As expected, No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas will officially play for the national championship in Pasadena on Jan. 7 as the BcS announced its final rankings this evening.
Both the Tide and the Longhorns have been ranked in the Top Five in the country since the very first preseason poll, so this was a match-up that’s been kinda, sorta anticipated for the better part of three months.
As for the other teams who have earned the right to not play for a national title — despite being unbeaten — there was not much of a surprise as to how the pairings shook out.
Not much, we say, because there was a mild shock when it came to the two non-automatic qualifiers.
As first reported by CBS Sports.com’s Dennis Dodd, the WAC’s Boise State and the Mountain West’s TCU will play in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4. Yes, it’s the first time in BcS history that two non-AQs have made it into the system in the same year, but we’re assuming that no one from that entity will stand up and apologize for disrespecting the No. 3 and No. 6 teams in the country by not giving either a shot at a “real” team from a “real” conference.
As for the Sugar Bowl, Big East champion Cincinnati will play SEC runner-up Florida Jan. 1 in a game that will feature two ridiculously talented offenses.
Big Ten runner-up Iowa was tapped to take on ACC champ Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl on Feb. 5.
Finally, Oregon and Ohio State will face off in the Rose Bowl New Year’s Day, a match-up that was finalized following the Ducks’ Civil War win over Oregon State last Thursday.
All in all, some intriguing match-ups all the way around, although I still can’t get over the fact that the two non-AQs will face each other for the right to… ummm… do exactly what?
COMPLETE BS!!!!
The pansies in the BCS are afraid to have TCU or Boise State play anyone but each other.
This was done to eliminate one of the unbeaten teams.
This was done to prevent TCU or BSU from embarrassing anyone including the BCS itself.
This was done to attempt to keep down the playoff arguments.
This paring has nothing to do with competition or determining a national champion.
BCS is BS with an extra consonant.
Fiesta Bowl – This is as close you can get to taking a dump on 2 teams without actually pulling down your pants and spreading your cheeks. God forbid they play “real” teams and de-ass them.
Some very entertaining match-ups. BCS is imperfect, but this year there are some compelling games to be played.
When Cincy beats Florida, will the BCS finally admit a need for a playoff? An undefeated team from a BCS conference not getting a shot at a national title again (Auburn anyone?).
Unless the BCS wants to replace the Big East with the WAC.
BCS should be embarassed (if they had a conscious) about pitting TCU and Boise against each other. One, it keeps them from de-pantsing one of the other BCS teams and second, these two played each other last year in a bowl game.
Retarded. This isn’t BCS-related, but FSU is rewarded for going 6-6? If I were from WVU I would be PISSED. Screw Bowden, he should have retired 10 years ago.
TCU vs Boise is an absolute travesty!
These teams both deserve a shot at the big boys. BCS has effectively made this a non-bowl game between unknowns.
For SHAME!
The B*S will get their just rewards for this setup. One non-B*S team will once again end the year undefeated! And with a claim on the National Championship! And the B*S won’t have any one to blame it on except themselves. They could have put TCU up against Cincinatti, or Boise up against Florida, and would have had the potential of having both non B*S teams eliminated; but they would have had to take the chance that both non B*S teams would have won, and make the whole thing worse. Cowards!
I realize that as a TCU alumnus I may not be entirely objective but here is my two cents. A rematch of last year’s bowl against BSU is a slap in the face. No disrespect meant to Boise. They are a great team, however TCU should boycott the Fiesta Bowl. The whole point of going undefeated and crashing the BCS is to play one of the “big boys” and prove we belong. TCU can play with anyone IMO. I live in SEC country and an entire room full of Bama fans told me they would much rather play Texas than TCU. I get it. It is a no win situation for them. They blow TCU out and no one is impressed. They lose, like against Utah last year, and they look like a joke. I have to watch Coach Patterson act like he is so happy we get to play Boise. Everyone on ESPN is all smiles, no mention of TCU getting the shaft from Lou Holtz or Kirk Herbstreit et al … yet almost everyone I talk to in the real world regardless of alma mater or affiliation thinks the Fiesta bowl match up is a complete farce. TCU should get Florida in the Sugar and Cinci should be playing BSU. That would be so much more interesting. If the Gators stomped my Frogs then that would be fine. If TCU wins then the BCS is exposed as a fraud and they will not take that chance. It makes me sick. Obviously TCU is not going to boycott the game so here is what I am going to do. Listen up BCS sponsors … Fed Ex Orange bowl…. what can brown do for me? UPS gets my business from here on …. Tostitos Fiesta Bowl… chips are empty calories high in fat … no thanks… Citibank … Allstate … ditto … you won’t get a penny from me ever. I realize this is just pissing in the wind … but college fans that want a playoff really need to organize a major boycott of BCS sponsors.
I believe Boise State is for real. TCU – give me a break. They will get trounced.
casey, don’t start counting those chickens just yet. I’d love to see Cincy beat Teary Timmy And The Chokers, but not so sure it will actually happen.
Hey, I never said they sucked; only that they were overrated and that they’re fans are way too loudmouthed and cocky.
Don’t fall into the same trap as the Gator Nation, casey – the game isn’t over until the fat lady sings.
