Yet another BCS whiff: Alabama’s brand burns the Cowboys
Maybe there'll be a touchdown scored the second time around. Then again ... (AP photo)
Nobody ever said the BCS made sense, and this year it makes less sense than … well, can you make less sense than zero? Alabama did not win its division and did not win its conference but could well be the national champion in a sport where we’re told Every Game Counts.
Actually, what this year’s serving of BCS glop tells us is that it’s good to have an aura. Nick Saban has an aura, albeit one of fire and brimstone, which means Alabama has an aura, which means Alabama got a nod it didn’t deserve.
Bama played its two toughest conference games — LSU and Arkansas — at home. It didn’t play either Georgia or South Carolina, the best teams in the SEC East. It played five teams that finished with a winning record, and one was Georgia Southern. The Tide beat three teams that finished the Top 25 of the BCS standings.
Oklahoma State played four such teams and won all four games. It played seven teams that finished with winning records. The Cowboys did, for mavens of minutiae, win their conference title. The knock on them is that they lost to unranked Iowa State. But they did lose on the road, and in overtime.
Alabama, the counter-argument goes, only lost in OT to the nation’s No. 1 team. But Alabama lost at home. Alabama was favored that night and couldn’t win. But because Alabama is coached by the dark lord Saban and because Alabama is from the SEC, which is the feeder league for BCS titlists, the Tide gets a second chance.
And this time the talking heads on ESPN, who make less sense with every week, had no problem with the concept of a rematch or the reality of a non-conference champion playing for the BCS crown. (Oddly enough, some of those same voices hooted down Georgia’s credentials in 2007. “Can’t consider a team that didn’t win its conference,” the ESPN choir harrumphed.) And Saturday night, moments after Oklahoma State finished routing Oklahoma, which entered the season ranked No. 1, some ESPN boys leaped at the chance to say, “Ah, that doesn’t really matter.”
“SportsCenter” opened with the highlights of the SEC title game and then Oklahoma State’s dismissal of its bitter rival. Then the Bristol anchors tossed, as they say in TV, to Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit. Musburger, who had famously lobbied for Georgia Tech to be promoted above Colorado to No. 1 when calling Tech’s victory in the Citrus Bowl in January 1991, started with a little joke. What’s wrong with a rematch, he asked, and cited the extremely appropriate case study of Rocky Balboa versus Apollo Creed.
Then Herbstreit dismissed Oklahoma State by saying the Cowboys had lost in Ames, Iowa, and, more to the point, didn’t pass “the eyeball test.” Which made you wonder: How could Kirk Herbstreit know just how Oklahoma State had looked against Oklahoma? He (and Musburger) had been sitting in a booth in Charlotte, N.C., calling the ACC title game.
Because big-time college football has no playoff grid, ephemeral stuff like “the eyeball test” and someone’s opinion — yours, mine and especially Kirk Herbstreit’s — are allowed to hold disproportionate sway. Alabama won’t be playing for the (exceedingly mythical) national championship because it had a better season than Oklahoma State but because its has the stronger brand. It’s Alabama. It plays in the SEC. It’s coached by Saban. Good enough for me! Give that team a second chance!
And that’s what big-time college football has become — a game of brands, not reality. Is it mere coincidence that ESPN has a 15-year contract to carry SEC games? (ESPN also has a contract with the Big 12, Oklahoma State’s diminishing league, but the bigger Big 12 package is with Fox Sports.)
This was a year when opinion mattered. Five of the seven computer rankings had Oklahoma State above Alabama, but the Tide finished ahead in both human polls. Why? Because of the brand. You cannot tell me that if Alabama’s name were attached to Oklahoma State’s body of work and vice versa that the results wouldn’t have been different. We all know they would have.
And now we’re faced with this scenario: A winner of nothing save some eyeball test can split two games against another team … and be declared national champ. Some “system” this is.
By Mark Bradley
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1,739 comments Add your comment
The Tide is Rolling and Nothing can Stop it!!!
