BCS quirks mean Georgia has more to gain with SEC win
This is the time of year when following the BCS is sort of like watching an accident in the making — you know you don’t want to see it happen, but you can’t quite force yourself to look away.
And this year even the so-called truisms that frequently have been applied to the process don’t seem to be holding up.
I keep reading in the national sports press that LSU and Alabama, currently ranked No. 1 and No. 2 with one more week to go, probably will meet in the BCS championship game no matter what, despite already having played each other. The consensus seems to be that LSU will make it to the game even if they lose to Georgia in the SEC championship because of their record, which includes wins over three teams that were ranked in the top three of the coaches poll at the time they played: Oregon, Alabama and Arkansas.
Meanwhile, Alabama, which didn’t even win its own division in the SEC, appears unlikely to be dislodged by No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Stanford or No. 5 Virginia Tech, even if Okie State decimates Oklahoma in its finale or the Hokies do the same to Clemson in the ACC championship.
So much for the reasoning used against Georgia in 2007 when the inactive Dogs were jumped in the BCS standings the last week, despite being the hottest team in the country. At the time, the Dogs not winning their own division was chiefly cited by ESPN’s talking heads as the reason.
Likewise, the old saw that if you’re going to lose a big game, it’s best to do it early in the season apparently has been thrown out the window in the case of the 2011 Dogs, who have reeled off 10 straight wins since opening 0-2 against highly ranked opponents, and yet who seem unlikely to crack the BCS Top 10 even if they win the SEC championship. Having just dominated a ranked Georgia Tech, Georgia proceeded to drop one spot in the latest BCS standings!
Guess that also means the SEC champion is no longer a lock for the BCS title game, as has often been proclaimed in recent years.
So LSU basically has nothing much to gain by beating Georgia in the SEC title match other than preserving its unbeaten record. The Dogs, on the other hand, can secure a BCS bowl (the Sugar) with a win.
I’m not suggesting that the Tigers will be looking past Georgia to the BCS, because LSU by all evidence is a team that shows up ready to play every week.
But it’s clear which team has the most to gain with a win in the Georgia Dome.
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297 comments Add your comment
BCS stinks
November 28th, 2011
7:16 pm
Heard Chris Fowler on ESPN radio saying even if LSU gets blown out, it’ll still be Bama and LSU in championship, this is more scripted than Pro Wrestling.
Dawg89
November 28th, 2011
7:19 pm
I hope the dawgs are better prepared for LSU than they were for BSU.
ESPN cost UGA a shot at the NC in 2007. And, they pretty much try to hose UGA any chance they get. Alabama should not be in the NC game when they didn’t win the conference. That same logic applied in 07 and it applies this year. I just wonder how ESPN stands to make more money off of a LSU/Ala matchup than some other matchup. College football and the BCS is about money and the NC game is about money. Don’t kid yourself otherwise. It has nothing to do with pitting the best teams against each other. If that happens, then that’s OK to the BCS. But, the main objective of the BCS is to generate revenue.
1969 Graduate
November 28th, 2011
7:26 pm
I think we do have a shot against LSU, assuming we show up, and assuming we make very few errors.
Looking again at the LSU/Arkansas game today, I noticed a lot of Arkansas self-inflicted damage, and a lot of Arkansas plays which LSU didn’t stop all that effectively.
Considering that Arkansas was very, very lucky to beat Vandy (and was outplayed by Vandy), it may be that LSU isn’t quite as hot on defense as everyone thinks.
No, I’m not saying LSU isn’t a great team. I think they are. However, they are a team made up of mortal human kids, like everybody else’s team, and they are not immune to loss.
Can we avoid shooting ourselves in the foot?
The big elephant in the room is Mike Bobo, who will be leagues out of his depth. Of course, his boss, that great CEO Mark Richt should have fired Bobo when he (finally) fired Mr. Soft Secondary, his buddy, the loser Willie Martinez.
Yes, that makes me a fan of some of the things mentioned by Snoop Dawg, and Thomas Brown. I assume they are Bulldog fans, and also realists who, like me, would like to see our football program surpass the mediocre.
Here’s you big chance Mr. Richt, and Mr. Bobo. Can you play with the big boys? Let’s see.
Go, Georgia. Go, Bulldogs. Go, Georgia Bulldogs!
Thomas Brown
November 28th, 2011
7:34 pm
I’m a Tech fan.
