In Major League Baseball, teams in the race looking to make a late-season push will make a deadline deal to improve their roster. Case in point: the Phillies acquiring Cliff Lee.

In the NFL, teams looking to overcome longshot playoff odds get inventive with their playbook, like the Miami Dolphins did last year in using the Wildcat to power them to a playoff berth.

In college basketball, coaches will often loosen the reins on talented freshman during the second half of the season in an effort to unleash the potential of their teams, hoping it sparks a March run.

In college football, our national paragon of amateurism and integrity, schools and conferences hoping to achieve their postseason goals actually seek areas outside of their actual performance on the field to get a leg up on their competition.

Today’s example is Boise State, via the WAC, which has reportedly hired a PR firm to help the Broncos in their quest to make the BCS.

Yes, this is what is has come to in college football. Public relations firms are being held on retainer by conferences to help individual schools politic for BCS berths.

The saddest aspect of all this is that you cannot blame the WAC one bit.

A BCS berth for Boise State would be create a huge financial windfall for the entire conference. You could make the argument that the WAC would be negligent by not taking this extra step to put Boise State and its conference in the best possible position to make the BCS.

We see coaches at the big time schools politicking for all the time through the media. Coaches like Urban Meyer, Pete Carroll, and Mack Brown have the ability (you could even call it the bully pulpit) to do this.

A guy like Chris Petersen, however, does not have the same national forum because his school has nowhere near the status of a Florida, USC, or Texas, regardless of how good the Broncos may be. He can yell, scream, and hold press conferences until he’s blue in the field face and it won’t make a difference.

Engaging a professional PR firm at least levels the playing field a little bit.

Kudos to the WAC for showing its member schools that it is completely behind them and for doing what is in the best interest of the conference, but shame on college football for allowing its environment and landscape to get to this point.

A team’s public relations and postseason future should be determined on Saturdays, on the field. To the WAC’s credit, at least they understand the realities of the world in which they operate.

**********

* – Chris Petersen photo credit: Darin Oswald via Idaho Statesman

Just watched the best Super Bowl I can remember. So did 98.7 million other viewers across the country, making it the highest-viewed Super Bowl ever. XLIII’s ratings haul was second to only (you guessed it) that unbeatable 1983 MASH finale I always hear about and have never seen.

Pittsburgh’s amazing win was the culmination of a thrilling 12-team playoff, with surprises and high-ratings at every turn.
Don’t you think the college football power brokers would see the eye-popping profitability of that format and at least consider switching to a playoff system?

Not a chance.

College bowl game ratings for a single game will never approach that of a Super Sunday, but when there are 34 bowl games, including five Bowl Championship Series games, it’s okay if none of them are “super.”

Collectively, everyone in the system is getting their piece of the pie, and that pie is getting larger and larger. As ridiculous as the current system is, it has made the decision-makers and participating schools stinking rich.

As much as it pains me to do it, I’ll play devil’s advocate and tell you why the common arguments are not enough to change college football for the better. The response to each argument for a playoff? Money. (For more detailed ratings and revenue info click here.)

POINT: Without a playoff, there’s not a true national champion.

COUNTERPOINT: Most fans don’t believe that. More and more are watching, validating the system’s authority and perverse logic. The five BCS bowl games averaged 17.6 million viewers each, up 14 percent from last year. That’s a total of 88 million viewers, more than a lot of Super Bowl games. And that’s just the BCS games. If the TV says a team won the national title game, we believe it. Who do you remember more from 2004? LSU or USC? LSU, because they won the BCS title game. USC won the AP vote.

POINT: It’s not fair to the smaller schools. Boise State went undefeated and played in the Poinsettia Bowl!

COUNTERPOINT: The smaller schools are the ones that profit the MOST from this wacky system. For every small school that gets denied a BCS title shot, there are 30 more getting a big payoff and a national TV audience. 34 bowl games. 68 teams. It’s a very profitable pity party and everyone over six wins is invited. Bowl payouts ran an estimated $240 million last season and have totaled 1.84 billion over the last 10 seasons. Over the next 10 years, bowls are projected to pay $2.5 billion to the teams and conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision who participate. Any change in postseason format would jeopardize the appeal of the lesser bowls. School presidents won’t rock that boat, especially when it’s a boatload of money.

POINT: Even President Obama wants to change the system!

COUNTERPOINT: In this case, it’s change we can’t believe in.

College football, which makes its partners tons of money, has broadcast commitments from every major media sports outlet: ESPN on ABC, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN360.com, the Big Ten Network, CBS College Sports Network, NFL Network, Fox Sports Net. Fox’s current BCS TV contract runs through 2010. ESPN has acquired rights from 2011-2014.

That’s a lot of standing contracts with a lot of people. Try changing that.

Furthermore, each bowl game has dozens, if not hundreds, of employees working year-round to maximize attendance and profits. An entire industry has been born from the lack of a college football playoff. A system that frustrates Joe Q. Fan has the decision-makers laughing all the way to the bank. Bowl game attendance was an all-time high last year at 85 percent combined stadium capacity.

College football fans would love to see a playoff, but we don’t matter. Money matters. So enjoy the bowl games next year, it is football after all. But the most competitive, meaningful bowl on my viewing list will always be the Super Bowl.

Scott Reister is a featured contributor to Midwest Sports Fans, as well as Dallas Sports Fans.

He is a Sports Anchor for the NBC affiliate in the Tri-Cities and Spokane, WA. To learn more about Scott, visit the Scott Reister bio page on Midwest Sports Fans or check out the Scott Reister bio page on Midwest Sports Fans or check out the Local Sports page on KNDU.com.

