Florida, Texas, USC and maybe Ohio State are out, while Auburn, Oklahoma State, Oregon and Michigan State could be in. An old system is at least getting some new teams this year.
View full sizeMarcus Lattimore gave legs to South Carolina's offense this season, and the Gamecocks made it pay off with their first trip to the Southeastern Conference championship game.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Florida and Texas were ranked No. 3 and No. 4 in the preseason coaches football poll. Today, after losses to South Carolina and Oklahoma State on Saturday, the Gators and Longhorns are a combined 10-10.
Don't blame the polls. Thankfully, neither 6-4 Florida nor 4-6 Texas picked up a single vote in any of the three major polls Sunday.
The point is that though the Bowl Championship Series system for determining a champion is antiquated, biased, flawed and will almost certainly make fans of worthy teams justifiably angry, the game is trying to give us something fresh this season. The been-there, done-that team in this national title race is actually No. 4 Boise State, which gained on No. 3 TCU in the BCS standings released on Sunday night. The Broncos haven't reached the BCS National Championship before, but they've become a regular part of late-season undefeated talk.
If the system made a little more sense, this could actually be pretty fun.
In the Pac-10, BCS No. 1 Oregon did win the conference title in 2009, but that was the Ducks' first crown since 2001. Yet some Oregon fans are peeved that their total of first-place votes in the three major polls fell from 192 to 149 after a 15-13 win over Cal. Apparently 64 percent of the first-place votes for a team that's never won a national title isn't good enough.
After USC won or shared seven straight Pac-10 titles from 2002-08, the Ducks' ascendency as the new Pacific Coast power is welcome. The Trojans are nothing more than spoilers this season, while Stanford is a real contender as long as Jim Harbaugh sticks around as coach, which might not be past this season.
When Utah joins the Pac-12 in 2011, the Utes, though overrated this season, could shift the balance of power.
Good for the game.
In the SEC, South Carolina's win over Florida means the Gamecocks won the East and are headed to the SEC title game for the first time in its 19 years of existence. In the first 18 seasons, Florida won the East 10 times, Tennessee five. In the West, No. 2 Auburn won its division for the fourth time and will go to Atlanta for the first time since 2004.
The Tigers' fans should be enjoying the extra 40 first-place votes they picked up this week, but between the Cam Newton saga and the memory of getting left out of the title picture in 2004 as an undefeated team, it's OK if Tigers supporters are queasy.
Still, good for the game.
In the Big 12, the last season of the conference as we knew it has already been one of change. Entering its 15th season with a title game, the Big 12 South could be represented for the first time in 12 years by a team other than Oklahoma or Texas. Oklahoma State is in control of its own destiny, with the Cowboys aiming for their first title game appearance, and a Nebraska-Oklahoma State championship would ensure that the automatic BCS bid for the Big 12 will go to someone other than the Sooners or Longhorns for the first time since 2003.
Good for the game.
Even the Big Ten has Michigan State, Wisconsin and Ohio State on track for a potential three-way tie at 7-1.
While the Buckeyes are looking to win or share a record-tying sixth straight conference title, Wisconsin hasn't won the Big Ten since 1999 and Michigan State hasn't done it since 1990. If Ohio State loses to Iowa and the Spartans and Badgers finish tied at 7-1, the head-to-head tiebreaker will send Michigan State to its first Rose Bowl in 23 years.
Good for the game.
The six automatic BCS bids could go to Oregon, Oklahoma State, Auburn, Michigan State, Virginia Tech and Connecticut. Boise State and TCU could beat any of them. That has the makings of an intriguing playoff. Instead, it may at least freshen up a stale way of structuring a postseason.