Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Motown is Joe-Town!

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

It’s a doggy dog world.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Days Since JD Vance Insulted Women Across America: Zero

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Good lord, these people are nuts.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

You are here: Home / Sports / BCS Open Thread

Reader Interactions

147Comments

  6. 6.

    The Spy Who Loved Me

    Good thing Bama is playing LSU and not Florida. As Cole knows, Tebow-fu is strong.

  9. 9.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    You are supporting Bama (Joe Scarborough) against LSU (Melissa Harris Perry) what are you Cole a damn republican?

    For what it is worth I want LSU to win cause I want to see Scarborough crying in the morning.

  10. 10.

    Raven

    @Mino: I’m from Illinois, I’ve just lived her for 27 years. I love New Orleans and my experience with LSU fans when the come here has been very good, win or lose. Bama fans are just a pain in the fucking ass. I was, however, at the last game the Bear coached so I always have something to impress them.

  13. 13.

    Evolving Deep Southerner (tense changed for accuracy)

    @Raven: I’ve got to go with LSU even after that red-headed-stepchild-grade beating they gave the Dawgs in the dome.

    My Pops (also an UGA man) went to banking school at LSU, and though it lasted only a few weeks total, I think he has more and better stories from those few weeks in Baton Rouge than from all four of his years in Athens.

  17. 17.

    eastriver

    The Alabama Steelers? Never heard of them.

    LOUDEST SNICKER ON THE PLANET.

    How’s your head today, JC?

  18. 18.

    eastriver

    The Alabama Steelers? Never heard of them.

    LOUDEST SNICKER ON THE PLANET.

    How’s your head today, JC?

  20. 20.

    baldheadeddork

    Bama??? Whatthefuck Cole? Nick Saban is the offspring of Satan and a piece of crap. I want LSU to beat him so bad his grandchildren feel it.

  25. 25.

    kdaug

    @Yutsano:

    Count me as the don’t give a shizzle.

    Roger that, couldn’t give two shits either way.

    But politics ? Now that’s football with consequences.

    ETA: Off to get some Funyuns. Don’t ask why – got a hankering, and 40-odd years suggest it’s best to pay attention.

  27. 27.

    Cassidy

    @Baud: Another gem:

    “Whoever makes the least mistakes is gonna win.”

    Way to go out on a limb pre-game show guy.

  31. 31.

    RareSanity

    FWIW, I’m rooting for LSU.

    I don’t like the fact that they were punished, by having to play in the SEC Championship game, when they beat Bama the first time. All Bama did was sit on their asses, rest, get healthy, and study film on LSU.

  34. 34.

    Cassidy

    @Raven: No offense taken. I just wish I could get paid a few mil to offer generic utterances before a sports game. I know shizzle about hockey, but could easily work a pre-game with crap like that.

  35. 35.

    Raven

    “Louisiana State University football coach Les Miles has $5.7 million riding on tonight’s Bowl Championship Series title game.

    A victory over the University of Alabama triggers a clause in his contract that increases his annual pay by that much over the remaining six years of the deal. “

  37. 37.

    RareSanity

    @Raven:

    I’m doin’ GREAT!

    Over the holidays, I took a complete break from news, blogs and politics. I missed the whole ABL dust up and come back just time for football.

    Although those damn Falcons embarrassed themselves and the State of Georgia yesterday. I refuse to let the members of that gutless “football team” get me down.

    How’s things in your neck of the woods?

  39. 39.

    South of I-10

    @Raven: I was most recently there for the New Orleans Bowl. I know, not the same, but I loved watching my Cajuns win!

  40. 40.

    tulip

    Boise State got hosed, not saying they belonged in the Championship Game but they did belong in a BCS game.

    I’m rooting for meteors. And a pox on both Les and Nick. Rotten to the core, both of them.

  41. 41.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @efgoldman:

    Bob Costas is showing some signs of wear and tear as well. He used to be absolutely the best. Now, I’m not so sure.

    Brent Musburger, OTOH, has been annoying for DECADES.

  43. 43.

    Cassidy

    @tulip:

    Boise State got hosed, not saying they belonged in the Championship Game but they did belong in a BCS game.

