Outcome of SEC Championship won’t impact LSU’s BCS opportunities
Welcome to championship week. Raise your hand if you expected Georgia to be in this position back on Sept. 11th. That was the day after the supposedly devastating 45-42 loss to South Carolina. To his credit, Bulldogs’ coach Mark Richt did, as his comments after that game indicate.
Since then the Bulldogs won 10 straight, culminating with Saturday’s 31-17 win over Georgia Tech to conclude the regular season. Now it gets real interesting!
Georgia’s season began with a rather lackluster loss to No. 5 Boise State in the Georgia Dome. Now the Bulldogs head back and will face an even bigger challenge in No. 1-ranked LSU in the SEC Championship Game. No one’s giving them a chance to win. The early lines I’ve seen have the Tigers favored by 11.5 to 13 points. So Las Vegas is expecting a rout.
What I think is most interesting about Saturday’s game is the apparent lack of bearing it will have on LSU’s BCS national championship hopes. Virtually every prediction out there has the Tigers still playing in the title game even if they lost to Georgia and even if that loss was a blowout.
There is even some speculation that LSU could clinch a share of the national title with a win over Georgia on Saturday via The AP vote.
That has brought forth some previously unfathomable reasoning. LSU coach Les Miles was asked this past weekend if he had considered resting some of his players and kind of taking it easy for the SEC championship game. Miles’ response was predictable.
“Just so you know, there is no way this football team goes to Atlanta and doesn’t play its best,” he said.
The truth is, the bigger the stage, the better LSU has played this season. The Tigers’ season began with a game against a top 5 Oregon team in the “Jerry Dome” in Dallas and they’ve had “monumental” contests all year, with trips to West Virginia, Alabama and Arkansas. They seem to do their best where the lights are brightest.
“We’re used to being on the big stage,” Miles said Sunday. “I think our guys translate the glare of the lights to making plays in the game. I think they did that against Oregon in Dalaas and they’ve really done it right on through Alabama at Alabama. So we’re kind of comfortable in domes and we’ll look forward to seeing if we can the exact same thing.”
Expect the Bulldogs to get LSU’s best shot.
So does anybody here have a problem with the SEC championship game being rendered moot with regard to the BCS title? And does anybody believe Georgia has a chance in this game?
Meanwhile, we here at the AJC are treating it as a meaningful game. We have a lot of great coverage plans so be sure to check back regularly for updates as we’ll post everything online as quickly as we have it. And feel free to offer suggestions for stories or particular subjects you’d like to see covered.
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573 comments Add your comment
MarineDog
November 28th, 2011
12:50 pm
Guys,
My only guess as to the reason why UGA dropped in the rankings this weekend and has failed to rise in the rankings over the last 3-4 weeks is that the pollsters are already aware of the possibility of UGA defeating the SEC West champion and ending the season with 2 losses. If this was to happen, along with Okie beating OKieSt and the other 1 loss teams taking another loss this weekend, then what does this mean for the BCS standings? Do you think they would want to have the problem of a 2 loss team that won the SECCG sitting by and watching a team that they just beat play against another team that didn’t even play for the title, and furthermore lost earlier to the team that UGA defeated in the SECCG?
Not saying that UGA will beat LSU, but the pollsters are well aware of this nightmare scenario for the BCS. If this should happen, then turmoil will follow.
The funny thing about this is that should LSU lose to GA and then again to BAMA, then UGA could possibly finished the season ranked at #2 again if they go on and win their bowl game; similiar to 2007.
Chuck
November 28th, 2011
12:50 pm
Tech fans proved themselved the scum of the Earth this weekend. Even the Gator fans, who revile UGA, gave Munson a moment of silence (with the noticable participation of the FSU fans in attendance).
Tech fans have no class whatsoever.
DawginLex
November 28th, 2011
12:50 pm
bama 1
Who have you beaten?
Lost to the only quality team you played
BCS is a joke.
your own coach said so in 2003-no conference championship, no BCS title game
Matthews Dawg
November 28th, 2011
12:50 pm
Go Dawgs….Should the Dawgs beat the Tigers and the Bengals then fall to #2 behind Alabama, BCS would have to have three SEC teams. A rule adopted in 2007 states that if a AQ conference has the number one and two teams but neither wins the conference, the league then gets three BCS participants.
That explains it!
A crystal ball......
