The BCS Mess: Let's Just Play This Out

"Do or do not. There is no try." - Yoda

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"Blow the whole thing up."

Check this out: if you Google "BCS alternatives," there are roughly 1.5 million hits. Now go Google "Jimmy Rollins," a former MVP on the current MLB Champions. There are less than 870,000 hits. Clearly, people—from Change.Gov to all corners of the blogosphere—are interested in fixing the BCS. We're just gonna go ahead and do something right now: we'll speculate on an eight-team BCS playoff using the teams currently seeded 1-8 in the BCS. Some people use the "1 and 2 get a bye" model, some people go for other machinations, but we're just gonna go straight 1-8, like the ideal Round of 32 within one regional of the NCAA Tournament. Let's see if we learn anything. (We'll do this on Monday, December 8th when the BCS rankings are official, too.)

Here are the current BCS Standings.

No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 8 Penn State
First thought: Saban vs. Paterno would be pretty cool. Second thought: really managed system versus the Spread HD. Third thought: that OSU/PSU game ended up being close, and SEC teams routinely woodshed Ohio State (cue the commenters!), so would this be a rout? We actually think it would be tight, but we'd assume Alabama wins.

No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Texas Tech
Assuming this game is played November/December, which it would be, and assuming you're not the guy who wrote to our GMail account earlier today and called us "Texas Tech haters!" (note: did you read this?), you pretty much have to give this to Oklahoma. Revenge is a good motivation and all, but it may not cover a 40-point gap.

No. 3 Texas vs. No. 6 Utah
Look, this happened. Utah's a legit squad, and we think this game would be fairly close, but it's hard to think Texas, in the (almost?) "Year of Colt McCoy" and wanting to prove once and for all that they legitimately beat Oklahoma already, would lose this game.

No. 4 Florida vs. No. 5 USC
Wow. Just wow. Could you imagine watching this game? The best recruiter in the East (cue the commenters!) versus the best recruiter in the West? Blazing speed on both sides of the ball? Tim Tebow against a vastly underrated USC defense (that carried 'em through some games this season)? We have no idea how to pick this one. (The real winners are the fans!) Based on "the hotness factor" that helped carry Oklahoma to No. 2, we'll take Florida.

Semifinal: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Florida
Interesting: so the SEC Championship Game is a de facto national semifinal! If Alabama had beaten PSU decently, and Florida had been in a slugfest with USC, this could go 'Bama's way. Otherwise, we see this going Florida. That's our call for Saturday, so why change it?

Semifinal: No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Texas
Neutral site, right? Whew. This is a brutal one to call. Here's one way to look at it: ever heard of the Broyles Award? Read this. There's a reason Kevin Wilson is on there. The last time they scored less than 58 was October 18th. This is a different squad than the one in Dallas. We'll take Oklahoma. Seriously, we love Austin. Great city. Please don't use that "Texas haters!" claim.

Championship: Oklahoma vs. Florida
Wait, so this is the championship? That's what we thought it would be anyway! Maybe the BCS does work! We're kidding. Could you imagine seeing a Stoops/Leach, Meyer/Carroll, Red River II, 'Bama/UF as a direct play-in to the national title (wait…) and Utah putting it all on the line against one of college football's most storied programs? Oh yea, and we have Oklahoma winning. But in reality, Joe Couch Potato wins.

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