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
Corn Dawg
December 6th, 2011
8:42 am
The Events Leading Up To The 2007 BCSCG:
Top 10 – Week 11
1. OSU 10-0
2. LSU 8-1
3. Oregon 8-1
4. Oklahoma 8-1
5. Kansas 9-0
6. WVU 7-1
7. Mizzou 8-1
8. BC 8-1
9. AZ State 8-1
10. Georgia 7-2
Top 10 – Week 12
1. LSU 9-1
2. Oregon 8-1
3. Oklahoma 9-1
4. Kansas 10-0
5. WVU 8-1
6. Mizzou 9-1
7. OSU 10-1
8. Georgia 8-2
9. AZ State 9-1
10. VA Tech 8-2
Top 10 – Week 13
1. LSU 10-1
2. Kansas 11-0
3. Mizzou 10-1
4. WVU 9-1
5. OSU 11-1
6. Georgia 9-2
7. AZ State 9-1
8. VA Tech 9-2
9. Oregon 8-2
10. Oklahoma 9-2
Top 10 – Week 14
1. Mizzou 11-1
2. WVU 10-1
3. OSU 11-1
4. Georgia 10-2
5. LSU 10-2
6. VA Tech 10-2
7. Kansas 11-1
8. USC 9-2
9. Oklahoma 10-2
10. Florida 9-3
Top 10 – Week 15
1. OSU 11-1
2. LSU 11-2
3. Oklahoma 11-2
4. Georgia 10-2
5. VA Tech 11-2
6. USC 10-2
7. Mizzou 11-2
8. Kansas 11-1
9. Florida 9-3
10. Hawaii 12-0
Enough of the whining. Get over it already. Georgia eliminated themselves when they lost to a 6-6 South Carolina team, just like Oklahoma State eliminated themselves this year by losing to Iowa State. Losers don’t get themselves voted into the top two poll positions. Doesn’t matter what ESPN thinks.
Next
December 6th, 2011
8:48 am
Barry Alvarez is on cnbc now and says college football is great and doesn’t need a playoff. He says every game matters! Really barry. Idiot. The big 10 is the reason why there is no playoff. They are a bunch of chicken s**t pansies.
Blackoutanyone?
December 6th, 2011
8:54 am
BCS slave… First off I bleed crimson and white and I’m very happy that the BCS got it right with the selection of LSU vs Bama. That is the current system we have and in my opinion they got it right. I can fully understand and appreciate Oklahoma st. and other teams having an argument but under the current system I think Bama is the better team. Even though the system worked for Bama… I very much believe, it is a corrupt, unfair and broken system. A system that allows some participants to vote for themselves and against their oponents is a broken system. I hope that maybe the outcry will be loud enough that we might yet see some changes. My problem with your solution is it’s simplistic in nature and would not offer what you suggest. Look at my above breakdown of conference champions. Did that look like a quality and fair playoff to you? No system would be perfect but a plus one system would be better than what we have while preserving the interest in the regular season and all the bowls. I do not think its fair for Boise or TCU to play one game a year and have a shot at the national championship while others are required to beat several top 25 teams to win their conference. I have come to respect your opinion though I disagree with the solution that you provided. My appologies for the childish name calling….. Roll Tide!!
Chadddddd Scottttttt: biggest tool EVER
December 6th, 2011
9:00 am
HEY BARNERS ENJOY YOUR TRIP TO THE PEACH BOWL THIS YEAR!!!! HOPE YOU DON’T GET MUGGED OUTSIDE THE DOME…… ALL IN/ WAR $CAM/ FAMILY.
Call it like it is
December 6th, 2011
9:09 am
Want even bother watching it. It was by far the most boring game this entire season. Bama had their chance in their home to beat LSU, they didnt. Case closed. Let somone else have a shot. Oh well, thank goodness there will be better games on to watch
PapaDawg
December 6th, 2011
9:19 am
Pitiful gator fans. Yes the DAWGS were spanked by LSU but your gators were 6-6 and going to what bowl. Who can laugh.
