GEAUX TIGERS!

[Kalen Braley]

I don't have an issue with the losses and win category.

Afterall, New England only lost one game the entire season in 2007, but they weren't the champs as the wild card 6 loss Giants were.  I don't think anyone has an issue with that.

The issue is, how we determine who gets to play for the big one.  Using polls and computer programs is simply bogus.  I do think polls are helpful to establish who gets into the playoff system, but IMO to have a "real" national champion, we need to have at least an 8 team college football playoff.

Then we can crown a real champ!!

[Craig Van Egmond]

I agree Kalen, the BCS is BS!

[Phil McDade]

This article http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7440505/michael-kruse-superconferences-college-football suggests that the coming consolidation of the Div. 1 athletic conferences -- which is pretty inevitable -- would hlep foster the move to a playoff system.

But it doesn't get at the dilemma of having the two best teams emerging during a particular season from the same conference, as happened this year. Maybe just select the top 8 teams -- two from each of the super conferences -- and re-seed the thing when the regular seasons are over, similar to how basketball does it.

[Bill_McBride]

I was feeling bad for our pal Tiger Bernhardt last night.      Tough loss.

[jeffwarne]

I don't have an issue with the losses and win category.

Afterall, New England only lost one game the entire season in 2007, but they weren't the champs as the wild card 6 loss Giants were.  I don't think anyone has an issue with that.

The issue is, how we determine who gets to play for the big one.  Using polls and computer programs is simply bogus.  I do think polls are helpful to establish who gets into the playoff system, but IMO to have a "real" national champion, we need to have at least an 8 team college football playoff.

Then we can crown a real champ!!

I'm with you kalen,
But it'd be hard to argue the BCS didn't get this one right.(probably better than aplayoff syetem this one time.
Polls might be better than 2 from each conference though.
Would the SEC want the two teams that played for their Championship to represent them in the playoff. (LSU and georgia)?

[Kalen Braley]

Jeff,

But that's the problem with "common wisdom" thinking,

Look no further than the 2009 Sugar Bowl.  The Utah Utes came in from a "mid-tier" conference and put the smack down on a very very good 12-1 Alabama team that was one quarter away from playing in the national championship game.  No one, and I mean no one thought Utah would have a chance in that game, much less beat Alabama by two touchdowns.

Who knows how any of these other teams could have matched up against LSU or Alabama this year.

At the end of the day it really is like Chris Berman says:  "That's why you play the game!!"

[jeffwarne]

Jeff,

But that's the problem with "common wisdom" thinking,

Look no further than the 2009 Sugar Bowl.  The Utah Utes came in from a "mid-tier" conference and put the smack down on a very very good 12-1 Alabama team that was one quarter away from playing in the national championship game.  No one, and I mean no one thought Utah would have a chance in that game, much less beat Alabama by two touchdowns.

Who knows how any of these other teams could have matched up against LSU or Alabama this year.

At the end of the day it really is like Chris Berman says:  "That's why you play the game!!"

So Utah, playing in the biggest game of their existence, beat a SEC team that was playing for 3rd place.
So what?
There'd be room for that Utah team in an 8 team playoff decided by pollsters along with at least 3 SEC teams this year

I'm all for a playoff, but this year  the BCS actually got it "righter" than a playoff based on Conference Champions (and thos who played for the conference Championships)
Alabama, the best team in the nation would be left out under that format.


Of course you can sense my SEC bias and there are are great non SEC teams every year, just in different places that are not always predictable.
Vandy (somehow still in the SEC) was 2-6 in the SEC, yet went to a bowl due to the fact they played 4 nonconference games, then held their own in one of the SECs 2 losses against non SEC opponents vs. 5 wins (not counting Alabama's win or LSU's loss)

[Craig Van Egmond]

Lowest rated BCS title game ever...

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/01/alabama-lsu_produces_lowest_tv.html

[Sean_A]

They may as well have a playoff.  The traditional ball alignment system (far better than this BCS nonsense) is totally ruined.  I know, all the teams can play a 6 game schedule that way practically everybody can get into the playoff - not so different from basketball - heavy sigh.  Its typical of folks to fix something that isn't broke.  All the old system needed was a championship bowl after the bowls if there was doubt about who the national champion was - extra heavy sigh.

