Bowled over? No, but it's still a treat

By CHRIS DUFRESNE

Dec. 8, 2008 12 AM PT

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Dufresne is a Times staff writer.

All you need to know about college pigskin’s tortured logic is that the Bowl Championship Series on Sunday got it right -- and Texas got robbed.

The system succeeded and failed.

Some coaches cheer as bowl bonuses kick in, and a few right now might want to hijack a BCS computer.

Fans rush for tickets as others rush for cover.

Yet, when ESPN outbid Fox for the broadcast rights for BCS bowl games from 2011 through 2014, it did so knowing it was bidding for this and not a playoff in any way, shape, Plus One or Barack Obama form.

“It was negotiated under that premise,” BCS coordinator John Swofford reiterated Sunday. “It could be adjusted during the course of contract. Whether it will be or not is another matter. The intention moving forward with the group is to move forward with the format we currently have.”

What we currently have is another interesting mess.

The BCS standings churned and gurgled and spit out a matchup between Oklahoma and Florida, the two hottest teams taking center snaps these days.

How could anyone object to this? Oklahoma (12-1) has scored 60 or more points in five straight games while Florida (12-1) just defeated No.1 Alabama, previously the only undefeated team in the BCS top five.

But it wouldn’t be a season if a scale of justice wasn’t tipped -- and this year’s outrage is Texas being left out of the mix.

Never mind that what happened to Texas was the Big 12’s fault for calling in Big Government to settle a City Council zoning law.

Is Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops supposed to apologize for shooting to No. 1 because his conference decided to use the BCS standings last week to break the three-way tie in the South?

“They went to a system that we all agreed upon before the season,” Stoops said on Fox’s BCS selection show.

Chalk it up as just another crazy year, with no crazy year ever being the same.

Louisiana State got to the BCS title game last year with two losses -- and won it.

This year, the only two-loss team in the BCS top 10 was No. 10 Ohio State.

Seven schools finished with one loss, and the two mid-major conference members, Utah and Boise State, ended up a combined 24-0.

Obama’s eight-team playoff would have excluded No. 9 Boise State (12-0) while “Plus One” would have enraged USC, which finished No. 5 behind Alabama in the final BCS accounting.

The “Plus One” model commissioners rejected last spring would have, however, solved the Texas problem.

It would have pitted No. 1 Oklahoma against No. 4 Alabama and No. 2 Florida against No. 3 Texas in two sensational semifinals.

Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive’s idea would . . . have . . . worked.

With no chance for a spring meeting do-over, the BCS did what it could to untangle all this fishing line.

The bowl lineup is . . . not bad:

The championship game, Florida vs. Oklahoma, matches the schools every polling index -- Associated Press, Harris, USA Today coaches -- had at either No.1 or No. 2.

The Rose Bowl, USC (11-1) vs. Penn State (11-1), matches No. 5 against No. 8 and Pete Carroll against Joe Paterno.

USC defeated Penn State on Jan. 1, 1923, in the first bowl game played in the Rose Bowl stadium. (Texas fans take note: Cal turned down the West Coast invitation!)

Less than four years later -- on Dec. 21, 1926 -- Paterno was born in Brooklyn.

Paterno turns 82 this month and is coming off hip-replacement surgery, yet he may have a surprise in store that may top a sky-diver landing at midfield with the game ball.

“I think I’m going to be able to be on the sideline,” Paterno said Sunday. “I may regret it, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Sideline warning: Watch out for USC linebacker Rey Maualuga.

The Fiesta Bowl, Ohio State (10-2) vs. Texas (11-1), features pedigree programs that had never met before 2005 but are now meeting for the third time.

It’s a prove-it bowl for Texas, which loses its national title argument if it loses -- the same way Longhorns fans say California lost its argument about the 2004 Rose Bowl by losing the Holiday Bowl.

Texas, with a win, still has an outside chance to win a share of the AP title.

Texas Coach Mack Brown said it’s time to move on from days of whine and roses.

“The BCS hasn’t satisfied everybody,” Brown said. “We’ve been on the positive side a few times and on the negative side a few times.”

The Sugar Bowl, Utah (12-0) vs. Alabama (12-1), is a game in which Utah gets to prove -- gulp -- it should have warranted a shot at the national title game. Last year, in this game, undefeated Hawaii proved it didn’t warrant free lodging after getting swept under the Superdome rug by Georgia, 41-10.

Going off the BCS bowl board, Boise State (12-0) will get all it wants against BCS No. 11 Texas Christian in a gem of a minor-league bowl: the Poinsettia.

The Orange Bowl, Cincinnati (11-2) vs. Virginia Tech (9-4), has to be staged under the BCS provision that the champions of the Big East and Atlantic Coast conferences must receive BCS bids no matter how many combined losses the schools take into the game.

But the Orange Bowl gets to host the BCS title game the next week.

Got a BCS beef?

Take it to Lawry’s.

If you didn’t think the BCS was fair this year, you should have:

Raised your hand to protest when Big 12 tiebreaker rules were being discussed and/or not lost to Texas Tech.

Not lost to Oregon State.

Not lost to Iowa.

The BCS blew it again, and we can’t wait for the bowl games to start.

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