To contact Scott: sreister@hotmail.com

My take on that is that I think both Florida and Oklahoma would defeat Utah if they played — but why in the hell aren’t they? I also thought that Alabama would beat Utah, and we saw how that turned out. To have two one-loss teams playing in the BCS championship game to determine the “national champion”, while the only undefeated team in college football is left on the sidelines with no chance at a title, well it stinks.

And while I don’t begrudge any coach for stating the case for his team, I think Pete Carroll and Mack Brown should shut up about their own teams’ national championship arguments and get behind Utah. Both USC and Texas have lost; Utah has not. A much more compelling case for a playoff can be made by arguing the case of Utah. If coaches with the stature of Pete Carroll and Mack Brown got behind the Utes’ cause and helped to fan the flames of outrage, perhaps mountains could be moved a few more inches closer to a playoff.

Our friends over at Flash Sports Tonight do a nice job of ripping Pete Carroll and Mack Brown a new one in the newest FST Flash Report:

(And if for some reason the video isn’t displaying, head on over to Flash Sports Tonight and watch it there.)

Unfortunately, the plight of Utah is simply indicative of the greed and myopic thinking that defines college football. And until the conference commissioners and school presidents start thinking more with their heads and their hearts than with their wallets, it will always be that way.

Anyway, enough soapbox stuff. It is not the fault of Florida and Oklahoma that whichever team wins this game will have to deal with a certain amount of taint on their trophy. And it certainly does not mean that the two best teams in America are not, in fact, playing tonight. It is hard to argue with either Florida or Oklahoma as worthy national championship contenders. As we preview tonight’s game, I’ll be giving you lots of links to get you ready for tonight.

First, let’s get the particulars out of the way. Here is the pertinent time, place, lines, and announcer information you need to know:

BCS National Championship Game: Florida Gators v Oklahoma Sooners

• When: Today, January 8th, 2009
• Where: Miami, FL
• TV Schedule: 8:00 ET on FOX
• Announcer Pairing: Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis
• Point Spread: Florida Gators -5
• Over-Under: 69 1/2

(Point spreads and over-unders provided by the College Football Handicapping experts at DocSports.)

The next link comes from ESPN, where they have put together an informative “Tale of the Tape” comparison between Florida and Oklahoma:

BCS Championship Game Tale of the Tape – (ESPN)

SI.com has some nice stories previewing a few of the key positions for each team:

Florida finally has a good ground game – (Stewart Mandel)

Oklahoma’s O-Line is pretty damn good – (Andy Staples)

Brandon Spikes may want to stop talking trash about Big 12 defenses until after the game – (Stewart Mandel)

Well, it took me a little longer to get this post together than I’d anticipated and I’m about to be late for a work meeting. So I’ll give my prediction real quick before getting out of here.

I am rooting for Oklahoma to win tonight, but I think Florida will get it done. I think there is some truth to the notion that Big 12 defenses have not been that good, and when you combine that with the potential bowl game Heisman jinx for Sam Bradford and the motivation that Tim Tebow is carrying into this game, I think the Gators will get it done. It will be high scoring and I think it will be close. Other than the announcers, it should be a very enjoyable and entertaining game.

Florida 45 | Oklahoma 38

Who do you think will win it?

(Photo Art by Midwest Sports Fans.)

First off, I want to congratulate Sam Bradford on winning the Heisman Trophy. He put up some of the most ridiculous numbers college football has ever seen this year, and led the Oklahoma Sooners to five straight 60-point outings to close out the season. That is remarkable.

And I want to congratulate the Oklahoma Sooners on becoming Big 12 Champs and being selected to play the Florida Gators in the BCS National Championship game. The Sooners are on quite a roll right now and the Oklahoma-Florida matchup to determine the champion should be exciting.

But what the hell did the University of Texas do to become the toilet of college football in 2008? All they did was go 11-1, beat Oklahoma, and have a QB set the NCAA record for completion percentage. With all that said, let’s count the ways that Texas has been shit on this season:

1 — Despite having an identical 11-1 record with Oklahoma, and owning the head-to-head tie-breaker with the Sooners, Texas was left home during the Big 12 Championship while Oklahoma played Missouri.

2 — Again, despite having the same record as Oklahoma and beating them, Texas experienced their one loss a few weeks later in the season and fell behind Oklahoma in the polls and BCS standings. This is what gave Oklahoma the right to play in the Big 12 Championship game and make it to the BCS National Championship game…despite the ugly fact that a team with an identical record, and that they lost to, will have to watch the championship game from home.

3 — Colt McCoy was sensational in his head-to-head matchup against Sam Bradford. He made the plays to win his school’s biggest game of the year. Sam Bradford did not. The #1 and #2 vote-getters in the Heisman balloting met on the same field, and the the guy who lost and played worse ended up winning the award for Most Oustanding Player in America.

If I were a Texas fan, I’d be feeling a little salty right now. If I were an Oklahoma fan, I’d be thanking my lucky stars that the 2008 Sooners somehow defied the most basic logic that is supposed to govern sports: nothing is more important than what happens on the field.

Oh wait — this is college football we are talking about, the sport where logic is nowhere to be found.

I am having a hard time coming up with a more egregious set of circumstances to end a season and determine a national champion than what has happened this year. And if the Illogical Quagmire of 2008 cannot galvanize change and inspire a movement towards a playoff, I’m not sure what will. If you have the same record as another team, but you beat them on the field of play, you should take priority and be rewarded. That did not happen this year, and Texas got royally screwed because of it.

