Hate to say, "I told you so," but I did predict on Saturday that BCS voters would feel guilty and put Florida ahead of Michigan. They couldn't help themselves; this system is totally flawed. Allow me to cite an example of how ridiculous the BCS system is. Jim Walden, former coach of Washington State and current TV analyst for the team, votes for the all important Harris Poll. On Saturday night he filled out his ballot and ranked one loss Florida #1 ahead of the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes. His reasoning:
"In my heart of hearts, I believe that neither Ohio State or Michigan could get through Florida's schedule with only one loss."
So he cast his all important vote based on a hypothetical situation. Walden's vote didn't determine the OSU/Florida match-up, but his reasoning was indicative of a system that is totally objective. More wisdom from Walden:
"In my opinion, not only has Florida proved themselves No. 1 through the season, they had to play the winningest teams to get there. Look at their schedule: Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina. Even the team with one of the worst records, Florida State, is still Florida State. "
If Walden forgot that this was 2006 and thought it was another decade, then this reasoning is defensible. But this year's SEC was incredibly top heavy and not as impressive the further down you go. The whole "The SEC is the toughest conference in America" stigma is totally subjective. I watched a lot of SEC games this year and it wasn't pretty. Seems to me like Walden wasn't even watching college football this year.
Oh, I almost forgot to ask. Coach Walden, as an informed voter, how many games did you watch Florida play this year? His response:
"I haven't seen Florida play. But I used to be a Miami Hurricane. I hate the d*mn Gators,"
Brilliant. I'm glad the NCAA uses such an air-tight system to protect the integrity of their sport.
Doesn't really matter to me. I'm stoked about buying more OSU National Championship gear anyway.