Got your back, Ump:
What do we have this weekend? #1 v #2...Florida v Alabama. (In this entire scenario, please assume a 3 point loss or an OT game). Winner advances to championship game of BCS. Fine. Loser...more than likely out of a chance for a championship rematch. That's what bothers me.
Wasn't there a championship rematch in the 90's? Florida v FSU? FSU won the regular season game, then the "Ole Ball Coach" got Florida back in the championship with Danny Wrueful (sp?) complained about the cheap shots on the QB and Florida beats FSU in the National Championship.
If Florida v Alabama plays 10 times, is it split 50-50? Does each win 5 times?
Here's my problems: Who is supposed to win the game Saturday? Florida. Why? Because they are the #1 team. If they weren't supposed to win, then they shouldn't be ranked #1. If Alabama is supposed to win, then they shouldn't be ranked #2. So, if the game is close or ends in OT (on a neutral field) why does the #2 team get penalized? Why are they going to be dropped in the BCS rankings? THEY WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO WIN!!!
Think about it. The SECOND BEST TEAM in the country loses by 3 points or less or loses in OT. Why aren't they still considered the second best team out there? By dropping them in the rankings, what you are saying is another team could have done better or should have been ranked #2. If that is the case, how can you do much better than a 3 point loss or an OT loss? The only way you can do better is if you WIN! In that case, Florida shouldn't be the #1 team!
If you think #2 Alabama is better than #3 Texas, then it shouldn't matter if Alabama loses to #1 Florida (as long as the game is close). Alabama should still be considered better than Texas even if they lose.
Either way, the system is what it is. If Florida loses in the National Championship to Texas, Texas is the National Champion. But are they really the best team? For one game they beat Florida.
If a team wins the National Championship, they should be #1. But in the regular season, you don't become the #1 ranked team just because you beat them. Appalachian State didn't become #3 in the country just because they beat Michigan. Michigan also didn't become unranked just because they lost to an unranked team.
It is what it is. Even a playoff doesn't change things because what if Texas loses to TCU but TCU loses to Florida, but Texas (if they would have played) could have beat Florida. You can't possibly play everyone.
Once again, we've been down this road before and I don't have an answer. Just like the NCAA tournament...it's only a TOURNAMENT! It's about who can survive for 6 games.
The only solution I have is to take the six BCS conferences and rank each team individually in each conference. Completely get rid of the AP, BCS and Coaches Poll rankings. Then, at the end of the year, take the #1 ranked team from each BCS conference and then pick two "At-Large" teams from the rest of the country. Now you have 8 teams for a playoff.
If you rank each team in each BCS conference, that's pretty simple because for the most part, everybody plays everybody. Obviously Michigan doesn't play Northwestern every year, but you can easily rank based on conference records.
The only argument to this is Florida, Alabama, and LSU might all be better than Ohio State, but only Florida might make the cut.
If college football ever got around to doing some "Big Ten/ACC" challenge like basketball (which would be a great idea by the way), you could have a way each year of saying who the better conferences are. Then, if you needed to pick an "At-Large" team that did not win their conference, a second SEC team could be picked ahead of the second best Big Ten team.
Thoughts? Comments?
2 comments:
1. I would love to see more Big Ten/ACC/SEC/Big 12/Pac 10 matchups (I think most of the other conferences would like to play a few more Big Ten teams after this season). That's one thing college basketball has over college football. MSU can play UNC and Texas before the Big Ten season because they all know it won't kill them later.
2. I think one thing you're observing is that the polls have their own rules outside of being a simple ranking of who the voter thinks is better. You could probably write a mathematical formula to explain what happens to team of rank X who loses to team of rank Y by Z points. They're a reflection of reality, but a warped one.
3. I think the best you can hope for in college football is to get your shot. 'Bama has their chance to unseat the top dog. If they can't manage it, I can't imagine much sympathy will be coming their way.
I understand. The old "Let's give someone else a try." Even if they aren't better, you are already had your chance, so shut up.
Post a Comment