And if choosing the winner of an individual honor requires the splitting of hairs, as this year’s Heisman Trophy voting clearly did (based on the fact that the difference between #1 and #3 was smaller than the typical difference between #1 and #2), then beating the other candidate head-to-head should carry some pretty serious weight. Obviously it did not in this case, as Sam Bradford came out ahead of Colt McCoy.

And here’s the really sad thing: I know a lot of people are reading this and chomping at the bit to get the comments and tell me I’m an idiot for arguing about Texas and ignoring Texas Tech. Well guess what? That is even more proof for my point!

Texas Tech beat Texas who beat Oklahoma who beat Texas Tech. And yet, the big argument at the end of the season was between Texas and Oklahoma, with Texas Tech all but forgotten. Sure, Oklahoma wiped the floor with Texas Tech. And I would rank them 3rd out of those three on my own personal ballot. But who cares!? Does the old saying, “That’s why they play games” mean anything in college football?

Apparently not.

Not only was Texas Tech shut out of the Big 12 championship game, shut out of the BCS, and shut out of even getting an invite to the Heisman ceremony (despite having the #4 and #5 vote-getters in Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree), but they weren’t even in the conversation! How ridiculous is that?

Unfortunately, that is college football.

I love college football. I grew up going to games every Saturday, and I love nothing more than watching, debating, and reading about college football all Fall long. But I love college basketball more, and for one extremely important reason: champions are determined on the court, and not through media politicking or in a computer.

Oklahoma had a historic season in many ways in 2008. One feat that should definitely go down in the record books is that they recorded the first loss in the history of college football that, apparently, was not a loss.

In the absence of a playoff, when two teams with identical records do not play eachother, subjective opinions must be solicited to attempt to determine who is better. This has always been a part of college football, and there is no way around it to a certain degree. But when teams play eachother on the field, that game has to mean something. In this case, Oklahoma may as well have just won that game 45-35 instead of what actually happened. Oklahoma was treated like a 12-0 team, while Texas was dealt the fate of a team that went 10-2 and lost to the Sooners.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget about Texas Tech.

My head is starting to hurt just writing this, because it is such a sad and ridiculous circle of idiocy. The only thing standing between college football and a playoff is excuses. College basketball does it. The other college football divisions do it. And somehow, a better method simply has to be implemented to determine champions.

One of the most popular arguments bandied about in opposition of a playoff is that a playoff would lessen the importance of the regular season, that what makes college football different is that a game in October is just as meaningful as a game in January. Well to all of the people who make that argument, I present the 2008 college football season as the quintessential counter-argument that you simply cannot refute.

How meaningful is the college football regular season when Texas can beat Oklahoma, yet Oklahoma goes to the Big 12 championship, the national championship, and the Oklahoma QB beats out the Texas QB for the Heisman?

How meaningful is the college football regular season when Texas Tech can beat Texas, and their arguments are not even taken seriously, for the most part because they do not have the same prestige as Texas and Oklahoma?

It doesn’t seem all that meaningful to me. Not after this season.

What do you think?

So congratulations to Oklahoma. 2008 truly has been the Year of the Sooners, because somehow Oklahoma was able to defy sports logic and completely erase the typical consequences of losing. And this is not a knock on Oklahoma, their coaches, or their players — they have an amazing team. And it is hard to argue that they are not deserving of a spot in the championship game. The problem is that it is not hard to argue for Texas or Texas Tech either.

So the knock is not on Oklahoma, but rather on the idiotic system of college football over which the Sooners have no control.

I just hope that 2008 was a step backwards that can ultimately lead to a giant leap forward — in the form of a playoff. All of this illogical BS has gone on for far too long in college football and it is time for what happens on the field to matter more than what happens on a ballot.

Discussion Questions for Comments Section:

1. Do you think that Texas and Texas Tech got screwed in 2008?
2. Do you want to see a playoff in college football? Why or why not?

Looking forward to everyone’s responses on this topic. And let’s just hope that one of these days, logic can actually become a part of college football.

In the SEC Championship game, Florida was able to outlast Alabama and took the game over in the 4th quarter en route to a 31-20 victory. Making the win even more impressive was that superstar, do-everything Percy Harvin did not play. Despite the absence of Harvin, the Gators were able to survive because they have one of the greatest players in the history of college football. Yes, I said it: Tim Tebow is one of the greatest players in the history of college football. As a Tennessee fan, I have always “hated” Tebow; but I have to admit that he makes it pretty hard to do so.

What more could you want in a superstar player? He’s an oustanding player, he sounds like a good, genuine kid (even if he comes across as slightly haughty and holier-than-thou every now and then), and my goodness does he compete. I loved the speech he gave after Florida was upset by Mississippi, mainly because he complete backed it up. I don’t know if he is more deserving that Sam Bradford for the Heisman Trophy this year, but it would be pretty hard to argue with Tebow if he is the choice.

So Florida won, and they should be in the BCS National Championship Game.

In the Big 12 Championship game, Sam Bradford and Oklahoma continued their explosive ways. The Sooners because the first team in college football history to score 60 or more points in five straight games. That is ridiculous. And while Texas has a logical argument against Oklahoma to be in the title game, I’m not sure how you can watch Oklahoma play and reasonably say they should not be playing for it all. I am sure that Texas fans are holding out hope that something quirky will happen and that they will somehow eclipse Florida or Oklahoma, but it’s not happening — nor should it.

