Today on the John Lund Show, 95.5 FM – A caller gave his opinion on his hope that Oregon will play Boise State for the BCS National Championship January 10th 2011 in Glendale Arizona. This particular caller explained that a game against Boise State benefits Oregon’s psyche to revenge the loss it had last season against Boise, and since no one else will care anyway at least he will enjoy watching the game. I thought about this callers opinion and what he truly meant by saying that no one would care about the game, Oregon versus Boise State. After further thought about possible opponents for Oregon, no matter who they play for the National Championship it is a Lose-Lose Situation for everyone but Oregon.
For this experiment, we will assume Oregon will play for the National Championship, and win. However the projected opponent could change the dynamic of not only the game, but national spotlight attention. Auburn, Boise State and TCU are the three main contenders for the final position (yes again assuming Oregon wins out) in the National Championship Game. If Boise beats Nevada this weekend, they are posed to overtake TCU in the BCS standings. However, Boise would still sit at number 3 in the standings unless Auburn falls to either Alabama (they are a 4 point underdog) or South Carolina in the SEC Championship game. If Auburn falls to either but not both, they could still overtake Boise in the rankings, depending on how far they drop in the Human Polls. Auburn has been a mediocre undefeated team all season, escaping with several narrow victories, therefore a loss to either team I assume would drop them far enough for Boise to take control of the number 2 spot in the country.
To argue which team deserves to play Oregon for the National Championship is constantly on display in the national media. During those debates the question always arises of national publicity and attention for such a game. To have a National Championship without the SEC outcasts many national pundits and fans who feel SEC football is gods work. So the question I pose, which team would be better for Oregon to play, excluding whom they rather play for the chance to win. The answer; it doesn’t matter, Oregon will be outshined by the media in either regard.
If Oregon plays currently ranked number 2 Auburn, you have an SEC powerhouse in the National Championship Game. This provides the SEC hawks exactly what they seek, the SEC appearing yet again in the National Championship Game. However with Auburn possibly making an appearance in Glendale poses potential backlash as well. Though the NCAA, the SEC, and Auburn has not found sufficient information to suspend start quarterback Cam Newton, yet with over a month until the Championship game information could arise which changes his eligibility. If indeed information presents itself Newton could be suspended and the National Championship game would become Oregon versus an Auburn team who relies completely on the skill of Newton sans Newton himself. This would tarnish Oregon’s win and the SEC chants would continue with the claim that Oregon didn’t play a full SEC team but simply a shell.
Another possible distraction from the media attention that Oregon deserves as the number 1 team could be the possibility of yet another year with undefeated teams ending the season and not playing for the National Championship Game. Though I personally do not feel that Boise State deserves to play for the National Championship due to the powder puff schedule they are cursed with, I do feel they deserve a chance to prove their worth in a playoff system. This of course would be the argument of mainstream media who fascinates themselves with Boise State every year. Boise continues to run the table on the Western Athletic Conference, with a few decent possible ranked opponents thrown in the mix, yet continually get shunned behind more powerful teams with a much (MUCH) tougher strength of schedule. This argument detracts from the attention that Oregon deserves, though based on a valid point of a playoff system, it still detracts.
If Auburn loses and Boise pulls ahead of them in the BCS rankings the national media would create a hail-storm of protest against this championship game with the same argument many Boise supporters present, “well if there was a playoff!” If Oregon plays Boise State for the National Championship game the relevance in the Northwest region of the country will be strong, but outside of that area diminished. People will feel Boise rode into the National Championship on weakness to play an Oregon team with more flash than substance in a weak Pac-10 conference.
If Oregon convincingly handles Boise State, the attention that Oregon will receive will not be that of a National Champion, but of a team who beat a nobody to win. The SEC will argue that the BCS hurts people like them because to make it undefeated in the SEC is impossible due to the quality of opposition week to week. Boise argues the BCS hurts people like them because they deserve the chance to play but because they are stuck with mediocre opponents they are left out in the cold. Oregon will argue they are the National Champions, and nobody will listen.
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On a side note: If Boise does play for the National Championship, I personally feel playoffs are that much closer to a possibility. SEC hawks, the media and the sponsors (due to probable low ratings from an Oregon vs. Boise matchup) will pressure the NCAA to create a playoff system due to the fact the SEC is not going to have a chance at the national title. If Boise makes an appearance yet gets handled by Oregon, the national attention will u-turn the Boise State ship to claim they never should have been there in the first place and a playoff would fix future mistakes like this.
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