IMO, the ruckus about the BCS and playoffs is centered around the perceived strenth of each conference. Thus .. everyone wants a playoff. Probably never gonna happen, cause there is too much money to be made on the bowl system. Just an idea .... the NCAA could sched one weekend in the middle of the season designed to compare the strength of the conferences. Thus, as opposed to the teams scheduling easy wins against the weaker conference on all off conference games .... ea conference picks a couple of teams to represent the strength of their conference and the NCAA scheds those teams against the teams of the other conferences in a fashion such that a "reasonable" estimate of strenght can be made between conferences. SO ..mid season ... you'd be able to compare an Oregon to a Bama ... a Boise to an OHS or OU or LSU ... a TCU against a Wisc or MIssou. What does Oregon and Boise's undefeated records really mean??? If mid season, Boise gets stomped by AR or LSU ... or Boise gets stomped by Michigan or OSU .. that tells the pollsters a lot about the perception of their 11-0 record. It would remove the speculation as to whether or not they could hang with top tier team of a higher conference. ..... .... and the BCS could keep its bowls .. with parades and all the money that comes with 'em. Thoughts??
Good try but it doesn't really address strength of schedule. Boise or TCU (or whomever) still would have a single game to point for. We may have just played Fla and have Al next or Fl & Ga or any two teams in the SEC have serious tests before and after such a game. Same really goes for Big 10 Pac 10, even ACC and the old Big 12 (Tx/Ok). This year Boise & TCU ARE good teams and on any given day could beat just about anyone. The test of the SEC and other conferences is the effect of wear & tear over 11 games. IMO if Boise or TCU played LSUs sched they would not be undefeated or just a 1 loss team and they would be much weaer at the end of the season than they are now. Auburn just finished playing 11 weeks in a row against the 3rd SOS in the nation. LSU is 6th etc. One game does not a season make. Get Boise in the Pac 10 & TCO with Tx & Ok. Then they can really show what they are made of as do the Tigers every year.
If Boise and tcu are that good year in and year out why don't they try to get in real confrences? With all the flip flopin going on now they could make the move. But then again why should they when they can play cupcakes and be ranked top 10 every year.
They know what they are doing. They don't want anything to do with a real conference, the party would be over.
That is my contention as well, but the media hounds portray it as the Big Conferences want nothing to do with either of these programs. Using the case of that the Big Conferences don't want to have to admit that these 2 would fair just fine, so rather than invite them to join, the Big Conferences stick to the argument that neither of them would be a benefit to the conferences. Which more than likely the latter is the case, but I think that neither, when having been approached wants to leave their cushy little conferences where they get to dominate and look like real contenders. The Big Conferences are at the point of they almost have to extend an invitation to these 2 just to prove that they aren't afraid of anything and that, even though they aren't much of a financial benefit, they would overcome any shortcomings either might have. Utah could be considered in this same group, I applaud them for taking the step by joining the Pac 10. Boise coping out and joining the MWC is just lame. With BYU and Utah both leaving the only power left is TCU. Now UNR and FSU joining does bring back some relevance to the conference, but neither of them is as strong as BYU and Utah. The good thing about it though is that with BSU and TCU having to go head to head every season it will knock one of them off their perch.
I agree .... but ..... The same argument can be made in a Playoff Scenario as well. Boise plays cupcakes all year long, and arrives at the playoff with zero injuries and ready to play against teams from other conferences where the strength of sched has taken its toll on the team. That's why I suggested putting it in the middle of the season, so the bigger teams would have had time to gel, but would likely not be as plagued by injuries. Second .. it would actually eliminate the existing claim based on one game .... you'd at least have two games ... the mid season and the bowl game at the end of the year. Sure .. ideally, Boise and TCU need to move into other conferences ... but who's going to make room?? They could create a PAC-12 I guess, but that may leave the WAC in a deficit for teams. {POST EDIT ... just read that Boise is moving to the MWC with TCU ... so the WAC thing is irrelevant. You'd a thought the PAC would have opted for Boise and TCU to strenthen up their Conference} Anyway .. it's just a suggestion. .. that IMO, would at least help.
Id like to see the creation of a new conference that includes all of those "BCS busters". Boise, TCU, Utah, BYU, ND, etc...all in one conference. It would be stronger than at least three of the current BCS conferences. THEN if one gets out undefeated, they'll have EARNED it. Really the only solution is either a playoff or a shift away from human polls...maybe reverse the weight to 2/3 computers and 1/3 human, if not a complete abandonment. Nothing is more objective than a computer program, and nobody will get snubbed for how well it "politics".
I just don't see a way around the human element, even with a playoff system, because how do you determine those at large teams? Someone is going to get snubbed.
There was talk of Boise joining the PAC 10, I'm not sure which side broke down those negotiations or if it that was even being considered. That would have made a lot of sense. Another high scoring team in a high scoring conference. TCU should join the Big 12, but the thread I started on that in the College Forum, the idea was struck down by someone that seemed to be pretty knowledgeable in regards to the Big 12 conference dealings. TCU should go to the Big East and dominate for years to come.
Oregon beat Tennessee 48-13 this year. We beat 'em 16-14. TCU and Boise St. both beat Oregon St. A 4-5 UCLA beat Texas 34-14. If it was valid to connect the dots using your logic the WAC, MW and PAC would be looking good.
