I'll admit, I greeted the slate of BCS game this year with more of yawn than anything else. I know I'll be sick of the Alabama-Texas hype by the second week in January, and none of the other games really piqued by interest. It's been that way for a couple of years, actually, ever since I started agitating for a layoff in earnest. But am I alone in this, or is interest in the BCS sloughing off everywhere? I dug up the television rating shares for the BCS era, and spent some time staring at the numbers to see.

Overall, the viewership has been pretty stagnant since about 2002, with the exception of the 2006 Texas-Southern Cal game that was incredibly popular. Interest in the championship game now is about where it was at the turn of the century, when Florida State went to three straight title games. What the viewers have really abandoned is the less popular BCS bowls. When Boise State played Oklahoma in 2007, the game was the least-watched BCS bowl of all time; since then six other bowls performed worse. Of the top fifteen watched bowl games, five were played after 2005 – the four championship games and the Southern Cal-Michigan Rose Bowl. Meanwhile seven of the bottom ten were played in the last three years.

The blame for this shouldn't fall on the non-BCS teams that squeezed their way in to the BCS. Although all five games involving them are in the bottom ten, they barely moved the averages. No, you can lay most of the blame at the feet of the ACC and Big East:

The television ratings for the two conferences peaked with FSU's dominance of 1999-2001 and Miami's championship appearances of '02 and '03; since then both conferences have been well below average. (The ACC's temporary spike in 2006 was again Florida State, playing Penn State in the battle for the retirement home.) Unlike the other conferences who bring in fans year in and year out, when the ACC and Big East submit their two, three, and four loss teams, no one cares. 

I don't think the BCS is particularly worried about their ratings. After all, they just got buckets of money from ESPN to air the next three years. They might want to start considering it, however. The least-watched bowl in 2009 pulled almost half the ratings of the worst of 2001; if that sort of trend continues there might not be big sacks of cash waiting around at the next renewal.

(An interesting bit about the Rose Bowl, whose raitings always beat the BCS averages – they might be the ones hurt the most by the state of college football. That first drop in their ratings correspond to the first year the bowl was neither Pac-10 vs. Big 10 or the national championship. Oklahoma played Washington State and drew an 11.3 share. They rebounded the next year with USC-Michigan, but the last two years have been Pac-10 vs. Big 10, (USC and Illinois and Penn State, respectively) and both games pulled the same sort of dismal ratings. The tradition is beginning to dim.)

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

3 months ago: FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2009 file photo, Florida players hold up the championship trophy after winning the BCS Championship NCAA college football game in Miami. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, FILE)

Browse more photos »

At least they won't have to ask for directions to the stadium.

UNC accepted a bid to the Meineke Car Care Bowl this afternoon, to be played on December 26th. The opponent will be Pittsburgh, 9-3 and most recently an extra point away from knocking off undefeated Cincinnati. It will be the Tar Heels' third trip to Charlotte this decade, and in fact the only bowl they've played since 2000. They'll also become the team with the most appearances in the game's illustrious eight-year history.

UNC fell to this bowl – which had the fifth choice among the six bowls – because Florida State was offered the Gator, but I've spent enough outrage on that over the past week. Here are a couple thoughts on the other bowl games:

• Hopefully it's a coincidence, but the BCS went out of their way to marginalize the two non-Big Six undefeated teams... by pitting Boise State and TCU against one another. So no BCS conference teams suffer the indignity of Oklahoma-Boise State 2007 or Alabama-Utah 2009, and whoever comes out 13 or 14-0, well, they still won't have played a real team, now will they?
• Boston College, in addition to getting the best location amongst the last three bowls, got the best opponent in Southern Cal. Much more exciting than Kentucky-Clemson or Virginia Tech-Tennesee I think.
• For all you bowl purists, here are the three games you'll get to enjoy on the holiest of holy college football days: Northwestern (8-4) vs. Auburn (7-5), Penn State (10-2) vs. LSU (9-3) and West Virginia (9-3) vs. Florida State (6-6). Any of those sound appealing at all?
• For you fans of college football, however, it's a mere thirty-two days until the two best teams take the field again. Thirty-two days of talk, and meaningless other games. What a way to pick a champion.

More photos » by DAVE MARTIN - AP

Bowden pre-accepting the national championship trophy he will almost certainly win.

Browse more photos »

In a shocking turn of events, John Swofford announced today that the Bowl Championship Series would not select undefeated Texas for the championship game, instead opting for Florida State. "After listening to the argument the Gator Bowl was making," Swofford said, "we decided that Bobby Bowden deserved a larger stage on which to play his final game. They were just a natural fit for the Championship game."

Approximately thirty-three NCAA rules would have to be bent, broken, or contravened to put FSU in the title game, but Swofford seemed unconcerned. "Football fans have come to expect the best match-up as determined by arcane and byzantine factors, and a true champion cannot be judged without taking into account a full thirty-four years of performance." In a further effort to give the fans what they want, Florida State's quarterback will be replaced by University of Florida senior Tim Tebow. "The entire season has been predicated on a repeat performance by Tim Tebow in the national championship. To deny the fans this simply because events on the field did not conform to the predetermined narrative would go against the fine tradition of college football."

The Tebow-led Seminoles will face undefeated SEC champion Alabama, unless Joe Paterno decides to retire in the next month, in which case the Crimson Tide would be relegated to the Sugar Bowl in favor of Penn State.

More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

5 days ago: North Carolina's Dexter Strickland loses the ball as he dribbles into Kentucky players, from left, Daniel Orton, John Wall and Perry Stevenson during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

Browse more photos »

Forget the 28-2 run.

I know, it's hard. After all, it took most of the first half and changed what had been a good UNC start into a disastrous hole the Tar Heels spent the entire game climbing out of. But climb out Carolina did, cutting the lead multiple times to three. As horrible as UNC's first half was, Kentucky's second was equally bad, with John Wall either in the locker room or hobbling around the court . UNC had plenty of chances to win this game, but they all seemed to bounce away along the Kentucky baseline.

That's where the Heels truly let the game slip away. The second half gave them the game the wanted to play, with numerous Wildcat turnovers and UNC defensive rebounds. And yet the resulting fast breaks more often than not resulted in nothing. Too many passes bouncing off hands, too many blocks giving the ball back to Kentucky. If UNC converts those points, they win the game. As it stands, they have a long, snowy trip back to Chapel Hill.

So what did the Heels do well? The bounced back from a horrible first half, holding Kentucky to nine offensive rebounds and even curtailing the turnovers in the second half. They shut down DeMarcus Cousins, keeping him in foul trouble most of the game and limiting him to fifteen ineffective minutes. In fact, the player they never had an answer for was the one starting upperclassman, Patrick Patterson, who was 8-12 for 19 points and 7 rebounds. But they couldn't overcome poor shooting and their inability to capitalize on turnovers, and still haven't shaken the propensity to panic that turns small changes in fortune into 28-2 runs. John Wall's first half was, of course, incredible, but he flusters as easy as the UNC players, and his seven turnovers did a good deal towards letting Carolina back in the game.

I'm trying to find the bright side when I say a close loss and a solid comeback, even if it comes up short, will be good for this team down the road. They'll come through December strong and well prepared for the conference season. But it's still a tough loss on an hostile floor, and annoying to see.

by Robert Willett - AP

9 days ago: North Carolina players celebrate a double-digit lead over Michigan State in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Robert Willett)

View full size photo »

Too much furor about nothing this week, from DeMarcus Cousins to Delvin Roe, to snow, at least where I am this morning. Time to wash it clean with some basketball.