Oh boy, that conference championship game. It tripped up Tennessee in 2001, didn't it? They were looking forward to playing in the National Championship game, and LSU spanked them in Atlanta. Same thing happened to LSU last year when we spanked them. And hey, did anyone watch the travesty that was VA Tech vs. FSU in the inaugural ACC championship game?
Not to digress too much, but is there anything that proves that the ACC is a bunch of greedy bastards more than their placement of the championship game in Jacksonville, FL? They align the divisions so that -- presumably -- you get Miami-FSU every year in Jacksonville and make a killing. How do you think the commissioner feels now that the front-runners are Clemson, GA Tech, Wake Forest, and Boston College? You think anyone's going to travel to that game? If Tech doesn't make it, you're going to have a lot of PO'd fans who have to drive an awful long way to get to the game...and what if BC makes it? Here's a little hometown pitch for Charlotte to get that game.
Back to a conference that matters: LSU won it all with one loss in 2003. Florida did the same thing in 1996, and Tennessee would have done it in '01 were it not for that blasted game in the Dome. It's possible. It's just not very likely. I can't wait for the uproar, though, if Florida or Auburn wins out and leapfrogs an unbeaten Rutgers, WVU or Louisville squad. Or the uproar should Arkansas win out, take the SEC championship, and then be LEFT OUT of the game. Especially if one of the teams in that game is Southern Cal. Jeez Louise.
This is why we need one of three things:
1) A true playoff
2) A plus-one bowl system, which would have pitted the winner of Auburn-Utah against the winner of USC-Oklahoma in 2004 and Georgia against OSU in 2002.
3) A special stipulation. You know, like the one that says as long as Notre Dame is in the top 8, they get a BCS berth and don't have to share the money with anyone. Whoever wins the SEC Championship game gets to play in the national championship game as long as they're ranked in the top ten. Nothing like #22 FSU lucking out in the one game they had to win and then getting to go to the Orange Bowl.
That's my two cents, anyway.
Red and Black, Win or Lose