Don’t use Hawaii as an excuse to leave the little guys out
January 2, 2008
Yes, Hawaii looked terrible last night. Yes, they were completely dominated by Georgia and were overmatched in all parts of the game.
But that doesn’t mean that we should keep the non-BCS schools out of BCS bowl games.
May I remind you that schools from non-BCS conference are 2-1 in BCS bowl games:
2005: Utah destroyed Pittsburgh 35-7
2007: Boise State beat Oklahoma
2008: Hawaii was dominated by Georgia
It’s a small sample size, but Hawaii has been the only one of the 3 non-BCS teams to look horrible. We should not leave non-BCS teams out in the future because of Hawaii.
It’s bad enough that these teams already don’t have any theoretical chance at all at a national championship like other sports because there’s no playoff system. But to not give them at a chance at a BCS bowl game would be beyond unfair.
Gilbert
Ben
January 3, 2008 at 10:37 am
Been tinkering with various statistical rating systems (helps with college baseball) and they all seemed to think that Hawaii was skating on thin ice to begin with. They weren’t undefeated so much because of a weaker schedule (though that certainly was true), they were undefeated by way of coming out on top of several close calls (two overtime wins, a two point win over Nevada and a comeback against a Washington team that got lulled to sleep).
The statistical systems currently in use by the BCS I believe aren’t allowed to use margin of victory as a factor, thereby severely limiting their utility. The folks who vote in the polls are under no such restrictions.
I think a team like Hawaii could get a National Championship shot someday, they would just have to be a lot more convincing against their schedule than Hawaii was. Unfair maybe, but that’s the way it’s likely to be for the foreseeable future.
January 4, 2008 at 3:16 am
I agree that Hawaii benefited from a lot of close games and a weak schedule this year, and statistically, weren’t a great team.
Hawaii didn’t deserve to play for a national championship this year, but that doesn’t mean a team in the next year or two won’t deserve it. That’s all I was trying to say.