With Ohio State and Louisiana State locked in to play for
the national championship, there will undoubtedly be plenty of controversy
surrounding the game, with multiple teams faulting the system and the polls for
determining that the one-loss Buckeyes and two-loss Tigers deserved a spot in
the championship.
No matter which teams the computers spit out as No.1 and No.
2 though, a team was going to go home unhappy. In the absence of two clear-cut
teams that stand far above the rest, there's no way for everyone to agree on the
title competitors.
Who cares, critics will argue, that the BCS system claims
OSU and LSU are the two best teams in the country? Lately it’s turned out the
teams that the rankings said were the best weren't really that good.
So I say, as long as there is going to be controversy over
the system, why not at least make the championship entertaining in the process
and put the very deserving No. 10 Hawaii and No. 3 Oklahoma in the national
championship instead?
After all, both teams are worthy of a bid, and the Warriors
playing the Sooners would be a lot more entertaining than the Buckeyes-Tigers
game.
Start by taking a look at Hawaii, a team with just about
every qualification a title contender should have.
In the Warriors, the national title game would assure itself
a team that's exciting to watch, as you'd be hard pressed to find a more
entertaining team in the country.
Hawaii lines up five receivers and throws the ball downfield
for four quarters. Maybe that style of play isn't what is expected in a
traditional national championship game, but has anything about this season been
at all traditional?
Hawaii also brings one of the nation's best players — and
performers — to the table. Putting Colt Brennan in the national championship
game is a can't-miss opportunity. The senior has set a boatload of NCAA records
including career touchdowns, single-season touchdowns and single-season passing
yards.
Brennan has successfully moved on from "the guy who got in
trouble at Colorado" to "the guy who shaved the Hawaiian Islands in his head
and grew out dreadlocks" while becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the
country.
If an underdog story is what
you're looking for in the championship, Hawaii brings a Disney movie-esque tale
to the title. Though the Warriors don't know the meaning of a short road trip,
they've become a laid back bunch who win football games with a coach often seen
rocking a lei on the sidelines while playing in the nation's 50th state.
Most of all though, the Warriors
have the biggest qualification necessary for being in the title game: They went
undefeated.
The biggest flaw that its critics
offer, that the team has played a relatively weak schedule, doesn't really hold
up in a season where unranked teams have knocked off the top ones incredibly
often.
Sure, Hawaii's best win is its 39-27
victory over Boise State, and the team's seven other Western Athletic
Conference victories don't seem to hold too much weight. Take a look at the
losses to the teams ahead of Hawaii though.
LSU lost to an unranked Arkansas
team, and Ohio State went down to unranked Illinois. In a season that saw the
nation's No. 2 team also lose a number of times to unranked opponents, Hawaii
has successfully navigated through 11 games against teams not in the top 25
without losing once.
So why Oklahoma instead of Ohio
State or Louisiana State?
While Oklahoma lost twice to
unranked teams (Colorado and Texas Tech) it would make for a much more
interesting duo with Hawaii than either of the others would, and the Sooners do
hold a pretty sound resume.
The BCS No. 3 Oklahoma also won its conference championship,
beating No. 1 Missouri for the second time in the process.
Not one, but two wins over the team ranked at the top of the
nation in the season's last week is something neither Ohio State nor Louisiana
State did.
And, unlike LSU, OU won't boast a tremendous home-field
advantage in the title game, which will make the real championship a little
uneven.
Though the Superdome is a lot closer to Norman, Okla., than
Honolulu, Hawaii, it's not right in the Sooners backyard like it is for the Tigers.
Think there won't be any storyline to unite the Sooner with
the Warriors? Well, the game would serve as an opportunity for Oklahoma to
avenge last season's Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State, the WAC's top team in
2007, with a shot against the WAC's top team in 2008.
There may be no such thing as a perfect national
championship, and though LSU and Ohio State are both worthy of a spot, Hawaii
and Oklahoma can each lay claim to a title shot as well.
In a season with no clear-cut favorite and plenty of
controversy as it is, I say, why not give them a shot?
Mike is a sophomore
majoring in political science. If you think don't agree that Hawaii deserves a
shot at the title or that Colt Brennan is all he's cracked up to be, he can be
reached at [email protected].
