Barring something unlikely, LSU and Alabama are going to play for the “national title” in major college football.
The “experts” are saying even if LSU loses to Georgia in the SEC title game that the Tigers will still be in the national championship contest. Say what? LSU could not even be champion of its own conference and still play for it all?
And let’s not forget Alabama. The Crimson Tide, despite it’s loyal and at times looney fan base, is not even champion of its half of the conference and yet they are set to play for it all.
For all that’s right about college football, this stinks worse than the outcome of the 2000 presidential election.
Let’s look at a few items:
•LSU beat Alabama during the regular season on the Crimson Tide’s home field. Yes, the game was close but LSU won. That’s it. Why should LSU now have to beat Alabama twice? What the powers-that-be of major college football are telling us is that LSU’s win really didn’t matter. Heck, it wouldn’t have mattered if Alabama had won. Afterall, the two teams would meet again later. The first game was similar to an NFL preseason game I suppose.
•How in the world can you play for a national title when you don’t win your conference title? How in the world can you play for it all when you don’t even win your half of the conference? Could Alabama beat most teams in the country. Probably so. However, the Tide had their chance at LSU and lost. Case closed.
•A system can only be described as corrupt when certain teams are ruled out of national title contention before the season even begins. The Houston Cougars are undefeated (they still have to play in their conference championship) but have not even been mentioned as a team that could play for it all. Why? Because Houston was eliminated before one snap was played in 2011. The same can be said for teams like Boise State who are eliminated each year in the preseason.
•If Oklahoma State wins its conference championship, why are the Cowboys not allowed to play for it?
•I’m tired of the excuses of how a playoff system would not work. It would work because it does work at every other level of college football. Division I-AA, now known as the Football Championship Series, has a playoff system. So does Division II and Division III. So does junior college and groups as the NAIA. Don’t tell me it won’t work. It does work and has worked for years.
•Can you imagine the NFL without a playoff system? Those who try to hold onto the bowl setup try to convince us that every regular season game is important. Well, you still have to do well in the regular season to make the playoffs. In the NFL the playoffs are important. However, if you don’t win enough games in the regular season then you aren’t going to the postseason.
•We’ve reached critical mass in “major” college football. The scam has gone on for too long. If LSU defeats Georgia then the Tigers deserve to play for it all. No argument there. However, Alabama does not deserve to play for it all. A team which is not champion of its half of the conference cannot play for it all.
Once again we will have a mythical national champion in big-time college football. How long is this going to be crammed down our throats and we just go along with it?
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. You can send comments about this column to cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
