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
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
1,739 comments Add your comment
Bamaman
December 5th, 2011
5:23 pm
Mark, you should keep your op-Ed to basketball and horse racing — the only two subjects a uk grad is well versed to opine. To say Bama branded their way to the BCS Championship is to discredit their season as THE number one defense in the number one conference. As for hating on Saban, all he’s done at Bama is graduate players, raise the bar, whIch Auburn and others have benefitted from by competing at an even higher level, and groom coahes and players for success beyond their time under his tutelage. Yes, the BCS is BS, but it’s the sad system everyone has played under for years. The greed is not good, and that is what is killing the game, not the brand of a team or conference. If you want to talk about a travesty, what about Michigan and Va Tech getting the $8 million or so payout as at large teams? Now that is pitiful when Boise and K State were left out! The system is broken, but until higher ups figure they can still make their money and give us fans what we want — a playoff of some kind — we’ll be having some kind of argument like this every year at bowl season. Alabama and LSU are the two best teams, period. I don’t need a computer or a poll to convince me of that. Look back at this game 3 years from now and count the number of those players from Bama and LSU on NFL rosters and tell me how silly those who don’t watch the game will feel then!
Blackoutanyone?
December 5th, 2011
5:23 pm
BCS Slave… 17 hours later and your still at it. LOL Conference Champions? Which conference would be apart of this playoff? Very interesting idea…
Even if Alabama Wins, The AP Poll Will Give the NC to Fiesta Bowl Winner -
December 5th, 2011
5:27 pm
As Well They Should – Alabama Shouldn’t Even Be in the Game.
rick
December 5th, 2011
5:28 pm
It hasn’t been close for years as to which conference is the superior one in the country, and I for one think it’s entirely appropriate that the SEC’s two best teams will play in the Championship of the ridiculously stupid format that college football has for determining champions. As to the fool that thinks you shouldn’t be the champion if you don’t win your conference, how about teams like NC State that won the NCAA basketball title with double digit losses and barely got into the tournament while being nowhere close to winning the ACC regular season title? Why can that happen in basketball and not in football. And the last I checked the NCAA basketball tournament does pretty well in creating a ton of revenue. You don’t think a playoff for football wouldn’t generate more money than these chumpy bowl games they are rolling out now. The TV rights would be ridiculous, and every game would be packed, instead of loser teams playing in half (or more) empty stadiums.
Bama13
December 5th, 2011
5:37 pm
OSU lost to the mighty Iowa State Cyclones. They have no argument that puts them past the Tide..If you want the most interesting game, let’s go back to the old system, where #1 and #2 don’t play each other. This is for the national championship, and the correct two teams are in the final.
Beaver Cleaver
December 5th, 2011
5:38 pm
Your anti-Bama rant doesnt hold water. Bama’s best win 24 points over Arkansas trumps Oky States 8 pt win over K State. Bama’s loss 3 pts to LSU trumps Oky States 3 point loss to Iowa State. The biggest hole in your argument is that Oky State lost AFTER Bama lost. Sure the system sucks but the sec proposed a plus 1 playoff and all the other confrences voted NO.
Blackoutanyone?
December 5th, 2011
5:38 pm
BCS slave…
LSU 12-0 vs Clemson 10-3
West Virginia 9-3 vs Wisconsin 11-2
Oregon 11-2 vs Oklahoma St 11-1
TCU 10-2 vs 11-2 Southern Miss
Good idea milk brains. Notre Dame is just S O L uh…There are too many teams in college football to pull off what your talking about. It makes no sense. 17 hours and you still haven’t figured that out. A +1 is the only way to improve what we currently have. SEC pushed it and only the ACC backed them. So the Pac10 and Big12 can suck it up now.
Bama13
December 5th, 2011
5:43 pm
And for those of you making an argument about winning a conference, what would you say if Notre Dame was 12-0? They have no conference, but they’d play for the championship. If they don’t have to win a conference, why does anyone else have to?
