The Subtle Art of Losing One's Conference

It seems that every single year in college football, we go through the same ordeal. Conference championship games, the BCS, and human voters combine to make "post-season" determinations as efficient and pleasurable as a trip to the DMV. How is it that every single year, some team grossly benefits from actually losing their conference or worse, losing their division in their conference? Likewise, how do teams that win their divisions get punished every single year?

Remember back in 2001 when Nebraska got absolutely dismantled by Colorado in their season finale, only to be rewarded with an invitation to the national championship game? It almost happened again last year when Big 10 enthusiasts were clamoring for the Michigan-Ohio State loser to play a re-match for the national championship game despite the fact that both teams were only undefeated going into the game on the basis of playing weak schedules. Luckily, voters were sane enough to prevent this rematch from happening and wisely rewarded Florida for its brutal schedule and SEC Championship; but this seems to be the exception as opposed to the rule.

Those are the two more memorable travesties because they involved a team that couldn't even win its own conference being a candidate for the national championship game. However, there have been several teams throughout the years that have snuck into one of the lesser BCS bowl games by virtue of losing their division within their conference and there have been teams that have been punished severely by the system for actually WINNING THEIR DIVISION! Remember in 1998 (the BCS's inaugural season) when undefeated Kansas State lost a double-overtime heartbreaker to Texas A&M in the Big 12 Championship Game? Their reward: relegation to the Holiday Bowl! It's almost a near-certainty that this bizarre system of reward-punishment will manifest itself again this year.

This Year's Candidates

Two candidates to receive an undeserved reward this year are the Georgia Bulldogs and the Kansas Jayhawks. The former is practically a lock for a BCS game at this point; they even have an outside shot at the national championship game. It's not that the Georgia Bulldogs are a bad team; I'd even wager to say they truly deserve to be in the top 8 at this point. I'm just unsure as to why they should be rewarded over the Tennessee Volunteers or the LSU Tigers, whoever the loser of the SEC Championship game happens to be.

As to Kansas, they are quite possibly one of the least deserving BCS-candidates I have seen over the past decade. I certainly don't think that Kansas should be punished for its past football lousiness, but I also don't think they should be rewarded for playing a schedule that even Notre Dame surely could've managed to scratch 8 wins out of!!! Their non-conference slate included such powerhouses as Southeastern Louisiana (3-8), Toledo (5-7), and Florida International (0-11). The best non-conference opponent they've faced is Central Michigan at 7-5. At least they have a winning record, but I hardly think you can hang your hat on beating a slightly-above-average MAC team.

If intentionally going out and scheduling as many cupcakes as possible in order to become bowl eligible were not enough to qualify Kansas's 11-1 record, the fact that they've somehow managed to avoid to playing any of their own conference's heavyweights until the final week should factor in. Kansas played Kansas St. (5-7), Baylor (3-9), Colorado (6-6), Texas A&M (7-5), Nebraska (5-7), Oklahoma State (6-6), and Iowa State (3-9). They *somehow* managed to avoid playing all three of the top three teams in the opposite division: Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech. To sum it up for you, Kansas has played one team all season above 7-5 and they lost to that team! Kansas is a good team, but I don't think they are deserving of a BCS-bowl by virtue of playing one of the nation's weakest schedules (and that was at least in large part intentional).

As for LSU, they've played an extremely difficult schedule that included an out-of-conference slate against Virginia Tech and managed to come out of that with only 2 losses through the "regular season". Both of those losses were Triple Overtime games. At one time in history, this same LSU team would have finished the season 10-0-2 rather than 10-2. It seems silly to me to consider an overtime loss just as one would consider, say a 42-14 blowout. So if LSU goes into Atlanta on Saturday and loses a 3 point game to UT, it's difficult for me to argue that they don't deserve to go to a BCS bowl over their competition, most of whom did not even have to play an extra conference championship game.

The case for Tennessee is a bit weaker. Honestly, I think a 3-loss Virginia Tech team might be more deserving, but I don't think Tennessee's schedule or ability to finish as the #2 team in the nation's toughest conference should be overlooked. For starters, Tennessee played one of the nation's most difficult schedules. The SEC East is always brutal, but they went out and scheduled Cal and Southern Miss on top of the strong conference slate. It's easy to dismiss Cal now, but at the beginning of the season, they were playing at a national championship caliber level. That's a team that has simply fallen apart somewhere after the season's midpoint. The Vols shouldn't be punished for that.

Another thing to consider in favor of UT is that after next week, they will have played 10 --- yes, that's right TEN! --- teams with a record at or above .500. Since most of those 10 teams have likewise been ####ed up inside the brutal SEC, those records are a bit deflated, as well. If that weren't enough, of the three teams that did not have winning records, only one qualifies as a true "cupcake": Louisiana-Lafayette (3-9). Arkansas State finished the year at 5-7 and are better than that record would indicate, nearly beating Texas earlier in the season. Vanderbilt, likewise at 5-7, is a winning team playing in a brutal division of a brutal conference. I can't say enough good things about the job Bobby Johnson has done at Vanderbilt and it's a shame that people don't realize how good of a coach this guy is. Imagine if he actually coached at a school with some resources that actually stood a chance!!

Of course, there's a lot going against Tennessee, including blowout losses to Florida (doesn't seem so bad now) and Alabama (still seems quite bad), but at least they've played some actual competition. I think UT is more deserving than Kansas for a BCS bowl even if they do indeed end up losing to LSU.

Whether or not you agree or disagree that LSU and Tennessee are worthy of BCS bowl games, my bigger point is this: why should teams be punished for playing difficult schedules and why should teams be punished for playing for their conference championship game? It has always seemed beyond silly to treat a team that plays an extra-game against top-level competition that most of the rest of the nation doesn't have to play as if they just lost to Appalachian State!

So even if LSU, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, or Virginia Tech loses their conference championship games, I think they deserve to be rewarded over Georgia and Kansas; I also don't think they should be punished when compared to teams that did not have to endure the extra game. Unfortunately, poll voters and the BCS don't seem to agree with me.