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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December 9th, 2011
10:57 am
[...] Yet another BCS whiff: Alabama’s brand burns the Cowboys [...]
no excuses
December 9th, 2011
11:12 am
Sorry folks, but NO WHERE in the BCS does it say you MUST win your conference! That argument is moot! Forget it! Drop it! The goal of the BCS is to determine the two best teams in the country. Period. If those two teams just happen to belong to belong to the same conference, or even the same division of the same conference, then so be it.
And don’t blame Bama for being #2 either and “backing into” the championship game. All they did was play the teams on their schedule and beat them all but one (#1 LSU) quite handily. Yes, most of the computers put the Cowboys over the Tide, but they just look at numbers. It takes people to actually “see” the teams play and truly know who is better. The voters put Bama into the game because they know Bama is the second best team in the land, not because they deserve another shot at LSU. That stupid “deserve” argument is also moot.
Is the system perfect? No, but it does what it was intended to do. Like they say, “Hate the game (BCS), not the player (Bama)”.
Roll Tide Roll!!!
BamaLeg
December 9th, 2011
12:15 pm
Last….
ga gator
December 9th, 2011
12:43 pm
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.
Another idiot comment by you Mark; yes every game does count including the OK St loss to unranked Iowa State.
reality
December 9th, 2011
3:26 pm
The reality is, the BCS is designed to put the two best teams against each other. I think the Tide look like a better team than does Oklahoma State. LSU looks like they are neck and neck with the Tide, but a pinch better unless the Tide beat them. So what’s the problem? If you don’t like the BCS, then join the crowd, I don’t either. Bama can’t help it that there is no playoff system for them to destroy Oklahoma State in….which they would. ROLL TIDE!!
fansince74
December 9th, 2011
4:10 pm
I’m an LSU fan so don’t blast me SEC folks if you disagree, just listen. Alabama played only 2 good SEC teams: LSU and Arkansas 5 weeks apart and both at home. They played Auburn 7-5 and Auburn wasn’t really that good. Fl 6-6, Tenn 5-7, Miss St 6-6, Vanderbilt 6-6, Ole Miss 2-10. Bama’s SEC schedule wasn’t that difficult and they only beat one truly good SEC team: Arkansas. For this year at least, the idea that Bama had to go through a brutal SEC schedule isn’t a good argument. When you take away LSU and Arkansas, Alabama’s SEC opponents were a combined 32 –40.
BamaLeg
December 9th, 2011
4:47 pm
Rats! It’s hard to be last.
BamaLeg
December 9th, 2011
5:00 pm
By the way fansince74, I am not sure what you gain by referencing Alabama’s conference schedule. Obviously, they both play the other five teams in the SEC West so that is essentially a wash. Margins of victory were very similar. From the east, they both played Florida and Tennessee and, again, both won in convincing fashion. Bama beat Vandy while LSU beat Kentucky. I think most people will agree Vandy was better than Kentucky this year. Credit goes to LSU for pounding Georgia in the SEC Championship game and kudos for their beating Oregon and WVU. Bama dominating Penn State in State College (pre-sandusky) has to count for something. Which leads us back to the point. LSU and Bama are the best two college football teams in America so the BCS has worked as it was designed to work. I personally would love to have a plus one so that Stanford could test itself against LSU (even though Stanford did not win its conference which most people do not seem to mention – they just hound Alabama about it) and Bama and OSU could play. That would be great but it is not going to happen this year. As for Bradley, I am exceedingly confident that if it were Georgia and Florida instead of Bama and LSU, he would be singing an entirely different tune.
fansince74
December 9th, 2011
5:51 pm
BamaLeg: Its not a wash. LSU played better opponets outside the conference: My point is the SEC teams that Bama played other than LSU and Arkansas were not having good years.
