‘Irritable Bowl Syndrome’ Under Control in 2009

“Irritable Bowl Syndrome,” the affliction first identified among fans of the Texas Longhorns football team in December 2008, seems to be under control in 2009.  They are, after all, set to take on the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in the BCS National Championship Game Jan. 7 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

You might recall that I was the first journalist/blogger to report on this phenomenon.  At the conclusion of college football’s regular season schedule one year ago, I published the following in a Dec. 8 post on this blog:

College football fans in Texas appear to be suffering from severe cases of what might best be described as “Irritable Bowl Syndrome,” an affliction caused by a third-place finish in the latest BCS rankings.

Today, it appears the affliction has failed to make a second consecutive appearance in either the Lone Star State or in two other states — Ohio and Idaho — where BCS officials likely expected an outbreak.

Personally, I’m surprised that fans of the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats, the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs and the Boise State Broncos — teams ranked third, fourth and sixth, respectively in the final regular season BCS standings — haven’t raised much of a “stink” about each of their teams missing a shot at the national championship.

Evidence of the disease is so hard to find, in fact, that I had to go to California to find a blogger upset about this year’s BCS matchups (See More BCS Travesty: TCU and Cincinnati Are As Deserving As Texas).