Editor’s note: This column was written before the announcement was made guaranteeing a Bowl Championship Series game for the University of Iowa.

I didn’t think the BCS could get much worse, but it surprised me again. Let’s count the injustices that have taken place, or are about to take place, this year.

Iowa, with an 11-1 record, might not make one of the top four bowl games (Fiesta, Rose, Sugar and Orange). Notre Dame, with a 10-2 record and fresh off losing a laugher against Southern Cal, probably will. So will 9-4 Florida State, which got an automatic berth by virtue of its Atlantic Coast Conference championship.

Kansas State, which only has two losses — both to top 15 opponents by a combined seven points — is also considered a long shot to be selected for a BCS berth. You’re telling me the Wildcats couldn’t hang with Ohio State, Florida State or even Georgia? That’s BCS minus the C.

I’ve said playoff from the beginning, and I’m not changing my tune. Part of me wishes Iowa State’s comeback against the Hawkeyes in early September would have fallen just short. That way, there would be three undefeated teams right now, and since the BCS allows only two teams to play for a shot at the national championship, Iowa would probably be left out.

Just imagine the upheaval from the Hawkeye Nation then. It’d be a black-and-gold march to the steps of the NCAA, complete with pitchforks and language not appropriate for schoolchildren.

Joke of the Week

Texas A&M fired head coach R.C. Slocum on Monday after mountains of speculation that he would be let go at season’s end. Besides being a class act, Slocum did his job and he did it well.

The Aggies finished 6-6 this season and are headed to their 12th bowl game since Slocum took over in 1989.

He never had a losing record in 14 seasons at the helm and led the Aggies to a victory over then top-ranked Oklahoma last month. Slocum’s coaching record at A&M was 123-47-2, trailing only Florida State’s Bobby Bowden and Penn State’s Joe Paterno for the most coaching victories since 1990.

The formation of the Big 12 Conference may have played a role in Slocum’s departure. Four Texas schools, including A&M, joined the Big 8 Conference in 1996 to form today’s Big 12. The year before that deal the Aggies went 9-3 and they went undefeated the season two years prior.

Since then, Slocum’s combined record was 64-35. Nine of those losses were to former Big 8 teams. Slocum didn’t have much control over his school joining the Big 12, so that shouldn’t be in the equation. When the kind of long-term r‚sum‚ that Slocum has isn’t good enough, what is?

Upset Special

This one is older than your mom’s leftover meatloaf, but Oklahoma State’s 38-28 upset of then-No. 3 Oklahoma last Saturday was monumental for the Cowboys. Their second straight victory over the Sooners will probably result in a better bowl game than they expected, pushing Iowa State down a notch in its bowl quest.

The way it happened was as shocking as the final outcome. As the 35-6 third-quarter score popped up near the bottom of the TV I was watching, I could almost hear the Sooner faithful claiming “misprint.”

“We are on the rise,” said OSU receiver Rashaun Woods, who had 12 catches for 226 yards. “It’s obvious now that we are a program on the rise.”

It certainly looks that way.

On the Record

“I’m a champion and he’s not.” Texas Christian defensive lineman John Turntine said this after Memphis reserve quarterback Maurice Avery used a helmet to strike Turntine in the head during a post-game melee. With the 27-20 win, Texas Christian earned a share of the Conference USA championship.

Jeff Raasch

is a junior in journalism

and mass communication

from Odebolt.