Are you looking forward to the BCS national championship game?
I've already seen this game. I cannot say I enjoyed it the first time, and I am not really looking forward to watching it again when the wrong team got in.
LSU is the undisputed number one team in the country. By my count, there are a handful of teams that can lay claim to number two. And while Alabama is one of them, they have already had their shot at number one and they lost.
Oklahoma State has not had a shot at the number one team and they are not going to get it thanks to the BCS formula, even though, they just beat the number 10 team in the country by 34 points to win their conference championship.
Instead, they are getting edged out by a team that did not even play for their conference championship.
How can you be the best team in the country if you are not even the best team in your league?
I have heard the arguments in favor of an LSU-Alabama rematch. They are the two best teams in the country, so they should play.
But who says Alabama is the second best team? A BCS formula? Try dropping the "C".
Alabama has the least egregious loss of the one loss teams which does not make them the best. Bama went 2-1 against teams ranked in the BCS Top 25 as of last week's rankings. Oklahoma State went 5-0. They have a worse loss but at least three better wins too!
But let's step aside from the numbers for a minute.
This is the mission statement on the BCS's website:
"The BCS allows for preserving the significance of the regular season, which is the most meaningful in sports."
The BCS is doing the exact opposite of preserving the regular season, but instead, rendering it meaningless. Alabama lost to LSU already and it does not matter. They still get another shot at them.
LSU beat Alabama by three points on November 5. What if Alabama wins the national title game by one point on January 9?
Does that make LSU the national champ team by total point differential? I do not see why not.
Game's either count or they don't. And one of the best things about college football is that every game counts. That is why in early September, Saturday's are as good as the ones in late November. But apparently they do not all count any more.
And until they do again, or until someone creates a playoff, college football can never guarantee a true national champion and that stinks.
