BCS Headaches

SALINE, MI For good reason, there’s a lot of focus on what will happen after the big game on Saturday, and the fate of the team that loses the game. It is clear that the winner will go the championship, but there are still questions on what will happen to the loser. To focus on the loser right now is a little ridiculous (and annoying) but here’s some items that I must get off my chest.
1. The possibility that a 1 loss Notre Dame is now well positioned to pass by a 1 loss Michigan. The mere thought of this really chaps me. Someone would need to email the Harris Poll voters and send them the highlight reel from the September game to refresh their memories. If this did happen, and somehow the Irish upset the Buckeyes in the BCS Championship, and Michigan rolled in the Rose Bowl, could the AP select Michigan as the national champ? Here’s Brad Edwards of ESPN’s comment on this situation:

Brad Edwards: (12:38 PM ET ) The Notre Dame/Michigan situation is a tough one for the voters, regardless of who wins the Michigan-OSU game. If the Buckeyes win, can you give Notre Dame a chance to play in the national title game over a Michigan team that has the same record and crushed ND on its home field? If Michigan wins on Saturday, would anyone want to see a rematch of a lopsided regular-season game with Notre Dame? Those are extremely valid questions that will have to be answered by each voter if Notre Dame wins out. But I do believe there’s no chance for a Michigan-OSU rematch if USC or an SEC team is also sitting there with just one loss.

Brad Edwards: (12:59 PM ET ) If Arkansas, Notre Dame and the Michigan-OSU loser are the only one-loss teams, it will be an interesting decision for the voters. Putting Arkansas at No. 2 would be a way around the Michigan/ND dilemma I mentioned earlier. If USC and Notre Dame both have two losses, a 12-1 Arkansas in the national title game is a slam dunk.

2. The fact that the computers have Rutgers ahead of Ohio State right now. One of the computers has the Buckeyes #6 in the country. Fortunately those same computers like the Blue. This might be enough to prevent a Michigan/Ohio State rematch if Michigan wins a close one in Columbus.
3. Rutgers. If the Knights beat West Virginia and Cincy, I’m leaning more and more to think that they should get a shot. They would have run the table in a BCS conference, right or wrong, how can you deny them a shot?
4. A playoff of sorts. How wild is it that each team in the current top 8 in the BCS plays another Top 8 team in the regular season? (USC vs. Notre Dame, Florida vs. Arkansas [projected SEC Championship match-up], Rutgers vs. West Virgina, and of course the big one in Columbus.