LSU-Alabama BCS title game is another win for SEC
One of these coaches will hold the BCS trophy. But the SEC already has won it. (AP photo)
NEW ORLEANS – If it is true, as Socrates once said, that, “Envy is the ulcer of the soul,” every other college football conference in America has been speed-eating Tums for the past six years.
LSU and Alabama play in the BCS championship game on Monday night in the Superdome. But this is sort of like two gladiators battling for the right to be viewed as the favorite son of the emperor. The emperor already has won.
This will make six consecutive BCS titles won by SEC schools. It will make eight championships in the 13 years the game has been played, far exceeding the closest member of the lower class (the Big 12 with two).
One would have to go back to the early 1900s of Ivy League domination to find a conference with such a run. But to wax on about the greatness of Princeton, Yale and Harvard football is sort of like referencing the Tyrannosaurus rex ruling over the animal kingdom. Ivy League football didn’t have a lot of competition back then, unless you count Ivy League crew.
The SEC is 7-0 in championship games. So the irony is it will take two conference schools playing each other for the first time for it to suffer its first loss. The SEC has redefined the blueprint for world domination.
When asked Sunday if he foresaw anything that could derail this train, LSU coach Les Miles said, “Not at this point.”
Feel free to add the words, “… in this decade” or “… in this century,” depending on your perspective.
This is what the 2011 SEC media guide cover looked like. It will need to be updated for next season.
SEC commissioner Mike Slive knew the passion and culture of college football that existed in his conference. He recognizes the SEC’s mega-millions television contracts have enabled athletic departments to lure the best coaches and build Taj Majal-like practice facilities. The obvious ripple effects: better recruits and more wins.
But even he admits this streak was unfathomable. It’s stupid-great. It’s Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, UCLA’s 88 straight wins in men’s basketball and Edwin Moses’ 122 straight hurdles wins great. The six straight titles will have been won by four schools (LSU, Alabama, Florida, Auburn) but that doesn’t diminish the run’s significance.
“It’s one of those records that I think will never be broken,” he said. “I’m an optimist by nature, but I don’t think anybody can have expectations of this. I remember a few years ago thinking, ‘Wow. We won two straight.’”
Slive’s reading list last summer included an appropriate book: “”56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports.”
“That’s when I realized this is a record that in many ways is as phenomenal as DiMaggio’s record, and just hard to imagine in the future,” he said.
Then again: “We could break our own record.”
LSU has a good chance to be a preseason No. 1 next season. Alabama won’t be far behind.
Clearly money is a huge factor, but as Slive points out, “We’re not unique in our ability to develop significant revenue. At least one other conference has been able to do that.”
Slive didn’t come out and reference the Big Ten by name. It’s not polite.
Alabama defensive coordinator and former Georgia safety and Kirby Smart also referenced the conference’s high profile coaches, but said the reason for the conference’s success goes beyond that. “Regionally, high school football, in my opinion, is so great in the SEC states,” he said. “My dad’s a high school coach, and I’ve always believed that. … Everybody talks about the [defensive] line, but there are other skilled players. In the South, if you’re a really good athlete, you may play cornerback. That’s not necessarily true everywhere else — they’re [wide receivers].”
Since the AP poll started in 1936, the previous conference title streak of three was held by the SEC (1978-80) and the Big Ten (1940-42). That has been obliterated. The titles have elevated the conference in the eyes of the nation’s top recruits.
Recalling his days as a high school recruit, Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw said his top three signing choices all were recent national champions from the SEC.
“I just felt like my main thing was to get to an SEC school if I wanted to be remembered,” he said. “You know what I’m saying?”
Upshaw is playing in his second BCS title game in three years. Safe to conclude he chose well.
By Jeff Schultz
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417 comments Add your comment
ylojkt
January 8th, 2012
11:07 pm
Preston & Alphare, they had their chance and lost, so why do they get a rematch? If the BCS had a playoff format and this was the end result, I wouldn’t mind as much and would have also watched the games that put them in the rematch as well as the rematch with interest. This way has left me pretty indifferent about the game. I’m a football fan and when this was announced, it was the last thing I wanted to see. I’ve watched almost all the bowl games and seen a lot of great ones and a lot of teams really jacked up and playing outstanding ball, this includes Ok St, whose heart and talent could be a challenge for LSU and finished .009% in the final BCS rankings behind Bama. Both Ok St and LSU play hard, high scoring football on offense and special teams and would be a fun matchup for the country to watch, way better than the most boring game of the last ten years being replayed.