Clem
December 5th, 2011
5:44 pm
The TV ratings for the LSU vs Elephant game will be very low because there will be little interest in watching such a game.
The TV ratings for the OSU vs Stanford game will be much higher because two potential NFL quarterbacks will be battling it out plus All American receivers.
Nation wide NFL fans like to watch players who they’ll be watching in the future. As much as you want to say, its the offensive players who draw interest and not dfensive players.
ROLL TIDE
December 5th, 2011
5:59 pm
Looking forward to the game!!! Don’t care what the haters say, the eyeball test – ‘Bama beat EVERY SCHEDULED OPPONENT SOUNDLY except LSU – shows that the pokes coasted thru a few games where they could have shown their credentials for dominance. The fact that crushed a depleted and dispirited sooner team didn’t show me squat. Struggle against TA&M and choke at Iowa State? Gimme a break…..BCS got it right!!!
Clem
December 5th, 2011
5:59 pm
What will be the line on the LSU-UA game? I’ll bet 14.
The Tigers will bury the Elephant , BIG TIME. Go Tigers!
GT VET
December 5th, 2011
6:02 pm
LOL too funny ..Bama fans saying Okla St.dosent deserve to be in the NC game because of their Defense….This from fans of a team that couldnt even get inside LSU’s 20 yard line the entire game while playing AT HOME!!!!!!…then call two 50 yard field goal tries Missed opportunities…The avg on 50 yarders made isnt very high( btw Bama fans you will be getting a kicker from Calhoun HS that Will make them for you)Everybody LSU played scored a TD on them (against the starters )except for the 2 Missy teams,a Div 2 team and ALABAMA!!!….Boycott the BCS NC game…..
2010 BCS CHAMPS
December 5th, 2011
6:04 pm
Another year goes by and UGA can’t play for the national title.
2010 BCS CHAMPS
December 5th, 2011
6:04 pm
ROLL TIDE
As much as I hate Bama, I wouldn’t mind seeing a third straight year of Alabama football dominance.
2010 BCS CHAMPS
December 5th, 2011
6:05 pm
“Cowboys were hosed big time”
They should have thought of that when they got killed by Tech.
Delicate Dawg
December 5th, 2011
6:07 pm
@Clem
Probably Alabama -5, same as last time. That game ended in a tie and these are the same two teams.
GT VET
December 5th, 2011
6:13 pm
Hate dosent have anything to do with it..Its wrong period….Bama fans saying the 2 best teams are playing..How do you know?????again Bama cant get inside LSUs 20 yard line AT HOME!!! I assure you Okla.St scores on LSU if they had played..I do not hate Bama,but wrongs wrong……Maybe this will set the ball rolling for a playoff to crown a true Champion.In any case I wont be watching that game…BOYCOTT BCS NC game!!!!!………btw Mark, VERY good article……………….
billdawg
December 5th, 2011
6:13 pm
The BS Combine (BSC) has done it again. Along with their stooges at ESPN they are trying to sell us on the mythical national championship being real. Maybe we need to go back to pre-BCS aka BSC days and elect a national chump or 2 or 3) after all the bowls are done. The last bowl game is meaningless for determining who really is the best.
Atlanta Poke
December 5th, 2011
6:14 pm
2010 BCS Champs…I think you mean OU who was killed by Tech…We beat Tech by 60 points…let’s get the facts straight please…
"Off the Mark" Bradley
December 5th, 2011
6:17 pm
was actually on the mark tis time
Easy-to-go
December 5th, 2011
6:17 pm
If your defense can’t stay in the top 100 you get no right to complain. Get back with me when OSU has 11 guys ready to get in somebody’s way. This is tackle football.
THWG
December 5th, 2011
6:17 pm
How, If Bammer wins would they be NC? They would have the same Record as LSU, along with the same Resume. They would have lost to EACH OTHER, AT HOME. BCS is a JOKE! I will not watch this game!
