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
Seth
November 28th, 2011
2:52 pm
Meant we played. Not beat.
Dawg in NC
November 28th, 2011
2:52 pm
@BO DUKE I guess we will find out next year huh? Go Dawgs!!!
Dont cry because you lost ricardson he’ll leave early
UGA fan
November 28th, 2011
2:53 pm
WE’Z GONE WIND US DA SEC BABY!!!!! WE BEAT AUBURN BY 100 POINTS!!!!!!!
PHIL YOU ARE MA KIND OF DAWG FAN!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! UGA IS THE BESTEST EVER AND LSU IS GARBIGE!!!!!!
WE RUIN THIS STATE
DawgDad
November 28th, 2011
2:53 pm
The computers should be programmed to factor in non-participation in a Conference Championship game (i.e., not winning your Conference), factoring non-participation similar to a loss against one of the participants. If they do not consider this the programming is flawed. Alabama’s ranking SHOULD be impacted by them not being there, and there clearly should not be a discounting of a Conference Championship game in any way.
If the BCS causes a game like the SEC Championship (or Big-12 or whatever) to not be meaningful or to be discounted in the rankings the credibility of the BCS “National Championship” is undermined (assuming it has credibility to begin with).
I see zero benefit in staging an LSU-Alabama rematch under any circumstances. Been there, done that. Let the SEC Champ play a champ from one of the other conferences. Let the other top SEC teams play in other bowls. The intent of the bowls is to match top teams from conferences around the country, not to extend the SEC season.
Gbal
November 28th, 2011
2:53 pm
godawgs
meh
November 28th, 2011
2:53 pm
that whole gotta win the conference thing is a crock. I remember in 2003 or 2004 when Kansas State spanked the tar outta Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship and Oklahoma still played for the BCS championship. I think that was the year LSU whomped them.
fred
November 28th, 2011
2:53 pm
Phil the hater..lol
UGA fan
November 28th, 2011
2:54 pm
phil
Did you graduate from UGA?
2010 BCS CHAMPS
November 28th, 2011
2:54 pm
“Phil the hater”
phil the retard.
2010 BCS CHAMPS
November 28th, 2011
2:55 pm
Go Dawgs beat LSU
Dawg48
November 28th, 2011
2:55 pm
How do we know bama is better than okie st?
rhbDAWG1
November 28th, 2011
2:56 pm
I have read everything on the ajc sports UGA site and many of the commets after each article. One thing I have not seen posted is any concern about the officiating in the SEC Championship game. It will be very embarrassing to BCS (and possibly SEC, though an argument could be made that it would be prestigious for 3 SEC teams to be in BCS bowls) to have a national champion that is not a Conference Champion. I’m not looking for excuses, but I’ve seen a number of seemingly obvious wrong calls that, even after review, did not go our way. Anybody else thinking of this?
Gbal
November 28th, 2011
2:57 pm
Mark -
The best piece you have EVER written. And not because I am a DAWG fan… It is just so real how the voters follow whatever ESPN’s 4-6 EXPERTS want to say about who should be in the game and their reasoning and justification for their thoughts. Media runs the country in many respects…. Our current president is another example… Media ran our country …. right into the DIRT.
Joe
November 28th, 2011
2:57 pm
Mark- QUESTION……Does anyone EVER ask the President of the BCS to explain anything????? Do they have free reign to just sit back and not address ANYTHING? Sounds like money under the table to me…and it sounds like some kind of congressional investigation needs to happen or at least make them accountable for their actions
2010 BCS CHAMPS
November 28th, 2011
2:59 pm
Bear Bryant was definetly over rated as a coach.
Hey why are you posting under my name??????
Nom Nom Nom Chuck
November 28th, 2011
3:00 pm
2010 Champs,
It stings when I pee……Thoughts?
Nom Nom Nom Chuck
November 28th, 2011
3:00 pm
Bear Bryant was over rated as a coach…..YAVO!!
PJohn
November 28th, 2011
3:00 pm
Great column.
It’s all about hype and perception. Trade Alabama’s resume with Ole Miss and we’re not having this conversation.
I have no sympathy for LSU, though. Over the years they’ve benefited greatly from this dysfunctional system. Only Ohio St., Oklahoma, and Florida can compare in that regards. The real potential “victims” will be the 1-loss non-SEC conference champs (VT and/or OSU).
