OCS Writers Reflect on the BCS Standings

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The BCS has spoken.

Top ranked LSU will play No. 2 Alabama in the Louisiana Superdome Jan. 9 for the BCS National Championship. The Tide’s final regular season BCS average of .942 edged out No. 3 Oklahoma State’s .933 to guarantee them a spot in the national title game despite them not winning, or even appearing in, their conference’s championship game.

The two teams are separated by just .009 points, the closest finish ever for the two teams in the current BCS system. According to its official website, the BCS is a statistical rating system that averages out three different polls to generate a final ranking. The USA Today Coaches Poll, the Harris Interactive College Football Poll, and the average of six different computer rankings are all calculated to give a final percentage, which designates a team’s standing within the BCS. Each poll is weighted equally, accounting for 1/3 of the final number.

Since its formation in 1998, the BCS has determined what two teams are worthy of playing in the national championship game. Their website says that a “team’s on-field performance during the regular-season is the principal factor in determining its position in the BCS standings.”

Seemingly, that would explain why Alabama, whose only loss was to No. 1 LSU, was selected over Oklahoma State, who lost their only game on the road to unranked Iowa State.

This year’s national championship game is the first rematch since 1996, when the No. 3 Florida Gators routed No. 1 Florida State 52-20 to avenge their regular season loss. It’s the first rematch under the BCS system.

OCS writers nationwide offered their reactions to the BCS madness.

On the unveiling of the final regular season BCS standings:  

LSU deserves it, but I really don’t want to see them play Alabama AGAIN. – Jen Jezierski, DePaul University ‘12

Alabama is a great team. I would not have been surprised if Oklahoma State had made the BCS National Championship game, either. – Trevor Lowry, Colorado State ‘13

Disappointed. Was hoping the voters would give OSU the style points they deserved and give America the ultimate offense vs. defense showing. – Matthew Villanueva, Texas Tech ‘12

Figures. Thought it would end up this way if LSU and Alabama won out after their first meeting this season. – Alexandra Bogdan, San Jose State ‘14

There’s no argument that Alabama and LSU are the two best teams in the country, but the facts are that Alabama already had a shot at the national title and they lost, so the BCS should have given Oklahoma State a chance. – Evan Bailey, Arizona ‘12

BCS supporters legitimize their system by stating that it makes the entire season into one giant playoff. If this is true, how can LSU and Alabama face one another again? However, that being said, that is still not the biggest travesty that occurred on Sunday. That would belong to Michigan and Virginia Tech being selected to go to BCS bowls over more deserving teams like Kansas State or Boise State, or even Michigan State (who beat the Wolverines earlier in the season) for that matter. This just goes to show that it is all about how much money a school can bring in, not about if the school is actually worthy of being there. – Mychal Anderson, Minnesota ’11

My immediate reaction was complete shock, surely the BCS rarely satisfies all but this time they really screwed up in a big way. I am not sure that there has ever been such a prevalent showing of corporate greed in college football. It is a pure reflection of the society that we all live in which is money driven. – Nick Anderson, Boise State ‘13

On whether the BCS got it right, and if not, who should be playing in the national championship:

I don’t think they got it right. LSU-Oklahoma State would make for a much more interesting game. The first LSU-Bama game was boring. Why would anyone want to watch that again? – Jen Jezierski, DePaul University ‘12

There is always going to be a team left out. Always. People are going to be happy and people are going to be mad, until there is a playoff system. Oklahoma State makes just as good of a case for the national championship as Alabama. Either team is deserving. – Trevor Lowry, Colorado State ‘13

In the words of Mike Gundy, “They had their shot. Give us ours.” Oklahoma State beat the preseason favorite by a large margin. And, Alabama couldn’t beat LSU the first time around. OSU v. LSU. – Matthew Villanueva, Texas Tech ‘12

