I have debated on posting my thoughts on this subject but what the hell, some will agree and some won't. :SIB
Obviously I'm an Alabama fan and I'm thrilled that the Tide will be playing for the BCS National Championship. When I woke up Sunday morning I truly thought that somehow, someway Okie State would leapfrog up to #2 and play LSU for the title. I was resigned to that and told my girlfriend that I would be disappointed but not mad. Then the Coaches Poll was released and I saw that while Okie State had made a big jump, they were still behind Alabama. When Bruce Edwards and Jerry Palm said it was going to be a rematch I started to believe it was going to happen but wasn't going to get my hopes up until Reece Davis announced the results.
I know that everyone and their brother (even Bart) has a poll on who they wanted to see face LSU and the Pokes were the overwhelming choice. People say Alabama had its shot? Well, Oklahoma State had its shot, too. All the Cowboys had to do was win their final two games and they were in the title game. Then they went to Ames and were shocked by 29-point underdog Iowa State. Publicly Coach Gundy has not used the tragic plane crash as an excuse. Maybe it affected his team, maybe it didn't. I do know that the Pokes were up 24-7 in the 3rd quarter before letting the Cyclones outscore them 30-7 the rest of the way. If the roles were reversed I would be pissed. Okie State won 11 games, beat more ranked teams than Alabama and won their conference championship but I still can't get past the ISU loss. Plus Alabama has a 24 point victory over #6 Arkansas. Okie State has a 7 point win over # 8 Kansas State.
Why should Alabama be penalized for being in the same conference/division as LSU? They came closer than anyone else to beating the Tigers. Alabama held LSU to 9 points in OT (which is almost 30 points below their season average). Alabama beat everyone else on their schedule by at least 16 points. In 11 out of 12 games the Tide held their opponents to 14 points or less.
Maybe Okie State vs LSU would be more entertaining. Personally I believe that LSU would beat the Pokes by at least 3 TDs. I understand that public sentiment is against a rematch but until the BCS is blown up this is the system we are stuck with. Yes I'm happy that Alabama is in the BCS Title game but how they got there sucks. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but when SEC Commissioner Mike Slive proposed a Plus 1 format several years ago the only other conference that agreed was the ACC. The B1G and Big 12 were adamantly against this idea. Imagine #1 LSU vs #4 Stanford and #2 Alabama vs #3 Okie State?
Don't blame Alabama or the SEC for this mess. I think it's a sham that we have 6 computers that we have NO IDEA how data is entered (or if it's even correct) accounts for 1/3 of the BCS formula. The Harris and USA Today Coaches Polls account for the other 2/3. Seriously? You have coaches who admittedly don't watch other teams play VOTING on where they are RANKED. Why don't all the coaches vote? Why does Nick Saban get a vote and Mike Gundy doesn't? I'm told because it's just the luck of the draw. Coaches with a vested interest on the field and FINANCIALLY can tweak the outcome. Most coaches get a big fat bonus for final rankings or BCS bowl appearances. What better way to affect the outcome than being able to vote for your OWN TEAM.
Link to final USA Today Coaches Poll:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/story/2011-final-coaches-ballots/51647436/1
Look at this crap! Chris Peterson voted TCU 18th! Troy Calhoun voted Okie State 5th! 6 coaches voted Boise State 11th or worse!
Link to final Harris Interactive Poll:
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/HICFP_Individual_Rankings_Dec_4_2011.pdf
Two people had Alabama ranked 4th and three had Okie State 6th! Who are these people and why do they get a vote on who plays for the National Championship? They are former coaches, players, ADs, SIDs and journalists. Former SEC Commish Roy Kramer voted 5 SEC teams in his top 11 on his Harris ballot. Former Iowa SID George Wine voted Houston at 5, Oklahoma State at 6 although Houston just lost by 21 points to Southern Miss.
Link to Harris Interactive Poll voters:
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/HI-News-Release-HICFP-Panelists-2011-10-05.pdf
Oklahoma State, I'm sorry that you are not playing for the BCS title. I truly am. The whole system is a sham and needs to be blown up once and for all. I'm just happy that it was not at the expense of my Crimson Tide.
I think one argument lost in all of this is how is this fair to LSU? Why should they have to beat a team that they have already beaten? I really don't have a great answer for that other than a lot of things had to transpire for this rematch to happen and they did. Stanford lost by 23 at home. USC beat Oregon on the road. TCU won at Boise State. Oklahoma lost at Baylor. Okie State lost at Iowa State. The one constant is Alabama kept winning. Les Miles even voted Alabama #2 in his final poll (if that matters). I would guess if he didn't want a rematch he would have voted the Pokes ahead of Bama.
I truly believe that Alabama is the second best team in the country so I feel that ultimately as flawed and screwed up as the BCS is they got it right. I can't say the same for the Sugar Bowl. How does Va. Tech warrant an at-large? Why is Michigan playing in a BCS bowl but Sparty isn't? TCU doesn't make a BCS bowl as well. Again, the entire system is a freaking joke and needs to be blown up.
I hope that everyone sees that I'm not just a homer and a realist. Yes, extremely pleased that Alabama is playing but the system just plain sucks.
I just saw that Bruce Edwards (ESPN's BCS Guru) tweeted that if every voter who had OKST at 4, 5 or 6 would've put them at 3 instead, final BCS avg would be Bama .942, OKST .938.