Corn Dawg
December 6th, 2011
9:22 am
This game will get plenty of viewers – from every state except Georgia and Idaho. The residents of those two states are too butt-hurt to watch any more football this year.
Bama Sucks
December 6th, 2011
9:39 am
@ CornDawg (aka DumbBammer)
Only GA and Idaho won’t watch? Don’t forget parts of E. Alabama, all of Oklahoma, California and Northern California, too. No one except you and Forrest Gump actually believe you scrubs belong in the NC game, you dumb Bammer.
Alphare
December 6th, 2011
9:44 am
Why is it so hard for people to understand the BCS is a 2-team playoff system? and it’s called BCS Championship Game.
All other games are called bowl games and played as a show only.
A 2-team playoff of course has its flaw. 4-team playoff is obviously more inclusive and less error-prone. But believe me, people will start arguing which teams should in the 4 spots.
Remember the 07 UGA team, they were #4 before the SEC Champ game, then dropped to #5 afterwards. Can you believe the cry with the 4-team playoff system without UGA that year?
Bama's GREAT
December 6th, 2011
9:46 am
The best team in the nation is the Alabama Crimson Tide, and who cares about georgia, idaho, e Alabama,oklahoma, california, and n california, and remember Forrest’s uniform colors.
blah blah blah
December 6th, 2011
9:51 am
Here’s the thing. If Oklahoma State and Alabama played to get into the title game, do you really think OSU would win? They haven’t played anyone with a defense like Bama or LSU. That’s why Bama is getting the nod here. It’s not because of who they lost to, but because defense wins NTs. Here you have #1 vs. #2 defenses. LSU is unstoppable anyway, so it doesn’t really matter who they play.
D man
December 6th, 2011
10:00 am
Polls are a popularity contest. Here is why, Vegas odds always favor the better team. If you look at the bowl match ups, you will see many cases where the lower ranked team is favored to win on a neutral field. Example, Ga vs. Michigan St. Ga is favored by 3 points but michigan St is ranked 5 spots higher in the coaches poll and 6 in the AP. There are several examples of this bias throughout the bowl match ups. Are the odds makers wrong or is Vegas right. Vegas always wins…
mFLIP
December 6th, 2011
10:34 am
You said Bama didn’t play Georgia or South Carolina. UGA lost to SC and lost 42-10 to LSU. They beat FLA and Auburn who had their worst season in years. So what would playing UGA mean? Bama beat Arkansas 40 to 10, which is a team the same level of UGA. They played the #1 team in the nation (LSU) to a 6 to 6 tie after four quarters. OT is a joke in college ball. That’s when the luckiest team wins. Who did OSU play? A way over rated OU? So they beat a lot of lousy western conference teams by a lot of points. LSU and Bama beat a lot of good SEC teams by a lot of points. Do you want to see OSU get beat 45 to 10 by LSU and say you saw a good game?
Josh
December 6th, 2011
10:40 am
Good article. I agree with the emotion and the logic. BUT, its what we have. If we want it changed you have to speak in the only language the BCS knows – money. As long as we keep watching and paying they don’t and won’t care. They care more about the money you pay for a ticket and the time you give to watch the game than they do about your complaints. Money talks. It sucks. But that’s just the way it is.
realitycheck
December 6th, 2011
10:48 am
Just don’t get all of the anger that UGA fans have toward Bama. These schools are not really even football rivals. Bama has played Penn St more in the last 30 years than either UGA or Kentucky. It must be because of the 13 NC’s to UGA’s 1. Bama is as concerned about UGA in football as Kentucky is concerned with the Dawgs in basketball. The Bama football brand and the Kentucky basketball brand have long been the standard in the SEC, and anyone who disagrees with that needs to just look up all the records.
tmc
December 6th, 2011
11:25 am
if everything were the same and it was Oklahoma or Texas instead of Oklahoma State, Alabama would not be playing in the BCS championship.