DawgVoiceofReason
November 28th, 2011
7:54 pm
Snoop,
I don’t like your attitude and I suspect I wouldn’t like you if I met you. Your attitude stinks. Bob Dylan wrote a song that describes how I (and many others) think about your posts. (paraphrase) “I wish that for just one day you could stand in my shoes and then you’d know what a drag it is to see you”. We just won 10 games in a row, beating every one of our hated rivals, with the chance to knock off the number one and undefeated team in the country and alll you can do is moan about Mark Richt and call him names. Your handle defines you pretty well, you punk!
Bogey
November 28th, 2011
8:15 pm
Listen, folks, It’s not that ESPN doesn’t like the SEC it’s just that CBS has first dibs every week so always gets the best game and the four letter network has to settle for leftovers. Kinda funny really.
Hey Bill
November 28th, 2011
8:16 pm
maybe Richt can use this in his pregame speech……………
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2Cc6eVHYhg&feature=related
Old Dawg
November 28th, 2011
8:23 pm
16 game playoff is the only way to solve this problem. Every other division in the NCAA has a playoff system, even D-III, a much more academically oriented division.
Enough with the BS, get ‘er done!
tell me again
November 28th, 2011
8:33 pm
Isn’t this hilarious? If LSU loses to UGA they will not even be the SEC champion – and yet if they go to the BCS CG and win they will be crowned BCS NC’s – does that mean that the second best team in the SEC is the National Champion?
On a side note: Zook got fired at Illinois / Neuheisel got canned at UCLA / and our man Neil Calloway got the boot at UAB – should have stayed a Dawg, Neil.
Neutral
November 28th, 2011
8:36 pm
I believe snoopy is a GT, Gator or Auburn fan who is trying to get CMR fired. It won’t work you fool and you certainly aren’t a Dawg fan. UGa fans have class and you are totally classless.
tell me again
November 28th, 2011
8:37 pm
Thomas Brown you are so full of it / that’s why you’re “Brown” – you are not a Tech fan – I caught you on the Tech board doing the same thing there you do here – you’re just a little pr**ck that is floating around making trouble. What a pitiful life you must have. Need attention much? Mommie and Daddy not patting you on the head enough lately?
Old Dawg Fan
November 28th, 2011
8:54 pm
Excellent analogy about the “accident waiting to happen” Bill. Dogs certainly have a chance vs. LSU. It is time for Myles to blow a game!!! Go Dogs!!!
Beano Cook
November 28th, 2011
8:57 pm
Clay
November 28th, 2011
12:04 pm
“I’m tired of UGA still being punished for a 3 point loss back in September. 10 wins and a SEC East crown mean nothing in any of the polls…”
It’s not punishment. The SEC East crown has meant nothing for the past 2 years and that’s about the weakest 10 game win streak in the history of win streaks.
techismybee-otch
November 28th, 2011
9:14 pm
If Bama goes to the NCG and LSU goes even if they lose to UGA, then I PROMISE you that I will not watch the game…crazy….and if I am LSU, then I am clamoring for when the rubber match game would be….if necessary….Bama had a chance and lost it on their home field…and scored 6 points and they think they should get a 2nd chance? BCS is screwed up!
Santa Ana Winds
November 28th, 2011
9:15 pm
“UGA fans have class…”
What a load of crap.
Shame on UGA
November 28th, 2011
9:18 pm
It’s really sad that UGA alumni and fans have only their football team to take pride in. It’s even sadder that this pride depends on the performance of illiterate dummies who don’t even come close to meeting minimum academic requirements. 75% of UGA football players are what UGA calls “special admits,” which is just a euphemism for admitting bozos who can barely read.
This sorry practice not only cheapens all UGA degrees, but embarrasses the State of Georgia and its citizens.
BMOC
November 28th, 2011
9:29 pm
NCAA = JOKE
We need a PLAYOFF system -OR- a NFL farm-team league. I am SICK & TIRED of this BS!
Just think: A TRUE NFL farm-team league that players can come staight from HS (like they do now) to play for their minimum 3-years, while earning enough money to actually pay for a car or an apartment. No more crap from the NCAA over someone selling a jersey; no more recruiting violations. NO MORE BCS BS!!!!
phil
November 28th, 2011
9:30 pm
Fire Urban myers and bernie fine!
DawgInaTruck
November 28th, 2011
9:30 pm
Don”t worry about the BCS-we can’t control it. All we can do is focus on LSU and do our best in the SECCG.
