Your Chickensh*t BCS Bowl Preview
January 4, 2010 - 12:01 am by McD
Monday, January 4, 2010
8 pm ET
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
(6) Boise State (13-0) vs. (4) TCU (12-0) (-8)
This is the biggest bullsh*t matchup since Nebraska got a shot at Miami at the end of the 2001 season even though they didn’t even make the Big XII title game. And this game isn’t even for the national championship. It’s just a regular BCS bowl that pits two undefeated teams against one another, which sounds sweet except when you remember that these are two non-BCS conference champs who got bids the hard way. And then the BCS chickened out and put them against each other.
On the surface, you can see the Fiesta Bowl reps were maybe thinking it would be cool to let the two undefeated teams square off against each other. Were they two major-conference teams who ended up undefeated, that might have even been correct thinking.
But it’s also entirely possible the BCS higher-ups didn’t want either of these very, very good teams to slap around a major-conference team and promote the Mountain West’s notion that everyone should be included in the BCS. Technically, that’s not what the MWC wants, but you get the idea. The BCS doesn’t want their boys to get beat a la Boise State 43 Oklahoma 42 or Utah 31 Alabama 17 because it could happen TWICE in the same season, within a few days of each other, even.
To put it in the parlance of the old boy network that runs this thing, that dog won’t hunt.
Remember the shockwaves that Boise State game created? The BCS can’t survive if that happens again, especially after Utah slapped Alabama last year. This year’s Boise and (especially) TCU teams are the two best non-AQ schools ever to make it into the BCS. They have legitimate shots at every single BCS team, and that’s something the BCS can’t handle.
You see, the BCS needs the status quo in order to survive. They need the limited number of possible teams. They need to keep a playoff from happening. They need things exactly the way they are because this isn’t about fairness or making the best matchups. It’s about making money. And there’s no long-term money in the BCS if the AQ schools are constantly getting beaten by the non-AQ schools that get into the BCS.
For my Rose Bowl preview, I created these matchups: National Championship: Texas vs. Alabama (because I have to), Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. TCU ,Fiesta Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Ohio State, Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Iowa, Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Boise State.
Obviously, those would be better games than what we’ve got now, and those aren’t even necessarily the best potential matchups. TCU/Florida would be the best possible matchup, but I’ve always wanted to see what TCU could do to Tech’s option offense. But is there any doubt the Horned Frogs could handle Florida’s offense? It would definitely be the best non-conference opponent Florida has played (except for the national title games).
Point is, when you’re watching these two teams bludgeon each other on Monday, realize that you’re being sold a bill of goods even though this is a great game. College football needs a playoff, and it’s not going to happen until everyone is willing to stand up and fight crap like this.
Pick: TCU
