How did that taste NIU?

[Killian]

Nope, wasn’t passed over for a promotion. Just got one actually. But thanks for caring.

The bowls are about one thing and one thing only, making money. You want to put a rule in that says a non-AQ school gets a shot if they finish in the top 4? Fine. But when you start putting in rules that need a flow chart to properly explain them, it’s starting to turn into participation ribbons. But hey, NIU finished in the top 16 ahead of the conference champion of an AQ conference on a Sunday that featured a full moon in the year of the Tiger. So props to them. Never mind the fact that they lost to one of the worst teams this year in the Big 10. But that’s completely the same as undefeated Utah, Boise and TCU getting in. If the little guy doesn’t want to be taken advantage of, don’t take the check and schedule a regular season game. It was established long ago that the mid-majors were whores; at this point we’re just debating the price. Maybe the major conference will stop scheduling the mid-majors and actually schedule games with teams in other power conferences. I know, novel concept.

Maybe OU would have gotten blown out again. Or maybe they would have generated more than 200 yards of offense, brought some fans and actually made it a game. Losing to the #1 and #5 teams in the country should be penalized harsher than losing to a 4-8 Big 10 team.

[M Club]

Nope, wasn’t passed over for a promotion. Just got one actually. But thanks for caring.

The bowls are about one thing and one thing only, making money. You want to put a rule in that says a non-AQ school gets a shot if they finish in the top 4? Fine. But when you start putting in rules that need a flow chart to properly explain them, it’s starting to turn into participation ribbons. But hey, NIU finished in the top 16 ahead of the conference champion of an AQ conference on a Sunday that featured a full moon in the year of the Tiger. So props to them. Never mind the fact that they lost to one of the worst teams this year in the Big 10. But that’s completely the same as undefeated Utah, Boise and TCU getting in. If the little guy doesn’t want to be taken advantage of, don’t take the check and schedule a regular season game. It was established long ago that the mid-majors were whores; at this point we’re just debating the price. Maybe the major conference will stop scheduling the mid-majors and actually schedule games with teams in other power conferences. I know, novel concept.

Maybe OU would have gotten blown out again. Or maybe they would have generated more than 200 yards of offense, brought some fans and actually made it a game. Losing to the #1 and #5 teams in the country should be penalized harsher than losing to a 4-8 Big 10 team.

So it's "all about the money" if it suits one part of your argument but then it's "the sanctity of competition" when it's time for the other? Uh, okay. You know why they need flowcharts (though I don't understand how "if one non-AQ team is reasonably better than just one AQ champion" constitutes a flowchart)? Because when one non-AQ team is clearly one of the four best teams in the country (per your example) they were still left out of the BCS, hence the anti-trust suits. Oh ja, the other reason for flowcharts is Notre Dame. Go figure.

The Sunday that featured a full moon in the year of the Tiger was was coaches raping kids, Jim Tressel being carried off his shoulders to the claps of adoring fans even though he was the reason for torpedoing OSU's perfect season, and no one else bothering to be decent in a year decent gave you a shot at the MNC ('sup, Florida?). Lucky for NIU they were in the right place at the right time. Guess that's why they call it the perfect storm. That and you figure out a better way to manage a sport with 120 teams because, surprise, even if we get our beloved 8-team playoff, last one in is often going to be a non-AQ.

But I like that it's the mid-majors who are the whores here, as if it's not the power schools whoring themselves out for a few extra bucks and four extra wins so the SEC can brag about all their 7-5 teams who went sub-.500 in conference play.

Congrats on the promotion. I'm surprised someone with a corner office is so obsessed with participation ribbons. Seems to me you would have noticed the people you're so afraid of don't generally hack it in high society anyhow.

[M Club]

What exception did Alabama take advantage of to get to the MNC game last year?

As I recall, the two best teams in the country played for the title. Did Alabama jump 8 or 9 spots after beating some pissant team? Nope.

It's not a matter of keeping the little guys down. It's a matter of earning your way to the top games.

If the little schools want to give up their big payday games against the upper level teams, let 'em do it. But playing a shit schedule all year and going undefeated doesn't impress anyone. No one should be afforded an exception and allowed to leap over more deserving teams to go to a BCS game.

So we're playing the willfully ignorant card now? As I recall, the best team in the country beat the shit out of the best Big XII team last night. But that doesn't matter since their toughest game was scheduled a bit later in the season than Bama's third or fourth-toughest. Bama couldn't even win their conference yet they were given an Affirmative Action mulligan because obviously they were so good they should be given a second chance. Is that how it works? I totally love those professional semi-finals in any sport that fans treat as de-facto championships because the winner's obviously going to kill the other conference's representative. Tune in next week for the rematch, right? But I like the authority you give an entirely subjective system when it comes to placing your team in the MNC but how horribly subjective it is when some mid-major gets to play in a glorified consolation game that has no bearing on who actually wins the MNC.

