SEC Has Been Good - And Lucky
I turn momentarily from economics, markets and politics to the relatively unimportant (to some) topic of college football.
As an advocate for a playoff system I finally had it this year with the corruption of the BCS, which gave us an awful rematch between two supposed titans from the 500-lb gorilla of the game, the SEC, and thus a guaranteed sixth-straight title for that league. The game between #1 LSU and #2 Alabama featured two dominant defenses loaded with NFL talent, but two putrid offenses. As a result, we got an almost unwatchable and incredibly less exciting game than the first matchup, a 9-6 LSU overtime snoozer victory. This one ended up 21-0 in favor of 'Bama as LSU could do nothing on offense. 'Bama was a little better but could only muster five field goals until a late garbage-time touchdown. In over eight quarters of football these two teams could only manage one touchdown. Great defense or stunning ineptitude on offense?
Many of the sports media buffoons and SEC sycophants have naturally declared Alabama #1 without doubt, but this is idiotic. 'Bama barely faced a top 50 offense all year and no quality opponent out of conference. Declaring a champion at this time is pointless as the conferences have stopped scheduling tough opponents and play unbalanced schedules. The rematch should have never taken place in the first place given that according to the BCS, the season is an "elimination tournament". I, and most unbiased football fans would have loved to see either LSU or 'Bama play a high-powered offense. At least one of the teams from Oklahoma State, Stanford or Oregon deserved a shot. I suspect they would have performed better than LSU.
Unfortunately, one reason we got this awful rematch this year is that the SEC won the previous five title games. Thus, it now assumed that the SEC is dominant. We get polling bias that states "they are good because we think so". While it is true that the conference has been great in big games, and I would agree that in most years it has been the best top-to-bottom conference, it has also been very lucky. I was going to write an entire post on this topic, but this writer did the dirty work for me.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/08/sports/la-sp-0109-bcs-lsu-alabama-20120109
To expand on or reiterate points about the SEC's good fortune in title years, I will take them one at a time.
2003 - LSU did not have to play AP #1 USC and instead got an Oklahoma team that had just lost its conference title game by four touchdowns! So egregious was the slight that the BCS revised its formula (one of many tweaks) and AP split with the BCS. Nobody in their right mind thought that OU deserved to be in that game.
2006 - Florida was lucky to sneak in when one-loss USC dropped a late season game. USC subsequently crushed one-loss Michigan.
2007 - Not only did two-loss LSU back in when teams fell like dominos, but again did not have to play two-loss USC, who many thought to be the best team in the country.
2008 - Florida lucked into playing Oklahoma instead of Texas due to computer rankings. Texas had beaten OU by 10 points earlier in the season. The result? Florida by 10. Also snubbed - one loss USC and undefeated Utah, which blew out Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. At the end of the season Florida, Texas and USC all had one loss while Utah finished unbeaten. A clear #1? I don't think so.
2009 - Alabama knocked out Texas' Mr. Everything Colt McCoy on the first drive, but still almost lost to a Freshman QB playing his first game. It was a field goal game with five minutes to play before two late Texas turnovers doomed them.
2010 - Unbeaten Auburn narrowly beat unbeaten Oregon on a final play field goal, but unbeaten TCU never got a shot.
To summarize, here are teams that deserved a shot but never got one: 2003 USC, 2006 USC, 2007 USC, WVU and others, 2008 - Texas, Utah, USC, 2010 - TCU, 2011 - Oklahoma State, Stanford. SEC teams polled better than these deserving teams every year.
The good news is that the country appears to be tiring of the SEC's boring brand of football. Ratings for this years' game were at an all-time low. Outcry over the rematch has led calls for reform to reach a fever pitch. At the very least, an "and one" game to be played after the bowls seems likely very soon, if not a playoff. If nothing else, I cannot wait for the SEC's reign to end.
As an advocate for a playoff system I finally had it this year with the corruption of the BCS, which gave us an awful rematch between two supposed titans from the 500-lb gorilla of the game, the SEC, and thus a guaranteed sixth-straight title for that league. The game between #1 LSU and #2 Alabama featured two dominant defenses loaded with NFL talent, but two putrid offenses. As a result, we got an almost unwatchable and incredibly less exciting game than the first matchup, a 9-6 LSU overtime snoozer victory. This one ended up 21-0 in favor of 'Bama as LSU could do nothing on offense. 'Bama was a little better but could only muster five field goals until a late garbage-time touchdown. In over eight quarters of football these two teams could only manage one touchdown. Great defense or stunning ineptitude on offense?
Many of the sports media buffoons and SEC sycophants have naturally declared Alabama #1 without doubt, but this is idiotic. 'Bama barely faced a top 50 offense all year and no quality opponent out of conference. Declaring a champion at this time is pointless as the conferences have stopped scheduling tough opponents and play unbalanced schedules. The rematch should have never taken place in the first place given that according to the BCS, the season is an "elimination tournament". I, and most unbiased football fans would have loved to see either LSU or 'Bama play a high-powered offense. At least one of the teams from Oklahoma State, Stanford or Oregon deserved a shot. I suspect they would have performed better than LSU.
Unfortunately, one reason we got this awful rematch this year is that the SEC won the previous five title games. Thus, it now assumed that the SEC is dominant. We get polling bias that states "they are good because we think so". While it is true that the conference has been great in big games, and I would agree that in most years it has been the best top-to-bottom conference, it has also been very lucky. I was going to write an entire post on this topic, but this writer did the dirty work for me.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/08/sports/la-sp-0109-bcs-lsu-alabama-20120109
To expand on or reiterate points about the SEC's good fortune in title years, I will take them one at a time.
2003 - LSU did not have to play AP #1 USC and instead got an Oklahoma team that had just lost its conference title game by four touchdowns! So egregious was the slight that the BCS revised its formula (one of many tweaks) and AP split with the BCS. Nobody in their right mind thought that OU deserved to be in that game.
2006 - Florida was lucky to sneak in when one-loss USC dropped a late season game. USC subsequently crushed one-loss Michigan.
2007 - Not only did two-loss LSU back in when teams fell like dominos, but again did not have to play two-loss USC, who many thought to be the best team in the country.
2008 - Florida lucked into playing Oklahoma instead of Texas due to computer rankings. Texas had beaten OU by 10 points earlier in the season. The result? Florida by 10. Also snubbed - one loss USC and undefeated Utah, which blew out Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. At the end of the season Florida, Texas and USC all had one loss while Utah finished unbeaten. A clear #1? I don't think so.
2009 - Alabama knocked out Texas' Mr. Everything Colt McCoy on the first drive, but still almost lost to a Freshman QB playing his first game. It was a field goal game with five minutes to play before two late Texas turnovers doomed them.
2010 - Unbeaten Auburn narrowly beat unbeaten Oregon on a final play field goal, but unbeaten TCU never got a shot.
To summarize, here are teams that deserved a shot but never got one: 2003 USC, 2006 USC, 2007 USC, WVU and others, 2008 - Texas, Utah, USC, 2010 - TCU, 2011 - Oklahoma State, Stanford. SEC teams polled better than these deserving teams every year.
The good news is that the country appears to be tiring of the SEC's boring brand of football. Ratings for this years' game were at an all-time low. Outcry over the rematch has led calls for reform to reach a fever pitch. At the very least, an "and one" game to be played after the bowls seems likely very soon, if not a playoff. If nothing else, I cannot wait for the SEC's reign to end.
Posted by TFP at 1/13/2012 12:39 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: college football BCS Championship game SEC
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: college football BCS Championship game SEC
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