BCS Rules

Missouri playing West Virginia in New Orleans on Jan. 7 for the national title would be unexpected and unusual, but it would not be the end of civilization.

First, Missouri has to beat Oklahoma, and that hasn't happened since 1998. And West Virginia has to avoid an upset vs. Pitt.

Missouri vs. West Virginia ... why not?

The knock against college football is that you never get Cinderella stories because everything is skewed toward the powerhouses.

So here college football sits on the precipice of a truly oddball game, and people are still going to complain?

If you can accept the BCS is about as imperfect a system as was ever conceived, then you can't be surprised it can spit out Missouri-West Virginia.

If you know there is not going to be a playoff this year, next year or the one after, then what's wrong with this goofball matchup?

It would be better with a playoff, but so would your life be if the boss doubled your salary. And neither is likely to happen.

Maybe USC and Georgia are the best two-loss teams out there right now, but no one should complain about getting Ida-hosed.

Missouri and West Virginia would have played the system and matriculated to the top.

Missouri beat Illinois and Mississippi in non-conference play and absorbed a tough loss at Oklahoma. The Show Me State then showed everyone it was better than Kansas.

If Missouri beats Oklahoma, it will get what it deserves: a trip to the BCS title game.

West Virginia has been a top program for years now. It doesn't play the toughest schedule, but it did beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl two years ago.

If your favorite team does not make it to this year's BCS title game, blame your favorite team. Curse the bad-luck gods.

USC is not in the national title game because it lost to, um, Stanford.

LSU lost two games in triple overtime. Too bad.

If Ohio State had not lost at home, to Illinois, the Buckeyes would be title game-bound ... and they might be anyway.

We have sympathy for Oregon, which seemed primed for a national title berth before losing star quarterback Dennis Dixon to a Heisman Trophy-ending knee injury.

We feel for Oklahoma, which lost to Texas Tech after losing starting quarterback Sam Bradford to a concussion. But Oklahoma also lost to Colorado.

There are breaks in life -- some of them are bad.

So what if it does end up Missouri vs. West Virginia on Jan. 7?

Source: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/football/cs-toptwo26nov26,1,1547940.story?coll=cs-college-print