Rooting Interest

I recognize that the BCS is soon to be relegated to history's dustbin (not to be confused with Ned's Atomic Dustbin - betcha didn't think you'd hear that band's name today). And since Wheelhouse Jerry's maddeningly rational arguments have sunk in over time, even as I've resisted them, I further recognize that the right thing to do in a situation like the one we face is to root for the outcome with the best entertainment value.



But old habits die hard, and we've got one final chance to enjoy the squirming discomfort of the corpulent glad-handers in garish jackets that have run BCS bowls for so long. It's really no skin off your nose, because you probably weren't going to watch the Orange Bowl, anyway. So do it for me, won't you? I don't ask for much.

I need you to root for Kent State.

Coach Darrell Hazzell's Golden Flashes beat Ohio University on Friday to cap a perfect MAC regular season and advance to the conference championship game against Northern Illinois. Kent State knocked off Rutgers on the banks of the Raritan on their way to an 11-1 overall record. Their only loss was a nailbiter at SEC titan Kentucky, who used an aggressive full court press to win by 33 in the second week of the season. I think we can all agree to forget that ever happened.

Heading into the MAC championship game, Kent State is ranked 17th in the BCS standings. According to BCS maven Jerry Palm, the Golden Flashes have more than an outside shot at moving into the top 16 with a win against Northern Illinois. And if that happens, Kent State would earn an at-large BCS bid, assuming they finish higher than at least one champion from an conference with an automatic BCS qualification. Since no Big East team even registers on the BCS meter at the moment, that's a fairly safe assumption.

You have the power to remove those shit-eating grins. Truly.

In order for Kent State to move into the BCS top 16, they need to win the MAC title game and have UCLA lose to Stanford while Texas loses to Kansas State. So I need you to root for those things to happen, too.

If you really want to go for degree of difficulty, you could pull for Georgia Tech to beat Florida State in the ACC Championship to set up a Golden Flashes vs. Yellow Jackets Orange Bowl. All those colors running together would roughly approximate the hues in the vomit an ESPN executive just choked back after reading that last sentence.

I think you all know what's to be done.