Penn State can't buy a break
Yet another reason why the BCS is bogus…
Penn State just can’t buy a break when it comes to the national championship race. Just when it appeared the Lions controlled their own destiny they learned tonight that they need another team to lose in the final month in order to play for the national championship.
Penn State is No. 3 in the BCS standings again, having been leapfrogged by Texas Tech after the Red Raiders upended Texas Saturday night.
Penn State is No. 3 in the BCS standings behind Texas Tech, thanks to low rankings by the six computers that are factored into the BCS formula. The Lions were No. 2 in the coaches' poll and Harris poll, which comprises two-thirds of the formula.
The knock against Penn State is its schedule, but take a close look and it’s hard to figure how Texas Tech played a tougher schedule.
Penn State played one Division I-AA team – Coastal Carolina. Texas Tech played two – Eastern Washington and Massachusetts.
Texas Tech’s other non-conference games came against a one-win SMU team and 4-4 Nevada squad. In Big 12 play, the Red Raiders have beaten Kansas State, Nebraska, Kansas and Texas. Only Texas is ranked in the BCS standings at No. 4.
Penn State’s non-conference games came against Syracuse, Temple and Oregon State. By virtue of the blowout victory over Oregon State, which beat USC earlier this season, Penn State’s non-conference schedule qualifies as more difficult.
In Big Ten play, Penn State beat Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio State. Only Ohio State is in the BCS standings. The Buckeyes are No. 9, so I suppose Texas Tech’s conference schedule can be considered marginally better than Penn State’s.
But when you take into account that Penn State’s victory over Ohio State came on the road while Texas Tech’s triumph over Texas came at home, there is now way the Red Raiders should be ranked ahead of the Lions.
I’ll be the first to say that Texas Tech has an argument to jump over Penn State if the Red Raiders beat Oklahoma State and win at Oklahoma in the next two weeks, but it shouldn’t have happened so soon.
What do you expect when computers decide which two teams play for the national title? We should be used to this B(C)S by now.
Here is my AP ballot, which has absolutely nothing to do with the BCS and the national championship followed by a link to the new AP top 25:
1. Alabama
2. Penn State
3. Texas Tech
4. Texas
5. Florida
6. USC
7. Oklahoma
8. Oklahoma State
9. Ohio State
10. Boise State
11. Utah
12. Missouri
13. Georgia
14. LSU
15. TCU
16. Ball State
17. BYU
18. Michigan State
19. Maryland
20. North Carolina
21. Georgia Tech
22. West Virginia
23. California
24. Pitt
25. Northwestern