Oklahoma State, who beat three BCS top-15 teams, should be in the championship. I want to see OSU’s top ranked offense face off against LSU’s top ranked defense. – Alexandra Bogdan, San Jose State ‘14

If the BCS is going to penalize Boise St. and Houston for not winning their respective conferences they have to do the same to Alabama. – Evan Bailey, Arizona ‘12

No, they did not. There is way too much differential in computer rankings across the board. Who exactly are we calling experts here and what do they stand for? I guess when it comes to experts I’ll agree 100% with Kirk Herbstriet, who virtually called out the Sugar Bowl for inviting Virginia Tech. While the SEC appears to be the “power conference” in college football, it is important that the voters not get glued to that concept. Oklahoma State should be playing for the National Championship. They played in a conference championship game, and absolutely ran through No. 10 Oklahoma to make a statement. You can’t forget that while Oklahoma State boat raced Oklahoma, Alabama sat on the couch with a case of Dr. Pepper and family sized bag of Doritos. – Nick Anderson, Boise State ‘13

Regardless of who was determined to be paired up with LSU on January 9th, there was going to be a large uproar nationally. Every year there are going to be schools who feel that they are more deserving than another. That is just the nature of the system. Now in my opinion, when you look at this year specifically, no, the BCS did not get it right. Alabama lost to LSU at home. In a night game. If you aren’t going to beat them then, you sure aren’t going to beat them in their home state. Oklahoma State lost in double overtime on the road a day after the tragic plane crash. The fact that Mike Gundy and his team were actually able to physically be out there and perform at that level is a win in my book. – Mychal Anderson, Minnesota ’11

From my school’s standpoint, I think we are another of many cases why this system doesn’t work- losing two games only to teams that were No. 1 at the time, which are now the No. 1 and 2 teams in the country, but yet we sit at No. 6. The fact that there are several teams ranked worse than us, but are in a BCS bowl is a huge red flag to the validity of the BCS system. – Martha Swearingen, Arkansas ‘12 

 

On how to fix the BCS system:

This year needed playoffs. An Alabama-Oklahoma State play-in game would have been better. Since the teams never met this year, how are they sure which is the superior team? In general, it needs something. I just don’t know how to fix it.
It’s complicated. – Jen Jezierski, DePaul ‘12

The BCS system leaves teams out of the national championship game ever year. As for now, all of the BCS bowls should be a part of a playoff system. – Trevor Lowry, Colorado State ‘13

Playoff system. The winner of each conference is put into a pool and matches are randomly drawn until there is one eventual winner. – Matthew Villanueva, Texas Tech ‘12

I would be in favor of making the six BCS conference champions and 2 non-AQ at large bids (also conference champions) play in an 8 team playoff for the national title. The same bowl system would be in place exactly the same as it stands right now, except the BCS bowl winners would create a final four that would be played at the bowl that would host the national title that year. – Evan Bailey, Arizona ‘12

I’ve always been a proponent of turning the BCS bowls into an eight team playoff, so a plus-two of sorts. In this system, have the winners of each conference title game receive a berth into the “playoffs”, with three “wildcards” that are determined based on BCS ranking (let’s face it, the Big East will no longer receive AQ status). It adds meaning to the conference championship games and creates the playoff system everyone in America desires. Sure, there are still wrinkles with this system – such as the recipients of the at-large spots – but it sure as heck beats the current format. Plus, I think it’s something that BCS advocates could learn to accept. – Mychal Anderson, Minnesota ’11

I like the idea of the +1 system. I am not saying that it is a perfect solution but we must find another adequate way to run the BCS. I also think that the conference champion should be required to be ranked inside the top 12 or 14 to be able to go and represent their conference and team and receive the large pay day that other schools are after as well. – Nick Anderson, Boise State ‘13

How are we going to truly know who deserves to be where without playoffs games to determine it? Especially in cases like OSU and Alabama, when there is a .009 difference in the computer’s ranking. – Martha Swearingen, Arkansas ‘12

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