Another Take from the Mizzou Side of BCS Screw Job - Page 3

Frazod · 12-03-2007, 09:51 AM

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/spo...5?OpenDocument

Mizzou left out of BCS? It's nonsense
BY BRYAN BURWELL
POST-DISPATCH SPORTS COLUMNIST
Sunday, Dec. 02 2007

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Of course it doesn’t make sense. You know it, I know it, even
the doofuses who continue to perpetrate this idiotic Bowl Championship Series
system have to know just how fatally flawed and hopelessly messed up their
multi-million dollar scam is.

So Sunday night was just one more bit of annoying confirmation of how defective
the BCS is.

From the broad national perspective, to the narrower parochial one, I truly
hate it with all my heart. But since sports is very much like politics --
everything is local -- let’s deal with how Mizzou got robbed Sunday night by
the BCS and its convoluted computers.

Missouri finished its finest season in the history of the program with an 11-2
record, won the Big 12 North, knocked off both arch rivals in Kansas and
Illinois, and the Tigers finished with a No. 6 ranking in the final BCS
standings.

Logic says the Tigers had to get a BCS bowl bid, right?

So why are they sitting on the outside of the BCS with an invitation to the
still prestigious (but non BCS) Cotton Bowl, while five other schools that
ranked lower in the BCS standings -- including the 8th-ranked Jayhawks and
13th-ranked Illini -- received bids to the more preferred BCS bowls?

Seventh-ranked Southern California and Illinois are in the Rose Bowl. Kansas is
in the Orange Bowl, ninth-ranked West Virginia is in the Fiesta Bowl and
10th-ranked Hawaii is in the Sugar Bowl.

So how does any of this make sense? As the news began to filter through the
second floor hallways at the Reynolds Alumni Center on Sunday night, the grim
faces of many Mizzou athletes told the story of the night.

“It’s just a shame we got locked out,” said All-America tight end Martin
Rucker. “How does that happen? Mathematically, logically, it just doesn’t make
sense.”

By the time the Fox network BCS bowl selection show began at 7 p.m., Rucker and
his teammates had already left the building. They couldn’t bear to watch it.
They had been instructed to take the high road and go with the company line
that they’re “excited” to be Cotton Bowl bound.

But Rucker, the senior who has seen Missouri football grow from inconsequential
to important, couldn’t play the game. In the course of 48 turbulent hours, he’d
watched his team go from No. 1 in the country with a legitimate shot at a
national championship bid, to disappointed and disgusted outsiders with their
noses pressed to the glass watching the BCS dance cards being handed out.

Someone asked if this obvious slight was further proof of how badly college
football’s top division needs a playoff system to decide its national champions
and perhaps prevent a situation like this where Mizzou was unjustly left on the
outside looking in.

“I don’t know if you need a playoff system to see that it doesn’t make sense
that one team (Illinois) lost three games and lost to you, and you only lost
two games, and they’re going to a BCS game and you’re not,” said Rucker with a
resigned shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t think we need a playoff system to
understand that, do we?”

You could see the disappointment in their faces as the players got the
official word and most of them quietly left the alumni center without saying a
word. “I have a bunch of players who have a bunch of frowns,” said Pinkel.

But those frowning faces told another story of the night, as well. Is there any
surer sign that Pinkel’s emerging program is heading in the right direction
than the fact that Mizzou football is no longer satisfied with a Cotton Bowl
bid?

Three years ago -- heck, last year -- Missouri loyalists and Tiger players and
coaches would have done somersaults down Broadway if you told them that the
2007 season would conclude with an 11-2 regular season record, a Big 12 North
title, a week on top of the national polls, a legitimate Heisman Trophy
candidate, and a Cotton Bowl bid.

After six years of lesser bowls and underachieving seasons, a trip to a
traditional and prestigious Jan. 1 bowl game, with or without the additional
status of a BCS affiliation, would have been considered a watershed mark for
Pinkel and the Tigers.

So even in the aftermath of the crushing defeat to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title
game, even with the obvious insult by the BCS system, even as some folks will
spend a lot of energy and a ton of venom overanalyzing how the biggest game in
MU football history ended up with a less-than-storybook ending, let’s not lose
sight of the essential ongoing story line.

What happened over the weekend wasn’t the sad end of the story.

The rebirth of Mizzou football is a story that’s just beginning.

**DaKCMan AP** · 12-03-2007, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

Well, why not? If MU is better than KU, and therefore more 'deserving' of the Orange, why isn't App. St. better than Michigan by virtue of beating them? If winning head-to-head doesn't matter, then KU has an even better argument for 'deserving' the Orange.

You do realize that the only team MU lost to, KU didn't play and that the only reason MU has 1 more loss then KU is because KU didn't win its division. Doesn't sound to me like KU is the better team and more deserving of a BCS bowl just because they didn't get to go lose to OU in the Big XII champ.

vailpass · 12-03-2007, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoBo

Oh, what you described sounded like the original Orange Bowl. That's the one that's getting torn down.

