TCU, Boise State may give BCS leg to stand on

It turns out the tent is big enough for everybody, after all. Well, not everybody, but the BCS bowls look like they are going to have room for everybody who proved themselves worthy of one of the 10 coveted bowl spots this season. That means you, TCU . . . and you, Boise State! For good measure, Oregon State, Cincinnati and Georgia Tech might punch their tickets this week. But mostly, this is about TCU and Boise State. It's the "and" that is rocking this boat. Who'd a-thunk? The entire BCS system is set up to avoid this possibility. It even says in the rules, only one of these interlopers is supposed to warrant an invitation. That's why we call 'em "BCS busters," because they're crashing the party. But when a season unfolds like this one, with a collection of results that leaves six undefeated teams and 113 others with two or more losses — even the BCS computers are having a hard time figuring out how to keep these shirt-tail cousins away from the party. Out are the USCs, Oklahomas, Georgias, Notre Dames, ad infinitum. In are the "little guys," or the "other guys," or the "non-BCS guys." At it looks right now, the Fiesta is in position to pit Boise State against Iowa or Penn State, the Orange can match TCU with the Georgia Tech-Clemson winner, and the Sugar can square off the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh winner against the Florida-Alabama loser. Of course, the Rose Bowl will be Ohio State against the Oregon-Oregon State winner, and the BCS championship game will be Texas against the Florida-Alabama winner. The one thing that could ruin things for Boise State is Nebraska. Yes, the Cornhuskers are playing the role of a three-loss traditional power which can ace out an undefeated team for a BCS spot. If the Cornhuskers knock off Texas in the Big 12 championship game, then they're guaranteed a trip to the Fiesta Bowl, and 12-1 Texas becomes an at-large team, which the Orange Bowl would snap up, leaving TCU to the Fiesta (or to the BCS championship game, see below) and Boise State holding the short straw. I know, I know, it would all be so terribly unfair, yada yada, but the collection of results in recent weeks means that Iowa (and maybe Penn State, too) will reach the top 10 in the BCS standings, and so they can be justifiably selected. These teams are eligible by being in the top 14, but there's something about having a single digit next to their name that makes them irresistible to the bowls. So, in reality, it wouldn't be Big 12 champion Nebraska or 12-1 Texas acing out Boise State, it would be a two-loss, Big Ten runner-up (Iowa or Penn State). So if Texas loses to Nebraska this week, who would wind up in the BCS championship game against the SEC champion? Good question. There are still lots of variables, kiddo. Logic suggests that the winner of the 1 vs. 2 SEC championship game would be in, and that if No. 3 loses, then No. 4 would rise up into the BCS title game. That would be TCU. But Cincinnati is No. 5, and is playing highly touted Pittsburgh this week (and TCU is done playing), and a victory could help the Bearcats leapfrog the Horned Frogs. Except, Pitt lost to West Virginia over the weekend, so maybe a victory won't give Cincinnati quite the ratings pop previously expected. There's one other possibility that turns my stomach: The SEC title game loser could still finish a half-step ahead in the polls and/or computers, and actually get a rematch in Pasadena. You want to talk about a travesty? Voters need to make sure that does not happen. But even if Texas makes it to the title game (clearing the way for TCU and Boise State to both earn BCS bids), folks in the Mountain West and Western Athletic Conference shouldn't get too carried away. In fact, they ought to realize that their success is actually hurting the BCS-busters of the future, which is to say, themselves. This double-buster postseason makes the case for the BCS that, yes, teams from any conference can indeed play their way into the biggest, richest bowls. And to have two teams rise to that level in one season for the first time, and actually get selected for BCS bowls, would set a precedent that would make that point inarguable. The problem is, this is so unlikely on an annual basis that it might never happen again. But if it happens this time, the BCS will have all of the talking points about parity on its side. This wacky chain of events would legitimize the BCS argument that everybody has a chance to reach not only the big bowls, but possibly even the national championship game. TCU is tantalizingly close to the title game, and while the notion that two teams from mid-major conferences can be tapped into the glories of the Fiesta and Orange Bowl in the same season is pretty heady stuff, it will play right into the hands of Mr. Ari Fleischer. Yes, it's all perfect fodder for a spinmaster, which is precisely what the BCS has hired the political flack (marketing consultant) to do. Come to think of it, he couldn't have ordered up a better strategy to take the heat off the BCS for being the unfair monopoly that it has been accurately portrayed as over the years. He might as well have told the BCS execs: "Invite both TCU and Boise State this year, and you won't have to worry about (Utah Senator) Orrin Hatch popping off in Congress, anymore." With less political pressure on the BCS conferences and bowls, there would in turn be less pressure on university presidents to adjust their long stance against moving toward a playoff. In reality, this season — with its six unbeaten teams when there are NO one-loss and few two-loss competitors — is not the same as saying the BCS is a viable alternative to a playoff system. But it will give the BCS spinmasters just what they need to continue with their argument.