Who is YOUR National Champion

Thank you, caller. We'll be right back ...

Seriously, you make some good points. Lost on this crowd, tho.

 

There is no fucking end to the rationalizations the SEC people will come up with.

Using the injuries as an excuse in this discussion is bullshit, every team has injuries, every team plays its bowl game without people they had earlier in the season (Or do you claim Utah's had no injuries this season?), the team you have is the team you put on the field, you don't get "what if" credit for the guys who didn't play.

And, as long as we're allowed any whiny-ass rationalization, how bout the fact that the Sugar Bowl was like a de facto home game for Bama, played in the heart of SEC country in front of a crowd that was overwhelmingly Bama fans--does Utah get any extra credit for that factor? I'm absolutely certain the SEC guys would be screaming that one if the circumstances were reversed.

 

Not sure I would say Utah's win was more impressive. But Utah beating an SEC team on an SEC field by two touchdowns was impressive. I don't care who played or who didn't, Utah simply took it to 'Bama from the start. How they played told me a lot about that team.

 

Stoney -- You'll live much longer is you remember the rules of college football according to the SEC fans.....

1.) Injuries are only relevant if the SEC team has them and they lose. If the SEC opponents have the injuries, well, they weren't relevant.

2.) Bowl games are meaningless exhibitions, unless an SEC team is involved and wins -- then they are the most important games ever.

3.) Florida playing Oklahoma in Miami is a neutral field. Florida playing USC in Tempe would be a road game for Florida......

 

The polls have always been subjective, and they have always taken into account scheduling differences, when you lose and when you get your big wins. All that worked to UF's advantage.
No question Utah was ranked too low. I conceded that it's a legit argument.
But I think the voters were right to have Florida No. 1, having just beaten the No. 1 team. And I think they deserve to stay there after beating No. 2 (No. 1 in BCS). That is historically how the polls work, and I believe that is how it should work.
And I am not an SEC fan, although I do live in the South.

 

Final AP poll: 1. Florida 2. Utah 3. USC 4. Texas 5. Oklahoma 6. Alabama 7. TCU 8. Penn State 9. Ohio State 10. Oregon 11. Boise State 12. Texas Tech 13. Georgia 14. Ole Miss 15. Virginia Tech 16. Oklahoma State

No. 1 Florida loses to the No. 14 team at home. No. 3 USC loses to a team not on this list. No. 4 Texas loses to the No. 12 team. No. 9 Ohio State loses to the No. 4 team in the final minute, a No. 4 team that beat a team that reached the title game, blah, blah, blah.

I could go on, but what's the point? The answer to the original question in the thread is that NO ONE can say for certain who the best team is. A playoff, and only a playoff, can determine that. Pit these teams in a 16-team tournament where the reward for victory is a step closer to a national championship and ANYONE can beat ANYONE on any given night.

And if I may be snarky for a minute: The whole bullshit reason we were given for the BCS system was to match the two best teams in one championship game. Well, if that's the case, then why doesn't the loser of the game finish second in the coaches' poll? By voting USC second, isn't that a covert admission of a massive screw-up? They got it wrong. They didn't get the two best teams in the title game, so the whole theory of doing what they do is BS, which we all knew in the first place.

Mizzou said it correctly. A college football tourney would trump the Super Bowl, and you still could have all the meaningless bowl games we have now. They wouldn't mean any more than they do now, and they wouldn't mean any less.

Does anyone care who won the Whogivesashit.com Bowl in 1996? I doubt it. But how much more memorable would Boise State beating Oklahoma on a statue-of-liberty play be if it occurred in a national semifinal game?

Sidenote here. Best team in college football? Mount Union.

 

WFW. Let's find the college playoff thread and let this one die its long-overdue death.