Last week, Ohio State University president Gordon Gee -- and seriously, with those glasses and bowtie, does that say anything but "tweedy, ivory tower academic"? -- stirred up a hornet's nest of controversy, saying that schools like TCU and Boise State shouldn't be allowed in the BCS because their schedules, unlike Ohio State's, are against "the Little Sisters of the Poor" and that the Ohio State Buckeyes face a "murderer's row" every week.
As the Deep Dish pointed out last week, OSU's schedule includes such "murderer's row" football teams as Eastern Michigan, Toledo and Youngstown State, who have a combined record the last few years of about 4-and-eleventy-hundred (or something like that).
Today, Gee backed off his comments, after strong criticism from Boise State president Bob Kustra and others; the Columbus Dispatch quoted him as saying:
"What do I know about college football? I look like Orville Redenbacher. I have no business talking about college football."
(Check out the photo again. He really does look like the popcorn guy.)
So, if nothing else, President Gee is good for a colorful quote. That doesn't change the fact, as SB Nation Chicago's Hilary Lee pointed out earlier today, that the bizarre BCS computer system will penalize schools like Michigan State (who beat Wisconsin, but rank below the Badgers) in bowl ranking if Auburn and/or Oregon lose.
And the story has a happy ending; the OSU president did something nice for the Little Sisters of the Poor:
He also said he recently reached out to a Little Sisters of the Poor home in Oregon, Ohio.
"I sent a (personal) check to the Mother Superior up there," Gee said, "and invited her to a ballgame."