Tell Me Where I'm Wrong

The Bowl Championship Series has been a lightning rod for criticism ever since its inception 9 years ago. The bowl selection system, which combines human polls with computer ratings, matches up the "theoretical" ten best teams in the nation including the two best who meet at the official BCS National Championship game. Every year has been mired in controversy and this year is no different.

• 1998-99: In both '98 and '99 seasons the Kansas State Wildcats were excluded from any BCS bowl despite their respective #3 and #6 rankings.

• 2000: The 2000 season found itself in a three way race for #2 as Florida State, Miami and Washington all accumulated only one loss. Oklahoma easily beat Florida State for the Championship, however both Washington and Miami also won their bowl games handily, which would forever taint the Sooner's title.

• 2001: Nebraska beat out the higher ranked Colorado Buffalos and Oregon Ducks for the #2 spot in the championship game at the end of the '01 season despite not winning or even playing for the Big 12 title. The Huskers would end up being routed by Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.

• 2003: The '03 season found itself with 3 BCS conference one loss teams and despite its #1 human ranking USC was knocked out of the championship game by LSU and an Oklahoma team that lost in the Big 12 title game. 2003 would be the first season in the BCS era where two champions where crowed due to a technicality.

• 2004: Five teams entered the bowl '04 season undefeated, of which Auburn, Utah, and Boise State all were excluded from the championship game between USC and Oklahoma. All three would end up winning their respective bowl games.

• 2005: Due to an obscure clause, Notre Dame was chosen over the higher ranked Oregon Ducks for the last BSC at large bid.

• 2006: Florida beat out Michigan, Louisville, Wisconsin and undefeated Boise State for a chance to play undefeated Ohio State for the championship. Florida would end up beating the Buckeyes and claiming the title even though Boise State had beaten Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl to claim the only undefeated record of the '06 season.

• 2007: ...

As of Saturday night there is only one undefeated team (Hawaii) in the nation and only two one loss teams. (Ohio State and Kansas) In a season littered with top 10 upsets and ranking confusion the BCS system is now responsible for choosing just two teams to play for the championship game in New Orleans. Never has there such uncertainty in who are the two best teams in the country; never have there been so many who have valid claims to the top spots. Below are are list of teams from last weeks BCS rankings who have a compelling entitlement.

• Missouri- Their 11-2 record and two losses, both to Oklahoma will hurt them but their #1 ranking just one week ago confuses the issue. Despite being a solid team, Mizzou will most likely not receive a BCS bid at all due to highly ranked Kansas and Oklahoma.

• West Virginia- Both of Mountaineers losses came to unranked South Florida and Pittsburgh teams. Regardless of this, West Virginia backs into the Big East title due to a tie breaker, their only real claim to the title game.

• Ohio State- The Buckeyes won the Big Ten title handedly and claim a rare one loss record. However, OSU's one loss was to an unranked Illinois team and the Big Ten has been a notoriously lackluster conference as of late.

• Georgia- The Bulldogs are riding a a six game win streak but were excluded from the SEC title game and lost to unranked Tennessee and South Carolina.

• Kansas- The Jayhawks have been solid throughout the season and have only recorded one loss, however they were excluded from the Big 12 title game and their only loss to Missouri was their only game against a top ranked team.

• Virginia Tech- The Hokies haven't drawn a lot of attention through the season as their consistency has been in doubt. However their only were to top ranked LSU and a Boston Collage team which they beat last week to win the ACC.

• LSU- The Tigers only losses were to Kentucky and Arkansas, both in overtime. They have conquered the feared SEC and are likely to meet Ohio State in the title game.

• USC- The consensus number one coming into the season, the Trojans lost their composure to quality Oregon and Arizona State teams. Recently though, Southern California has been on a tear and have rapped up their sixth straight BCS berth.

• Oklahoma- Their losses to unranked Colorado and Texas Tech will hurt their cause, otherwise they have beaten top ranked Texas and Missouri and won the Big 12 title.

• Hawaii- Boise State's undefeated season last year has legitimatized mid major teams for a chance for the title.

• Arizona State- Although a long shot for the title game the Sun Devil's only losses are to top ranked Oregon and USC.

As of mere minuets ago, LSU will play Ohio State for the BCS title game in the Louisiana Superdome. If anything this year's race for the title proves that a 8 or 16 team playoff is desperately needed. Each of the teams on this long list deserve at least a shot, especially Hawaii. The BCS can still be used as the selection system for the playoff and the traditional bowl games can still exist outside of the playoff or serve as games themselves. However, randomly picking the apparent two best team belittles the trophy that we give. Why can't the gridiron be the deciding factor instead of a computer? They act as if a playoff is completely foreign to sporting.