BTW – as sad side result of watching all these games has been seeing which teams think they are better than the other team, so they sit on the ball with a lead and hand the trophy away because the thought was only true while they tried hard. Both teams losses were from coaching, and that is what makes it rough being a fan of Tech or Ga right now.
01HAWK
January 8th, 2012
11:09 pm
Wreckmaniac ……………………….The 2 richest conferences are in this order:
1. SEC
2. BIG 12
ACC……………………..Is not there and will never get there. Where are you getting your bad info from ?
ylojkt
January 8th, 2012
11:11 pm
Ok St did win their conference, I watched them destroy Ok.
Bama Fan#2
January 8th, 2012
11:13 pm
ROLL TIDE ROLL #14 Monday night the crimson
tide makes up for the bad loss to the tigers and
brings the crystal back to T-Town!!!!!!!!! RTR
GTBob
January 8th, 2012
11:14 pm
SEC is the richest conference out there. Go and ask MIZZOU: GTBob…………..You still do not have a clue.
You really think Missouri left the Big 12 because of the SEC money? They left because the conference was realigning every year and they were never one of the top teams in an uneven money alignment. Luckily they found a conference who wanted them.
01HAWK
January 8th, 2012
11:16 pm
And who wants GEORGIA TECH ? ………………….Certainly not the SEC.
GTBob
January 8th, 2012
11:16 pm
Wreckmaniac ……………………….The 2 richest conferences are in this order:
1. SEC
2. BIG 12
This isn’t true at all. The Big 10 dwarfs both of them.
Bug Zapper
January 8th, 2012
11:20 pm
GTBob….You made our point!….Due to the Longhorn network, and the revenues that Texas brings in versus the rest of the Big 12 conference, yes Missouri DID leave for the riches of the SEC……now not only does Mizzu bring in more revenue themselves but the SEC gets that St. Louis/ KC/ Chicago market so both sides win!
Dr. Phil
January 8th, 2012
11:23 pm
There are a lot of hogs feeding at the football trough.
David Granger
January 8th, 2012
11:24 pm
…and it will be the SEC’s first ever loss in a BCS championship game, as well.
01HAWK
January 8th, 2012
11:32 pm
SEC has 5 of the top 10 revenue producing schools. 8 of the top 15.
2. BAMA
3. UGA
5. LSU
6. FLORIDA
7 AUBARN
24. Va Tech
25. CLEMSON
Saban Never Sleeps
January 8th, 2012
11:42 pm
First the Big 12 will have to go back to a 12 team conference with a Championship game to be invited to the plus one. The SEC is loaded with teams that on any year can rise up..Bama, LSU, UT, Auburn, Arkansas, UF, USC (YES USC). UGA is starting to wise up and I think Mizzou can also contend. That my friends is a tough league that plays defense. You yahoos that are saying that BAMA does not deserve another shock have no idea about big boy college football. Either you are bitter and envious UGA fans or pathetic GT fans that play in the nobody ACC. Yes the same ACC established by the lower tier of the old Southern Conference with the upper tier forming the SEC. For the rest of you..enjoy the game and hope that your team makes it next year. If you do this BAMA and SEC fan will be pulling for you.
GTBob
January 8th, 2012
11:50 pm
If you do this BAMA and SEC fan will be pulling for you.
So regardless of who makes the MNC game as long as they are from the SEC you will root for them? This is why the SEC has no real rivalries and why the rest of the country laughs at them.
GTBob
January 8th, 2012
11:51 pm
SEC has 5 of the top 10 revenue producing schools. 8 of the top 15.
What else are rednecks going to spend their money on? A new shootin car?
sports
January 8th, 2012
11:52 pm
so, what else is new. The SEC is the only conference in the country that plays real football!
Saban Never Sleeps
January 9th, 2012
12:01 am
GTbob, I am not real sure what fight you are trying to start..Maybe GT should put together a table tennis team. I understand you guys could be pretty good.
SecFan
January 9th, 2012
12:08 am
What’s funny is the idiots who cry about a rematch usually support a play-off system, which inherently means more rematches than would ever happen in the BCS system. Play-offs would also include wild-card teams which didn’t win their conference. Any system should have the objective of matching the two best teams period, otherwise it’s a flawed system. Those who would play god and dole out favors to any team they know full well isn’t one of the two best teams are superficial fans at best and corrupt at worst.
GTBob
January 9th, 2012
12:11 am
GTbob, I am not real sure what fight you are trying to start..Maybe GT should put together a table tennis team. I understand you guys could be pretty good.
I don’t get the joke. Is it because nerds are supposed to be good at table tennis or are you just being racist in regards to our diverse student body?
