November 3, 2006
Does Notre Dame Hate America?
Ahh, political season is heating up. Not, of course, in Washington. Nobody cares about that. I’m talking about a system that may be even more screwed up than Congress, the BCS…
What happens this year if Louisville wins out? Should an undefeated Big East team get into the championship game above a 1-loss SEC, Pac-10, or Notre Dame? Well, I don’t really think so, but between the biases of the pollsters and the EEEVVVIIILLL “computer rankings”, who knows?
It seems some people are looking to influence the pollsters, as evidenced by a rash of attack ads. I recommend all three, but this is my favorite (for obvious reasons)—
Hat Tip: Every Day Should Be Saturday
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That’s some funny stuff that is.
Nick
You don’t think an undefeated Big East team deserves to play for the national championship? Why not? Let’s take a look at the alternative opponents for the winner of the November 18th National Semifinal also known as Michigan @ Ohio State. The way I see it, there are 10 possible teams at this point, so here we go. For each team listed individually below you must assume they win out from this point including a conference championship game, if applicable.
Notre Dame: Even with a solid victory over USC Nov 25, do you really think a team that gets SCHEEELAAACKED on their home field deserves a nod over an undefeated? Especially if Michigan beats Ohio State?
Texas: They lost to Ohio State early in the season relatively convincingly, and were within a Kyle Orton-esque fumble by Nebraska of being out of contention all together. If Ohio State beats Michigan, it should knock Texas out of this discussion.
SEC TEAMS:
Auburn: After getting beaten on their home field by Arkansas they actually can win out the rest of their games and still not play for the SEC Championship. Should a team that fails to even win its own conference get to play for a national title? Didn’t Nebraska answer this question in 2001?
Florida: Probably my first choice among these teams. Their single loss came to a very good Auburn team (on the road it should be noted) and they have the two best wins of the season to this point in their @Tennessee and home LSU wins. But they lost to Auburn just one week after the Tigers had been exposed by the Razorbacks.
Tennessee: It’s hard at this point to give them the nod over Florida considering their loss to the Gators at Rocky Top. They too can win the remainder of their games and miss the SEC Championship game. So again. Nebraska. 2001. Don’t make this mistake again. However the Vols may be taken off this list on Saturday when the LSU comes to town. Which brings us to…
Arkansas: Perhaps the least sexy but most deserving at this point. Their loss was in the first week of the season and winning out would mean an undefeated SEC schedule, which should count for something. Except for one small point…well actually 36 small points…
PAC-10 TEAMS:
USC: Should Arkansas and USC both win out, USC’s 50-14 drubbing of the Hogs (at Fayetteville no less) is going to look really really good. But they’ve been living on the edge all season, finally getting tripped up by Oregon State last week, which means of all the teams on this list, USC’s loss came against the least impressive competition. Shouldn’t they be punished for their letdown?
Cal: To this point they lack a high quality win, unless you believe Oregon is as good as their fallacious record indicates (see: Oklahoma, Sept 16). Winning out would mean a victory at USC later this season and a PAC-10 championship, but they were absolutely destroyed by Tennesee earlier in the season, with the Vols leading 35-0 before Phil Fulmer called off his dogs.
Well, that’s all of the one loss teams with a shot at this year’s natty, but I’ve only covered 8 teams. Who are the last two teams in consideration to play the Michigan/Ohio State winner? How about the Michigan/Ohio State loser?
The theory goes something like this. They’re (to this point) the two most dominating teams in the country this season. And should their matchup be a classic back and forth game that ends on a last second field goal, as an overtime thriller, or worst of all with an Oklahoma/Oregon officiating travesty, why not have them do it over again for all the marbles?
I’ll tell you why. NO DO OVERS. Great teams win the big games one way or another, and nobody deserves a second bite at the apple when another school from a BCS conference does everything they’ve been asked of and sits undefeated at the end of the season.
Each of these teams knew going into the season that a National Championship would likely require an undefeated regular season. Of the 16 teams that have played for a BCS championship, 11 have had perfect records entering the game. This includes the last 4 and 6 of the last 8. So why deny a team that held up their end of the bargain (be it Louisville or even Rutgers) when all they’ve done is go out and win every single game they’ve played?
I need to pay more attention to what I write. I completely overlooked the fact that I made the exact opposite point of what I intended to.
I think an undefeated team from a BCS conference (i.e. no mid-majors) should always be favored for the championship over a 1-loss team. And I meant to say that.
But with the biases of the pollsters (who don’t think the Big East is any good) and the computer rankings, who can gum up the works, we could see Louisville or Rutgers get overlooked. Particularly if Rutgers wins out, because they’ve got a lot of climbing to do in the polls to get to the #2 spot.
My bad for completely misrepresenting myself on that one…