Really. That's how I feel this morning. With Oklahoma State's loss to Oklahoma on Saturday, the Big Ten is virtually guaranteed an at-large bid to a BCS bowl. The only question is will it be Iowa or Penn State? And will it be the Fiesta Bowl or Orange Bowl? Everyone is talking about the angles and trying to figure out which team is more attractive to which bowl. In my opinion, Iowa can have it. I don't want it. I will explain why.
According to the BCS rules, the Sugar Bowl will get the first selection due to losing their automatic qualifier to the national championship game. They will most likely take the loser of the SEC Championship Game.
Next up will be the Fiesta Bowl if Texas beats Nebraska this weekend. With Oklahoma State losing, it's likely they will take a Big Ten Team. Either Iowa or Penn State. But who will they play? Ohio State, the PAC-10 champ, and ACC champ already have tie ins to other bowls. So that means the opponent for the Fiesta Bowl would most likely come from the group that includes TCU, Boise State, or Cincinnati. (This assumes Oregon defeats Oregon State, Cincinnati defeats Pitt, and Texas defeats Nebraska this weekend).
Uh, no thanks. I know the money is great and all, but this would be just another sad matchup the hopelessly flawed BCS system has delivered in recent years. I'm sorry, but ten years from now I will not be rocking a Fiesta Bowl champs T-shirt if they go and beat TCU. I seem to recall years where #3 played #4, #5 played #6, #7 played #8 and so on. If we can't have a playoff, can we at least have a system that gives us more to look forward to than a 10-2 Big Ten team playing a mid major opponent?
But my real motivation for not caring about the BCS bowl is the consolation prize. Thanks to Mississippi State beating Mississippi this weekend, LSU is sure to get an invite to the Capital One Bowl, where the loser between Iowa and PSU in the BCS sweepstakes is sure to go. Now that is a game with some sex appeal. Les Miles and the Tigers are just two years removed from a National Championship. They carry that SEC swagger. And really, Penn State would have nothing to lose and everything to gain in that game. If they lose, it's no big deal because LSU is an SEC team and they are supposed to beat the big dumb and slow Big Ten team. But if Penn State wins it would be a huge lift for the program and the entire conference. It would open the eyes of the national media and shut up a lot of the Big Ten critics. Plus it would give Penn State tremendous momentum going into the offseason. Recruiting would surely get a boost and Penn State would get a lot of positive media going into the 2010 season.
So if it were up to me, I'd tell the BCS to take their game and stick it. I would gladly go to the Capital One Bowl and play LSU over the big dollars to play TCU or Cincinnati.