Stop the Madness...

The first Saturday in December was a big one for some teams who were battling for conference championships or for another victory that would boost their chances for a BCS bowl. Most games went in favor of the favored team but a few went to the club with upset on their minds.

There was no bigger upset than the one that took place in Houston, Texas, where the favored University of Houston Cougars battled the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in the Conference USA championship game.

Houston came into the game undefeated and with a victory on this day would most likely be awarded a BCS Bowl game. Some would argue a berth into the Championship although I rather doubt that would have happened.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, Southern Miss had other ideas and the Golden Eagles did something few teams had done all year. That was to hold the UH offense led by QB Case Keenum to less than 30 points. Houston did score 28 but the Golden Eagles piled on 49 and would win the Conference USA championship.

Now this in itself may be a great story but for anyone who didn’t turn the channel after the final gun went off they were treated to what I felt was a very interesting interview by the sideline reporter.

The young lady interviewer came up to Golden Eagle Head Coach Larry Fedora and asked how he felt about costing Conference USA millions of dollars because his team defeated Houston keeping the Cougars out of a BCS bowl game.

Now I couldn’t believe what she had just said. Coach Fedora didn’t miss a beat by saying that he felt his team deserved a BCS invitation. Of course, we all knew that wasn’t going to happen.

I really wish the Golden Eagle coach would have said something like, “Well, I guess what you are asking is why didn’t I have my team throw this game? Isn’t that something that the NCAA frowns upon?” Another answer could have been, “I was hired to win conference championships not lose this particular game but if you know something about my contract that I don’t please fill me in!” A final answer could have been, “Why don’t you ask the Houston coach why his team didn’t come out on fire and beat us?”

I guess I might have been a little more abrupt in my answer especially when the question was over the top in my opinion.

I don’t know of many coaches who would be willing to watch his team lose a game willingly. I don’t care how much money is involved. Coaches have a deep instilled pride that says, “my team can beat your team” especially when the odds aren’t favorable.

It’s interesting that the coaches for both teams that day were offered head coaching positions for teams from automatic qualifying BCS conferences. Coaches leave so that they have a better chance to play in high profile bowl games. Part of the reason this happens is the lack of a playoff system for NCAA Division I football teams and only the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the BCS poll at the end of the season play off for the championship of the college world.

A year ago, in the Division 1AA championships Eastern finished the season ranked No. 1 but was a fifth seeded team into the playoffs. As the playoffs progressed the 1-4 seeded teams were beaten and EWU defeated Delaware in a huge comeback victory.

Most of Easterns’ wins in the playoff were come from behind victories but if Division 1AA was as backward as the big boys are, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to witness the history that EWU was able to pull off last December and January.

Without a playoff we have no idea how Boise State, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Oregon, Wisconsin, Clemson or even Houston would fair in an eight or sixteen team playoff. Maybe the best two teams at the end of the day are Alabama and LSU and if that is the case, tip your hat.

But on any given day a team like Southern Mississippi can upset an explosive Houston Cougar team. And from there who knows what might happen. Maybe victory and maybe defeat but without that chance we’ll never know.

Let’s stop the madness of computer determinations and allow everyone to watch playoff caliber teams earn the NCAA trophy on the field like the smaller schools do.

It would also eliminate the possibility that a team might not play its best so that the conference would have a bigger payday. If that was the case, why would any conference want a championship game?

Happy New Year from the Worst Seat in the House!