04/25/24
December 04, 2011
It's Official: LSU-Alabama for the BCS National Championship. The real surprise is the 11-2 Virginia Tech Hokies vs. the 10-2 Michigan Wolverines in the Sugar Bowl -- the former being the first ever ACC at-large BCS pick and the latter getting picked in lieu of the just-barely-not-Big-Ten-champion Michigan State (who beat the Wolverines). The Fiesta Bowl is a de facto 3 vs. 4, with the inched-out Oklahoma State Cowboys playing the Stanford Cardinal. The Orange Bowl is stuck with ACC champion Clemson vs. Big East Champion West Virginia, and the Rose Bowl is back to its usual Pac-12/Big Ten contretemps, with the Wisconsin Badgers coming to Pasadena again to face the Oregon Ducks.
The real surprise is the 11-2 Virginia Tech Hokies vs. the 10-2 Michigan Wolverines in the Sugar Bowl
Well, that was definitely chosen with an eye on filling the Superdome. Or, if you like, a deliberate "fuck over the non-BCS conferences, and Arkansas for good measure" pick. But the scuttlebutt about Michigan's fanbase looking attractive to the BC$ $electors from a few weeks back seems to have been grounded in good intel.
There are going to be some non-BCS bowl organisers now making pretty frantic calls, because I can see two or three potential matchups that are more compelling than the Orange or Sugar Bowl.
posted by etagloh at 09:51 PM on December 04, 2011
Or, if you like, a deliberate "fuck over the non-BCS conferences, and Arkansas for good measure" pick.
Arkansas wasn't eligible. Two teams out of the SEC already, one of them the conference champion. K-State got fucked over, but only to the extent that a couple of other also-rans got picked because they travel better.
posted by Etrigan at 10:10 PM on December 04, 2011
Yet another national championship game I'll be avoiding.
Ditto. It's just not that compelling a match up for me. LSU beat them, and it wasn't a terribly exciting game.
posted by Bonkers at 10:23 PM on December 04, 2011
Maybe in five weeks or so when the game is finally played you'll feel differently.
posted by dyams at 10:53 PM on December 04, 2011
Playoffs.
I don't have any grand ideas about OSU beating LSU (especially at the Superdome), but it'd be a lot of fun to see Les Miles coach against his old team (and Gundy) and why not let Alabama play Stanford a week before and then there wouldn't be this bullshit multi-week gap between games that matter.
Just set up some kind of playoffs already.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:58 PM on December 04, 2011
Boise State got hosed. Seventh in the BCS and they're headed to a meaningless bowl game.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 11:15 PM on December 04, 2011
The MAACO Bowl in Vegas against Arizona State? Eesh. Given the Sun Devils' end-of-year skids, that has the look of a stat-padder for Kellen Moore.
posted by etagloh at 11:28 PM on December 04, 2011
As each year passes, and still no playoffs, I get less and less interested. I don't really care about too many of the games, and that's a shame, because college football was a great sport and could have been really great. I can't say it's because of money, because I really feel that a playoff would generate a lot of cash. But the money of those involved in the current b.s. is what is driving this, and driving me away from caring.
posted by jagsnumberone at 11:40 PM on December 04, 2011
Playoffs already!
Only a couple of games I will make any effort to ensure that I watch, and the title game is not one of those!
posted by dviking at 01:06 AM on December 05, 2011
Any system in which 50 teams in five conferences (Conference USA, Mid-America, Mountain West, Sun Belt, Western Athletic) are virtually shut out of national championship consideration before each season begins in a joke. It would be like the D-1 basketball auto berths going only to the best six in the "top" 10 conferences; everyone else would get in only by the grace of the selection committees.
posted by jjzucal at 01:09 AM on December 05, 2011
New Mexico State beat UNLV
UNLV beat Colorado State.
Colorado State beat Utah State.
Utah State beat Wyoming.
Wyoming beat Air Force.
Air Force beat Navy.
Navy beat Southern Methodist.
Southern Methodist beat TCU.
TCU beat Boise State.
I mean, if New Mexico State (1-11) is at the top of the pile, and you're at the bottom of it, you shouldn't be going to any big name bowl game.
:)
posted by grum@work at 01:12 AM on December 05, 2011
(By the way, this method is even better in NCAA basketball, where you can use it to push your favourite local/unknown team to getting a March Madness invite.)
posted by grum@work at 01:15 AM on December 05, 2011
Too bad the kicking game let Boise State down bigtime during Kellen Moore's years of eligibility.
posted by beaverboard at 07:41 AM on December 05, 2011
The Sugar Bowl is a joke, Virginia Tech has exactly zero victories against teams currently ranked in the Top 25. Neither Tech or Michigan are more deserving than Boise and Kansas State. Then again, the Sugar Bowl doesn't look to select the best teams, only what teams present the "best matchup".
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 10:52 AM on December 05, 2011
Then again, the Sugar Bowl doesn't look to select the best teams, only what teams present the "most profitable matchup".
There. Fixed it for you.
posted by jjohn24680 at 11:21 AM on December 05, 2011
Damn picked the wrong time to be sick.
I was looking forward to this thread cause I'm one of the minority that is excited about this rematch. Ok yea I'm an Alabama fan so Im a bit bias. Still I recognize that bama's kicking game sucks. That said the tide out gained LSU on offense and played better defense. The coaching lost that game for Bama.
I'll agree the BCS system is total BS, but it's the system we the fans are stuck with and like it or not it says the UofA and LSU are the 2 best teams. The only way I can see of getting it changed is to totally ignor the bowl games so the ratings bottom out and they loose money. Chances of that happening are pretty slim if ya ask me and I'd be a bad example cause I will watch the NC game cheering on the Tide with all the passion of any fan whose team is playing for a championship.
posted by Folkways at 09:45 PM on December 12, 2011
Yet another national championship game I'll be avoiding. SEC fanboi is going to be intolerable over the next month or so.