So as we look at the updated projections for the BCS bowl games, we can pretty much fill in the championship game with pen:

BCS National Championship Game: Florida v Oklahoma

And we know another one for sure as well:

Rose Bowl: USC v Penn State

The other three games are all subject to the choices of the individual bowl games as to who they match up with the automatic tie-in. The Orange Bowl will get the ACC Champ Virginia Tech, while the Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl will get the #2 teams from the SEC and Big 12, respectively: Alabama and Texas. And Cincinnati won the Big East, so they will get a bid as well.

Utah also gets an automatic bid by virtue of winning the Mountain West Conference and being ranked in the top 12 of the BCS. By rule, only one automatic bid will go to a non-BCS conference team. Other teams, like a Boise State, then go into the normal at-large pool — meaning they have no chance.

So what will the other matchups be?

By rule, choice of at-large teams goes in the order of the proximity to the BCS Championship game. That means that the order for the 2009 BCS is Fiesta, Sugar, then Orange.

Here are the most reasonable projections:

Fiesta Bowl: Texas v Ohio State

Sugar Bowl: Alabama v Utah

Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech v Cincinnati

You have to assume that the Fiesta Bowl will take Ohio State to leverage their gargantuan fan base and create a high profile, made-for-TV matchup against Texas. If only those two fan bases watch the game, ratings will be great. And I would think that the Sugar Bowl would want undefeated Utah over Cincinnati, leaving the Bearcats to head down to Miami for the Orange Bowl.

Obviously, we will have to watch and see how the final BCS rankings shake out. My dream is to wake up tomorrow to a Texas-USC BCS National Championship game, because surely the BCS would then be blown up in favor of a playoff. The chances of that happening, however, are about as good as the chances of Tim Tebow being picked up for a DUI tonight — absolutely impossible.

And the truth is, there is no matchup I can think of that will get me more excited for the BCS National Championship game than Florida-Oklahoma. Sure, both Alabama and Texas only have one loss, and Texas actually beat Oklahoma back in October. But no two teams have been more dominant over the past 6 weeks in college football — and they are more than deserving of a berth in the title game under the current system.

But wouldn’t it be great to see a 4-team or 8-team playoff? We might end up with Oklahoma-Florida anyway, but who knows? That’s the beauty of the NCAA tournament, and it could add even more excitement to college football — if we are ever to be so lucky.

(Follow the link to see the complete 2008-09 College Football Bowl Schedule. We’ll update it once all the matchups are announced.)

Sarah Palin Wins Presidential Election, Barack Obama Third

After determining the Big-12 championship game participants, the BCS computers were put to work on other major contests and today the BCS declared Sarah Palin to be the winner of the 2008 Presidential Election.

“Palin started with some important early victories beginning with her election as Mayor of Wasilla, and followed with decisive conference wins in the election for Governor of Alaska and the nomination for Vice President. Her only losses came against Katie Couric and Tina Fey, however considering her strength of schedule, the computers determined her season worthy of a true number 1.

When asked about the number 3 ranking for Senator Barack Obama, the BCS commissioner stated “Obama really only had 2 major victories. Those victories were over Hillary Clinton in the Primaries and John McCain in the general election. The BCS computers don’t consider head to head victories like humans do. Those victories are still only viewed as a single game with equal weight to other games.”

President-Elect Sarah Palin commented on her massive upset. “It was tough after those two late losses to Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson, but I defeated Romney for the Vice President nod, and he was ranked as the BCS number 2 in preseason.”

Romney, after the high expectations in the preseason, dropped out of the top 10 and ended up narrowly beating Senator Barney Frank to finish at 11. Senator Frank, who was unable to overcome the shattering losses to the Economic Crisis and Papa Bear Bill O’Reilly, was unable to remain in the top 25.

John McCain’s ranking of 5th has also come under question. The BCS commented “John McCain had a major loss to Senator Barack Obama in early November. If the loss had come earlier in the season, say September, McCain maybe could have recovered, however, similar to Texas Tech, McCain just lost too late in the season.

As expected, Senator Joe Biden finished in the number 2 spot, making him the Vice President of the United States.

For those who missed it, here is the replay of the crucial Franks loss to O’Reilly in week 7.

Authors Note- Obviously, none of this is true, but nevertheless, be thankful that the flawed BCS is only used for college football.

Week 15, and all of the games the week of Saturday, December 6, is huge because it is Championship Week. The Big 12 Championship game between Oklahoma and Missouri, and the SEC Championship game between Florida and Alabama, will determine who plays in BCS National Championship Game. (Follow the link for the updated BCS standings and a breakdown of the potential BCS scenarios and matchups.)

Before we present the College Football TV Schedule for Championship Week, chime in with your prediction on what the outcome of the Big 12 and SEC championship games will be, and who will be playing in the BCS National Championship Game:

Okay, here we go. The College Football TV Schedule for Championship Week, the week of Saturday, December 6.

^ — All of these games (except Army-Navy) are conference championship games and will be played at neutral sites.

As we predicted, the BCS games are as follows:

BCS National Championship: Florida-Oklahoma

Rose Bowl: Penn State-USC

Fiesta Bowl: Texas-Sacrificial Big Ten Lamb

Sugar Bowl: Alabama v Utah

Orange Bowl: Cincinnati v Virginia Tech

Quietly, Notre Dame did accept a bowl bid, as they will play Hawaii in the…wait for it…Hawaii Bowl. That’s pretty lame if you are a Notre Dame fan, but I scoff at the notion that they should turn it down. More than the actual benefit of playing in the game, going to a bowl game is HUGE from a coaching standpoint because you get an extra month of practice time with your team. Charlie Weis is down to his last chance next year, and the extra practice could help get some young players ready to step up in 2009.

