What Two Teams
Belong In The BCS Championship
With all the chaos
here are a few thoughts on the teams that deserve to be in.
Pete Fiutak
Q:
What two teams belong in the national title?
A. This is
one of my favorite times of year because we get to finally put together
the CFN Historical Rankings Formula, which we'll come out with on Monday
with all 119 teams and their rankings. The rankings are based on their
schedules, who they've beaten, and who deserves to be in the top
spots based on what actually happened on the field. More on that in a
moment.
Sorry Georgia, I can't get past the fact that you couldn't even win your
own division. If I'm going to be consistent in my beliefs, being hot at
the end of the season should mean as much as being hot at the beginning
of the season.
Sorry USC, you lost to Stanford and I'm still not sold on your offense.
Defense, yes, offense, eh, whatever. I'm not a believer, but you'll go
off and blow away anyone you play in the Rose Bowl.
Sorry Ohio State, I sort of like your team, but I just can't get the
Illinois game out of my head, and at the end of the day, I just don't
believe you beat anyone of note.
By the eyeball test, I'd have Oklahoma play LSU for the national
championship, with Ohio State just barely missing the cut by an eyelash.
If these two play to their full capabilities, I believe they're the two
best teams in America. However, that's what I believe.
Who deserves to play for the national title? I was stunned when we
cranked out the first batch of the CFN Historical Rankings Formula.
Again, released in full on Monday, based on a combination of wins, wins
over teams that finished with winning records, elite wins, bad wins, bad
losses, elite losses, point differential and play in conference, the two
teams that deserve to play for the national title, and it's stunningly
not even close ... Oklahoma vs. Virginia Tech.
With all the breakdowns coming, the rankings, based on who earned it on
the field, are 1) Virginia Tech, 2) Oklahoma, 3) LSU, 4) West Virginia,
5) Ohio State. Georgia is seventh, USC is ninth. Remember, Tech beat
Clemson at Clemson, Virginia at Virginia, and Clemson. In this crazy
year, there weren't that many Elite Wins on the road. LSU's schedule was
fantastic at the time, but when South Carolina and Alabama went into the
tank, things quickly changed. Ohio State didn't get a top road win, and
that includes Michigan, and Georgia didn't beat anyone but Florida and
Auburn, and only Florida counted as an Elite Win.
However, I do want to see what LSU would do healthy.
Richard
Cirminiello
Q:
What two teams belong in the national title?
A: First off, let’s never pass on an opportunity to state the
obvious: The current BCS system blows by any and every measure. If you
believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that the two best teams will be
playing for a national title in January and no one was overlooked,
you’re kidding yourself. About half a dozen teams have a decent
argument in this debate, which is why some form of a playoff is so
wildly popular.
Alright, let’s start with what suddenly became obvious late Saturday
night; Ohio State belongs in the fast lane to New Orleans. As the
nation’s only one-loss team with a conference championship, the Buckeyes
have completed their improbable climb from No. 7 to No. 1 in under a
month. And who can argue with an 11-1 team out of the Big Ten in a
season that’s been defined by its persistent mediocrity? Their opponent
gets quite a bit trickier.
Although I love the way Georgia’s been playing, it makes no sense taking
a Dawg team that didn’t win its division over an LSU program that won
the SEC conference, especially since both have two losses. Ditto USC,
which has regrouped nicely, but of all the two-loss contenders, has the
most damning defeat at the hands of Stanford. See you, Troy. That
leaves Oklahoma and LSU, a couple of 11-2 teams that won two of the
toughest conferences in the country, the Big 12 and SEC, respectively.
Everyone will have an angle in this debate, and most will be splitting
hairs. Mine is no different. With two similar bodies of work, the
Tigers rate a slight edge for playing a tougher schedule and for being
the only team in America that hasn’t lost a game in regulation.
Remember that LSU’s best non-conference win is against top 5 Virginia
Tech, while Oklahoma’s is versus five-win Miami, and the Tigers’ two
losses came in triple overtime.
So when the dust settles on this mess, it’ll be LSU hosting Ohio State
in the inaugural Default Bowl. Championships are won in November…yeah,
right.
Matthew
Zemek
Q:
What two teams belong in the national title?
A. Who
Deserves the Undeservable?
Want to know who deserves to play in the 2007 BCS title game, now that
all hell has broken loose... for the 477th time this season?
There are, as always, two distinct ways of viewing this and other
similar situations that emerge at the end of almost every college
football season (the only exception being when two and only two unbeaten
teams from BCS conferences remain after 14 weeks and 12 regular-season
games): what should happen within the existing BCS system, and what
should happen in terms of real football justice?
In accordance with BCS guidelines, the system--as currently set
up--should give us Ohio State and LSU. Ohio State has done more than
one-loss Kansas to merit a bid (albeit by a smaller margin than you
might think). LSU is the most deserving two-loss team because the Tigers
crushed Virginia Tech, won their conference, and claimed more quality
scalps than USC. As fortunate as LSU was to slide past Tennessee, the
Tigers still have the best resume of any two-loss ballclub.
Now, on the matter of the second question, the debate is tougher: what
should happen irrespective of the BCS? In an ideal world, what should
happen?
Since conference championships are a prerequisite for national title
game participants, Georgia still can't make the cut (although an idea
world would involve a playoff in which the Dawgs could play for the
title). If the BCS didn't exist, the best title game the sport could
hope for would be LSU-USC, the matchup everyone outside Columbus would
love. The champions of the SEC and Pac-10, college football's two best
conferences, would create a title tilt worthy of the bright lights in
the Big Easy.