The SEC bias in college football needs to end
by Nicholas Goralka, communities.washingtontimes.comOctober 18th 2012
CHICAGO, October 17, 2012 — The first BCS rankings of the year were released Sunday, but you don't have to check them. If you're at all curious about the teams ranked 3-25 you might want to look it over, but those numbers have no meaning. If you follow college football at all, you already know who the top two teams are.
Alabama and Florida are in the lead. Everyone else is eating their dust.
Should one of the two SEC teams lose, they would probably lose to another SEC team, leading the new SEC team into the top two in the rankings. This is college football, ladies and gentlemen, the only sport with three Division I subdivisions. The FCS plays for a mini-championship, the FBS plays for cute little bowl titles, and the SEC plays for the national championship.
The BCS should be ashamed. People are getting sick of this one conference being praised as the premier of the sport; even if they are, their teams' levels are inflated by polls for no reason. Do we know that Florida would be able to slow Oregon down? No, we don't, so why not put Oregon ahead and make the SEC team prove itself? Because the BCS doesn't care. The SEC is sexy.
You saw it with your own eyes last year, and the same will hold true this year: if two unbeaten SEC teams go into the conference championship, the same two teams will play for the national title. It's ridiculous, but it's true. Why is this conference regarded so well?
For starters, let's take a look at the past six national championship games. They have all been won by the SEC, but at least two (LSU's two-loss title and Alabama's title last year) were simply the product of an SEC bias. Imagine how Oklahoma State and Stanford felt about the title game last year, how furious they must have been that the SEC title game apparently didn't count. Every other team moves down in the rankings after a loss, but not the Crimson Tide.
The SEC is just too special to allow anyone else in the national championship game.
This, of course, is not the SEC's fault. They're smart; they know that every "SEC!" chant at a non-conference game makes every AP voter say "Wow, this conference is scary." Truthfully, however, the SEC hasn't proven itself at all this season. Alabama has played one ranked team this year and it turned out to be an awful Michigan squad. Florida's only big win came within the conference.
With this in mind, here are the real Top 5 teams in the country in order, based on merit:
Oregon – The only team that has blatantly embarrassed each one of its foes. Don't count on anyone stopping the Ducks this year.
Kansas State – A great win over Oklahoma would earn them the top spot if they didn't struggle against Iowa State. Still, they've faced a tougher schedule than these next two teams.
Florida – At least they beat LSU. Both teams looked mediocre, but their performances were disguised as "old-school" because it's the SEC. A total of 437 yards combined says "bad offenses," more than "good defenses," especially when LSU gave up more points to Towson than Florida.
Alabama – They've looked good, but again, their schedule has been borderline pathetic, featuring two major-conference foes with winning records. If you still count the Big 10 as a major conference. Also they played Western Kentucky and Florida Atlantic. Is this supposed to be impressive?
Notre Dame – This is an undefeated team being ranked highly because they are undefeated. Nothing more. Oklahoma is going to demolish them in a couple of weeks.
To contact Nick Goralka, see above to send him an e-mail containing a question, comment, or scathing insult. His work appears in Alley-oops for Touchdowns! and That Liberal Pinko in the Communities at the Washington Times Online.
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