"This is truly one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for us," said freshman special teamer Jason Orbott.  Jason plays for the Ohio State Buckeyes. "We expected a really tough battle this year in the Big 10 and now thanks to the generosity in Ann Arbor, it looks like we just have to worry about Wisconsin now."

 

This has to be the most disastrous fall in the history of sport, barring maybe that "agony of defeat guy" who eats it on the ski jump.  God, that still hurts just thinking about it. Who was that guy? Did he live?

 

Coming into the season, Michigan was ranked 5^th and lost to Appalachian State last week, not even in division I-A and now Oregon, not even ranked. Lsst week AccuScore posted an image of a sinking ship regarding Michigan;s season. Now we are trying to Photoshop some flames onto the boat image.

 

Michigan has kindly highlighted the massive flaws in ranking systems and not even just pre-season ranks. The big schools like Michigan, Texas, Florida, etc. all get favorable rankings and it is up to them to stay there, a task the Wolverines were clearly not up to. But smaller schools with good teams start at the bottom or not even in the rankings at all and must claw their way to the top.

 

While I railed last week against small, undermanned schools playing the top schools, I also realize that somewhere, somehow, there has to be a better system than this. If you are outside one of the bigger conferences, even an undefeated season isn't a guarantee of a shot.  Just ask Boise State.  The Broncos went undefeated last season, which by the way was their second undefeated season in three years.  Boise State went on to play Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, a game Boise State won. Finally some respect for the Broncos. Wrong. Boise State came into the season ranked 24^th, OU was ranked 8^th.  Two undefeated seasons in three years and they beat OU on National TV and they still can't crack the top 20. What's wrong with this picture?

 

{Note: As I'm writing this, Boise State is losing to Washington, thus blowing my entire point. Thanks guys.}

 

Part of what's wrong is that rankings, even the BCS, are dependent on human beings. Coaches, writers, who ever. Teams that are on TV are going to get the votes. Do you mean to tell me that all these poll voters watched every Boise State game last year and still decided to put them at 24^th? I doubt they saw a one yet I'll bet they saw and heard a lot about Oklahoma.  Besides, there is no musical written about Boise State yet ‘Oklahoma' was made into a movie starring the mom from the Partridge Family. How cool is that?

 

I don't mean any disrespect to Oklahoma beyond my sarcasm in reference to the cheesy musical of the same name.  They are a good team, no doubt about it. They also have a solid shot at the title this year. And for every Boise State, there are tons of North Texas States who seem to enjoy being cannon fodder for the likes of Oklahoma and Texas each year. North Texas lost to OU 79-10 this year and I have no idea how they managed 10 points.

 

For the teams like the Broncos of Boise State, you have but 12 games a year to scratch and claw your way into the rankings to get a shot at a decent bowl while Texas just has to make it through the season with one loss and they have a shot at the national championship. Out of their 12 game season, the Longhorns play only one team ranked in the top 15, Oklahoma. Oklahoma only plays one team ranked in the top 20 all year, Texas.

 

How the heck do teams like Boise State ever stand a chance making it to the top if the big team's schedules are this soft? Based on the current system, I can't blame big schools for not wanting to play Boise State.  Why take the risk when all you need to do is not lose to have a shot?  One or two losses cuts your bowl income from tens of millions of dollars to a million or none.  Yet without a decent top match-up during the season, Boise State doesn't have a chance in hell of ever playing for a national championship and that's a damn shame. BCS should stand for "Broken College System."