    This gets said every year, but BS really needs to move to a big boy conference. I’m not saying they suck, just that consistency of opposition goes a long way in the rankings.

  44. 44.

    RareSanity

    @tulip:

    Boise State got hosed, not saying they belonged in the Championship Game but they did belong in a BCS game.

    The BCS conferences will never let that happen. Until, of course, they finally get sued for antitrust violations.

    That had a chance when Urban Meyer was at Utah and Orinn Hatch had a bug in his bonnet about it. But, that day has past. So, until some other politician’s alma mater, that actually has the influence to make shit happen gets screwed, nothing will change.

  47. 47.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    I wonder if Brent misses the old gang? Herb Cross, Whats-her-face, Jimmy The Greek, the late great expert on race and breeding.

  49. 49.

    John O

    Jeez, I have little problem with Brent other than that I am bored with him. I think he’s a competent and not abrasive PBP man. *duck/cover*

  50. 50.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Villago Delenda Est: I think Costas was the first one to incorporate snark into sports reporting. If so, that led down one treacherous path, including the smug and tedious Joe Buck.

  51. 51.

    RareSanity

    @flukebucket:

    I despise the media coverage of Tebow. Only the media could make something, that should be a positive thing, nauseating.

    To the media Tebow = Favre, new and improved, with moor Jeebus!

  52. 52.

    Raven

    @RareSanity: Fine, made up a big pot of gumbo for the game and just enjoying the last gasp of the college game. Got sick the day I went on leave and stayed down most of the break. Back in the saddle now! Still sick about the Dawgs surrender in OT.

  53. 53.

    FlipYrWhig

    @efgoldman: I like watching Marv Albert and waiting for him to say “The chant. [long pause] Of defense. [long pause]” It’s pretty much without fail.

  54. 54.

    patroclus

    @tulip:

    Boise State certainly got hosed, but so did Oklahoma State and Kansas State and TCU. The BCS system is so inherently corrupt and rigged that it’s a wonder that anyone takes it seriously anymore. ESPN ran an AP article yesterday about declining attendance and TV ratings for the bowls generally and there were thousands of comments and virtually every one of them blamed the horrendous BCS.

    FBS college football needs a playoff system desperately.

  56. 56.

    tulip

    @Cassidy:

    I get that, that’s why they left the WAC for the Mountain. They were ranked 7th in the BCS, 6th in the Coaches and 8th in the ESPN polls. Don’t care what conference they come from, if they were ranked 7th in the BCS poll they deserved to be in one of the BCS bowls.

    The whole thing is effed.

    Meteors. I hope they both lose. Somehow. Boise is just a glaring example of what a rigged system it is.

  57. 57.

    patroclus

    @FlipYrWhig:

    On TV, perhaps, Costas was the first, but in print, Dan Jenkins has been around since the 1950’s and he’s pretty snarky.

  59. 59.

    John O

    @efgoldman:

    Agree to disagree. He’s under a lot of pressure from The Man not to say anything controversial, and that’s the only change in sports broadcasting I would find remotely interesting: some sort of Gonzo hyper-partisan anti-corporate, anti-zebra “madman.” That would be fun.

    For me they’re all the same in terms of tired cliches.

  60. 60.

    Raven

    Boise State didn’t get fucked. They fucked themselves. If they had made the field goal they would have gotten fucked.

  63. 63.

    patroclus

    @Raven:

    Boise State is 12-1, which is the same as Alabama, and Bama is pulling in about $24.3 million for them and the SEC and Boise went to the Vegas Bowl to blow out 6-6 Arizona State and earned about $500,000. TCU beat the Broncos, won the MWC and got to go the lightly-attended Poinsettia Bowl against Louisiana Tech and also earned about $500,000. Both Boise and TCU were everyone’s highest “confidence” picks in the ESPN bowl challenge pool, and all the commentators just laughed and laughed about it.

  64. 64.

    RareSanity

    @Raven:

    Dawgs have the same disease inflicting the Falcons…heart disease, as in don’t have any. Sad thing is that both are caused by the coaching but, it’s really hard to fire coaches with they’re winning.

    If you fire a coach after making their league’s post-season (SEC Championship, NFL PLayoffs), you’d better be damn sure, the guy you’re bringing in is actually better.

