BCS Standings: If Oklahoma State Loses to Oklahoma, Will the BCS Grudgingly Take Boise State?
College Football November 23rd. 2009, 12:10pm
A few weeks ago we attempted to solve the BCS riddle, but now that the season is virtually complete, the hazy picture has cleared up. And it still looks like unbeaten Boise State is going to get shut out of a BCS game. Those greedy, soulless suits will be in church all week praying that Boise State loses at home to Nevada (the Broncos are 12-point favorites on the Smurf Turf) or that the Cowboys beat the Sooners Saturday.
Bowl games only care about the bottom line, not the matchup. In this disgusting scenario: Penn State/Iowa and Oklahoma State, despite having two losses apiece, will bypass the Broncos.
1. Sugar (at-large): Loser of Florida-Alabama game.
2. Fiesta (at-large): Penn State/Iowa. (not deserving, but will sell tickets and are a TV draw.) [UPDATE: Commenter Souvenir City hit us with some links saying Iowa will get the nod over Penn State. Here are the links.]
3. Orange (at-large): Oklahoma State.*
4. Orange (ACC): Georgia Tech
5. Fiesta (Automatic qualifier): TCU. Not losing to 1-10 New Mexico.
6. Sugar (Big East): Cincinnati (Unless it loses to Pittsburgh.)
(Here’s another potential scenario, which seems much crazier than ours.)
* With an Oklahoma State loss, forget the Cowboys, but consider this team: Georgia Tech, even if it loses the ACC title game. What if Clemson wins a 40-38 barnburner. Wouldn’t GT sill be attractive?
After the Boise State diss, here’s where it gets interesting – no conference can have more than two teams in the BCS. So 2-loss Iowa, which beat Penn State in Happy Valley, will get snubbed for 2-loss PSU. Yeah, Iowa’s loss to Northwestern was far worse than either PSU loss … but Iowa lost its quarterback in the middle of the game! And with a backup QB, Iowa took OSU to overtime in Columbus, while Penn State got smoked at home by Ohio State. What a joke.
Oklahoma State, we should point out, can still play its way out of the BCS. The Cowboys travel to what is sure to be an angry bunch of Sooners this weekend. Has Bob Stoops mentally checked out in Norman? After giving up over 500 yards and 41 points to an ordinary Texas Tech team, you have to wonder if the Sooners even care anymore. An Oklahoma State loss would almost force the BCS to take Boise State … unless you really think they’d take a 3-loss team (Miami? Virginia Tech? Stanford if it beats Notre Dame?). [BCS]
92 Responses to “BCS Standings: If Oklahoma State Loses to Oklahoma, Will the BCS Grudgingly Take Boise State?”
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November 23rd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Yeah, god forbid those suits try and get teams that actually travel well to bring tourists to their cities. Damn them, I tell you.
Seriously, we get it, you don’t like the BCS. However, until you come up with a better solution that doesn’t threaten the regular season, ensures that the bowl system stays in place, and works out the logistics of a playoff that no one seems to consider when advocating for one, please stop complaining.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Nevada is 8-3. New Mexico is 1-10.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
So did Boise not travel well in their last BCS game?
Hawaii packed in it at the Sugar Bowl a couple of years ago. If those guys can travel, anyone can.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:20 pm
You have no idea how bad Tech fans are, do you? They are only going to the BCS if they win the ACC title game. They will not travel and the TV ratings would not be strong. If Tech loses to Clemson, it will be the Gator Bowl.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Oregon should be available if they lose to Oregon State. Boise is rooting for Oregon and Oklahoma this week. In that scenario it comes down to Boise and VT and I would think the Fiesta would grab Boise since they’ve been thee before.
Also if Oklahoma State wins they will go to the Fiesta as the Fiesta will take another Big 12 team to replace Texas. That leaves Iowa/Penn State for the Orange.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
That game was like 65-70% UGA fans.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I don’t think a BCS game has ever picked conference champion game loser as an at-large.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Only two teams per conference and you have to be ranked in the top 14 of the BCS to be eligible.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I heard the Fiesta already made it clear they were taking Penn State over Iowa.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
That game was like 65-70% UGA fans.