December 4th, 2011
11:26 pm
The annual UGA reality check just came a few weeks late this year due to UF being down.
kerryb
December 4th, 2011
11:26 pm
St Simons – we’re on Island time
December 4th, 2011
11:24 pm
Don’t be too hard on em. Even if they win, they’ll still be from Alabama.
__________________________________________________________________________
You are so right. The state smells like manure from one line to the other.
sldkfjslk
December 4th, 2011
11:26 pm
College Football is like wrestling and NASCAR. All three make the rules up as they go then break them with impunity and are cash cows whose milk is lapped up by a gullible public like dumb dogs.
puppies
December 4th, 2011
11:26 pm
if if and buts were candy and nuts ga might be good. doubt it.
The Tide is Rolling and Nothing can Stop it!!!
December 4th, 2011
11:28 pm
Beat Boise if you want to be considered…
Steve
December 4th, 2011
11:28 pm
I don’t want to see a rematch, but if anyone seriously thinks OkSU is better than Alabama they really don’t know football. Sure, the Cowboys might win a one game playoff with Alabama, but if they played it 100 times they would probably lose 70 of them.
Mark, while I have no love of the ESPN folks, the reality is I DID watch a few OkSU games this year and also about a dozen other Big12 games. I’m sorry, but that conference doesn’t play defense. Sure OkSU ripped off a bunch of points, but the tacking was closer to Mtn West than to SEC. It was horrendous. They wouldn’t be able to do that against ‘Bama for one, and for another, they proved time and again this year that they couldn’t stop even the most trivial of offenses.
So no, OkSU does not pass the EYE test.
That being said, I would much rather see LSU v OkSU and I am a huge SEC fan. For one, why should ‘Bama be given a break when both Michigan and Georgia got screwed by the unwritten law of having to win your conference. For another, I wanted to see LSU absolutely destroy OkSU. And lastly, Alabama might be good enough to beat LSU (though I think the first game was LSU’s worst performance in a big game all year). If Alabama beats LSU, then all the SEC-haters are going to go nuts saying we still don’t know who the best team is (never mind the fact it proved Alabama belonged in the game).
Sadly, if LSU wins the argument will be that people really don’t know if they are the best since they weren’t force to play OkSU or Stanford (never mind the fact LSU beat a team that beat Stanford).
Oh .. and as far as OkSU playing more teams with winning records. Take a look at the Big 12 OOC slate this year. IT’S COWARDLY. Almost every team in teat conference ran up their records against OOC patsies, which allowed for more teams with winning records. Meanwhile, the SEC was playing teams like:
– BSU
– GaTech
– Clemson(twice .. ACC Champ)
– Oregon (Pac 12 Champ)
– Penn State
– FSU
– Louisville (tied for Big East champion)
– Texas A&M
– BYU
– LaTech (Wac champions)
– Cincinnati (Big East co-champs)
Now, I am not saying the SEC is b far the best, but as a conference they played a very good OOC slate. They beat the best or one of the best teams in every conference in America except the Big 12, who rarely tangles with the SEC for monetary reasons on both sides).
FACT – It’s easy to finish with an above .500 record playing scrap teams in OOC. Because the computer poll .. and Mark Bradley .. view playing teams with winning records the deal breaker, it shows why both are over-valuing the Big 12 conference as a whole.
DP
December 4th, 2011
11:29 pm
Bradley says Alabama got the nod over OK State because of its brand but doesn’t mention, probably doesn’t even know, that Alabama was #1 nationally in defense against the run, defense against the pass, total defense and scoring defense.
And because Alabama has a brand, they don’t even have a cute nickname for their defense, like “Junkyard Dawgs” for the 1976 defense of Georgia that couldn’t carry the jock straps of the 2011 Alabama defense. And Alabama doesn’t have cute names like “Dream Team” for its recruiting classes even though they outperform Georgia’s recruiting classes. And they don’t wear NIKE combat uniforms or have “black outs”.
kerryb
December 4th, 2011
11:30 pm
sldkfjslk
December 4th, 2011
11:26 pm
College Football is like wrestling and NASCAR. All three make the rules up as they go then break them with impunity and are cash cows whose milk is lapped up by a gullible public like dumb dogs.
