Posted on 12/02/2013 8:34:12 AM PST by xzins
With one week to go before the BCS rankings leave us forever, an undefeated Big Ten power missing out on the national championship is somehow an actual worry. Meanwhile, Florida State's sitting pretty. Full standings below.
It doesn't matter that Ohio State went 12-0 last year. It doesn't matter that an unbeaten Auburn was shut out of the BCS National Championship in 2004. It doesn't matter that Ohio State has lost two national title games against SEC teams in recent years. It doesn't matter that the SEC has won seven straight championships.
Or at least it shouldn't.
What will matter, however, is whether the BCS polls and computers rank Ohio State or Auburn No. 2 next week, assuming the Buckeyes and (burnt orange and navy blue) Tigers win their respective conferences. We'd thought we were just about done with the season's series of debates over which team should rank No. 2 and which should rank No. 3, but we've only just now arrived at the biggest one yet.
For now, the updated BCS standings after Week 14's wild weekend:
A win by either the Spartans or the other Tigers would render all this moot (except for Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs suddenly becoming a huge Mizzou* fan, we trust).
* Though Missouri would have a better case for No. 2 than Auburn would, if you ask me, since the (black and gold) Tigers have spent most of the year smashing fools by exorbitant margins. But nobody's asking me. Mizzou's probably too far back to jump that far, barring insanity.
If our new Nos. 2 and 3 win their conferences, the polls would be where Florida State finds its Pasadena opponent. While many voters would fall back on the SEC's presumed strength of schedule and difficulty (and most strength of schedule numbers do rate Auburn's as tougher so far), others would sympathize with a 13-0 BCS conference champion that was ineligible last year. At the moment, the Buckeyes hold that advantage, and would any voters who were unconvinced by an Auburn win over Alabama really be swayed by one over Missouri?
The difference could be Urban Meyer, who's successfully stumped his team into a BCS National Championship before -- and that was an SEC team at the expense of a Big Ten team. But do voters still think of Meyer as they did then? Whether Meyer's national profile has changed since '06 due to various controversies would actually matter. Like, actually help determine the season's champion. That's insane and ridiculous, but it's the system.
We don't know whether Auburn or Ohio State would win the right to go play FSU if the two played on a neutral field. We don't have a playoff yet, not for 12 more months. We do know the Buckeyes have won all but two of their games by multiple scores, while Auburn's won by a single score six times (including the two luckiest, most improbable winning plays of the year). Auburn's also lost a game by 14 points. Gus Malzahn and Nick Marshall have led an immaculate rebuild, but let's not let that loss be a footnote.
So it begins. One more week. The only vital contributions to the debate going forward will be those made by the players on the field in the Big Ten and SEC championship games.
It’d be nice if there was a playoff system that included home games up north...not just for the southern teams.
I'd like their chances if this were basketball.
You nailed it. Before Alabama lost I said if they lose watch ESPN and the SEC fanboys start whining about 1 lost teams not being in the title game.
So now they put Auburn, Alabama, and Mizzou at number 3, 4, and 5 as if that means something. If the polls were so great they would never had Georgia #1 at the beginning of the year and Mizzou not even ranked.
BTW: Alabama only dropping to #4 is a crock. A loss in the last week of the season deserves a lot steeper drop than that.
Every year, for the past seven years, someone (usually a Big 10 fan) makes the statement that the SEC is overrated....and every year the SEC crushes their opponent in the championship - except in 2012 when it was an all SEC game. Last year, there was a large group here who were certain Notre Dame would beat Alabama. Right.
The only team that can give Alabama or Auburn a game is FSU. If FSU plays OSU for the BCS, then it will be another slaughter.
Like I said, you guys want to pad your schedule to run the table. You guys really don’t want to look for the best team.
“I still think Bama is better than Auburn (despite the loss)”
Look to home field advantage. Auburn and Alabama are barely better than 8-4 Texas A&M @TAM. They both got to play LSU at home and beat LSU, and LSU got to play TAM at home, and handily beat them.
If they were in an AQ absolutely but they aren’t so they can be judged a bit differently.
OSU has had lots of speed on their team since at least the late 90s. Claiming they are slow is just an enduring myth.
Kickers are part of the team...The two last significant games Bama has lost (LSU and Auburn), have mainly been due to their kickers missing so many field goals.
Possibly. FSU certainly looks good but who have they played to prove it?
It sounds like the PAC10 was the toughest conf this year but they are out of it completely.
Unless you watched the gators run all over them with speed you might believe that they had speed.
Who did Alabama play out of conference that was tough?
Of course it helped in that game that their fastest player, Ted Ginn Jr, injured himself celebrating his opening kickoff return.
If Alabama played in the Big10 they’d have 2 or 3 losses on their schedule. See I can do that too.
I know what I’d like to see...
#1 FSU(if ACC champ) vs SEC runner-up in Tallahassee
#2 OSU(if B10 champ) vs SEC champion in Columbus
Winner of both games play for National Championship.
I don’t think that any other NCAA team could have beaten UM Saturday.
...and Troy Smith was hungover or something. The issue with him wasn’t speed, it was pocket awareness. He wasn’t tracked down when he was sprinting, he was tackled while loping - not expecting to be hit. OSU not showing up to play was a disgrace. They deserved to be humiliated.
That is a good point. Northern teams have to travel south for bowl games for the most part.
But that is how it is every year. So many SEC teams rated high every year. Bumps them all up. A couple years ago I compared Big10 to SEC. SEC started with 8 teams in top 25, ended with 4. Big10 had 4 teams in preseason top 25, all 4 were still there at the end of the year.
Missouri...middle of the road big12 team for years...moves to SEC, and now all of a sudden they are the greatest thing.
A&M. middle of the road big 12 team...they come into the SEC and a freshman rewrites their conference record books.
Just sayin...
All I have to say is... may the best team win :)
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