I think there was a slight disparity in how far each fan base had to travel. I think the point is that, even with the distance Hawaii fans had to travel, they had a pretty good size group of fans.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Yup. Ok St wins and they are in the Fiesta…sadly. They are not a great team at all. I want to see TCU play the SEC loser, but that may not happen. Fucking Iowa or PSU will be in the BCS which is hilarious. The Rose Bowl (if Oregon wins) should be good, the title game will be good, but after that the matchups could suck balls.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I agree with your general line of thought regarding TBL’s BCS hatred, but I don’t see how a +1 game damages any of this or would be very difficult logistically, and that’s all I really want.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
+ infinity tallguy
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
i thought the fiesta was taking iowa but the orange would take PSU.
hmm…
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I wasn’t there. Maybe they kept showing the same section of fans. Either way the game still sold out didn’t it? And 30-35% Hawaii fans as to equivocate to 45% Boise fans, right? Those are some proud people up there in Idaho.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Ahh, I read you now. It took me a few times to follow that.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I don’t think a BCS game has ever picked conference champion game loser as an at-large.
Nope.
/Fuck Missouri two years ago.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Bama last year.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Does Oklahoma making the title game as an at large count?
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Considering they flew in from freaking Hawai’i, I think 30% is admirable. Most people plan a lifetime to go there once, and you expect tens of thousands of people to fly to the mainland with a months notice?
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Alabama last season
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Alabama last year.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Damn you Butters.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
I guess it’s all the Georgia fans that have bought up the tickets for this week’s game, and that caused the prices at ticket brokers to skyrocket.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:28 pm
I don’t think a BCS game has ever picked conference champion game loser as an at-large.
Bama last year
I must be losing brain cells at a faster pace nowadays.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:28 pm
They traveled really well. Saw Broncos gear every where in Phoenix.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Damn GotG before me…I remember when that K-State team lost to Texas A&M in 1998 and went from #1 in the country to the Alamo Bowl, that was the biggest rip job I’d ever seen
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:29 pm
D’oh! An undeserved bid if there ever was one.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
How come this post doesn’t have the ‘Old rich white people’ tag? Thought that was mandatory with BCS posts.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
All I want is a plus-one.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
/fixed
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Oklahoma played in the TITLE game in 2003 after losing to K-State.
Orange Bowl.
Fiesta Bowl.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:32 pm
That’s not really considered an at-large selection, no? The Sugar gets the top SEC team unless said team is in the championship game. Then the Sugar takes the SEC CG runner up.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
It’s a fucking home game for Tech against their biggest rival and this year it will be a sellout. Wow. Damn those are some awesome fans.
/You know your fans suck when you cite selling out a home game versus as rival as evidence.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
+1
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I’m fine with the plus-1…it’s easy, it doesn’t mess with the regular season, and logistics are easy enough with the fan base.
In a perfect world, the plus 1 would conditional on how the final standings ended up…if there were 2 clear best teams, then no plus one. But that’s just conjecture.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
A conference can only have at most two teams in the BCS.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
at least they sold it out. there were a few empty seats and about 15k buckeye fans at the big house on saturday.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
However, until you come up with a better solution that doesn’t threaten the regular season, ensures that the bowl system stays in place, and works out the logistics of a playoff that no one seems to consider when advocating for one, please stop complaining.
How does a playoff ‘threaten the regular season’? The games still count if you want to be seeded and strength of schedule would fit into any disucssion of who makes the playoffs. Is the regular season of CBB threatened by March Madness? TBL and several others don’t seem to think so or they wouldn’t be so geeked about the season right now.
Why do we have to keep the bowl system intact? This seems like an artificial impediment to a playoff system. I would think that the latter would pretty much have to replace the former.
What are the logistics for Div. II or I-AA playoffs? Granted those don’t get much play, but I haven’t heard any horror stories about how much of a pain in the ass it is for those teams to continue traveling for a few more weeks into December. If there are problems with those playoff systems that are not widely publicized then I’d be curious to hear them as it might change my view on FBS’s need for a playoff.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Any non-BCS conf. winner is an “at-large.”
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:35 pm
right, i meant whichever bowl doesn’t get shafted with the non-deserving NQ team.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
The Sugar doesn’t HAVE to take the top SEC team, but it’s one of those unwritten rules that they do. And they don’t always take the CG runner up. LSU beat Tennessee in 2007 and they took Georgia. So it’s up for debate.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
To the extent that 4% of the population gives a shit about College Basketball’s regular season, yes.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
GOG, Bobby Dodd is a shit stadium with shit fans.