____________________________________________________________________________
You are so right. And it causes coaches like Saban and Miles to cry and whine like little girls to get in the BSC game so they can get that extra bonus money.
puppies
December 4th, 2011
11:30 pm
all your ga boys are coming west kerry b . must stink in ga
HatersGoingtoHate
December 4th, 2011
11:30 pm
You are an idiot. Didn’t play UGA out of the East. HAHAHAHA…… Is that supposed to be a tough game? LSU didn’t think so. Alabama would be undefeated if it played in the Big XII. Hell, even Georgia might be undefeated in that conference.
Sour Grapes
December 4th, 2011
11:30 pm
You would think they would be proud of their conference dominating the way it has for the last six years. They are already all but guaranteeing a victory over Mich State because of their SEC level defense but out of the other side of their mouths they say they don’t think the two most dominating defenses in the country should be playing for the NC, but instead a team that is all offense, no defense. Been there done that. LSU has already beat that type of team in Oregon. I want to see the two best teams play and from how these two teams played earlier this year that is LSU and ALA, like it or not. Who else has stopped LSU this year? Certainly not the bulldogs; 42-10
D man
December 4th, 2011
11:30 pm
First Vegas odds has Bama picked to win… Do you think OSU would have been favored?
Eric
December 4th, 2011
11:31 pm
Mark, normally your columns are suspect and full of opinion to stir up debate, but this one was the best written one of the year for you. So good, that I felt the need to post a comment. Email me and you can buy me a beer next time I’m in Atlanta.
kerryb
December 4th, 2011
11:31 pm
The Tide is Rolling and Nothing can Stop it!!!
December 4th, 2011
11:28 pm
Beat Boise if you want to be considered…
________________________________________
Beat LSU the first chance. When you can’t don’t beg for a do over.
Mike
December 4th, 2011
11:32 pm
This system is a total joke. Great article, Mark. To all those who are sick of this crap, DO NOT TUNE YOUR SETS INTO THIS GAME. Dont watch it. Dont go the sports bar to watch it. Go to the movies instead or get a good book. Do anything but give these guys the ratings they think they will get for this fraud.
kerryb
December 4th, 2011
11:33 pm
Apparently losing a big game now has no consequences and doesn’t matter anymore. Can we ask for a rematch of the SEC game?
Blackoutanyone?
December 4th, 2011
11:34 pm
kerryb… your funny… but truely an embarrasement the UGA fan base. To carry on about 2007 is … well sad. Let it go bro. Hey you still have Helen Hunt coaching your team and that’s got to count for something right?
puppies
December 4th, 2011
11:34 pm
we didnt beg the coaches that make way more than you do put us in
BC$ Slave
December 4th, 2011
11:35 pm
We can’t know who will win head to head games unless they play.
As Chris Berman has famously quipped, “That’s why they play the games.”
Blackoutanyone?
December 4th, 2011
11:35 pm
kerryb… rematch of the SEC? LOL u don’t want that.
Unger
December 4th, 2011
11:35 pm
What irritates me is we have what 6 weeks before the game? Christ just have bama and ok st play in 2 weeks to determine which goes. This sport is insane.
Joseph
December 4th, 2011
11:35 pm
Welllllllll Bama may have a great record in the Superdome, but I don’t think they have ever played LSU in our Superdome either in the regular season or the Sugar Bowl. Also, this is the first time in the history of the BCS and maybe since Yale/Harvard in the 1890s that teams with the same league/conference affiliation will play for a National Championship.To some it may be an intriguing match up, however UA better thickin’ their hides regarding questions of legitimacy if they win or lose.
