The NCAA has long taken a harsh anti-gambling stance. They have a well-orchestrated "Don't Bet on It" campaign including a website (DontBetOnIt.org).
Yet, the phony organization has a $100 million gamble and has fixed the outcome to ensure they will not lose the money they anted. The NCAA, in conjunction with their mega-million dollar betting syndicate of six BCS conferences, college presidents and the television networks, created the BCS 11 years ago. Topping the list of goals of the sweepstakes is to come up with a true national championship game.
The quandary is, ala ice skating, that the participants are determined by a very subjective equation that consists of judges in two polls and the computer average of six ranking systems. The compilation results in a point system that ranks each team, with the top two meeting to determine a champion.
However, the many imperfections of the method allows for the possibility that the NCAA could lose their bet. The winner of that alleged championship game may not wind up with the most BCS points when the point system was applied after the bowl games.
The new calculations could produce a top ranked team that did not even participate in the BCS Championship game. We saw an example of that when LSU earned a spot in this year's game, leapfrogging a Virginia Tech team that won and a Georgia squad that did not play because they already finished their season.
There are endless scenarios in which the victor of Ohio State-LSU could also be leapfrogged. For example, LSU supporters point out that both of the Tigers losses were in overtime, hence their setbacks should be weighted less.
Okay, so what if the BCS Championship game also goes into overtime, should that victory be weighted less, allowing impressive bowl wins by Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Georgia, USC or Kansas to bypass them?
What if Hawaii stuns Georgia in impressive fashion? All of a sudden that sheds new light on their record and validates them as the only undefeated team in the country.
Well aware of the nightmare scenario, the NCAA has fixed the outcome. Coaches have as much right to vote their conscience as constituents do in Cuban elections. Regardless of who a coach believes should be No. 1 following the postseason results, they are mandated to declare the winner of the BCS' gamble as champion. Is this not blatant shaving of the BCS's own point system?
In fact, the Bowl Championship Series Rankings are not even recalculated following the bowls. A true final poll could reveal the BCS lost their wager. No problem, the NCAA comes up with a point system then manipulates the ultimate outcome to guarantee there will be no undesired results. If a player does that, it's called point shaving. When the NCAA does the same thing, they call it the Bowl Championship Series.
College athletes, visit the DontBetOnIt.org site. Remember, when the NCAA informs you about all the evils of gambling and point shaving, do as they say, not as they do.
The author, Joe Duffy is CEO of OffshoreInsiders.com. Make sure you are happy with the outcome of the college football bowls by getting his GodsTips winning selections at OffshoreInsiders.com
