Published November 16, 2011 - 8:00am
NEW: Discuss this topic in the Google+ community for SEC fans.
In 2006, Ohio State and Michigan played as No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the last week of the regular season, (of course the Big 10 did not have a championship game like it does now) and I, above most people, did not want to see a rematch simply because Florida was in contention. I wanted to see fresh blood; I wanted to see new teams battle it out – teams that had not played during the regular season.
However, now, it’s obvious around the country that Alabama is the best one-loss team, but they cannot and will not be ranked above an undefeated Oklahoma State at the moment. So, they are sitting at No. 3.
Now, the winner of Oklahoma-Oklahoma State will likely play for it all (mind you LSU will have to stay undefeated for that to happen), Alabama could be on the outside looking in – along with Oregon.
Alabama’s best shot moving forward of playing for the National Championship might be hoping only one team – LSU Tigers – loses at home against Arkansas. Then, all hell will break lose in the BCS.
If the Tigers do go down, Alabama could slide right into being the SEC West Champions (highest BCS average of LSU and Arkansas), play for the SEC Championship and go to the National Championship against likely the winner of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State – or, of course, a one-loss Pac-12 Champion in Oregon. I’m not sure Oregon gets in though.
Usually, whoever loses early in the BCS is in better standing with rankings at the end of the season, as opposed to a team losing at the end of the season. In Arkansas’ case, they are not the revered team that Alabama is – so Arkansas will likely be on the outside looking in, certainly in the National Championship picture, even if they defeat LSU.
Alabama fans are now Woo Pig Sooie fans from now until the end of the year, you can believe that. There is not “too much Alabama” in Harvey Updyke to root for the Hogs come November 25th.
Let me say this, a one-loss Oregon or Oklahoma should not get in the National Championship game over Alabama, period. However, an undefeated Oklahoma State team does.
We could worry ourselves to death over the BCS, but let’s just let the season play out.
I keep hearing if Arkansas beats LSU …. well aint gonna happen end of story. You are dead on that LSU and Bama are the best teams in the nation but I don’t want to see a rematch. It’s more fun watching a SEC team pommel a big 10 or pac 12 team. They get that lost look in their eyes like oh crap where did this come from.
Yeah, the Hogs have no chance to beat LSU. It isn’t like Arkansas has won 3 of the last 4 games against the Tigers and had the lead with a minute left in LSU’s only win…..oh…..wait a minute. The Tigers needed a homer ref to seal their only win.
Yeah, it could never happen.
Past games have little effect on this year.
I honestly don’t see why people are so against a rematch. Many rematches in sports history have been pretty damn good. In every sport the final championship game is between 2 teams that most likely played eachother at somepoint in the year and most don’t have problems with it. The Celtics almost swept the Heat last year in the regular season but the Heat definitely showed up during the play offs against them. Granted a lot of it is series play but even the 2 superbowl teams might havebe already had a shot at eachother in the regular season.
As has been demonstrated many times, it’s not always about the best match-up, or even getting the two best teams. In the NCAA FBS, it’s all about the greenbacks. With an Alabama-LSU rematch, you’re looking at a game that has regional appeal, but little national appeal. Just as we weren’t interested in an Ohio State-Michigan rematch, the rest of the country isn’t interested in a rematch of our best two teams, especially when that rematch would lock in a 6th consecutive BCS Championship for the SEC.
I agree with Jon. Alabama’s best shot at a BCS title game is having Arkansas beat LSU, and then jump them in the BCS standings.
Please, I hope LSU and the rest of Cajun Nation overlook Arkansas. Every team in the SEC always has one or two other teams that always have their number. Arkansas has beaten LSU teams that are just as good with far less talent.
I think you mean, “Corndog Nation”. ;D
What a joke! Arkansas not a revered team. I guess if they beat LSU then LSU isn’t one of the Top 2 teams in the Country now is it. If Arkansas beats LSU at the end of the season how can you move Oregon or Oklahoma ahead of them? It is just as plausible that Arkansas and Alabama are the two best Teams in the country. Like I say its a voting scam and stuffing the ballot box. Don’t like the idea of an Arkansas-Alabama rematch? Jon, You and the rest of the BCS scam artist may just have to acknowledge that Arkansas could be deserving of a National Championship Game with a win over LSU at the end of the Season. We’ve heard all the LSU, Alabama, hype all year and now we are hearing all the Oregon and Oklahoma hype. Let’s just see what happens on the field before you and the BCS scammers appoint a winner before the games are played. So now even you are saying Arkansas is out of the picture even if they beat the Number one ranked Team at the end of the season. What hypocrisy! What justification would the BCS have for moving Alabama ahead of LSU? Thats right ,picking winners and losers outside of the Field of play. One thing is for sure. If Arkansas beats LSU they will go to the Fiesta Bowl, or the National Championship Game. Alabama “might” be playing Georgia for either the Championship Game or the Sugar Bowl. Where is LSU going if Arkansas beats them Capitol One Bowl???? A scenario you aren’t considering is if Arkansas beats LSU and Georgia beats Alabama assuming the BCS screws Arkansas and moves Alabama ahead of LSU and Appoints Alabama for the SEC Championship Game. One thing is for sure, if there is a three way tie in the SEC West then one of the three teams is going to get hosed and that would be LSU if Arkansas beats them. Go Hogs!
