Why Bama would be better off NOT playing for the SEC title
"Best of luck against Arkansas. Seriously!" (AP photo)
As we discussed in this space last week, Alabama might not play for the conference title even if Arkansas beats LSU on Friday. For Alabama to win the tiebreaker and qualify for the SEC championship game, No. 3 Arkansas would have to pass No. 1 LSU in the BCS standings, and there’s no guarantee the Hogs will do that.
And if I’m Alabama, I’m thinking I’d just as soon not play for the SEC title. If I’m the Tide, I’ve already got what I need.
Assuming Alabama beats Auburn on Saturday, the Tide would surely be sitting No. 2 in the BCS rankings with one week to go. But the team that represents the West in the SEC championship game would have to face Georgia, which hasn’t lost since Sept. 10, and would have to do it in the Georgia Dome. If you’re all but assured of a berth in the BCS title game, why risk losing?
Yes, we’ve come 180 degrees since 2007, when Georgia led LSU in the next-to-last BCS standings but was passed by the Tigers at the wire. LSU beat Tennessee in the SEC championship game while the Bulldogs sat in Athens and watched, and immediately the ESPN-led cry went up: “You can’t play for the BCS title if you don’t even win your conference!”
Funny how almost nobody is saying that anymore. With the losses suffered by Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Oregon over the weekend, the SEC West now holds the top three spots in the BCS standings. Provided Alabama beats Auburn, it’s all but certain that SEC teams will finish 1-2 in the final rankings. And Alabama, which lost to LSU on Nov. 7, sits in the best spot of the three.
Arkansas probably can’t get to the SEC championship game no matter what it does. LSU could lose to Arkansas and still play for the SEC title, and a lot of numbers-crunchers think the Tigers could lose to Georgia — but not to both Arkansas and Georgia — and drop no lower than No. 2. But if Alabama beats Auburn it could be locked in at No. 2 without another game to play and that, all things considered, would have to be Position A.
Let’s say Arkansas beats LSU and passes the Tigers in the BCS rankings. Let’s say Alabama beats Auburn and moves to No. 1. Now let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that Georgia upsets Alabama in our fair city. That would leave Alabama with two losses and LSU and Arkansas with only one, and the all-SEC BCS title game would surely be staged without the Tide. (Can’t imagine a one-loss Oklahoma State or Virginia Tech nosing ahead of a one-loss LSU or a one-loss Arkansas that just beat LSU.)
Back in 2007, Georgia was blocked from the BCS title game because it didn’t play for its conference championship. For Alabama in 2011, playing for the conference championship wouldn’t seem essential — and it might even be injurious to the Tide’s health. Weird season, huh?
By Mark Bradley
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
500 comments Add your comment
Joey
November 21st, 2011
4:43 pm
After reading these nice Bama fans comments on here, I’m about to do the unthinkable – pull for Auburn!
War Damn Eagle!!
SEC Commissioner
November 21st, 2011
4:44 pm
Samuel L. Jackson
November 21st, 2011
4:42 pm
where did my comment go?
I do not know, but it was the funniest line of the day.
Had enough fun myself yanking on DawginLex’s choke collar and chain, Nothng Personal Lex,
Have a good nite.
Orl Dawg
November 21st, 2011
4:44 pm
I hated it when the Dawgs didn’t play for the MNC because they didn’t win their conference. Now, that stance seems to have changed. I don’t like it; however, I haven’t seen a team outside of the SEC who can beat LSU or Alabama. I’m sick of hearing about Oregon. They were manhandled by LSU and then lost at home to an unranked team. They were lucky to make it close at the end. If USC doesn’t fumble inside the red zone, it’s not even that close. Oregon was handed a gift and couldn’t capitalize. Oklahoma has lost to Baylor who’s barely ranked and lost to an unranked team at home. OK State would get crushed by either SEC team. Va Tech wouldn’t make it a game either. When I look at all the teams, if Bama and LSU win out; they should play for the MNC. I don’t like it; but I would rather see that game than watch some non-SEC team get clobbered. Now, the Dawgs will put a wrench into the entire BCS by winning the SEC!!! GO DAWGS!!!!!
