For the record, let me point out once again that, in any case, I am 1000% in favor of a playoff.
LSU’s offense was inept only against one team this year.
It’s a very moot point now, but looking back at the Alabama-Penn State game, I wonder how PSU managed to move the ball at all against Bama. Even if you dismiss the garbage-time touchdown they scored, Penn State had some pretty good drives in the first half that were snuffed out by penalties and turnovers. It was the best offense performance I saw from the team all year.
I’m saying this because Penn State had the most awful offense of probably any team in the country this year. Oh, sure, they were only 95th in the country and probably ahead of a few other teams, but don’t let that fool you: they had two quarterbacks and they added up to about a third of a real quarterback. The only reason they got any yards running was because their defense was good enough to get the ball back and they just wore other teams out. Honestly, they should have scored negative points against Alabama: their defense was that good, and Penn State’s offense was that bad.
So now the “It’s only one game” excuse holds water. I wish you SEC homers would get your stories straight.
I’m more puzzled as to how they gave up the most points to Georgia Southern. I’ve heard of playing down (or up) to competition, but that’s a game where the Division I-AA should have more turnovers than first downs.
No, attention would have been applied like it ALWAYS is - to both wins and losses.
This is traditionally how the criteria is applied (for teams in BCS conferences, other teams get applied a little differently), although it’s a fuzzy process:
#1 criteria is number of losses
#2 criteria is quality of loss - a loss to a top ranked team (top few), especially if it’s the only loss is almost always given less weight than any other loss
#3 criteria is quality of wins
This is naive and incomplete, and totally ignores timing of loss, poll ranking before the loss, perceived strength of conference, degree of loss… and I would argue that quality of wins, as long as you’re in a BCS conference, is not really factored in at all (although it should be, IMO).
I’m pretty sure if Alabama’s one loss this year had been to Vandy, they would have been in the NCG (and definitely if that loss had happened in mid-October), just because it’s the SEC and every team is the greatest team ever and big boy football and blah blah retch.
You’re not making a lot of sense here. You argued that LSU’s offensive weakness was “exposed” in the NC game. But against the strongest schedule any team faced that offense was consistently powerful except when the Alabama defense was on the field. So which is the more likely explanation: LSU had a weak offense (that stumbled its way to 40 pts/game), or Alabama had an elite defense?
And you clearly aren’t in a position to understand how silly it is to call me an “SEC homer”. I’d be interested to hear of any evidence on which this could be based.
I was at that game, and we all knew coming in that it could have potentially been a nasty, embarrassing trap game for a few reasons:
-
Georgia Southern had a really good team this year. They ended up losing the FCS championship to North Dakota State, and if you watched that game, or any of the FCS playoffs, you probably know that NoDak could probably have beaten many, many of the teams from the FBS.
-
They scored on special teams. For some reason, toward the end of the season, Bama’s special teams play became porous. They got that tightened up before the NCG, obviously.
-
They run a strict spread option offense, and they run it very, very well. This is something Bama is not used to seeing. Other teams will run option sometimes (LSU burned us on Nov. 5 with it), but Georgia Southern is extremely tight and disciplined with that offense, and they are 100% committed to it. Actually, Bama has Georgia Southern to thank for the lesson; LSU wanted to use it on us again, but having to face a team that could actually do it proficiently really taught the Bama D how to deal with it.
How could anyone possibly disagree with that statement? LSU’s offense was atrocious, terrible, putrid, horrible, etc.
Can’t it be both? Alabama clearly had an elite defense, but the defenses of LSU’s foes this season were overall fairly poor. Outside of Alabama – the #1 defense, against whom LSU put up 9 points in two games – the best defense the Tigers played was Mississippi State (#16), where LSU put up four field goals and a TD – not exactly an offensive clinic. The average defense ranking of their remaining foes was 51st, so it’s not entirely noteworthy that they put up 40 points when their opponents were mediocre at stopping anybody. The three times the Tigers met stout defenses, they put up 28 points total.
Fine. Is SEC sycophant more acceptable?
P.S. All defense rankings taken from http://www.cfbstats.com/2011/leader/national/team/defense/split01/category09/sort01.html
Thanks for the insight, Ogre, but one minor nitpick: Georgia Southern lost to NoDak State in the semifinal (NDSU beat Sam Houston State in the Championship). But interestingly, NDSU only allowed 7 against GSU, whereas Alabama allowed 21. National Champions my ass 
Well, obviously, NDSU watched the Bama game tape, and knew where to tighten up. You’re welcome, guys. 
Oh, and thanks for the correction.
If Alabama’s one loss had been to Vanderbilt, they would have been the clear #1 team. They would have been SEC champion, with wins over LSU, Arkansas, and Georgia, and had the best record in the country. A no-brainer #1.
