BCS Credibility Shattered (Again)
Sunday, November 16, 2008 14:45
Don’t look now, but it’s possible that the Atlantic Coast Conference could send a team to a Bowl Championship Series Bowl that isn’t even ranked into the Top 25. The new rankings have come out, and the best the ACC has to offer are #22 Maryland, #23 Miami, and #25 North Carolina in the AP Poll and #23 Maryland and #25 Boston College in the Coaches Poll.
Further exhibiting just how laughable the BCS is, the Big East is only marginally better than the ACC, with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati alternating slots #19 and #20 in the two polls. One or two losses either way in the last couple weeks of the regular season and it’s not inconceivable that two of the so-called BCS conferences would not have teams in the Top 25. True, it’s not likely that situation would arise for both conferences, but it is quite possible in the case of the ACC.
Ah, the BCS. What a joke.
Cassel’s numbers were excellent by any measure, let alone for a quarterback just figuring out his sea legs. He completed 30 of 51 passes for 400 yards, rushed for 62 yards on 8 carries, and threw 3 touchdowns. But what stood out the most was the poise he showed when the Patriots got the ball back down by 7 with 1:04 on the clock and no timeouts. Cassel engineered a perfect drive, calmly marching his team down the field and tying the game with one second remaining on a beautiful sideline touchdown pass to Randy Moss.
That having been said, I have to give credit where credit is due. The Lakers learned their lesson last season. It may have been painful, it may have been embarassing, but learn it they did, and this year the Lakers are back with a vengeance. And I am very impressed. Last year the Lakers took it on the chin, but they’ve come back swinging this year, and swinging hard. It’s why Los Angeles is off to a 7-0 start, the only remaining undefeated team in the NBA.
That doesn’t mean I’m not sympathetic to certain situations, such as when Ray Bourque requested a trade and was sent from the Bruins to the Avalanche or when Karl Malone signed with the Lakers. I completely understand an aging star seeking a championship to complete his career wanting to move to a team in contention. Such deals are rarely about money–sometimes the player even ends up earning less than he would have elsewhere–and all about that last chance at finally winning.
The ACC may hold the top spot in North Carolina, but the Big East owns the poll overall, with seven teams ranked. That translates to better than one out of every four ranked teams coming just from that conference alone. #2 Connecticut leads the pack, which also includes two other teams in the Top 5, #3 Louisville and #5 Pittsburgh.
