Panther's Perspective: BCS proves to be a joke (again)

In case you were too busy watching the NFL or game two of the NLCS this past Sunday night, the years first BCS standings were announced on ESPN and has yet again drawn much criticism. In its first standings of the year, the BCS put Oklahoma at number one followed by Oregon, Boise State, Auburn, TCU, LSU, Michigan State, Alabama, and Utah. and Ohio State. In the two most prominent human polls (The AP Poll and the USA Today Poll), Oklahoma is third in both polls; while Oregon is first in both polls.  

    The question I'm asking is how is an Oklahoma team that is third in both human polls and has played such a soft schedule up to this point in the season be number one in the BCS?  Oregon and Auburn have clearly been the two best teams this year and have both clearly played a tougher schedule than Oklahoma.  I could even make the argument that Boise State has played a tougher schedule than Oklahoma but I'll save that argument for a different time.

    As we found out this weekend, Nebraska turned out to be paper-tigers and probably won't even make it to the Big 12 championship game; and even though Missouri is undefeated and will play Oklahoma this weekend, the toughest game they have had this year was against Saint Mary's School for the Blind.

    For Oregon to go undefeated, they have to beat the likes of USC, Stanford, California, Oregon State, Arizona, and Arizona State.  For Auburn to go undefeated, they have to beat the likes of Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Clemson, and Mississippi State.  Meanwhile, the toughest game Oklahoma played all season long was against a two-loss Texas team that lost at home to sub-par UCLA team.

    I have said it before and will say it again; this is why we need a playoff system in college football.  It doesn't matter if it's an eight-team playoff or just a four-team playoff; we just need one.  And there is no doubt in my mind that if we had one, Oklahoma wouldn't even keep it close with Oregon or Auburn.

    The BCS better hope that either Oklahoma, Oregon, or Auburn gets upset at one point or another this season because if they all win out, there will yet again be cries for a playoff system.  But that's not even the worst case scenario for the BCS.  Imagine the outrage if Boise State and TCU both go undefeated while every other Division 1A team loses at least once.  That would most likely mean a Boise State-TCU National Title Game.  I think we can all imagine how that would be perceived in the national sports media.