I have to say I was pretty surprised by the Ohio State loss. I kept waiting for Ohio State to unload on the "lowly" Illini but it just never happened. I was surprised that Ohio State didn't just stack the box on the last drive to stop the QB draw and/or force Juice Williams to beat them with his arm. The Big Ten may be balanced, but it is a balance of weak teams. I think the Big Ten is at best the fourth best conference this year and probably fifth (behind the SEC, Pac-10, Big East, Big XII). Better for OSU though to get this game out of the way and then end up in a bowl like the Rose or a not-quite-BCS game, where they likely deserve to be, than to get to the National Championship game without ever really being challenged and then to get blown off the field like last year.
I have stopped guessing, but I am still curious as to who is actually going to be in the title game.
...and by establishing a Big Ten champion it will punch at least one BCS ticket If Michigan beats OSU, there is no way a 3-loss Michigan team, with a loss to I-AA App State and a 32-point loss to Oregon (even if the Ducks wind up in the championship game) deserves to play in a BCS game. All the BCS berths should be at-large...no guarantees for conference champions. There have been too many 3 or even 4 loss teams in the BCS (Pitt and Florida State come to mind in recent years) because of guaranteed berths. And a loss to a I-AA team should disqualify a team from the BCS for that season, even if they win their conference.
TerpFan -- if the BCS was about rewarding the best teams, I would buy what you're saying in terms of teams "deserving" to play in a BCS game. Unfortunately, it's about maximizing revenue and concentrating wealth in the hands of the BCS conferences (plus Notre Dame) and, under that system, a 3-loss conference winner is still a conference winner.
I'm confused. If Michigan beats OSU, how would Michigan get a BCS game (Rose Bowl)? Michigan and OSU would share the Big Ten title. And OSU would still have the better record, right?
Both teams only have one conference loss so the winner of the game is the outright winner of the Big Ten and, thus, would earn the automatic berth for the BCS bowl.
What ksb said. If Ohio State had not lost to Illinois and went on to lose against Michigan both teams would tie for the Big Ten title. Michigan would then go to a BCS game (most likely the Rose Bowl) since it would have the tiebreaker over Ohio State.
Thanks for clearing that up for me!
Holden is dead on, I don't know how else to say it: Playoffs, Playoffs, Playoffs, Playoffs. Maybe if its written another ten thousand times they will do away with this broke system.
Maybe if its written another ten thousand times they will do away with this broke system. Only if it is replaced with something more profitable. All of us know that the dollar controls sports, and the golden rule is "He who has the gold, rules".