  66. 66.

    The Dangerman

    @patroclus:

    FBS college football needs a playoff system desperately.

    Watched the FCS Championship game (North Dakota State vs Sam Houston) over the weekend; pretty good game. Yes, they had to play more games and that meant less time in the classroom (over the past 5 weeks, I’m quite sure that the LSU players and Bama players were in the library quite often).

  69. 69.

    patroclus

    @Raven:
    Actually, things have now changed – TCU will be in the Big12-2+1-1+1 next year and Boise will (presumably) be going to the Big East in due course. So they will likely be less screwed in the future, but the situation will be the same for whoever takes their place. BCS AQ status is now more important than actual college/university accreditation for monetary purposes.

  71. 71.

    patroclus

    @The Dangerman:

    Agreed. The FCS championship is meaningful and the championship game was exciting and well-played. So far, this game seems as boring as the first one and doesn’t seem to be well-played at all. Like all the bowls, ratings will likely be down.

  73. 73.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @efgoldman:

    Really? I mean when you are listening to something so sublime, your immediate thought is that it is too long? I think the opposite, it ends too soon for me, I want the magic to continue,

  74. 74.

    Raven

    @patroclus:

    Most college football fans will watch regardless. This is, after all, the national championship game. Whether or not they agree with the premise of a rematch, they want to watch Trent Richardson and the Honey Badger, Les Miles and Nick Saban. The three-highest rated television games of the season all involved LSU (the first Alabama game, the SEC title game against Georgia and a Nov. 25 game against third-ranked Arkansas).

    The networks, which depend on a broader audience than just the diehards to deliver the huge ratings normally expected of a championship game, aren’t worried about a contest between two teams from the same region turning off viewers from other parts of the country.

    “Obviously it’s a unique situation with the rematch,” said ESPN Senior VP Burke Magnus. “But the SEC is a national brand. LSU and Alabama are national brands. We have high expectations.”

    Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/stewart_mandel/01/09/lsu-alabama-bcs-title-nation-divided/index.html#ixzz1j1HjLH5I

  76. 76.

    Cassidy

    Both Boise and TCU …

    …want all the glory for half the work.

    There are Pop Warner leagues in Los Angeles that are just as competitive than the Mountain.

  77. 77.

    RareSanity

    @Raven:

    Couldn’t have said it better myself, I really like that Grantham guy.

    Richt is better as a coordinator. He doesn’t have that same, “beat them into submission” attitude that guys like Nick Saban, Les Miles and Urban Meyer have.

    It’s best if he is not the one making those types of decisions.

  78. 78.

    patroclus

    @Raven:

    That’s what they’re saying beforehand – once the ratings come in, I suspect it’ll be a different story. Tina Kunzer-Murphy pretty much said the same thing prior to the Vegas Bowl and attendance was way down and the game was a blow-out (as everyone but TKM knew long before).

  80. 80.

    The Dangerman

    @patroclus:

    That’s what they’re saying beforehand – once the ratings come in, I suspect it’ll be a different story.

    Perhaps the best football game EVER was Oklahoma/BSU; had fucking everything (including the proposal). Right now, LSU/Bama has … crickets. Great defenses, no doubt, but at the end of the day, it’s 2 SEC teams that we see every damned year. There are remotes being hit across America (hell, I’m tempted, but I’m a sports junkie).

  82. 82.

    Raven

    @patroclus: What is it that makes you think the ratings for this game will be bad? These are two defensive monsters coming off almost 6 weeks without playing. It’s no surprise that the offenses are not performing well.

    Also, remember LSU had one first down against Georgia in the first half.

  83. 83.

    Ed in NJ

    Very little interest around these parts for this game. Of course, Big East country is down on the entire shitty college football establishment that works overtime to exclude our teams from television, raids our teams for coaches every year, and orchestrates the destruction of the league to better serve the traditional conferences.

    Hope the ratings suck. They are already discussing changing the format to plus one (top 4 teams playoff during the bowls) as a result of this illegitimate SEC Championship #2.

  84. 84.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    The SEC has one advantage over the other conferences, they don’t have to worry about that pesky thing called ACADEMICS. Well there is Vanderbilt, but they are the token Ivy private school.

