Thanksgiving Weekend – A Cruel Reminder of How Difficult it is for the Non AQ’s

So at halftime of the Alabama/Auburn game a week or so ago, my brother calls me to discuss all hell breaking loose with the BCS rankings. Auburn is getting trounced 24-7 and we are all thinking – okay, everything’s finally caught up to Cam Newton and Auburn has now caved under the pressure of playing a brutal SEC schedule. People in Ft. Worth and Boise must be going crazy seeing this score.

Then without any reasonable explanation – Nick Saban forgets he’s one of the best coaches in the country and Alabama shuts down and scores 3 points the entire remainder of the game. Cam Newton at the same time remembers he’s the best player in college football and wills his team to an improbable victory, all but sealing Auburn‘s place in the title game. (By the way, did any of us expect that beat down Auburn put on South Carolina in the SEC title game one week later)

Though Boise State now realizes the title game is beyond their reach, they still have a perfect season and a BCS invite to play for later that same Friday night against #19 ranked Nevada. Boise State dominates the game for nearly 3 quarters. While watching I thought to myself, “Wow, I expected Boise to win but not this easily.”

However, just like Newton turned it on all the sudden against Alabama, Nevada senior quarterback, Colin Kaepernick remembers he is a Heisman caliber player and gets loose on the Broncos. The game goes from laugher to heart attack in about 15 minutes. Boise withstands the haymakers from the Wolf Pack and Kellen Moore comes through with a deep pass completion in the closing seconds to set up a chip shot field goal that will restore order and keep Boise’s 5 year dream in tact.  

Unfortunately, you know what happened from there and the 5 year dream came crashing down for the Broncos.

Then the phone calls start again from the same brother and this time my other brother has jumped into the fray. How on earth did this all happen?

Not to mention, earlier in the day TCU puts a 66-17 beat down on New Mexico and caps off a perfect season. However, they know they aren’t going to the title either so they celebrate an impending Rose Bowl invite.

So in the span of 7 or 8 hours, we go from Cinderella thinking she is going to the dance, to not going, to tripping and falling in the mud on the way home because she is so dejected.

You have TCU finish a perfect season but settles for 3rd place in the beauty contest.

Perhaps the biggest loser of the entire day though is Nevada –

Nevada goes into the game ranked #19 with only one defeat to a ranked Hawaii team. They end up beating the #3 ranked team whom many thought, myself included, was good enough to win the whole thing. By winning the game Nevada essentially wraps up a WAC championship and spoils a likely BCS bid for Boise State. So as the fans spill onto the field and Nevada celebrates the biggest win in school history, most of the country is thinking, “Way to go boys, thanks for the entertaining game. Now go back to being Nevada and playing in the MWC or WAC or wherever you are.” If this type of upset happens in a power conference, guess where the winner goes – of course- to a BCS game. I’m not saying Nevada played a great schedule or even deserved a BCS game. They did destroy Cal in a non-conference game. I just think most people saw Nevada pull a great upset over Boise State and they did not realize how a good a team Nevada is. And because they are not of nobility, aka- a BCS conference, the win means next to nothing. (I know they ended up securing a decent bowl game).

So Nevada probably will go back to just being Nevada, a consistent 2nd tier team in the west, and a team uncapable of cashing in on an incredible season. Boise gets the consolation prize of the Vegas Bowl and at least TCU does get their Rose Bowl invite.

Life is cruel and sports are crazy. The BCS cartel only adds to the craziness. However, we’re all hooked. College football is reality TV. We cheer like crazy for the underdog but in the end, we know the producers are going to make sure to keep the ratings generators in the game till the end. It’s just the way it works.