That alone shows the problem!
Delicate Dawg
December 6th, 2011
11:32 am
I’ll watch the Rematch of the Century©. I sure can’t see any championship caliber football by watching my home state’s teams play.
scope
December 6th, 2011
11:39 am
First of all, I just want to say that I would like to see a playoff. But let’s have a shout out for ANYONE that feels like we’d all be satisfied with that 2nd or 4th or 8th or whatever team that got into the playoff and some other perhaps deserving ones didn’t?
They ought to have a 6-team playoff with the top 4 conference champions and top 2 at-large teams based on BCS rankings. Top 2 teams based on rankings get a bye and must be conference champs. If you’re not a conf champ, you have to play your way to the top.
Sam Robards, Dawg Fan
December 6th, 2011
11:45 am
There’s a TON of traffic here, so I’ll be brief.
I love the SEC as much as any other guy, but this is ridiculous. Oklahoma State got SCREWED. Yeah, they lost on the road, in overtime, to a mediocre team (though the ‘Clones did play spoiler a good bit this year).
Alabama lost, AT HOME, in overtime WITHOUT SCORING A TOUCHDOWN.
For goodness sake, even WE got an offensive touchdown on LSU (it woulda been three, but the receivers went all stone-handed on us).
Alabama’s gonna get CRUSHED in New Orleans by 14+ points, Oklahoma State’ll win by three touchdowns in the Fiesta Bowl, and come January 10, everyone’ll be saying, “Wait, why didn’t OK State play for the title again?”
Delicate Dawg
December 6th, 2011
11:52 am
@scope
How is a conference championship relevant to a league playoff system? If you can’t let go of your fixation with conference championships, then you need a rule dictating that the conference championships should be decided among the best teams in the various conferences, rather than via a bogus divisional playoff that totally ignores the results of out of conference games.
Rickster
December 6th, 2011
11:58 am
With colder weather approaching, Mark…. it’s time to turn up the heat!
Heat Check:
Falcons: Warming up
Dawgs: I’ts nice and warm in Tampa.
Jackets: It’s warm in Utah, too
Packers: 18-0 since their last loss? The Frozen Tundra is completely thawed!
Aaron Rodgers: Perfect in a last minute game-winning drive? So hot it oughta be illegal!
Cobb Dawg
December 6th, 2011
12:08 pm
If OSU had beaten Iowa State (6-6), we wouldn’t be having this conversation. It was their’s to win and they blew it. Bama’s only loss was to the #1 team in the country, and by only 3. I thought that Bama was the better-looking team even after that game. This season exposes yet another flaw in the system and sceams for a playoff, even a short one.
Stephen
December 6th, 2011
12:11 pm
I think rematches are unfair, no matter what the rank is.
Sincerly,
Steve Spurrier.
doesnt matter
December 6th, 2011
12:18 pm
shut up, the more you talk the more stupid you look
jarvis
December 6th, 2011
12:19 pm
Even if at the end of the day Alabama still would have been #2, I don’t think anyone can deny that if it was Texas or Oklahoma out of the Big 12 with a loss to Iowa State rather than Oklahoma State the conversation wouldn’t have at least been more in depth.
The two human BCS polls show favoritism. It is a system of haves and have nots.
Eventually someone will sue for anti-trust. Millions taken out of OSU’s pocket.
scope
December 6th, 2011
12:21 pm
DeeDee,
Exactly what about conference champions has you bothered about a playoff scenario? I don’t think it should be all conf champs, but certainly I think a conf champ should be rated toward the top which should mostly mean its a moot point. You could certainly say they had to be ranked at a certain level, or else another at large team could make it. In my scenario, it would be the top 5 teams plus #10 Wisconsin (instead of #6 Arkansas). This is just my personal opinion, but I’d rather see another conference team in the mix than a third SEC team.