2010 BCS CHAMPS
November 28th, 2011
3:01 pm
Sounds like you have AU-burn……
Northern Sympathizer
November 28th, 2011
3:02 pm
You have got it Bradley. Sadly, that was well-stated about the BCS and 2007. Why can’t we just have an 8-team playoff (6 conf champs + 2 high ranked wildcards). Sure, people would gripe, but I bet not as much. I read where the BCS committee is looking at new options including a playoff. Someone needs to spike thier coffee and really get the thinking going..
prb
November 28th, 2011
3:02 pm
Great article. Finally someone in the media said it! The talking heads on ESPN won’t even bring it up for discussion. Any way you could bring this point up to them?
Bryan
November 28th, 2011
3:02 pm
Hypocrite uga fans. If the same happened with you and an east team you wouldn’t be complaining. Or if you had beaten sc, then this would be to play Alabama. Funny but I doubt you would be complaining at all under that scenario.
Fleming Island Dawg
November 28th, 2011
3:03 pm
Seth say what you want but the argument in 2007 wasn’t that Ga lost by 21 the argument was didn’t win the conference. How can anyone who said you had to win the conference then now say conference doesn’t matter. Only a hypocrite can. And we beat AL in 2007 so we must have been really good.
Nom Nom Nom Chuck
November 28th, 2011
3:03 pm
45-7….no I don’t think so, it might be a UTI.
fred
November 28th, 2011
3:04 pm
Phil is on every blog..fire Joe, bill, tomm, billy, mark, etc. He even hates his mom and dad.. u never hear him say anything good are nice.
Nom Nom Nom Chuck
November 28th, 2011
3:04 pm
hahahahahahahahahahaha
UGA Insider
November 28th, 2011
3:04 pm
Oklahoma State lost to Iowa State…No way they pass Bama or LSU in the BCS. The MNCG is pretty much set.
ole richie
November 28th, 2011
3:05 pm
If Ok state rolls on OU. They deserve a shot at LSU in the title game even if UGA beats LSU. Bama had their chance. If you can’t beat them on your home field, why should you get a second chance?
ken
November 28th, 2011
3:06 pm
Remember back in 2007, it was Les Myles the LSU coach that got the ball rolling that you should have to win your conference to be able to play in the BCS championship game. That is why UGA dropped from #4 to #5 in the last BCS poll, even though the #2 and #3 team lost. Why have a championship game if they don’t mean anything? We should never have a rematch and we should change the rules where only the top 10 in the BCS final standings make the BCS games or just go to a eight team playoff. Some of the BCS games this year are not even going to be interested to even watch. Rematches, and some teams not even in the top 10 will be matched up against each other! Not very entertaining.
Fleming Island Dawg
November 28th, 2011
3:06 pm
Also one of LSU’s losses in 2007 was to Kentucky. That should have made them inelligible from the start.
ROCK STEADY FREDDY
November 28th, 2011
3:06 pm
How many here would consider boycotting the BCS game?>
WarEagle
November 28th, 2011
3:06 pm
Georgia hardly got screwed in 2007. LSU’s two losses were both in 3OT; Georgia got drubbed by Tennessee and lost to South Carolina. Given each had two losses and LSU’s were closer AND they won the SEC, they should’ve gone.
O-me
November 28th, 2011
3:08 pm
Alabama & LSU will play for Championship..two beat teams..period.
Gbal
November 28th, 2011
3:09 pm
And I am all for the 8 team playoff with the BCS system deciding the 8 teams to play, based on the current BCS ranking system. The system (with ESPN’s influence) can not choose the top 1-2 teams to play in the big game with any type of accuracy…. not possible; but I am confident that the system would capture the top 2-4 teams in the country in a field of 8 teams and then they can play it out and determine a true #1.
Think how exciting it would be these last two weekends if the top 6-9 teams were playing for top 4 seeds, and the top 6-12 teams were playing for a chance to break the top 8 and get in the tourney. UGA, among others could be playing this last game with a chance to crack the top 8. As it was, only 2-3 games were significant on a national basis this past wkend… How many would have had significance if teams were playing for a playoff position? 10-15?
robodawg
November 28th, 2011
3:09 pm
Great article. It’s worth mentioning that the two teams that best passed the “eye test” at season’s end in 2007 were UGA and USC, neither of which had a shot at making the BCS title game.
SupremoDawg
November 28th, 2011
3:11 pm
Hey Seth, Bama had their chance. They had LSU at Tuscaloosa and LOST. Give Ok St. or another one loss team with a conf. championship a chance. You had yours and you BLEW IT!
