The Irrelevant Bowl TCU In The Fiesta Bowl vs......Boise State?
Written by RyanHutch, Friday December 11 2009
It looks like the BCS has a new bowl. The Irrelevant Bowl
Once again there is massive controversy revolving around the BCS bowl games. TCU, who some believe should have been invited to the National Championship game are set to face Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. Texas, who was selected over TCU had a complete meltdown against Nebraska in their conference championship, with Colt McCoy throwing 3 picks, but won on a last minute field goal. While in TCU's final game they rolled over Nevada with a 51 to 10 victory with over 450 yards of offense. Whether or not Texas deserve to be in the National Championship is debatable, but there is no excuse for why TCU is facing Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.
Over the course of the season both TCU and Boise State dominated every one of their opponents resulting in two undefeated seasons. If Texas had ended up losing to Nebraska they would have been two of the three teams that would have been in the discussion for who would be facing Alabama in the Championship. However, since Texas did win, regardless of how they won, they were given the opportunity to play in the National Championship game. This resulted in both TCU and Boise State just having to play in smaller BCS Bowls
The problem is that they are set to face in the Fiesta Bowl. This is just another way in which the BCS has decided to isolate the smaller name programs from the national spotlight. Outside of the computers I am not sure that anyone can agree with this decision. Maybe TCU did not deserve to play for the Crystal Ball, but what they do not deserve is to be facing Boise State in which the BCS has shown as the "Irrelevant Bowl". When handed the opportunity to have both of these schools prove their worth against high profile opponents, they chose to pass. TCU are ranked fourth in the country, and Boise State are ranked sixth. They are both undefeated and clearly deserve to be where they are, however, who ever may come on top in the Fiesta Bowl will win the battle, but lose the war.
Nothing good can come of Boise State versus TCU. These are small schools who can compete against, if not beat any team in the country, and need to be given the opportunity to do so. Since neither one was selected to play against Alabama, they need a shot at another high profile opponent. Both teams need to be given the chance to compete against the top name schools. There is no excuse why either one should not face Florida, Georgia Tech, or another other Conference Champs. On paper Boise State and TCU can match up with any team in the nation, yet when given the chance, all they are left with is playing one another.
All that the Fiesta Bowl will solve is helping us find out who got the more raw end of the deal. If Boise State win then we can say that they were better than we all thought, and hey maybe they should have played one of the big name schools. If TCU wins, then we can say that their right to play in the National Championship only grows stronger, and there is no excuse why they were not given a chance to compete against a team like Florida.
In my view TCU should have been given the opportunity to play against Alabama. Texas got a lucky win with a last minute field goal, and they should not be rewarded just because the Nebraska offense was not good enough to take advantage of the many mistakes Texas made. On the other hand, I can understand why Texas should be included. But I challenge anyone to make sense of the TCU/Boise match up. There is no sense in this match up. Both of these schools have succeeded in blowing out most every opponent that they have had, could possibly be better than the big name programs, and need to be given the chance to prove it. There is nothing to lose by facing them up against the big name schools, but the BCS would rather have them play one another. It looks as if they are implying that, even though they have these teams ranked 4 and 6, they have no confidence in them. That they are not good enough for Florida, Georgia Tech, Cincinnati, or even Oregon, Iowa and Ohio State, so just have your meaningless fight amongst someone your own size.
TCU, Cincinnati, and Boise State are legitimate teams and can compete with any team in the nation. Even if you don't agree with me you have to agree that they deserve a chance to prove just how good they are, and they can't do that by playing one another. Sooner or later something has to change whether it's the altering of the BCS or the institution of a playoff. Either way we need a system that allows every team the exact same opportunity to compete against the best, and as of right now that is simply not the case.
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3 comments
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I personally don't think it's irrelevant, I only imagine that's how the BCS looks at it. I imagine they think to let these two nobodies battle it out and the big boys will have their own bowls.
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It definitely should be a great game but there is no reason why this game should happen. It's exactly like you said the BCS is afraid to have them play a big name school because if Boise or TCU was to win then they'd have to admit that the system needs to be changed. I just see this as an attempt to try and keep the BCS around another year longer than it should be.
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Ryan, you beat me to the punch. First of all, I'm looking at the from the Boise State bandwagon. I agree with you about the "Irrelevant Bowl" tag you've dubbed this potential classic to mean. But the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl are just as maningless under the current BCS format. There are problems that I have with what could be a classic Fiesta Bowl. But they played each other in a they played each other in a bowl game last year and rematches like that should be avoided. But as a Boise State bandwagon jumper, I wanted to face Florida and see TCU take on either Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. My conspiritorial menatality makes me think that the system is afraid to have a non-BCS school take out an SEC or ACC team. Having Boise State and TCU finish in the mix made their job easy. In Fiesta Bowl, Boise State should show how spectalular they are and TCU will show everybody why nobody wants to face them. This should be a great one.