re: The way the voters should view the Alabama rematch situation

quote:

---

No, the point of the BCS game is to pit the TWO top teams and let them play for a title.

---

Top RANKED teams. How voters think teams should be ranked is left up to them. There is nothing illegitimate about a voter ranking according to, lets say, conference championships. There is nothing illegitimate about ranking them according to who you think is more likely to win against another team. We're all making normative arguments here.

quote:

---

Clearly, the rules expect rematches and expect teams to compete that did not win their conference.

---

Of course they recognize that it can happen. But SHOULD they allow it to happen? No. Alabama had a chance to secure their spot. They couldn't get it done.

quote:

---

Giving anyone other than Bama a shot is clearly not the point unless you can argue they are the better team.

---

If a team other than Alabama is ranked #2 they will get a shot and that is very much the point. #1 vs. #2 is the point. The standards used by humans in their contribution to those rankings is left up to them. Humans are perfectly and justifiably free to individually prioritize what merits an appearance among those top two rankings. "Team X would be team Y" might be a strong consideration or it may not be. Overall record might be another. Wins against ranked opponents might be. Losses against unranked opponents as well. None of these considerations need be any more important than another.