Delicate Dawg
December 5th, 2011
6:18 pm
I just want the talking heads at ESPN to know that they’ve made me very sad by refusing to make my Georgia Bulldogs the National Champions yet again. I don’t understand why you boys at ESPN want to be so mean. It makes me cry and whine. You do this every year. It’s not fair!
Luv SEC
December 5th, 2011
6:20 pm
SEC, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Six years in a row!!!!
Delicate Dawg
December 5th, 2011
6:21 pm
THWG
December 5th, 2011
6:17 pm
How, If Bammer wins would they be NC? They would have the same Record as LSU, along with the same Resume.
How was LSU the NC after winning the BCSCG in 2007? OSU still had the better record after the game ended.
Oh yeah… I forgot. Georgia actually won that NC, didn’t they?
Easy-to-go
December 5th, 2011
6:24 pm
You know when teams go to the Super Bowl the winner of the game is the winner of the game no matter the records and no matter if the winner had previously lost to the winner. Did not think I would need to explain that.
SuperB
December 5th, 2011
6:27 pm
The BCS is a total joke. Virginia Tech vs. Michigan in the Sugar? VT lost to a reeling Clemson by four TD’s! and what a marquee matchup in the Orange: clemson vs. West Virginia. Every kid gets a trophy.
Georgia Tide Fan
December 5th, 2011
6:37 pm
Blah! Blah! Blah! It is the system we have so deal with it. The SEC proposed a “Plus One” option four years ago and guess what, the Big 12 refused it! Oklahoma State, you have no one to blame but YOUR Big 12 athletic department.
ROLL TIDE!
O'keefe
December 5th, 2011
6:42 pm
Good Article Mark. I will not watch this fiasco…..
trottertripper
December 5th, 2011
6:43 pm
All the butthurt just makes it all the better. Roll Tide Roll. LOL
Buzz 2011
December 5th, 2011
6:52 pm
So Mark shouldn’t the Dawgs be playing in the national chamionship game???..
Caligula
December 5th, 2011
6:53 pm
Good post trottertripper. The butthurt is hilarious. I can’t stop laughing.
Buzz 2011
December 5th, 2011
6:55 pm
Super B….. Virginia Tech or Clemson would clean out UGA by at least two touchdowns tomorrow.
What do you think of that SuperB… 42 -10
JJ#7
December 5th, 2011
7:04 pm
Enter your comments here
bruce johnson
December 5th, 2011
7:07 pm
I just think it is sad that so called “Experts” like herbstreit, fowler, and Palmer get to decide who plays for the title. Not to mention all the guys on ESPN trying to sell this game to the public. I don’t have a dog in the fight but it always seems that just like politics if you follow the money you can understand what is going on. Everyone can clearly see where ESPN would get the biggest payday. Nice job on your brand Saban but sad for the rest of the country.
JJ#7
December 5th, 2011
7:12 pm
alabama didn’t play the “best teams in the east”? don’t you mean “less worse teams in the east”? I am at a loss for the “every game counts’” argument to put OKST in the championship game. If alabama were to be in the bcs championship game over an undefeated team I could understand that. But the ONLY team that could make the every game counts argument is LSU, who is undefeated. Yes, every game does count…an OKST loss to a bad team or an alabama loss to an undefeated team….using that logic, all one-loss teams should be compared on their merits….if OKST wins that argument (or anyone else for that matter), I can live with it. Obviously I am biased but one cannot in good faith say that OKST should be a shoo in for the championship game and is obviously not being unbiased themselves…something a journalist should try to pride himself in
Sour Grapes
December 5th, 2011
7:18 pm
I thought champoinships were for the 2 best teams. Ok ST vs LSU would be as exciting as Ohio St vs Florida was, Let’s penalize BAMA because they play in a conference that plays tackle football along with the #1 team in the USA and reward the touch football conference and the team that lost to a .500 team. BTW Stanford will beat OK ST and the Cowboys won’t finish in the top 3.
