In College Football, not all season finale games are created equal. This week, the top two teams in the country, Auburn and Oregon, faced defacto play-in games to get into the National Championship. You win and you're in. Simple right? But somehow, it doesn't seem like the playing fields are all that level.
The Oregon Ducks have amassed an 11-0 record going into today’s game, defeating a #9, a #21, and a #24 along the way. Their final game of the season is against cross-state rival Oregon State; who comes into the game 5-6 and Fifth in the Pac-10.
The Auburn Tigers come into the game 12-0 having defeated a #6, a #11, two #12s, and a #22. Seems like they’ve played a much harder schedule than Oregon, right? So, do they get to play a cupcake team in their final game like Oregon does? Uh… no. They get to play a #19 South Carolina team, that might have an even higher ranking than that, had Auburn not already beaten them in September! Oh and by the way, South Carolina has beaten a #1, and two #22’s this season. That’s a better quality win resume than Oregon has!!!
This piqued my curiosity a bit, so I parked myself on the couch today to take a closer look. Since both games were on at the same time I was lucky enough to do the remote control cowboy thing, switching back and forth dynamically during commercial breaks. And as an outside observer… I have to admit. It looked a little bit like switching from High School Varsity, to Middle School. At times it didn’t even look like the same sport! South Carolina and Auburn were bigger, faster, and far more sophisticated on offense and defense than their west coast brothers. Oregon played down to Oregon State and only broke open the game late in the third quarter, on a clutch (and very questionable) third-down-and-9 pass interference call that gave them the chance to continue driving to an eventual score. Oregon State turned the ball over four times, often at crucial times and giving the Ducks great field position. It kind of felt like they were gift-wrapping the title game for Oregon. While the final score looked pretty good for the Ducks, I didn’t think they looked that good at all. Especially for the #2 team in the country.
Regardless, both Auburn and Oregon won their games today so it appears that we will have the two "most-deserving" Championship finalists play each other on January 10th. But somehow, I couldn’t help but dream of a scenario where OSU was magically replaced by South Carolina for that Oregon game today… just to see what would have happened. Could you imagine the looks on those Ducks' faces? (Where's Hermione when you need her?... hey, at least in Quidditch, they have a playoff :) Because, based on quality wins, I think South Carolina should be ranked above Oregon.
Blasphemy? Maybe. But, speaking of quality wins, let’s take a quick look at our two Championship contenders.
Auburn Beat
LSU (6)
Alabama (11)
Arkansas (12)
South Carolina (12)
South Carolina (19)
Mississippi State (22)
Oregon Beat
Stanford (9)
Arizona (21)
USC (24)
Of the six games that Auburn won against ranked opponents, ALL of those teams finished the season still ranked in the top 25. Of Oregon’s three games against ranked opponents, only ONE of them is still in the top 25. SIX to ONE.
And now I just heard on TV that they think that Oregon is going to be the favorite in the Championship game. What??? Auburn is actually going to be the Underdog??? I love it! I don’t know what expert predicted that, and I’m sure it will corrected before they actually play, but regardless, it is has to be one of the silliest thing I’ve ever heard uttered on the air. I understand that college football needs to at least pretend that there is parity amongst their conferences, but let’s not be ridiculous. Auburn’s strength of schedule more than doubled-up Oregon’s for crying out loud! Where does Oregon stack up if they played a full season in the SEC? Fifth? Sixth?
I don't mean to suggest that Oregon doesn't deserve a trip to the title game, but wouldn't it be easier for everybody if the Pac-10 had a Conference Championship game first? That way they could prove that they belong against a highly ranked Stanford team. It would certainly level the playing fields a little bit more and then we wouldn't have to keep guessing, comparing apples and oranges. Right? Merlin's Beard! We need some Magic over here!
I don't mean to suggest that Oregon doesn't deserve a trip to the title game, but wouldn't it be easier for everybody if the Pac-10 had a Conference Championship game first? That way they could prove that they belong against a highly ranked Stanford team. It would certainly level the playing fields a little bit more and then we wouldn't have to keep guessing, comparing apples and oranges. Right? Merlin's Beard! We need some Magic over here!
Anyway, I asked my Auburn guy, and honorary Underdog Mike Masters, if we could just send Mississippi State to the Championship game instead. And then when they beat Oregon they can give the trophy to Auburn. Or how about Arkansas, Alabama, South Carolina, or LSU?
Mike said no.
And he wants January 10th to get here in a hurry!
So do we.
This is the Underdogs.
As an SEC guy and fellow Gator I agree with you. I have watched Oregon play all year. They seemed faster than everyone they played. But it was a typical west coast finesse game. Its also notable that when Oregon has played bowl games against top level talent, it has usually been against slow Big Televen teams. As Ohio State can attest (0-9 against SEC) playing the SEC is a completly different kind of football from top to bottom. No one is suggesting Vanderbilt is ready to compete. But Oregon has no idea what playing a team from the "deep south" will be like. From the speed AND size of the team to nasty fans that will that will taunt them, Oregon will be shocked because they have never seen this before. Its also notable that the PAC 10 couldnt event full their bowl bids this year. Nebraska has to play a .500 Washington team that the Huskers have already beat by 35 points. There certainly are teams that have track records of beating the SEC (aka Wisconsin) but this is also a team built big a fast.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, Every year I like every SEC team that shows up for the bowl game. The loser usually are disappointed with their bowl selection and dont bother to show up. Yes I am another arrogant SEC fan, but have yet to be proven wrong. My picks this year are:
Auburn over Oregon
Arkansas over Ohio State
Alabama of Michigan State (close though)
Michigan over Miss State(got screwed in bowl)
Florida toss up against Penn State
USC toss up against FSU (got screwed in bowl)
TAMU over LSU (got screwed in bowl)
Georgia toss up against UCF (Bad bowl)
Kentucky over Pitt
Many will look at these pics and say that the other conferences CAN compete with the SEC. However, I still argue that if you look at these bowls you will see SEC teams that would rather not play in a bowl than be where they are at and will not prepare. LSU, Florida, Alabama, and Georgia never show up unless its BCS. These schools would like forget this year ever happened. Miss State and USC think they got screwed on bowl selection because they are the small schools. These teams put more stock in their SEC rilvalries than the bowls. This is life in the SEC. Like it or not.