BCS NIGHTMARE II

It’s happening: ESPN reports,

The pollsters have spoken — and the news isn’t good for USC. The Trojans, the new No. 1 team in both the ESPN/USA Today and AP polls, unofficially are shut out of the BCS title picture. The official announcement comes at 5:30 ET (ABC).

Sorry, Kevin: Your guys got hosed.

Update (1750): It is indeed official. USC gets relegated to the Rose Bowl against Michigan, which is at least a decent consolation prize. And, as Steven Taylor laments, #5 Texas is going to be relegated to a minor bowl because of BCS rules prohibiting more than two teams from a single conference going to BCS bowls.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Paul says:

    It’s OFFICIAL LSU Oklahoma!

    This town will be wild!

    Go Tigers!

  2. Mark-NC says:

    Just wanted to remind everyone that BYU ended #1 a few years back because they were the only unbeaten team. They went on to beat nobody and claim the national title.

    This is not a perfect parallel, but I never want to see a repeat of the BYU “title”.

  3. James Joyner says:

    A problem to be sure. With 128 teams, most of whose schedules don’t overlap in any meaningful way, any polling or ranking system is going to be dubious. A playoff would be a lot better, but there would be problems with any system.

  4. BoiFromTroy says:

    USC was not “relegated” to the Rose Bowl. The Sugar Bowl was relegated to consolation game is the Trojans beat Michigan.