November 28th, 2011
12:54 pm
is something none of us has. Hope, wish, spin……doesn’t matter. The only thing we know is we’re playing in the dome this saturday and that’s what matters today. Watch the game and enjoy it. After that, accept things how they fall.
DJ Dawg
November 28th, 2011
12:55 pm
@bama 1
two best teams? Im still yawning from the last time yall played!!
Dawglasville
November 28th, 2011
12:55 pm
If I hear Lou Holtz promote any non-conference winner to the BCS game I’m going to punch him in the mouth.
DawGnNC
November 28th, 2011
12:56 pm
What a crock of chit the BCS is. Beat a ranked team and lose a spot. They all blame it on the computers to. ” If you dont win your conference you dont deserve to play for a NC.” Sound familiar? And he just sits back like it never happened.
daddo
November 28th, 2011
12:56 pm
Why doesn’t Georgia get any respect? Because u r just Georgia, and that will never change. Meanwhile, Alabama will be sizing ring number 14. Roll Tide.
Dawglasville
November 28th, 2011
12:59 pm
Finishing the season with eleven or twelve wins would be amazing.
DawgDad
November 28th, 2011
1:00 pm
First, the BCS picture may sort itself out on the field. But if UGA beats LSU and either LSU or Alabama (or both) play for the “BCS National Championship” then the BCS would be nothing more than a staged Miss America Pageant in pads. I for one would not respect the outcome of such a game as crowning a “National Champion”, regardless of what the media and the BCS try to shove down my throat. There is NO WAY a non-Conference Champion can play for the mythical “National Championship”. Period.
Football is NOT basketball. Football games are great events of even greater spectacle requiring extended preparation and staging. There are no football “tournaments” for a reason – the sport does fit in that model. When a National Championship “system” ignores or dismisses the meaning of the underlying games and Conferences the “system” is doomed or at the very least exposed to ridicule and dismissal by the public. The players and fans WANT the games and Conferences to mean something.
Spaceman Spiff
November 28th, 2011
1:01 pm
So the reasoning for BCS cr*p is that a playoff cuts into school time, etc? Let me get this straight, how is it that the lower conferences (ex. Georgia Southern) have their playoff – is that not cutting into so-called study time? What about basketball/baseball/volleyball/gymnastics (love those gymdogs!) – they play several times a week…just sayin…
How about a playoff of the conference champions plus two independents? You don’t win the conference, you don’t go. Period…how is that unfair?
DawgDad
November 28th, 2011
1:01 pm
edit: the sport does NOT fit in that model
jla0110
November 28th, 2011
1:03 pm
I have no problem with a rematch between Bama and LSU but it makes me wonder. A few years back when UGA was clearly the hottest team in the nation but failed to play in the SEC championship, the main argument against them was “Georgia didn’t even play in their conference championship!” Where is that argument now???
Rest of SEC
November 28th, 2011
1:03 pm
SEC will let Georgia win to get 3 teams in the BCS, LSU and Bammer still play for title. $$$
bama 1
November 28th, 2011
1:06 pm
Dawg_Mike, Thats the problem with Georgia, they are #13. They had their chance at the start of the season. I with you, if Georgia beats LSU, i hope they move up.
dawgfan
November 28th, 2011
1:08 pm
I could care less what happens to LSU in the BCS. It has nothing to do with us. I just want to beat them.
What’s most shocking to me about the BCS is how people continually act surprised that it sucks year after year. This crap isn’t anything new people. A team that didn’t play in its conference championship game has made the BCS title game before (Nebraska in ‘01). A team that lost its conference title game has made the BCS title game before (Oklahoma in ‘03). The crap that is happening this year is just par for the course and hardly unprecedented. Quite frankly, it bores me.
Thanks.
Dawglasville
November 28th, 2011
1:09 pm
I remember when it use to matter when you lost. LSU and Bama may be the two best teams in the nation. I will be furious if I hear anyone who said that UGA didn’t belong in ‘07 flip and say that the a non-conference champion deserves to be in the BCS game i.e. Lou Holtz.
BCS
November 28th, 2011
1:09 pm
If Georgia wins they should play Alabama, if Georgia beats Alabama they will have beat the “2 best teams” so Georgia should be your national champ.
