1. The Big East should be kicked out of the BCS for the Mountain West
Because of the emergence of the Mountain West in recent years, with Utah, BYU, and TCU playing so well on the big stages, and with a sprinkling of wins here and there by the league’s lesser teams over the BCS schools, the league deserves the sixth automatic spot in the BCS and the Big East should be booted out. Cincinnati? Connecticut? Louisville? These are basketball schools, and if they have any success on the gridiron there’s a little bit of attention, but that’s from fans waiting for Midnight Madness to start up. The ratings are mediocre for Big East games, and the conference is permanently crippled after losing Virginia Tech, Miami, and Boston College. It’s the Mountain West’s time.
You Lie!!! … Utah was fantastic against Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl, and BYU shocked Oklahoma in the season opener this season. TCU is the real deal, and the Mountain West owned the Pac 10 throughout most of last year. If you want to include the Mountain West in the BCS party, then fine. The league already has a permanent spot (for the most part) just by getting its champion to finish in the top 12 of the final BCS rankings, but it should probably get the seventh automatic bid. If you want to kick one league out and keep it at six leagues, then the Big East shouldn’t be booted. The Big Ten probably should.
Actually, to be more accurate, the Mountain West shouldn’t be included. When you say the Big East should be booted out from the BCS, what are you basing this on? The perception is that the league can’t win the big games, and while that’s true, it wins a whole bunch of decent ones. If you took all six BCS leagues, along with the Mountain West, over the last three years and the first two weeks of this season, which league is the best in non-conference play against other BCS teams, the Mountain West, and Notre Dame?
No. 1 overall is the SEC, who has won 56% of those non-conference games, but it’s top-heavy. Florida, Georgia, and LSU account for most of the wins, but 56% is still impressive. No. 2 is the Pac 10, winning 55% of those non-conference games, but USC is the one to thank for that. The Trojans account for 11 of the wins, and if you take them out of the equation, the Pac 10 has won just 47%.
And then comes the stunner. The only other league to win more than half of its games over the last three years against BCS teams, the Mountain West, and Notre Dame is the Big East coming out on the right side 53% of the time. So where’s the Mountain West?
The Big 12 is No. 4 winning 48% of those games, carried by Texas, the Big Ten is No. 5, winning 47% of those games (brought down by Ohio State), and the Mountain West is sixth winning 46% of those games. While that’s still relatively impressive, it’s not like the league is ripping up the outside world, and the results are disastrous if you take out TCU and Utah from the top-heavy league. Oh yeah, we’re missing one conference.
If you’re desperate to boot out a league from the BCS, the Big East isn’t the one you should focus on; the ACC is. While the conference is getting better, this year aside, it has only won 44% of those non-conference games.
Now cower in shame for yelling, or Nancy Pelosi will shoot you an icy stare.