I'm outraged, too. I'm outraged that Joe Theismann, when trying to be witty about the BCS, announced they should drop the "C."
How tired is that joke?
I'm also outraged that the polls are suddenly seen as beyond reproach. That many think USC is an absolute No. 1 when unranked Cal absolutely beat No. 1. And that anyone thinks college football doesn't get a boost by this kind of controversy.
But I'm mostly outraged after discovering who ultimately put OU in the Sugar Bowl.
Bob Stoops? Try Mack Brown.
The usual outrage today comes from those stunned that USC isn't in the BCS championship.
"I learned about life in general," said a reflective Trojans cornerback named Will Poole.
"You can't let a computer make decisions for you. Computers are going to take over. The next thing you know, everyone is going to be out of a job. Computers are going to play football."
Poole could take his Terminator-like concerns to his governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"If we let computers run the world," Poole continued, "what are humans going to do?"
For starters, humans could think for themselves. They could look at the polls, remember the prejudices that have always existed in them and understand why computers come in handy.
The coaches, for example, rank Boise State at No. 16 ahead of Florida for the most transparent reason: Boise State only has one loss. But the BCS puts Florida at No. 15 with Boise State two spots lower.
Why? Florida played the country's fifth-toughest schedule. Boise State? The 105th.
It isn't outrageous to think this: That Boise State wouldn't come within three touchdowns of the Gators.
Computers look at numbers, not sentiment, and that's what they were doing as late as Saturday. Then critics were outraged (again) that Syracuse's victory over Notre Dame meant something to USC's ranking.
But in order to formulate strength of schedule, aren't all the results necessary? It should have surprised no one that Syracuse-Notre Dame was part of that data.
It also shouldn't have surprised that the computers weren't awed by the USC schedule.
The Trojans' toughest opponent was Washington State; Oklahoma playing in Lubbock this season wasn't much worse.
Losing to 7-6 California certainly doesn't impress, either, and USC also didn't have to play a conference championship out of state and within a three-hour drive of the opponent.
Kansas State in Kansas City. That's neutral?
More significant, the Sooners played this game after being told they could lose and still go to the Sugar Bowl. That's no excuse for getting blown out, but it's likely a reason for what happened.
The computers didn't factor such intangibles. They instead spit out a verdict, and the ultimate judge agrees. Oddsmaker Danny Sheridan already rates Oklahoma a 5 1/2-point favorite over LSU.
The computers can be wrong, too, and the New York Times' hard drive usually is. Today, the newspaper that gave the world Jayson Blair ranks two-loss UT ahead of one-loss OU, as if 65-13 never happened.
That's the only place on earth where Texas comes out ahead this season against OU.
Texas suffered the October loss, then suffered Oklahoma's December loss. That's why the Longhorns trudge out to the Holiday Bowl again instead of to the Fiesta.
There's more, though, and this time the crimson devil is in the details.
This time, the Sooners were rewarded not just because they took apart the Longhorns, but also because the Longhorns didn't come apart after Oct. 12.
RSS