Roll Tide. . . Whatever!

Alabama won last night's "BCS National Championship" game 21 - 0 over #1 ranked LSU. Shall we look at why Alabama was in the National Championship game?

• Alabama won their division in the SEC. . . NO
• Alabama won the SEC Conference Championship. . . NO
• Alabama played a schedule where they beat other conference champions. . . NO
• Alabama played a team that could have played for the championship except Alabama beat them. . .NO

Only in College football can this happen. Who did Alabama beat to earn the right to play for the national championship? Let's take a look at their schedule:

• Kent State - Home Win 41 - 7
• #23 Penn State - Road Win 27 - 11
• North Texas - Home Win 41 - 0
• #14 Arkansas - Home Win 38 - 14
• #12 Florida - Road Win 38 - 10
• Vanderbilt - Home Win 34 - 0
• Ole Miss - Road Win 52 - 7
• Tennessee - Home Win 37 - 6
• LSU - Home Loss 9 - 6 OT
• Mississippi State - Road Win 24 - 7
• Georgia Southern - Home Win 45 - 21
• #24 Auburn Road Win 42 - 14

So let's break it down:

1. Played 1 team in the FCS which are not eligible to count towards a bowl game
2. Winning percentage of the teams played - 60.1% (.601)
3. 5 of the teams played had losing records
4. Played 4 ranked teams, only one of which was ranked in the top 10 (1 - 1 record against that team - LSU)

So tell me again why they were ranked #2? Oh yeah, a bunch of coaches were polled and some geeks (which I am one of) rated them based on some mythical formulas.

Don't get me wrong. Alabama played a dominant game. They had 43 days to prepare for it after all. But still, one wonders if the opinions of coaches and the points accumulated via various formulas didn't somehow favor them. What would have happened had they been forced to play their way in? Would they have made it? Possibly.

So today Roll Tide, you won a game that you were placed in instead of playing against the best teams who won their conferences. You are the BCS National Champions. Yeah, WHATEVER!