For its latest trick, the BCS renders the SEC title game moot
"Is this the year you have to win your conference or the year you don't?" (AP photo)
Q: When is a conference championship really just a exhibition game?
A: When the BCS “system,” whatever that happens to be in a given year, gets its maladroit hands on it.
LSU faces Georgia for the SEC title Saturday at the Georgia Dome. If LSU wins, it will play for the BCS title. If LSU loses, it figures to play for the BCS title anyway.
This is college football, where we’re told Every Game Counts. This year another big fat asterisk gets attached: Every game counts except the SEC championship, which lately has counted the most. And that’s not the worst part.
On Sunday I was speaking with Falcons center Todd McClure, who has a figurative dog in this fight. (He played at LSU.) When I mentioned that I’d rather be Alabama, which is guaranteed not to lose another game before the final BCS standings are announced, than the Tigers, he said: “Do you think that’s fair?”
No, I don’t think it’s fair. The BCS is never fair. Occasionally there comes a year in which the outcry is minimal, and invariably some talking head will say, “The BCS worked this time.” Reality check: The BCS never works. The best the BCS ever can hope is to get lucky.
Case study in inconsistency: In 2007 Georgia was ranked No. 4 in the next-to-last BCS standings. The teams ranked first and second — Missouri and West Virginia — lost on the regular season’s final weekend. Georgia didn’t play. It finished atop the SEC East but was shaded by Tennessee on a tiebreaker. LSU, which had lost its final regular-season game to Arkansas, beat the Vols for the SEC title, and the Tigers got to play for the BCS title.
LSU moved from No. 7 to No. 2. Georgia didn’t play a game and slid to No. 5. Why? Because LSU coach Les Miles kept making the point that his team had “won its conference” and because the many talking heads on ESPN took up the cry. (As we know, what’s said on ESPN has an outsize effect on college football, the only sport in which opinions matter.)
Some of the same voices who’d lobbied for an Ohio State-Michigan rematch in the 2006 BCS title game dismissed Georgia a year later because It Hadn’t Won Its Conference. Never mind that winning your conference isn’t a criterion for BCS title inclusion. Never mind that Michigan hadn’t won the Big Ten the year before. This just seemed like the thing to say at that moment in time, and by golly those ESPN chatterers kept saying it until it became reality.
Georgia wasn’t passed just by LSU but also by Oklahoma and Virginia Tech; see, the Sooners and Hokies had won their conferences. After that season, the BCS considered making a conference title a prerequisite for a berth in the BCS title game but decided against it, which is a good thing if you’re Alabama but another pie in the face if you’re a fan of consistent thought.
If you’re a BCS hater — and who isn’t? — you have to root for Georgia to beat LSU and render this ongoing farce even more farcical. Picture the incongruity: The Bulldogs hoist the SEC championship trophy on Saturday night and trot off to the Sugar Bowl to play this year’s version of Hawaii, and 24 hours later not one but two SEC non-champions get invited to the game that’s supposed to reveal the nation’s best team.
And now you’re asking: Don’t LSU and Alabama look like the nation’s top two teams? LSU has been the absolute best team from start to finish, but the Tigers still have a game to play. The Tide lost its biggest game on its home field and has beaten two teams ranked in the BCS Top 25. If Oklahoma State, which is ranked No. 3 to Alabama’s No. 2, beats Oklahoma on Saturday, the Cowboys will have beaten five Top 25 teams and will be the Big 12 champ. Should Alabama get that nod just because it plays in the almighty SEC and is, you know, Alabama?
The problem with the BCS is that it can tweak its “system” until the cows come home and never be prepared for the vagaries of a given season. And with conferences expanding to elephantine size and schedules growing more imbalanced, this will only get worse. Four years ago Georgia was penalized for not playing in the SEC title game; this time Alabama could be handed a de facto semifinal bye.
Do I think the BCS is fair? Yes indeed. A fairly Big Crock of Sludge.
By Mark Bradley
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810 comments Add your comment
Tide Rising
November 28th, 2011
9:33 pm
“Of course that isn’t your fault but the only reason you are in the Dome on Saturday is because South Carolina played the Hogs and you didn’t”
That pretty much sums up why UGA finds itself in the georgia dome.
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
9:34 pm
Tide rising
I guess your not going to respond to my return coment?
Tide Rising
November 28th, 2011
9:35 pm
“If Ole Miss had played the exact same schedule as Bama, with the exact same results would they even have a chance at getting in? No.”
And you can prove this theory of yours how?
bitter dawgs fan
November 28th, 2011
9:36 pm
bamma state flower—-satilite dish——bcs champs —-please
Paul in NH
November 28th, 2011
9:37 pm
2010 BCS CHAMPS
November 28th, 2011
7:02 pm
“up until they had the laptop thief last year, hadn’t won a NC in over 50 years!”