More importantly, I believe that it diminishes the stellar season which the Tigers have had being asked to play a team that played a subpar schedule and failed to even win their division in their own conference. With that being said, I hope that my team can even summon up the enthusiasm required to get on the bus to play an unworthy opponent. Again a big fat fail to the BCS. To all of my fellow football fans outside the SEC I am very sorry that you will be subjected to this total abortion of a game which is touted as being a National Championship….not a regional championship, we won ours on Saturday in the Georgia Dome.
kerryb
December 4th, 2011
11:35 pm
Mike, they won’t get ratings anyway. 2/3’s of the country is going to care less about this game. It will probably be the lowest viewed title game in history. Some of the bowl games are going to probably have higher rankings. The Rose Bowl will probably have better ratings.
Realist
December 4th, 2011
11:36 pm
kerryb, you really want to relive that complete and total humiliation? Sure, ask. Play it 100 times. Only the margin of the blowout would change. LSU is in a different class than UGA. Only Alabama has hung with them.
Tech Forever
December 4th, 2011
11:36 pm
No worries…..the SEC backlash has already started with the Big 10 and the ACC and it’s only going to grow. Be careful what you wish for SEC……you want to be in a league of your own….you might just find yourself there faster than you realize.
Tate
December 4th, 2011
11:36 pm
Lsu is a 1 point fav. If it was ok state, the line would be -16
kerryb
December 4th, 2011
11:38 pm
Blackoutanyone?
December 4th, 2011
11:35 pm
kerryb… rematch of the SEC? LOL u don’t want that.
_________________________________________—
We should get the shot if you are. I don’t believe Bama held them to no first downs and 12 yards in a half and Bama didn’t score 10 points on them. Won’t this time either with a one dimensional offense.
GT Guy
December 4th, 2011
11:38 pm
As an ACC fan, I am no great lover of the SEC but clearly it is by a hugh margin the best conference in the country. All of the whining about Oklahoma State being left our is just sour grapes. Each team had one loss. Bama lost in overtime to the only undefeated team ranked Number 1 by everybody. Oklahoma State lost to an unranked team also in overtime. Bama is the only team that even came close to beating LSU. 7 other ranked teams did not even come close. Oklahoma State edged out 6-6 Texas A&M by a single point. Bama deserves it, case closed.
Tide Rising
December 4th, 2011
11:38 pm
The objective of the BCS is to pair the 2 best teams in the nation for the title game. Mission accomplished haters.
Does any moron on here actually believe that the team which ranked 107th in the nation defensively in yards allowed could hang with LSU toe to toe like Alabama? Uhhhhhh. That would be no.
Oh. One more thing. Please enlighten the NFL which has had Super Bowl rematches of teams that played in the regular season, which has had rematches in conferences championship games, and which has featured division rivals playing for a freaking 3rd time in the playoff, of just how freaking stupid a rematch is. Please let them know that any rematch of 2 teams that happened to have played earlier is a waste of time. Lemme know how that goes. And while you’re at it ask the NFL why divisional opponents play twice a year. Why do they have these dadgum rematches???
Tech Forever
December 4th, 2011
11:38 pm
Tate,
Good thing. Easy money for the 3-0 LSU win that’s coming down the pipe.
D man
December 4th, 2011
11:39 pm
I guess Vegas believes Bama will make field goals this time around since they are favored to win.
Dan
December 4th, 2011
11:40 pm
Kerry football is 4 quarters you dunce. Yay we beat them for a half. We should get half the sec title. Where do these idiots come from?
BUCK FAMA
December 4th, 2011
11:40 pm
Coach Bryant would have lost to LSU with class, but not l’ill nicky! Bryant would not have talked about a rematch. Nick said himself that if you don’t win your conference you shouldn’t play for a title! Why should LSU have to play Bama twice? ! Auburn was told, well you played the Citadel, but Bama plays a three year program in GA.Southern in 09 and no biggee. Not to mention they were on PROBATION then and now. They have been on probation since 95 plus repeat offender status until 2014!! BCS is a joke! The human perspective in this is even worse! Let someone else have a shot!