We also return a ton of players for next year and beyond. We played a significant number of freshmen and sophomores this year. We are going to do nothing but get better and better. This team will be scary good for the next few years.
phil
November 28th, 2011
9:31 pm
Shame on UGA – on the contrary, you nitwit, it’s morons like you that embarass our great state. Get your facts straight and get a life and stay over on your loser Tech site….
phil
November 28th, 2011
9:32 pm
Santa Ana Winds on the other hand defines class!
What a load of crap!
big JOE
November 28th, 2011
9:33 pm
Santa Ana Winds
Shame on UGA
lol… Gets old losing 10 of 11 ehe?
Shame on someone who is so pitiful they feel the need to log-on to a UGA page at the local paper to vent. LMAO!!!
DawgInaTruck
November 28th, 2011
9:35 pm
phil and JOE-never argue with an idiot. They’ll just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Beano Cook
November 28th, 2011
9:37 pm
Why should Georgia fans even care how the National Champion is chosen anyway? What effect could any of it possibly have on them?
big JOE
November 28th, 2011
9:38 pm
DawgInaTruck
You’re right.. Not here to argue, and I know I shouldn’t respond to idiots… but I just couldn’t help myself.. I was like a GIANT cookie after being on weight watchers for 12 months.
DawgInaTruck
November 28th, 2011
9:49 pm
“It was like a GIANT cookie…weight watchers…12 months”
LOL JOE, we all understand.
DawgInaTruck
November 28th, 2011
9:53 pm
When you have a lot of success, you leave a lot of angry fans of vanquished teams in your wake. I love to read the comments from people hatin’ on the Dawgs. It proves where we are and where they are.
Beano Cook
November 28th, 2011
10:01 pm
“It proves where we are and where they are.”
UGA rules Tech… And that’s about all. Both are irrelevant outside the borders of Georgia.
01HAWK
November 28th, 2011
10:08 pm
You guys are hillarious. Seems like 1 out of 3 post seem to have BAMA in it.
birddawgbill
November 28th, 2011
10:15 pm
Speaking of how ESPN disrespects UGA, A few weeks back KH said UGA and its fans liked to think the Football team was on a national level the same as Ala. Fla. and LSU. but he didnt see how we could think that. It just isnt a fact he said. Well why dont he check his facts. Since CMR got here UGA has more wins than anyone in the SEC except for LSU. This will be our 4th SECCG again more than all but LSU. All they have that we dont is a NC which we should have gotten in 2007 except for ESPN demanding that UGA couldnt go to the BCSNCG. I cant stand ESPN. All they get from me is watching the really good games they carry. Which I have found if you look around theres usually a better one on somewhere. Same thing when it comes to our local pro franchises, what little they do say about them is mostly negative. So if anyone from ESPN is reading this your sports coverage is 2nd rate.
wins-by-a-link
November 28th, 2011
10:37 pm
Losing the first two games to ranked teams combined with a weak schedule (Not Georgia’s fault) has led to poor ranking, ESPN has been harsh on Dogs but remember the Dogs are coming off a losing season and are yet to beat a highly ranked team, Even a win over LSU would not likely put Ga in top ten.
Honey Badger
November 28th, 2011
11:03 pm
We gonna lose. UGA 34 – Who Dat losers 14. Then dem dumb A’s on talkin football and kirk gonna look stupid.
sports
November 28th, 2011
11:04 pm
Georgia has nothing to win, LSU has nothing to lose…just flip a F…… coin!
Vampire Bill
November 28th, 2011
11:04 pm
Of course I want to beat LSU but just think of what this does for our recruiting. Dawgs are still a young team and can offer playing time at a lot of positions. Future could be very bright.
funny...
November 28th, 2011
11:14 pm
I guess I’m not alone in thinking that everyone basically giving Georgia no chance plays into the Dawgs favor.
Reminds me of “man enough”. There is a lot of bulletin board material for the Dawgs this week.
The only Dawgs I worry about is Crowell. He’s the only one that scares me.
funny...
November 28th, 2011
11:17 pm
People also forget that in 2002 Georgia was 13-1. That record basically any other year since CMR got to Athens is good enough for a nod to the BCSNCG.
Georgia’s recent slide is the Willie Martinez factor. Just think if Matt Stafford and Knowshon Moreno had the benefit of a Grantham/Van Gorder defense.
