BCS not fair, as best team gets nod

It is the topic that no one can avoid or stop talking about. Despite a loss to them earlier in the year on a neutral field, Oklahoma gains a trip to the Big 12 Championship Game as well as a probable spot in the BCS Championship Game over the rival Texas Longhorns. The BCS did exactly what it was supposed to do. It chose the better team. Problem is, thats not exactly fair.

Texas took advantage in the second half of the game against a defense that was ill prepared to deal with a loss of a key player, Ryan Reynolds. Look at the other 11 games on the schedule for each team and the body of work that each have put up and it becomes clear that Oklahoma is, in fact, the better team, and that the head-to-head game was an aberration. If those two teams play 10 times, Oklahoma wins 7.

A lot of Oklahoma's advantage comes from the month of September. Texas played only one game against a team that ended with a winning record, and that team, Rice, is not exactly a powerhouse. Oklahome, on the other hand, had four lopsided victories. Two were against teams that went on to win a combined one game this season. That is not much help, but the other two non-conference games are against two teams with a combined 20-4 record, and remember, two of those four losses were to Oklahoma. TCU and Cincinnati are now 11th, and 13th, respectively, in the BCS standings. That gives them a huge advantage over a non-conference schedule whose big win was at home against a rebuilding Arkansas team.

Once conference play started, Oklahoma continued to roll against top opponents (barring of course, the one game in question). The slimmest margin of victory for Oklahoma was 14 points, and the second smallest was 20. They have not just beaten quality opponents, they have embarrassed them. Texas has beaten three teams in the BCS top 20 by an average of 13 points. Oklahoma has beaten four teams in the BCS top 20 by an average of 28.75 points. Oklahoma is the better team and the numbers show it.

Unfortunately, this is the real world and it often does not matter who really is the better team over the course of the season. The outcomes of individual games do mean something, and when you compare two teams that played each other on a neutral field and the advantage goes to the team who lost that game. Well, that is just not fair.