  85. 85.

    Skipjack

    Anyone else unable to access ESPN 3? I’m defeated again by the Internet. Why on earth they thought people wouldn’t want to watch this on their HDTVs baffles me too.

    Oh, nvm, my bad. I’ll leave that comment up in case i’m looking in the future to see how stupid I once was.

  87. 87.

    Raven

    Georgia added a big piece to its 2012 recruiting class on Monday night when Harris County defensive end Jordan Jenkins announced he will sign with the Bulldogs.

    Bulldogs defensive coordinator Todd Grantham was key in Georgia landing the 6-foot-3, 246-pound Jenkins over Alabama, Florida and Auburn.

    “My first two years of getting recruited I thought I was going to end up at ‘Bama,” Jenkins said during a televised announcement on Fox Sports South. “I never would have thought I was going to Georgia.”

    Hell Yes!

  88. 88.

    patroclus

    The Sooners v. the Broncos was certainly a great game and grabbed the nation’s attention, but the best actual games I’ve seen were all 4 of the TCU-BSU games. Back and forth, switching leads, great defenses, trick plays, exciting future NFL stars, crafty coaches, all coming down (essentially) to the very last play. College football at its finest!

    Tonight, not so much (so far). Three FG’s; unimaginative play-calling, but lots of hype and LOTS of money.

  89. 89.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @Raven:

    What is it that makes you think the ratings for this game will be bad?

    Basketball scores and tight finishes for the earlier BCS games, vs Puntapalooza here?

  91. 91.

    Cassidy

    illegitimate SEC Championship #2.

    Really? The #1 and #2 teams playing for the National Championship is illegitimate?

  94. 94.

    patroclus

    @Raven:

    Basically, for all the reasons that have already been stated by others. It’s a rematch; vast swaths of the country have no rooting interest whatsoever, both offenses are boring, all they ever do is score FG’s, there’s been a 6-week layoff, bowl season is usually (formerly) over on 1/1, it’s a Monday night, not a weekend, it’s on ESPN, not an over-the-air network, there’s no David v. Goliath story, both coaches are unliked nationally, the system is rigged, the economy is down.

    Actually, though, what I think will happen is a lot of people will tune in at first, but will use their remote controls often, so my guess is that early ratings will be strong, but ratings towards the end of the game will be weak.

  95. 95.

    Raven

    @patroclus: I give up,the BCS sucks, the game sucks, the sec sucks,the teams suck, the announcers suck, the camera’s suck, what-the-fuck-ever.

  96. 96.

    The Dangerman

    @Ed in NJ:

    They are already discussing changing the format to plus one (top 4 teams playoff during the bowls) as a result of this illegitimate SEC Championship #2.

    Having a playoff with the semifinals on Christmas and the final on NYD would be bigger than march Madness. There’s already a playoff system (of sorts) in place; the Conference Championship Games (that Bama conveniently didn’t play in). Now, that would have to be tweaked, as this year, UCLA could be a Conference champion (cough, cough; it could have happened … well, with lots of injuries to Oregon).

  97. 97.

    Cassidy

    the sec sucks

    That’s what this boils down to. Fans of other conferences are unhappy and jealous that thier teams don’t get the same exposure. Maybe they should play better.

  99. 99.

    patroclus

    @Raven:

    Well, don’t give up yet. The BCS certainly stinks, but this game could still get good down the stretch. Moreover, the entire SEC propaganda machine will undoubtedly conclude that this has been the bestest match-up ever (they’ve probably already written their stories and are just waiting to click on “Submit”). There are a whole LOT of people that agree with you (not me) and they’re in power, so I am absolutely positive that your view will be strongly justified and buttressed by most of the sports media. And a lot of people will buy it.

  102. 102.

    Cassidy

    @Raven: Hehehehehe…You know, I’m a lifelong SEC guy, but I really have started liking the Big 12 the last few years. They’ve really started to get some consistency. TCU will be a great addition. I feel bad for OK State, but you can’t lose a game like that, that late in the season.

    BS has bought the ESPN fluff and become prima donnas.

  103. 103.

    Egg Berry

    How about no ranking AT ALL until 8 weeks into the season?

