Two "best" teams, two "top" teams can be one in the same or different depending on how the year shakes out. In 2007, LSU got to the title game b/c there was a slew of beaten teams and we had one of the "best" teams and we had one of the best resumes. Had we played Boise's schedule that year, we would not have been in the title game. Just like in the NFL playoffs, you have to win when it's all on the line. In the NCAA you have to do that and have a comperable schedule and sometimes the national perception as one of the best as well. The bottom line is you have to have a great team, have a solid schedule and you need a little bit of luck, as all champions do. All that being said, without a playoff it can still come down to opinion and breaks going your way. In games you play in and otherwise. Still, you'll have those arguing against a champion who happened to "get hot" at the end of the year. All that being said, I really have no definitive answer. You just have to go out and win AND play good football every week. That gives you your "best chance" to end it all as #1.
All that said, what does it say if GA makes it to the SEC CG?? Boisy beat GA. We'll beat GA. I can see that perspective alone as being a justification for putting an undefeated Boisy in the NCG over a slew of 1 loss teams. I mean .. really, it's about what the people want to see. Voters are going to "vote" for who they feel is the two teams that make the best match up for the game. For that reason alone, I don't see a rematch of LSU vs OR or Bama. LSU will play one of OU, Stanford, Okie State or Boisy in the NCG. Even a one loss OU, Stanford or Okie State, IMO, wil be chosen above Bama or Oregon. OR really has the bigger hill to climb, as even if they beat Stanford, and knock them out of the running, I don't see them jumping OU, or Okie State in the choosing process. It may not be fair, but it is what it is.
Who here thinks voters may not want an LSU-Bama rematch b/c of a 9-6 field goal fest? Could that influence decision? I actually think, with the right set of circumstances, it could.
I tend to justify the Oregon thing, rightly or wrongly, on the fact that they had back-to-back cracks against the SEC, couldn't win, and people don't want to see them right now against the SEC in the big game again. Next year? Could be a different story, but their story is written this year. Again, rightly or wrongly.
If Bama lucks up and catches LSU in the Superdome, they lose again and decisively. The dome would be like when you play UGA in Atlanta. 3/4 or more purple and gold.
Without a structured playoff system, at some point in the season you have to consider every game a playoff game. LSU-Bama was a playoff game. Bama lost. They are eliminated, assuming there will be another undefeated team at the end of the year. (and i'm not really counting Boise or Houston). If Ok State and Stanford slip up, then it's a free for all for the number 2 spot, and it would be hard to argue Alabama. The BCS is about putting the 2 best teams in the CG. But by their standards, that means the 2 best undefeated teams from the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, or Pac 10. (and maybe the ACC)
