Bashing the BCS, and other cogent commentary on college sports …

• Even though it sometimes seems as if most sports fans in New England are more interested in who’s going to be bat boy for the Red Sox than who’s going to play in the BCS bowl games, I feel compelled to comment on the injustice done to the Texas Longhorns, who deserve to be playing in the Big 12 championship game tomorrow in Kansas City against Missouri.

Ideally, Texas and Oklahoma would be playing for the conference title and a spot in the BCS championship game against the Alabama-Florida winner in tomorrow’s Southeastern Conference title game.

Unfortunately, the Longhorns and Sooners both are in the Big 12 South, along with Texas Tech. The three finished 7-1 in conference play, 11-1 overall, and split their games against each other. Mizzou was only 5-3 in the conference, but finished tied for the top spot in the Big 12 North with Nebraska, which it trounced, 52-17, in Lincoln.

So the Tigers will play Oklahoma in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game, in which the Sooners spoiled then top-ranked Missouri’s bid for a spot in the BCS title game by beating them soundly, 38-17.

Mizzou would love to turn the tables this time, although that seems unlikely, given that Oklahoma has scored more than 60 points in its last four games — including a 65-21 rout of Texas Tech two weeks ago, followed by a 61-41 win at Oklahoma State last Saturday — and has scored at least 52 points in 8 of its 12 games.

The Sooners’ lowest point total of the season came in a 45-35 loss to Texas, in Dallas. The Longhorns’ only loss came at Texas Tech, on a last-second TD pass, 39-33. That was the last in a string of four demanding games in which Texas played teams ranked in the top 10, starting with the victory over Oklahoma, which was ranked No. 1 at the time.

The Longhorns followed that with a 56-31 mauling of No. 11 Missouri, then beat No. 6 Oklahoma State, 28-24, before traveling to Lubbock to take on the Red Raiders.

The way I see it, since Texas beat Oklahoma on a neutral field, and lost only on the road, on the final play of what was their fourth game in a row against a top-10 team, the Longhorns deserve the chance to play Missouri for the Big 12 title.

But they won’t, because the high-scoring Sooners are ranked higher in the BCS poll, even though they couldn’t outscore the Longhorns.

In the unlikely event Oklahoma loses to Missouri, it’s possible that Texas could play the Alabama-Florida winner in the BCS title game, which I’d then object to because I don’t believe a team that didn’t win its conference championship should get to play for the national championship.

Of course, if there were an eight-team playoff, which most fans have wanted for years, all the above would be moot.

Southern Cal and Penn State, both 11-1, would have a deserved shot at a championship, and so, too, would undefeated Utah, although the Utes’ best wins were three-pointers over 8-4 Oregon State (which was trounced by Oregon, 65-38, last Saturday, but upset USC in September) and Texas Christian.

There would, inevitably, be debate over the eighth spot — Ball State is undefeated, but hasn’t beaten a ranked team; Boise State also is 12-0, with a win over Oregon, which was 17th at the time; and Texas Tech could argue it deserves a shot — but any perceived injustice isn’t as egregious at that level as when you’re talking about which teams should be 1-2.

• So, since Northeastern beat the Friars in Providence, and the Rhody Rams just rolled over Northeastern, URI ought to beat PC tomorrow, right?

Not so fast. The Rams had to rally to slip past Brown at the Ryan Center, while PC easily defeated the Bears Wednesday night.

So much for comparing scores.

What is worth noting is that PC’s so-far underachieving senior class has lost two of three to URI, including a 77-60 trouncing last year in Kingston. Inconsistency has plagued PC, but the Friars — especially the seniors — have no excuse for not bringing their “A” game to take on their intrastate rivals. Without question, they’ll need it.

• Charlie Weis was a bigger name when he was hired at Notre Dame in 2005 than Dave Jagodzinski was when Boston College brought in him from Green Bay in 2007, but “Jags” has done a much better job.

Weis, who has seven years remaining on his contract, will get at least one more season at the helm, and I can think of several reasons why.

Notre Dame had never fired a coach with years remaining on his contract until it dumped Ty Willingham after just three seasons and hired Weis.

Because ND likes to think of itself as operating on a higher plane than other programs, firing yet another coach would be clear evidence the Irish are as desperate to win as any other bigtime football school.

Also, Weis has recruited a highly-rated class and the administration likely wants to keep those recruits in the fold, in hopes that Weis can bring them along better than he has his last two, also well-regarded, classes. Last, but not least, it’s not as if there was a standout replacement eager to take the job.

jdonalds@projo.com