    By which I mean no coaches’ poll, no AP poll, no USA Today or whatever. I know the BCS rankings don’t come out until mid-season.

  104. 104.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @Raven:

    It’s the same as the first game and that was the highest rated game of the year.

    And was primetime Saturday on CBS.

  106. 106.

    Fluke bucket

    Bama is about to finish these fuckers off. LSU was woefuly unprepared tonight. Boise State would have been more fun to watch.

  107. 107.

    The Dangerman

    I’m surprised that kid’s not in a brace/cast; that looked ugly from my IANAD perspective.

  108. 108.

    patroclus

    @Fluke bucket:

    If “finish off” means getting a 5th FG and taking a “5-score” lead, I agree.

    The problem is that, if Bama wins, it really proves nothing about who was the better team. LSU won the first and Bama won the second and neither of them played Okie State or Boise State.

  110. 110.

    patroclus

    @Punchy:

    It’s the nickname of one of the LSU players. But it has also caught on as a catchphrase with every single sports media personality because…well, just because.

  111. 111.

    Quaker in a Basement

    Seven quarters of football…excuse me, of “football” between these two teams and not a single touchdown between ’em?

    Screw the BCS. I say OK State is the champion.

  112. 112.

    RareSanity

    @patroclus:

    What it boils down to, is simple…

    Either it is the college football championship, where the two best teams in the country play, and decide the national champion. Or, it is a football-based reality show, where the participants are chosen, based on their ability to draw eyes to the teevee.

    It really is that simple.

    So are you arguing that LSU and Alabama are not the two best teams in the country, or are you arguing for a game based on which matchup yields the best rating?

    If the former, I question your knowledge of football. If the latter, then it’s not about determining the actual champion.

    The BCS, isn’t going to let what happen to Auburn in 2004, happen again. It undermines the credibility of the title of “National Champion”.

    The reasoning you are using, was what had Oklahoma play for the championship in 2004, and get absolutely smoked by USC. Because the BCS didn’t have the two best teams playing. They had one, and another team that they thought, “people wanted to see”.

    It became a blowout, and people changed the channel anyway

    So what’s your point?

  113. 113.

    Fluke bucket

    Supposedly we already knew LSU was better than Alabama. They had already whipped them once. But this is why the games are played and why Boise could have beaten either of these teams but we will never know because they never got the opportunity to try.

  114. 114.

    Steeplejack

    God, Brent Musburger is killing me.

    I think my nightmare football game would be Musburger and Al Michaels, with Jon Gruden doing the color (and calling both of them “Jaws”).

  116. 116.

    patroclus

    @Quaker in a Basement:

    Well, you have a point because Okie State will have the same record as Bama. But the idiotic BCS system didn’t want to match-up the Cowboys’ offense v. LSU’s or Bama’s defense and have a compelling match-up between the conference champions of the two best conferences. So, instead we got this FG-laden re-match of teams from the same conference.

    So, like many many past years, we won’t really know who is the best because neither LSU nor Bama played Oklahoma State (or Boise State). It’s really a shame because college football is such a great sport. But the postseason needs changing – we need a FBS playoff. My version would have 16 teams, including all FBS conference champions and 5 at large teams (to placate the SEC). First round games would be played at the home of the higher seed and later rounds could be played at existing bowl sites. The other bowls would remain untouched.

    I recommend everyone reading Dan Wetzel’s book – Death to the BCS.

  117. 117.

    RareSanity

    @Fluke bucket:

    But this is why the games are played and why Boise could have beaten either of these teams but we will never know because they never got the opportunity to try.

    Okay, okay…getting a little excited there.

    I’m not saying that it would be impossible for Boise to beat either one of these teams, but…

    I can’t say it..

    The Boise State, of this year, would not beat either one of these teams, from this year. It’s not a slight to Boise. I don’t think anyone, except each other, could beat these two teams.

    Remember, LSU beat four top 5 schools this year. These two teams are in a league of their own, this year.

  119. 119.

    RareSanity

    @patroclus:

    Well, you have a point because Okie State will have the same record as Bama. But the idiotic BCS system didn’t want to match-up the Cowboys’ offense v. LSU’s or Bama’s defense and have a compelling match-up between the conference champions of the two best conferences. So, instead we got this FG-laden re-match of teams from the same conference.