It sounds like you didn’t understand the article. If Arkansas was a revered team, they would be ranked higher because they only have one loss, and a quality loss at that. He isn’t saying that Arkansas isn’t deserving of a higher ranking, merely that they don’t have one.
Arkansas is very deserving of being a higher ranked team; however, the national media will not put them there. They are revered in everyone’s mind in the SEC, but not the national media when compared to a team like Alabama, whom the national media adores…and rightfully so.
I love Arkansas, and I think they have a great chance to knock off LSU.
The Three best teams in the country are Alabama, LSU, and Arkansas. its a shame and a blessing we all share the SEC conference. a shame because we dont get that spotlight game to determine a national champion. however it is a blesing to be part of the greatest conference on earth and to decide during our regular season who will go to and win the national championship. BIG 12? what a joke, its nothing but a sinking ship. PAC 12? has been’s who care only for offense. if you like the PAC 12 you must love watching basketball. I am currently living in Colorado and football here sucks! the town i reside in has a college team who gets beaten by their own practice squad, they have not won a game all year. I fly to Tuscaloosa at least once a year just to witness and be part of football that matters. why cant it happen just once, why cant we have the two best teams in college football play for the national championship(even if it means a rematch)?
We should just move to a playoff system. Unfortunately for the rest of the country, it would be a SEC heavy playoff system.
However, to ensure that the SEC was given a fair shot, we’d have to make sure there were no inter-conference match-ups until as late as possible.
No playoffs. We need to keep the bowl system in place. There are a lot of teams that get to end their season on a high note. Having a playoff in place would eliminate that, because the less bowl games would not generate the interest and it will also impact the economy of the communities that host the bowls. In my opinion, Stewart Mandel has the best alternative to a playoff system, his +1 plan.
BECAUSE BAMA ALREADY LOST TO LSU. WHY SHOULD BAMA GET 2 CHANCES TO KNOCK OFF NUMBER 1?
I’m not sure Bama is the best One-loss team. After seeing Oregon dismantle Stanford they looked pretty deserving of a shot at the BCS title game.
Oregon will have the advantage of playing/winning a League championship game which is the “defacto” criteria to get into the BCS game. Bama probably won’t get that chance.
Oklahoma if it beats OK St will have a higher quality win and could jump Bama too.
Face it Bama fans….you had your shot at LSU and the BCS game already, it’s gone.
Great idea. Let’s jump the team who lost by 3 points in overtime to the number one team in the country with an Oklahoma team who let an unranked 5-5 Texas Tech team not only beat them, but put 41 points on the board.
You’re intelligent. I’d love to hear more of your amazing thoughts.
Body of work… IF…. IF Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State, (and the BCS title game discussion is moot if they don’t), Oklahoma will have wins AT #2 Oklahoma State, AT #5 Florida State, AT #8 Kansas State, AT #11 Texas, AT #22 Baylor…. Alabama’s will have wins AT #12 Florida, #14 Arkansas and AT #23 Penn State… *
*Ratings are all when the teams met…
It’s not always about who you lose to, but who you have beaten. Also, which do you think would be the most impressive win to end the season for the pollsters? An Oklahoma win over the #2 team in the country, 11-0 Oklahoma State, or an Alabama win over a 6-4 Auburn team that’s already been beaten handily by three other SEC teams and an ACC Team? Don’t be surprised to see the gap close a little this week when Alabama’s game with Georgia Southern is factored into their SoS.
If oregon/osu plays lsu, it’s going to be a boring bcs game in history, oregon isn’t going to run the damn ball against lsu defense lol maybe if they have someone can lift 475 with speed and powers and a big offensive linemen lol and throwing the ball against those best corners in the country isn’t a greatest thing to do.
Boring? A 9-6 OT win was pretty damn boring to me.
They lost to Baylor. It sucks to be BU when you lost to BU.
The problem is that you can’t say for sure that Bama is the 2nd best team. They only played 2 good teams, and both of them were at home. They won one of them, but lost the other. I “think” they are the 2nd best team, but thats why you play the games. If we “knew” they were the 2nd best team then why even finish the season out?
I agree with Jacob, and I’m an obsessive Bama fan. One thing to our credit, however, is that we destroyed Arkansas, who is an excellent team, and well deserving of a #4 ranking. I think they would beat Oregon, Ok State, and OU.
I do think if everyone has one loss but LSU, Bama deserves the shot, but if OK State drops one to OU, and we still don’t get in, we should’ve handled business at home, bottom line. The ref totally hosed us on the “interception”, but we had four other great opportunities to win and came up empty. Gotta step up. I want that rematch something fierce though, and I think we’d win.