Sorry, I now see that is exactly what it seemed I was saying.
I haven't been since 2003 but the year we went to the Orange Bowl the stadium it was played in was a crap hole.

Demonpenz · 12-03-2007, 10:59 AM

I think winning a bowl game means something. Especially in ncaa 2007 i still can't win the alamo bowl!

**Bob Dole** · 12-03-2007, 11:07 AM

Mizzou fans should be overjoyed that they have the chance to spend $90 for a spot on the "renovated" Cotton Bowl aluminum bench seating!

Molitoth · 12-03-2007, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Sure there is--KU lost 1 game, MU lost 2.

What, because MU beat KU, MU 'deserves' to go? By that logic, Kentucky 'deserves' to be in the national title game because they beat LSU. Or Colorado 'deserves' a BCS bowl because they beat Oklahoma.

dumb. dumb. dumb. dumb. dumb.

Frazod · 12-03-2007, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

Mizzou fans should be overjoyed that they have the chance to spend $90 for a spot on the "renovated" Cotton Bowl aluminum bench seating!

Lovely. Sounds like Lambeau, minus the frozen tundra.

StcChief · 12-03-2007, 12:06 PM

BCS Bowls seem to show it's a popularity contest.

Frazod · 12-03-2007, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StcChief

BCS Bowls seem to show it's a popularity contest.

Why would that be? Seriously, what does Kansas have to offer? Bigger audience? Nope. Missouri's population is more than double that of Kansas. Bigger tradition? Again, no. Kansas has no tradition in football to speak of. More success? NO. We won head-to-head at a neutral field, effectively negating the one-loss season.

I don't know what happened, but I don't buy the official line for a second. I think this boils down to the right palms getting greased and the right asses getting kissed. The 2007 Jayhoax are basically the 1997 Broncos - the lesser team that goes farther by nefarious means.

siberian khatru · 12-03-2007, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frazod

Why would that be? Seriously, what does Kansas have to offer? Bigger audience? Nope. Missouri's population is more than double that of Kansas. Bigger tradition? Again, no. Kansas has no tradition in football to speak of. More success? NO. We won head-to-head at a neutral field, effectively negating the one-loss season.

I don't know what happened, but I don't buy the official line for a second. I think this boils down to the right palms getting greased and the right asses getting kissed. The 2007 Jayhoax are basically the 1997 Broncos - the lesser team that goes farther by nefarious means.

There's word that Perkins guaranteed X-number of tickets sold (supposedly Louisville did the same thing last year) and that Alden wouldn't commit to the same figure. Tiger fans think Perkins overpromised and they'll have to give away tix. Who knows.

BTW, it appears that all the MU Cotton Bowl tix sold out very quickly this morning.

chiefqueen · 12-03-2007, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelyeyed57

Not that I have ever cared, but what difference does a "BCS" bowl and a non-BCS bowl

Let's illustrate this graphically

BCS Bowl -$$$$$$$$$$$

Non-BCS Bowl - $$

Get It?

dtebbe · 12-03-2007, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefqueen

Let's illustrate this graphically

BCS Bowl -$$$$$$$$$$$

Non-BCS Bowl - $$

Get It?

And don't forget the recruiting angle. That's how you get those out of state guys that would otherwise go to other powerhouse programs.

DT

Frazod · 12-03-2007, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtebbe

And don't forget the recruiting angle. That's how you get those out of state guys that would otherwise go to other powerhouse programs.

DT

Well, when VT kicks the shit out of them, and the next day all the talkingheads are wondering aloud how such a weak team ever got to the Orange Bowl in the first place, perhaps the wastlelands of Kansas won't be so attractive to new recruits after all.

**alanm** · 12-03-2007, 01:02 PM

I don't know why you guys didn't realize that the Cotton Bowl has usually taken the loser of the Big 12 championship game.
And lets not forget that Bowls usually take teams that bring legions of fans. I'm not privy to that information but perhaps Missouri doesn't fare well in that area. Just saying.

Pablo · 12-03-2007, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frazod

Well, when VT kicks the shit out of them, and the next day all the talkingheads are wondering aloud how such a weak team ever got to the Orange Bowl in the first place, perhaps the wastlelands of Kansas won't be so attractive to new recruits after all.

Well..we know for sure they won't be talking about Mizzou and the Cotton Bowl at all.

Publicity is publicity..good, bad, or ugly. Get your name out. That's more than Mizzou will be doing with their bowl game.

**alanm** · 12-03-2007, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frazod

Lovely. Sounds like Lambeau, minus the frozen tundra.

It was pretty fucking cold last year. About 30 degrees with a 25 mph wind. It was sunny, but cold and windy.

