Don’t get me wrong, East Carolina does deserve a lot of credit.
The Pirates knocked off Virginia Tech and West Virginia, but take a closer peek at these victories, they aren’t as astonishing as people are making them out to be. BYU and Utah have just as strong a case8212;if not stronger8212;forgetting a trip to a Bowl Championship Series goal as East Carolina does.
I’ll start by dismantling East Carolina’s claim to the BCS. This year’s Virginia Tech squad isn’t anywhere near as good as its last few teams. The Hokies had to replace 10 starters from last year, including the insertion of six new starts in their defensive front seven. Also, for some reason, Virginia Tech was against playing stud quarterback Tyrod Taylor against East Carolina, and decided to go with the less talented and slower Sean Glennon.
The same criticism can almost be made for the West Virginia game. West Virginia still has Heisman hopeful, quarterback Pat White, but this year he is without his running mate of the past two seasons tailback, Steve Slaton. Head coach Rich Rodriguez, the mastermind behind West Virginia’s potent offense, flew the coop to Michigan, leaving a huge void. The Mountaineers replaced Rodriguez with Bill Stewart. Ever heard of him before? Exactly my point.
And finally, remember where East Carolina played these games; one in their own backyard in Charlotte, N.C., and the other at home in Greenville. It’s not as if East Carolina went up to Blacksburg or Morgantown, Va., and dismantled two ranked teams in two of the toughest stadiums to play. The Pirates had the fans on their side, something that can pay huge dividends in college football. East Carolina has to prove themselves on the road before we can talk about them being potential BCS busters. While BYU and Utah’s wins over BCS schools might not have been against incredible teams, they deserve credit for taking it to those guys on the road.
BYU and Utah have much stronger arguments thus far for BCS bids than East Carolina, assuming they go undefeated.
Let’s start with BYU. If the Cougars run the table, they will have a winning streak of more than 20 games. That would be by far the longest winning streak in the nation, and something poll voters couldn’t ignore. Some of their victories this year would be against BCS schools Washington, UCLA, and a highly-ranked Utah squad.
Utah would also have a very strong résumé for a BCS game if they ran the table. Wins at the Big House, against Oregon State, and possibly ending the nation’s longest winning streak by defeating the team down south would have to look very good to all the pollsters.
The Mountain West Conference is considerably stronger than Conference-USA. The MWC has pesky teams such as Air Force and New Mexico8212;both bowl teams from last year8212;as well as TCU, who is always tough. Compare that to what East Carolina will be facing the rest of the year: UTEP, UAB, Marshall, Memphis and Tulane just to name a few. Yawn.
Assuming the unthinkable happens and we have an undefeated BYU or Utah squad vying against an undefeated East Carolina squad for that one BCS slot, the MWC school should get the nod. But hey, if East Carolina gets picked instead, it wouldn’t be the first time the BCS screwed it up.