Anyway, I’ll quit rambling. Here is the 2008-09 College Football Bowl TV Schedule and Matchups:

Championship Saturday has ended, which means the BCS projections are pretty much set. Check out the updated BCS projections.

I was trying to figure out in my own mind what all of the BCS scenarios are and who will be playing who. So, while I go through the process of figuring it out, I’ll just type a post and share my knowledge.

First, here are the updated BCS Standings going into the conference championship games:

BCS Standings

And now, the BCS schedule, with tie-ins:

January 1, 2009 – Rose Bowl presented by Citi in Pasadena, CA | Big Ten Champ vs Pac 10 Champ

January 1, 2009 – FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami, FL | ACC Champ vs BCS At-Large

January 2, 2009 – AllState Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, LA | SEC Champ vs BCS At-Large

January 5, 2009 – Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, AZ | Big 12 Champ vs BCS At-Large

January 8, 2009 – FexEx BCS National Championship Game in Miami, FL | BCS #1 v BCS #2

Let’s take a look at some of the scenarios:

The winner of the SEC title game between Florida and Alabama will almost assuredly play in the BCS Title game against either Oklahoma (if they win the Big 12 Title game) or Texas (if Oklahoma should lose to Missouri in the Big 12 Title game).

I don’t really see any way that the BCS National Championship game is not the SEC winner versus either Oklahoma or Texas. And that is how it should be.

With the way Oklahoma is playing right now, and considering that Missouri just lost to Kansas, I think it is a safe assumption that Oklahoma will win the Big 12. (Well, at least as safe as any assumption can be in college football. And Missouri knows what that’s like in the Big 12 title game.)

If Oklahoma wins, the BCS will most likely look like this:

BCS National Championship: Oklahoma versus Alabama/Florida winner

Fiesta Bowl: At-Large vs At-Large

Sugar Bowl: At-Large vs At-Large

Orange Bowl: Boston College/Virginia Tech winner in ACC title game vs At-Large

Rose Bowl: Penn State vs USC

Because the Fiesta Bowl is played closest to the National Championship game, it gets the first pick of replacement team (since the Big 12 champ would be in the BCS National Championship game). I am thinking that the Fiesta Bowl would take Texas and then match them up with Penn State. Those traveling fan bases talk baby!

The Sugar Bowl would then pick next, and they would take the SEC #2, whoever loses between Alabama and Florida…

and I’m spent. I just spent the last fifteen minutes toggling back and forth between writing this and trying to figure out all of the different rules for how the BCS teams are chosen, and my head hurts. I am officially calling this Reason #4,672 why we need a playoff!

How about this? Take the top 8 damn teams (Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, USC, Utah, Texas Tech, Penn State) and let them duke it out in an Elite 8 tourney for the champion. Want to cry because the ACC isn’t represented? Too bad. The highest rated ACC team is Georgia Tech and they are 15th. If your conference sucks so bad that you don’t have a team in the top 8, then you’re screwed. Or if you need to appease the ACC, then give them an automatic tie-in for the conference champ and bump out the lowest rated team that didn’t win its conference. In this case, Texas Tech would be gone.

Now we would have (if the standings stayed as they are now):

1 Alabama/Florida vs 8 ACC Champion

2 Oklahoma/Texas vs 7 Penn State

3 Oklahoma/Texas vs 6 Utah

4 Alabama/Florida vs 5 USC

You would need two more games so add in the Cotton Bowl and another bowl and then the teams can decide it on the field. Why is it so hard to make this happen??? I just don’t get it.

For anyone who came to this post looking for a detailed explanation of the potential BCS scenarios, you have my apologies. If you’d like to figure it out on your own, here you go:

BCS Selection Procedures

Good luck.

I’m glad I went through this little exercise. The BCS National Championship game will be the champions of the two best conferences, so that is good. And the Rose Bowl will be the Big 10 champ and the Pac 10 champ, so that is good.

Still, try telling me that an 8-game playoff wouldn’t be infinitely more exciting. I just don’t see any reasonable argument to the contrary.

F$&k the BCS!

I know, I know — Mike Gundy is now 41 and his press conference rant is over a year old. Still, it does not make it any less funny. In fact, let’s take a quick trip down memory lane before we jump into the preview. But rather than listen to Mike Gundy rant about some “garbage” newspaper story, let’s watch him provide a weather report in the heart of a nasty storm.

And now, onto the serious stuff.

Here are the particulars for today’s Bedlam Series game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State:

Matchup: #3 Oklahoma Sooners (10-1) at #12 Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-2)

Where: Stillwater, Oklahoma

Time: 8:00 ET

TV: ABC

Announcer Pairing: Brent Musberger, Kirk Herbstreit, Lisa Salters

Point Spread: Oklahoma -7 ½

Over-Under: 72

What’s at stake: This game will help determine who goes to the Big 12 Championship Game from the Big 12 South division.

Texas took care of Texas A&M on Thursday night, as expected. This means that if the favorites hold serve, with Oklahoma beating OSU and Texas Tech beating Baylor, then there will be a three-way tie in the Big 12 South. By tiebreaker rule, whichever team is tanked higher in the BCS Standings would then go on to play Missouri in the Big 12 Championship Game. This scenario is the only possible way that Oklahoma could play in the Big 12 Championship.