Kelly
November 21st, 2011
4:46 pm
The multiple football game argument isn’t a very good one because other NCAA divisions already have a playoff system.
On the schedule thing: they rotate. A few years back, Georgia had one of, if not the toughest, schedules in the country. That’s just the way it goes. However, if you’re going to make that argument against UGA, perhaps the teams for which you cheer should play a top 10 team and a top 15 team for the first two games of the year. Then all the crying about Georgia’s schedule might make sense.
bamaguy
November 21st, 2011
4:46 pm
The Divisions are up and down over time. The East has won a lot more championships since the title game began than has the WEst (thanks mostly to Florida’s seven). For a while Florida, Tennessee and Georgia were the dominant teams, now it is Alabama, LSU and Auburn (AK this year, we will see over time).
Point is, if you go undefeated and win the SEC Championship game you will be one of the two teams in the BCS National Championship Game. So it is always in your control to be there. The only legitimate complaints come from schools like Auburn, who were undefeated and still passed over.
BILLY JACK
November 21st, 2011
4:48 pm
Alphare 221 Okie St did not blow UGA out in 2007 state facts or dont post.
Lamar
November 21st, 2011
4:49 pm
I AM GLAD SOMEBODY BROUGHT UP THE CHEATING SCANDAL THEY PUT ON GA IN 2007!!!! All of a sudden if GA beats the team from the west and 2 teams from the west THAT DO NOT WIN THEIR CONFERENCE, will get to play for a NC when 1 that did not win its conference in 2007 could not? If GA was not the best team that year, then why did they have them at #3 the last week? Then the 2 teams ahead of them lost and we had finished our games and had no more loses yet we went down in the BCS? THEN DO THE SAME DAMN THING TO BAMA OR LSU!! because only one has a chance to win it and GA might have some say on this!!
reality Gator
November 21st, 2011
4:49 pm
WDE
I know it feels good, because we you guys can not say it that offten 19 out of 22 now , first year coach, trust me enjoy it while you can””
Samuel L. Jackson
November 21st, 2011
4:49 pm
DawginLex,
Are you really bringing up the 05′ game? Aside from the fact that it has no correlation to this year, you are way off base talking smack. That was the same season that hurricane I won’t mention by name hit and LSU effectively had no bye week and move a home game on the road. They played 11 straight weeks with no break. They were lethargic and flat against UGA that night. UGA was the better team that NIGHT, but not that SEASON! You want proof? LSU went on to whip a top 10 ranked Miami squad 40-3 with a backup QB because starter Jamarcus Russell seperated his shoulder in the SECCG, while UGA lost the Sugar Bowl that year to West Virginia. They only lost 38-35, but were down 28-0 in the 1st half. LSU finished the season 11-2, UGA finished 10-3. They had identical records going into the SECCG
Ted M
November 21st, 2011
4:49 pm
The argument of a playoff rendering the regular season as meaningless is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. It would make the regular season 10 times more meaningful; many more teams would be vying for a spot in the PO making for many more big games.
Every other sports has a playoff and not one of them has a meaningless regular season.
Joe
November 21st, 2011
4:50 pm
Hey reality gator……get a reality check…..look at your gators…like corso said- a trainwreck……
Alphare
November 21st, 2011
4:51 pm
If you think BCS is flawed? I’d think SECCG selection is more flawed!
Why is UGA even in SECCG? don’t you think the 2 best SEC teams should play for SECCG instead of a super good one playing against a mediocre team? Why even give the mediocre team a chance to pull an upset?
If I have to reform the whole college football, I’d like to start with conference championship games.