GTBob
January 9th, 2012
12:12 am
SecFan, rematches in playoffs are fine because teams actually have to prove they are better then other teams. Rematches when games are decided by popular vote are just stupid.
SecFan
January 9th, 2012
12:16 am
Bob, that’s nonsensical. It’s like a kid who refuses to eat his Wheaties because they were purchased at Walmart instead of Publix. Rematches are rematches and the consequences are the same. The winner gets a trophy.
DawgVoiceofReason
January 9th, 2012
12:31 am
SecFan,
It’s a real paradox. Everybody wants a playoff because of the unfairness they perceive in the current system. Yet, almost all of the current playoff systems allow teams in that really don’t deserve to be in. I’m talking about wildcard teams and teams in lousy divisions who may win with a weak or even losing record (as did Seattle). Baseball used to have a pure system where only the two best teams, one from each league got to play and then they opened it up with expansion. One of the best (worst?) examples of what is wrong with a diluted playoff system is when a team like the NY Giants of a few years ago got in as a wildcard and ended up beating the only 19 game winner in NFL history, New England. It’s great that they won it on the field in the playoffs but by any reasonable standard, they didn’t deserve to be there in the first place. As I recall, they had lost to the Patriots at the end of the season. Talk about unfair rematches.
DawgVoiceofReason
January 9th, 2012
12:35 am
GTBob
Perhaps a better analogy for you might be this. Maybe GT should put together a tiddley winks team. You might be pretty good at that.
The point is you aren’t much good at real sports….
DawgVoiceofReason
January 9th, 2012
12:38 am
GTBob,
Doing a little projecting on others I see. “SEC has no real rivalries and why the rest of the country laughs at them.” What you really mean is that the ACC has no real rivalries and the rest of the country laughs at them. Anybody laughing at the SEC would simply be a fool or insanely jealous.
GTBob
January 9th, 2012
12:39 am
They had to win three games against tough opponents to get that rematch. Playoff systems work because they are objective and teams have to prove their worth on the field. Do you think NFL fans would be happier with the NFL if they got rid of the playoffs and a bunch of old men just voted on who they thought was best?
GTBob
January 9th, 2012
12:42 am
Anybody laughing at the SEC would simply be a fool or insanely jealous.
Every time your fan base barks or makes signs saying Go Dwags people are laughing. Every time you root for your supposed bitter rivals they laugh even more. The SEC is a great football conference but it is also the conference of oversigning, player arrests, and low brow fans.
bake
January 9th, 2012
12:56 am
GTBob…
oversignings maybe. but that goes on a lot of places. arrests??? see the BS in NC and Miami. don’t ever crack on another conference with what’s gone on at those 2 places.
big10 probably makes more money than every conference combined. they actually play football AND basketball in that conference unlike the acc & sec. acc isn’t doing either well this year!!! HA!
Stephen A.Dawg: NO BCS YET for UGA
January 9th, 2012
1:28 am
Tennessee won their BCS title in 1998-99. Since then LSU and Florida have won two BCS titles each and Alabama and Auburn have one BCS title each. Georgia has nothing but BCS futility while its head coach claims it is scratching on the door of “greatness.” Many say its a door of mediocrity. Forget about it. Florida went 6-6 this past season, but it’s a proud 6-6 with losses to ‘Bama and LSU. UF can sell recruits it played a tough schedule, while UGA with its lame scheduling can only hope to keep avoiding ‘Bama, LSU and Arkansas in order to salvage Richt’s job. Tell you what, the recruits are really watching UGA’s offense closely. I predict no big time running back out there will be interested in coming to Georgia if the same things on the field happen that happened to Crowell and Samuels happens to Keith Marshall in 2012. From the looks of it Marshall’s frame at 5′-11″,190 lbs, is slightly smaller than Crowell at 5-11, 215 lbs. From the looks of it Marshall is a speed back and he has to avoid as many collisions as possible to stay healthy and effective. If Bobo decides to send Marshall repeatedly up the middle as he has with 5-6, 165 lb, Carlton Thomas it’s only a matter of time before Marshall gets hurt as Crowell, Samuels, and Thomas did behind UGA’s patchwork offensive line. This is why it is very important to have a good OC that can assemble a good O-line and try to preserve the health of his RBs with sensible playcalling. But Richt/Bobo are not the coaches you want to play for anyway if you are a RB aspiring to reach the next level to go pro. As a Dawg the truth hurts, but Davis would be better off at So.Carolina and Gurley would be better off at UNC than to come to UGA only to watch Richt play his favorite at RB until he gets hurt or flunks out or gets kicked out the program. No decent RB in his right mind should want to take the physical beating Crowell took behind a poorly coached offensive line orchestrated by the Richt/Bobo mindtrust. It is absurd for Richt to have Bobo keep running tiny Carlton Thomas up the middle giving up on offense and keeping CTG’s tired defense on the field to win a game the offense has clearly given away. Once we are rid of the incompetency and 90s FSU pass-first mindset, Georgia can find a good HC who will find the right kind of OC go back to its roots and become Tailback U again before it’s too late. You have to be able run the ball to win in the SEC or defeat top ten teams and everybody knows Richt can’t put together and execute a reliable running game at UGA.
