Boom.
That was the sound of the BCS being unveiled Sunday night.
Explosions at No. 3, where Texas now resides, and fireworks at No. 2, where Oklahoma jumped. It defined what we knew would be a controversial shakeup.
Perhaps this year is defined less by the BCS’s failures and more by the Big XII Conference’s. By relying on a system that was already despised by even the most perceptive of college football fans, the Big XII set itself up for a guaranteed debacle.
The Big XII went to its fifth tie-breaker (highest BCS ranking) instead of leaning on the head-to-head result — Texas beat OU 45-35 on Oct. 11 — to choose which school would get the title shot.
Now it seems the greatest question is, “What happens if a formidable Missouri Tiger team upsets OU in the Big XII title game?”
If that occurs, which school would face the SEC conference champion (Alabama or Florida) in the BCS Championship game?
Would Texas or USC skip to the front of the line?
Should history be our guide, then Texas it is. That’s because, in 2004, OU went to the BCS title game (over USC) despite not winning its own conference championship.
And that was after a loss.
Texas won’t have a season-ending defeat like OU did back then and is currently higher in the BCS standings than USC.
It seems the Trojans might simply be playing for the right to stay in the same stadium they’ll be playing in on Saturday against rival UCLA, The Rose Bowl.
Of course, should we keep history as our guide, we’ll also know one more thing: You can’t predict the BCS, you can only argue with it.
