How NOT to End Up a BCS Whiner

The machinations of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) have yielded this college football season's bowl match ups. Unfortunately, the match ups have disappointed many college football teams and fans. This has given rise to a sport called BCS Whining that rages in the space between the regular season games and the bowl games at times it stretches endlessly into baseball season.

However, teams can completely avoid BCS whining by following a simple four step program.

Step 1: Completely Dominate Your Conference - You have to beat all of your conference opponents and win your conference championship game. This year the Georgia Bulldogs rose to a lofty number four in the polls. But, they did not make it into the SEC championship game and they did not dominate their opponents. When the bowl invitations were extended, this lack of Bulldog dominance and their lack of a conference championship was duly noted.

Step 2: Win consistently - You have to win in the early weeks of the season, you have to win in the middle of the season, and most importantly, you have to win at the end of the season. Your team can't suffer any lapse in their concentration and they have to have the depth to overcome injuries. While Tim Tebow may wear a cape, fly, and see through walls, Florida couldn't overcome Georgia when he suffered a bruised shoulder. Similarly, WVU lost key games when their quarterback suffered from injuries.

Step 3: Beat tough opponents - You have to beat tough opponents that are highly ranked and well-respected around the country. Georgia's early loss to South Carolina remained in the minds of pollsters for most of the season. The University of Hawaii went undefeated in the regular season, but never played truly respectable opponents. Their weak schedule took them out of contention in the eyes of coaches and pollsters. In the future, Hawaii will have to book some teams that are considerably tougher than Charleston State for their non-conference games. In the long term, the Western Athletic Conference needs to step up their game and even attract some stronger teams into the conference.