When then-No. 1 ranked Alabama lost to Johnny Football and Texas A&M two weeks ago, I could not have been more excited for the BCS National Championship game.
It had appeared this was going to finally be the year the SEC’s hold on the game would be broken again. I, along with many other people, was hoping for such a matchup between possibly the two most exciting offenses in the country to watch in Kansas State and Oregon.
Even though it had seemed almost certain there would be no way Alabama and the SEC would worm its way back into the title game, that is exactly what is happening.
When the Crimson Tide fell, there were three other undefeated, bowl-eligible teams in the country: Oregon, Kansas State and Notre Dame. I assumed three teams would be enough to keep Alabama away. But Saturday saw both the top-ranked and second-ranked teams in Kansas State and Oregon fall.
Kansas State ran into the wall and could not find a way to keep up with an unranked Baylor team that came into the game with a losing record. Oregon was held to a season-low (and what I can only imagine is a program-low) 14 points and was beat by Stanford in overtime.
Neither of these things were supposed to happen. And now a sub-par Notre Dame team sits at the top of the rankings and, there it is, Alabama sits second. The SEC somehow got back into the national championship picture.
Looking ahead at next week’s schedule, I am fearful of the idea of the national championship again being two SEC teams.
Notre Dame plays at USC against a team that has nothing to lose and will be looking for some redemption after falling to UCLA Saturday afternoon. This is a game that, in my opinion, the Fighting Irish will lose. When that happens, the door is wide open for an all-SEC BCS National Championship.
How would that be possible? Guess who occupies the three spot in the AP standings; Georgia, another SEC team.
If the SEC standings remain the way they are now, Alabama will meet Georgia in the SEC Championship game. Both teams will have one loss, a conference loss, and will most likely be ranked first and second (remembering Notre Dame will finally show they were never a number one team).
At that point, it seemingly would not matter what happens in that game based on what we saw the BCS do last season.
There is also the possibility that somehow Florida will end ahead of Georgia in the SEC East, but the fact remains two SEC teams are poised to make the trip to Miami.
Sending two SEC teams to the national championship for the second year in a row would be a slap in the face to the rest of the country. Even though Oregon and Kansas State are no longer undefeated, and Notre Dame will most likely lose their final game, it does not mean none of those teams deserve to be in the title game.
There are a number of one-loss teams at the top of the rankings deserving of a chance to play for the title. Oregon, Kansas State, Alabama, Georgia and Florida all have one loss. I am assuming Notre Dame will join them. In addition, Florida State and Clemson both fall into this category.
Florida and Florida State finish their seasons playing one another meaning there will be, potentially, seven one-loss teams at the end of the regular season and no undefeated teams.
I cannot say who should be in the national championship game with so many one-loss teams. There are not many times I use the phrase SEC bias when talking about the BCS, but if two SEC teams play for the title, it would appear this bias may be warranted.
Who do you think will end up in the BCS title game? Will the SEC have two teams in the game for a second-consecutive year? Let Matt know at sports@dailycardinal.com
