Orange Bowl Poll

[Champ]

In my opinion we shouldn't even have to discuss but we do year-in-year out. Who should play in the NC?

[Rainbowreflect]

1. USC & Oklahoma of course.

By the rules that were agreed upon that is who will play.
Do the BCS rules suck? Sure they do, but teams who get shut out of playing in the NC should stop whining & work to make changes.
Every year we hear whining, but it will not end until we have a real play-off.

[ThorsHammer]

2. I'd vote Auburn #1

If you discount the preseason rankings, Auburn has had the most impressive season. USC has been given a free pass all year, as most people just assume them to be #1 and think that OU and Auburn should duke it out for #2. USC has one very good win over Cal, a game in which they were outplayed, and a good win over VT, who turned out to be much better than expected. OU has a good win over UT, and a decent win over A&M, Auburn has good wins over UGA and LSU, and 2 decent wins over Tennnesee. They did have a weak early schedule, but it wasn't their fault as Bowling Green (pretty decent team) dropped out, forcing them to schedule The Citadel. Unfortunately, Auburn doesn't even have a chance at a split title like USC did last year.

[RoyGBiv]

5. Auburn's Schedule

A couple points:

USC had the tougher schedule for the whole season, so I'm not sure what "free pass" means.

Despite the fact Auburn's cheesecake opponents were mostly earlier in the season, those games were still a part of their schedule and thus a part of their undefeated record. I'm also not sure what "not Auburn's fault" even means. It's not just the Citadel. They played Kentucky in late October, and Kentucky is atrocious this year. They also played schools that would have been medicore teams at best in the NAIA. Louisiana-Monroe? Tech? Miss State? The latter somehow beat Florida, but that was a fluke if ever I've seen one. They were destroyed by Tennessee.

Interesting you mention Bowling Green as a pretty decent team. OU did play them and beat them.

Having said all that, I have an instinctive feeling, i.e. based purely on my gut and having watched the teams play a lot this season, that Auburn may well be the best team in the nation, but we're talking miniscule matters of degree here. All three teams mentioned in the poll deserve a shot. So does Utah and probably Texas and California as well. But, as another respondent said, they agreed to the rules we have. You give any one of those teams a spot in the Orange Bowl and leave out another, and that other team has a legitmate gripe.

[ThorsHammer]

6. Good points

I didn't mean to disparage USC with the free pass thing, as they are a very good team. My point was more that no one disputed their #1 ranking from the beginning, and left OU and AU to battle for #2. Other than VT and Cal, the rest of the schedule was much easier though.

With regard to the schedule, I'm willing to give any SEC team a little break in OOC games, as the conference is usually brutal (admittedly it was down a little this year, but still better than the Pac10). They played The Citadel in place of Bowling Green, who dropped them to play OU. BG is a decent team that would have helped AU in the computers much more than The Citadel. I don't know why they played the ULs, but it is somewhat understandable with the SEC schedule. If they had dropped one and played a decent mid-major (Cincy, Marshall, etc), they would have been a lot better off. They can't drop Miss. St nor Kentucky, as they are conference games, much like USC has to play teams like UW and Oregon.

I'm not an Auburn fan, nor a USC/OU fan, but was impressed by Auburn the most. Unfortunately we're stuck with a system like this, and I don't think they ever anticipated 3 major schools running the table. Last year worked out well with both teams getting 'home' games and being co-champs, but unfortunately Auburn won't even get this chance. I'd also like to see the automatic bids reconsidered (maybe limit it to top 15 teams), as it's insane that a mediocre Pitt team is ahead of a very good Cal team.

[RoyGBiv]

8. Schedules and such ...

First of all, I'm totally with you on the automatic bids. That sort of system makes sense when you're seeding a playoff with 64 spots, i.e. the NCAA basketball tournaments. It gives a dark-horse team in a weak conference a chance to prove itself in face to face competition, and with the broad inclusiveness, it doesn't leave out the really good teams who finish second or third in the major conferences just because they barely lost to one of the top ranked teams in the nation that happened to be in their conference. I don't know what the precise answer is. A playoff is part of it. Giving good teams in weak conferences a chance is a part of it as well. But, the automatic stuff has to go. The way things are, we could conceivably have a 6-5 team force out a 10-1 team for a major bowl game.

Unfortunately, I think this will be the last part of the current system even to be challenged, much less removed. Too much money is involved for the schools it benefits.

As for the schedules, I am not trying to be too hard on Auburn by criticizing playing teams like Kentucky. OU has Baylor and Kansas, neither of which is exactly top-notch competition. (I wish the Big-12 wouldn't have allowed Baylor in the conference. They do not belong, imo. Excellent school. Horrible football program, at all levels.) I'm just wanting to add some perspective. None of the top 3 teams have any major weaknesses, which moves us to focus on the minutia like who played who, when and where and by how much did they win. That gets tricky because it's not a 1:1 comparison. There are so many levels of variables that in the end, it means nothing but a thousandth of point in a computer ranking.

Anyway, just my rambling thoughts on the situation. I am an OU fan, FWIW, but I totally understand Auburn's position. I remember clearly the 2000 season when OU moved up through the entire Top-25. They were only able to do that because of their tradition and fame as a football program and because of the same qualities in the teams they beat that year. That's not entirely fair either, even if it is nice for the fans and the teams it benefits.

[ThorsHammer]

9. Well said

My biggest qualm is that Auburn has no chance of even getting a piece of the title. Last year worked out about as fair as you could get, as both USC (poll #1) and LSU (BCS #1) got to play home bowl games and did split the title. This year, Auburn won't even have that chance, mostly due to starting 15 spots back in the preseason poll. In all honesty, I don't think there's any clear argument to keep any of the big 3 out this year. A plus one system could have worked beautifully this year, but unfortunately it won't happen. Hopefully the top 3 and the lesser teams getting in will lead to some change.

As an ND fan, Boomer Sooner next month. USC will likely catch us next year with Heismans (Bush), and is catching up in NCs as well. Hopefully you can delay this a little until we get back on our feet.

[Sympleesmshn]

3. All three...

Plus Utah and any other undefeated team.....

OUT WITH THE BCS!
In with an 8 game playoff for the 'ship

[bigwillq]

4. Trojans-Sooners

Although I really like Auburn.


The BCS is still a mess.

[GainesT1958]

7. Living proof of the need for at least a "Final Four" playoff in 1-A...

Southern Cal v. Oklahoma really is the best against the best...but Auburn still got screwed!x(

How, indeed, can a team go 12-0 and accept the fact they won't be allowed to play for #1? Though I think either USC or OU would pound them into the turf, Auburn should at least get the opportunity to be on the same field with them--and have that pounding proven on the scoreboard.

B-)