some will consider it unethical, but in many ways so is the BCS. Certain things have to be done. Here's a scenario that some of you may not remember. Remember 2001, when Nebraska played Miami for the national championship in the Rose Bowl? Here's the setup. Nebraska was 11-1, and Colorado was 11-2. But Colorado beat Nebraska 62-36 (and it wasn't even as close as the score might sound) in the final game. It was domination. But the polls had Nebraska at 3 and Colorado at 4 by virtue of one loss vs. two losses. (Oregon was at number 2, but their computer rankings and SOS were very low so they were a nonfactor for the number 2 in the BCS rankings) On the final weekend of the season (when LSU beat Tennessee for the SEC Championship), neither CU or NU played. But Barnett called everyone he knew in the coaching fraternity, stressing the complete domination in which CU handled Nebraska and how wrong it was to consider Nebraska a better team. The next morning, Colorado jumped Nebraska in the coaches poll. In the end, they came up 0.05 points short - all they needed was a boost in one computer ranking, and they didn't get it. It's a similar scenario this year, even though LSU and USC haven't played head to head. If LSU wins the SEC game, the difference in schedule strength and quality wins will be so dramatic that there will be an extremely clear case that LSU is number 2. If Nick has friends in the coaching community, I bet he calls them up Dec. 6, and it might work. Unlike many scenarios, this one has a precedent - and it was just two years ago.
Yeah, but it IS Skip Bertmans job to promote this program professionally and politically. Skip need to work the network as much as our opponents will.
I would be disgusted if LSU had to "beg" its way into the national championship. If we do not earn the right to go on the field, then we do not earn the right to go to the NC.
That is a very "Oregon" thing to do. Why not put up billboards in NY, hoping to impress the NYTimes? The Tigers have to settle this on the field. The SEC is no PAC-10, and the voters will see that in the final polls. Win out, and we will most likely jump SC. So all the calls in the world will not matter. Mich and Ohio St proved once again that regular season polls and expert predictions don't mean a damn thing, it's the final BCS polls that matter and the end of the year results. Saban won't waste his time on the phone, he doesn't seem like he would beg for respect, a bowl game, or help. I think he would want to prove it on the field, beating ARk and winning the SECCG will go a long way toward doing that.
But, Trumpet, you have to understand how the BCS works (or, more accurately, DOESN'T work). LSU cannot, necessarily, "earn" the right to go "on the field." They could win out and the stupid BCS could have USC ahead of them. How do you "earn" the right to go to the title under this system? A BCS conference team could go undefeated and still not "earn" their way into the title , if two other major schools also go undefeated! This system sucks! The only way to decide it is on the field and not on paper and in computer programs.
That's RIGHT! So now, all of a sudden, a conference title and a BCS bowl isn't good enough? Not that I'm saying I don't want to play in the national title game--but if we don't make it, it's NOT like we don't have a STELLAR CORE of players returning for next year, a head coach that recruits like a mad-man, landing the top classes in the nation and a budding and growing new-found respect from the national media!
my point is that if LSU and USC both finish with one loss, it's fairly clear to me that LSU has earned the right to go to the NC. If the human voters can't see it, then it should be up to the program to do everything it can to change it. There are situations where certain "codes" have to be broken, and I think this would be one of them.
Wait, if a BCS conference team goes undefeated during the regular season and wins the conference title game . . . I promise you that the BCS conference team will be in the BCS title bowl game. That is how the system is set to work. Check out Okla, why on earth do you think they are so far ahead of everyone? The thing that hurts you most in the BCS formula is losses. We beat Florida and win our remaining games, we play in the Title game no matter what happens with SC, Ohio St, etc. What happens on the field dictates the BCS, human polls, and everything else more than phone calls and begging for respect. College football is different than pro. Rankings are mostly based on past performance along with current performance, which is why the Miami's of the college football world stay highly ranked. They run off long win streaks and only lose 1 or 2 games a year. We are now in position to join them, which is why I don't want to see us become another Oregon. Winning programs keep their players 4 years, win year in and year out, and dont' need to beg for a chance to play in a bowl game. They let the records speak for themselves.
