With every release of the Bowl Championship Series standings
comes a new set of controversies and uproar.
It fuels endless watercooler talk and sports radio for a full
week until a new batch of standings come out the following Sunday.
And that’s just how it appears the NCAA likes it.
This week, Ohio State and Michigan remain the clear-cut No. 1
and No. 2 teams respectively in the BCS.
With the two Big 10 powers heading for an epic collision Nov. 18
in Columbus, Ohio, it’s a mortal lock that the winner will be
heading for the national title game in January.
But who then faces them? It now appears upstart Louisville will
be heading to the national championship game for a chance at BCS
glory.
Coach Bobby Petrino and his Cardinals are fresh off an upset
over then-No. 3 West Virginia, leaving them undefeated at 8-0.
The 44-34 win last Thursday on national television leaves
Louisville sitting pretty as they are now in the coveted No. 3 spot
in this week’s BCS standings with a sizeable lead over No. 4
Florida.
And if Louisville does in fact end up in the title game in
January, chaos across the college football landscape will
ensue.
Few people actually believe Louisville is really one of the two
best teams in the nation, yet they look like a solid bet to get a
chance to say they are in fact No. 1.
Quarterback Brian Brohm and his high-powered offense will get a
chance to prove itself on college football’s biggest
stage.
The Cardinals still have two potential pitfalls to the
championship with road games at unbeaten No. 14 Rutgers and a 6-2
Pittsburgh team, but Petrino’s team will be favored in both.
If Louisville wins out, the numbers all point to them playing the
Ohio State-Michigan winner.
The current BCS system, which places the Cardinals in prime
position to reach the title game, begs the question: Is Louisville
really better than a one-loss Southeastern Conference team such as
Florida? What about Texas? USC? California? Are they better than
the loser of that monumental clash in Columbus?
The system won’t likely provide answers to these
questions, but it might leave Louisville as the only possible
answer to the question “Who’s No. 1?”
This scenario could be the best thing for the sport if it
provides enough impetus for the NCAA to create what most of the
country really wants: a true playoff system.
Playoffs are implemented in every other NCAA-sanctioned sport,
including football in Divisions I-AA, II or III. Football stands
alone with an arbitrary winner of a mythical championship.
Every other sport crowns an undisputed champion that has proven
its worth on the playing field. In football’s antiquated bowl
system, only two teams are allowed to have a say in whether or not
they are No. 1.
The NCAA purports to support sportsmanship and fairness, but the
current BCS system is far from fair, excluding 98 percent of its
membership from playing for a championship.