Enemy Surveillence: Oregon University

In the continuing road trip through NDHaterNation, the next stop proved to be a virtual mecca of Irish-targeted vitriol. If the pit stop in the Yellowhammer state was a taste of the flu, the swing through Eugene proved to be the H5N1 pandemic. These folks are Bitter, with a capital ‘B’.

Oregon wrapped up their regular season on November 19th with a thrashing of the Beavers in the annual Civil War, while ND closed with a last-second victory over the Stanford Cardinal the following weekend. But as early as November 22nd, Oregon University officials had already begun game-planning of a different sort: AD Bill Moos, football coach Mike Bellotti and others flew to Tempe, Ariz., for a meeting with Fiesta Bowl President John Junker. Conventional wisdom has already begun speculation that OU would be the odd man out in the BCS if the at-large selections come down to Notre Dame and OU.

When the final BCS rankings were released, much of the discussion became moot. Still, that did not stop many Duck faithful from continuing to clamor about the inequity of the BCS system; common complaints were that Notre Dame “stole” a BCS bid which Oregon deserved, and that Notre Dame received preferential treatment in their selection by the BCS’ Fiesta Bowl committee.

Nothing could be further from the truth. One needs only to read the details of the BCS agreement, along with stipulations for both at-large and automatic qualification of teams:

All Division I-A college football teams are eligible for at-large selection provided they meet both of the following requirements:
1. Have won at least nine regular season games.
2. Are among the top 12 teams in the final BCS Standings

…and…

Any team from an independent institution Conference, USA, the Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt, or Western Athletic Conference that is ranked three through six shall qualify for automatic selection.
1. If one or more teams other than Notre Dame qualify for automatic selection under this provision, Notre Dame shall also qualify provided it is ranked in the top ten or has won at least nine games.
2. If more than one at-large team qualifies for automatic selection under this provision and there are insufficient at-large slots available to accommodate all of them, the BCS bowls will select from those that qualify.

Here’s the ultimate irony which most Oregon fans conveniently overlook: not only can Oregon qualify for a BCS slot—both as an at-large or an automatic bid—in the same manner as Notre Dame (specified above), but they, along with 114 other teams in Division 1-A enjoy one additional means of qualifying which Notre Dame and the three other Division 1-A Independents do not enjoy: winning your conference. Effectively, these 114 teams can qualify in THREE ways:
1. Automatic BCS bid;
2. At-large bid; and
3. Conference winner.

If any schools should have a beef with the BCS, it should be the Division 1-A Independents, whose ability to qualify is more restricted than those teams belonging to participating conferences. Has anyone asked Army, Navy and Temple whether they feel slighted by the BCS?