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Does Hawaii Really Deserve a BCS Bid?

By collegefbfan8898, Section College
Posted on Tue Dec 11 2007 at 3:34 PM EST
More on: (all tags)

I am not going to fuss about the BCS system determining a champion. I am not going to pitch the best commercial in the world for a college football playoff. Division 1A football, or FBS, is not going to go that route. However, I do want to fuss about the love fest that is called Hawaii. I really don't care what Mark May, Lou Holtz, Kirk Herbstreit, and/or Lee Corso says about this football team deserving a BCS shot, the Warriors simply do not. There are a lot of reasons to support the argument that they do belong in a BCS bowl game. But look deeper and uncover the facts.

Hawaii played two division 1AA, or FCS opponents this season. I don't care if anyone else in division 1A would play them. Try again next year when you actually play some teams without Cool-Whip in their pads and britches. Go ahead and put Hawaii in a BCS bowl game this season. Every other non-BCS football team will take the approach of scheduling not one, but two division 1AA teams and bringing in the big bucks from the BCS bowls. If Hawaii beats Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, what does it really mean? Absolutely nothing. Georgia loses that game, and they get bashed. Georgia wins, and they receive no credit because they were supposed to win. Check it out. The last bowl to pick was the Sugar Bowl, and whom did they pick to face Georgia? OK. Rocket science class is over. Hawaii had the easiest road to a BCS bowl. Please don't bring up the fact that they tried to schedule Michigan or some other decent BCS football team. Any BCS conference team could have made it to a BCS bowl game with that schedule. Put Hawaii in the Big 12 or SEC; then we can see if the Warriors are still BCS bowl bound. The true and honest reason that the media is making a case for Hawaii playing in a BCS bowl is because Colt Brennan is their only shot, and he will be gone next season.

OK. I have no idea what I am talking about, right. Check the stats. Hawaii's strength of schedule is 117th out of 119 division 1A teams. Not counting the division 1AA teams they faced (and this is a favor, trust me), Hawaii's opponents have an average total offense rank of 63 and a total defense rank of 79. The Warriors' opponents also average 5 wins and 8 losses per game on the season. Once again, I did Hawaii a favor and excluded the division 1AA teams from this figure. Take all of this into account and add to it the fact that Hawaii played two teams with winning records this season.

Someone is out there saying that Hawaii is undefeated, Hawaii has a great offense, no team from a BCS conference not named Washington would play the Warriors. This team deserves to be in the BCS. How sure are you? You do realize that before all of these losses near or at the end of the season, the BCS expanded its pool from which to choose at-large teams for the BCS bowl games. If Hawaii would have won out, they would have been in a BCS bowl. If Boise State had beaten Hawaii, this still may not have assured the Broncos a BCS bowl spot. Then, the political guys would have heads rolling again because the mid-majors missed out on another bowl that pays huge. The WAC commissioner said that he didn't think this would affect Hawaii's or Boise's State chances of getting a BCS bowl. Of course, he would say that. He probably doesn't know that Hawaii has played a schedule with two junior varsity teams. Is he aware that extending the pool of at-large teams to choose from actually improves their chances without automatically qualifying?

Now, we can take a look at history. This history lesson involves the BCS and the teams that weren't included way back when. Well, forget all of that. Don't worry about the beginning of the BCS in 1998. All you have to know is that Utah was the first non-BCS team to make a BCS bowl from the 2004 season. The Utes faced a Texas A&M team that went 6 - 5 (7 - 5 with the bowl win), a 3 - 8 Arizona team, and North Carolina that had a 6 - 5 season (6 - 6 season including the bowl game). That's three BCS teams for Utah and the Utes' opponents averaged 5 wins and 6 losses per game for the 2004 season. To make their case even stronger, the Utes went undefeated that year without playing a division 1AA team. The BCS bowls didn't have any mid-major teams in their premiere bowls for the 2005 season. Then, the Boise State Broncos crashed the party in 2006. The Broncos beat Oregon State (the Beavers had a 9 - 4 season; 10 - 4 with the bowl win). The Broncos' opponents averaged 6 wins and 6 losses per game for the 2006 season. Oh yeah, the guys from the blue turf only played one division 1AA team in their quest to BCS greatness.

So, now can you tell me what makes Hawaii so deserving?

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Does Hawaii Really Deserve a BCS Bid? | 7 comments (7 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

No choice after this crazy year (#1)
by Flemish American on Sun Dec 09 2007 at 3:26 PM EST

What more can we say. Despite the strength of schedule problem this year has been so crazy that not to let them in with an undefeated record would have been unspeakable. There were some who felt they should even be in the championship game although I don't subscribe to that at all.

