Possibility of the unthinkable: another split NC?

Hey, Lou Holtz still thinks they're the best team in the country. :rolleye33:

I put USC in the mix since the media has been giving them a lot of credit for finishing strong and they're being talked about along with OU as playing the best football right now. I didn't mean to imply that USC would then jump OU, but that it would be an even stronger case that LSU wouldn't be a clear-cut #1. Granted, it's a reeaaally long stretch, but I put NOTHING past these people.

 

Ain't gonna happen...Now relax and move forward.


:tigereye::tigereye::tigereye::tigereye::tigereye:

 

That is what some people were saying after the R Kansas game. :lol:

 

In this case, media is really ESPN, no? Nice for USC to get "credit" since the entire country has had the Stanford loss cemented in voter's/viewers minds over and over and over via the PGCP commercial. Guess that's ESPN's version of tough love.

In some ways, the AP process is more legitimate since the voting for NC is done AFTER the game, rather than contractually required before a single snap is made in the game itself. Let's say the 2 teams selected were in by the slimmest of margins and in the game itself, both teams played horribly. Meanwhile the team that most considered #3 absolutely destroyed a solid #4 team. The AP then can vote #3 as the NC and maybe that's correct.

That said, USC is not #3 (Georgia probably is) and there is little to no chance that LSU and the Buckeyes play poorly. There will be no split title. But there will continue to be lots of conversation since so many teams got the shaft this year and the matchups are not anywhere as good as they could be. Perhaps it was done to ensure no split title.

 

I think you are correct. There is only one "NCAA Division I National Champion" and that's the winner of the I-AA Playoffs. They get the "NCAA trophy" which looks like this. http://www.div1fbchampionship.com/history.html




They are recognized as the NCAA Football National Champions. The winner of the I-A/FBS are recognized as the BCS National Champions, not the NCAA ones.

Something like that, I could be off a few points but I'm confident for the most part I am correct in saying that the winners of the I-AA Playoffs are considered the NCAA Champions.

 

I never implied that USC didn't deserve credit for finishing strong. They're right up there with OU and Georgia in terms of teams playing great football right now. In most years that would be a solid argument for a NC berth, but this year voters had to look at the entire season, not just "what have you done for me lately". Having said that, there is absolutely no reason on earth that a team with as much coaching and on-field talent as USC should lose to a team like Stanford at home, finish with 1 more loss, and deserve a NC shot. Ever. In that sense, the polls got it right.

I actually agree with what most people have already said. No way should a #3 team that beats #4 EVER jump a #2 team who beats #1, to win the NC, regardless of the margin(s) of victory, quality of play, or the poll. I'm simply acknowledging the possibility that it COULD happen. If you want the AP to have the same legitimacy as the BCS, then we need to do away with the BCS system altogether if all you have to do to become NC is dazzle the voters with style points in your bowl game, rather than actually beat the #1/#2 team in the country.

 

And yet it happens. Same as there was no good reason for LSU to lose to an unranked Arkansas at home so late in the season. The biggest reason for Stanford was that JDB had a broken finger leading to 4 INT's which he'd never done before and PC didn't take him out of the game. Good coaches aren't gods, just coaches and they make mistakes. If VaTech can escape the scrutiny of an LSU beatdown early in the year, then why not USC against Stanford.....a team BTW which finished with 4 wins including one over kal who beat Tennessee....early.

The polls did not get it right IMO to keep USC as low as we've been considering how we've ended the year. And our only other loss was to Oregon on the road when they were ranked and had a healthy Dixon. USC had Sanchez who almost pulled it off but not quite. But I've still never claimed USC should be in the NC game, in fact it was quite the opposite.

It's like khounba said, if the BCS gives more weight to human polls anyway and VaTech with the highest score can't even sniff the title game, then why do they even still use the computers? I'd be in favor of replacing style points with a component favoring a consideration for away games and punishment for scheduling Div1AA.

 

If Arky didn't have Felix Jones and Marcus Monk back, if Dennis Dixon hadn't played the hero and torn his ACL, if Pat White hadn't broken his finger against Pitt, and so on. I can also argue about how decimating defensive injuries have been for LSU, too. We can argue mitigating circumstances and make excuses til the cows come home. Bottom line: the voters feel, as I do, that dropping a game to a 4-8 team in regulation on a desperation fade route, is worse than losing to a 7-5 team in 3OT with a Heisman finalist firing on all cylinders.

And how exactly did VT escape the scrutiny of the LSU game? They're ranked #3 because they lost to the #2 team in the country on the road and got burned in the final 2 minutes by a BC team they beat to win the ACC. But the LSU loss always kept them out of NC consideration. You may disagree, but there's simply no way to make the Stanford loss not look as bad as it was.

Edit: Now that I've reread your response, I should point out that I was referring to Stanford within the context of a NC berth. Without the Oregon loss, USC would be in the NC, probably at #1. You're right that injuries are beyond a team's control, but some things like coaching decisions are, however.

Because computers can't take into account the various factors we've mentioned earlier. They're a way to bring some measure, however incomplete and controversial we think it is, of objectiveness to the championship equation. This won't go away until a +1 at the least is established, and even that wouldn't resolve the problems this year with so many deserving teams.