That reminds me of something that pertains, in a way, to one of my books. Last week for my day job with the Tuscaloosa News I did a blog on whether a team from the Big Ten or Pac-10 should be viewed differently in the title chase because their conferences don't have a championship game.
What got me going on it was an online interview I did with a college football/sports journalism legend, Dan Jenkins, for a story I did on if Alabama is a legit contender (Note, I wrote the story before Alabama beat Kentucky. Here's the link if interested: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20081004/NEWS/810030213). Dan made the point, and I think it's a good one.
Anyway, here's the blog entry:During a recent national television show about college football, one of the network’s experts was asked if in the unlikely event Texas, Alabama and Penn State were to all finish undefeated which would likely get the snub for the BCS championship game?
The answer given was incorrect, Alabama, because the person didn’t consider that the Crimson Tide would have to beat Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, Auburn and then win the SEC Championship game to finish undefeated. Granted, Joe Paterno would get some sympathy votes, but there’s almost no way that the Nittany Lions can leapfrog either Texas or Alabama in the BCS standings.
Here’s a better question, when are the voters going to wise up about the Big Ten and the Pac-10 and stop voting those conferences up?
“What we have entered into is a stupid BCS setup where the Big Ten and Pac-10 have an unfair advantage,” said Dan Jenkins, legendary sports writer and current historian for the National Football Foundation. “No conference playoff. Beat two good teams and sleepwalk past the infirm and go to the title game. The shame is that more sportswriters aren’t screaming about it. Loudly and consistently.”
Consider me a convert, especially this year.
Penn State’s lone Top 25 victory is against No. 22 Illinois (Sept. 27) – the same team that just lost at home to Minnesota. Still to go are at No. 12 Ohio State on Oct. 25, and No. 20 Michigan State on Nov. 22.
Meanwhile, Southern California could soon be a factor again if at least two of the top three undefeated teams lose. The only ranked team the Trojans will see is No. 25 Cal on Nov. 8
Compare that with the SEC, where Alabama has the clearest road to the national championship:
1) Obviously, it needs to keep winning.
2) If LSU loses to Georgia next week, the Tide could conceivably lose twiceand still land in the SEC title game. Otherwise, Alabama at LSU will essentially be a playoff game.
3) Win the SEC Championship.
Meanwhile, in the East the Nov. 1 meeting between Florida and Georgia has all the makings of being the deciding game in that division.
Something similar is going on in the Big XII, and if the teams keep knocking each other off like last weekend one loss will still likely mean a shot at the title.
“When you lose two games, you’ve really lost your right to considered a BCS champion in my opinion,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “To even be where we were was pretty wild. Just to have a two-loss team play in the game was pretty odd.
“I thought after LSU won our league I didn’t think we were going to get in (the BCS), period.”
Imagine for a moment that Alabama is undefeated heading into the SEC Championship, but falls to a two-loss team? Then what?
Never mind for now, the BCS has caused enough headaches for one day.
So what was the reaction to the blog? Well, not surprisingly I was called a homer and an idiot by some Big Ten fans, which caused me to laugh. Not only did they not know I've written a book about controversial national championships, but I'm originally a Big Ten guy from Minnesota.
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