BCS cluster*@#%

This is the shakedown:

Ohio State vs. LSU in the national championship

Georgia vs. Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl

USC vs. Illinois in the Rose Bowl

Virginia Tech vs. Kansas in the Orange Bowl

Oklahoma vs. West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl


Normally you'd discuss what they got right, but I think the more glaring point here is what they got very, very wrong.

There is NO WAY that Kansas should be playing in a BCS bowl while Mizzou is relegated to the Sugar Bowl. Let's look at the stats:

Kansas:

Strength of Schedule: 109th out of 119 teams

1 loss: TO MIZZOU

Ranked teams beaten: #24 Kansas State

Final BCS rank: #8

Mizzou:

Strength of Schedule: 26th of 119 teams

2 losses: both to Oklahoma

Ranked teams beaten: #25 Nebraska, #24 Texas Tech, #2 Kansas

Final rank: #6

I cannot fathom a situation in which this leads to Kansas being in and Mizzou being out. Mizzou got punished for making it to the conference championship game. Kansas is getting props for not losing to a lot of really bad teams.


As for what they got right, I think OSU vs. LSU in the final was the only way this could fall.
They are the two most physically dominant teams in the country. Period.

You can make points about LSU having two losses, but the fact that they were both triple overtime has to be a factor.

Georgia didn't get a chance at LSU this year, but they lost to Tennessee, who lost to LSU in the SEC Championship. They didn't win their division or their conference. If one-loss Kansas wasn't in the equation, I don't see why one-loss Georgia was.

Virginia Tech may have won their conference, but they were absolutely dismantled by LSU, 48-7, earlier in the season.

I'm not sure I think Hawaii should be in at all. Sure, they're unbeaten, but I don't know if that should mean an automatic bid into a BCS game. They had the worst strength of schedule and they needed a bit of a miracle last night to remain unbeaten.

Ohio State made their way into the championship by virtue of not playing. By the time all is said and done, it will be 50 days between their last game and the championship game. They benefited hugely from not having a conference championship game.

And by the way, do you remember the beginning of the season when Wisconsin was a top ten team and Michigan hadn't yet lost to Appalachian State and Juice Williams was making Illinois a team to watch? Ohio State was expected to be a non-player in the Big Ten this year. They lost too many players. They needed to rebuild. So much for that, I suppose. The rest of the Big Ten beat up on each other, Michigan shot itself in the foot and Wisconsin showed how they never really were a #5 team.

It was such a messy season and I certainly never thought two weeks ago that I'd be able to proudly sport my LSU gear. After the loss to Arkansas I thought I'd have to hang my head in shame. Instead, I can say

bum bum bumbum GEAUX TIGERS!!!!