    No.

    Oklahoma State was beaten by an unranked Iowa State. Alabama lost to the #1 team in the country, by a field goal, in overtime.

    The losses are NOT comparable. OSU’s loss was worse than Bama’s loss.

  120. 120.

    patroclus

    @RareSanity:

    LSU won’t be #1 anymore. Bama didn’t play Boise or OSU. No amount of sanctimonious condescension by you will have them play each other this season. Your opinion is just that – an opinion. A real title match-up against OSU or Boise would prove who is better but the system is not set up to deliver it. So we’ll never know who was really the better team regardless of how often you state your opinion and how certain you are in delivering it.

  121. 121.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @Fluke bucket: Sorry, watching this game, I bet there aren’t any teams wanting to be in front of the Alabama defense tonight. And it’s not like, other than that one touchdown, LSU has allowed Alabama to get in the endzone.

  123. 123.

    flukebucket

    This is the kind of shit that happens when you don’t have the two best teams on the field in the championship game. A damn 21 point blow out. And anybody who disagrees would literally defend the rape of nuns.

  124. 124.

    RareSanity

    @patroclus:

    Whatever…

    You have no idea what you are talking about and your argument is meritless, unfounded and you chose terrible examples of the misguided point, you are attempting to make.

    There are much better actual illustrations of your point, but you pick teams that have losses against Iowa State and Nevada between them.

    Boise State lost to FUCKING NEVADA…and you want to argue that they should have played in the championship…

  125. 125.

    patroclus

    @RareSanity:

    Boise State lost to TCU; not Nevada. If you followed football, maybe it would be worth discussing stuff with you, but such a blatant obvious error shows that you don’t really follow football at all. You have your biases, and when they are challenged, you just insult people and cite inaccurate facts.

  126. 126.

    RareSanity

    @patroclus:

    Fine, they lost to #24 (when they played) TCU.

    Alabama lost to #1 (when they played) LSU.

    Boise is out, Alabama’s in. What is it can’t you comprehend about simple math?

  127. 127.

    patroclus

    @RareSanity:

    No, not fine. You got it blatantly and obviously wrong in a way that there really is no excuse for. Your earlier opinion was based on inaccuracies and that’s not something that you can correct easily. My advice to you would be to calm down and discuss things reasonably, without all the insults and the condescension (and with accurate facts; not made-up ones).

  128. 128.

    RareSanity

    @patroclus:

    No, not fine. You got it blatantly and obviously wrong in a way that there really is no excuse for. Your earlier opinion was based on inaccuracies and that’s not something that you can correct easily. My advice to you would be to calm down and discuss things reasonably, without all the insults and the condescension (and with accurate facts; not made-up ones).

    Nice misdirection…

    My earlier opinion was based on the fact that Boise and Oklahoma State lost to lower ranked teams than Alabama, still true. Therefore, Alabama deserves to be in the BCS Championship and they don’t.

    Boise lost to #24 and Alabama lost to #1, simple…

    If Boise (or OSU, for that matter) was undefeated, they would have played in the game. Since they weren’t, they didn’t. If they simply beat teams that they were ranked higher than, and favored against, there isn’t even a conversation.

    Calm enough for you?

  129. 129.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @patroclus:

    So, like many many past years, we won’t really know who is the best

    You know what? No other system will ever really tell you who is the best, either. “Best” doesn’t have an objective definition in this context.

    Any championship system will tell you exactly the same thing as any other system: which team won the championship as it was defined by the rules. None of them will tell you anything else. If a different set of rules had been adopted, or even if the same set of rules had been used but the timing was different, you could have a different champion.

    The same thing is really true about arguments that invoke fairness. There’s no such thing. All systems are fair within the context of the rules, and some are going to find each and every one of them unfair from the outside. And they aren’t so much wrong as simply opinionated.

    What a lot of people are saying is that they find the BCS system aesthetically displeasing. That’s fine, but they feel the need to cloak aesthetic displeasure with a veneer of objectivity that’s bogus. Man up and just admit that you don’t like this system, end of story.

    Of course, the same thing is true of those who want to argue that Alabama and LSU were, obviously, the two best teams in the country. They don’t know that. No one else knows that they’re wrong when they claim it.

