A Mockery of the System

Courtesy of http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2010/lsu-tigers-vs-unc-tar-heels-sept-4-football-analysis/

            Tomorrow's matchup between #1 LSU and #14 Georgia should mean a lot, but because of the flaws of the BCS it has little weight whatsoever. The SEC is best college football conference by a long shot, so one would think its championship game would have a lot of significance. Georgia could win by forty points and LSU will still play in the national championship game. LSU would finish the regular season 12-1 with the advantage in a head-to-head tie breaker against #2 Alabama because of its win against the Crimson Tide earlier this season. The BCS should not rely so much on computers and numbers to decide the rankings. And for the Bulldogs, win or loss, they will play in Outback or Capital One Bowl game. The SEC championship game will have some significance because it decides the winner of the SEC (which honestly doesn't mean much) and if LSU's hopes for an undefeated season are still alive. The title game of the strongest conference in college football needs to have some significance. What if Georgia was the #2 team in the nation with one loss and they were to beat LSU in the SEC Championship. Would they just have a rematch for the national championship? I'm not sure what the changes should be, but it is evident that change is necessary for the BCS. I hope Georgia pounds LSU, so that on January 9th, college football fans can sit back and wonder how the two teams contending for a national championship were chosen.

A Nightmare Weekend for the BCS

            There must have been a meeting among the head coaches of some of the top college football programs in the country last week, where they were all going to camp out at a movie theater, have their players wear their Twilight gear, and watch the premier of the latest movie in the series, Breaking Dawn, because the top 25 teams were definitely not at the top of their game this weekend. Seven of the top twenty-five BCS teams lost, including four in the top seven. As soon as the BCS picture seemed to be set, undefeated #2 Oklahoma State lost in a double overtime thriller to Iowa State. USC ended any hopes of an LSU-Oregon rematch, Baylor outscored Oklahoma in a shootout, and North Carolina State demolished Clemson.

Courtesy of http://urbanchristiannews.com/ucn/2011/11/37-31-iowa-state-stuns-no-2-oklahoma.html

             So what are we left with? The SEC now claims the top three BCS spots with LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas. While it would be great to see an undefeated LSU in the national championship, how about we blur the BCS rankings even more and have Arkansas beat LSU next week. Then, we have three one-loss SEC teams at the top of the polls who have each lost to each other. How would that tie breaker even work? Now that would fire up the southern half of the United States when one of elite teams in the country gets screwed over despite having an identical record and conference. Furthermore, if Houston remained as the only unbeaten, they could find their way in the top five but still would have a zero percent chance of making it to the national championship. My prediction is that we'll see an LSU vs. Alabama national championship, because even if Arkansas wins against LSU, LSU has the advantage over Alabama and Alabama has the edge over Arkansas, so I have trouble seeing Arkansas making the leap to number one or two in the country. This weekend was a mess, but at least there is still one constant in college football the keeps us from losing our sanity--the SEC is far and away the best conference in college football.

The current Top 25 BCS teams:

• LSU
• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Oklahoma State
• Virginia Tech
• Stanford
• Boise State
• Houston
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Kansas State
• South Carolina
• Georgia
• Michigan State
• Michigan
• Wisconsin
• Clemson
• Baylor
• Penn State
• TCU
• Nebraska
• Notre Dame
• Georgia Tech
• Auburn
• Texas