Georgia certainly is a “national” program.
JRW7
November 28th, 2011
11:19 pm
ESPN once said, !If you don’t win your conference, you CAN’T play for a NC!
DawgVoiceofReason
November 28th, 2011
11:22 pm
Tech fans are despondent over the fact that they just can’t beat seem to beat UGA, no matter how hard they try. So, they come here and try to rile up the Dawg fans. It’s pathetic really, how these insects creep in here and try to stir things up. They are just suffering from an inferiority complex.
DawgVoiceofReason
November 28th, 2011
11:27 pm
We really don’t need to worry about what the cast of characters (some of them) at ESPN say, and face it, we don’t deserve to talk about the NC. We just need to beat LSU, if we can, and claim the SEC championship. It’s the only thing in our control.
Dawgma
November 29th, 2011
12:01 am
If they’re going to re-up with the BCS after next year, which all indications show they will, there has to be some revisions made. For one, if you don’t win your conference, you can’t play for the NC. Saban said so himself: “If you don’t win your conference, you have no busines playing in the NC”.
Two, if you don’t make that proclamation, then you MUST got to a + 1. Have 1 play 4 and 2 play 3. The winners play each other for NC. Or just do the right thing and go to a freakin playoff…..
Relentless Pursuit
November 29th, 2011
12:03 am
Georgia’s going to the SECCG and South Carolina ain’t. A nice win over Tech. Regardless of the pundits, that’s not a bad year.
Fair and Balanced
November 29th, 2011
5:37 am
The BCS is broken and everybody knows it. And it can’t be fixed. I want Ga to win Sat because Im a Ga fan, secondly, I want the BCS to get as confused as possible! If Ga beats Lsu then Ga is better than Lsu and should play for NC before Lsu. But the BCS is not about who is best, it’s about who has the best season. If it was about who is best then the question is, is it about who is best at the end of the season or at some point earlier? A 2 loss team could be the best team in the country at the end of the season. Look at green bay last year! Look at Ga in ‘07. How did we let this BCS thing get so high and mighty?
JE
November 29th, 2011
6:31 am
Dawg fans cannot seem to ever get out of the past. Whether it is 2007 or 1980. Focus on the present. One thing I want to ask about the ESPN crew…Has Mark May ever been invited to be on any of the Atlanta, or any SEC Talk Shows????? I think that says a lot about his credibility.
Beano Cook
November 29th, 2011
6:45 am
funny…
November 28th, 2011
11:17 pm
People also forget that in 2002 Georgia was 13-1. That record basically any other year since CMR got to Athens is good enough for a nod to the BCSNCG.
A one loss season will often get you into the BCSCG. In 2002, however, Ohio State and Miami both finished the season undefeated. The mistake that Georgia fans are making is in assuming that the SEC East Division Champions are the second best team in the SEC. That is certainly not the case, nor was it the case last year.
It is so funny to think that ESPN would actually give UGA enough thought to bother to scheme and plot against them!
Dawg fans are delusional.
way down south dawg
November 29th, 2011
7:31 am
if any uga fans believe mike slime is going to allow us to win,you are not being realistic.ITS ALL ABOUT DA MONEY BABY,and if slime has to turn on the water sprinklers or threaten the head refs mama ,he will do it.just sayin
Beano Cook
November 29th, 2011
7:43 am
Oh yeah! It’s not just the sports broadcasters out to get UGA. It’s the SEC too.
They’re all out to get us!!!
JSillaGA
November 29th, 2011
7:52 am
I can tell you that the only people who want to see a LSU-Bama rematch is the Bama fans and the idiots at ESPN. The rest of 299.75 million Americans don’t want to see that game.
Beano Cook
November 29th, 2011
7:55 am
@JSillaGA
http://www.bcsfootball.org/
Read it and weep. The Red Kool-Aid Delusional Syndrome is not nearly as widespread as you imagine.
Whoa! is Me
November 29th, 2011
8:06 am
Everybody’s out to get us Christians !
Everybody’s out to get us rednecks !
Everybody’s out to get us heterosexuals !
Everybody’s out to get us conservatives !
Everybody’s out to get us NASCAR fans !
Everybody’s out to get us pro wrestling fans !
Everybody’s out to get us white folks !
Everybody’s out to get UGA !
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!
Beano Cook
November 29th, 2011
8:10 am
Heh!
Georgia just needs an Affirmative Action Program for college football.