OK, so I am one upset Card fan after today's BCS ranking release. The loss to Iowa helps NOTHING, but I am more steamed about this slight than an early loss to a good veteran Big Ten team.

How do Miami and Georgia both leap over our team, especially the idle Bulldogs who earned 4 spots in the avg. computer poll ranking despite not playing a single down? How does Miami earn a 3/4 spot jump in the polls by pasting a BAD Wake Forest team? These are all rhetorical questions, so no need to answer them.

The problem as I see it is that we are getting neither the advantages of favorable computer rankings nor of biased pollsters. Miami, in beating the Deacs, allowed voting America to show the inherent bias to the Canes. A 52-7 win over an ACC bottom-dweller does not, IMO, validate such a big jump in the polls. There's something wrong with them if pollsters truly believe Miami earned that many extra votes this weekend.

As for the computers, there is a SERIOUS flaw there (moreso than the polling flaws). Whatever collection of formulas it is that makes Arizona State the 8th best team in the country (poll avg) is amazingly flawed. Further, if the numbers spit out a 4-spot improvement for a team that DID NOT EVEN PLAY, there is another serious problem. Folks like Massey and Billingsley should be forced to forfeit any math degrees they earned if they truly believe the numbers they are getting are accurate and correct.

Now here's the big problem as I see it. This is not going to improve for the Big East next season. Taking a look at BCS ranked NBE teams, UofL and WVU, these are two of the least respected teams in terms of the computer rankings. The Cards have the absolute worst computer ranking (15) compared to their poll rankings (7/8) and West Virginia is not far behind. Other non-BCS teams, meanwhile, are somehow getting great computer results (Utah and Boise State specifically). If neither one is respected where they currently play, do we really think putting them together will change that? I, for one, fear not.

If Louisville were in the Big East they would be ranked 6th or 7th in the BCS right now. If you look at West Virginia, they were actually getting a TON of respect in the BCS. Their BCS ranking was high prior to the loss to Virginia Tech. And then, after losing to VPI they actually shot back up the rankings and would have been in the Top 10 of the BCS if they had beaten Boston College. Trust me, if Louisville had beaten Miami, and West Virginia had beaten both VPI and Boston College they would be in the Top 3 or 5 of the BCS rankings. And if WVU had beaten VPI or BC they would be ranked between 7th and 10th right now.