Of course, LSU would have still beaten out Big 12 champion Oklahoma State to be #2. One of the worst things about this season was that so many of the big regular season games didn’t matter. LSU vs Alabama was a pointless game, and it was clear at the time it likely meant nothing. The SEC championship was even less than pointless, and should have just been canceled.
The meaninglessness of the regular season is why we may see real changes to the BCS.
No, it’s not naive in the slightest, it’s based on watching the polls for a loooong time and seeing how they react to different circumstances
Of course it’s incomplete. I wasn’t going to write a book.
But it is substantially accurate in that the absolute number 1 criteria for teams in BCS conferences has always been number of losses.
And for teams with 1 loss, the next thing that happens is mitigation based on if the team that won was ranked in the top few, especially if it’s a very close game.
All of the other factors you listed go into it as well, and as I said in my post, it’s fuzzy, the criteria can overlap and there can be exceptions.
But those 2 things are right at the top of the list consistently.
The problem with this year was that it was exactly the scenerio that many playoff advocates crave. Look at the one-loss teams
Alabama: Loses to LSU in overtime but in doing so, is second place in their division. At best a wild-card team.
Boise State: Missed field goal in regulation to TCU, who finished ranked #18. Literally one play away from being #2 in the nation.
Oklahoma State: Missed field goal by inches. A reading of the rules means that the ball must pass between the uprights and not part of the ball over the crossbar. I don’t know how much of an impact the plane crash had on OSUs players.
Good news. Maybe this is the year that makes changes happen.
Look, I understand where all this is coming from. I’m a strong proponent of a playoff myself. I’m not afraid for my Crimson Tide. They’ll be just fine in the BCS, a playoff, or whatever other system eventually evolves. Fair is fair, and as I’ve said before, if you don’t ultimately value the concept of a level playing field more than you even value your own team, you shouldn’t call yourself a sports fan. Playoff. Let’s do it. Let’s put it together and forget this BCS mess.
But there’s nothing I can do about that right now, or for this past season. The BCS rules do NOT disallow a team that didn’t win its division from playing for the championship. That’s really all there is to it.
Kickers are notoriously one of the most difficult positions to evaluate. Bama’s kicker was easily a top 3 kicking recruit when we signed him, and look how he turned out. You never really know what you’re going to get.
We’re looking to lose anywhere between ten and sixteen starters. Next year is a reloading year, but with the insane amount of incoming talent (including the top JUCO cornerback prospect in the country) there’s no reason we shouldn’t at least compete for the SEC title.
Lee wouldn’t have stood a chance. He might have made an occasional deep ball, but he’s absolutely horrible under pressure and would have thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. Bama played with two safeties all night long, and kept the pressure on Jefferson with a stout front seven. Without even the semblance of a threat of run option, Bama would have dialed up the pressure even more. What little breathing room LSU got in that game, they would have had even less with Jarret Lee at QB.
LSU lost largely because their offensive line couldn’t control the point of attack. They were collectively outmuscled by three fat boys and couldn’t protect their quarterback. The reason they didn’t go for the deep ball was simply because they didn’t have time. The pocket collapsed faster than their receivers could run, and even if they did manage get deep (not exactly easy against the some of the best defensive backs in the nation), our two safeties would have prevented the big play.
My favorite point of the night was watching Bama consistently target Honey Badger over, and over, and over, knowing that he was overrated and couldn’t pull a ball out of the air if it was thrown even a little bit high. Best moment of the night, for me, was freshman Kevin Norwood’s insane grab over shorty’s head.
I started the game by running commentary to my friend, “that’s Jordan Jefferson. He’s dumb as hell, but he can run, so he’s quarterback.” I’m not sure why anyone was surprised by this interception, as Jefferson has tried some variation on the granny shot in the last FOUR games LSU has played. He’s dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.
Better than that would be not dealing out random snarkiness unsupported by evidence. You don’t strengthen your argument by leavening it with pettiness.
My favorite moment, Rex, was on the kickoff after the last field goal. Mathieu knew he had to make some sort of crazy circus play to get LSU back in it, or this game was toast. So he catches the kickoff and tries to juke, but Dre Kirkpatrick, who Mathieu gave a concussion to with a very dirty, closed-fist clothesline from the back on November 5, was the gunner. He had been the gunner on kickoffs all night, and he was itching for payback. Kirkpatrick hit him, wrapped him up, and then about 750 Tide players hit Mathieu like a freight train and tackled him all the way back at the 25.
Mathieu came out of the pile with his pads and jersey all jacked up, and looking out one of his earholes. God, it was so beautiful.
LSU offense was not that special all year long. They scored a lot because they didn’t have to move the ball very far. They are way down the list on most offensive categories except for points scored.