Poor whittle baby. So upset that her dawgies haven’t won squat since Reagan was in office
——
When UGA won the MNC Jimmy Carter was in office.
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
9:37 pm
Tide rising
Your the last guy that needs to say anything about back dooring your way into a game bud!
BroncoBilly
November 28th, 2011
9:39 pm
Meanwhile, Boise State gets screwed over by the BCS once again……go Dawgs!
GTBob
November 28th, 2011
9:39 pm
And you can prove this theory of yours how?
By common sense. Why is Alabama so highly regarded? Because they began the season ranked really high and because their game against LSU was hyped more then any other regular season game in the past 10 years. Ole Miss would not have gotten either of those. If they played LSU week 9 as an undefeated team they would have maybe been ranked in the top 10 and it would have just been considered a tough game for LSU, not “game of the century”.
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
9:39 pm
But you are the only guy in America that actually thinks ISU is better than okie st!
Tide Rising
November 28th, 2011
9:40 pm
Dawg48,
I already responded to you. But I suspect you and I both know that the truth is that we may never know for sure unless Ok state plays LSU or Bama as you stated. But instead we have to look at the the preponderance of the evidence which clearly shows that Alabama is more deserving of being in the title game than Ok state. The only issue in the whole thing is that its really not fair to LSU to have to beat us twice. That I do understand. And if you look back in your college football history there were plenty of times when it wasn’t fair for a no. 1 team to have to beat a top team again in a bowl game which it had already beaten in the regular season. Just ask FSU in 96 if it was fair that they had to play Florida again. Or ask Nebraska if it was fair that they had to play OU a second time back in the late 70s I think it was. This isn’t the first time that two top teams had to play in the regular season only to have a rematch in a bowl. Nor will it be the last.
DILLIGAF
November 28th, 2011
9:41 pm
Lets put an end to all of the BCS controversy.
If by chance, UGA were to beat an undefeated LSU team and LSU went on to beat whoever they play in the NC game then it’s obvious that UGA should be the NC after beating the best team in the country.
The BSC system is ridiculous and however the season plays out, it will further expose the BSC as a money driven joke. A UGA victory would at least scramble the standings and it would be interesting to see how it plays out. Regardless of how the final standings end up, the system will still have failed once again.
Hunker Down You Hairy Dawgs, One More Time!
UGA/85′
GATA!
DILLIGAF
November 28th, 2011
9:45 pm
UGA/85′
GATA!
Red Stick
November 28th, 2011
9:45 pm
GTBob,
Who has Va Tech really beaten? They lost to a 3 loss Clemson team.
Ok St lost to a 27 point underdog.
Stanford gave up a ton of points to Southern Cal and barely won. They lost to Oregon who has now lost 2 games.
I don’t see how you can say that Bama does not have a more impressive ledger than those teams. Bama has dominated every team but one. The same cant be said for those 3 schools.
DILLIGAF
November 28th, 2011
9:46 pm
Paul in NH:
Are you living in N.H.?
BroncoBilly
November 28th, 2011
9:46 pm
Either Boise State or Stanford against LSU or Alabama would be a much better game to watch than and SEC rematch….just sayin’
Tide Rising
November 28th, 2011
9:46 pm
GTBob,
Wrong sir. Common sense dictates that Bama started out the season ranked in the top 2-3 because of our body of work over the last 3 years, the number and quality of the starters coming back, the talent on board over 4 straight top 5 ranked recruiting classes. If Ole Miss had the same success in recent years and the same talent level back they also would have been no. 2 or 3 starting out the season. And that’s not really an excuse anyway sir. AU came from no. 17 at best preseason national ranking I think to win it all last year. I believe when OU won it in 99 they were unranked at the beginning of the season.
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
9:47 pm
TR
But what I’m and the rest of America that is not a bama fan is trying to say is the game has been played!
What’s the point of even trying to argue for a playoff system in college football if “the powers to be”
Want to put the game together that they want!
As a SEC fan I’m happy to see our conference this strong but it’s just not fair or the right thing to do!
I know that myself and every one with my opinion is just pissing in the wind but I’m just am going to keep pissing!
BroncoBilly
November 28th, 2011
9:48 pm
Stanford has a much better strength of schedule than Alabama and should get a chance to play LSU……Georgia Southern, Kent State, Eastern Texas Polytechnic…..seriously…..LOL
GTBob
November 28th, 2011
9:51 pm
Tide Rising, you basically proved my point. Why should the past influence the present? Alabama doesn’t have Julio Jones, or Mark Ingram, or even Greg McElroy anymore yet they they were still perceived as maybe the best team in the country before the season even started. Talent does play a part as well, but teams like UGA and Florida St consistently show that talent doesn’t equal greatness.
