Thursday, January 08, 2009

The BCS Championship game: still irrelevant after all these years

So it comes down to Florida and Oklahoma for the BCS Championship game tonight at 8:00 PM. Supposedly this is "the" national championship game but, once again, there will be much debate over who the real champ is. Very strong arguments can be made for Utah, USC, and the winner of tonight's game. Texas has no argument in my mind; they needed a last second touchdown to sneak by an Ohio State team that didn't even make the Rose Bowl.

USC pounded the #6 team (yes I refuse to write it) 38-24 and will end the season with only one loss, the same number as the winner of the Championship game. Then there's Utah. In my mind the game tonight means absolutely nothing because Utah should be the national champ. Utah crushed a powerful Alabama team 31-17 and the score is deceiving, the game wasn't even that close. Not only did Utah beat the #4 team in the nation but it was one of them teams with that "SEC speed." Teams from the Mountain West don't beat them there southern teams with all their speed. That's bullshit bubby, what's goin' on?

Think about this for one moment: if the SEC didn't have a championship game Alabama, not Florida, would be playing in the Championship game. Alabama was undefeated and held the top position in the BCS poll for five weeks before losing to Florida in the SEC championship game. Had there been no SEC championship Utah would have got the chance to crush Florida. I'm not saying Utah would beat any team on any given day but on that day, in the Sugar Bowl, Utah would have beat anybody, they were near perfect. Had there been a playoff they probably wouldn't have won, but that's not an argument we don't have a playoff. Utah is the only undefeated team left and they beat an all-powerful SEC team that was previously ranked #1 and currently #4; in my book they are the champs. So sit back tonight with your favorite adult beverage and take in a great matchup between two very good teams, but keep in mind that this decides nothing. The debate will rage on long after the confetti is swept off the field and the BCS trophy is safely locked away in the winner's trophy case. I for one would like to thank Utah for busting up the BCS party, they may just be the impetus that starts college football down the path towards deciding the championship on the field.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Think about this for one moment: if the SEC didn't have a championship game Alabama, not Florida, would be playing in the Championship game."

Thank you. I really hope that this season is the one to start the wheels turning for a better system. In 2008, the bias was suffocating. Just one point about that, look at Georgia, which was the be-all-end-all No. 1 in August. They were crushed AT HOME by Alabama, then lost to two more teams, including lowly ACC-member Georgia Tech. Then, the dogs had to battle it out with MSU.

Yeah, I hope 2008 will be a lesson, but it won't... too bad.

Galen said...

I don't know this thing is getting so out of control I'm starting to have hope. Even Urban Myer said he's for a playoff and he was originally against it.