ESPN has ruined college football
November 21st, 2011
4:52 pm
The BCS is a joke that makes up “rules” as they go along. This won’t even be the secon, or third time UGA will get the shaft. In the 2002 Sugar Bowl the Dawgs got paired up with a 4 loss FSU team despite a 12-1 record. In the infamous 2007 season, the same season UGA got cheated out of the NC, we were “rewarded with an undefeated Hawaii team that didn’t belong in the same stadium with the Dawgs, and it showed. Everyone in the country lobbied for UGA-USC bowl game except for the new NCAA, commonly known as ESPN. I don’t think the Trojans were too jacked up for it either, and as one of ESPN’s sacred cows they get a pass on their choice of opponents. The Harris Poll is a joke. It would help if these pollsters would actually WATCH a game instead of just perusing the final scores. The SEC East Champion is ranked behind the 2nd place team in the coach’s poll. The computers have a distinct and inexplicable preference for the Big 12. One computer has UGA ranked 21st. Apparently, they are unaware that the Dawgsws rank 4th in total defense. It used to be a rule of thumb that if you have to lose, do it early. So much for that. Of all the 2 loss teams in the BCS poll, 5 are ranked ahead of the Dawgs, and 4 lost just last week.The two teams that beat us are ranked in the top 15; how many 2 loss teams can say that? This sickens me. These sacred coes have got to go, and the NCAA needs to reclaim their leadership in college football frrom ESPN.
Another DAWG Fan In AL
November 21st, 2011
4:53 pm
What is this “LSU is #1″, “Alabama is #2″, and “UGA has the easiest schedule” crap? Has anyone looked at the LSU and Alabama schedules lately? The only “Good team” either one of them has played is each other. Maybe 9 – 6 indicates they’re not really as good as everyone thinks. Yes, they both have Arkansas – who Alabama beat and who plays LSU this weekend. If Arkansas beats LSU, there’s no reason UGA couldn’t beat any of them in the SEC Championship.
I own you
November 21st, 2011
4:56 pm
Alpharetta…it’s not the SECC game that is flawed in your argument, it’s the creations of divisions. And in that case, it’s not just the SEC, but all pro sports in America that are flawed. There’s a really crazy way to fix all this… a playoff.
Kelly
November 21st, 2011
4:56 pm
DawgFan in Bama: To be fair, LSU has played some pretty good teams. Oregon is no pushover and neither is West Virginia. They beat both of those teams on the road…as well as Bama. On the other hand, Bama’s schedule hasn’t been as stout, but they did beat Arkansas and that counts for something.
Another DAWG Fan In AL
November 21st, 2011
4:57 pm
So you’re saying we should start calling it the ESPNCAA?
@alphare
November 21st, 2011
4:58 pm
So if the best two teams in baseball are in, say, the American league, then the current system in MLB should be changed?
Really Haters!!!!
November 21st, 2011
5:00 pm
Hey Morons, We handled that easy schedule with a dominatiing Defense!!! We need a playoff system. The regular season would mean something. You have to win your division to play for the conference championship. You win your conference championship and you go to the play offs. Remove the at large bids and the season means everything. Money drives the BCS plan and simple not logic. There were 9 must games and UGA won everyone of them. I believe there are a few teams ahead of us that lost to weak teams but UGA didn’t.
Alphare
November 21st, 2011
5:04 pm
Another DAWG Fan In AL,
I know, UGA should be #1, and can beat any team in the entire USA. If UGA played Packer last year, I am sure you guys would be celebrating your superbowl win. Who is the culprit that prohibited UGA from playing the packers? he should be executed.
I own you
November 21st, 2011
5:05 pm
Clearly you can play for a NC without winning or even playing in your conference championship. UGA should have in 2007. They (and USC) were the two best teams in the nation. This year, barring a loss to Auburn, Alabama is one of the best and should play for the NC. I’m not changing my mind because the situation is reversed. I just expect UGA to leapfrog a bunch of teams (like a 2-loss LSU in 2007) after winning the SECC game and play Bama for the NC (like a 2-loss LSU in 2007).
Kelly
November 21st, 2011
5:07 pm
Alphare: Don’t be an imbecile. UGA fans are pointing out a glaring inconsistency, and rightly so.
Playoff bracket
November 21st, 2011
5:07 pm
For all that want a true playoff system, please tell me how you would set it up. Would you put the top 64 teams in it, and play a potential seven games? Or would you go with less? If so, who would you include, and who would get left out? Keep in mind, it’s hard for a football team to play twice a week.
Beaver Cleaver
November 21st, 2011
5:07 pm
Bama clearly outplayed LSU and blew multiple chances to win. Who else has enough hair on their rear end to beat Bama except LSU?