Stephen A.Dawg: NO BCS YET for UGA ?
January 9th, 2012
1:42 am
I predict ther will be a split BCS national title as ‘Bama will avenge its loss at home to LSU. The Tide is ready for both Tiger QBs this time. The Tiger defense is ready for the Tides’ run game, but it will wear down if the Tide defense shuts the LSU offense down or LSU turns the ballover. A Tide win is a victory for the BCS which says it thrives on controversy. If ‘Bama wins the title should split if it’s a close game. LSU will still have the most to brag about since it holds the SEC Crown and a share of the BCS title, whereas the Tide would have just a share of the BCS title alone. Either way the SEC office and BCS wins in the end.
SEC
January 9th, 2012
5:42 am
If it wasn’t for Georgia blowing their game and Vandy’s close one it would of been a sweep for the SEC well except for the BCS Championship but I don’t think head to head SEC matchup for the title can be counted as a loss. Go SEC, even our new Texas A&M & Missouri teams won their bowls. Eat your heart out ACC.
Umaguma
January 9th, 2012
6:40 am
Yep, these are the best teams that money can buy, so of course they’re playing for the title. That, and the fact that the SEC is basically the minor league for the NFL. Bradley had it right weeks ago in that the only reason Bama is there is the Saban “brand.” Well, that and the moolah. College football has become a joke and is barely watchable anymore, unless you’re an SEC fan, of course.
Buckeye
January 9th, 2012
6:42 am
And the dogs played neither LSU or Alabama AND lost to the Big 10. Can’t make that up, eh dogs?
SEC! SEC! SEC!
Ekim
January 9th, 2012
6:50 am
I think it’d be cool if the SEC merged into the NFL. Then the rest of college football would have a chance to play for big trophies and relevance.
North Ga. Dawg
January 9th, 2012
6:51 am
Thanks E.S.P.N. for this rigged match up so you can increase your t.v. ratings while you broadcast the game.
Rocky
January 9th, 2012
7:09 am
Man, not interested in possibly the 2 best defenses to ever play the college game? Yeah, its old school, it is definitely envy. Lets have some fun here, an undefeated Miami Dolphin team, playing a 1 loss Green Bay Packer team (that lost to Miami during the regular season) for the Super Bowl would have terrible TV ratings because Green Bay already lost to Miami! Its clearly the Kansas City Chiefs that should be playing for the title, they beat Green Bay. Pathetic GT Bob, yeah, great ratings in the Orange Bowl for the ACC champ losers, seriously, 70 to 33? I have a hunch you watched with ALL the 3 people you know–ESPN’s Orange Bowl gets lowest BCS rating ever. Stick to engineering and basketball, oops, Bama 74, GA Tech 49 last week. Ummm, engineering solo is your best bet, GT got out of the SEC for a reason…
Rocky
January 9th, 2012
7:16 am
Pathetic GT Bob, no wonder all the engineering jobs are going to India. Yeah, great ratings in the Orange Bowl for the ACC champ losers, seriously, 70 to 33? I have a hunch you watched with ALL the 3 people you know–ESPN’s Orange Bowl gets lowest BCS rating ever. Stick to engineering and basketball, (h)oops, Bama 74, GA Tech 49 last week. Ummm, engineering solo is your best bet, GT got out of the SEC for a reason…
RedandBlackDAWG
January 9th, 2012
7:24 am
GT Bob, is just hoping for Techs. sake that they put together a NCAA supported cross words puzzle league. Then maybe tech. could compete in the ACC in something with more frequency than once every 50 years. If not crosswords at least a scrabble league.
In football, I think they would be better off as a FCS team. Then they could beat most of the teams in Georgia except UGA and Georgia Southern. Better worry about Kenn. though since they are on the rise and have already beaten Tech. in Basketball once in the last few years. They should be able to beaten Shorter University in Rome though, since they have only played for a couple of years.
The bad part though, is they would probably have to drop UGA, and lose their only source of revenue from football, since once every two years, they play at the big boy school, and get their hind end parts handed to them. They can’t get enough people even in that game to fill a stadium, when it is played at home.
