Last January, a referee robbed the BCS and America of its rightful national champion. A pass interference flag thrown so late that it didn't land until most New Year's resolutions were already kaput, gave Ohio State a second chance it didn't deserve in overtime. The Buckeyes capitalized on the gift, and pulled the upset becoming national champions with an asterisk in memories, if not the record books.
But even that blind call is no comparison to the way the BCS is robbing college football fans of the game they want. And once again, embarrassing itself in the eyes of college sports fans who can't forgive the politics that predominate the bowl system as they anxiously await the most scintillating event in all the sports world - March Madness.
Thanks to the BCS computer ranking system - the brainchild of the six commissioners - the No. 1 team in the two major polls (USC) will not be playing in the national championship game.
"The polls are clear," USC head coach Pete Carroll told ESPN.com. "There's not even a question as to who the No. 1 team in the country is."
After Oklahoma's loss in the Big-12 Championship game Saturday night cleared Division I-A of the last of the unbeatens, pollsters went to sleep knowing morning would bring a dilemma sure to have its answer questioned.
Major college football now had three one-loss teams - Oklahoma, LSU, and USC. Because only two could play in the allotted "national championship game," one team would be left standing at the alter. Most figured that the stood up label would rest with LSU. The Tigers were ranked third in the BCS standings entering Saturday and, with all three of the top teams winning, how could the numbers change?
But when the final decimal points were spit out of the computers the Tigers, who picked up a "quality win" over No. 5 Georgia, had jumped USC, who routed mediocre Oregon State earlier in the day. The 0.16 margin separating LSU and USC is the second closest finish in the six-year history of the BCS - but, thanks to the stark comparison between the computer and human opinions - easily more controversial than when Nebraska edged out Colorado by 0.05 in 2001. With both results proving just how little the votes tallied in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll matter.
The championship mess arises many of the dreaded questions about the setup of college football's postseason. The questions that had been danced around the last couple years as the BCS was bailed out time and time again by either of two scenarios. First, top teams choking as the schedule winds down. Or second, the No. 1 team winning the championship game, staving off the ensuing controversies that would have followed with a heard of one-loss teams.
The computer formula, which was implemented in 1998 to give the sport a definitive national champion without a playoff system, has finally come back with the hated blue screens all our monitors show when the machine tells us we have committed a "fatal error." Only you can't CTL + ALT + DEL this mistake.
The system has backfired. There are, in effect, again two national championship games. The American Football Coaches Association has a signed contract to award its championship to the winner of the BCS championship game - this year's Nokia Sugar Bowl tilt between No. 2 LSU and No. 3 Oklahoma. However, The Associated Press championship could very well go to No. 1 USC if they knock off No. 4 Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
What compounds the mistake is the consensus opinion that it is Oklahoma and USC who would provide the sport with its most competitive contest. The Sooners and their trademark suffocating defense against a high-powered Trojan offense that lost a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from last year, and still managed to improve. The matchup within the matchup would pit arguably the country's most athletically talented player, USC receiver Mike Williams, against easily the best defense he has faced as a collegian.
Perhaps this cockeyed formula suits this backwards season where Oklahoma lost to Kansas State, who lost to Marshall, who lost to Troy State, who lost to Middle Tennessee State, who lost to Temple, who lost to (Rutgers and) Villanova, a perennial powerhouse in the Division I-AA PLAYOFFS.
USC cornerback Will Poole may have summed up the malfunctioner best in his words to ESPN.com
"I learned a little about life in general," he said. "You can't let a computer make decisions for you. Computers are going to take over. The next thing you know, everybody is going to be out of a job. Computers are going to play football. If you let computers run the world, what are humans going to do?"
At least one of them will be playing his PS2, or an intense game of spades on Jan. 3, the evening Oklahoma and LSU battle for a piece of glory. In those games, a sure winner will be decided.
And until someone debugs (or pours water on the keyboard) of those computers, it may be the only way.
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