What some people refuse to see is that ND v Syracuse and Boise St v Hawaii were not the deciding games for who plays in the MNC. Every game every week decided the final SOS results. So they are incredibly wrong to state that the ND v Syracuse had significant impliacations. They were no more important than Bama losing to Hawaii or some other game that was played in Week 1.
Let's put this in perspective. Whether or not the BCS wants to admit it, the BCS serves the purpose of "correcting" flaws in the human voting process. The traditional "what have you done for me lately" process of voting for the AP and Coaches poll has its merit but also has its drawbacks. They tend to "overpunish" a loss and "undercredit" a big win. If you had to look at the season as a whole, where would you place LSU, USC and OU in your top 3? Did OU get "overpunished" for their loss to Kansas State? Did LSU get "undercredited" for their dominance in the game over #5 Georgia (a road game nonetheless)? So here is where the computer polls come in. They factor in strength of schedule and many factor in W-L against top 10 and/or top-25 teams. The NYTimes, interestingly enough mimicks the AP/Coaches poll closer than any other since they weigh late season results heavier than earlier ones (hence OU dropped to 5 in their poll). The computer polls look at the whole season. This tends to balance off the "what have you done for me lately" AP/Coaches polling. But most importantly, the computer polls remove any "bias" in figuring their results. Humans, unfortunately, cannot remove bias in their voting. That is why USC was #1 in both human polls. LSU was the better team and many of these voters knew deep down inside this was true, but they wanted to see USC and OU in the Sugar Bowl. Those voters that voted with their heart instead of their head were the difference in LSU not reaching #1 in the human polls. In my opinion, LSU could play the #5 team 10 more times (whoever was #5 at the time), beat them senselessly like they did Georgia, and USC beat up on mediocre teams dwelling in the #40-#50 poll positions, and USC would more than likely still be #1. And if USC beats Michigan, take it to the bank that they will be sharing the NC. I don't care if they win 13-10 and Michigan turns the ball over 8 times and misses 4 field goals inside of 30 yards. LSU can dominate OU like they did Georgia, and the AP voters will still cast their vote for USC. The BCS works. It placed the 2 most deserving teams in the Sugar Bowl. USC, unfortunately for itself, plays in the weakest of the 6 BCS conferences by far. Because of that, it took them out of the BCS Championship game. Last point for all teams involved. Every one of these teams would have no one to blame but themselves for not getting into the BCS championship. LSU should not have come out flat against an inferior Florida team, USC should not have looked past a California team, and OU should have shown up in their all important conference championship game against Kansas State.
While you are correct but because of the way that the previous games turned out the ND vs Syracuse game became very important. True had Bama beat Hawaii and a few other games gone our way the ND/SU game wouldn't have been as important. But everything lined up to make that game very important.
Had Alabama beat Hawaii, then LSU would not have needed either Syracuse or Boise State to win. The difference in SOS for LSU and USC would basically have been the same spread (0.32) had Alabama, Notre Dame and Hawaii won. It's all relative. And yes it was kind of silly how the media made out the Notre Dame game to be the backbreaker for USC. Had Boise State not won, then Syracuse's win would not have mattered. LSU would have lost the #2 position to USC in the Billingsley computer poll had that happened and USC would have been #2 in the BCS.
What everyone fails to realize is the Human Polls had the power to offset the Computer polls if they wanted to. All the BCS gurus were telling everyone before hand that OU could lose their game and still be #1 in the computers and that if LSU won and got a little help they would jump USC in the computer polls. Once OU lost and LSU won everyone knew that OU would ! and LSU 2 in the commputers. If the humans did not want LSU to jump USC all they had to do was vote OU second in either or both human polls. If they wanted OU to fall to #3 in BCS rankings all they had to do was vote OU #5 in human polls. Thus the HUMAN POLLS had the power to name whoever they wanted in the BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. All these pundits that are slamming the BCS computer must realize that the human polls still control the BCS if they want to because all other elements of the BCS are predictable in advance to the voting of the human polls and thus can be offset by the humand polls. POllSTERS WAKE UP AND PLAY THE GAME!!!!!
If only LSU would have lost to the Dawgs like we were SUPPOSE to none of this would be going on. And if the press would have none been trying to shun LSU all year none of this would be going on. I doubt thier are many teams this morning that would put thier title hopes on the line and play LSU. That is why LSU should be playing for the NC. The tigers have had to put it on the line every week and when all was said and done still standing. Go Tigers Go Michigan
