Pitfalls of the BCS

While watching a couple of college football games this weekend one of the least talked about pitfalls of the BCS system came into stark relief.

Trailing late in the fourth quarter against Texas, 14-19, Nebraska went on a fairly impressive scoring drive to take a 20-19 lead. I started watching a game during this drive and when Nebraska went ahead I was about as happy as a person who doesn’t really care about the Big 12 can be. Texas losing sounds nice, Nebraska was the underdog; what’s not to like? As you probably know, Texas doesn’t score on its next possession. Nebraska gets the ball back with a chance to run out the clock if the Huskers can pick up at least one first down. On third and five Nebraska throws the ball for a first down only to fumble the ball over to Texas. Texas promptly goes the necessary yards and kicks the game-winning field goal.

Fast forward a few hours to the Notre Dame-UCLA game. UCLA kicks a field goal late to take a 17-13 lead. With no time outs and under two minutes to play Notre Dame gets the ball 80 yards from the end zone. Three plays later, Notre Dame wins the game.

Under normal, non-BCS circumstances I would have probably felt pretty devastated watching two potential upsets against teams I actively root against slip away in the final seconds. But in the BCS Era a small but significant portion of my soul was deeply grateful that both Texas and Notre Dame won.

Why?

If Texas loses then OSU will lose points in the BCS. The strength of OSU’s wins depends on where the teams they beat end up, not the relative strength of those teams when OSU beat them. It’s not enough that Texas was #2 when OSU waltzed into Texas and manhandled the Longhorns. If Texas loses the rest of its games that victory won’t mean much in the BCS rankings. Texas needs to keep winning so that OSU can prosper from the victory.

Notre Dame needs to keep winning because Michigan’s best victory is against the Fighting Irish. If Notre Dame starts losing, Michigan start losing points in the BCS, and if Michigan starts losing points in the BCS, then when OSU beats Michigan on November 18th, the victory won’t count for as much as it would have had Michigan entered the game with a higher ranking in the BCS.

So the BCS has me rooting for Texas and Norte Dame to win because those teams winning will help OSU. The same is true of Michigan, and this is where everything turns rather gross. As an OSU fan I want Michigan to win the rest of its games until it loses to OSU. If Michigan loses between then, that loss will hurt OSU: If OSU beats a one-loss Michigan team it’s not nearly as good as beating an undefeated Michigan team; if OSU loses to a one-loss Michigan team it’s not nearly as good as losing to an undefeated Michigan team. There is no scenario under which a one-loss Michigan team is as good as an undefeated Michigan team for OSU fans. Michigan needs to win if only so that OSU can win the National Championship.

Thanks the BCS I am rooting for Texas, Notre Dame, and Michigan, which is entirely antithetical to everything I learned growing up in Ohio and rooting for the Buckeyes. But so it is thanks to the BCS.