Bowl Lineup - BCS game matchups 2007-2008

For all the problems with the selection process for the BCS title game, the really bad thing about the BCS is the selection for the other bowl games; it seems designed to maximize the worst possible matchups of the teams the BCS formula comes up with. With no coordination between the bowls and any central authority, it's every bowl for itself, trying to come up with a matchup that will fill its seats and get a decent TV audience. So you might end up with one good matchup that screws over two or three other bowls.

Case in point: 2003, when Miami was matched up with Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, despite having played them earlier in the year, and exactly no one, fans or team members, wanting to play the game again.

Or 2002, where the selection process kept Big 10's Iowa out of the Rose Bowl and put them in the Orange Bowl. The Rose that year had a classic Pac-10/Big 12 contest between Washington State and Oklahoma.

Here's a list of the 2007 BCS matchups, with date, location, and teams with BCS rankings.

Date    Bowl       Location      Matchup

Jan. 1  Rose       Pasadena     #7 USC (10-2) vs. #13 Illinois (9-3)

After the USC-Ohio State game fell through, this is a bit of a disappointment. I'm all for tradition, but the Rose could have picked Missouri, Kansas, or West Virginia here for USC. Florida vs. Illinois would have been a more interesting matchup in a non-BCS bowl. USC needed to be tested more than this, if they want to prove they are the "real" best team in the nation.

Jan. 1  Sugar      New Orleans  #5 Georgia (10-2) vs. #10 Hawaii (12-0)

Picking Georgia was almost mandatory for the Sugar, and they were left with Hawaii at the end. The Hawaii-LSU matchup was sounding intriguing, but it couldn't happen; Oklahoma faced last year's upstart Boise State. So this isn't a bad matchup for Hawaii, but it won't give them very good ammunition to claim they should be #1. Also, no matter who wins, their fans will claim they were screwed by the system to not get a national title shot.

Jan. 2  Fiesta     Glendale     #4 Oklahoma(11-2) vs. #9 West Virginia(10-2)

This is actually a great matchup. Both teams have had their inexplicable and embarrassing losses, but they rate as the two best teams in predictive or points-based power ratings. Lose their quarterbacks and they're not nearly as good, but at their best, these really are the two best teams in the country.

Jan. 3  Orange     Miami        #3 Virginia Tech (11-2) vs. #8 Kansas (11-1)

This was the real questionable pick. It's too bad both Kansas and Missouri couldn't be in BCS bowls, but apparently Kansas travels better. They could have picked West Virgina here, too; the teams played every year from 1972-2005.  This would have left Kansas to play Oklahoma, a Big 12 matchup that didn't happen this year.

Jan. 7  BCS title  New Orleans  #1 Ohio State (11-1) vs. #2 LSU (11-2)

Of the available teams left (partially) standing, I'm glad it worked out this way. LSU is essentially 12-1 this season, splitting the difference on their tie games, so if they win and are crowned BCS champ in the ESPN/coaches poll, it won't be too big of a travesty having them as the first 2-loss national champion.

So here's how this all happened.

1. #1 Ohio State and #2 LSU were taken for the BCS title game.


2. This left #3 Virginia Tech in the Orange, #4 Oklahoma in the Fiesta, and #7 USC in the Rose as automatics.


3. The Rose Bowl picked a replacement for Ohio State. They could have picked anyone, except possibly Georgia, which the Sugar had veto power over. Arizona State was obviously not among the considerations. So it was between: #6 Missouri, #8 Kansas, #9 West Virginia, #10 Hawaii, #12 Florida, #13 Illinois, and #14 Boston College. They chose #13 Illinois to keep the Pac-10/Big 10 matchup.


4. The Sugar then picked its replacement for LSU. #5 Georgia was both the obvious choice for the SEC-anchor bowl and the highest-ranked team still available.


5. The Orange Bowl had next pick. Clearly Boston College was not going to be chosen for the rubber match against Virginia Tech. So the choices were: #6 Missouri, #8 Kansas, #9 West Virginia, #10 Hawaii, and #12 Florida. They took #8 Kansas, effectively wiping Missouri off the map due to the 2-teams-per-conference rule. In actuality, this wiped out almost everyone, as we'll see below.


6. The Fiesta Bowl had next pick, and since there were two automatic qualifiers in the field, and only two bowl picks left, the Fiesta's decision came down to: #9 West Virginia or #10 Hawaii. They chose #9 West Virginia.


7. With the final pick, the Sugar bowl had to take #10 Hawaii.

Comments

[Manchester United]

Nice Blog. Keep posting more

Regards...