If Oklahoma loses today and Texas Tech beats Baylor, then Texas Tech will play in the Big 12 Championship based on its victory over Texas. If Texas Tech loses to Baylor and Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State, Texas goes to the Big 12 Championship game because the Longhorns beat Oklahoma earlier this year.

So there’s just a little bit at stake tonight in Stillwater.

Let’s take a quick look at what some of the “experts” are predicting:

Dennis Dodd, Senior Writer at CBS Sportsline: Oklahoma State 31 | Oklahoma 23

“I had this vision Saturday night of Mike Gundy sitting on a trunk somewhere drawing up ball plays as he watched OU on TV out of the corner of his eye. People are just assuming that Oklahoma is going to cruise past the Cowboys. The reason it won’t is Kendall Hunter. Gundy will use its All-America-worthy back to control the clock. OSU’s defense is underrated. The fans will be out for blood.”

For the record, the other four prognosticators at CBS Sportsline all picked Oklahoma to win.

John Tamanaha, Official Prognosticator at NBCSports.com: Oklahoma 48 | Oklahoma State 31

“With Mike Gundy calling the shots, Zac Robinson hooking up with Dez Bryant, and Kendall Hunter running the rock, Oklahoma State is more than capable of getting into a shootout with Oklahoma, especially at home in Stillwater. But the Cowboys won’t be able to come up with enough stops to stay within striking distance in the fourth quarter.”

Stewart Mandel, College Football Oracle at SI.com: Oklahoma 48 | Oklahoma State 24

“Theoretically, the Sooners are walking into a “hostile” atmosphere — except there will be 15,000 empty seats due to OSU’s inane policy requiring fans to buy season tickets in order to attend this one.”

And, for the record, 83% of the fans who had voted by 10:15 ET this morning had picked Oklahoma.
Sounds reasonable to me.

Here is why I think Oklahoma will win:

1 – Karma is a bitch

Oklahoma State instituted an insane policy this year that no single-game tickets would be sold for the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game, instead forcing people to buy season tickets. Now, it is estimated that there will be 10,000-15,000 empty seats – for one of the biggest games of the season! Mike Gundy wants to talk about something being garbage? That’s garbage. No way the cosmic forces of college football allow Oklahoma State to win under such circumstances.

2 – Bob Stoops is better than Mike Gundy

It’s that simple. Look no further that the two team’s respective performances against Texas Tech. Graham Harrell made Oklahoma State look foolish, and Mike Gundy may as well have let T. Boone Pickens call the offensive plays. We all know what Stoops and the Sooners did to Texas Tech. Mike Gundy may be a man, but Bob Stoops is the man in the Big 12.

3 – The BCS is a bitch

If Oklahoma wins and Texas Tech wins, as explained earlier, all hell breaks loose. As any college football fan knows, the evil and diabolical BCS demon is not happy unless it has created as much carnage and controversy as possible. Texas Tech and Oklahoma will both win today, forcing the three-way tie in the Big 12 South that will be determined by politics and BS. And nothing says BCS better than politics and BS.

My prediction: Oklahoma 49 | Oklahoma State 31

And now, if you are a betting man, I’d run out an bet every last dollar on Oklahoma State pulling off the upset. I’m as accurate with my predictions as Lee Corso is sane. Just remember that I picked Texas Tech over Oklahoma as you click away from his prediction as fast as humanly possible.

Barack Obama’s Midwest roots are well known. He lives in Chicago, was a senator in the Illinois state legislature, currently serves as one of Illinois’ two state senators, and he is an unabashed Chicago White Sox fan. (This fact alone, of course, proves his wisdom, integrity, and character.)

Barack Obama is also a huge basketball fan, and his brother-in-law is the head coach at Oregon State. In fact, President-Elect Obama spent much of yesterday playing hoops while America decided his fate.

We caught up with President-Elect Obama in our dreams immediately after he left the stage at Grant Park. The following is a completely fabricated pile of nonsense verbatim transcript of our interview with the next President of the United States, Barack Obama.

(Editor’s note: Coincidentally, about a half hour after publishing this mock interview, Lester Munson actually posted a serious article on ESPN.com regarding what an Obama White House could mean for the sports world. Follow the link for serious discourse. Follow along here for something a little more absurd.)

Midwest Sports Fans: Congratulations on your victory Sena–, I mean President-Elect Obama. What is your official title now? Senator or President-Elect?

Barack Obama: [big smile, with an encouraging tap on my knee] You can call me anything you want. You’re the one making this up and procrastinating from work.

Midwest Sports Fans: Good point. Let’s get right down to your sports agenda, because we know that sports are very important to you. What will be your first objective upon taking office?

Barack Obama: Look, our country faces some real challenges. We need to get our economy going. We have international issues that must be dealt with. And Americans everywhere are concerned about healthcare. But the first thing we need to do is establish a new mentality in America. I can sense it everywhere I go across this great country of ours. People want change, and it begins with a change in mindset. We cannot accept losing and we cannot accept mediocrity. We are a nation of winners, and to overcome the serious challenges we face, we must maintain the winning mentality that has defined America for over 200 years and accept nothing less.

Midwest Sports Fans: So the glorious rumor is true? You are dissolving the Chicago Cubs as a franchise?

Barack Obama: Before I even choose my cabinet, the first thing I am going to do is rid America of the hypocrisy and the needless acceptance of mediocrity inherent in our nation’s inexplicable fascination with a franchise defined more by its history of losing than anything else. The winds of change are blowing in America, and we can no longer allow uncontrollable sucking and fan suffering to be reasons for admiration.