Andy
November 28th, 2011
1:09 pm
I assume that all of you are knowledgeable football fans. I also assume that some of you let your team preferences cloud your own judgement. If you are honest with yourselves, there is no other team in the country that is in the same ball park as LSU and Alabama. They are a double digit favorite over every other team in the country, except each other. They may in fact be two of the best football teams of all time, the amount of atheletes they have on the field at any given time is unprecedented. If you really want to know who the best teams are ask Vegas, they know!!
Spaceman Spiff
November 28th, 2011
1:13 pm
@ dawgfan
One thing we need to realize is that the current system isn’t going to change (maybe in small increments – but NEVER a true playoff system) due to one thing – money. Too much money changes hands and lines pockets for common sense to rule. Goes to show why this is the only college sport that doesn’t have a playoff…
Vegas
November 28th, 2011
1:13 pm
Andy sorry but LSU is going to have to prove it on the field this Saturday.
DC
November 28th, 2011
1:14 pm
The BCS NC is always mythical..unless your school is in it…always amuses me with that one..I really think its a moot point to even talk about LSU..they are the best team in the land and have few flaws I think UGA can exploit.
Real question is does Bama stay at #2 or does OK state or maybe VT take over that spot…
Shotgun Planet
November 28th, 2011
1:16 pm
If LSU is #1 and they beat GA & Alabama (again) they are the NC( by today’s standard…) . But in a playoff the best they would start with is a BYE ( Alabama anyone?) This whole ratings game is just a total farce, promoted by the overpaid jocks at ESPN who would rather keep their cushy jobs influencing the poles, as opposed to seeing the Championship settled ON THE FIELD OF PLAY, without their BS! Go Dawgs! I vote for a +1 then move to NCAA Div II style playoff system soon thereafter.
1eyedJack
November 28th, 2011
1:16 pm
You Bama fans should be thankful that Notre Dame sux and didn’t win 10 or 11 games. Then this whole conversation would be moot.
bama 1
November 28th, 2011
1:16 pm
Tim, You don’t have a frgging clue, do you? Alabama’s strength of schedule is 14th and Okie St. is 27th. You must be a Ga. student. Besides hat if the qb of okie st. was in a foot race with a pregnant woman, the best he would finish would be third!!!!!!!!!!!!
Spaceman Spiff
November 28th, 2011
1:18 pm
My argument would be for a playoff system of the conference champions plus two independents. That way, the BCS/ranking cr*p is irrelevant. What, would it add probably 2 – 3 weeks? The current logic that it eats into student’s time/too long/whatever is unreasonable, all but the conference championships are over and now the big games are decided in January? Give me a break…
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
November 28th, 2011
1:19 pm
The Big 12 shouldnt be considered for a national title period unless all the other teams who won their conference has 2 or more losses and the Big 12 champion is undefeated
The Big 12 chickened out of playing a conference game thanks in part to (Mack I think I run a clean program but I dont Brown), not wanting to play an extra game that could cost him a shot to play for the championship
trupert
November 28th, 2011
1:19 pm
The BCS and it’s Mythical National Championship game is and always will be a joke.
The SEC Championship is the real Championship. Ga can beat LSU. This team is for real.
No, when Ga beats LSU it won’t knock LSU out of the MNCG, but it will knock Alabama out.
How can ESPN keep saying, ”these are the two best teams” after Ga does what Alabama couldn’t, when Ga beats LSU.
toccoa
November 28th, 2011
1:19 pm
The bottom line is, do you have to be a conference champ yo play in the BCSCG. In ‘07 you did and this year you don’t. Next year it will depend on how things play out before the rules are set. If GA is ranked #1 going into their game with BAMA and they lose by a field goal in OT they will probably drop down to #7 or 8. That’s the way it works.
DawgInaTruck
November 28th, 2011
1:21 pm
Regardless of the outcome I am really looking forward to Saturday’s game. This will be our greatest challenge this season by far and it will tell us where we are as a team as a whole. Like most football games, it will be mostly decided up front-if you can control the line of scrimmage you can dictate the flow of the game. LSU is a bit of a different animal though. They are good enough to survive a few mistakes. We are very, very good and improving fast but I’m not sure we are quite there yet.
Either way, I can’t wait. I believe it will be a great game and a great launch for our future as a team.
savannahdawg
November 28th, 2011
1:22 pm
The BCS is a joke. Two best teams my butt!! Remember when UGA beat Hawaii? Remember all the experts saying UGA should be able to play for a national title since they didn’t even play for their own conference title? And what is their excuse now for loving Bama so much?