Dr. Lou
November 28th, 2011
9:52 pm
“If Ole Miss had played the exact same schedule as Bama, with the exact same results would they even have a chance at getting in?”
Yep. We only have Georgia blacklisted.
Tide Rising
November 28th, 2011
9:52 pm
Dawg48,
Backdooring our way in sir? How is that? We didn’t lose 2 games like the 07 bulldogs, one to an unranked team at home and one a blowout loss by 4 tds. Great teams lose but great teams don’t get blown out.On top of that the 07 dogs barely beat a terrible vandy team via a fumble as Vandy was knocking at the door on the Georgia 10 yard line.
We lost 1 game in OT to the no. 1 team in the nation. Other than that nobody has even come close to us. We have not even had a competitive game the whole season other than the LSU loss. Please explain to me how a team whose only loss the whole season to the no. 1 team in OT and who did not have a close game the entire year “backdoored” its way into the bcs title game.
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
9:52 pm
Tide rising
Your telling GT bob about your body of work over the last 3 years!
A season is a season not the last 3
Steverino
November 28th, 2011
9:53 pm
Too late to do anything about it now, but if conferences were limited to 10 members each, there would be no need for championship games. Play every team in your conference every season, w/3 out of conference games scheduled. The champ would be the team with the best in-conference record, with head to head as the tie breaker.
That’s the way it used to be, back when it was better than it is now.
Tide Rising
November 28th, 2011
9:55 pm
GTBob,
Talent and coaching. We left out coaching. And as I stated most of our team was back including 9 defensive starters off the no. 2 defense in the nation in 2010. With Trent Richardson, 4 of 5 O-line starters back off of a 10 win team is there any reason why we shouldn’t have been top 3?
DILLIGAF
November 28th, 2011
9:56 pm
BroncoBilly:
“Stanford has a much better strength of schedule than Alabama and should get a chance to play LSU……Georgia Southern, Kent State, Eastern Texas Polytechnic…..seriously…..LOL”
Oh yeah, heck of a schedule with wins over USC, Oregon St., Cal. and N.D. Keep on dreamin’.
LSU would destroy Stanford and you and the rest of the country knows it. Ok St. or Houston would be a better match up.
UGA/85′
GTBob
November 28th, 2011
9:56 pm
I don’t see how you can say that Bama does not have a more impressive ledger than those teams
What has Bama done that is so impressive? Beat Arkansas? Arkansas almost lost to Vandy and Ole Miss. It’s pretty safe to say they were pretty overrated. Their one loss is more impressive then Okie St but their quality wins is much less impressive then Okie St in my opinion, especially if they beat Oklahoma.
Paul in NH
November 28th, 2011
9:57 pm
DILLIGAF
I moved to New Hampshire from RDU earlier this year
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
9:57 pm
I never said I think the07 team should have played in the title game!
But what I’m and ever one else is trying to say is bama got beat by lsu!
We already know that outcome let another team play lsu.
Special K
November 28th, 2011
9:58 pm
Sour Grapes.
Tide Rising
November 28th, 2011
9:59 pm
Dawg48,
Good point dawg. But the preseason rankings are just that. Pre-season. Ya still have to win games and win convincingly. We did all that except for one loss in OT to the nation’s best team. We didn’t lose to a 27 point underdog, we didn’t lose to a 2 loss team that racked up 53 pts on us, and we didn’t get whipped by a 3 loss Clemson team and have a series of other close wins on top of that. And we didn’t lose to a TCU team that has lost a couple of games and is down from last year. We lost one game in OT to the nation’s best team and we annihalated every one else on our schedule in blowout fashion.
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
9:59 pm
GT bob
I get your point!
GATA
November 28th, 2011
9:59 pm
Tide Rising – I have laid out the cold hard facts about Bama’s schedule; that plus the fact it didn’t win the west, let alone the SEC are strong reasons for other 1-loss teams to be considered ahead of them going to the championship. I’m not talking about years past. You simply cannot lean on that schedule as reason for being #2.
Tide Rising
November 28th, 2011
10:02 pm
Dawg48,
Its not about fairness. The aim of the bcs is not to be “fair”. It is to pair the best 2 teams in the nation for the national title game. That is its purpose. And it is the resounding opinion of the coaches poll and the other polls that the 2 best teams are bama and Lsu. Letting someone else play in the game in the interest of “let someone else play for it” does not accomplish the purpose of pairing the 2 best teams in the nation- regardless of whether they have already played once or not. That is irrelevant to the purpose of the bcs.
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
10:02 pm
Tide rising
I know I’m just pi$$ing in the wind brother!