ATL Sports Fan
November 21st, 2011
5:09 pm
SEC Commish….You sir are an idiot. Are you going to rip on the Arkansas fans who needed a missed field goal in order to beat Vanderbilt, or how about giving up 20+ points to a terrible Ole MIss team? Your a Bama homer that is all you are. Same for Alphare, you are a Auburn homer and probably from Alabama therefore you will become a band wagon Alabama fan. Also Alphare, why are you bringing up the Falcons and the Packers? They play in the NFL where there is a playoff system.
Kelly
November 21st, 2011
5:11 pm
Playoff Bracket: No, obviously not 64 teams. Here’s a decent scenario: http://www.angelfire.com/ne2/bcs_exposed/playoff.html
bamaguy
November 21st, 2011
5:16 pm
Playoff Bracket: The truth is no matter how many teams you put in a playoff, 2,4,8 or 16 there will have to be a system to determine who those teams are. And whoever is numbers 3, 5, 9 or 17 is going to rant and rave about how unfair the system is. You see, the system is only unfair if YOUR team doesn’t get in.
Dawg48
November 21st, 2011
5:16 pm
Why have a playoff……….
If you look at it this year “as a playoff” then LSU has beat bama and Oregon head to head!
If LSU wins out okie st or VT then why not give them a chance to beat LSU.
We all know it’s about the all mighty $ who plays in the big!
PMC
November 21st, 2011
5:16 pm
2007 you can thank Gordon Gee and Ohio State for lobbying hard for an AWFUL Illinois team to play in the Rose Bowl to keep it (Big 10/Pac10)
They ruined two bowl games that year. (Well 3 if you count the final too)
Dawg48
November 21st, 2011
5:19 pm
The best way to do a play off is the conference champions play it on the field!
NoChampionship
November 21st, 2011
5:20 pm
If Alabaman doesn’t play in the SEC Championship, no BCS Championship game. Go back to 2007 when UGA was surely the best team in the nation that year, and because they did not play in the SEC Championship and LSU did, they took LSU to play in the BCS over UGA who would have surely won the Championship that year, but finished #2 overall.
Rematch
November 21st, 2011
5:22 pm
So If LSU and Bama are matched up in another game, and Bama wins next time, then I assume Bama is the NC. I can see where this is a really good deal for Bama. They have nothing to lose. They get out of taking a chance on losing in the SEC championship game. That’s one less game they take a chance on a significant injury. And if they beat LSU, then that effectively erases their loss to LSU, at home.
PMC
November 21st, 2011
5:23 pm
SHouldn’t the 2007 Georgia folks really be mad that the Georgia defense laid an egg in knoxville and that’s why they weren’t the representative that year?
PMC
November 21st, 2011
5:24 pm
Alabama is fortunate this year. Everyone they needed to lose so far has lost.
A big part of this is luck.
clint
November 21st, 2011
5:24 pm
Everyone, OK we all get it. How can Bama or any other team for that matter play for the NC if they don’t win their conference championship. You can say it in 2 sentences, say it in 10 sentences, say it in all CAPS, say it with no punctuation. You can say it however you want but we get it so why keep saying the same thing?
This is my question and I hope we all can agree. The BCS was designed to put the 2 best teams in the country in a championship game to decide the National Title. Can we all agree on that fact?
Well then everyone keeps saying who shouldn’t play in the NC game. Then who should play? I realize we all love GA but the reality is that a 2 loss team isn’t going to play for the NC. So again, who should be playing the the NC.
Kelly
November 21st, 2011
5:25 pm
PMC: Yes, but you can see why there would be a small uproar. If we follow that logic, then Bama shouldn’t be in because they laid an similar egg…at home.
bamaguy
November 21st, 2011
5:29 pm
Dawg48 is correct that it is all about money. As soon as the BCS saw the TV ratings for the Alabama/LSU game the possibility of a rematch was considered. Of course, OSU had to lose but that was to the delight of the BCS. OSU/LSU would not get anywhere near the TV draw that Alabama/LSU would. Just look at 2009 and 2010, the Alabama/Texas game drew a much bigger viewership that Auburn/Oregon.
If there is any way to justify it, the Championship game will be between the two teams that will give them the biggest TV audience.
But as I have said already, both UGA and Alabama need to quit “Championship Dreaming” and concentrate on the in-state rival games coming up this weekend. Heads in the championship clouds could result in a big X in the loss column.