Besides, after Boise State - Oklahoma last year in the Fiesta Bowl, they had to try and see if they could get another game like that. With Hawaii's offense, they just might.

Let's face it, the whole system needs an overhaul. No sense blaming Hawaii for taking advantage of the way it's set up now.

Well Done (#2)
by ClevelandWill on Tue Dec 11 2007 at 3:37 PM EST

I agree the system is screwed but its not Hawaii's fault. Good points throughout the article though. I especially liked the comparison to other mid-major schools who missed out on bowls at the end. Well done. Needs some editing though.

They're deserving to play in BCS Bowl! (#3)
by Anonymous Fan on Thu Dec 13 2007 at 4:32 PM EST

Everyone have their reasons wherher or not they belong. People like you judge the cover and not the book. The same goes with Hawaii. They're the only undefeated team in the nation. But against a Georgia Team that's considered by many as the team that should be playing in the NC will be a very good gauge that Hawaii does belong.

You can't penalize Hawaii for their SOS. WAC and other mid majors are already at a disadvantage because of their conference. But if you look at all the SEC teams, they schedule the SUN Belt Conference to build their winning resume.

Let them play and then make your judgement. If they win, then they can play with the SECs and Big 10, because of their record against these teams. June Jones and McMackin should not be considered mediocre coaches. They are excellent coaches with tons of experience and turning a mid major into a BCS buster; that's priceless! If they win, what's your excuse after?

What??? (#4)
by collegefbfan8898 on Thu Dec 13 2007 at 9:17 PM EST

You think if Hawaii beats Georgia, all will be great. I would love to see Hawaii play Georgia's schedule. Or any other SEC team's schedule. As far as SEC teams scheduling these weak teams to build up wins. Maybe you need to go back and actually watch some college football from this past season. LSU vs. Virginia Tech, Tennessee vs. California, Alabama vs. Florida State, Auburn vs. South Florida, Georgia vs. Oklahoma State, etc. Now you may know some things, but I can assure you that South Florida, Florida State, Cal, and Virginia Tech are not in the Sun Belt.

[ Parent ]

10-2 Hawaii in SEC (#5)
by Flemish American on Mon Dec 17 2007 at 4:26 PM EST

I'm afraid I gotta go with the other guy. I don't think Hawaii would have gone undefeated with Georgia's schedule, but 10-2 is entirely realistic for this team. I think you are a bit to hard (and emotional) in picking on them.

Boise State already showed the WAC can get up for a game against great competition in a BCS bowl game in arguably one of the best bowl games of the last decade. Why shouldn't Hawaii get a chance to show the same?

I could live with your rant if they had been put in the championship game, but just a BCS bowl game? Once again; "Why not"?
___

[ Parent ]

I'm eating crow,...hypothetically (#7)
by Flemish American on Sun Jan 06 2008 at 10:36 AM EST

After being trounced by Georgia I'm wondering if my 10-2 claim holds any water. I can only guess that it was a combination of two factors:

Hawaii was overwhelmed making a BCS bowl and never brought their best game to the field.
Georgia is probably the best team in the country right now and would have had beaten anybody that day.

This much being said, Hawaii didn't do anything to quell the doubters and they have potentially hurt future BCS Breakers' chances of getting in without impeccable credentials.

On another note, the Rose Bowl got exactly what they deserved (or wanted). Georgia should have been playing USC in California. Trying to keep tradition with Big Ten -vs- Pac Ten just didn't cut it this year with Ohio State not available and Michigan having a crappy record. The BCS still needs a lot of tweaking.

[ Parent ]

Not Picking On The Warriors (#6)
by collegefbfan8898 on Mon Dec 17 2007 at 9:28 PM EST

I have no problem with Hawaii. I am not that crazy about them playing two division 1AA teams this past season. If it was any other team, that team would have been told, "Too bad. Try again next year."

I know what Boise State did last season. They were an awesome team. I totally give them credit. The Broncos beat Oregon State, a BCS team that had 10 wins. I am not so sure about Hawaii though. I am not bashing them. If they beat Georgia, then it will be great. Another chink in the BCS armor.

I just have a feeling that other teams will see this "way", will take the easy path, and schedule two division 1AA teams, win them, and get the big money bowl.

Does Hawaii Really Deserve a BCS Bid? | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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