop bitching about not having a chance to play for a national championship.
Didn’t make it into the BCS title game? Boo-fricking-hoo. The system might not have worked in your favor this season, but it will one day. And that’s the thing about being Texas or Southern California, and about being Florida or Oklahoma, for that matter: The even larger system — the college football system — is designed to funnel you into the BCS title game as smoothly as possible.
So Texas and USC didn’t get there this season. So what. You will soon enough, maybe even next season. And if not next season, then the next. That’s almost a sure thing. By the year 2011, both Texas and USC will have played again for the national championship — and if it hasn’t happened for either school by then, Mack Brown or Pete Carroll has screwed up.
You’re supposed to succeed, Texas. You too, USC. That’s why I can’t muster up a speck of sympathy for either of you. It’s not like Iowa State or Ole Miss has been left out of the BCS equation despite a worthy résumé. That would be a heartbreak, because Iowa State and Ole Miss might never pass this way again.
But Texas and USC? You’ll pass this way again, and when you do, you’ll be riding first class. Feeling badly that Texas or USC didn’t make it into the BCS title game with 11-1 records — while Florida and Oklahoma did, at 12-1 — is like feeling badly that Donald Trump didn’t get a Christmas bonus. The man has enough advantages already.
Put it all together. Texas and USC have better access to better talent than anyone. They have better resources to hire better coaches than anyone. They have better facilities to develop that talent.
They have to win, and win big. Every season.So don’t expect sympathy from anyone outside your fan base because you missed out on the BCS title game, Texas. Or you, USC. Not even if you have the same number of losses as Florida and Oklahoma. And not even if, in Texas’ case, you have beaten the Sooners already this season.
If perfection is what it takes to make it into the BCS title game, well, so be it. There are very few college football programs equipped to produce a perfect season.
Well said. But in defense for those of us college football fans who aren’t loyal to Texas or USC, we’re bitching because the system sucks. Texas and USC are just used as props this year for proving a point – the BCS isn’t the best way to determine who the best teams are in college football. But again, Doyel is right that Texas and USC don’t have anything to complain about in the long run.