Or until the guy with the Bible verses on his cheeks starts crying, whichever comes first.
At risk of sounding too much like a conspiracy theorist — the BSU/TCU matchup is an absolute scandal. How did it come about? I’d like to see someone get to the bottom of this story, it’s important and a ton of fans are up in arms (see the BCS FaceBook page http://bit.ly/6y6Elw). It really stinks of the BCS trying to protect AQ teams and themselves from get “BCS busted”!
totally agree. Boise vs TCU is the BcS version of having a “kids” table at christmas dinner. total crap!!!
What’s amazing about the BCS pitting Boise State against TCU is that they have now guaranteed that not only will there be at least two unbeaten teams after the bowls, but that one of them will be a non-AQ. Maybe they didn’t want either team potentially embarrassing a BCS team as some suggest, but maybe they didn’t consider that this scenario ensures us an even-louder “there-should-be-a-playoff” conversation during this offseason and beyond. There will be calls for another game between the BSU-TCU Fiesta Bowl and the UA-UT BCS Championship Game for the real National Champion (and should Cincinnati win in the Sugar, it will really get confusing with all the scenarios).
However this all turns out, even the laws of nature seem to be doing all they can to push major college football towards a playoff system.
And for what it’s worth, my playoff system: 16 teams, champion of each current FBS conference gets an automatic bid, five at-large berths, top eight seeds host first round game, quarters and semis hosted by a traditional bowl site on a rotating basis (LA, NO, Dallas, Tempe, Miami, Atlanta), title game held at either seventh traditional bowl site (Orlando/Jacksonville) or at any location that is either a warm-weather site or has a dome (Indy, Detroit, St. Louis, etc.).
Sorry, Boise and TCU don’t deserve anything. Join a BCS conference like Cincinnati did, and you can complain. Cincinnati deserves a shot and has the biggest complaint since they are an undefeated conference champ of a BCS conference. Let the two mid majors pound on each other, how many BCS conference teams did either one of you beat. Go Bearcats.
>>>All in all, some intriguing match-ups all the way around, although I still can’t get over the fact that the two non-AQs will face each other for the right to… ummm… do exactly what?
I like the matchup of 2 undefeated teams playing each other in the Fiesta. Finally a BcS matchup that somewhat makes sense.
Split these two out to other games and it could still be a log jam of 4 undefeated teams – at least this way there can only be 3.
Playoffs, playoffs, playoffs.
Just here to repeat what everyone else has said.
BCS should just eliminate the “C” in their name. At least then the acronym would be accurate.
They did the “see, we had to two non qualifiers in our system! we did good! who else wants to pat us on the back? Anyone? No? Ok then, we still think we’re great!”
They did the absolute worst thing for everyone, but the best for themselves. It would be an even bigger disaster if TCU comes in and knocks off, say, Florida or Iowa or OSU or GTech (which they would do to any of those teams). Same goes for Boise State, although I don’t think they’re as strong as TCU, I still think they’d take it to the aforementioned teams.
Personally, I hope Cincy puts 50 up on Florida, unfortunately, I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Proposed 2009 Playoff Brackets
Here is how the 2009 Playoffs would have looked under the system I have proposed:
2009 National Championship Playoff Teams
Week 15 BSC Rankings in (). Week 15 is final regular season BSC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_rankings#BCS_ranking
Brackets
Troy (16) @ Alabama (1)
Georgia Tech (9) @ Ohio State (8)
Arizona (13) @ TCU (4)
Pittsburgh (12) @ Florida (5)
Central Michigan (14) @ Cincinnati (3)
BYU (11) @ Boise State (6)
Iowa (10) @ Oregon (7)
East Carolina (15) @ Texas (2)
Here is how it was determined:
Automatic Bids
ACC – Georgia Tech (#9)
Big12 – Texas (#2)
BigEast – Cincinnati (#3)
Big10 – Ohio State (#8)
CUSA – East Carolina (NR-50)
MAC – Central Michigan (NR-38 )
MWC – TCU (#4)
Pac10 – Oregon (#7)
SEC – Alabama (#1)
SunBelt – Troy (NR-69)
WAC – Boise State (#6)
At Large Eligible
ACC – Clemson (NR)
Big12 – Nebraska (#22)
BigEast – Pittsburgh (#17) ****
Big10 – Iowa (#10) ****
CUSA – Houston (NR)
MAC – Ohio (NR)
MWC – BYU (#14) ****
Pac10 – Arizona (#20) ****
SEC – Florida (#5) ****
SunBelt – Middle Tennesse (NR)
WAC – Nevada (NR)
Independents – Navy (NR)
Hey if you’re unhappy with the BCS why don’t we go back to the old system and we don’t have to worry about the likes of TCU and Boise St. who won’t get a sniff of a big game.
If you want play-off football go watch the NFL, College Football is unique – lets keep it it that way.
I don’t see what the BCS hate is for. The Fiesta Bowl is the entity that picked Boise State to replace Texas. The BCS didn’t do this. Though I am not a fan of the BCS, can you blame the Fiesta Bowl for wanting an undefeated vs. undefeated match up in its bowl game as opposed to something like TCU/Iowa?
Congratulations to the BCS Big Boys on completely screwing everybody else.