Looks at ylefty.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
the boise fan base is intense. trust me on this one.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
even if the conference is already slated the position? I wouldn’t characterize that as at-large, but if that’s the technical definition, then ok.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:38 pm
To the extent that 4% of the population gives a shit about College Basketball’s regular season, yes.
Fair point. But the legitimacy of the season remains intact if a team still has to perform well to get into the tourney. Doesn’t it?
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:38 pm
If a team is worthy of being the best team, they should have to beat other top teams. If one team is 13-0 and three teams are 10-3, they should beat those teams. I would rather have a 11-3 team win a title over a 13-0 team based on head-to-head success over a 13-0 team not making it in because they were one of three perfect teams, yet they were screwed by preseason polls.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Spence it shouldn’t be hard to sell out a 45-50k stadium with in a metro area of 6 million people. But it is for the MT-Homos.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:39 pm
So all of this hinges on Okie State beating OU?
It sounds just so easy.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I don’t really consider the #2 team (however they come up with it) an at-large because the title game is designed to have 1 and 2 face off.
And Bama was #4 in the final BCS standings last year. Doesn’t that mean automatic bid?
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
It’s not a technicality. The Sugar would like to take the SEC team, but they don’t have to. They get to choose from other at-large teams. When UGA went they were at-large. Same for Bama.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Not sure about this.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
clown – only if #6 is applicable.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Logistics for the fanbase. See, a large part of the bowl revenue is based on fans traveling. Now if you have 3 potential neutral site games, the hosts of the games have to hope that a fan base can afford to travel to 3 different places 3 weeks in a row in order to fill up a stadium. You can’t host games at the schools, because most college towns are dead during the holidays, and they can’t absorb the shock of 25k people coming in from out of town.
Besides, an 8 team playoff doesn’t really solve the fairness issue, because the BCS 6 would be guaranteed a slot. Boise would be on the outside in a playoff situation this year, while GaTech and Ohio State would have undeserved shots at the national championship.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Just reading that shit pisses me off. I know it’s moot because if ND is in the top 8 the bowls will be fighting each other to take them. But to have a rule for just one team like that is fucking ridiculous.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I went to Athens for Georgia-Tennessee last year. Awesome downtown, phenomenal women, superb tailgating, but your stadium atmosphere was average. I was rooting for Georgia and I had fans asking me to sit down and stop yelling. I would describe Sanford Stadium as a 100K person funeral.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Exactly right. An 8-team playoff would be a farce; that’s why I want a plus-one.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Yeah, I’d much rather have the fanbase that leaves the game while there’s plenty of time on the clock, and their team has the ball, down by 1 score.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
You clearly don’t sit where I did for 5 years. Of course that game was horrendous to watch, so maybe that had something to do with it. Tenn. was shit last year and the game was so damn ugly.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:53 pm
1) That was sad.
2) At least they showed up to begin with.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Paolo isn’t coming back????
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:54 pm
cbg-I’m not a UGA fan.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Dammit Paolo you can’t just move on. You made Mrs. March feel like she could see again. You made Ford believe he was part of something. You give out hope like it was candy in your pocket.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:55 pm
D’oh! An undeserved bid if there ever was one.
jive turkey…
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Logistics for the fanbase. See, a large part of the bowl revenue is based on fans traveling. Now if you have 3 potential neutral site games, the hosts of the games have to hope that a fan base can afford to travel to 3 different places 3 weeks in a row in order to fill up a stadium. You can’t host games at the schools, because most college towns are dead during the holidays, and they can’t absorb the shock of 25k people coming in from out of town.
Besides, an 8 team playoff doesn’t really solve the fairness issue, because the BCS 6 would be guaranteed a slot. Boise would be on the outside in a playoff situation this year, while GaTech and Ohio State would have undeserved shots at the national championship.
I don’t see the point in including the BCS in any notion of a playoff. If you insitute a playoff, I would think it would necessarily mean the end of the BCS and of bowls. If you’re going to make a radical move for fairness, then lose all vestiges of the previous regime.
I understand the part about lost revenue, but I just do not buy the argument that the revenue isn’t there for December home games. This is non-scientific anectdotal evidence to be sure, but every D-II playoff game I saw on ESPN last year was sold out. I saw Montana (or Montana St. whichever one is the Grizzlies) play with temperatures in the teens and the stadium was sold out. If some frozen tundra in the upper mid-west/interior west of the nation can have a sold out stadium in December for a semifinal game, then I think the football crazy denizens of the south and other parts can do the same. And I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying about the ’shock’ of 25k people coming in from out of town. How many domestic fans are at each home game in say Michigan, or at Penn State, or in Gainesville?