12-03-2007, 09:51 AM
Frazod WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $2625085	Another Take from the Mizzou Side of BCS Screw Job http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/spo...5?OpenDocument Mizzou left out of BCS? It's nonsense BY BRYAN BURWELL POST-DISPATCH SPORTS COLUMNIST Sunday, Dec. 02 2007 COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Of course it doesn’t make sense. You know it, I know it, even the doofuses who continue to perpetrate this idiotic Bowl Championship Series system have to know just how fatally flawed and hopelessly messed up their multi-million dollar scam is. So Sunday night was just one more bit of annoying confirmation of how defective the BCS is. From the broad national perspective, to the narrower parochial one, I truly hate it with all my heart. But since sports is very much like politics -- everything is local -- let’s deal with how Mizzou got robbed Sunday night by the BCS and its convoluted computers. Missouri finished its finest season in the history of the program with an 11-2 record, won the Big 12 North, knocked off both arch rivals in Kansas and Illinois, and the Tigers finished with a No. 6 ranking in the final BCS standings. Logic says the Tigers had to get a BCS bowl bid, right? So why are they sitting on the outside of the BCS with an invitation to the still prestigious (but non BCS) Cotton Bowl, while five other schools that ranked lower in the BCS standings -- including the 8th-ranked Jayhawks and 13th-ranked Illini -- received bids to the more preferred BCS bowls? Seventh-ranked Southern California and Illinois are in the Rose Bowl. Kansas is in the Orange Bowl, ninth-ranked West Virginia is in the Fiesta Bowl and 10th-ranked Hawaii is in the Sugar Bowl. So how does any of this make sense? As the news began to filter through the second floor hallways at the Reynolds Alumni Center on Sunday night, the grim faces of many Mizzou athletes told the story of the night. “It’s just a shame we got locked out,” said All-America tight end Martin Rucker. “How does that happen? Mathematically, logically, it just doesn’t make sense.” By the time the Fox network BCS bowl selection show began at 7 p.m., Rucker and his teammates had already left the building. They couldn’t bear to watch it. They had been instructed to take the high road and go with the company line that they’re “excited” to be Cotton Bowl bound. But Rucker, the senior who has seen Missouri football grow from inconsequential to important, couldn’t play the game. In the course of 48 turbulent hours, he’d watched his team go from No. 1 in the country with a legitimate shot at a national championship bid, to disappointed and disgusted outsiders with their noses pressed to the glass watching the BCS dance cards being handed out. Someone asked if this obvious slight was further proof of how badly college football’s top division needs a playoff system to decide its national champions and perhaps prevent a situation like this where Mizzou was unjustly left on the outside looking in. “I don’t know if you need a playoff system to see that it doesn’t make sense that one team (Illinois) lost three games and lost to you, and you only lost two games, and they’re going to a BCS game and you’re not,” said Rucker with a resigned shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t think we need a playoff system to understand that, do we?” You could see the disappointment in their faces as the players got the official word and most of them quietly left the alumni center without saying a word. “I have a bunch of players who have a bunch of frowns,” said Pinkel. But those frowning faces told another story of the night, as well. Is there any surer sign that Pinkel’s emerging program is heading in the right direction than the fact that Mizzou football is no longer satisfied with a Cotton Bowl bid? Three years ago -- heck, last year -- Missouri loyalists and Tiger players and coaches would have done somersaults down Broadway if you told them that the 2007 season would conclude with an 11-2 regular season record, a Big 12 North title, a week on top of the national polls, a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate, and a Cotton Bowl bid. After six years of lesser bowls and underachieving seasons, a trip to a traditional and prestigious Jan. 1 bowl game, with or without the additional status of a BCS affiliation, would have been considered a watershed mark for Pinkel and the Tigers. So even in the aftermath of the crushing defeat to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, even with the obvious insult by the BCS system, even as some folks will spend a lot of energy and a ton of venom overanalyzing how the biggest game in MU football history ended up with a less-than-storybook ending, let’s not lose sight of the essential ongoing story line. What happened over the weekend wasn’t the sad end of the story. The rebirth of Mizzou football is a story that’s just beginning.
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12-03-2007, 10:59 AM	#33
Demonpenz Woman should only make babies Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Apartment "G UNIT!" Casino cash: $2732136	I think winning a bowl game means something. Especially in ncaa 2007 i still can't win the alamo bowl! __________________
Posts: 54,340

12-03-2007, 11:07 AM	#34
Bob Dole King Shit of **** Mountain Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Texarkana, Texas Casino cash: $2084497	Mizzou fans should be overjoyed that they have the chance to spend $90 for a spot on the "renovated" Cotton Bowl aluminum bench seating!
Posts: 48,775

12-03-2007, 12:06 PM	#37
StcChief Playing for #1 Draft Pick Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Just West of Lambs land Casino cash: $10004900	BCS Bowls seem to show it's a popularity contest.
Posts: 25,901

12-03-2007, 01:02 PM	#43
alanm Feeling Victorian Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Nebraska/Wyoming/Colorado Casino cash: $1336436	I don't know why you guys didn't realize that the Cotton Bowl has usually taken the loser of the Big 12 championship game. And lets not forget that Bowls usually take teams that bring legions of fans. I'm not privy to that information but perhaps Missouri doesn't fare well in that area. Just saying. __________________ It bears repeating, ** Herm, Pioli, Haley, and Crennel for ing up my franchise for a goddamn decade. Buehler 445**
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