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BCS: Define it how you please

Devon O'Neil " My $0.02

The letters in BCS stand for Bowl Championship Series. But it’s fun to pretend they mean something else. Like Bad College System. Or Bring Change Soon. Or, Buffoons’ Creation Sucks.

Of all the years the BCS has delivered more controversy than satisfaction, this one could rank at the top. Which is saying something.

The way college football settles its national champion only works if there are exactly two undefeated teams left at the end of the season. And you can’t leave it to fate to give us that.



It’s a stretch, maybe, but the BCS is almost like having pro football’s playoffs run through the conference championship games, then having us vote on who would win the Super Bowl and handing the Lombardi Trophy to that team.

Sorry, but West Virginia vs. Missouri does not do a national championship game justice. Not that I don’t think both are excellent teams, but for them to win it all, I’d want to see them beat an SEC or Pac-10 power in a single-elimination playoff bracket.



Before I tell you why West Virginia is a strong squad, just remember: the Mountaineers’ biggest games this year were against Cincinnati, Rutgers, Louisville, South Florida (the team’s only loss) and UConn ” good Division 1 football teams, but not great ones.

That said, West Virginia (which still must beat Pitt in the Backyard Brawl this weekend) has done some marvelous things on offense thanks to the most exciting rushing attack in America.

Pat White, the team’s quarterback, hasn’t thrown for 200 yards once this year, but he’s been sacked only seven times and has rushed for 1,144 yards (104 per game) and 14 TDs. He’s a junior.

Steve Slaton, the team’s starting tailback, has run for 1,042 yards and 17 TDs, and is averaging an un-RB-like 14 yards per reception. He’s a junior, too.

Then there’s Noel Devine, a waterbug-quick backup tailback, who has 508 yards on just 53 carries, a 9.6-yard average. He’s a freshman. …

Oh, to have Stephen Ames’ timing. The undistinguished PGA pro hit a 7-foot putt on the 18th Sunday to win $650,000 at the Skins Game in California. One putt, six-hundred-fifty grand. Yes, please.

Broncos gave that sucker away, huh? Up 34-20 late in the fourth quarter to a quarterback who can’t pass to save his life?

Even after beating No. 1 LSU on the road Friday, Arkansas ” an 8-4 SEC team with a probable Heisman finalist at tailback ” was left out of the AP Top 25 Sunday. That’s inexplicable.

Stat of the Week: David Garrard still hasn’t thrown an INT for the 8-3 Jaguars. He missed three games due to injury, but to play eight NFL games and not be picked off is rare.

What Brett Favre has done with the Packers this fall is downright stunning. Enough so that when you start to think about the best story in the NFL up to now, New England’s dominance is probably choice No. 2.

After all, the Pats are the seventh team since 1970 to begin a season 11-0. But a washed-up, gray-haired has-been taking a team of nobodys to 10-1? You just don’t see it.

And how ’bout the Browns? They’re 7-4, due largely to former nomad quarterback Derek Anderson. The Oregon State alum appeared on the fast track to holding Brady Quinn’s clipboard, but instead he’s tossed 22 TDs for Cleveland, the most by a Dawg Pounder in 20 years.

LeBron James has four triple-doubles in just 14 games this year. He’s also leading the NBA in scoring, at 31.3 points per game. (In case you’d forgotten how good he is.)

Pete Sampras, 36, beat Roger Federer, 26, in one of their three Asian exhibition matches last week, 7-6, 6-4. Federer won the other two, but still.

Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal, the best ski racer in the world, will be at Beaver Creek all week. If you haven’t seen this guy race yet, it’s worth your time. Talk about a horse.

Breckenridge resident Devon O’Neil’s $0.02 column runs on Tuesdays. He can be reached at devononeil@hotmail.com.


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