CTB
December 5th, 2011
7:40 pm
What do you think the line would be Ala vs Okl State? Bama would be favored over all except LSU. When $ are involved it clears the head. How many who argue against ALA being in the BCS champ game would bet on Okl State vs Bama?
Moondog
December 5th, 2011
7:41 pm
Mark,
Your bias is showing badly. If you would write an article that is balanced, perhaps more folks would read but I suspect all you are really trying to do is to stir the pot.
Why would you fail to mention that Oklahoma State beat a badly depleted Sooner ballclub that had just about been denutted by the loss of their star receiver named Broyles, a runningback, and a starting linebacker? You also did not mention that Oklahoma State’s defense was ranked 112th out of 120 division I schools. What about that Cowpokes defense being an absolute sieve by giving up an average of 25.8 points per game. 9 of their 12 opponents scored 24 points or more, there were three that scored over 34 points on them and one that scored 45. You clearly did not want to include that information because it does not support your flawed and biased argument.
As long as I have followed football at any level and that is far longer than you have been a sportswriter, defense wins championships, period. Maybe once in every hundred championship games, an offensive team can pull a fluke of an upset, but that is extremely rare. The last time that I checked, Alabama was #1 in every significant defensive category by a wide margin and LSU was #2. The Cowpokes were #112 out of 120 Division I schools.
There is scarcely an Alabama fan out there that would not say that after the loss to LSU on November 5th, that Bama had their shot and blew it. However, they had nothing to do with 6 other top 5 schools all blowing their shots in the succeeding three weeks. Must have been the Saban “aura” that caused that. The fact is that everyone else dog choked, Bama just got a case of the yips with their kickers and are plenty deserving of a rematch.
Only an avid LSU fan would try to convince you they were the superior team over Alabama on Nov. 5th. LSU clearly won the kicking game because they kept Alabama bottled up inside their 20 yard line a number of times. Twice inside the 10 and once at the 18 and maybe one other time. Even with that poor field position the Tide only had to punt twice, which means that they slugged it out from their own goal line time and time again, just had the misfortune of missing 4 of 6 field goals. LSU only got into scoring position twice in the entire game. Once just before halftime and the second time in the 3rd quarter when Bama’s QB threw an inteception that was returned to inside the 10 yard line. Other than that, Bama shut down LSU’s offense pretty darn well. Oh yeah, there was that little suspect call on the interception on the LSU 1 yard line.
As far as some of the fans posting that they will not watch a rematch, who needs you. The genius who stated that this will be a small viewing audience will be no where to be found when this Game of the Century II becomes another ratings bonanza.
As far as Mr. Bradley’s opinion that 5 of the 7 computers having Oklahoma State #2 and his disdain for the “human” polls, apparently he does not understand that computers are programmed by “humans.” What he also doesn’t understand is that when computers make errors those errors are generally exponential. Perhaps the real problem is the idiot humans that programmed the computers give more value to offensive production than defensive production and that is a huge flaw. There’s also a lead pipe cinch that the computer geeks have not likely ever strapped on a jock, which probably also applies to Mr. Bradley. If the computers rate the Big 12 a stronger conference than the SEC, then there’s another huge flaw. Scarcely more than a week and a half ago, the computers had LSU #!, Bama #2, and Arkansas #3 and they are all out of the West Division of the SEC. Georgia and South Carolina are rated in the top 15 and you are suggesting that the Big 12 with Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and Oklahoma is a stronger conference. Give me a break!
If the objective of the BCS is to place the two best teams in the championship game, then they clearly got it right. I suspect the Alabama brand would get a few votes as they should, just as an FSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Southern California and Notre Dame brands would as well. Those schools have a history of producing consistent winners. Are you suggesting that the voters should not look at the SEC having the last 5 BCS champions in a row? Seems logical to me. Anyone that says the Big 12 is a stronger conference than the SEC is smoking some bad crack.
