Did the BCS get it right?

On Sunday the BCS made official what everyone thought would happen after Florida and Oklahoma were victorious in their respective conference title games, pitting the two teams against each other in the BCS national championship game.  The question is are they really the two best teams in the country?

With seven BCS conference teams with one loss, it’s hard to say.  I mean, Florida only lost by one point.  But, their loss was at home, while Penn State’s only defeat was also by one point, but it was on the road.  Does that mean the Nittany Lions are more deserving than the Gators?  Texas beat Oklahoma on a neutral site and their loss was by only six points on the road.  Should they go over the Sooners?  Texas Tech will then tell you they beat Texas, but then you come back to them getting blasted by 44 points to Oklahoma.  The Big 12 roulette wheel keeps spinning.  Alabama jumps in saying they were the last unbeaten team with their only defeat coming at the hands of Florida in a back and forth SEC title game on a neutral site.  Then you have USC, who lost by six on the road the same as Texas and boast the best defense in the country.  Then you have the Utah Utes, who will tell you these teams can argue over whose loss is the best but, they didn’t lose to anyone and are champions of what could arguably be considered the third best conference in the country this year in the Mountain West.

When you look at all these factors I think it’s hard to definitively say Florida and Oklahoma are the two best teams, but I think it’s equally as difficult to say they aren’t.  Of these eight teams, Oklahoma and Florida are the two highest scoring teams while only USC and Penn State give up fewer points than the Gators.

The bigger issue I think here is that this year is the clearest case for a playoff.  You have eight teams who have legitimate claims to a right to play for the national championship and if there was a playoff they would all have a chance.  That said, I’m not naive enough to think it’s ever going to happen.  There’s too much money involved in the current system with the bowls and the BCS conference teams that they will never give that up.  Other than when a team like Utah this year goes undefeated and gets an at large bid, the BCS conference don’t want to share and if you want further proof of that it’s in the fact that even though they were eligible an undefeated Boise State team was left out in favor of a two loss Ohio State team.

So, as much as I don’t like the BCS and root for scenarios like this year every year, short of the impossible happening and having a playoff it’s sadly probably the best it’s going to get.  With that said, it’s hard to say they 100% got it right, but it’s also hard to say they didn’t.