2009 - 2010 College Football Bowl Schedule

Death, taxes, and anti-BCS rhetoric: Those are the things we've come to expect in life.

And so, after college football bowl announcements came out Sunday, the public outcry against the College Football's Bowl Championship Series system that decides the national championship reached its usual rancor.

Three undefeated teams -- Texas Christian University , Boise State University , and the University of Cincinnati -- will not have a shot at the national title. That's not to take away from two deserving undefeated schools -- the University of Texas and the University of Alabama -- that will play in the national championship, but reactions to the bowl announcements at the three schools that missed out were mixed.

"It's a shame that you can't settle [the title] on the field," TCU Athletic Director Chris Del Conte tells the New York Times. "We settled our portion on the field."

Big East Associate Commissioner for Football Nick Carparelli Jr. tells the Times something similar:

"I certainly think you could make a case that Cincinnati should be playing Alabama for the national championship. The way that the system works, Alabama and Texas were at the top of the polls from Day 1. The patterns in which voters vote make it virtually impossible to get ahead of either of those two teams in the polls."

Cincinnati, which won the Big East's bid to a BCS bowl, did not start the season in the Associated Press Top 25. Boise State was No. 14 in the AP preseason poll, and TCU was 17. Breaking past Texas and Alabama, which were Nos. 2 and 5, respectively, to start the season, was basically impossible.

Despite the complaints, the show must go on.

On January 7, top-ranked Alabama and No. 2 Texas will kick off in Pasadena, Calif. And the debate surrounding college football's system to decide its champion will continue for another year.

Alabama Extends Winter Break for Bowl Games

The usual excuse for not having a playoff system in college football is that it would extend the season. That would force student-athletes to miss class for more than just one game after Christmas, which wouldn't be fair to the academic side of the "student-athlete" label.

So much for that argument.

The University of Alabama has extended its winter break so that students can support the Alabama football team in the national championship on January 7, the Crimson White reports. That means a delayed spring semester for students. Students will have to do additional work to make it up once school starts again.

Alabama will play for its first national football championship since 1992, when it was voted the national champion in both major football polls.

BCS Standings 2009

Wofford Terriers Coach Mike Ayers Helps His Players Win On and Off the Field
Alex Kingsbury

Sports coaches, particularly in football, hold a unique place in society. They become surrogate fathers, teachers, and role models. Hollywood often caricatures them as the demideities of small-town America. Mike Ayers is better than the average coach. He's led the Wofford team for the past 21 seasons.

UNC Basketball Coach Roy Williams Be Led By Your Dreams
Roy Williams

One thing that makes college basketball so enjoyable, yet at the same time so challenging, is that each year the team is different. There are new players, and you may ask the student-athletes who return from the previous season to play new roles. Team chemistry changes, and the attitudes and relationships that ebb and flow from wins and losses always take on a new life. The constant is a need for outstanding leadership

Tiger Woods
(c) M. Ryder

Be Grateful for Tiger Woods Affair -- It Reminds Us He's Human
John A. Farrell

Is Tiger conceited? Yup. But no more so than any other preternatural talent I have met in a career of chronicling athletes, actors, politicians, and other public figures. Fame has a terrifyingly corrosive effect on the soul.

Tiger's Troubles: Tiger Woods Scandal
Reader Comments

Hero worship is the problem, not the heroes. As a human being, chances are Tiger Woods is no better than whoever is sitting in the next room right now. If Tiger goes on to break every record in the book of golf, that's one thing. The mistake is thinking that excellence in any field, reveals anything about one's character

(c) 2009 U.S. News & World Report