Is BCS Title Game the Best It Can Be?

Jan 07, 05:25 AM

Jan. 7--NEW ORLEANS -- The BCS national championship game intends to present an undisputed matchup of the nation's two most deserving teams.

Then there's tonight's game.

Not that top-ranked Ohio State and No. 2 LSU aren't worthy of their final-game status. The defensive-minded Buckeyes are Big Ten champions, and the Tigers, who spent four weeks on two separate occasions at No. 1, emerged from the grueling Southeastern Conference.

But this championship game includes finalists that for the first time combined for three losses. Ohio State, 11-1, and LSU, 11-2, might have trouble passing a lineup test with other one- and two-loss teams such as Kansas, Southern California, Georgia and Missouri.

LSU is the first two-loss team playing for the title.

Not the time or place for that discussion, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said.

"I know we're playing for that silver crystal, which signifies the national championship," Tressel said. "I think there are only two teams that have that chance. Outside there are other championships, polls and that type of thing.

"But for the one that really counts, it's LSU and Ohio State."

As it should be, LSU's Les Miles said.

"I think the system worked," Miles said. "If someone wants to say that we need a playoff so that the hot team late in the year can have a chance to take a run, I certainly understand that."

The late-season bowls have given college football plenty to consider as it goes forward. The inclusion of Illinois and Hawaii in BCS games was questioned before the Rose and Sugar bowls. Their losses to Southern California and Georgia, respectively, by a combined 90-27 score didn't provide answers.

The questionable call of excluding sixth-ranked Missouri from a BCS bowl was confirmed when the Tigers squashed Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl.

"Their seasons are over, and there's nothing else to talk about right now," Tressel said.

But the BCS always generates chatter and controversy.

The system was formed a decade ago to identify the top two teams at the end of the season, and it's an easy call, as it was two years ago, when only two teams are undefeated. Texas and Southern California then played a title game for the ages.

Seasons like this make the calls more difficult -- but it is why the BCS was created.

"The system, the way it stands, has the two best teams getting the opportunity to play," Miles said.

Adding to the debate are the late-season pratfalls by both teams. The Buckeyes lost their final home game to Illinois. LSU dropped its home finale in triple overtime to Arkansas.

Plenty of teams have made it to the championship game with one loss, but late losses usually eliminate a team from title contention. The Buckeyes responded to their loss with a triumph at Michigan that appeared to deliver Ohio State to the Rose Bowl.

And the Tigers' final plunge, giving them two SEC losses, surely would open the door for others.

But teams such as Missouri and West Virginia lost even later, failing to take advantage.

"I think there was some divine intervention," Miles said.

Decisions to be made later this year when television networks negotiate the BCS contract for 2010-13 will chart college football's future. An NFL-style playoff is unlikely to be part of the discussion, so the question becomes: Keep the current system or add another game after the BCS, called a Plus One.

Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive, who hands over the BCS chairman's role to Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford after the game, has said he'll champion a Plus One plan. His idea is to use the BCS standings to seed the top four teams and have national semifinals in Jan. 1 bowls, with the winners meeting for the title.

Slive believes college football has reached a point, driven home this year, where separating teams that look alike has become more difficult.

"It's going to be interesting to see if this past season was an anomaly or a precursor of what we're going to see on a regular basis," Slive said.

But any format change would be difficult. The conferences that align with the Sugar, Orange and Fiesta bowls could agree to shift. Those games are under contract with Fox. The Rose Bowl is an ABC game, and its deal with the Big Ten and Pacific-10 conferences runs through the 2013 season. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney has said his league intends to honor its TV deal.

So, if college football stays the course, are games that match teams with blemished records like Ohio State and LSU going to become more common?

"My take is every institution is becoming more highly competitive, so it will continue," Slive said.

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OHIO STATE VS. LSU 7 tonight in New Orleans Channel 4, WHB (810 AM)

@ Go to KansasCity.com for live scores and stats from the BCS championship game between LSU and Ohio State.

To reach Blair Kerkhoff, college sports reporter for The Star, call 816-234-4730 or send e-mail to bkerkhoff@kcstar.com

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