Nick Saban and Alabama have earned the “aura” and respect that Mr. Bradley seems to not understand. Conversely, the only thing that Bradley has earned is the stench of the yellow journalism that he has been trained to spew by the Atlanta Journal Constitution rag.
osupike4
December 5th, 2011
7:44 pm
Great article. Thanks
Bama13
December 5th, 2011
7:55 pm
btw, ESPN was OPPOSED to a Bama – LSU rematch. All they talked about for the last two weeks is what would be needed for OSU to jump over the Tide.
Bobo
December 5th, 2011
8:17 pm
C’MON Man…if anyone got screwed it was Boise State #7 but got left out of BSC Bowl games…..
Andy
December 5th, 2011
8:20 pm
The BCS was created to pit the two best teams. It has accomplished that goal. Any other argument is for another time. Ok State blew its chance, as did the others. Alabama was the least distasteful choice. Now, maybe the powers that be will wake up and get something moving toward a playoff system. So don’t hate on Alabama. Hate on the system.
capt obvious
December 5th, 2011
8:25 pm
Look at the comments. It’s mostly Bama fans that are caught up in the ESPN delusion that they really deserve to play in another game vs LSU.
Tony
December 5th, 2011
8:33 pm
I don’t have a dog in this hunt either as I don’t support nor dislike either team. But the point is Alabama can’t be the best team in the country since they already lost to LSU. So to beat them now shouldn’t make them National Champions. The NFL arument has no merit as it is in the context of a playoff. Why don’t we just not have a championship game and name LSU national champions. They have the best resume and won all their games. Even if they were to lose to Alabama their resume would still be better. Played a stronger schdule and won them all and beat Alabama. LSU can only lose in this system. If they win then they should have, if they lose then they are no better than whoever. Everyone wants a playoff but if there ever is one it should only be conference champsions that get in. There would have to be an allowance for teams like Notre Dame but they would have to be ranked in the top 4 or 8 to get in. The ranking would be dependant on the number of teams in the playoff. If an 8 team playoff they would have to be in the top 8 eliminating non conference champions ranked in the top 8. The non conference champions would have already been part of the playoff and failed since they did not win the conference. This could open the possibility a multiple loss team getting in due to an upset in the conference championship. Conferences should do away with divisions and have the 2 best play for the conference champsionship. Oh but that might mean a team could get in because of playing a weaker schedule than a team with 1 more loss even though that team beat the 1 that got in. Doesn’t matter since it doesn’t matter in the current conference championship situations. If there is only a 4 team playoff then the 4 conference champions ranked the highest would get in. Notre Dame would have to be ranked at least 4th to get in knocking out one of the conference champions.
Sandy
December 5th, 2011
8:33 pm
Roll Tide! The coaches voted, the computers voted, the media voted. It wasn’t just the state of Alabama voting. There was enough of a cross section of voters to keep Alabama out if that is what the majority wanted. The majority believed Alabama was the 2nd best team and a rematch was the best option. RTR!
John
December 5th, 2011
8:49 pm
BCS, what a joke. VaTech vs. Michigan in the Sugar. A BCS Bowl. What happened to Boise State? They deserved a chance to play there! Clemson beat crap out of VaTEch. HA!!! If anything Michigan State belonged in the Sugar before Michigan. What the heck, Ain’t no sUGAr without UGA.
cricko
December 5th, 2011
8:52 pm
Oklahoma State could have been in the Championship. All they had to do was win. They didn’t. They lost to an unranked team. Alabama lost to #1. So who deserves to go? To quote Saban: “It is what it is.”
Steve
December 5th, 2011
9:15 pm
AND my home is in ALABAMA, 13 national championships, and all the rest of the teams are not worth a damn, you too georgia.
ga gator
December 5th, 2011
9:26 pm
Bradley you are an idiot as usual; Bama lost by a field goal to the #1 team in the nation in overtime and OK St lost to unranked Iowa St.