I think it is almost ridiculous that I even have to write this article.
The BCS should’ve been disbanded a long time ago and college football, like the rest of the competitive world, should be working on a playoff-style system.
There should be no silly point system and no BCS schools and especially not 15 different bowl games. But alas, the BCS still exists and probably will forever, so here we are asking the same question we do every season, namely, who is going to get into a BCS bowl game this year?
After four weeks of play, two clear non-BCS schools have emerged as leaders in the race to the bowl game: Boise State and TCU.
As non-intimidating as its mascot is, I have to take the side of the TCU Horned Frogs.
I can base my entire argument on one factor: TCU actually plays a legitimate schedule, in a legitimately tough conference.
Until two weeks ago, when both suffered losses at the hands of BCS schools, Utah and BYU were in the discussion of who would break into the BCS. Both are still teams that could challenge TCU later in the season, and victories against them would show that the Horned Frogs deserve the BCS bowl game this season.
Not only are BYU and Utah going to be tough games for TCU, but Colorado State and Air Force are looking to break into the top three of the MWC this season and could pose a threat to TCU’s perfect season.
Boise State beat Oregon, which has become more and more impressive as Oregon beat Utah and pummeled Cal in the past two weeks, but after that, there is absolutely no challenge for the Broncos and their big blue field.
And sure, it’s not Boise State’s fault that it is in the WAC, but scheduling teams such as Bowling Green, UC Davis and Miami of Ohio to fill out a nonconference schedule only says one thing: We want to go undefeated and break into the BCS.
Is it really that impressive to make a run through a schedule of sub-par teams? No.
It looks as though the rest of the nation might disagree with me, as Boise State is ranked No. 5 in the latest AP polls. I almost spit my coffee out when I got the text from ESPN saying the Broncos had moved into the top five.
TCU hasn’t had a highlight win yet this season to shoot it up the polls, like the Oregon win did for the Broncos, and it might not, because it begins conference play next week. But if TCU can beat Utah and BYU, effectively winning the MWC, there is no reason it doesn’t deserve to go to a BCS bowl game.
Last year, TCU beat Boise State in the Poinsettia bowl and has almost the exact same team back this year. It has one of the top defenses in the country and a quality quarterback in Andy Dalton, a combination that could make TCU unstoppable as the season progresses.
TCU has been in top three of the MWC for the past several years; the Horned Frogs were No. 2 behind the undefeated Utes last year and in the running when the Utes broke into the BCS back in 2004.
Bottom line, if TCU can go undefeated it deserves the bid to the BCS game because it doesn’t have a cupcake schedule. Simple as that.