    It boils down to the fact that Americans hate ambiguity with an unholy passion. As a culture, we can’t handle the idea that some things are just not knowable or even definable. We can’t even tolerate the idea that sports, which ought to just be fun, might leave questions unanswered. Witness the foaming at the mouth every time something is a tie, which produces screams that WE MUST DO SOMETHING IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT THERE IS A WINNER.

    Screw that. You know what? I liked the old college football championship system before the rest of you screwed it up with your need for absolute answers. Yeah, the one where the champion was decided by the polls. It worked just fine, and produces an answer just as definitive as any other system, namely that a particular team won the title according to the rules of the system.

    I liked it because it was different. No other sport decided its champion that way, and that was the beauty of it. There is a drive to make every sport as much like all of the others as possible, and it disgusts me. I like that rogues are an integral part of baseball culture while I also like that cricket is a sport of gentlemen. (At least, I like that once you strip the social class connotations out of the word “gentleman”.)

    Why the fuck do you all need so badly to homogenize everything by making the FBS college football championship as much like all of the rest of them as possible? Celebrate the difference, don’t abandon it. I still listen to Penn State fans complain that they were screwed out of a national title in 1994, and what I tell them is that they have derived far more entertainment from bitching about it for the last 17 years than they ever could have by just winning the damned thing.

  130. 130.

    RareSanity

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):

    Why the fuck do you all need so badly to homogenize everything by making the FBS college football championship as much like all of the rest of them as possible?

    Can’t say I disagree with you, but that is just not how America is wired. It’s why soccer will never really take off, and they have to keep changing the rules of hockey.

    America hates a tie. We want a winner to celebrate, and a loser to ridicule

    There’s just too much money involved. When there are tens of billions of dollars on the line, they have to give the masses what they want.

  131. 131.

    Shalimar

    @flukebucket: Which team on the field wasn’t one of the two best in the country? LSU was undefeated after playing a killer schedule. Alabama completely dominated them.

  132. 132.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Shalimar: Alabama completely dominated them this time. Last time, not so much. In what objective way did this game settle the idea that Alabama is the better team? It didn’t. All it settled is that Alabama won the specific game that was designated the championship. It says absolutely nothing beyond that, including whether or not these were the two best teams.

  133. 133.

    Allen

    The SEC, in my opinion, is the most overrated conference. Last year, if my memory serves me well, LSU beat Oregon by three points, this year LSU loses by seven times that amount. If the majority of voting individuals weren’t from the southeast the SEC wouldn’t be ranked so high.

  134. 134.

    Mike D.

    If it’s just an aesthetic preference of mine that the World Cup doesn’t consist of one match whose participants are determined by a combination-statistical-analysis-human-voting algorithm assessing all international play during a quadrennium, it still doesn’t seem like much of an argument against that preference that it is aesthetic.

  135. 135.

    RareSanity

    @Allen:

    So the fact that the SEC has won the last 6 national titles, and 8 out of 14 total BCS Title games, is irrelevant? In doing so, they beat Florida State (ACC, and when they were good), Ohio State (Big 10) twice, Oklahoma (Big 12) twice, Texas (Big 12) and Oregon (PAC 10).

    The SEC has never lost a BCS Title Game it has been represented in. Well, with the exception of tonight. But, I don’t think that’s a very good example, both teams couldn’t win.

    If that is overrated, I’m dying to hear which conference is better.

  136. 136.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Mike D.: Perhaps it’s not much of an argument, but it’s still an aesthetic preference. And one of the things that having different approaches to determining a champion does is that it allows fans to find something that appeals to their own aesthetic. For me, I liked the fact that the college football system operated in a way that made the inherent ambiguity of determining a champion obvious rather than hiding that ambiguity and pretending that it doesn’t exist.

    Now, I also like other systems of determining a champion. For instance, I like the way that the World Cup operates, too. But:

    1) I can like more than one thing;
    2) I’m under no illusion that there is any less ambiguity involved in selecting a World Cup champion than any other.