Midwest Sports Fans: But President-Elect Obama, to play devil’s advocate here because I hate the Cubs and love your idea, isn’t your victory in this election proof that anything is possible in America? Even a Cubs World Series victory?

Barack Obama: My victory in this election is proof that America is truly a land of opportunity, a place where men and women are created equal, and where worthy causes can be lifted to overcome the odds of history by the resolve of a nation. I will be the next President of the United States because of a hard-working and brilliant campaign staff, a nation yearning for change, and the incredible support of millions upon millions of frustrated but hopeful Americans. However, my victory is not a confirmation of the potential for miracles. Waiting for miracles leads to false hope and apathy, which is what we saw at Wrigley Field during this year’s playoffs. The new America about to take shape will be founded upon a hope defined by the realistic potential of its reality. There is no such realistic potential for a reality in which the Chicago Cubs are anything but pathetic losers.

Midwest Sports Fans: Can I hug you?

Barack Obama: [turning to the Secret Servicemen flanking him on either side] Do me a favor and keep a close eye on this clown please. He scares me.

Midwest Sports Fans: My apologies sir. Moving on, what will your administration do to provide equal opportunity for the long-suffering Browns and their supporters?

Barack Obama: As I’ve said many times, the goal of this administration will be to bridge the divides that have defined our nation’s history and that have become more pronounced over the last 8 years. White, black, brown, yellow; democrat, republican; man, woman; disabled, not disabled – we will bring people together through a common belief that anything is possible through the power of individual liberty and the support of community.

Midwest Sports Fans: Actually, I was talking about the Cleveland Browns.

Barack Obama: Oh. Look – government can’t do everything. And I just got done explaining that we’re going to offer hope, not promise miracles.

Midwest Sports Fans: Can Brady Quinn starting be the first step towards hope and change for the Browns?

Barack Obama: Maybe. If Braylon Edwards can catch the ball.

Midwest Sports Fans: Good point. You certainly know your football. Moving on, you recently said during your interview on Monday Night Football that you are in favor of a college football playoff. Would you care to expound on your reasons why?

Barack Obama: Absolutely. I have always leaned towards the side of a college football playoff. And naturally, I am often impressed by and feel a special kinship with good-looking, young, charismatic men who rise through the ranks quickly to command attention and respect. One such man is Kirk Herbstreit, who will be my choice for a newly created cabinet position, Secretary of Greatness. In fact, during one of the few moments of downtime I had during this election process I stumbled upon a website called Flash Sports Tonight, and it solidified my view that college football needs a playoff.

Midwest Sports Fans: What is Flash Sports Tonight?

Barack Obama: Some ridiculous animated sports program created by some hippie sports fans in Indiana. But somehow they got live footage of Archie Griffin and Kirk Herbstreit professing the importance of a college football playoff. It is very convincing.

(Editor’s note: We found the videos to which Barack Obama was referring. They are linked here and here.)

Midwest Sports Fans: But, it’s just a silly cartoon.

Barack Obama: It’s the most brilliant piece of genius created in this country since the Constitution. I’m buying airtime on the major networks again when parts 3 and 4 come out.

Midwest Sports Fans: Are you okay sir?

Barack Obama: Honestly, I’m a little tired and delirious. I just finished the most grueling two years you can imagine and became the President, with more weight on my shoulders than you could possibly imagine.

Midwest Sports Fans: That leads me into my next question. Who has more weight on his shoulders and faces a greater burden of expectation: you or Tom Crean, the new basketball coach at Indiana University?

Barack Obama: That’s easy. Tom Crean. George W. Bush left a pretty big mess, but Kelvin Sampson popped a squat over the entire city of Bloomington and left a heaping pile of disarray that doesn’t even compare to what our nation as a whole faces. Myself, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, and Steve Perry could probably beat IU’s basketball team this year.

Midwest Sports Fans: Steve Perry? From Journey?

Barack Obama: Yes. Look, just wait. The Republican pundits thought I was radical before, but wait until they see that I plan to change the National Anthem to Don’t Stop Believing.

Midwest Sports Fans: For a lot of White Sox fans, it already is.

Barack Obama: Exactly.

(Editor’s Note: At this point in our unnecessary, fabricated, and completely fake interview with Barack Obama, once of his aides came running over and whispered something into his ear. Immediately, President-Elect Obama stood up and extended his hand.)

Barack Obama: I apologize, but I will have to cut our interview short. I was just informed that Joe Biden is out giving speeches and making more ridiculous claims.

Midwest Sports Fans: Did he tell another person who can’t walk to stand up?

Barack Obama: No. He just promised the state of Michigan that Rich Rodriguez and the Wolverines football team will be better than Ohio State as long as we are in office. We just had a meeting last week about being honest with the American people and not offering false hope. I have to run. I hope to you understand.

Midwest Sports Fans: Absolutely sir. Thank you very much for your time and candor. Are there any final words or thoughts that you would like to leave with our loyal readers at Midwest Sports Fans?

Barack Obama: You mean all twelve of them? Absolutely. Thank them all for their support, and for believing in the message of change and hope that will lead America into a new era of optimism and prosperity. And tell all the Big Ten football fans not to send me letters or get upset when we federally mandate the removal of every Big Ten football team but Ohio State and Penn State and then pass a bill merging the Big Two with the MAC. If the Big Ten wants to be more competitive in football, they shouldn’t complain when we take measures to make it a reality.

Midwest Sports Fans: Thank you for your time President-Elect Obama.

Barack Obama: No, thank you. God bless America, and God bless Midwest sports.