Sour Grapes
December 4th, 2011
11:40 pm
Kerryb:
42-10 does not equal 9-6. Don’t try to pretend otherwise.
puppies
December 4th, 2011
11:40 pm
if you didnt see who the better team was the first time, you should be banned from watching football.
Big Television Money
December 4th, 2011
11:41 pm
We know that you’ll watch it, no matter what you say now.
Resistance is futile.
Realist
December 4th, 2011
11:41 pm
kerryb, I know numbers are hard, but 42-10. 42-10. 42-10. I know you ‘won’ the first half, and that is so cute. Did they give you a little “First Half Winner” trophy, like the ones they give all the kids who play in little league? Cause God knows there is PLENTY of space in UGA’s trophy case.
Rob
December 4th, 2011
11:41 pm
Wah wah! Cry all you want Bama haters, it’s plain and simple: Alabama was obviously the better team during the first match-up. They should have taken down #1 undefeated LSU back on November 5th. The computers know it, the Harris voters (former players, coaches, administrators, and current and former media) know it, and the 59 head coaches at Division I FBS institutions know it. (Coaches Poll) So stop your damn whining!
Tide Rising
December 4th, 2011
11:41 pm
kerryb,
And I dont believe alabama allowed LSU to score a whopping 42 points either. And we didnt allow LSU to beat us by a 32 pt margin but rather by a 3 pt margin in overtime. Gawd them dawg fans is stupid.
Louisiana-Monroe_anyone?
December 4th, 2011
11:41 pm
i already saw this game. lsu won 9-6!
Reality
December 4th, 2011
11:41 pm
Bama had their chance.
And lost.
My big question is if Bama wins game 2 and forces a Game 3 where will it be held ?
Shine
December 4th, 2011
11:42 pm
Ole Tide Rising will be whining for 3 outta 5 if Bama loses again.
Disgraceful, pathetic, shameful, unforgiving, rigged.
Dan
December 4th, 2011
11:42 pm
Bama isn’t favored.
Rob
December 4th, 2011
11:42 pm
That’s why we’re getting the rematch, plain and simple.
Shine
December 4th, 2011
11:43 pm
The computers have OSU at number 2.
Blackoutanyone?
December 4th, 2011
11:44 pm
kerryb… like most of the nation I turned off the LSU vs UGA curb stomping half way thru the 3rd quarter so enlighten me on the final score? While your at it… what bowl will the SEC eastern divison champions participate in this year? As always I will pull for all SEC schools… and yet I fully expect UGA to quit half way through the game as they did saturday.
DawgDad
December 4th, 2011
11:44 pm
The BCS and the media can call it whatever they want but they won’t sell me on this being a National Championship game. It makes no sense whatever to re-match Alabama in lieu of a top team from another conference. I’m a UGA fan, but a severe national backlash on the SEC and BCS would be well deserved.
ESPN has become a disease. Don’t even get me started on them.
puppies
December 4th, 2011
11:44 pm
if i was an lsu fan or player i would be begging for a rematch because in the back of their minds they have to be thinking are we really the best team? we moved the ball on their defense 1 time close enough to kick a field goal. the other time we turned the ball over, then they gave it to them on the 25 yard line. hmmmmm are we really that good?
GMAN
December 4th, 2011
11:44 pm
Bradley,
Didn’t have to play Georgia? Are you kidding me? Are you serious? The same mighty Georgia that just got there $#@%$ handed to them by LSU…the same LSU that was held to only 9 points by Bama. You embarass yourself when it comes to college football.
kerryb
December 4th, 2011
11:44 pm
I’m going to laugh my behind off that night when I hear the final score and Bama gets beaten good this time. Come on here Bama fans and run your pie holes when you get beaten twice by them.. Now that’s going to be real embarrassing. LSU is better than they were when you played them the first time and you struggled with Georgia Southern. You are not in the same league with them this year like anyone else is. Face it, This is just their year. They are bigger and stronger and more experienced than EVERYBODY.