Right now, we’re really only concerned about #3 OKS possibly getting the shaft. In the above scenario, it will be Arkansas, the big conf champ that doesn’t get it, or the #7 team, or the undefeated small conf champ who thinks they should get a shot. My guess is that the more teams you have in a playoff, the more folks you’ll have pissed about not making it. I like 6 because it gives the top teams a bye, and therefore, helps to ensure 1 vs 2 in the end.
MR
December 6th, 2011
12:22 pm
What does it really matter in the long run? College football fans will sit in front of the tube in record numbers and watch whoever is in the National Championship. They’ll bitch and moan, but they won’t turn off the tele in protest, they won’t stay at home in protest, they won’t boycott merchandising in protest, they’ll just continue to bitch and moan and call in radio shows and bitch and moan while they all gather around the TV to watch another BCS gurgitation.
Steve
December 6th, 2011
12:44 pm
If you put Alabama up against Oklahoma State on a neutral site and let them have at it, who would win? Well, there’s your team to play against LSU. Any questions?
reality Gator
December 6th, 2011
12:45 pm
Mark Bradley is a loser, this guy along with Mark R. could not work any where in Fl.
Mark throws softballs to Puppies as a sports writer, that why this prgram has not won anthing since 1980, sports writers in Fl turn the heat up on coaches who produce mediocrity seasons, yet he praises a team that beat 10 teams that went 12-58 in the SEC and 0-3 against winning team this year.
2 losers belong togather””’
scope
December 6th, 2011
12:53 pm
Why would anybody want to work in Florida, its like mediocrity central right now. At least GA only loses to top 10 teams, and plays a great 1st half while doing it!
Delicate Dawg
December 6th, 2011
12:59 pm
@scope
The only thing that bothers me is a stupid argument. A single elimination playoff tournament is less likely than an opinion poll to place the best two teams into the final playoff game. Baseball has the only legitimate playoff system in the World Series, and there are still problems with getting the correct two teams into this legitimate playoff series. A football season would need to be 12 months long to implement a legitimate playoff system, and most of the teams now calling for a playoff would need to be culled from the league in order to get the numbers down to a level that would make it work. In the end, it’s only a freakin’ game anyway. I trust the polls to choose the best teams, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a plus 1 added to the BCS system. That’s just two more games.
scope
December 6th, 2011
1:26 pm
DD,
You’re right about the best two teams maybe not making it in a playoff. As March Madness points out to us every year, and more recently the NFL and MLB, that’s what a playoff is all about. And its one of the reasons why more folks will make harder arguments about wanting to be in the playoff. Was just reading about SEC commish Slive and the plan he proposed…
“Even though we could construct barriers at this time, we felt like there could be easily an erosion of that, more pressure to add more teams with an ability to get to the national championship game as we went over time,” then-Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe explained at the time.
I think I see your previous point, though, in that a conf champ shouldn’t matter if we’re picking the best 2 teams. My point was that with a playoff, the conf champ scenario gave it more definition than JUST the best 6 teams, which I think in turn helps to reduce the arguments over who’s in and out.
GATA
December 6th, 2011
1:30 pm
Bama and Okie St should play Sat to see who plays LSU.
Andy
December 6th, 2011
1:53 pm
Matt if you really believe that Bama is overrated then you just do not know much about football. Vegas does not agree with you, the rest of the SEC coaches do not agree with you, and the NFL scouts do not agree with you. This team is loaded, with NFL future players. They are not over rated by any stretch of the imagination.
harold
December 6th, 2011
1:53 pm
OKLAHOMA STATE LOST TO IOWA STATE—–THAT IS WHAT COST THEM. ALABAMA WENT INTO OVERTIME IN A GREAT GAME A 9-6 LOST. OSU COST THEMSELVES.