[tags]Barack Obama, Midwest sports[/tags]

I tailgated with my brother and father then went to the Purdue-Oregon game in West Lafayette Saturday afternoon and watched the usual tank job by the Boilers. Quoting my dad after the game (an Ohio State grad, current Purdue Employee), “That is why I stopped getting season tickets.”

I also saw more of the norm from Curtis Painter, wobbly deep balls being intercepted, ten yard out passes bouncing off the turf in front of the receiver. Other things bothered me about the game like the near ten thousand empty seats but that is another post by itself. So after watching both Oregon and Purdue play like the kids in Varsity Blues when they were hungover from being at a strip club all night; I was ready to watch the Ohio State versus USC clash in prime time on ABC.

Then I saw Beanie Wells in red sweatpants and no pads (left) on the sidelines and I immediately stop being excited for the game.

I watched Ohio State’s offense without Beanie Wells against Solich’s Bobcats and knew Pete Carroll’s shit eating grin (right) could outscore the Buckeyes by itself that night. Ohio State’s offense (yes they have one) is a well oiled machine of 28W-Beanie that sets up Boeckman’s play action deep ball. The offensive line is average and relies on Beanie breaking tacklers that they cannot block. So without Wells in the backfield even Terrelle Pryor’s abilities cannot ever do enough to set up touchdown scores. Which is what we saw, three points and a 50% redzone efficiency. The “overrated” chants from the USC fans came early in the second quarter after a missed FG.

The preparation by the Buckeyes in recent “Big Games” (except Michigan) is well documented so I wonder why they are playing Youngstown State and Ohio University at home before going on the road against USC? The NCAA gives you the ability to make more money, play a twelfth game, get your team better, and show the college football world you deserve a shot at the national title then they schedule Youngstown State. Really? At least when that option was given to the PAC 10 they added one more conference game so their teams couldn’t schedule a Cal State Fullerton, Northern Colorado, or Jacksonville State. This also begs the question why the BCS would eliminate the schedule strength criteria from their genius formula, but of course you can’t fix a flawed formula you just have to eliminate it and find a new solution (PLAYOFF!?!). But I digress.

Preparation for a game like Oregon or USC on the road could simply be to schedule a tough opponent before them. Northern Colorado and the Youngstown State Fighting Penguins huh? Just scheduling Virginia on the road week one and a bye week was obviously enough preparation for the Trojans to fashionably smack “number five” Ohio State back to ole Columbustown.

Let’s also get one thing straight. Ohio State is not a top five team without Beanie Wells but USC is far and above the best team in College Football. Everyone else is just trying to not beat themselves against South Carolina, Mississippi State, Fresno State, Purdue, etc. And everyone else says “A win is a win,” while USC just says “We won” period. At the same time USC film sessions of their own games probably gets more laughs than if they just had a screening of Pineapple Express.

comment below or email me directly, kvb@midwestsportsfans.com

The Herbies (college football preseason awards) have been written up today on ESPN.com in a posting by Kirk Herbsreit and they are the first good insight into College Football players, teams, coaches, and atmosphere. If you didn’t know, Kirk Herbstreit annually gives awards for assistant coaches, best dressed players, best position players, best fans, best restaurants on GameDay campuses and more. While the fall weather is not here yet and you may have forgotten what Saturdays feel like, you will get a heavy dose of games this Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. This is a welcome relief from the boring-ass Ivan Maisel and Beano Cook audio pods. Colin Cowherd is hated on by many bloggers but my conservative, borderline douche side likes the fact that he refers to College Football on a weekly basis during the offseason.

For some words of wisdom from Kirk Herbstreit :

HERBSTREIT! YEAH!!!

HERBSTREIT says “Purdue Sucks”

On TV SCHEDULE

THURSDAY AUGUST 28th

ESPN (8pm EST) – NC State Phillip Rivers @ South Carolina Spurriers

ESPN2 (9pm EST) – Oregon State Derek Andersons @ Stanford Harbaughs

SATURDAY AUGUST 30th

ESPN (Noon EST) – Virginia Tech Beamers @ East Carolina Skip Holtz’s

ESPN2 (Noon EST) – Syracuse Orange Wedges @ Northwestern Purple People Pussies

Big Ten Network (Noon EST) – Youngstown State Penguins @ The Ohio State Sweatervests

BTN (Noon EST) – Akron Zipper Jackets @ Wisconsin Russell

BTN (Noon EST) – Maine Black Bears @ Iowa Don’t Play The Buckeye’s This Year

BTN (Noon EST) – Coastal Carolina Cream Puffs @ Penn State Paterno’s

BTN (Noon EST) – Youngstown State Penguins @ The Ohio State Sweatervests

ABC (3:30pm EST) – Utah Majeris’ @ Michigan Helmets

ESPN (5pm EST) – Appalachian State Wolverines @ LSU Defending Chumps

BTN (7pm EST) – Northern Illinois Huskies @ Minnesota Goph’s Eh!

ABC (8pm EST) – Michigan State D’Antonio’s @ California Rodgers’

ESPN (8:30pm EST) Illinois Zooks @ Missouri Chase Daniels’

SUNDAY AUGUST 31st

ESPN (3:30pm EST) Kentucky Rupp’s @ Louisville Papa Johns

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 1st

ESPN (4pm EST) – Fresno State BullShitzos @ Rutgers Schiano’s

ESPN (8pm EST) – Tennessee Naked Fulmers @ UCLA Bryan Fletchers

Enjoy the first weekend of College Football !!!