Has the BCS worked? Let’s take a look

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 04:  Vince Young #10 of the Texas Longhorns runs past Frostee Rucker #90 of the USC Trojans to score a touchdown and put the Longhorns up by one in the final moments of the BCS National Championship Rose Bowl Game at the Rose Bowl on January 4, 2006 in Pasadena, California.  (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Earlier this week, I took a look back at all of the BCS championship games and whether or not they really pit the top two teams in the country against each other. But more importantly, whether or not it was a slam dunk that these were the top two teams, and you couldn’t make an argument that someone else possibly deserved a shot.

Now, granted, my memory is fuzzy on the really early ones, as I was still in high school for the first two years of the BCS, but I have a pretty good recollection of the rest of these games/years.

It’s a long post, but click through to see if the BCS has really gotten it right, or if we’ve been missing out all these years. Read the rest of this entry »

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Texas’ McCoy ties NCAA record for wins

Thanks to the Longhorns’ 47-14 rout of Baylor on Saturday, Texas signal caller Colt McCoy tied David Greene for most all-time wins by a starting quarterback in NCAA history.

McCoy (23 of 34, 181 yards, 2 TDs) didn’t tear up the stat sheet – not that he had to. The Longhorns gained 224 yards on the ground and held Baylor to only six total rushing yards. The Bears averaged just 0.2 yards per carry and remain one of five Big 12 opponents to have never beaten a Mack Brown-coached Texas team.

Regardless of whether or not you think McCoy is a pro prospect (most don’t), it’s hard to deny how good of a college player he has been in his career. He has been a perfect fit for UT’s offense and continues to be one of the more accurate passers in college football.

McCoy and Texas can now sit back and wait to see if either South Carolina can upset Florida or if Mississippi State can beat Alabama. A win by the Gators and Crimson Tide would more than likely result in the Longhorns staying at No. 3 in the BCS standings.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

TCU jumps to No. 4 in the BCS standings

The TCU Horned Frogs have leapt into the top 5 in the BCS standings according to ESPN.com.

TCU took over fourth place in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday behind Florida, Alabama and Texas. It’s the highest BCS ranking ever for a team from a conference without an automatic bid to the big-money bowl games. No potential BCS buster had ever done better than sixth in the BCS standings.

Florida is first for the fourth straight week, and Alabama and Texas switched spots for the second week in a row.

The Gators and Crimson Tide have clinched their respective divisions in the Southeastern Conference and will meet Dec. 5 in the league championship game. One of them is all but guaranteed a spot in the BCS title game on Jan. 7 in Pasadena, Calif., if they can get through the next month without a loss.

The same goes for Texas, which has three regular-season games and possibly the Big 12 championship remaining.

The other undefeated teams — TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State — need the top three to stumble to have any shot of reaching the title game.

Some complain about TCU’s schedule, but at least they crush their opponents on a weekly basis. Clemson and Air Force are the only two teams that have given the Frogs a game this season and TCU played both of those contests on the road. And the fact that they’re willing to play non-conference foes like Clemson and Virginia should count for something.

The Frogs have one of the fastest, most aggressive defenses in the nation and I’d love to see what they could do in a BCS bowl. Of course, they have to get by Utah first, whom they play next Saturday.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Will Boise State stay in the top 5 after edging out Tulsa?

By now, everyone knows that the clowns that compile the BCS rankings are simple-minded folks. They have short-term memory and are easily influenced by big wins.

With that in mind, was Boise State’s 28-21 win over Tulsa on Wednesday night good enough to convince voters to rank them in the top 5 when the BCS standings are released for the first time October 18?

In short: No.

The Broncos are a solid football team and turned in a sound effort against the Golden Hurricane, outside of two first half turnovers that allowed Tulsa to keep the game close. But Boise State had several opportunities in the third quarter to put the game away and couldn’t. That allowed Tulsa to mount a comeback with a G.J. Kinne to Slick Shelley 55-yard touchdown pass with just under 9:30 remaining. The Golden Hurricane also had two chances to tie the game with less than six minutes to play, but failed to do so when their final two drives stalled.

Given the conference it plays in, it’s not enough for a team like Boise to only beat an opponent by seven points. While Tulsa had a 4-1 record entering the game, their only loss was a 45-0 beat down at the hands of Oklahoma in Week 3. Voters will certainly compare Boise and Oklahoma’s victories over Tulsa when it comes time to rank the Broncos next week.

Although Tulsa put up a fight in the first half, this game was hardly ever in doubt for Boise. Up until the fourth quarter, they moved the ball at will and completely dominated the third quarter. But again, while their overall effort was solid in the victory, their performance was unimpressive to say the least. And knowing BCS voters like we do, if teams like USC, Ohio State and Cincinnati roll this week, Boise might find itself ranked outside the top 5 come October 18.

Latest BCS fiasco is just another example of why the NFL trumps college football

I used to have a friend in college named Paul. He was a great guy – loved football, although he couldn’t care less about the NFL. He was a college football fan through and through.

Paul and I used to get into heated debates over which was better – college or pro football. One time we almost came to blows in his living room, although it’s important to note that there may have been some alcoholic beverages involved that contributed to the debate growing into a fight.

Sam BradfordHis main points were that NFL players only cared about money and essentially weren’t playing for the love of the game. Conversely, since college players weren’t being paid, they played more for the competition and the love of football. He also noted that the game-day atmosphere in college football was way better than in the NFL and that the regular season games had more meaning because if a college team lost, than their season could essentially be over.

His first point about college football players loving the game more because they’re not being paid is a bit flawed. Some NFL players only play for the money. But some college football players are only playing so that they can make it to the NFL…so they can make money. I really don’t see the difference.

But Paul had a point about the atmosphere being better in college – I would rather tailgate with a bunch of rowdy college kids than some stuffy executive types that got their NFL tickets for free at the company picnic.

However, after Oklahoma leapfrogged Texas in the BCS standings this week despite the fact that the Longhorns beat the Sooners earlier in the year, I refuse to agree with anyone who says regular season games in college have more meaning than in the NFL.


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