As if the convoluted BCS Ranking system isn’t bad enough, I recently got into a bit of a spat with Dawg Sports author, T. Kyle King over on the SB Nation Network.

Before I dive right into giving my take on his Resume Ranking system, which is the operational methodology invoked by M-Go-Blogs author, who runs the Blog-Poll, I’d like to say that T. Kyle King, next to Sunday Morning Quarterback, is one of my favorite writers on the net.

Sports Illustrated has Stewart Mandel, CBS Sports has Dennis Dodd, and ESPN has both Ivan Maisel and Pat Forde, and many are favorites of mine as well, but if you haven’t visited Dawg Sports, you are in for a treat.

Not only is his writing style inquisitive and pretty to read, Kyle works full-time as a lawyer in the Litigation industry, and runs, in my regard, the most in-depth SEC analysis site on the web.

I have been a major critic of the polling system for quite some time, and there are many variations around the net.  Stewart Mandel, a popular football writer over at Sports Illustrated has used his own form of Resume Polling, with similar Blog-Poll results.

Earlier this season, in week number two as a matter of fact, Stewart ranked Louisville above upstart Kentucky, less than 24 hours after Kentucky upset Louisville.  At least T. Kyle King (Dawg Sports), on the other hand, waited until the end of the season to rank Virginia Tech ahead of Kansas, specifically after Kansas narrowly defeated Virginia Tech at this years BCS Orange Bowl in Miami.

However, this shady form of ranking - which many refer to as the complete resume (Resume Ranking) occurred outlandishly within the final polls, and I think it is this poll that validates my point more than any other.

In the Final AP Poll, some incomprehensible votes were cast in the final analysis.  Here is an example of, not only the absurdity of Resume Ranking, but the power than the College Football Association alliances have over the BCS and Harris Poll rankings.

(12-2) Missouri (#4), who was beaten significantly by (11-3) Oklahoma (#7) on both occasions, is ranked three spots of ahead of the Sooners. (12-1) Kansas, who couldn’t beat Missouri on essentially its home turf, is one spot ahead of Oklahoma at number six.

(10-4) Tennessee, who was beaten 59-21 earlier this season by the Florida Gators (9-4) is ranked one spot ahead of its SEC rivals at 12 and 13 respectively.

The Gators, however, are ranked 5 spots ahead of Michigan (9-4), even though Michigan dominated the speedy Gators at the Capitol One Bowl 8 days prior to the final AP poll being released.  But don’t cry for Michigan, after all, they are similarly ranked 5 spots ahead of (9-4) Oregon, who blew out the Wolverines in their infamous “Big House” back in September by 32 points.

Another team the Ducks dominated (35-23 at home),  Arizona State (10-3), is ranked 7 spots ahead of the Ducks at #16.  Arizona State was dominated on three occasions by USC, Texas and Oregon.  Both the Trojans (11-2) and Longhorns (10-3), major CFA affiliates, are upheld in the polls.  Oregon on the other hand, falls all the way to number 23, and even more incredibly, Oregon State, a team who beat Oregon and (7-6) California (another team Oregon couldn’t beat) is ranked at number 25.

All of these teams are essentially within one game of each other in the win - loss column, and yet, over and over again, it is apparent and documented that the CFA alliance teams hardly move in the polls when they lose, and the teams who were outside of the original CFA alliance fall like a sack of cement from a six story window when losing by the same margins.

And yet given all of this grotesque favoritism witnessed in every poll throughout the 2007 season, we want to adopt an 8 team playoff where a polling or selection committee (led largely by the same people who formed and supported the CFA and are running our current sytem) would be in charge of selecting the 8 teams for inclusion in college footballs post season?

But it is all about the Resume isn’t it, or is it the history and tradition that each team possesses?

The Georgia Bulldogs were certainly one of the hotter teams at the end of the 2007 season.  But if we are going to rank Georgia by the same standards that we ranked Oregon, how do you justify Georgia’s ranking of number two, when they were beaten handily by an average Tennessee team who was dominated by California 45-31 on opening weekend. 

Tennessee is dominated by Bears in Berkeley, while Oregon fumbles away their opportunity with CAL in Eugene.  Oregon and Tennessee have virtually the same record at the end of the season, and in the one common game between the two teams occurring in early September, Oregon clearly has the nod over its supposedly superior SEC counter-part.

The Ducks not only have the upper hand over the Vols, when examining the Resume on paper, but they have they upper hand over a Florida team who was beaten by Michigan on New Years day, the same Michigan team who Oregon dominated back in September.  Are we really evaluating the complete resume?

It appears that I am not the only person who has insulted Kyle with a passionate outburst:

So much for Resume Ranking!

Kyle also wrote later that the whole ranking process is entirely American, since the majority of our presidential and key house objectives are determined by the same cohesive power structure.

And he is right!  Most of our laws in this nation are passed because corporate America, with the financial backing of Wall Street, spend millions of dollars a year to lobby congressmen (and women), so they can protect their self-serving interests and continue to make millions.

He is exactly correct and the current BCS power structure, which includes the bowl commissioners have done much the same over the last decade to protect their self-serving interests and the millions of dollars they rake in annually at the expense of the student-athletes themselves, who have said on many occasions they want a playoff in place to determine a national champion.

I won’t dive into detail here, but I will provide a reference for you and point you in an eye-opening direction so you can become further educated on the matter.

Scott Reid, the author of a series of special reports for the Orange County Register regarding the current bowl structure, which prevents a playoff, has agreed to provide me with even more detailed information that did not make it into this series of articles due to the length of the overall series, and I will be putting this additional information into my book manuscript.

Here is the source of information:

I.  College Football’s Money Bowl

II. Price of Success

III.  Having A Party

IV.  Bowl Calculators in Over-Drive

Personally, given the information held within this series of special reports and T. Kyle Kings tie in that the entire BCS polling process, as well as the bowl tradition is entirely American, I can whole-heartily concede that the SEC is very much a part of this outlandish largess, and why would they want to change this system, when they continue to control and profit from it?

Considering the degree that all of the parties, who were associated with the College Football Association, defend the traditional bowl structure in the face of mounting criticism, displays a complete lack of respect for the other members of the Division I-A Bowl Subdivision, who pay dividends to meet the same association requirements.

Personally, I believe sports is an entity that should be free from politics and the social limitations that political influence places on all competitions.  While I agree that socialism isn’t the answer, especially considering the fact that American enterprise is a capitalistic regime, I think we can all agree that each football product should be given an equal opportunity to succeed, and this is simply not the case given our current arrangement, and the mindsets that determine and define elite status.

The college football gridiron is the last place I’d like to see the corruptive influences of American politics at the forefront, and yet that is exactly what is occurring, and even more incredibly, we have competent fans who feverishly support this grotesque model of unfairness and capitalism.  Athletic competition should be free of these seductive influences, especially at the collegiate level.

To hear more on this issue, please visit the Podcast over at www.inthebleachers.net

Click here for the Link!