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Why the top 3 are unbeaten

  • The deck is stacked against an SEC team making it all the way. I've been screaming for years that the final record being the only barometer for national championship game contention is absurd. To prove my point, take a look at the top three teams and their games before and after their "tough game" compared to the SEC's same grind:

    Oregon -

    Southern Cal
    Before - Colorado (1-9)
    After - California (3-8)

    Kansas St -

    Oklahoma
    Before - North Texas (4-6)
    After - Kansas (1-9)

    Notre Dame

    Stanford
    Before - Miami (5-5)
    After - BYU (6-4) (Won by 3 points)

    Oklahoma
    Before - BYU (6-4)
    After - Pitt (4-6) won by 3 points 3OT

    Alabama

    Miss St.
    Before - UT (4-6)
    After LSU (8-2)

    LSU
    Before - Miss St. (7-3)
    After - TAMU (8-2)

    Other SEC notables:

    LSU had a stretch of: @Florida, vs South Carolina, @TAMU, vs Alabama, vs Miss St
    South Carolina had a stretch of: vs UGA, @LSU, @Florida

    It's unfair to hold SEC teams to the same standard of needing to be undefeated, when the rest of the country plays 1 or 2 games all year against decent competition. I don't care how many RANKED teams you play - if your ranked opponents are in the teens or twenties and you get to follow that game up against some nobody - then OF COURSE you're gonna go undefeated.

    Bama, on the other hand, has to play 3 of the top 8 in the BCS, two back to back. (ND, Oregon, and KSt play none)

    The 4 team playoff can't get here fast enough.

    bamagrad03

  • It really is BS that record is so important. In the playoff, we'd probably be at worst a 3-seed with our SOS and being a conference champion. Voters pretend it's the NFL where there's enough parity to make SOS relatively unimportant.

    The silver lining is that at least this system is better than what we had before.

    macamatic ●

  • macamatic said...

    It really is BS that record is so important. In the playoff, we'd probably be at worst a 3-seed with our SOS and being a conference champion. Voters pretend it's the NFL where there's enough parity to make SOS relatively unimportant.

    The silver lining is that at least this system is better than what we had before.

    That's what baffles me about people saying "only conference champions should make the playoffs"

    As if a 12-0 team from the Big East is gonna be better than an 11-1 team from the SEC. It's absurd. All conferences (and schedules) are not created equal.

    The sad thing is, if ND makes the title game, they'd still be a 13 to 17 point underdog vs Alabama on a neutral field. But hey, the sportswriters would be happy because they have "SEC fatigue."

    bamagrad03

  • The playoff starting in 2014 will end up being the best thing that could have happened for the SEC. For the reasons mentioned above.

    This post was edited by 1tide on 11/12/2012 at 11:41 AM

    New Member of The 247 Crew!

    1tide

  • Good points, but keep in mind the Big 12, Big 10, Pac 12, ACC and Big East know-its would say that their conferences are
    tough and the equals of the SEC. Yeah, right.

    JoeRio ●

  • bamagrad03 said...

    The deck is stacked against an SEC team making it all the way. I've been screaming for years that the final record being the only barometer for national championship game contention is absurd. To prove my point, take a look at the top three teams and their games before and after their 'tough game' compared to the SEC's same grind:

    Oregon -

    Southern Cal
    Before - Colorado (1-9)
    After - California (3-8)

    Kansas St -

    Oklahoma
    Before - North Texas (4-6)
    After - Kansas (1-9)

    Notre Dame

    Stanford
    Before - Miami (5-5)
    After - BYU (6-4) (Won by 3 points)

    Oklahoma
    Before - BYU (6-4)
    After - Pitt (4-6) won by 3 points 3OT

    Alabama

    Miss St.
    Before - UT (4-6)
    After LSU (8-2)

    LSU
    Before - Miss St. (7-3)
    After - TAMU (8-2)

    Other SEC notables:

    LSU had a stretch of: @Florida, vs South Carolina, @TAMU, vs Alabama, vs Miss St
    South Carolina had a stretch of: vs UGA, @LSU, @Florida

    It's unfair to hold SEC teams to the same standard of needing to be undefeated, when the rest of the country plays 1 or 2 games all year against decent competition. I don't care how many RANKED teams you play - if your ranked opponents are in the teens or twenties and you get to follow that game up against some nobody - then OF COURSE you're gonna go undefeated.

    Bama, on the other hand, has to play 3 of the top 8 in the BCS, two back to back. (ND, Oregon, and KSt play none)

    The 4 team playoff can't get here fast enough.

    Hmmmmmm didn't seem to affect the SEC the past 6 years.........

    Bama Illinois

  • The future playoff system pretty much guarantees an SEC team playing for the championship year in and year out and, in a lot years, it will mean two SEC teams playing for the championship. The rest of the country is going to hate the SEC's dominance of the playoff format because no one will be more prepared for a playoff than the SEC. Before you know it the Big Ten, Pac 12, and Big 12 will be whining for an expansion to 8 teams in an attempt to increase their odds. Jmo

    signature image

    The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Cor 10:4

    Aight36411 ●

  • A'ight said...

    The future playoff system pretty much guarantees an SEC team playing for the championship year in and year out and, in a lot years, it will mean two SEC teams playing for the championship. The rest of the country is going to hate the SEC's dominance of the playoff format because no one will be more prepared for a playoff than the SEC. Before you know it the Big Ten, Pac 12, and Big 12 will be whining for an expansion to 8 teams in an attempt to increase their odds. Jmo

    Amen...people still against a playoff are clueless imho!

    New Member of The 247 Crew!

    1tide

  • Bama Illinois said...

    Hmmmmmm didn't seem to affect the SEC the past 6 years.........

    It doesn't affect the SEC once we get there, but 7 years ago it affected Auburn, and many of the others have had to have tremendous luck - or go undefeated - just to get there.

    I'm sure you would agree that it's much easier to go undefeated in the Big 12 or Big East than it is in the SEC. The fact that nobody has come close to beating an SEC team in a BCS title game proves my point. The SEC is SOOOOO far out in front of all the rest (at least the top of the SEC), that we destroy the nation's best.

    It's unfair that we beat up on each other and take ourselves out of the mix, when we'd be favored against any other conferences best, even with a loss or two. But these days, it doesn't matter who you play - your win loss record is all that matters.

    That's why ND can play within 3 points of Pitt, Purdue, and BYU and still be considered one of the best 3 teams in the country - even though there are at least 10 teams in college football who would be double digit favorites over them.

    bamagrad03

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