Tiltman
November 21st, 2011
5:34 pm
Mark Bradley, please acknowledge this point because you are on to something with this article and it seems no one is thinking or talking about it.
What bothers me is the the media i.e. voters are maintaining that two of the 3 giants of the West will face off for the title no matter what, with perhaps neither rep winning their conference. Is it me or is something wrong with the idea that the championship of the media ordained king of all football conferences has been rendered meaningless? If the game doesn’t matter and has no bearing on national title hopes for say even the dawgs, why should Georgia play it? Will LSU or Ark or Bama rest players to save for the big one? Ironic that the only TRUE championship that is actually settled on the field is already being rendered meaningless. I don’t get it. And what happened to the idea of the season being a “playoff,” seems the de facto rule would most apply to the last game if the year, perhaps the team that would potentially hold the nation’s longest winning streak. Yeah, I am a dawg fan, and hate to look ahead, but what are these pups playing for if the chance to dethrone the #1 one team in the best conference in the world if something bigger isnt at least on the line or in the realm of possibility, especially with potentially as few losses in the conference as any other of the “giants.”
anotherdawg
November 21st, 2011
5:37 pm
I don’t think most “realistic” UGA fans are saying that UGA deserves to be in the NC. But, if they were to beat LSU, or whoever the SEC West champion is, then why wouldn’t they deserve it. After all, everyone keeps screaming for a play-off system. Well, this is what play-off systems do. They reward the team that is playing the best at the end. Look no further than the St Louis Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers. Neither won their division.
Dawg48
November 21st, 2011
5:41 pm
Their is a lot of football yet to be played! One more feaky weekend and we will be talking who is the best two, two loss teams in CFB……
Frank Johnson
November 21st, 2011
5:41 pm
I think Alabama needs to go play Boises State like Georgia had to play Hawaii. If you dont win your division then how can you play for the championship?
Dawg48
November 21st, 2011
5:47 pm
The only thing I like about the “mega conference ” idea…..
If their was only four conferences 18 teams each just say SEC ACC big 10 PAC 12
Then you can put in a ” playoff ” system ACC champs vs SEC champs in the sugar or orange big 10 champs vs PAC 12 champs rose bowl. You have natural rivalries ACC SEC and tradition with the rose bowl winner of both play in the NC game.
Eisendawg
November 21st, 2011
5:50 pm
Based on the arguments on here about only division winners deserve a shot at the NC, and for those screaming for a play-off system, look no further than the St Louis Cardinals ( World Series Champion ) and the Green Bay Packers ( Super Bowl Champion) Theres your play-off system. Neither won their division.
Alphare
November 21st, 2011
5:50 pm
NoChampionship,
“Go back to 2007 when UGA was surely the best team in the nation that year”.
What about this year? isn’t UGA the best this year too? I mean you only lose 2 games, same as in 2007. Is there any team in the entire country who lose less than UGA? there is none!
I am with you, UGA should be in NC in 2007, and should be in NC again this year.
ARdawg
November 21st, 2011
5:54 pm
Attributed to all the love Alabama received after losing to LSU. Bama beats AU, there is no way the numbers toss them out. The BCS cartel doesn’t work.
@alphare
November 21st, 2011
5:55 pm
Good to see you “on board” lol
Eisendawg
November 21st, 2011
5:59 pm
Well, it is good to see that they haven’t put Ohio State at the top for a change. I’m sure it was a painful decision. Any match up will be better than that.
RammaJamma
November 21st, 2011
6:01 pm
To the LSU person who said “Bama never even scored a TD during the whole (LSUvBama) game”……Well NEWSFLASH hypocrite NEITHER DID LSU! You don’t want a rematch because you KNOW Bama will win! LSU did NOT beat Bama on Nov 5. Bama beat Bama and LSU just got lucky. Deal with it.
Dawg48
November 21st, 2011
6:03 pm
Rammajamma
Stop crying dude y’all got beat
(al from dadeville)
bamaguy
November 21st, 2011
6:04 pm
If UGA is as good as Arkansas/LSU/Alabama will be seen on December 3rd. So we really don’t need to worry about it right now.