Crimson Red Sports

Every SEC West team has 2 top ten opponents in the home stretch. That's ridiculous.

It's called eating your own. No way a 1 loss Big Ten team should go to the Four over a 2 loss SEC team.


 :dog:

If


AU beats Ole Miss
Bama beats MSU
OM beats MSU
UGA beats AU

Then, AU, Bama, OM, MSU all have two losses.

Where is Bama's second loss?

Where is Bama's second loss?

It's called eating your own. No way a 1 loss Big Ten team should go to the Four over a 2 loss SEC team.


 :dog:

I'm not convinced that the SEC West Champ will have two losses.  At least one of these teams will have only one loss:  Bama, Miss. State, Ole Miss. 

Bama's best scenario is winning out and Ole Miss losing one more game. 

If both teams win out then Ole Miss owns the first tie breaker v. Bama, so Ole Miss losing again is critical -- I don't know if a 3-way tie would resolve in Bama's favor, although they should be the highest ranked of the teams if they win out.

For that matter, it is going to be extremely tough for us to run the table.  Too much inconsistency.  If we play our game, we can beat ANYBODY.  But we have only done that for a full game once this year.  This is not a bad position to be in since we control how we play, and surely now that the stakes are so high the team will stay focused.  I think the biggest contributing factor to the inconsistency is anxiety, but now that they see what they are capable of maybe they will play with confidence the rest of the way.

The good news for Bama:

1) LSU is not that great this year.  A win in Baton Rouge will still be difficult, but Bama is clearly the better team.
2) MSU is in Tuscaloosa.  I don't see Bama losing that game.
3) Auburn is in Tuscaloosa, and they're nowhere near as good as they were last year.  I think Bama wins easily.

So, if we get through LSU with a win I think the chances of finishing with one loss are very strong. 

The good news for Bama:

1) LSU is not that great this year.  A win in Baton Rouge will still be difficult, but Bama is clearly the better team.
2) MSU is in Tuscaloosa.  I don't see Bama losing that game.
3) Auburn is in Tuscaloosa, and they're nowhere near as good as they were last year.  I think Bama wins easily.

So, if we get through LSU with a win I think the chances of finishing with one loss are very strong. 

^^^This. But I thought that last year, too. I thought if we beat LSU, that we'd cruise to the NC. Granted, we had to play the barn at their place, but you never know what can happen. But, I'm with you, Phil. If we can get by LSU, I like our chances.

I hate to bring this up, but if the barn beats Ole Miss this weekend, we completely control our own destiny. Having said that, I just don't know if I can pull for them against the Landsharks.

There is no way for there to be a 3 way tie between Ole Miss, Miss State, and Bama at this point, at least not with the teams only having 1 loss.  For that to happen, Bama must beat Miss State or we will have 2 losses.  Then either Ole Miss or Miss State will lose when they play each other, giving one of them 2 losses.

It might be mathematically possible with each team having 2 losses, but that would probably knock us out of consideration for the playoffs anyway.

I will be surprised if Ole Miss runs the table though.  Too much pressure for a team that is not used to having a target on their back, and their offense is subject to self destruct at any point with Bad Bo at the helm.

That is the "next generation" of the same old argument we used with the BCS system.  Everyone used to say "no way a undefeated or 1 loss Big Ten team gets in over a 1 loss SEC team."  Now it has evolved to what you stated.  IMO, that is a desperation argument at best. Egotistical at worst.  At this point, Bama MUST win out and hope for some good luck to come our way once again.  OM will have to lose one more SEC game in order for us to make the SECCG but not necessarily the playoffs.  I can honestly see OM going to the SECCG and if they win that making the playoffs with 1 loss Bama making it as well.  I really have my doubts that as long as Bama is ranked in the top 4 that we would be left out considering the number of undefeated teams there are right now...

Balderdash. The truth is inconvenient. The Big Ten is a 2 team conference, Ohio St. & Mich. St., period. Imagine them playing in the SEC with a schedule of LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Miss. St., & Arkansas, plus the SECCG. Neither team would have fewer than 3 losses. I think the committee would agree. The Big Ten is a joke.

Totally agree.  However, everybody with half a brain cell (not implying that you don't mind you) knows that those that vote will look at the records played and I honestly feel that strength of schedule will be of secondary consideration if that...

Proposed Selection Process:
Establish a committee that will be instructed to place an emphasis on winning conference championships, strength of schedule and head-to-head competition when comparing teams with similar records and pedigree (treat final determination like a tie-breaker; apply specific guidelines).

The criteria to be provided to the selection committee must be aligned with the ideals of the commissioners, Presidents, athletic directors and coaches to honor regular season success while at the same time providing enough flexibility and discretion to select a non-champion or independent under circumstances where that particular non-champion or independent is unequivocally one of the four best teams in the country.

When circumstances at the margins indicate that teams are comparable, then the following criteria must be considered:

Strength of schedule
Head-to-head competition (if it occurred)
Comparative outcomes of common opponents (without incenting margin of victory)