SupremoDawg
November 28th, 2011
3:14 pm
ole richie, You got it dead on! Give it up Bama, you lost at home, so go away and pout, and get a F-ing kicker!
UGA1974
November 28th, 2011
3:14 pm
If you really want to express your outrage with the BCS, you need to do two things. First, do not buy tickets to any bowl game. NONE of them. Secondly, find out who the sponsors are and boycott the sponsors. Loss of revenue is the only thing these greedy people understand or care about. Having said this, what are the chances of this happening? ZERO
TrueDAWG
November 28th, 2011
3:16 pm
Mark best article I ever read you wrote! I am right with you brother!
timthebrave
November 28th, 2011
3:16 pm
I wish the computers would spit out Houston vs Notre Dame or Boise state for the national championship. The quicker we can get a playoff the better
Gbal
November 28th, 2011
3:16 pm
Mark –
Good article topic for you. Given that a reason for not having a playoff is that it would make the regular season less meaningfull…
What would be the major headlines and news topics of this past two weeks the way the games actually played out; and upcomming weekend if the games were being played for a spot in the top 8?
I Believe
November 28th, 2011
3:17 pm
I believe that the 2007 Georgia team was about as good as it gets in the CMR era. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough. It’s not the fault of the BCS that Georgia isn’t good enough to play for the BCS Championship. It’s not the fault of ESPN either. It’s Georgia’s fault. If we want to play for an NC, then we need to play a good enough season to get there. Whining about it won’t help. We simply have to start winning all of our games.
ole richie
November 28th, 2011
3:18 pm
but since when has the BCS been about the two best teams
phil
November 28th, 2011
3:18 pm
UGA fan
November 28th, 2011
2:54 pm
phil
Did you graduate from UGA?
Yes.
And no Fred, I’m not a hater….I just want everyone fired repeatedly all over the place. It gives the media something to do to harass and pester these poor guys until they finally cave in….
phil
November 28th, 2011
3:21 pm
I’ve been boycotting the silly title game for years now….
just don’t watch the stupid thing….
Fire Fred!
I Believe
November 28th, 2011
3:21 pm
@ole richie
“but since when has the BCS been about the two best teams”?
Since it’s inception. The only goal of the BCS was to match the Number 1 & Number 2 teams at the end of the season. That is what they have done every year. That is what they will do this year.
P. Bull Terrier
November 28th, 2011
3:21 pm
The SEC Championship game COULD be more meaningful then ever – if UGA wins.
If LSU wins as expected, then the debate about an LSU vs. Alabama rematch will be a minor blemish on the system. There are merits on both sides of the rematch debate, but the argument that LSU and Alabama appear to be the two best teams in the country gives the system enough cover that an LSU vs. Alabama game isn’t likely to topple the system.
A Georgia win in the SEC Championship might be the beginning of the end of the current BCS system. A BCS Championship game played between a team that wasn’t good enough to win it’s own confrence and a team that wasn’t good enough to win it’s own division will be more than most of the country can accept. In that scenario, UGA can rightfully claim to be more deserving than Alabama or LSU based on the fact that they are the SEC Champions. Boise St. can claim to be more deserving than Georgia, Alabama, and LSU, since they beat the SEC Champs. Any other confrence champion can rightfully claim to be more deserving than LSU and Alabama teams that choked when it mattered most.
If Georgia beats LSU for the SEC Championship, the BCS is left with two choices: let Alabama and LSU play in the championship game, and by doing so, tell the rest of the teams in the country that their seasons don’t matter as much as expected TV revenue, or play a “championship” game with the two best teams sitting on the sidelines watching. Either way, it’s hard to imagine the current system surviving the backlash of such a spectacular failure. A victory for Georgia in the SEC Championship game might be a victory for everyone who wants to see a better alternative to the current system. Both are long shots, but you never know.
murfdawg
November 28th, 2011
3:22 pm
Why would Bama want a rematch? so they can miss FIVE field goals and lose by three. At least arkie scored a touchdown on LSU. Maybe they should have a rematch.
Mark,
do your civic duty and call every sportswriter you know and ask them to vote for OKST if they beat OKLA.
O-me
November 28th, 2011
3:22 pm
Mark has always been a Dawg fan…
RTR22
November 28th, 2011
3:22 pm
Hey Bradley you may want to check the teams in the 2001 and 2003 BCS NC Game? Forgot to mention those 2 teams that WERE NOT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS. Complete hack job but predictable. You did get one thing right……. It is ALABAMA, enough said. LSU wins against Dawgs by 17.