Ciao

[Brett Hochstein]

The Mgoblog playoff proposal is the best I have seen yet and pretty close to what I had come up with many years ago.  http://mgoblog.com/content/annual-complaint-against-stupid-system

The essentials:

-6 Teams (maintains importance of finishing in top two by getting a bye week and home game)

-Home Games until finals (again maintains importance of finishing higher, guarantees attendence, incredible atmospheres, allows the Big Ten not to have to play a road game for the first time ever in the postseason)

-No autobids (an unranked Big East Team has no place in the top 6, only true contenders, etc.)

-All other bowls remain the same


Now, regarding last night--no matter what, LSU would have had a better resume for the season following the game.  That being said, Alabama was miles better last night (oversigning works!).  It was a pretty convincing win, but I still feel unsatisfied about the whole thing.  

[Kalen Braley]

Jeff,

I understand where you are coming from, but the problem is we'll never know.

We can't say one outcome is better than another, unless you actually have both outcomes to compare and contrast.

But this year, once again, we only have 1 outcome.....so we'll never know yet again who the true national champ is.

P.S.  I am an advocate of using rankings to determine who gets in that 8 team playoff...so under those conditions, Alabama would have still been in based on its #2 ranking at the end of the regular season.  I know it wouldn't be perfect, but at least if you took the top 8 ranked teams....most people would agree that the best team is likely in those 8.

The biggest sham once again this year is how a team like Boise State, that ended up #7, was left completely out of the BCS picture while a #23 team and two other teams ranked well below Boise State were in.

P.P.S.  In a perfect world, the top 12 would be in the playoff, but I would be tickled pink if we could just somehow get to a top 8 playoff.

[Chris_Blakely]

The Mgoblog playoff proposal is the best I have seen yet and pretty close to what I had come up with many years ago.  http://mgoblog.com/content/annual-complaint-against-stupid-system

The essentials:

-6 Teams (maintains importance of finishing in top two by getting a bye week and home game)

-Home Games until finals (again maintains importance of finishing higher, guarantees attendence, incredible atmospheres, allows the Big Ten not to have to play a road game for the first time ever in the postseason)

-No autobids (an unranked Big East Team has no place in the top 6, only true contenders, etc.)

-All other bowls remain the same


Now, regarding last night--no matter what, LSU would have had a better resume for the season following the game.  That being said, Alabama was miles better last night (oversigning works!).  It was a pretty convincing win, but I still feel unsatisfied about the whole thing.  

I am just glad someone is mentioning oversigning:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203716204577016110526669958.html

[jeffwarne]

Jeff,

I understand where you are coming from, but the problem is we'll never know.

We can't say one outcome is better than another, unless you actually have both outcomes to compare and contrast.

But this year, once again, we only have 1 outcome.....so we'll never know yet again who the true national champ is.

P.S.  I am an advocate of using rankings to determine who gets in that 8 team playoff...so under those conditions, Alabama would have still been in based on its #2 ranking at the end of the regular season.  I know it wouldn't be perfect, but at least if you took the top 8 ranked teams....most people would agree that the best team is likely in those 8.

The biggest sham once again this year is how a team like Boise State, that ended up #7, was left completely out of the BCS picture while a #23 team and two other teams ranked well below Boise State were in.

P.P.S.  In a perfect world, the top 12 would be in the playoff, but I would be tickled pink if we could just somehow get to a top 8 playoff.

Kalen,
Does anyone care about who goes to a BCS bowl besides the top 2 teams?
I mean other than the money do I care if my # 13 georgia play #14 in a BCS or non BCS bowl?
 think that's all nonsense-agreed Boise State deserved to play a higher ranked opponent.
The Cotton Bowl's not BCS this year (whatever that means) but they had 2 great teams and a good game

As long as there are still conferences, nobody's going to be happy when they get left out of a playoff at #8.

Is basketball truly better when a 10 loss team can win the national Tournament?

[Phil McDade]

I'm curious why a system for selecting teams for the NCAA D1 hoops tournament (a committee of school representatives) -- a tournament that has gone from something fanatics watched to a tournament that everyone watches -- wouldn't work for football. Relying on pollsters is one of the worst methods for selecting teams.

