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Ohio State win would give relief to BCS
Every time you try to get them out, they pull themselves back in.
Ohio State finds itself smack in the middle of another Bowl Championship Series controversy, and this time it really, truly isn't the Buckeyes' fault. They play Texas in the Fiesta Bowl in the second-most anticipated matchup of the bowl season.
The Longhorns believe that they should be playing Florida in the national title game. They can believe that forever, and they might be right. But if Ohio State beats Texas, nobody will have any sympathy for the Longhorns. The Buckeyes have become the BCS's favorite team.
With one win, Ohio State can at least reduce the BCS controversy and quiet many of its own critics. The Buckeyes have been ripped east, west and south (if not north) for their flameouts against Florida and LSU in the last two title games. There is a sense that Ohio State never belonged in the title game. This is not true (more on that in a second), but it will be a common feeling until the Buckeyes prove otherwise.
They can prove otherwise against Texas.
And in the process, they can eliminate any sympathy for Texas.
Bowl season roundup
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Bowl recaps and analysis:
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EagleBank: Wake 29, Navy 19 | CFN
New Mexico: Colo. St. 40, Fresno St. 35
St. Petersburg: S. Florida 41, Memphis 14
Las Vegas: Arizona 31, BYU 21 | CFN
New Orleans: SMU 30, Troy 27 (OT) | CFN
Poinsettia: TCU 17, Boise St. 16 | CFN
Hawaii: Notre Dame 49, Hawaii 21 | CFN
Motor City: FAU 24, Cen. Mich. 21 | CFN
Meineke: W. Virginia 31, UNC 30 | CFN
Champs Sports: Fla. St. 42, Wis. 13 | CFN
Emerald: Cal 24, Miami 17 | CFN
Independence: La. Tech 17, NIU 10 | CFN
Papajohns.com: Rutgers 29, N.C. St. 23
Alamo: Mizzou 30, N'west. 23 (OT) | CFN
Humanitarian: Maryland 42, Nevada 35
Texas: Rice 38, W. Michigan 14
Holiday: Oregon 42, Oklahoma St. 31 | CFN
Armed Forces: Houston 34, Air Force 28
Sun: Oregon St. 3, Pittsburgh 0 | CFN
Music City: Vandy 16, BC 14 | CFN
Insight: Kansas 42, Minnesota 21
Chick-fil-A: LSU 38, Georgia Tech 3
Outback: Iowa 31, South Carolina 10 | CFN
Capital One: Georgia 24, MSU 12 | CFN
Gator: Nebraska 26, Clemson 21
Rose: USC 38, Penn St. 24 | Analysis
Orange: Va. Tech 20, Cincinnati 7
Cotton: Ole Miss 47, Texas Tech 34
Liberty: Kentucky 25, East Carolina 19
Sugar: Utah 31, Alabama 17
International: UConn 38, Buffalo 20
Fiesta: Texas 24, Ohio St. 21 | Analysis
GMAC: Tulsa 45, Ball St. 13
BCS title: Florida 24, Oklahoma 14
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If the Longhorns win, we will have three teams with a legitimate claim to the national championship — Texas, Utah and whoever wins the Florida-Oklahoma tilt.
Texas's claim is straightforward and obvious: The Longhorns beat Oklahoma, play in the same conference and finished with the same record.
Utah's claim is not quite as straightforward. The Utes went undefeated against the nation's 31st-toughest schedule. Florida is 11-1 against the nation's second-toughest schedule, and Oklahoma is 11-1 against the nation's toughest schedule. (Yes, they are 11-1, not 12-1, because we're only counting games against The Division Formerly Known As I-A.)
Now: Does a team that went undefeated against the No. 31 schedule deserve a national title over a team that loses one game against the nation's No. 1 schedule? You can reasonably argue both sides of the question. But here are two things to consider:
1. Utah opened the season against Michigan in Ann Arbor. If Michigan had finished 9-3 instead of 3-9, Utah's schedule would have jumped into the top 10. Of course, if Michigan had been a 9-3 team instead of a 3-9 team, Utah might not be undefeated today. That is unknowable, but also beside the point: Utah tried to add a tough nonconference road game.
2. The team just below Utah in the strength-of-schedule rankings is Miami (Fla.). I think we can agree that if the Hurricanes had gone undefeated against that schedule, they would have played in the national title game because they are the "U," they have a long history of contending and they play in a major conference, even if the ACC was nothing special this year.
So there is no doubt in my mind that the Utes' Mountain West Conference affiliation has been held against them. The only argument is whether that prejudice resulted in the right matchups anyway.
Utah has already made its case. But Texas can do bigger damage to the BCS's credibility, because to the casual fan, Utah is still an outsider that wants to get in. Texas is one of the ultimate insiders, and the Longhorns' case is emblematic of everything people hate about the BCS: What happens on the field does not seem to matter.
And that brings us to Ohio State, an eight-point underdog vs. the Longhorns.
Nobody outside of Ohio wants to hear this, but Ohio State absolutely deserved its spot in the last two championship games.
In 2006 the Buckeyes were undefeated and the consensus No. 1 team in the country heading into the bowls. They had beaten defending national champion Texas in Austin and handed Michigan its only loss. No other major-conference team was unbeaten.
Of course, they promptly laid an egg against Florida, which followed Michigan's egg-laying against USC in the Rose Bowl. Easter came early in the Big Ten that year. But who should have played in the title game ahead of Ohio State? USC? The Trojans had lost to pretty good Oregon State and mediocre UCLA.
Then, in 2007, the whole season was a mess. LSU lost twice and won the national title. Nobody else had a really good argument for being in the title game; Ohio State, which had only lost to Big Ten co-champ Illinois, deserved its chance. You might think the third team in the standings would have done better against LSU than Ohio State, but you'd be wrong. The third team, Virginia Tech, had already been drilled, 48-7, by LSU.
So Ohio State deserved those bids. And the Buckeyes deserved much of the mocking they got after their title-game losses.
Ohio State can avoid another round of mocking, and save the BCS some embarrassment, by beating Texas. The Ohio State Buckeyes: the BCS's favorite team, even when they don't want to be.
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