Nobody likes the fact that Auburn might end up undefeated w/ no NC: Here's the solution: Using BCS committee: Seed top four teams: 1) USC 2) Oklahouma 3) Auburn 4) Utah (yeah that's right, CAL lost to USC and Texas lost to OK, so they can both take a hike!) Dec: 18 (or Bill of rights day?): Oklahouma vs. Auburn / USC vs. Utah. then proceed with bowls: Jan 3rd, would be Oklahouma vs. USC Jan 4th would be, Auburn vs. Utah.
I think most LSU fans will root for Auburn (an SEC team). I might fight with my cousin, but I would still root for him to kick some stranger's ass.
I think it's an absolute travesty, seriously. Can any of you remember if an SEC team has gone undefeated in modern times (which I'll sort of arbitrarily define as 1974 to present, or the first year that both AP and UPI awarded the national title after the bowls were played) and *not* had a chance to win the national championship? This is stunning, IMO. Yes, AU had what some may call a "soft" non-conf. schedule, but getting outhustled by another school's AD as AU was when OU upgraded its very own weak non-conf schedule (Bowling Green) at AU's expense---and having this impact who plays in the freaking BCS Championship game---would be funny if it wasn't so damn sad. Unfortunately, though, AU had to play the hand they were dealt, which meant the last month of the season was a beauty pagent among the top three teams. OU? Recovers from some tight mid-season games and rolls for most of November into December. USC? Some close calls (the last being against UCLA), but everybody knows "a ranked team can drop after an unimpressive win" only applies to teams 2-25...always has, always will. AU? On a freaking roll in the eyes of pollsters after dominating Georgia...only to limp, by comparison, across the finish line against Alabama and Tennessee. When the spotlight shone brightest on Auburn and they had to seal the deal, they didn't. If they had, there is no question at all in my mind that they pass OU, none. Oh well, such is life sometimes.
I'm just looking at your last two games the way a outsider/pollster would. Alabama? The same Alabama led by Mike Shula, won 3 (I'm sorry, four) games in 2003 and got punked by LSU by 16 the week before? THOSE guys? And AU, with the nation watching, only beats them by 5? (*By comparison, LSU smashed Arkansas without even trying to run up the score in 2003*) Even worse, IMO, was the SEC CG. Race out to a fat 21-0 lead early, which looks good against a soft, even overrated Tennessee team. Given the 34-10 whipping you guys gave them in Knoxville earlier this year, that looked right. But then...UT comes roaring back, even *taking the lead*. As a pollster, I'm thinking, "This is the biggest game in AU football over the past 50 years, and they let Tennessee---the Tennessee team that lost to Notre Dame---get *up* on them after being down by three scores?" *Pollster flips channel, sees OU beating Colorado like a rented mule, flips back* (*LSU fan side note: That wasn't just any 21 point comeback. That was a comeback engineered by ex-LSU QB Rick Clausen. I saw Rick play in person against Ole Miss two years ago and the guy couldn't hit the side of a barn with his passes. Sure, his stats sucked in that game, but that makes the fact that Riggs gashed AU for nearly 200 even worse since AU was selling out against the run...and still couldn't stop him.*) THAT'S what I mean by not "sealing the deal". Allowing a 21 point lead to evaporate against a terrible, 3rd string QB when you have a decisive advantage statistically, in the biggest game of the year for your team. Can't blame it on turnovers, either. That has nothing to do with "blowing out your opponent".
As you wrote: <Alabama? The same Alabama led by Mike Shula, won 3 (I'm sorry, four) games in 2003 and got punked by LSU by 16 the week before? THOSE guys? And AU, with the nation watching, only beats them by 5?> ... Yeah, but that happens with BIG rivalries: Like last year, LSU 17 Ole Miss 14 I wouldn't put much stock in that, if I were a pollster...at all.
First, Auburn beat Alabama (who by the way had a top 5 defense) by 8 points, not 5. USC only beat UCLA (who by the way lost to Wyoming) by 5 but it's only Auburn that takes the criticism for a close rivalry game for some reason. Explain that? Second, UT never took the lead in the SEC Championship game. They came back on us because of some stupid mistakes on our part but they never took the lead. Bottom line is that the deal was sealed in the preseason with Auburn put at #17 or whatever. If Auburn beat Alabama 54-10 and then beat UT 34-7, OU and USC would've still been ranked ahead of Auburn. That's evident by the way the sketchy voting went.
I agree that's how some outsider, rather ignorant pollsters viewed it. But for the record we beat Bama by 8 and UT never took the lead in the SECCG, but they did briefly tie it at 21. Eight plays later, we hit a 53 yd TD pass to reclaim the lead for good.
