Could the Urban Irony of another BCS-mired college football season be a precursor to the Barack Playoff System?
With President-elect Obama still beating the drum for an eight-team national championship playoff even after the Jan. 8 Bowl Championship Series title game ...
With Utah's Attorney General Mark Shurtleff investigating a possible anti-trust lawsuit against the BCS ...
And with Texas congressman Joe Barton proposing legislation to replace the BCS with a playoff system ... who knows?
Maybe, with Barton being a Republican, the cause celebre will help bridge the great partisan divide in Washington, D.C.
If nothing else, Urban Irony sure would make a fitting title for the last chapter of the 2008-09 edition of BCS Giveth, and BCS Taketh Away.
Who would know better than Florida coach Urban Meyer?
His Gators have capitalized on Bowl Championship Series' flaws at least once (Boise State would probably say twice), and his former Utah Utes have been victimized by them twice.
Ironically, Meyer lobbied for a playoff in the past. By his own admission, he was a "big proponent" in 2004, when his 11-0 Utes failed to get a shot at the national championship. But this time around, he's avoiding the controversy.
And nobody's going to get him to suggest Utah, the only undefeated team in the country, should have shared the championship with Florida.
Now that Meyer and his Gators are once again the proud beneficiaries of a national title, thanks to the BCS and a 24-14 victory over Oklahoma, he's not about to bite the hand that feeds his Gators.
That's quite a change in tune from 2004, when he declared Utah deserving of a shot at the title, saying that team could have beaten anybody on a given day.
Too bad Meyer couldn't be a little humble and admit the 2008 edition of the Utes was even more deserving. Kyle Whittingham's No. 2-ranked Utes beat a pair of Top 10 teams — No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 TCU — plus No. 18 Oregon State and No. 25 Brigham Young.
Whittingham has a far more legitimate beef with the BCS than Meyer did in 2004, when the Utes finished the season at 12-0 and ranked fourth in the AP poll and fifth in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll. There were also two 13-0 teams that season, No. 1 USC and No. 2 Auburn.
Whittingham was perfectly justified to vote his team No. 1 in the coaches poll, as were the 16 sportswriters who cast their first-place votes for Utah in the final AP poll. Too bad another 20 or so didn't follow suit, so the Utes could have shared the championship they justly deserved.
Shame on the coaches for ranking Utah fourth, behind No. 2 USC and No. 3 Texas.
Granted, the Trojans and Longhorns were also worthy of a title shot. But after watching Utah dominate Alabama, 31-17, in the Sugar Bowl, it's mind boggling how the coaches could, in good conscience, vote both ahead of the Utes.
Three one-loss teams better than a team that played to perfection for an entire season?
Nobody in their right mind — least of all Meyer — would suggest that Utah couldn't beat any one of them on a given day, or couldn't win a playoff among the top four teams. Just as no sane person would suggest there's no way USC, Texas or Florida could win it all if they played it off.
But what the BCS giveth to Florida and Oklahoma, it taketh away from Utah, Texas and USC. Because of a bogus system, they were denied an opportunity to play for the crown.
"There really is no hard and fast true champion with the system that is in place," said Whittingham.
In Utah's case, not getting a title shot is even more disheartening, because it's now crystal clear that without a playoff, the chances of any mid-major team gaining a spot in BCS title game are slim to none.
If all but one team from the six BCS-affiliated conferences had at least two losses, a team like the Utes might have a prayer. Otherwise, forget it.
That's inexcusable, unjustifiable and, who knows, maybe even illegal.
We need to rid college football of the ridiculously unfair BCS system for determining a national champion.
Whether through presidential persuasion, congressional legislation or anti-trust litigation — or any combination thereof — we need change that will level the playing field in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Can we break through the resistance and win the day?
In the spirit of a Barack Obama quote, albeit on a different topic, "Yes, we can. Yes, we can change. Yes, we can."
good column if space is available
COMMENTARY label please
By John Tucker
New Hampshire Union Leader
Could the Urban Irony of another BCS-mired college football season be a precursor to the Barack Playoff System?
