re: strength of schedule complaints

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After that VT game in 2002, VT was squarely in the hunt for the NC until they faltered later. That's the point.

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And the other point is that we were not, even before we faltered.

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Somebody (LSU) wins, and puts themselves in a great position to win the NC. Somebody (VT) loses, and maybe is out of the picture. Somebody else (Kansas) plays complete crap and they go to the Orange Bowl with an 11-1 record while a two-loss team plays in the NC game.

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What two-loss team is going to get in ahead of an 12-1 SEC Champ? Kansas didn't go because they didn't win their division AND they played a laugher of a schedule INCLUDING their conference games. It is probabably mathematically impossible for an SEC team to have a schedule as weak as the one Kansas had that year. No 11-1 SEC team would have been left out for a 2-loss team because of SoS. If they were left out for a 2-loss team, it would be because they didn't win their division and thus didn't make the SECCG (the only way to finish 11-1).

Bottom line is that no SEC Champion is going to be left out for a team with more losses. After the Auburn screwing in '04, and the performance of the SEC since then, it is virtually inconceivable that an SEC Champion would be left out for a team with the same number of losses. The winning formula for an SEC team to get the BCS Championship Game is: 1) win the SEC (90% of the battle), and 2) minimize opportunities for extra losses in OOC.

Given that one SEC Champion in the last decade has managed to go into the bowl season undefeated, a single OOC loss out of conference almost assures a team of finishing with two losses. And since about 20 of the 22 National Championship Game contenders have had one or fewer losses, a two-loss season is nearly a death knell to any hope of a National Championship opportunity. So the question then becomes, "which is more likely: an OOC loss that gives us a second loss for the season that keeps us out of the Naitonal Championship Game 90+% of the time; or a big OOC win that tips us into the National Championship Game in one of those rare seasons where less than two BCS Conference Champions finish with 1 or fewer losses?"

That sounds like an easy question to me.

Note: I don't actually advocate the scheduling of nothing but cupcakes, but I am simply clarifying that the arguments for it are in fact rock solid: if you are trying to maximize the opportunity for National Championships as an SEC team, go mid-Major or lower all the way.