The BCS System and the Teams that Will Get a Raw Deal in the National Championship Game

Almost every year it seems as though the Bowl College Series screws at least one team in the nation out of a chance to play in the national championship game. I have never liked the BCS system despite loving to watch college football. I have heard the cries from defendants of the BCS system that every regular season game seems like a playoff game. I even agree. However my theory is that there should be a 6 team playoff system matching the top six teams in a playoff system against each other.

My recent example from this year comes from the New Jersey Scarlet Knights. They were not even rated in the pre-season top 25 teams and usually, teams not ranked to begin the season have almost no chance of making it to a bowl game or the national championship game. The Scarlet Knights are undefeated including an impressive win against Louisville which had beaten ranked West Virginia. In my opinion, should the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers beat West Virginia and go undefeated, they deserve a chance to play Ohio State in the national championship. I understand that their schedule is not nearly as tough as Michigan's schedule but that is not the fault of Rutgers. It is the fault of the BCS schedule makers. This scenario is similar to Auburn going undefeated and getting royally screwed and not being able to play for a national championship game.

In this year's championship game, Ohio State certainly deserves to play and win it, having gone undefeated throughout the entire year, beating undefeated Michigan in the last game of the season and beating last year's champion Texas on the road in the first game of the season. However, proponents of Michigan say rightfully so that they went undefeated and their only loss was to the top rated team in the country. I fully agree with this. However, I and the rest of the United States don't want to see a rematch. I'd much rather see Ohio State play USC, University of Southern California than to see another rematch which will also hurt television ratings.

Along the lines of college football, I think that Notre Dame is highly overrated as they got destroyed by Michigan and almost lost to Michigan State. I have no doubt that they will lose to USC in their showdown game. This match-up will vault USC into the national game after they thoroughly romp Notre Dame which has not beaten a quality opponent all year long. USC has beaten top teams including California, Nebraska among others.

For the Heisman trophy, my pick is Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith who has struggled at times but his game against Michigan was great as he really showcased his skills on the national stage audience. The initial choice to be the Heisman before the season started was Notre Dame Quarterback Brady Quinn, however he has looked really bad at times and I don't think that he deserves the award. Troy Smith is a much better choice, especially since he will lead Ohio State to another national championship under head coach Jim Tressel