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Paolo isn’t coming back????
that’s not what it said.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Your name would indicate otherwise. I think you deserve the same amount of vitriol as GotG for this week.
/To Hell With Georgia
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Miami? doubt that
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Rest assured after being eager to make a return to TBL after the holiday due to its excellent coverage of everything but NFL or college football (the NFL coverage sucks too except off the field stuff), it is not going to happen by my own decision at this point and I am happily moving on to other blogs.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:01 pm
He’ll be back. The Notre Dame paragraph was my favorite.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Deadspin won’t be one of the other blogs. he would never get by the comment ninjas.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Oh well. It’s for the best.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:02 pm
paolo is leaving TBL?
Great Bojack Ninnies!!!!!
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:03 pm
True young and hefty. But I am a UGA fan this week. Although Tech will stomp UGA.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Can’t wait for that anal douche cthomashowell to fill that void.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Yes, yes they will.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:06 pm
i was just beginning to like paolo too.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Although Tech will stomp UGA.
Yes, yes they will.
@lefty: you forgot /to hell with Georgia.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
younglefty, I will add I am however a Hurricane fan…
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Easiest money I’ve ever seen is Tech -7.5 I think they win by 15+, if not more. Johnson will run it up, too.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:10 pm
crazy things happen in rivalry games…just sayin.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I want to believe this, I really do, but Cox is so bad and Tech’s offense is so good. Couple that with Rambo and AJ most likely being out and you have a disaster. Tech 38 – UGA 20
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
You can’t have a playoff without the 6 BCS conferences, you just can’t. If they don’t agree, you have the equivalent of the NIT (or worse, the CBI). To get those conferences on board, you have to guarantee them more money and a slot for their winner. Money talks, bullshit walks, playoff’s not happening.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
He’s trying to reverse jinx it.
/To Hell With Georgia
//better, ms?
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
crazy things happen in rivalry games…just sayin.
Truth. Not only is it dumb to claim easy bets, you’re taunting the gambling gods, who will be sure to fuck you in the ass in return.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:17 pm
ill is fearing the War Eagle this week.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Speaking of bets, I’m taking Titans and points tonight. Honestly I think the Titans wins straight up. Although the thought of me cheering for IQ 5 Vince Young is sickening.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:19 pm
i don’t bet on sports unless I am in Vegas.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
ill is fearing the War Eagle this week.
This game has letdown written all over it. And I HATE it’s on Friday, I’m supposed to be out fishing all day. Not anymore.
i don’t bet on sports unless I am in Vegas.
The gambling gods will remember.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:37 pm
You can’t have a playoff without the 6 BCS conferences, you just can’t. If they don’t agree, you have the equivalent of the NIT (or worse, the CBI). To get those conferences on board, you have to guarantee them more money and a slot for their winner. Money talks, bullshit walks, playoff’s not happening.
The conferences existed before the BCS and college basketball doesn’t need a BCS, so I do not think I am seeing your argument here. You’re right about guaranteed money and that, more than anything else, is going to be the hardest aspect to overcome in order for a playoff to occur.
Those “soldout” stadium seat 25,000 at most. And even then, they don’t always sell out for the early rounds (App State, for example).
Also, 25k is the amount of people needing to spend the night. Yes, 25k+ come from outside the college town for normal football games, but the vast majority of those are within driving distance and don’t need hotel rooms/airline flights. You’re telling me that Athens, Ga could handle 25-30k Penn State fans for a playoff game? I doubt it.
I was asking that as open question to other commenters. Some people here went to large schools with huge game day crowds, perhaps they could shed some light on how many of those fans are coming in from out of town and need a hotel room.
And yes I realize that D-II stadiums are much smaller, but it seems to me that if Montana can pack 25,000 into a stadium on a night that’s colder than a witch’s tit, then other places, such as an SEC school with a huge enrollment and a football crazy attitude, might be able to do more.
This is of course conjecture, but the travel issue for me is not a reason for us to prevent a playoff. You make the sport legitimate by upping the competition level and figure out the rest in time.
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:04 pm
It should be noted if you are going to argue that Iowa jad to play their backup qb in their loss to Northwestern, that Northwestern was also playing their backup qb that game.