But I’m just go keep on pi$$ing!
DILLIGAF
November 28th, 2011
10:04 pm
Paul in NH:
Where do you live in N.H.? I’m in Atkinson.
Special K
November 28th, 2011
10:06 pm
BCS Rankings right now are LSU #1 and BAMA #2. That is the facts and unless it changes after this weekend then everyone just needs to deal with it. Have a problem with it, then make it where your team plays a quality sch and beats the crap out of everyone. Nuff said. All I am seeing is here is a bunch of complaining and crying. Get over it.
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
10:06 pm
Tide rising
You can say that now but if it was your team you would be saying the same things we are!
Tide Rising
November 28th, 2011
10:07 pm
GATA,
And I have laid out the simple historical fact that a rematch of 2 teams that have played in the regular season as happened before as well as teams that didn’t win their conference championships playing for it all. Precedence is on my side sir. Just ask FSU when they lost a rematch to Florida in 1996. Not to many people seemed to complain then. And Neb and OU have played in the title game despite not winning their conferences.
And once again I will explain the purpose of the bcs. The purpose of the bcs is to pair the 2 best teams in the country to play for the title. The fact that they may have played previously is irrelevant to that purpose. In the bcs calculation and in the opinion of the overwhelming number of pollsters the 2 best teams will be playing for the title. As it should be.
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
10:08 pm
Special k
It’s called debating!
Special K
November 28th, 2011
10:08 pm
Amen Tide Rising.
Paul in NH
November 28th, 2011
10:09 pm
Tide Rising,
I agree with you that the avowed purpose of the BCS is to pair the best 2 teams in the nation for the “national title game” – and this year that appears to be LSU and Alabama. It just demonstrates the flaws in the current system.
Another way of looking at the BCS is that it is a way to prevent a playoff that would determine a true national champion and make sure that big schools/conferences control the money flow.
Paul in NH
November 28th, 2011
10:10 pm
DILLIGAF
I am in Durham – just off campus.
hind tit
November 28th, 2011
10:11 pm
The question was ask, why does ESPN hate Georgia so. It’s because Lou Holtz hates Georgia with a passion. The man has never had a kind word come out of his mouth about them. It might be because Georgia beat South Carolina like a yard dog while he was their coach.
Special K
November 28th, 2011
10:12 pm
Dawg 48 you are correct but from the looks of it, I am seeing people convinced of some conspiracy. Every team thinks the system and the media is out to get them. Ask anybody and they have never lost a game. They were robbed by the officials, media , etc. Just get tired of excuses.
Paul in NH
November 28th, 2011
10:13 pm
DILLIGAF
I didn’t know where Atkinson is but I just checked the map and saw that it is near Plaistow. I have colleagues who live in Plaistow and in Methuen.
Tide Rising
November 28th, 2011
10:14 pm
Dawg48,
I think it sucks for LSU. Doesn’t seem fair that they would have to beat us twice. And if we had made just one of those 4 missed field goals and won that game I would be unhappy about having to beat those guys twice which would be a monumental task. But as I have pointed out repeatedly rematches have occurred several times and as I explained the sole purpose of the bcs is to pair the 2 best teams in the nation- regardless of whether or not they played before. And it is the overwhelming opinion that the 2 best teams will be playing for it all.
I suspect the problem here is just the dawg fans resentment of their neighbor to the west, our historical dominance of the UGA program, and the unhappiness over being left out in 07. I think that’s what this is really all about- envy,resentment, lack of success in capturing national championships, and simply living in the shadown of Alabama football for 100 years.
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
10:15 pm
Yea I have seen a lot of that.
So your saying we need to change it from ESPN and NCAA to the ESPNCAA?
Lol
Special K
November 28th, 2011
10:15 pm
So Lou and ESPN are responsible for the UGA hatefest. I can now sleep better. lol
Stewie
November 28th, 2011
10:15 pm
Oh please, Bradley, stop buying into the UGA conspiracy theories. In 2007, before the SECCG, UGA and LSU had the same record, though LSU’s two losses both came in 3OT games. They then beat Tennessee in the SECCG, the same UT team that had crushed UGA in the regular season.
Simply put, LSU had a better body of work and DESERVED to be ranked ahead of UGA. Both Oklahoma and Va. Tech had one more win than the Dawgs. Wouldn’t you expect a team with more wins (and an equal number of losses) to be ranked ahead of a team with fewer wins? Kinda makes sense, doesn’t it? But go ahead and foment the UGA conspiracy theorists saying it was ESPN that prevented the Dawgs from going to the BCSNC, when it truth it was voters and polls working as they should.
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
10:17 pm
Tide rising
Does your arm hurt for just patting your self on the back?
I think the argument was clear that bama got beat the game was played!