[Screw_Michigan]

They did absolutely NOTHING to earn that spot.

Yes, they did.

[Screw_Michigan]

I love how Sam's pathetic ignorance frames the issues simply as the non-BCS schools just up and quitting scheduling the BCS schools just so they can prove a point.

[Van]

While I agree with nearly everything M Club has posted in this thread, I do think he missed the boat by a mile with this one...

Has nothing to do with your dumbfuck beliefs that society's turned everyone into a bunch of whiny bitches and everything to do with the CFB big boys exploiting the MAC, Sun Belt, Mountain West, etc.'s D-1 status when scheduling wins but then colluding with each other to deny them access to any sort of reasonable payout.

Those exploited teams are most certainly not being denied access to any sort of a reasonable payout. The fact is, like any good whore they receive their payout at the time of services rendered. All those programs receive ample compensation every time they willingly offer themselves up as cannon fodder throughout the regular season.

[Mace]

NIU didn't have one single win against a quality opponent but had one loss to the worst Iowa team in recent memory, so, yeah, they obviously deserved to jump 8 spots in the poll and qualify for a BCS Bowl game. :roll: KIllian has been spot on with his posts.

[Van]

They certainly didn't deserve it on merit, but rules are rules. What are you gonna do?

[Mace]

They certainly didn't deserve it on merit, but rules are rules. What are you gonna do?

I don't think you can do anything about the problem, which is voters manipulating the polls to get the desired results. I can't believe that any of the voters truly believed NIU was a top 15 team based on what they did on the field. They were apparently trying to make a statement that mirrors what killian has already stated. It might make the mid-majors feel good but it doesn't make for good football games in the bowls. Losing a close game to Iowa should have sent the message to all of the voters that NIU was not a BCS bowl caliber team and that the MAC is not on the same level as the BCS conferences. They may have deserved to be in a decent bowl, but not one of the BCS bowls any more than Michigan State or Minnesota...two other teams that lost to Iowa this year.

[Killian]

I never said it was about the “sanctity of competition”. If that were the case, there would be no rules and the top 10 teams would play in the BCS bowls. We could try to unravel the ball of knotted up Christmas lights trying to figure out the beginning of all that is wrong with college football, but for right now we’re all talking about the BCS bowl selection process. The whole selection process is fucked up. If it were up to me, there would be no automatic bids and you let the bowls choose who goes where. The BCS wants to take 4 SEC teams? Fine. But fix the problem on the front end by changing the rules so that no team that schedules a 1AA team is eligible for the BCS. Also, with 4 nonconference games, 2 have to be against AQ conference opponents, 1 at home and 1 on the road.

I completely agree with your comment w/r/t ND and flowchart. ND has made their bed wanting to be an independent. So, get rid of the deal they have now where they get a BCS payout every year and let them keep all the money if they make it. If they don’t, tough shit. If ND is in the top (fill in the blank) they are eligible to be chosen. But then again, as I said before I would get rid of all automatic bids and bowl tie-ins to the BCS (and to all bowl games) and let the bowls pick for themselves.

The bowls have never been about giving us the best match-up; they’ve been about maximizing profit. Making them take teams from mid-major conferences has made for a few nice stories, but it’s ridiculous.

[Van]

The thing is, if it's solely about maximizing the profit then why on earth would anyone ever go out of their way to choose a team like NIU? They bring absolutely nothing to the table. Any of the marquee squads that were inexplicably passed in the polls by NIU would have made for a more marketable Orange Bowl opponent for the Seminoles.

[Killian]

Not sure I follow. The Orange Bowl likely didn't want to select NIU, and probably would have preferred Oklahoma. NIU's meteoric rise in the polls forced them to be selected.

[buckeye_in_sc]

OSU has been guilty of the 1-AA deal (SUP Youngstown State)...but at least they have tried in years past and going forward to beef up their OOC...see Texas, Miami of FLA, USC, future of Oklahoma, Oregon, Va Tech...I think that is a great rule to go along with WINNING your CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME to be eligible for the BCS



I agree there needs to be teams going on the road PERIOD...I hate seeing UF play bumfuck U at home and dont' go to any hostile environment outside of 2 or 3 SEC games (when they play at Bama, at LSU, at SC) or Tally...

send them to Ann Arbor, Norman, etc...I am all for the NCAA to step in and mandate certain scheduling...but if the NCAA can't even understand their own rule book how would they fair with scheduling? Especially with their SEC Cash Cows?

