re: Big 10 Commish - 2011 Bama wouldn't make playoff

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If Okie St got in and waxed LSU

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I think Okie Light would have beaten us worse than Bama did.

Yeah, I said it. If not, they sure would have gotten in the End Zone at least three times on 1/9. That's for sure. But that's not what this thread is about...

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I really thought the voters would not let this happen.

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The voters will do what ESPN wants. That is clear.

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Its official, this thread has now gone full retard, time to anchor it.

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Sorry if I offended you. I'll delete if necessary.

I posted the same thing earlier...I thought.

All the conferences will want fair representation in a playoff.

How many times has a 10-6 team stayed at home while an 8-8 team won its division? College playoffs will be no different. It shouldn't be just the "best " 4 teams. Conference championships should mean something just like they do in every other sport.

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The only difference was timing(which has been ignored in the past when it didn't favor an SEC school). And of course Michigan lost on the road while Alabama lost at home.

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If that was the case then why wasn't it ignored in the SEC's favor in 2008 with Alabama and in 2009 with Florida? Both those years the SEC title game matchup was a #1 vs #2 matchup and the loser didn't make the national title game. THOSE years were most similar to 2006 Michigan, not 2011.

2011 had an amazing number of top 5 upset losses in the final 4 weeks of the season. If even 1 of those upsets doesn't happen then Alabama doesn't make the national title game. That's the part of the whole argument that people simply don't acknowledge. It isn't as if voters jumped Alabama ahead of several schools on a whim. Okie State was ranked 6th after the Iowa State loss while Alabama was #3. After the Okie State loss, #2, #4, and #5 lost games so Okie State naturally moved up.

In 2006, Florida won 6 games in a row after their loss to the #11 team at the time while Michigan lost their very last game. If Alabama would have lost 9-6 on Nov 26th instead of Nov 5th then Oklahoma State would have definitely be in the BCS title game against LSU instead of Alabama. Timing of the loss has always mattered. It mattered for Alabama in 2008. It mattered for Florida in 2009 and it mattered for Michigan in 2006.

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that is probably true - although not really a justification (because it has nothing to do with the credentials of the teams in question IMO)

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You can certainly argue whether timing of a loss SHOULD matter but the fact is that it has always mattered. When you lose has always been a huge factor and I honestly can't recall a single instance in college football history when a team lost its very last game and still played for a national title in their bowl game. 1996 Florida came the closest when they lost to FSU in the last regular season game. Luckily for them, they had another game (the SEC title game) to redeem themselves. 2006 Michigan, 2008 Alabama, and 2009 Florida didn't have that luxury.

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because there was a name school available to promote instead - ok state lacks teh prestige of OU, Texas, Alabama, Florida, USC...

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With all due respect, there's no way you really believe this. I could MAYBE (and that maybe is a major major stretch) buy this argument regarding a non-AQ conference team but not a Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12, SEC, or ACC team. No offense, but I think that's a sour grapes argument.

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are you seriously arguing that having a prestigious name doesn't significantly boost your ranking in the opinion polls? i must be mistaking the gist of your second response

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In some instances it does but I think it's a highly overrated factor. It didn't help the last 3 big names that came closest to possibly deserving a rematch (2006 Michigan, 2008 Alabama, and 2009 Florida) and not just because the teams that did go were "prestigious names". A team has literally NEVER (that word can't be stressed enough) played for a national title when they lost their last game which makes the case some are making for 2006 Michigan kinda hollow.

If you're talking about name factor being a part of the debate between Okie State and Alabama then I can't sit here and say it meant nothing at all. Having said that, I think the fact that Alabama destroyed its entire schedule much worse then Okie State did its schedule coupled with the fact that Alabama only played 1 less bowl team and Okie State's lone loss was MUCH MUCH worse than Alabama's lone loss. All these factors played a much much bigger role than name recognition. Okie State's loss dropped them to #6 while Alabama was #3 which is where timing of loss once again was a factor.