Chalk this up under the “Don’t they all have more important things to do” category.  Like work on the economy or keep our government moving in positive directions.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denied the request by Florida Republican Cliff Stearns to reschedule a Congressional vote so House members could attend the BCS Championship Game.  Stearns wrote on behalf of reps from Florida and Oklahoma that wanted to attend the game in Florida, which would make them absent for scheduled votes on Thursday and Friday.

Looks like you’ll just have to watch the game on TV, Cliff.  Sorry that duty to your country got in the way of your plans for the game, but that’s the way it works when you are elected to Congress.

I wonder if Pelosi would have rescheduled the votes if USC had been in the BCS Championship?

I’m fan of anyone that helps to get us to a college football playoff, but doesn’t the Utah Attorney General have more important issues to deal with than this one?  But I digress…

The Utah AG, Mark Shurtlett, told the Deseret News that he is “considering launching an investigation into college football’s Bowl Championship Series” because his Utes are not going to be crowned college football’s national champion.  Shurtlett said the BCS is “an unfair system” and is considering an antitrust case to break the monopoly they have on college football.

Wow, go Mark!  Maybe this is the kind of pressure we to land a playoff.  Or maybe it’s a political move on Shurlett’s part just to win favor with his homestate voters.  He started down the antitrust path when the Utes made the Fiesta Bowl in 2004, but subsequently dropped the case.

Whatever the motivates for the Utah AG, at least it has people talking about what a farce the BCS system is.  Just imagine how glorious a college football playoff would have been in 2008:

2008 College Football Playoff (projected):
(1) Oklahoma Sooners vs. (8) Ohio State Buckeyes
(2) Florida Gators vs. (7) Utah Utes
(3) Texas Longhorns vs. (6) Penn State Nittany Lions
(4) USC Trojans vs. (5) Alabama Crimson Tide

That could have led to Oklahoma’s offense versus USC’s defense in one semifinal.  With perhaps Texas playing Florida (sorry Utes) in the other semi.  The possibilities for a National Championship Game are good enough to make any college football fan drool.  Plus it would have settled it on the field.  It Utah is the best squad (which I don’t believe is true) then they would beat the likes of Florida, Texas and USC on their way to the crown.

Barrack Obama are you listening?  We need a college football playoff.

[Sidenote: Does anyone else find it odd that Salt Lake City has a major newspaper named the Deseret News?  Not "Desert", but "Deseret" which apparently has meaning in Utah.  I had to double-check to make sure I wasn't getting farked by that article.]

All of the BCS drama will finally come to a close on Sunday when the 2008-2009 bowl game schedule is announced.  At 7PM central on December 7th Fox’s BCS  Bowl Game Selection Show will reveal all of the matchups and preview the games.  Here is my take on which teams will be playing in the main BCS bowl games.

2008-2009 BCS Bowl Game matchup predictions:

BCS National Championship Game
Florida Gators vs Oklahoma Sooners
* The Sooners lucked out in passing my Longhorns, and now get the chance to play for the National Championship.  There will be a lot of points scored in this game.

Fiesta Bowl
Ohio Stata Buckeyes vs Utah Utes
* A lot of smoke about Fox wanting a #3 vs #4 matchup in Sugar Bowl, and getting Fiesta to take Utah.  I’m believing the rumors, and thinking that Ohio State will win based on the strength of their defense.

Orange Bowl
Cincinnati Bearcats vs Virginia Tech Hokies
* Looking for the lowest rated BCS bowl game?  Here it is.

Sugar Bowl
Alabama Crimson Tide vs Texas Longhorns
* Fox wants to create another strong matchup and this definitely qualifies.  Call this the ‘we deserve to be in the National Championship conversation’ bowl.  Buy Sugar Bowl Tickets.

Rose Bowl
Penn State Nittany Lions vs USC Trojans
* Aside from the National Championship Game, this is the only other ‘sure thing’ at this moment.  Tough game for PSU.

This was emailed to me today by a couple of people.  Not sure who the original author is that deserves the credit, but I thought it was funny enough to post.  And keep in-mind this is poking fun of the BCS, not making light of WWII.

BCS DECLARES GERMANY WINNER OF WORLD WAR II
US Ranked 4th

After determining the Big-12 championship game participants the BCS computers were put to work on other major contests and today the BCS declared Germany to be the winner of World War II.

“Germany put together an incredible number of victories beginning with the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland and continuing on into conference play with defeats of Poland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. Their only losses came against the US and Russia; however considering their entire body of work–including an incredibly tough Strength of Schedule–our computers deemed them worthy of the #1 ranking.”

Questioned about the #4 ranking of the United States the BCS commissioner stated “The US only had two major victories– Japan and Germany . The computer models, unlike humans, aren’t influenced by head-to-head contests–they consider each contest to be only a single, equally-weighted event.”

German Chancellor Adolph Hitler said “Yes, we lost to the US ; but we defeated #2 ranked France in only 6 weeks.” Herr Hitler has been criticized for seeking dramatic victories to earn ‘style points’ to enhance Germany’s rankings. Hitler protested “Our contest with Poland was in doubt until the final day and the conditions in Norway were incredibly challenging and demanded the application of additional forces.”

The French ranking has also come under scrutiny. The BCS commented “France had a single loss against Germany and following a preseason #1 ranking they only fell to #2.”

Japan was ranked #3 with victories including Manchuria, Borneo and the Philippines.

“It’s too simplistic to say, ‘Let’s have a playoff.’ We have far too many considerations in college athletics than just the entertainment value.” – Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe quoted on “Big 12 Showcase” for Fox Sports Southwest.

What are the reasons we can’t start a college football playoff? No really, I’m curious to know. I’ve heard it will add too many games to the season, student-athletes will miss too much class time, fans won’t have time to travel to the games, or they won’t have the money to travel to multiple games. I have heard that teams will only schedule cupcakes in order to make it into a playoff and that a playoff would ruin the regular season. What I haven’t heard yet is anything that holds water. I haven’t heard one truly good reason not to have a playoff. I certainly have not heard how the bowl games are better than a college football playoff at deciding a national champion.

The reason we don’t have a college football playoff is the “old boys network” who run the bowl games are still making a lot of money. And those fellas have a lot of influence in the college football world. They have the Conference Commissioners and University Presidents on speed dial, and no change is going to happen easily without them on-board. And they have no incentive to change, because they are doing just fine with the current bowl system.

Doing just fine. Rather than evolve and create something truly notable, the big cigars that run the bowl games are content to sit on top of innovation and count their money. The change won’t occur until enough of that network is put out to pasture and a new breed comes in who’s not afraid to change.   The good news is that I think that change is coming to college football very soon.

So help me figure this out.  Give me a few reasons why the bowl system trumps a playoff.

PROS for a College Football Playoff:
1. A true National Champion is crowned on the field.
2. All of the top teams get to compete for a National Championship.
3. College Football will make a ton of money.
4. Polls and ratings will no longer decide which teams play in the Championship Game.

CONS for a College Football Playoff:
1. Student-Athletes will miss too much class time.
2. The regular-season will be made meaningless.
3. The season will be too long.
4. Fans will not be able to travel on short-notice in a playoff format.
5. The current bowl system will die.