OK...so what if the 4th spot comes down to a BIG-10 conf champ with one loss vs. an SEC West team, also with one loss, that didn't get to the SEC champ game. The BIG will argue that the conf champ should take priority over the others. Here's the latest PR speech:
Click here for linkJust saying I expect this debate to get louder as selection day gets closer. It's in the interest of the BIG to keep this debate going.
No doubt the Big Ten whiners will have all kinds of talking points and reasons to be included in The Four, but it won't change the perception that the Big Ten is very weak. The idea that Wisconsin which has a completely cupcake schedule, except for LSU (who beat them), can win out and go to The Four, just ain't gonna happen. LSU will probably lose 2 more games, which really dilutes Wisconsin saying they played an SEC team. Michigan State has a slim chance to make The Four if they win out.
Let's say A&M goes 11-1, but does not win the Western division (loss to Bama who does go) no way A&M is left out of The Four. This season just keeps getting more interesting.
No way A&M
should be left out in that scenario. However I am not convinced that they would be included if you have an undefeated Oregon, FSU, and Oklahoma. Now I know that it is unlikely for all of those teams to go undefeated. But the point is that even if they did go undefeated, A&M would be much more deserving in that situation, having played a much tougher schedule. It will be interesting to see how the selections are made.
Think of it another way. How do you like the selection process for basketball? That is what they wanted to model this on. Is there a bias in the basketball selection process? Do overhyped conferences get more teams in than they deserve? Do undeserving minor schools get in just for the sake of political correctness? Do deserving SEC teams ever get left out because of bias on the selection committee? Do most of the "big" basketball conference teams ever get eliminated early, while the handful of SEC teams routinely make it deep into the conference?
Had this selection process been in place in past years, no doubt Boise State or some other undefeated cupcake would have gotten in over a much more deserving SEC #2.I think the reputation of the SEC is so huge now that some of the scenarios you are mentioning would not happen now. I prefer the human element to a computer. Who programs the computer, what are the criteria for rankings, how do you measure all the intangibles? No matter what, there will always be controversy, especially picking #4 and #5 for The Four, knowing #5 will be very unhappy. There is no perfect answer.
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