And why doesn't D1 football simply follow its D3 brethren and simply go to a 32 (I'd argue for 16) team playoff with home games until a neutral-field final? Why does D1 always feel the need to re-invent the wheel, when their more academically inclined D3 colleagues have figured out a pretty good system?

[Kalen Braley]

Jeff,

I think lots of people care.  I have absolutely no dog in this fight, but it sickens me to see a "national championship" decided by what is essentially a beauty contest amongst the top notch teams for who gets #1 and 2 rankings.

And don't under estimate the money thing...that's the other reason why teams like Boise State are pissed.  Instead of getting a massive payday by going to a BCS game, nearly $20 million, they instead had to settle on the Las Vegas Bowl which payed out $2-3 million.  You don't think that extra money could go a long way towards recruiting, coaches, facilities, better players, etc?

The biggest irony is, the BCS nor the conferences commissioners don't even care about a national champ, or compelling games...all they want is the big money payouts, as is evidenced with how they setup the BCS originally and excluded most of the teams in the country from playing in one.  Since then they've only includes mid-tier conferences because they've been threatened with lawsuits and government action at the highest levels.

As for playoffs, yes there are always teams on the bubble who will whine and cry about being left out....but the reality is, they weren't an elite team or they would have qualified for the playoffs. A two team playoff leaves out far too many teams that could compete at that same level.

College Basketball has a massive playoff that lets in 68 teams..no one is going to put up a fit that the 69th team isn't in.
College Baseball has an extensive playoff system.
College Hockey, ditto on a playoff
College golf, ditto
College, <pretty much any other sport you can insert here> has a playoff.
Even College football in the lower divisions has a playoff.
For Gods sake, even my D league rec softball team gets to play in a playoff every year!

So why on God Greens earth can't we have a playoff system for college football at its highest levels?  Because the fat cats at the NCAA, select college league commissioners, and the BCS are far more concerned about lining thier pockets with GUARANTEED money than an actual champion.

[Sam Morrow]

Paul Jones never returned my text last night, i have calls into the front gate at Oakbourne for him and Bernhardt.

[jeffwarne]

Jeff,

I think lots of people care.  I have absolutely no dog in this fight, but it sickens me to see a "national championship" decided by what is essentially a beauty contest amongst the top notch teams for who gets #1 and 2 rankings.

And don't under estimate the money thing...that's the other reason why teams like Boise State are pissed.  Instead of getting a massive payday by going to a BCS game, nearly $20 million, they instead had to settle on the Las Vegas Bowl which payed out $2-3 million.  You don't think that extra money could go a long way towards recruiting, coaches, facilities, better players, etc?

The biggest irony is, the BCS nor the conferences commissioners don't even care about a national champ, or compelling games...all they want is the big money payouts, as is evidenced with how they setup the BCS originally and excluded most of the teams in the country from playing in one.  Since then they've only includes mid-tier conferences because they've been threatened with lawsuits and government action at the highest levels.

As for playoffs, yes there are always teams on the bubble who will whine and cry about being left out....but the reality is, they weren't an elite team or they would have qualified for the playoffs. A two team playoff leaves out far too many teams that could compete at that same level.

College Basketball has a massive playoff that lets in 68 teams..no one is going to put up a fit that the 69th team isn't in.
College Baseball has an extensive playoff system.
College Hockey, ditto on a playoff
College golf, ditto
College, <pretty much any other sport you can insert here> has a playoff.
Even College football in the lower divisions has a playoff.
For Gods sake, even my D league rec softball team gets to play in a playoff every year!

So why on God Greens earth can't we have a playoff system for college football at its highest levels?  Because the fat cats at the NCAA, select college league commissioners, and the BCS are far more concerned about lining thier pockets with GUARANTEED money than an actual champion.

I think we agree on what needs to be done.

How about an 8 team playoff, all in neutral sites (the bowl sites-rotae the final amongst the big 4-5)
and an 8 team NIT (in bowl sites)
14 bowls should be enough,no?

[Phil McDade]

Kalen:

The NCAA would love to get its hands on the BCS money. They control the NCAA hoops tourney, and it generates about 95 percent of their income.

Really, the problems lies at the foot of college presidents and chancellors, who ostensibly run their institutions but are too chickensh..to take on their ADs and football coaches and college commissioners who created this mess in the first place. The college presidents, chancellors and their governing boards know what's at stake here (a TON of money --literally billions), and thus they don't push for changes.

