As I sat down to begin constructing an argument that the 2007 Fiesta Bowl was a classic example of how the BCS works, John Canzano beats me by several hours. Probably an entire calendar day.
Well, that's just perfect.
The Oregonian's Canzano laid out all the standard pro-BCS slogans. It makes the regular season important. It generates a ton of interest. And it places emphasis on scheduling strong power conference teams in August.
Fortunately, a sigh of relief emitted once he didn't factor in Boise State's hella tight victory over Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. So let's go there, shall we?
But first, let's dwell on the actual game some more, because college football may never see a bowl game as improbable, inspirational, or just downright orgasmic. Rather than pen my own summation of the game, I'll just copy and paste what The Mighty MJD said about it: "If that was the climactic game played at the end of a football movie, I’d have left the theatre thinking that a 9-year-old with an overactive imagination wrote it."
Adding to that, once the Broncos hook-and-laddered, halfback-passed and Statue-of-Libertied their way to a 43-42 overtime over the heavily-favored Sooners, I wanted to see more. I didn't want it to end. "Have 'em play the winner of Ohio State-Florida," I said to myself.
But... gasp. I'm the resident BCS apologist. How dare I think up such blasphemy?
After all, it's only fair. They'd be one of two teams to finish the season undefeated (assuming Ohio State bucks Florida), so they ought to get a crack at a national title. After all, George Mason had a shot in the NCAA basketball tournament, right?
But the next morning, euphoria faded away and I remembered that George Mason's season ended with a loss. A bad loss.
Article comments
1 - Shane R
Are you kidding me? You're article implies that the game was almost a fluke? I'm wondering if you watched the same game the rest of us did because what I saw was a "fluke" bad bounce on a punt put Oklahoma back in the game. Prior to that point you could put a fork in Oklahoma. Boise manhandled the Sooners throughout the 1st half. In fact it was another failed Sooner possesion that the fluke punt bounceback occurred on! Typical of a BCS supporter with blinders on to overlook the fact that the fluke was Oklahomas miraculous come back. There are only two reasons why Oklahoma didn't get blown away. 1) The fluke punt bounce back 2) Boise went into "prevent" mode on both sides of the ball coming out of halftime and stopped doing what had made them successful in the first half (i.e. blitzing on defense and throwing the ball on offense...no fluke plays there!). Had either of those two links in the chain been broken then the talk about ending the BCS garbage would be much more serious at this point.
2 - Dean
^ What Shane said.
3 - Gary Dale
I agree. Boise State for years has quietly been building up a dynasty. Only BSU is getting noisier every year. I really don't like the fact that they were never even considered for a shot at the title. This bowl game wasn't a fluke. Their season wasn't a fluke. The Broncos are no fluke!
4 - RedTard
Great game. Perfect example of the BCS in action. I'll stop watching college ball once all the whining conformists force it to end like every other sport with a lame single elimination playoff system.
Boise fans will see what they want to, but that team was outmatched and needed flawless execution, magical trickery, and some early turnovers to fuel the momentum to win.
5 - Matthew T. Sussman
Boise's win was certainly no fluke, but to use a pøker term, they went all in.
6 - Nick
You seem to allude that a Boise State vs Ohio State game would end with Boise State getting killed and somehow ruining the Fiesta Bowl's memory. Well, how the hell do you know? Everyone assumed that's what would happen in the Fiesta Bowl. I'm not calling for a 64 team playoff, but something needs to change in college football so that a national championship is decided on the field and not in somebody's mind.
7 - Matthew T. Sussman
Boise could certainly beat Ohio State, much like they beat Oklahoma. But not in consecutive games.
8 - Shane R
"Boise fans will see what they want to, but that team was outmatched and needed flawless execution, magical trickery, and some early turnovers to fuel the momentum to win."
That's one of the dumbest arguments one could make against Boise. So what you are telling us is that what separates GREAT teams (Oklahoma) from mediocre ones (Boise) is the "greats" ability to win a game without forcing turnovers and having crappy execution? Wow, you show me ANY team with those ingredients and I'll show you their losing record!
