My Argument Against Alabama

Okay, so it appears to be a foregone conclusion that LSU and Alabama will meet in the BCS Championship Game in January to determine college football's National Champion. I think it is the wrong game, and I think LSU is being penalized for being maybe the 2nd best team I have seen in college football. I am going on record now as being in favor of an LSU - Oklahoma State matchup (assuming OSU handles its business against OU next week), and I give you the following for your consideration:

1. I have never agreed with premise that a team should be eligible for the championship game if it does not win its conference. Alabama is not even going to play in the SEC Championship game next weekend. This is ridiculous! LSU has gone through the West Division of the SEC undefeated and is rewarded by having to play an extra game against a much improved Georgia team in Atlanta. I don't think it is going to matter if LSU loses since they have beaten three teams in the top 3 this year and seven ranked teams overall. However, the risk of a loss at the end of a season is significant considering that Alabama is going to be sitting at home resting and watching.

2. Why will Alabama be sitting at home resting next weekend? Because they lost to LSU earlier this month...AT HOME! So, just to be clear, LSU will now be required to beat Alabama twice - once in Tuscaloosa and once on a neutral field. LSU is really getting the short end of the stick here. Hell, I might argue that even if LSU were to lose to Alabama in a championship game, I would STILL give them the trophy for beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa!

3. I don't like the BCS, but it is all we have at the moment. The intent of the BCS is to put the number 1 and 2 teams together every year. This year it is difficult, but not impossible. The computers overwhelmingly have OSU as the second best team in the country. I recognize that the computers don't watch games, but it is an integral part of the formula and again, it is all we have. Also, OSU's only loss was in two overtimes, on the road, on a day when the athletic department lost two basketball coaches in a plane crash. I imagine that the players weren't very close to those involved in the crash, but it must still be traumatic. I don't know, I am thinking about giving them a pass for that.

4. I will not entertain arguments for Virginia Tech (pitiful schedule that they should have murdered), Stanford (embarrassed at home), Houston (please), or Boise State (lost at home to TCU). Nice seasons, but not part of this conversation.

I am not going to say that OSU is a better football team this year than Alabama. I don't know the answer to that and there is no playoff to determine who is better. What I do know is this - LSU is better than Alabama. It was proven at the University of Alabama on national television. It is unfair to LSU to make them prove it again on a neutral field.

My BCS Championship Game is LSU vs. OSU. And there shouldn't be an argument.