It was a good college football Saturday for the mid-majors as Boise State and TCU both won handily.
The Hawaii Warriors were manhandled despite coming to the smurf turf with an impressive resume within the WAC. Bronco quarterback Kellen Moore hits receivers across the middle with Heisman-winning level precision.
Elsewhere, TCU’s victory over the Utah Utes was much more impressive considering that both teams were rated in the top five prior to the contest. This was the biggest sporting event in Salt Lake City since it hosted the Olympics.
Gary Patterson brought in his underappreciated squad and took care of business on the road. Both of these aforementioned games are evidence that margin of victory must be part of the equation for the BCS rankings.
By Patrick Herbert
Teams cannot beat other schools that aren’t on their schedule. Schools from big time conferences often play cupcakes in the beginning of their schedules to receive big days in their home stadiums. It ensures that they will become bowl eligible even if they experience a few hiccups during conference play. A team that has the stature of a TCU or Boise State should be able to demand a home and home series with the likes of Michigan or an Ohio State, but why would these teams expose themselves to the likelihood of a loss and a game in a stadium that is a fraction of their size?
Unfortunately, many viewers could not witness the Utah-TCU game on Saturday because it was carried by CBS College Sports. A small percentage of households have cable or satellite packages that include this network. The addition of this channel and those networks named after their conferences have evened out the playing field in college sports.
Notre Dame used to come into a recruit’s home confident in the fact that he regularly watched the games on NBC. Nowadays, it is completely possible that the young man watches his favorite squad on a weekly basis using his pc. The crux of this is that conferences should not play the role that they do in bowl alliances and the ranking format because the landscape is very different now than when it was formed.
One can even cross sports to further the point. Brad Stevens had a Cinderella season with Butler last winter. The only way that his club is penalized is possibly through seeding bias by the NCAA committee when it comes time for March Madness. His players have the opportunity to play all of the best teams on their schedule or through tournaments.
The bracket in March allows the cream to rise to the top in basketball, but in football politics rules. The teams that have the power and money are obviously reluctant to relinquish it, but spectators are demanding it. If the NCAA desires to maintain credibility, a playoff of some kind is a necessity. Once this is basic decision is made, then we can debate the amount of teams to be included in it.