[Brett Hochstein]

Chris,

Glad you picked up on that, and good article link.  It is easy to have success when you have 20-25% extra chance of guessing right in your selected players.  Then you have the whole aspect of ruining the dreams and playing careers of numerous hopeful young athletes by forcing them to be cut or take a bogus "medical scholarship."  

If Michigan beats Alabama to open next season, it will be one the most satisfying I've seen and for the reasons I've mentioned here, not just for beating a highly ranked team.

[Kalen Braley]

Phil,

I would agree the NCAA does not get the lions share.....but they still have the authority to create a national championship playoff system which is entirely separate from the Bowl System. The NIT used to run the national championship for mens hoops until the NCAA took it over by decleration as the "governing" body....nothing that i'm aware of is stopping them from doing the same.

The NCAA currently does "license" approved bowl games, of which the BCS games are included...although I was surprised to see how cheap it is at $12,000 per bowl game.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/NCAA/Resources/Latest+News/2011/April/NCAA+President+Mark+Emmert+Press+Conference+Bowl+Licensing+Task+Force

P.S.  On a conspiracy theiry level, even though I can't find any supportive data, I suspect the NCAA is on the take from the BCS in some other way(s) because "FBS football is the only sport in which the NCAA has not mandated a specific bracketed playoff system".  It seems hard to imagine they do this out of the kindness of their hearts!

[Phil McDade]

Kalen:

The NCAA is a member organization; it does little that its membership does not specially authorize it to do. Thus, to me, the blame lies with the membership -- and those are universities and colleges run by someone.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Thank all you guys for giving my beloved Tigers a big Geaux Tigers. I woke this morning to watch tears falling from heaven out the window of the hotel.  Sadly the evening peaked out while watching the Golden Band from Tigerland and the Golden Girls before the game. It may well have peaked earlier on Sunday watching the jazz bands and parades marching though in the Quarter having mock funerals for alabama players and Sabin aka Santorum. We got completly whipped in every way. It was the first time in seven years our coaching staff did not prepare the young men to have success if the played hard and smart. On the other hand Sabin/santorum and his staff did a great job and prepared a great game plan and his guys executed it with great passion and smartly.  History does repeat itself. In 1959 we had a great team that had a game of the century game with Ole Miss and won 7 to 3. We played them in the Sugar Bowl and got whipped 21 to zip. The best T shirt I saw said"the only Crimson Tide I fear is the one that comes once a month". I normally get in a round at Metairie CC when in the city. This trip was totally different. I am still a long way from living and functioning in anything that would resemble normal. In fact going to the game was such poor judgment only a single man who was born a Tiger and lives a Tiger's life would do it. However that said, it was a joy to the heart to see old friends and sitting in Arnaud's for lunch listening to the jazz band play great jazz tunes along with Tiger music that gave rise to standing ovations and sing alongs by the whole restaurant. I had my first bite of food in public, a small sip of turtle soup, same as 2004. Then going to Gallatoires and hugging my waiter there. I have not seen him in 9 months. I bring John up for I so respect him for the way he faces life's challenges. He lost everything in Katrina. His wife of 30 years died right before that. He slept on a nephew couch for two years while commuting two plus hours each way. He never said anything and lived life with his head up and a smile. I snuck out in the evening for an hour to catch another band I love. He played an old jazzed up version of Tiger Rag. The art, architecture, music and smells of the city touch this old Tigers heart. Even as we look to the future to enjoy whatever gifts God gives us. I still miss those special people, places and experiences that have touched life in the past.  I got an email from an Ohio State GCA buddy who gave his condolences and said he was playing Cypress today. That too does the heart good. It is a perfect day in Pebble as per web cam. I think a little putting today in between life back in the rehab lane will be a another step back to normality.  Oh I am all about a playoff and feel like OSU did get a raw espn/BCS driven deal. However that would sound like sour grapes now, so that is the past and we had a great season but not the great Geaux Tigers

[Kalen Braley]

Tiger,

That is about as fantastic as a post-mortem butt-whupping post we could have expected out of you....terrific stuff.

Hang in there buddy!!   

P.S.  I'm just glad I get to put myself back out there on razors edge with my teams upcoming playoff matchup(s).  Its fun and at the same time stressful.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Geaux Tigers