BCS Selections

[wonkadog]

BvK, you've got to quit making so much sense because I "must spread some rep around" before giving more to you.

Jumbo-so you're against every other single sport in the history of competition (ok, so I'm exaggerating a bit) because they all have "tournament champions"??? You actually think an 8-team playoff might leave out the best team in the country?

[ISUFan22]

Originally Posted by BvK1126

legitimate championship contender

I firmly believe there is not one of them in football this year. If we did, this would most likely not be the huge issue it is right now.

I also think as the years grow by, there will be more like this one - probably not quite as "bad - but they'll become more common. And IMO, that's another reason we need a playoff system.

[BvK1126]

Originally Posted by ISUFan22

I firmly believe there is not one of them in football this year. If we did, this would most likely not be the huge issue it is right now.

I totally agree with you, 22. There are no teams that actually deserve to play for the national title this year. That's what I was alluding to with my reference in the post to teams that are equally as deserving (or undeserving) as LSU to play in the title game. I find a few other teams' credentials less objectionable than LSU's, but I don't think any of them truly belong there.

[jumbopackage]

Originally Posted by wonkadog

BvK, you've got to quit making so much sense because I "must spread some rep around" before giving more to you.

Jumbo-so you're against every other single sport in the history of competition (ok, so I'm exaggerating a bit) because they all have "tournament champions"??? You actually think an 8-team playoff might leave out the best team in the country?

No, I'm not. What I'm trying to say is that in college football, there are simply too many teams, and too few games, for you to really take a representative sample of the "good" teams for a playoff. If you were to say, all teams with 3 or fewer losses are eligible, you might have a big enough sample size. Sure the debate becomes less and less relevant the larger the size of the field, but can you imagine the debate in the NCAA tournament if they started off at the elite 8?

[cyclonenum1]

Originally Posted by BvK1126

Try all you want to "pretty up" LSU's losses, but those are two games that a legitimate championship contender should not lose. It's not just the quality of the opponents (who may have been "good" teams by somebody's reckoning, but were hardly excellent competition), it's the timing -- especially the Arkansas game. I'm not saying a late loss should automatically disqualify a team from playing for the BCS title, but a late loss at home to a team with a losing conference record? In my opinion, that should disqualify you. And who cares if LSU got beat by "the best player in the country" (which is a debatable label to apply to McFadden). Last time I checked, football was a team game, and McFadden alone doesn't elevate Arkansas to "great team" status. Based on your justification for LSU's loss, maybe we should put Darren McFadden by himself in the national title game. Heck, he deserves it for single-handedly beating "the best team in the country" on their home field!

Yes, Virginia Tech lost to LSU, but at least Virginia Tech's two losses were against highly-ranked teams instead of conference also-rans. And they also finished strong with five straight wins.

I stand by my comment that the media, the coaches, and the pollsters wanted LSU in the championship game over several other equally-deserving (or, for that matter, undeserving) teams. There's no other explanation for a team going from #1 in the polls, to losing at home to a team with a sub-.500 conference record, to #7 in the polls, to struggling to beat the fourth- or fifth-best team in their conference in the title game, to #2 and back in contention for a national title.

How was LSU's sloppy win in the SEC title game more impressive than Oklahoma's dominant victory over #1-ranked Missouri in the Big 12 championship? Obviously, you feel that it is justified that LSU leap-frogged five teams in the polls after the unimpressive win over Tennessee. Why shouldn't Oklahoma have vaulted all the way to #2? They were much more impressive in beating the top-ranked team than LSU was in beating Tennessee. Is their a magical cut-off where jumping from #7 to #2 is acceptable, but jumping from #9 to #2 isn't?

You suggested the following formula for a team making it to the BCS title game:


Doesn't Oklahoma fit those criteria every bit as well as LSU does? What makes LSU a more deserving title game participant other than the media and pollster's season-long belief that LSU is the most talented team in the country, and their desire to be proven right despite LSU continually stumbling in the clutch?

Buddy, if it was up to me, LSU would be playing OU in the Championship game. In my opinion, OSU does not really deserve it just because they won their terribly weak conference and then got to stand by while others had to play tough conference championship games.

But, this all started with you bemoaning that fact the VT was getting no love...you need to remember that LSU just didn't beat VT, the blew them out. Personally, I don't think any team that loses a game by over 40 points can be a "legitimate championship contender".