Little room for error when you’re further down the college football food chain

Unbuckling the mailbag:

Question: Why wasn’t Oregon punished for a close win like Texas Christian was?

Michael Keith

Wells Branch, Texas

Answer: Because Ducks are higher on the food chain than Horned Frogs. Major college contenders always get the benefit of the doubt versus “non-AQ” schools.

It’s the performance mulligan you earn for playing in one of the top conferences — and it’s fair.

What’s not fair is to say schools such as Boise State and TCU get free rides because they play in weaker conferences.

The reason neither team has come close to making a BCS title game is because they are held to a different standard by BCS voters and computers.

Boise and TCU only worked their ways into the title chase because they rode undefeated regular seasons last year into high preseason rankings.

Boise State, because it beat TCU in the Fiesta Bowl, started No. 5 in this year’s USA Today coaches’ poll. TCU was No. 7.

That gives you a fighting chance to compete for the national title, although Boise and TCU have a much smaller margin for error than BCS schools. Boise State and TCU, unlike Oregon and Auburn, can’t afford close wins in conference games.

The difference between conferences has always been mitigated by the electorate.

Thus, it is ridiculous to suggest Boise State and TCU would not deserve a title bid if they finished No. 1 or No. 2 when, in fact, no teams in BCS history would have deserved it more given the built-in roadblocks against them.

Oregon can overcome a 15-13 win over California, yet Boise State might not be able to survive a 15-13 win over Nevada, which scored 52 against Cal.

Q: Were Auburn to have to forfeit games, it would take them out of the national championship game. But what if the ruling comes after the games are already set? Is there any procedure by which they could be awarded the game and then removed?

Richard Turner

Fontana

A: This is everyone’s worst nightmare, and the reason the NCAA’s investigation into Cam Newton’s eligibility needs to be expedited. It wasn’t a good answer when the Southeastern Conference said it had Newton’s file months ago but it took time to get around to it.

I don’t care what’s going on in Vanderbilt’s coed lacrosse program; the Newton case should have been top priority.

This case needs to be resolved, one way or another, before the BCS title-game participants are determined on Dec. 5 — unless Auburn loses to Alabama next week. In that case, take your time because at least it won’t affect this season’s national title.

However, if Auburn makes the title game and Newton is declared ineligible on Dec. 10, well, then you have a big problem.

The Heisman Trophy ceremony show is going to be awkward enough, with ESPN hosts tiptoeing around Newton’s back story.

Q: I am curious what you think might be a good solution to the mysterious leg cramps that Stanford and Cal players exhibited while playing Oregon.

Tom Hamilton

Bend, Ore.

A: Very strange. These cramps tend to afflict only defensive players trying to slow down Oregon’s breakneck offense.

Doctors are calling it “Oregonitis.”

My solution would be to supply all Oregon opponents 10 sideline hot tubs and nine or 10 professional masseuses.

I would also prescribe truth serum for the coaches who say these “injuries” are just coincidental. An Oregon player told me earlier this year that a Tennessee player confessed to him after the game in Knoxville that the Vols even designated a “fall” guy against Oregon.

You can question the ethics of feigning injuries as a tactic, but it would be unconscionable and ill-advised for officials to deny medical care to players.

My guess is coaches, um, know this.

Q: The most clever thing you can come up with about this weekend’s football game at Wrigley Field is a Steve Bartman reference?

Give it a rest.

Philip Priest

A: Well, at least it was more “clever” than the football configuration at Wrigley Field for Saturday’s Northwestern-Illinois game, which left only a few feet between the back of one end zone and a padded wall.

Officials on Friday, for safety reasons, decided to let the schools use only one end zone.

This is about as funny as running next year’s Indianapolis 500 in the opposite direction.

But I bet the television ratings are huge.

Q: Could there just be a moratorium in the Tribune on Steve Bartman references?

. . . I don’t know Steve Bartman, but it seems like he has been unfairly portrayed as the bogeyman for way too long.

Let it drop.

Charlie Platt

A: If only he had let it drop, Charlie.

Q: Oregon is a far superior team than Boise State and I think you know it. So, what’s the problem? I agree the ideal national championship game would pit Oregon against Boise State because payback can be a . . . well, you know.

Lon Wahlberg

Pasadena

A: If Oregon was “far” superior to Boise State how come the Ducks lost to Boise State in 2008 and 2009?

It’s funny that you would need to “pay back” a team that really doesn’t belong on the same field as your team.

Q: How do you justify constantly ridiculing major-college teams for occasionally playing schools like Georgia State and Troy when your beloved Boise State plays schools like them every week?

Craig Lesley

A: I don’t see a start-up school on Boise State’s schedule this year — that’s what Georgia State is. The worst team I see on Boise’s schedule is New Mexico State, which beat San Jose State, which lost at Wisconsin this year by only 13 points.

Boise State also beat lowly Toledo, which beat Purdue, which beat Northwestern, which just beat Iowa, which was expected by many to compete for this year’s national title.

Q: Your maddening love affair with the Broncos is way over the top. Do you not watch the Western Athletic Conference? It resembles “flag football.” . . . The league is a joke.

Don Troy

Pacific Palisades

A: I did catch a few flag football games this year, but they weren’t in the WAC. Or maybe you missed Michigan 67, Illinois 65.

What about Auburn beating Arkansas, 65-43, or Kentucky over Georgia, 44-31?

I know, I know. When SEC teams play high-scoring games it’s just great offense. And when the SEC plays low-scoring games it is all about great defense.

I do remember San Jose State (WAC team) holding Wisconsin to 27 points in Madison this year, and Indiana (Big Ten) team holding Wisconsin last week to 83.

California (Pac-10) allowed 52 points in a game at Nevada earlier this year.

If Nevada scores 52 on Boise State next week, I’ll buy dinner at the best restaurant in any BCS-conference city except Pullman, Wash.

Q: If Auburn loses to Alabama (let’s say badly), does a thumping of South Carolina get them back in? Or would it have to be a close loss to Alabama?

Chris Marbellow

A: There are people out there cashing paychecks from ESPN and CBS who think it is a birthright for the SEC champion to be in the national title game.

I think you’ve hit on the right scenarios. If Auburn loses a close game to Alabama and then thumps South Carolina, there will be an orchestrated chorus to get Auburn back in the title game.

Craig James of ESPN was touting this scenario on Thursday night’s broadcast of UCLA and Washington.

Some people, usually elitist broadcasters who played at major colleges, simply do not want to see Boise State or Texas Christian make the title game for any reason.

To me, it’s really sad, and very petty.

I think one of those teams reaching the title game would be the most exciting day in the history of the BCS. It would prove that the “little guys” really do have a shot at playing for the big prizes.

I would love to see Boise or TCU play the best team from the Pac-10 or SEC for the BCS title. The buildup for that game would be off the charts.

Q: What’s your solution to the BCS?

Two-, four-, eight-team playoff? No playoff?

Chris Barron

Puget Sound, Wash.

A: I think the unseeded “plus-one” playoff would have been perfect this year — especially if we end up with four undefeated teams. You could have paired Oregon vs. TCU in the Rose Bowl and Boise State vs. Auburn in the Sugar. Then play off those winners in a title game.

Makes sense to me.

Q: When do the Mack-Brown-to-the-Dallas-Cowboys rumors begin?

Scott Schmidt

West Hollywood

A: Saturday at 6 p.m. in Austin, right after Texas loses to Florida Atlantic.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com