Whatever Choice Was Made, It Was Going To Be Wrong

We enjoy this picture of Georgia center Fernando Velasco, taken after the Bulldogs' win over Georgia Tech Saturday, because he is holding an orange. Presumably, a fan through him — and some other Bulldogs — an orange to symbolize the Orange Bowl. This is odd not because Georgia is not going to the Orange Bowl — it's difficult to victoriously brandish a cube of sugar — but because the Orange Bowl is not a destination Georgia would have necessarily wanted. Were Georgia fans rooting for the Orange Bowl?

Keith Law, in his personal blog, points out the ridiculousness of a system that rewards a team for spending a season playing inferior competition and then sitting alongside, idle, watching while teams above them lose. (Which is how Ohio State is here.) But we point out the opposite problem. We're not sure we understand why everyone is so insistent — rule or not — that a team win its conference to have an opportunity at the title. We do not do this in any other sport; not even in the supposedly tradition-obsessed world of baseball to we chafe when a wild-card team is playing for the championship. How the BCS can move Virginia Tech ahead of Georgia simply because they beat a slightly above average Boston College team is bewildering. If LSU had lost to Tennessee, would Virginia Tech have moved ahead of Georgia? Oklahoma? According to the BCS standings, they would have ... though hardly any voters would have put them ahead before this weekend's action.

The way this worked out: Ohio State was rewarded for not playing, and Georgia was penalized. And we have the Ohio State-LSU matchup we all would have enjoyed a few weeks ago, back when we were under the misconception that each team was really good.

One Reason I Hate College Football [TheDish]