The BCS is a joke, ESPN is a joke, the system is a joke. The rules keep changing to suit their needs. It is all about the money as usual.
If you need tips on how to operate a business unethically, just talk to the NCAA and the BCS, as well as ESPN!!
Go Dawgs………………kick LSU’s ass up and down the field.
jarvis
November 28th, 2011
1:24 pm
@daddo, just because you say it that doesn’t make is so. Check out the link:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/305944-alabama-claims-12-national-championships-reality-claims-otherwise
Vegas
November 28th, 2011
1:25 pm
Bama1 Latest strength of schedule, Bama is 42, Okie St is 7 and Georgia, who people claim didn’t play anybody is 25, and about to rise playing #1.
LSU BEN
November 28th, 2011
1:26 pm
Rest? Ha. We’re coming to atlanta and will destroy uga. You’re a weak team and it will show this Saturday. You have faced cupcakes during your win streak.
Tigers 45 dogs 17
Vegas
November 28th, 2011
1:27 pm
LSU is number 9 in strength of schedule.
trupert
November 28th, 2011
1:29 pm
Where do you Bama fans come up with these bogus SOS’s at?
Alabama had (PASSED Tense) the #24th rated SOS when the season started. That was before anybody knew that they would only play four teams with a winning record plus a Jr college.
The rest of the Top 25 in Phil Steele’s toughest schedule rankings are: ( to start the season).
(11) Vanderbilt, (12) Clemson, (13) Mississippi, (14) Notre Dame, (15) Mississippi State, (16) Arizona, (17) Michigan, (18) Oklahoma State, (19) Missouri, (20) Arkansas, (21) Minnesota, (22) Texas A&M, (23) Florida, (24) Alabama, (25) Oklahoma
How far has it fallen
Bank on IT
November 28th, 2011
1:30 pm
UGA 0-2 against Top 15 BCS teams. Enough said.
Auburn
November 28th, 2011
1:31 pm
Jarvis- it’s a running joke nationally about Alabama claiming all those championships. They used to say champions of what? The confederacy! Because no credible polls had them at number one.
Spike 80DF
November 28th, 2011
1:32 pm
all i remember from 2007 was Lou Holtz spitting all over the camera saying “Gawja, win youw own confwence” but now i guess that does not apply to bama? and i love how bama claims 13 total mythical championships in some years they lost their bowl games, what a joke….
zbulldawg
November 28th, 2011
1:32 pm
NOT every TEAM has the chance to play The No. 1 TEAM in the NATION !! UGA has EARNED that RIGHT !! LET’s GET some SUGAR !! GO DAWGS !! SICK EM
trupert
November 28th, 2011
1:33 pm
Vegas, can you post a link to that updated SOS. I could use it.
duronimo
November 28th, 2011
1:35 pm
Football has some strange twist. Georgia seems to always play LSU well. It can be a different decade, different coaches and players but that seems a constant. It’s the same way with Georgia, South Carolina. UGA always has difficulty with them. Back in 1959, Georgia ended up #2 in the nation with Fran Tarkington. The only loss was to a SC team that posted a losing record. I think the score was 30-16. History says, Georgia will play well. A win would not inconsistent with the historical record.
Vegas
November 28th, 2011
1:37 pm
http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/current
TampaDawg
November 28th, 2011
1:39 pm
Dawginlex, I can’t say I agree with Okie State having a better resume than Bama based on beating OK. Okie State’s one loss was an upset to, I believe, Iowa State .. unranked Iowa State, 6-5 Iowa State. Yes, Okie State beat K-State which was a good win, but beating A&M is not impressive and no one else on there schedule really was either. Bama’s lone loss was to LSU.
UGA will win!!!!!
November 28th, 2011
1:41 pm
and then Lou Holtz will parachute down to the 50 yd line and pigs will fly out of his arse!!!!
DC
November 28th, 2011
1:41 pm
strength of schedule..ok but the strength of wins…two big losses against top ranked team and a win over an AU team that isn’t all there this year…
Bank on IT
November 28th, 2011
1:43 pm
Which team has a “poor” loss?
Which team has the best win so far?
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
November 28th, 2011
1:44 pm
Lou Holtz couldnt win in the SEC thats why is spouts his garbage off
Bank on IT
November 28th, 2011
1:45 pm
On a neutral site who wins? OSU vs Arkansas? OSU vs UGA?