Will the national champion please stand up ??

I for one welcome our new BCS computer overlords !

First, let me wish all fellow sports fans a Happy Jimmy V Week!  Always some great college basketball to be had during this week, especially the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. Michigan gets Maryland tonight and the Dukies on Saturday. Go Blue!

Did you hear it on Sunday evening, echoing across the country? Ranging from the sun-soaked hills of L.A. to the plains of Texas to the beaches of Florida? A loud, booming cry for something that...well, makes sense?

That booming echo was: P-L-A-Y-O-F-F- P-L-E-A-S-E !!!!!!!!

The current Bowl Championship Standings are as follows:

1. Alabama (0.9713 avg.)

2. Oklahoma (0.9351 avg.)

3. Texas (0.9223 avg.)

4. Florida (0.8851 avg.)

5. USC (.08076 avg.)

*per USA Today

...and so on.  These are the only numbers that really matter so late into the season, as the other BCS bowls are a pretty clear picture (Penn State to the Rose, Cincinatti to the Fiesta, Utah to the Fiesta or Orange, Boston College/Va. Tech to the Orange, Boise State to the Fiesta, Ohio State (dammit) to the Fiesta, and Oregon State/USC to the Rose).

Last week, OU and Texas were swapped. Then OU ran up the score on Oklahoma State late in the 4th quarter by way of some silly OSU mistakes to get some style points, and Texas was sitting there, idle, collectively groaning and watching their Big 12 title hopes go down the drain. But fear not, Longhorns! You are not to blame, and you still have hope!  The Big 12 is absolutely stupid for agreeing to let the higher BCS ranked team be their representatives for their conference championship. That shows a complete lack of loyalty to your own conference, and a selfish thirst for the bigger financial draw (Oklahoma likely carries more "weight" than Texas in a bowl setting, despite being humiliated two years ago and getting destroyed last year by Rich Rodriguez's players)

So the scenario is thus: On Saturday, Alabama and Florida will play for one of the BCS spots, and Oklahoma and Missouri will play for Oklahoma's ticket. What happens if Missouri wins?  A ClusterF*#k.

The BCS people might as well just throw those five teams in a hat and decide that way, because that's basically what this amounts to, is who gets lucky at the end of the year to fall into the title game.

The SOS (Strength of Schedule) rankings are as follows, with the toughest-ranked schedule being #1, and so on, but listed in the order of the current BCS standings:

79. Alabama

1. Oklahoma

4. Texas

11. Florida

54. USC

The computer rankings vary (I watched a very fascinating and alarming expose of the six guys who do the computer rankings, and I felt afraid.) but as far as I can deduce, they are as follows, based on the above SoS rankings and quality wins and other factors:

1. Oklahoma

2. Texas

3. Alabama

4. Texas Tech

5. Utah

6. Florida

7. USC

8. Penn Shhhhtate

So the computers believe that Oklahoma losing to Texas still warrants them a higher ranking, and an undefeated SEC team is ranked third.

This directly clashes with the two top 25 polls, the USA Today and AP polls. Get this: 

Coach's Poll: Alabama (58 first place votes), Oklahoma (2 first place votes) and Florida (1 first place vote).  Mack Brown didn't even vote for his own freakin' team!

AP Poll: Alabama (62 first place votes) Florida (3 first place votes), Texas (o votes)

Thus, the computers have affected Florida's chances for a title shot, the SoS rankings have screwed USC, and the two Top 25 polls have screwed Texas! All of these teams are playing extremely well right now, and who wouldn't love to see Alabama battle Texas, Oklahoma battle Florida, and USC battle Utah or Penn State in a small playoff system that gets rid of the arbitrary rankings that have way too much variability and human stupidity involved?

Lastly, here's how crazy the scenario can get after this coming Saturday's games:

-Florida beats Alabama, giving them a lock on the #2 BCS ranking

-Missouri beats Oklahoma, giving a mad scramble for #1 amongst Texas, Florida, and Alabama

-USC beats UCLA by a wide margin, yet is given a spot in the Rose Bowl over Oregon State, a team they lost to and Penn State destroyed.

If any combination of these things happen, then: Florida will be in the national title game with a team that is likely Oklahoma or USC, Oregon State will get barred from a Rose Bowl birth that they essentially earned, and Texas will be passed over by any one of these teams due to their lower BCS average, including a team they beat by ten points.

Can anyone explain to me just who in the hell is #1 and #2????

Isn't it scary that this:                                                

and this:

became this:

AAAAH IT'S HIDEOUS! LOOK AWAAAAAY!

And on a sidenote: those who hate Notre Dame got their wish as Charlie Cheesecake was allowed to stay on as head coach for at least another season!