Mikey-A
December 9th, 2011
7:54 pm
IOWA STATE IOWA STATE IOWA STATE IOWA STATE IOWA STATE IOWA STATE IOWA STATE IOWA STATE IOWA STATE IOWA STATE IOWA STATE. Bradley what is wrong with you? Like them or hate them, BAMA and LSU would destroy Okie State anyway. Once again. IOWA STATE. Now look at THEIR schedule http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-11/big-12/2011-iowa-state-cyclones-football-schedule.php
Julie
December 9th, 2011
7:56 pm
I didn’t get past the part of this article where the writer shows complete ignorance by saying Alabama got a nod it didn’t deserve. If you think Oklahoma State deserves to play for the title over Bama after they lost to IOWA STATE, you are crazy! If Bama lost to Vandy, Ole Miss, TN, Kentucky, etc., home or away, there wouldn’t even be a discussion about the possibility of us playing for the title. In fact, our only loss was to LSU and we STILL have to listen to this crap…so why doesn’t it work that way for Oklahoma State? Quite honestly, I wish Oklahoma State had made the game. Then we could watch another blow out Championship game and watch Bama blow out Stanford or whichever team was unlucky enough to have to play them, too.
GODAWGS82
December 9th, 2011
9:31 pm
The ESPN analysts/commentators are hypocrites. 2007: you have to win your conference to play for national championship. 2011: never mind.
They should all be fired.
Greg the Ga Fan
December 10th, 2011
7:13 am
So, if Ala wins by three, will all these Bama fans agree to a third game to decide the true champion? I doubt it.
Mark the Nole
December 10th, 2011
9:10 am
Exactly right. The worship of the SEC continues. Who wants to see a rematch of a game where either offense could not manage a touchdown? Pathetic.
And the Heisman Trophy is awarded similarly. When is the last time a player from a non-top 10 team won? This year, the marquee team players get the edge even though the stats don’t support it. Something is rotten across the board.
Danny
December 10th, 2011
9:27 am
In a play-off the great SEC teams may have to play away games. I would love to see LSU or Alabama at Wisconsin or Michigan in December.
Danny
December 10th, 2011
9:45 am
Last years BCS game had 27.3 million viewers the year before 35.6 million the combined population of Alabama and Louisiana is 9.2 million. I suspect the rest of the nation will not watch this game.
BAMAPERRY
December 10th, 2011
9:49 am
Bunch of whining losers! LMAO
Paul
December 10th, 2011
9:50 am
AND my home is in ALABAMA, 13 national championships, and unlike Wisconsin, Michigan or any other yankee state, no snowbirds……….
Robert
December 10th, 2011
9:59 am
Off the MARK again. Here’s Why;
If Ok State were in the SEC west would win they win their conference/division? Heck freaking no!
If Bama played Ok State who would win and by how much? The answer is Bama by 21+.
The answers to those two questions is why Bama deserves to be in the game. They would have never lost to a garbage team like Iowa State. And the “didn’t win your conference” argument holds no water because the only team that bested Bama in its conference is the one that is undefeated and #1 in the country. If LSU played Ok State you would see just another repeat of the LSU/Ark game. Because that’s what OSU is. Another pretty good team with an explosive passing game and a nonexistant defense.
LSU vs Bama is the much better game and it deserves to happen again. For those who don’t like it. Or don’t want to see it I don’t think you like football very much. I expect another 6-3 tye classic.
t
December 10th, 2011
10:12 am
all i hear is crying…..
Alphare
December 10th, 2011
10:39 am
Let’s see if BAMA’s brand will burn Robert Griffin III’s Heisman hope.
SLim
December 10th, 2011
11:30 am
Man, Alabama is getting so much press coverage all over the country right now. Even this article is helping their brand greatly (thank you Mr. Bradley)! I think Bill Gates is on Alabama’s marketing team… Alabama is a powerhouse on so many levels.
BAMA Bill
December 10th, 2011
1:28 pm
This has always been a great program, Alabama football, and looking forward to a 14th national title. RTR, thank you…
Stewart
December 10th, 2011
2:14 pm
LSU or Alabama would dismantle OKSt. in a hurry & that’s why they are matched. Mark, you’ve never made sense before, so why start now?
The Rev. Daddy LeMay
December 10th, 2011
2:19 pm
Another UCLA whiff, too. Big time. Unbelieveable.
ahsoisee
December 10th, 2011
3:10 pm
I generally watch all the bowl games each year. I will again try to watch all of them, but will not watch the rematch between Alabama & LSU. Alabama is a pretender who did not even win their own division and played a very soft schedule, however, LSU is a legitimate choice for one of the teams, but Oklahoma State was robbed by ESPN and their allies. I really likes some of the ESPN hosts, but have lost respect for all of them, I will not watch any more of their shows.
