It marginalized the bowls and made conference championships a footnote. It dominated the college football conversation and created head-scratching situations that usually succeeded in matching one versus two, but didn’t mind screwing teams all over the country in the process.
Winnin’ Time: any time you compete, even if it’s a basketball game in the driveway to 20 with stocking caps on, it’s always better to win. The Alamo Bowl might not be the BCS, but hoisting a trophy and playing well is a reward of its own. (Alex McDougall/ Oregon Daily Emerald photo.
Every few years the BCS jobbed the Oregon Ducks. In 2005-6 they had one loss, to #1 USC, and got passed over for the Fiesta Bowl by Notre Dame. In 2001-2 they should have gone to National Championship at 11-1, but the BCS tabbed Nebraska, who hadn’t even won their league.
Every year it happened to someone, and most years four or five teams got the shaft from the Bowl Committees, ESPN and the SEC. This year the PAC-12 has five teams that won 9 or more games, but because of tie-ins and contracts and perception only one conference squad made a BCS bowl. Most of them have a lackluster bowl matchup. Blame Larry Scott. 10-3 Arizona State faces 7-5 Texas Tech. 10-2 Oregon meets 8-4 Texas, and the Longhorns have the defacto home field advantage and nothing to lose.
This year the Ducks did it to themselves by faltering against 7-5 Arizona, but the BCS was always designed to hand the worst of it to teams outside the traditional power structure. The four-team playoff will be only marginally better. In the meantime, college football fans can dine on a steady diet of mediocre games like UCF at Baylor. The Ducks would be favored by 10 over Clemson and Oklahoma, but the big-traveling programs get the biggest prizes in a system driven by one thing: money.
The only way to get your due is to beat them all, starting with Texas on December 30th.
Meanwhile, the Ducks are a pretty good team with 10 wins and a chance to play for 11-2 against a storied program, and fans have to be okay with that for now. It’s disappointing after what they’d hoped for, but it’s still the fifth-best season in school history if they win.
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