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Uncork the whine, this year’s Siesta Bowl purposely set-up to be a ratings snoozer

Whining is never justifiable in sports, whether it is by fans, players, coaches or AdvoCare 100 Independence Bowl invitees. Granted, Mack Brown and anyone who has ever been associated with Tar Heels basketball have made a career out of it.

Pardon me if I excuse Boise State and TCU from this dictum just this once.

The Broncos and their stable of loons, as well as the Horned Frogs and its knot of know-it-alls, erupted in a collective croak Monday in the wake of news that the two schools would square-off in a rematch of the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl played in Hermosillo, Mexico, er, San Diego. Only this time they will travel to Glendale, Arizona for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium, not far from Phoenix and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl’s former homestead at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, also not far from Phoenix.

They might as well re-name it the Quizno’s Mid-Major Clash at the Big Toaster Oven.

Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, Mmm. Mostly.

A united ho-hum filled the air in living rooms across the country as legions of college football fans heard the announcement. What the public wanted, the BCS was assured not to deliver. We should know that by now even as we yearn for the opportunity to see another mid-major school knock one of the Big Boys off their roost, as Utah did last year to Alabama and Boise State did a few years ago to Oklahoma.

TCU and Boise State are not the victims of some vast conspiracy against the non-BCS conferences. That would imply there is some level of secrecy to the whole charade and we know those are only organized against the Clintons, members of the Kennedy family and Tiger Woods’ sext-message-o-the-week recipients.

They are simply the victim of greed disguised as higher education, a model adopted and perfected by the Ivy League over the past 200 years and adapted for football by the six major conferences over the past 12 seasons. Let the whine and kickers flow.

THIS POST HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED FOR THIS ANNOUNCEMENT: Rarely have I ever sided with fans of Boise State in their annual delusional and incessant whine and cheese party following bowl selection day. Honestly, one year they tried to argue that a one-loss Boise State team still deserved a BCS bowl birth. Puh-leeze. Having lived in Boise for six years I can say that BroncoNation is synonymous with the highest degree of whining one can find in college ball, including those emanating from Clemson, South Carolina or Athens, Georgia. NOW BACK TO THE REGULARLY SCHEDULED BLOG POST BITCHING ABOUT SOMETHING…WHAT WAS IT?…OH, YEAH…The Siesta Bowl, brought to you by AmbienCR.

The BCS - the Augusta National Golf Club of college football - simply wanted nothing to do with having egg on its face, especially when it could have realistically happened twice in one year had TCU been paired with Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl and Boise State matched with Iowa in the Fiesta Bowl.

The BCS didn’t want to run the risk of there being four undefeated teams at the end of this year’s five elite games (the winner of Alabama/Texas, Cincinnati over Florida, and BSU and TCU over their respective opponents).

The BCS member schools wanted no part of a potentially embarrassing outcome for fellow members such as Georgia Tech and Iowa, thus giving non-BCS schools a chance to expand on their respectable 3-1 record in BCS games; two wins by Utah, one by Boise State and Hawaii’s lost to Georgia.

BTW, Notre Dame is 0-3, Michigan 1-3, Florida State 1-5, and Oklahoma 2-5 in their BCS showdowns.

Both BSU and TCU are undefeated, boast impressive resumes heading into the bowl season, and have been at the top of list of BCS troublemakers in recent years (Utah, included) that are screaming for some level of justice or playoff system in college football.

“Play tougher opponents,” they’ve been told. Check.

“If one of you happens to be good enough to break the top 12 in the BCS standings, then we’ll let you in.” Uh, yessir. Did you see that we both finished the season ranked in the top 6?

“Well, uh, you need to be in a stronger conference.” Ahem, TCU beat #14 BYU and #23 Utah during the course of its schedule against the Mountain West, which has just as many teams in the BCS top 25 as the ACC, SEC, Big East and Big 12.

The only thing left is, particularly for the Mountain West, is for it to receive some type of recognition akin to most favored nation status. Instead they are the Burkina Faso of college football.

What’s the next excuse of the BCS? I’m sure it will be creative and pronounced by somebody with a PhD after their name.

The BCS was deliberate in coaching the choices of their members games, even as they claim that each bowl is “independent” in its selection process. The cadre of special bowls knew their role and played it well.

The BCS was purposeful in its actions to align the two undefeated non-BCS schools to try and package it as something special. They are well aware that the low television ratings that will come as a result of two non-BCS schools will help them continue make their case about its exclusion policy when it comes to splitting its annual mega-millions jackpot.

Like any fine whine, this annual football farce called the BCS only gets better with time.

TCU beats Boise State, 28-17.

© 2009 Teflon Don Sports.