Is ESPN the college football equivalent of FOX News?

Posted on: 11-15-2010 by: Matt Nielson

Isn’t it great that TCU can play a close game and all of the sudden the pundits are questioning them, downgrading them, debating whether 1-loss LSU should pass them or not.

All the while, the Oregon Ducks are still the greatest thing since sliced bread after they managed all of 15 points against Cal and squeaked out a win only because the Cal kicker did a little stutter step.

Of course the BCS is a joke and it caters to the big schools. What compounds the problem is that the entire deal is now controlled by ESPN. Whether you like it or not, ESPN is the network of record. There are several other great sports news outlets, writers, web sites, etc. but they do not have a 24/7 television presence. ESPN will air the BCS games. They have TV contracts with all the BCS conferences. All their talking heads went to BCS schools with the one exception being Trevor Matich from BYU. So when the BCS Honks/ESPN talking heads come on the air Sunday night with their BCS rankings show and tell the country that TCU and Boise State still have a shot………only if Oregon or Auburn lose, it would be as if the “Fair and Balanced” Fox News talking heads had told us a few weeks ago that the Democrats had an outside shot at retaining control of the House of Representatives. It would have been laughable and that’s what ESPN is doing with their show on Sunday night.

So let me go CNN on you and play “Fact Checker.”

Let’s dissect some of the marquee games played by the top 4 so far:

Boise State beat Virginia Tech in what was basically a home game for Tech. Yes Virginia Tech lost the next week to James Madison. However, Tech has now reeled off 8 straight wins, is ranked #16 and will win the ACC.

Boise State is going to play and presumably beat #18 ranked Nevada in a few weeks. This same Nevada team beat down Cal (yes the same Cal that almost beat Oregon two days ago) by a score of 52-31.

I know it took place last year but Boise State demolished Oregon in the opening game in 2009 and did not allow Oregon a first down till the second half. I’m pretty sure Boise State, like Cal did, could figure out a way to keep Oregon from scoring 40 this year.

Both TCU and Boise State played and beat Oregon State earlier this year who has since been just an average team. What gets lost though is that Oregon State lost their best player, James Rodgers, to injury after these games.

http://www.mwcconnection.com/2010/10/29/1781068/oregon-states-james-rodgers-injury-may-cost-tcu-a-shot-at-the-bcs

So of course now, a win over the Beavers is not as big a deal.

TCU has absolutely trounced their opponents this year with San Diego State being the one exception. It should be noted though that TCU started out down 14-0 and then reeled off 34 straight points to lead at half 34-14. What people forget is that San Diego State is a good team. They were 7-2 going into the game.

TCU manhandled a very good Air Force team.

It is true that TCU’s win over Utah is nowhere near as impressive now because Utah has gone in the tank.

Oregon has really lowered the boom on several teams. I thought their 48-13 win over Tennessee in Knoxville was impressive. Tennessee is not an SEC power this year but that is still impressive.

Oregon also has a quality win over an excellent Stanford team. Oregon is a great team. I still contest they can be beaten though. If not, I’ll be wrong and they will play for the title. That being said, I would take either Boise State or TCU by close to a touchdown over Oregon on a neutral field.

Auburn is legit also. Don’t forget though that Auburn did go to overtime with Clemson. As well, Auburn is not that typical SEC team that just destroys you defensively. They have given up a lot of points this year. And they still have to play Alabama and South Carolina again in the SEC championship. They may not make it through the gauntlet. However, Auburn does have the best offensive player in the country on their team. Cam Newton looks like a man amongst boys out there.

It remains to be seen if Cam Newton and his Dad will survive the pay-for-play allegations. I do like what Auburn did though on Saturday by just turning the guy loose and letting him play. They either got word that the Newtons did not receive any dough from Auburn or received word that an official investigation would not even begin till well after the season.

I just hope they are sure about what they learned. Did you catch Cam Newton’s act before the game? CBS showed it as their lead in to the Auburn/Georgia game. He was running around, pumping up the fans, throwing his hands in the air, as if to stick it to the man and let the college football world know, “Hey I’m innocent and get out of my way.” I just hope he’s right. I really like the emotion of college kids and I won’t usually rip a kid for being a kid. That’s what makes College football so great. In this case though, there might be an awful lot of egg on the face if this one goes South for Auburn.

So back to my point: You of course cannot deny that Auburn plays a beast of a schedule and though Oregon is not a giant killer, the PAC-10 is still the PAC-10. However, when you look at just the marquee games of the top 4, it is not fair to simply dismiss Boise State and TCU as also-rans. They have played and beat some significant competition. It would be nice if this type of analysis was actually reported by those that shape public opinion.

Matt Nielson

Matt Nielson has been writing about the college sports landscape in Utah and the Intermountain West since 2010. When he’s not pretending to be a professional blogger, he works full time as a residential real estate agent and house flipper. Matt graduated from Brigham Young University in 2000. He and his family reside in Salt Lake City, UT.