With President-elect Obama still beating the drum for an eight-team national championship playoff even after Thursday's Bowl Championship Series title game ...
With Utah's Attorney General Mark Shurtleff investigating a possible anti-trust lawsuit against the BCS ...
And with Texas congressman Joe Barton proposing legislation to replace the BCS with a playoff system ... who knows?
Maybe, with Barton being a Republican, the cause celeb will help bridge the great partisan divide in Washington, D.C.
If nothing else, Urban Irony sure would make a fitting title for the last chapter of the 2008-09 edition of BCS Giveth, and BCS Taketh Away.
Who would know better than Florida coach Urban Meyer?
His Gators have capitalized on Bowl Championship Series' flaws at least once (Boise State would probably say twice), and his former Utah Utes have been victimized by them twice.
Ironically, Meyer lobbied for a playoff in the past. By his own admission, he was a "big proponent" in 2004, when his 11-0 Utes failed to get a shot at the national championship. But this time around, he's avoiding the controversy.
And nobody's going to get him to suggest Utah, the only undefeated team in the country, should have shared the championship with Florida.
Now that Meyer and his Gators are once again the proud beneficiaries of a national title, thanks to the BCS and a 24-14 victory over Oklahoma, he's not about to bite the hand that feeds his Gators.
That's quite a change in tune from 2004, when he declared Utah deserving of a shot at the title, saying that team could have beaten anybody on a given day.
Too bad Meyer couldn't be a little humble and admit the 2008 edition of the Utes was even more deserving. Kyle Whittingham's No. 2-ranked Utes beat a pair of Top 10 teams—No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 TCU—plus No. 18 Oregon State and No. 25 Brigham Young.
Whittingham has a far more legitimate beef with the BCS than Meyer did in 2004, when the Utes finished the season at 12-0, and ranked fourth in the AP poll and fifth in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll. There were also two 13-0 teams that season, No. 1 USC and No. 2 Auburn.
Whittingham was perfectly justified to vote his team No. 1 in the coaches poll, as were the 16 sportswriters who cast their first-place votes for Utah in the final AP poll. Too bad another 20 or so didn't follow suit, so the Utes could have shared the championship they justly deserved.
Shame on the coaches for ranking Utah fourth, behind No. 2 USC and No. 3 Texas.
Granted, the Trojans and Longhorns were also worthy of a title shot. But after watching Utah dominate Alabama, 31-17, in the Sugar Bowl, it's mind boggling how the coaches could, in good conscience, vote both ahead of the Utes.
Three one-loss teams better than a team that played to perfection for an entire season?
Nobody in their right mind—least of all Meyer—would suggest that Utah couldn't beat any one of them on a given day, or couldn't win a playoff among the top four teams. Just as no sane person would suggest there's no way USC, Texas or Florida could win it all if they played it off.
But what the BCS giveth to Florida and Oklahoma, it taketh away from Utah, Texas and USC. Because of a bogus system, they were denied an opportunity to play for the crown.
"There really is no hard and fast true champion with the system that is in place," said Whittingham.
In Utah's case, not getting a title shot is even more disheartening, because it's now crystal clear that without a playoff, the chances of any mid-major team gaining a spot in BCS title game are slim to none.
If all but one team from the six BCS-affiliated conferences had at least two losses, a team like the Utes might have a prayer. Otherwise, forget it.
That's inexcusable, unjustifiable and, who knows, maybe even illegal.
We need to rid college football of the ridiculously unfair BCS system for determining a national champion.
Whether through presidential persuasion, congressional legislation or anti-trust litigation — or any combination thereof — we need change that will level the playing field in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Can we break through the resistance and win the day?
In the spirit of a Barack Obama quote, albeit on a different topic, "Yes, we can. Yes, we can change. Yes, we can."
E-mail: jtuckerunionleader.com
Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service