Actually, the referee was spot-on on the interception call. To be a completion, a receiver must come down in-bounds with possession of the football. Catching it in the air is great, but you have to have possession when you land. The replay clearly shows that he began losing possession of the football while he was still in the air. When the two players landed on the field of play, the defender clearly had possession of the football. Interception!!!
one game can’t determine how good the team is.
The reason people say Bama and LSU are the best teams in the nation is Bama has only allowed 71 points scored against. LSU 107 Arkansas 215 . Mississippi State has allowed only192 and they are pretty bad this year so if Arkansas had a better defense they would be right up there with Bama and LSU.
LSU has been the only Team to hold Trent Richardson below 100 yds rushing the very reason that the Hogs will not beat LSU.Trent got majority of his yards on screens he got 79 yds rushing and 90 So any thought of LSU loosing to the Hogs is out. The other way is IF LSU should loose to Georgia that will not happen also but, if it does it will still leave LSU in the BCS Championship game because, BECAUSE, LSU beat both Bama and Oregon will end up being the Number 1 one lose team. Which this is the only way there would be a rematch, Bama would hope the voters would want to see LSU/Bama over LSU Oregon or LSU/Sooner match-up. I believe LSU will go undefeated no matter how you look at it because they are the #1 Team in the Country it is a numbers game and LSU has more talent across the board than any other Team in the Country and if 2 of the top 4 Teams could not stop them the others are just looking on in aw of what they are seeing and will finish what they have going and LSU can/will be the only 3 time BCS Champion by winning out.
To top that off LSU will be back up ther next year for the majority of the players there now will be back next year
LSU was picked to lose in Dallas vs Oregon, then they where picked as the upset of the week vs WVU in Blacksburg that did not happen then they where told they would not/could not win vs Bama and we all know how that turned out and now they are saying hoping and wanting the Hogs to win vs LSU and if that does not work they will be underdogs vs the Dogs at home in Atlanta. So the way it looks they will be winning games against the #3, #2 and the #6 and where ever the Dogs end up ranked they also beat the #14, #16 and # 18 ranked Teams so that will be 7 Teams they would have played ranked in the BCS top 25 with 4 of those away from Death Valley. Those rankings where at the time of the game. Nobody has come close to that body of work and win. LSU has played the toughest games already so what makes everybody so sure LSU will lose against a lesser opponent? If that would be the case that would hurt any hope Bama or the Hogs would have and even the Ducks of playing in the BCS. So the way I see it the only way Bama has a shot if everyone looses but Bama and LSU wins out so their body of work will be better than anyone else.
All you have to do is Beat Arkansas. Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it. HA HA HA !
something you guys are overlooking. and i hate to say it because i hate bama, arkansas got their ass handed to them by bama. oregon same story by LSU. that said LSU is in as long as they win sec champ game,r egardless of what ark does. okie state or okla. gets the other bid. sorry bama it aint hapening give it up because you aren’t gonna play for natty if you don’t win your conference.
Hate to tell you but if Arkansas beats LSU it’s either Alabama or Arkansas in the SEC Title Game because Arkansas will have the head to head advantage over LSU. Secondly, Ass handed to them? 17 points is not having your ass handed to you. Thirdly, the starting Defensive ends and a lot of the Arkansas Defense was injured and did not play in the Alabama game. If Arkansas beats LSU you are likely going to the Capitol One Bowl and will be out of the Championship picture behind Arkansas. So I guess it really does matter what Arkansas does now doesn’t it. With that being said, Go Hogs Beat their ass and keep that boot in Fayetteville. To Hell with the BCS, the Hogs are on a mission and will not be denied!!!!!! WPS
hate to tell u, but even on the off chance arkansas defeats lsu, the way the sec decides a three way tie is based on bcs standings, of the three teams the lowest one drops out and then the sec west champion is decided on head to head competition between the remaining two, even if ark beats lsu (unless it is a blowout, which i don’t forsee) , arkansas will not jump lsu in the bcs rankings due to body of work over the whole season and strength of schedule, therefore it would come down to head to head, ala vs. lsu and we all know how that would come out. sorry
LOL Delusional LSU fan. Right, LSU loses at home and stays ahead of Arkansas. What a fantasy. Whats more, if you lose to Arkansas you will likely be moved behind Alabama as well. Quit dreaming about a BCS scam and start praying. Nice try, I don’t think so!
Miles is a better coach than Saban.
why are we all still talking about this, Oklahoma just lost to a unranked team, meaning Bama is now number 2 (mostlikly) so we’re probablly looking at a rematch, seems how Bama playing Auburn and LSU is playing Arkansas, we most likely are bound to see the greatest Championship game of all time.
“However, now, it’s obvious around the country that Alabama is the best one-loss team, but they cannot and will not be ranked above an undefeated Oklahoma State at the moment.” hmmmm Its a good thing OK St isn’t undefeated.
Lane Kiffin should get coach of the year for that Oregon Game.