[buckeye_in_sc]

I am with you Sam

OSU had a H&H with UGA and Tenn...but cancelled them and got Texas and Oregon back on the H&H deal

the thing that sucks is Vandy cancelled the opener in Ohio Stadium for this year and I hate that...that would have been a nice opener for OSU...

[M Club]

I never said it was about the “sanctity of competition”. If that were the case, there would be no rules and the top 10 teams would play in the BCS bowls. We could try to unravel the ball of knotted up Christmas lights trying to figure out the beginning of all that is wrong with college football, but for right now we’re all talking about the BCS bowl selection process. The whole selection process is fucked up. If it were up to me, there would be no automatic bids and you let the bowls choose who goes where. The BCS wants to take 4 SEC teams? Fine. But fix the problem on the front end by changing the rules so that no team that schedules a 1AA team is eligible for the BCS. Also, with 4 nonconference games, 2 have to be against AQ conference opponents, 1 at home and 1 on the road.

I completely agree with your comment w/r/t ND and flowchart. ND has made their bed wanting to be an independent. So, get rid of the deal they have now where they get a BCS payout every year and let them keep all the money if they make it. If they don’t, tough shit. If ND is in the top (fill in the blank) they are eligible to be chosen. But then again, as I said before I would get rid of all automatic bids and bowl tie-ins to the BCS (and to all bowl games) and let the bowls pick for themselves.

The bowls have never been about giving us the best match-up; they’ve been about maximizing profit. Making them take teams from mid-major conferences has made for a few nice stories, but it’s ridiculous.

It's not about sanctity of competition yet you're whining about matchups... :?

You can make all the noise you want about changing the rules on the front end, but tell me oh accountant, what school in their right mind would pass on the revenue from just a single guaranteed home game, let alone four, in order to chase the off chance of a BCS invite so they can split their take home 50 different ways with the rest of the conference? And even though the NCAA subcontracts its postseason to an independent bowl system, it still requires the cooperation of member institutions via their conference representation, so good luck getting rid of automatic bids. Think there's an uproar now over NIU, just wait until 8-4 Bama is invited to play 7-5 Michigan in the Orange Bowl because both happen to travel well.

The CFB business model has evolved rather predictably and is the shit show we're left with. We all agree CFB is fucked up and needs to be fixed but like I said before, no easy way to manage 120 different schools, all of whom have lawyers. Curious though that most people on this board are of an economic philosophy that flippantly tells everyone they can vote with their feet, yet no one does.

[M Club]

While I agree with nearly everything M Club has posted in this thread, I do think he missed the boat by a mile with this one...

Has nothing to do with your dumbfuck beliefs that society's turned everyone into a bunch of whiny bitches and everything to do with the CFB big boys exploiting the MAC, Sun Belt, Mountain West, etc.'s D-1 status when scheduling wins but then colluding with each other to deny them access to any sort of reasonable payout.

Those exploited teams are most certainly not being denied access to any sort of a reasonable payout. The fact is, like any good whore they receive their payout at the time of services rendered. All those programs receive ample compensation every time they willingly offer themselves up as cannon fodder throughout the regular season.

You can call them whores all you want, but they're still members of D-1 football and follow the same rules as everyone else, so can't just pretend they don't exist when it comes to reap the rewards of your inflated 10-win season. You could before when the major bowls acted independently of each other and national championships were the function of sportswriters, but the rules changed once those bowls and the major conferences formed a cabal to sanction an officially recognized champion for all of D1 football. It'd be the same thing in the NFL as barring NFC teams from the playoffs because everyone knows the AFC is better.

And while I don't think anyone seriously thinks the MAC is any good, the BCS/NCAA still has to maintain the pretense of fair competition and can't just tell the MAC they're not allowed to touch this large pile of money because they're the MAC. Could have argued otherwise a few years ago but they really fucked themselves with their handling of Boise State, so now conferences like the MAC, WAC, and Sun Belt have to be given the same non-AQ consideration that really only the Mountain West or Conference USA deserve.

[King Crimson]

just as an FYI here....and i don't know what this reference to anti-trust legislation on page 1 is really all about....but the th CFA anti-trust suit that beat the NCAA in the Supreme Court in the early 80's over TV rights was a scheme hatched by two Norman, Oklahoma lawyers as a bet over a steak dinner. the members of the CFA plaintiffs were Oklahoma and U of Georgia. so, some hillbillies and southerners know about anti-trust.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_v._Bo ... f_Oklahoma