Rocky
January 9th, 2012
7:31 am
Its REALLY not that hard to get a degree from GT, just read the multiple comments on this post from GT Bob. He REALLY thinks that his education (or lack of) is superior to us rednecks. I hope he doesn’t watch this game, his ignorance would be an insult to the TV ratings. Just remember true sport fans, insecure GT Bob was always picked last in gym class.
Hal
January 9th, 2012
7:54 am
LSU is the 2011 National Champion they have already beaten Alabama on their home field. This game is a farce all it does is give LSU a chance to loose what they have already earned. I would have liked to have seen LSU play anyone in the top 5 that they had not played during the regular season for the NC. That goes for any teams or confrences that end up in this situation in the future. Its just as stupid as the Florida vs Florida State NC game a few several years ago.
Beast from the East
January 9th, 2012
8:20 am
“The SEC is a great football conference but it is also the conference of oversigning, player arrests, and low brow fans.”
GTBob,
How many current ACC schools are on probation? Don’t spout your holier than thou crap. The ACC tries as hard as they can (within the rules or not) to be like the SEC. The shame of it all is that even cheating to try and cacth up, they can’t beat ANYONE in a BCS bowl. Got 70 hung on them by a 23rd ranked WVU team. What a joke.
Joey
January 9th, 2012
8:42 am
If Bama wins, they should be Co-Champs.
SEC 8 wins in 8 BCS National Championship Games we've played in. -0- by Mark Richt.
January 9th, 2012
8:43 am
“So the irony is it will take two conference schools playing each other for the first time for it to suffer its first loss.”
_____________________________________
Jeff Schultz, sir,
The SEC has now played in 8 BCS National Championship Games and Won ALL 8.
Sir.
Joey
January 9th, 2012
8:52 am
GTBob just gets confused. Before the Tech game he wrote that Tech was the 2nd best team UGA would play all season.
Turns out Tech came in just above Carolina – COASTAL CAROLINA!
GTBob. The High Brow Fan.
Congrats . . .
Joey
January 9th, 2012
8:55 am
Jeff, the real “irony” is that the UGA AD announces that Mark Richt gets a new contract and raise BEFORE Miles and Saban gets theirs.
Would that be irony, or insanity?
Mark Richt gladly shakes hands with the coaches who beat him
January 9th, 2012
9:02 am
Actually what the tennis player, and not a good one at that in Greg McGarity, said was that Mark Richt could “go tell all the 2012 recruits that he was going to be here at least until they graduated in 4 years.”
That could mean anything, as obviously the 125 top prospects in-state have seen it. It could even mean, no I am not giving you a contract extension now, and in fact he said that precisely that it would be a contract extension out to a total of 4 years at least and that it wouldn’t happen until on or about signing date.
gt4ever
January 9th, 2012
9:10 am
It’s a complete JOKE! Two very good football factories, coming from a league of football factories… It’s all about money, period… ESPN and any journalistic jock that thinks this has anything to do with the two best teams are delusional.
Freddie Blassie
January 9th, 2012
9:24 am
Milton Boy,
GT has won more National Championships than the leg humpers and more recently, too. Don’t tell me about the five down Colorado team poser. Herschel’s leg humper personality was a cross dresser.
shankit
January 9th, 2012
9:27 am
This will be the SEC’s first loss in the NC game in six years.
shankit
January 9th, 2012
9:34 am
Under the old AP poll, LSU would already be declared National Champion.
OSU was declared national champion by AP back in the forties, before a
bowl appearance. Georgia had been ranked second by AP, and OSU dodged
UGA in a Rose Bowl appearance. UGA went on and beat UCLA in the Rose Bowland was awarded
the NC by the Harris poll, which waited until after bowl games to declare.
SecFan
January 9th, 2012
9:43 am
There is no playoff system that prohibits rematches or bars teams that don’t win their conference. Why is this? Because the intent of the designers is to match up the two best teams for a championship and the undeniable, common sense fact is that sometimes there can be two worthy teams in the same division. Yet some are saying that just because college football has a voting system, this fact should ignored. Are you kidding me? This argument is so goofy you have to conclude that the different system argument against a rematch is just a smokescreen to cover biases.
ckgator
January 9th, 2012
9:48 am
BAMA & LSU = two teams actually knocking on the door of greatness.
UGA (at the door of greatness): “Knock, knock.”
Greatness: “Who’s there?”
UGA: “Georgia.”
Greatness: “Georgia who?”
Everyone else who is not a Bulldog fan: “Exactly.”