Rodney Kent
wild one 13
December 10th, 2011
5:44 pm
Mark, you talk about Alabama and their brand like it is a bad thing. You think of Coach Saban as some kind of evil man who uses all his influence and power to make others bend to his will.
As Dawg fans these posters should realize more than anyone ” IF YOU ‘RE NOT THE LEAD DOG, THE VIEW NEVER CHANGES ”! No wonder all these young men want to come play football for this man.
AB Adams
December 10th, 2011
6:38 pm
Hey Rodney, Why don’t you just not watch the game. Yep, that’ll show em’!!!
By the way, Oklahoma State LOST to a 26 point dog in IOWA STATE!
Soft schedule? Nah. Soft head Rodney? Yep.
Harold
December 11th, 2011
1:29 am
Great article Mark! Could not agree more!!!
Harold
December 11th, 2011
1:37 am
Alabama fans, you are a joke. If this were any other team in Alabama’s shoes i.e. Georgia in ‘07, you would be crying, like Tricky Nicky did back then, that “a team that doesn’t win it’s division, let alone it’s conference, doesn’t get a chance to play for the NC…” Fact is, Alabama had it’s shot and lost, so you “get over it.” OK State deserves the chance, much more than Alabama. Besides, this IS NOT GOOD for college football. All this says is that basically unless you play in the SEC, and your name is not Alabama, then you are not one of the better teams in America, no matter how well your season went.
Bobo
December 11th, 2011
8:54 am
What happen Mark did AJC fire you?
No new post since Dec 4…
If sick hope you get better!
tell me again
December 11th, 2011
9:06 am
Why are Bama fans so stupid – you wanted to play for the NC – you did a few weeks ago – you fell short – you lost. Now you want a muilligan and another chance. You got your shot. You lost. Are you too dumb to “get it?” I guess it’s true what they say abouut people in Alabama. Dumb and dumber. Lucky for you the ESPN mafia has deemed it much more profitable to suit you up against LSU than OK. ST. Don’t feel special – they are just whoring you and your program out for the TV bucks. Makes you feel special, doesn’t it?
Roll Tide
December 11th, 2011
9:49 am
Sour Grapes… Don’t hate us for the state of the current system… Remove all coaches polls from the equation… They are biased, of course… Instead of hating us for using the current BCS plan, CHANGE the BCS plan… ROLL TIDE
But Seriously
December 11th, 2011
10:05 am
Doesn’t matter what kind of system is in place. Bama would still be winners, UGA would still be losers and Dawg fans would still be delusional.
Noles
December 11th, 2011
10:49 am
You are right and you are wrong.
I hate seeing two SEC teams playing for the champion’s
I hate seeing two teams that have already played each other playing again.
Can’t remember the year, but UFand FSU played for the national champion within a 6 week period, FSU won the first game, and the crown was won in thes second game by UF.
This is BS.
Why do a basketball playoff.
64 teams, 32 games, first round minor bowels.
32 teams, 16 games second week, secondary bowels
16 teams, 8 games, thirdr round bowels, and a week off.
8 teams, 4 games
4 teams, 2 games
One game
It is not rocket sceince
You are right bama did not
FIRST
December 11th, 2011
3:55 pm
Enter your comments here
BAMA Bill
December 11th, 2011
4:36 pm
RTR
Coach Turkey Neck
December 11th, 2011
4:40 pm
It won’t matter when LSU beats their ass and everyone is in a uproar about how bad bama will play. Defense wins championships but you need some sort of offense to score something to win. bama has no kicker and the quarterback is a joke. LSU by 21.
CollegefaninGa
December 11th, 2011
7:28 pm
Mark, We understand your hate for the Crimson Tide. Not everyone can understand the reason the crimson Tide is in the BCSCG. Defense wins championship’s! Plain and simple. That is why LSU and the Tide is there. I guess you are one of the people that said the overtime game was boring. The best two teams are in there for a reason! Period.