When I watched the BCS Selection show Sunday night, and it
was unveiled that the BCS Championship would be a rematch between LSU and Alabama, I was filled with an emptiness that surprised me. Now, being a fan of
the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the #3 team in the BCS, I expected to not be happy
if they were left on the outside. I
didn’t expect to not feel much of anything.
If the Cowboys had leapfrogged Alabama, I would have been left with the same
feeling. I would have been happy for OK
State, but I still would have had the feeling that something was wrong. The BCS, for all its claims that it creates
excitement for the bowl games and the Championship game, managed to suck all of
the excitement out of the post-season.
The BCS managed to do the one thing its (admittedly few) defenders
always said it avoided.
There was no right answer to the question of “Who should be
number 2?” Alabama is, fairly clearly,
the 2nd best team in the country.
They have a half-dozen future NFL players on defense, they have the best
running back in the country, and they have a sterling resume. The problem? They already played LSU, at
home, and lost. They already had their shot
and failed. Why should they be handed a
2nd chance after not beating anyone of consequence since? Their 3 games since the LSU loss were
against Mississippi State, Georgia Southern, and Auburn, a fairly uninspiring
stretch of opponents that posed no real challenges. I believe Alabama is the 2nd
best team in the country. Do I believe they deserve a rematch against a team
they lost to at home, while playing fairly uninspired ball ever since? I don’t
know about all that.
Oklahoma State has a legit argument for being the 2nd
best team in the country. They have
wins over 5 teams currently ranked in the top 25 compared to just 2 for
Alabama. They were the conference
champions in the conference ranked the best in the NCAA by the computer
polls, while Alabama didn’t even play in their conference championship game.
They beat Oklahoma, the preseason #1 and current #10 team in the country
44-10. Their only loss came on the road
in double-overtime, on a day in which the school suffered a tragic loss. They
have the best WR in the country and the 2nd best passing offense in
the nation. They are an absolute blast
to watch. The problem? Calling their
defense mediocre is unfair to mediocrity.
Louisiana-Lafayette scored 34 points on this defense.
Tulsa scored 33, Kansas State scored 45, Iowa State hung 37 on them in
the upset. For as talented offensively,
and as fun to watch as they are, are they really the 2nd best team
in the country with a defense that had exactly one good performance against a
top flight team? I can’t really get on
board with that.
Going down the list, the arguments get even worse. Stanford has 1 good win (At USC), and got
blown out by Oregon, at home. Oregon not only got beaten by double-digits by
LSU, they lost again at home to USC later in the year. USC is inelligible for the post-season, but
had 2 losses anyway. Boise State had
one great win (At Georgia), but lost to TCU on their home-field. Arkansas lost to both LSU AND Alabama.
Of all the years where a playoff would have helped increase
interest in the BCS Championship Game, this would be the one. There are questions abound as to every teams
credentials to play in the championship game, but a playoff this year would have
answered them all. Alabama would have
had the chance to real off a couple of big wins and get momentum and interest
back on their side. Oklahoma State
could have proved that the Iowa State game was a fluke and their defense can
consistently keep up against top-flight opponents. Stanford could have showed Oregon was nothing more than a bad
match up and they would have more quality wins if the schedule allowed it. Oregon could have proved they were a
different team than the won that opened the season with an L against LSU. Boise State could have proven that the team
that beat Georgia is the real Boise, not the team that lost to TCU. Arkansas could have exacted revenge on LSU
or ‘Bama in the early rounds, proving they were a legit championship contender.
Instead, we get the BCS and the feeling that nobody really
deserves the #2 spot. Even if Alabama
wins, the question will be whether Alabama deserved to be their in the first
place, and why doesn’t LSU get a chance at revenge now? As fun and crazy as this college football
season was, it deserved to go out with a bang, with an 8-team playoff that
would have given fans great games and the feeling that the 2 teams in the
championship game earned their way there.
What we get is a game we’ve all seen before and a whole lot of emptiness.
2 comments:
Alabama was a clear recipient of the east coast/SEC bias. the only reason they were ranked above Ok state is because they lost first. If ok state lost first, but was still in third when Bama lost then bama would have moved down, that is the nature of the game, unless, have you ever seen a team not lose at least one ranking after a loss, regardless of opponent? This is once again an overvaluing of the SEC as a total conference while there was very little significant outer-conference play proving this. The National Championship is suppose to be a battle of Champions (conference) against one another, this is just a terrible miscalculation.
Good title. Good article. How many people think March Madness is a bad idea? A playoff for NCAA football is long overdue.
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