    For instance, do you think the draws affect the outcome of who wins the title? Do you think that a given game would always have the same result? Do you think that the weather conditions of a given game can affect the outcome? Respectively, I think it’s pretty clear that the answers are Yes, No and Yes. As such, the World Cup in no way determines which side is best any better than the BCS does. It may have a more enjoyable process, but it doesn’t provide an objective answer outside of its own context.

  137. 137.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @RareSanity: I’ll start off by saying that I believe that the SEC is the strongest football conference in the country. That out of the way, you’re looking at a tiny sample size when you use BCS title games as evidence. If you believe that there is any home field advantage involved in playing a game within your own region, it isn’t even an unbiased small sample size, as Big 10 country has yet to host a game and Big 12 country can only marginally be said to include New Orleans.

    Of course, football always depends upon tiny sample sizes for determining a championship. If you’re statistically inclined, it’s one of the serious problems in trying to do analysis of the game.

  138. 138.

    Cassidy

    @patroclus:

    You have your biases,

    We get it, you’re Boise State fan. They should play for the NC even when they’re too chicken shit to play ina real conference. Pot, kettle.

    If Boise (or OSU, for that matter) was undefeated, they would have played in the game.

    Not entirely true. Anyone can pad their record with cans. Mayweather is undefeated (wink, wink) and BS “blows out” their competition. Doesn’t matter that most of their competition would lose to a good peewee team.

  140. 140.

    RareSanity

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):

    I’m going to disagree by positing a different theory.

    As college football coverage has exploded with cable and satellite television, high school recruits are exposed to more options, than just “ole State U” in whichever state they live in.

    There are more recruits, from the midwest and northeast, going to schools in the south, than the other way around. This is also pushed by the level of competition, between schools in the south, for the same pool of southern recruits.

    I don’t think going back too far in college football history, accurately weights the media saturation that has occurred over the past 15-20 years.

  141. 141.

    RareSanity

    @Cassidy:

    Not entirely true. Anyone can pad their record with cans. Mayweather is undefeated (wink, wink) and BS “blows out” their competition. Doesn’t matter that most of their competition would lose to a good peewee team.

    Just referring to this season, in particular.

    If either one of those teams would have been undefeated, I think Boise State probably, and Oklahoma State definitely, would have played instead of Alabama.

    The point is, if you don’t win all of your games, you’re at the mercy of “the system”. Hell, if you DO win all your games, and so do other teams, you’re still at the the mercy of the system.

    That system says, if you have one loss, the ranking of the team you lost to, affects your placement in the title game.

    I will agree that going undefeated, through an SEC schedule, is different than going through a WAC schedule.

  142. 142.

    Cassidy

    @RareSanity: Personally, I don’t think BS or OK State are bad teams. I like screwing with their fans. While I’m an SEC guy, I really enjoy watching the Big 12. But didn’t we have a situation a few years back where BS went undefeated, but weren’t even in title contention?

  143. 143.

    RareSanity

    @Cassidy:

    Yeah, but that was because they started so low in the polls to begin the season.

    They just didn’t play enough ranked teams to move up to the top 3.

  144. 144.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @RareSanity: Disagree with what? That you’re using a tiny sample size to make your claims? Sorry, but eight games is a tiny sample size. End of story. Everything about football involves small sample sizes, so you can’t make any statistically based argument that relies upon games won to prove that some conference or team is better. It’s just a fact.

    Disagree that there is any sort of homefield advantage to playing the games in your region? I have no idea how telling me where recruits come from has any bearing on that whatsoever.

    Disagree that the SEC is the strongest conference in the country? Somehow, I don’t think that that’s what you’re disagreeing with me on.

    Those are the only three claims that I made. I think your response was a non-sequitor.

  145. 145.

    Shalimar

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): Alabama also had more scoring opportunities in the first game. If any of 4 different missed field goals had been good, they would have won. Regardless, I think Boise State or Oklahoma State deserved to have been in the national championship game against LSU if they had been undefeated. They weren’t, so the best 1-loss team went, and that was Alabama.

    I would love to see a playoffs system in college football. But I don’t think it would have changed anything this year. Alabama and LSU were the two dominant teams in the country.

  147. 147.

    ET

    ROLLLLL FUCKING TIDE ROLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    (OK that is out of my system for today. I hope – cause if not my coworkers may get annoyed)

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