62-39-5 vs Tech- 48-40-2 vs Florida
December 6th, 2011
1:57 pm
reality Gator
reality what? a Gator,Gator don’t reason to talk about anything this year,especially concerning Georgia.
reality Gator
December 6th, 2011
1:59 pm
scope
Name me a top 10 team UGA beat this year? and you are proud you played a good half, ha, ha, so did Al, Ark Wv against LSU.
We would not want Mark R. at Fla 3 nat in 12 years, this is kind of mentality UGA fans have this is why you losers have not won anything since Jimmy Carter was in office””’
62-39-5 vs Tech- 48-40-2 vs Florida
December 6th, 2011
2:00 pm
yet he praises a team that beat 10 teams that went 12-58 in the SEC and 0-3 against winning team this year.
Yeah and one of those in the 12-58 was the Baja Georgia Gators.
reality Gator
December 6th, 2011
2:00 pm
62-39-5 vs Tech- 48-40-2 vs Florida
December 6th, 2011
3 Nat in 12 years your last one was when?????
62-39-5 vs Tech- 48-40-2 vs Florida
December 6th, 2011
2:01 pm
OKLAHOMA STATE LOST TO IOWA STATE—–THAT IS WHAT COST THEM
Yeah they were also playing on the road in wake of a tragedy.
62-39-5 vs Tech- 48-40-2 vs Florida
December 6th, 2011
2:04 pm
3 Nat in 12 years your last one was when?????
Living in the past now are we? Seems like the Dawgs aren’t the only ones are we?
How’s things working out with Will Judas Turncoat?
Bryan Curtis
December 6th, 2011
2:05 pm
It is what it is…Quit your complaining and get over it. If you want different results— than fix the system.
Roll Tide Roll!!
Bryan Curtis
SmyrnaBob
December 6th, 2011
2:05 pm
Texas, Ohio St [twice], Oklahoma; all blow outs. But now this new Big [We Can't Count] Conference challenger is different. At least send a PAC 12 team, they competed.
Let’s see the true SEC Championship game this time. Hey if you want to call the winner National Champ, or call the winner over rated that is ok. At least we can see two teams that have great players on both sides of the ball.
Maybe the BCS should also have an annual College Flag Football Championships in Dallas every year as well.
Delicate Dawg
December 6th, 2011
2:07 pm
“Yeah they were also playing on the road in wake of a tragedy.”
How many points should a team be awarded for “tragedy”? Would they get the points if the tragedy only happened to a player’s family member, or does it need to be a celebrity tragedy in order to qualify?
reality Gator
December 6th, 2011
2:07 pm
62-39-5 vs Tech- 48-40-2 vs Florida
Lets see that turn coat has 3 SEC champions 2 nat all in 6 years.
How many Nat does Sant R. have?
Living in the past this was only a couple years back now your last championship since Jimmy Carter now thats living in the past., ha, ha
62-39-5 vs Tech- 48-40-2 vs Florida
December 6th, 2011
2:13 pm
How many Nat does Sant R. have?
two 1993 and 1999
62-39-5 vs Tech- 48-40-2 vs Florida
December 6th, 2011
2:15 pm
Yeah they were also playing on the road in wake of a tragedy.”
How many points should a team be awarded for “tragedy”? Would they get the points if the tragedy only happened to a player’s family member, or does it need to be a celebrity tragedy in order to qualify?
Maybe Alabama gets the nod because of the tornado’s?
Murphy
December 6th, 2011
2:51 pm
Just a curious thought: Bama lost to LSU in the State of Alabama.Lets say Bama beats LSU in their home State in the BCS Championship Game.Do we have a split National Champion? Or could the Championship still be awarded to LSU because of the schedule they have played and the extra game they won.
Disappointed
December 6th, 2011
2:59 pm
The BCS is honoring the legacy of Bear Bryant for this matchup and nothing ELSE. Shame on them.
GTJeff
December 6th, 2011
3:03 pm
Bryant was a scumbag cheater. Piss on his legacy.