Tonight will be probably the best game of the 2009-10 bowl season.  Undefeated Boise State and TCU will battle in a historic but somewhat meaningless matchup.  This is the first time two non-BCS teams have played each other in a Bowl Championship Series game.  But is that a distinction of honor, or is this merely a method of protecting the jobs of the BCS governors?  Understandably there was no place for either of these teams in the national title game, due to the 13-0 seasons of Texas and Alabama.  However, there would have been significant value to having two non-BCS schools in the system if they actually got to prove themselves against the opponents who are colluding against them. 

Could there be a bigger insult to these schools than making them rematch last year's Poinsettia Bowl?  "Hey guys guess what?  You're both invited to the party.  But you have to dance with yourselves and no talking to any of the other guests."  At least they get the 13 or so million for their conference by making a BCS bowl.  However, this won't even give America a benchmark for how accurate the BCS really is at crowning a college football champion.  If the best of the WAC & MWC aren't allowed to challenge the other top teams, is there any way to know if they're really as good?  Oh, wait....

Why doesn't the BCS want Boise State or TCU to play an actual team from the conferences it was designed to crown champions from?  Because this could happen:

2005 Fiesta Bowl: Utah 35 - Pittsburgh 7
2007 Fiesta Bowl: Boise State 43 - Oklahoma 42
2009 Sugar Bowl: Utah 31 - Alabama 17


"Get off me, my conference said you don't exist!"

First the first time since the inception of the Bowl Championship Series we've got two undefeated non-BCS-conference teams.  And luckily there's enough BCS spots to cover those two teams this season.  Because if this happened four years ago, before the BCS expanded to five games, there would have been six spots going to the BCS conference champs, one spot for 12-1 Florida, and only one left over for Boise State or TCU.  That is how this system works. Three times out of four, the undefeated non-BCS team has triumphed over their adversary.  And yet, two of those three times the undefeated WAC/MWC school has finished behind a one-loss Florida team for the championship.

There are many mathematical equations used in the Bowl Championship Series, but it could all be summed up as:

undefeated non-BCS school < SEC school with losses

Of course that equation has only proven to be true 50% of the time:

2008 Sugar Bowl: Georgia 41 - Hawaii 10
2009 Sugar Bowl: Utah 31 - Alabama 17

----------------GAME TIME--------------------------

Just some running thoughts as the game happens:

- Thanks to Fox for breaking out the D-team announcers.  I almost didn't notice because I live in St. Louis and hear these jokers do the few not blacked out Rams games.

- INT for touchdown.  I don't know where the receiver was on that play, better put out an Amber alert.

- I was apparently unaware that there was an elongated "s" in Boi-ssssssssssssss-e

- If advertisers don't buy space because they are worried there's not a potential for a large "casual" fan base to watch, does Fox just sell the remaining time to AT&T and Verizon?

- I wonder if Titus Young wants to get in on this Chris Johnson, Usain Bolt race?

- If Luke Wilson's pitching a phone network in the woods and no one is around to hear him, will he quit commercials and go back to making crappy movies?

- Wow, Kyle Wilson is good, TCU's pass protection is not.  He knocked Dalton out. Wonder if he's ever blitzed an AT&T pitchman before?

- Let's welcome the "Boise State Plus-Sized Halftime Show" sponsored by a chocolate company.

- 10-10, this is not what I expected. 

- I wonder if Kyle Wilson could be long lost brothers with Luke and Owen.  Maybe Luke just did so many commercials to show support for his Boise State brother.

- Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, 3 and out..... 3 and out.....  Ooooh 4 and out........  And 4 and pick.

- Or maybe Luke did the commercials because Owen is the Alec and he's the Billy.

- The punt to end all punts. What a roll. Can TCU go 99 yards in 1:16?

- Yes, I think they can.  69 yards in roughly 30 seconds. 

- And that's not going to do it.  It was a bad pass but most receivers try to catch with their hands, not their facemasks buddy.  Although it did work in the acclaimed film "Necessary Roughness".  That movie was pretty far from reality though. Expecting us to believe that Scott Bakula was a quarterback, or that Kathy Ireland was a real person and not just a figment of the collective libido fueled imaginations of millions of adolescent boys.


Yeah, we heard how that really worked out in Colorado

- Well the BCS really came out smelling like roses on this one.  TCU is upset and Boise State is to far back in the polls to challenge for a split title.  We're never getting a playoff.  Thanks again football gods, way to F us in the A.