NCAA Football; BCS Rankings Offer Typical Conversation Starters
Alabama is number one in the first BCS Poll of 2012
Have I mentioned how much I hate the BCS? If I haven’t then please know I hate the BCS. There, now that you know I can move on. This past Sunday, the Bowl Championship Series issued their first rankings of the season and to no one’s surprise, the SEC was dominant with four teams in the Top 10 and six in the Top 12. Although I’m from Big Ten country, I’m the first to admit that the SEC is light years ahead of any other conference in the country in terms of both talent and conference competition on a weekly basis.
1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Oregon
4. Kansas State
5. Notre Dame
6. LSU
7. South Carolina
8. Oklahoma
9. USC
10. Georgia
The BCS has managed to stick around for as long as it has because of exactly what I’m doing now which is discuss it. Alabama should most certainly be the number one team, but how would anyone justify Florida over Oregon? How would anyone justify 6-0 Mississippi State being buried at 12 behind two fellow SEC schools in Georgia and LSU? Herein lies much of the problem that finally resulted in this ridiculousness being banished in favor of a four-team playoff coming in 2014.
Preseason rankings kill the fortunes of teams like undefeated Mississippi State.
The reason Mississippi State is lower has little to do with their schedule or well they’ve played, it has to do with their preseason ranking which should have been the first thing to quickly followed by the BCS. By factoring in this ranking, essentially any team that is outside of the preseason Top 15 has ZERO shot of making the BCS Title game. With that, good luck Bulldogs because you’re going to need it.
Looks move ahead like the men in their Sears and Roebuck suits want us to do and discuss another potential BCS disaster. What in the wide world of sports would the people in South Bend do if their beloved Irish run the table and be undefeated but end up left out of the BCS Title game? Being unbeaten would also mean Notre Dame would have beaten Oklahoma and USC on the road, but bear with me and my hypotheticals. Imagine if Alabama runs the table and beats an undefeated Florida in the SEC Title game for example. Would a one-loss LSU team finish ahead of an undefeated Notre Dame team? You want to talk about shaking down the thunder….
This is what the suits want us doing though and here we are discussing things that most likely not matter by the time December rolls around. Injuries and upsets are sure still to come but I guess this is sports in America in 2012. We love to argue about the what ifs and could bes and yet we can’t do anything about them.
Games I’m Watching This Week
Oregon at Arizona State – For what I believe will be the first time this season, Oregon’s defense will truly be tested. The Arizona State offense can score at will and the Ducks are going to find out just how good their defense is. I believe this one will be much closer than many people expect as this is also the Ducks’ first real road test as well. I expect the Ducks to pull this one out but it’s going to be tight.
Michigan State at Michigan – Many thought this match-up would be that of two teams with maybe a loss or two between them, but UM has two and MSU already has lost three times on the year. The Spartans are looking for their fifth straight win in the series but must be do it against a Wolverines’ team with an improving defense and a severe issue at quarterback. Sparty has had better success against Denard Robinson than any other team up until Alabama in the season opener. It may have helped that the Crimson Tide’s coaches went to East Lansing during the summer to see how State limited Robinson. Michigan has been waiting for this one all year and I expect a win by them in the Big House.
