PART ONE: Who Do I Think Should Play Ohio State???

                   

This is PART ONE of my look at the current state of the BCS and its involvement in deciding our national champion in college football.   I've said my piece on why we need a playoff system....but I'm not using this to beat that dead horse.  This is just some takes on the system as it is. 

We know Ohio State is in the BCS National Championship Game in 51 days.  But who will play them?

It's the big question of the weekend...and really over the next three weeks before the final BCS standings all week.  For the three weeks after the bowls are set, we will discuss who got screwed.

I think over 260 million people have aired their opinion on this matter...so I'm going to weigh in with mine.  Who should be the next team to take their swing at 'em??

SHOULD IT BE MICHIGAN?  That's the odd chip in this mess.  Michigan has one loss and that was at #1 Ohio State by three points.  With the system as it is right now....I say "yes".  Yes, because if the system is designed to pit the two best teams in the country....then these two teams [who may be the best] should meet for the title.  Now, that's my feeling under the current system.  However, I DO NOT LIKE the fact that Michigan....who didn't win their conference....should have a chance to win the National Championship if they can't win their conference.  This ain't basketball; they have a tournament.  I also don't like the fact that Michigan could win the title because they beat the Buckeyes in the do-over game in Arizona.  How's that fair to Ohio State??  Why not have a third meeting a week later to break the tie?? 

SHOULD IT BE USC??  I, personally, think that USC has the strongest case for a shot at the title.  They would have beaten Arkansas and Notre Dame [both are fighting for a shot at the title] plus toppled Nebraska, Oregon and California....and a few others that we may see in bowl games this winter.  The stinker is that USC's loss was to ugly Oregon State.  Nothing against the Beavers....but Michigan fans can point to their loss being to Ohio State, and Florida could point to their lone loss to Auburn.  USC does have Arkansas cornered due to their win in Fayetteville earlier in the season. 

SHOULD IT BE FLORIDA???  I think Florida needs Notre Dame to beat USC for the Gators to have any shot at getting there.  Still, the Irish could pass them up.  Florida will have big wins over Tennessee, LSU and Arkansas to buoy them a bit.  The problem is that voters have been turned off by this team's squeaky wins and the fact that the SEC wasn't the Mighty Conference it was supposed to be [it still is the best in the nation].  To me, their advantage over Michigan is the fact that they are champions of a conference [which Michigan isn't]....possibly the nation's best conference.  Their loss to Auburn isn't a shameful one. 

SHOULD IT BE ARKANSAS????  In the same conference, Arkansas thinks it has a shot.  It's a small one, but a reasonable one.  They'd have to beat Florida in the SEC title and pray that USC gets beaten by Notre Dame.  Why?  Well, USC put a 50-14 beating on them waaaaay back in September and the voters would tend to use that tiebreaker against the Razorbacks.  But that's it.  Arkansas would have won all 9 SEC games this year...the best conference in the nation.  They would have beaten LSU, Auburn, Tennessee and Florida to get there.  Uh, but they also beat Utah State, Southeast Missouri State and Louisiana Monroe to get here. 

SHOULD IT BE NOTRE DAME?????  The Irish have a tough arguement.  They've beaten no one of note [the win over the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets is the best they have]...until they pop USC.  Even then, Michigan drubbed them by 26 points at Notre Dame Stadium and those kind of things get held against you....especially when voters are sizing up those resumes. 

SHOULD IT BE BOISE STATE??????  Yeah, just because they are the only other undefeated.  Yeah, if they were in the SEC...they'd have a few losses.  So?  They are a Division I school in a Division I conference.  If that means you cannot compete for a championship than that's a shame.  Why even have them around??  Oh, you need San Jose State available to pad your victory total?  They aren't one of the top two teams in the nation....but why not let them in??