I am by no means a Boise fan, just a college football fan. My experience with Boise was seeing their name in the polls and wondering who they were? I was in complete shock (just as most of us without blinders on were) when I saw the Boise front lines (on both sides of the ball) holding their own and (especially on offense) manhandling the Oklahoma front four! Yes their execution was excellent ("flawless" in your words). I don't know about you but I thought that teams practice in order to execute plays correctly?
Trick plays? When the score was 28-10 in the third I hadn't seen a single trick play! Coming out of halftime I thought (like most of us) that Oklahoma was going to compose themselves and come out having made some adjustments and start driving the ball. What I saw was Oklahoma still unable to run the ball and (as a result) having to throw it, gee what do you know, two possessions in a row, two picks in a row! At that point Boise was clearly the better team on the field (in my humble opinion). The momentum shift occured when OK got a lucky bounce on a punt, not because Oklahoma had begun to dominate in the trenches.
The only reason I paid any attention to the fiesta bowl is because I watched Hawaii (Hawaii??)beat the living CRAP out of Arizona state in the Hawaii bowl. A game I had no plans on watching, flipped to it out of curiousity, was stunned by what I saw! "If that's the caliber of play of the second place WAC team, I had to see what these Boise kids were about!" Thank GOD I set aside the time to watch the Fiesta Bowl!
These (two) games have changed my opinion about the BCS. I used to think that inclusion of these smaller schools from these "lessor" conferences would just muddy the water and detract from the bowl system by providing boring blow outs...
Wow, screw the BCS, I want more games like that!
9 - Jared Wright
Susman, I thought Monday night proved that you can't make assumptions. Oklahoma was assumed to crush the upstart Broncos. Therefore, making any sweeping claims like Boise State would lose to Ohio State is completely invalidated by Monday night's game. You can't put that in the books until the game is played. Is it logical to assume that Boise State, benefitting from an easier schedule and probably home to less depth, would fall to the Ohio State University? Sure. But it was logical to assume that the Big Twelve tested, deeper Oklahoma team would do the same. it was logical to assume that Pittsburhgh wouldn't win three playoff games en route to a Super Bowl XL victory. But that's why games are decided on a field or court and not through paper statistics and mathematics. I see no legitimate disadvantage to a 16-team college football playoff, whereas I have just pointed out obvious disadvantages with what college football is currently stuck with.
Tard, a single elimination playoff system is the rule because it, uh, works. Ask any other successful sports league with some remnant of a postseason. The BCS deserves some credit, (20 years ago Oklahoma would have refused to soil their jerseys against the Boise States of the world), but just because progress is made doesn't mean progress should cease.
10 - RedTard
"Therefore, making any sweeping claims like Boise State would lose to Ohio State is completely invalidated by Monday night's game."
Making those claims is always invalidated, even when making them against teams that have already played each other. What single elimination fanatics always seem to underestimate is the amount of luck involved in the sport and the fact that the "best" team doesn't always win. The BCS ranks teams by their performance throughout the season, a much better indicator than a single game. It's not quite as exciting for the fans of weaker 'cinderella' teams though.
That's why you have the controversy, weaker teams have a better chance of upsetting the big dogs in a single game (any given saturday) than matching quality and quantity of wins for an entire season.
11 - Jared Wright
Yes, but in a single elimination system, a team can't merely win one game and be declared champions of the world. In the NCAA tournament, they must win six. In a 16-team BCS playoff, they'd have to win four. As I said, I applaud the BCS for at least getting us somewhere. But the truth is that Boise State has beaten everyone put in front of them, and a team like this really shouldn't be punished due to their conference affiliation. I feel NCAA hoops does a good job with this by placing teams that one could argue are there because of powder puff conference schedules in lower seeds. But at least George Mason is given a chance, a brief but definitely feasible chance, to win a national title. College football needs some way of at least giving every school in D1 a shot and not having teams like Boise State do everything they possibly can and still be told, "Sorry, no soup for you."
But I digress. In the unlikely event Florida wins Monday, all hell will break loose on this subject.
12 - El Bicho
"assuming Ohio State bucks Florida"
That's why the games need to be played on the field and not on paper or PCs or the minds of sportwriters. FL and USC showed on weak the Big Ten and their rankings were. Ohio St ended with a worse loss than George Mason did, but some think only the big schools are allowed to be embarrassed nationally.
Once they can figure out to keep everyone happy with the money, playoffs will happen.