Not worst case, but it's still wrong

Well, it's not necessarily a worst-case scenario; that was last year, going 5-6 and no bowl game, the fate inflicted on Oregon State this year. Getting to a top second-tier bowl game and finishing as the #5 ranked team in the nation is good in almost every way. Almost.

The simple fact, the part of the equation the BCS still gets wrong, is that Oregon will not be one of the eight BCS teams. #22 Florida State, with its premium 4 losses, gets to go to the Orange Bowl (and there to be annihilated by Penn State, go Joe Pa) simply because it won the weak-ass ACC. Unless Congress forces a change, the BCS and NCAA are not going to adopt a playoff system, but they could do this: Set a standard for being in one of the four BCS bowls. Just to be in any bowl game, a team must win a minimum of six games. BCS eligibility should have a cut-off of two losses: lose more than two, and you don't get a bid. In that case, FSU would be out and UO would be in, and that would be more fair.

It will also make for better games. If there are four bowl games that are considered to be superior, they should have the eight best teams. That's not happening, and for a team like Oregon, that worked so hard to fight back from last year's losing record to go 10-1 and become one of the best in the nation, being excluded from a BCS bowl game is just plain wrong.