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03 Jan 2013

ESPN: Best Teams Left Out of the BCS

On November 17th, both Oregon and Kansas State lost, paving the way for Notre Dame and Alabama to meet for the BCS title. Starting in 2014, college football will expand the national championship format to a four-team field, and upset losses late in the season may not be as costly. But the margin for error is virtually nonexistent under the current system, and Oregon and Kansas State are the just the latest in a long line of great teams on the outside looking in. We ranked the top-10 teams of the last five years that did not get a chance to play in the BCS championship game, including both participants of tonight's Fiesta Bowl.

Posted by: Brian Fremeau on 03 Jan 2013

7 comments, Last at 04 Jan 2013, 5:31pm by Adam H

Comments

1
by JonFrum :: Fri, 01/04/2013 - 1:35am

When there's a four team playoff, numbers five, six and seven will all bitch. In five years, they'll have a sixteen team playoff.

3
by apbadogs :: Fri, 01/04/2013 - 9:30am

...and then a "play-in game" so #17 has a chance (they will play #16).

2
by apbadogs :: Fri, 01/04/2013 - 9:29am
4
by Anonymousse (not verified) :: Fri, 01/04/2013 - 10:03am

More football? Sounds great to me.

7
by Adam H (not verified) :: Fri, 01/04/2013 - 5:31pm

It's not "more football" though... those teams already play postseason games.

5
by justanothersteve :: Fri, 01/04/2013 - 12:40pm

My proposed NCAA format: All teams play five games. After five games, all teams are ranked 1-128. Next seven games will be determined by who wins vs who loses. Rules will be created to postpone teams from meeting twice unless absolutely necessary, and to alternate home and away games. Last two rounds will be at neutral sites for top 4 teams. At end, there will be one undefeated team (unless one of the teams with losses in the first four games somehow goes undefeated for the last 7 games).

I have no idea how many Division 1 teams there are. If there are more than 128, then they can handle it like the British Premier League where teams move up and down between divisions. If less, then a few top teams get a bye.

6
by Dean :: Fri, 01/04/2013 - 4:45pm

If you're on the outside and looking in, well, don't lose. When you make your own schedule, I have no sympathy for a team who finished #3. Worse, I have nothing but contempt for the idea of lowering the bar to let more "deserving" teams in. Everybody DOES NOT get a trophy. If you want to "deserve" it, then make up a brutal schedule for yourself and run the gauntlet.

Otherwise, here's a nice bowl game as a consolation prize so all the alum can get together over new years, wear gear that's 20 year old and 2 sizes too small, pat each other on the back, and reminisce about how great "ol state U" is.