OR...
You can just win all your games and avoid this nonsense. :smile:
Seriously. No team with a loss has room to complain. You want a shot at the title? Show up for every game.
You'll never get a panel of "experts" who won't be accused of conspiracy the first time somebody's team gets left out.
Michigan's path to the NCG in 2006 was clear. Beat tOSU, and they were in. Same with OKSt. this year, and with Bama. When you lose, you throw your fate into the hands of the jury (so to speak).
So don't lose.
Point taken, but since it is more likely than not that the 2nd team will be once-defeated, the selection criteria do matter. Why not select Boise State? What if three teams go undefeated?
"Not losing" is no guarantee, but, apparently, neither is "losing once to the team in the title game" a guarantee that you won't get a 2nd shot at the thing!
In a system where anywhere from 2-5 one-loss teams are going to be somewhat arbitrarily eliminated from the NC game, doesn't it make sense to eliminate all the teams that have lost the big game to the undefeated #1 team already? Re-matches are fine in a tournament, but in a arbitrary selection game, they make the least sense of all.
If Alabama wins 5-2 and Okie State drills Stanford 75-30, you don't think there won't be more polling shenanigans?
I'll put it one more way: if OSU had been picked for the game, and lost - would Alabama's argument that they should have had "their shot" at the title carry any weight?
Of course not. Everyone (and I mean everyone) would shrug and say, "You had your chance on the field."
I already know, for certain, that LSU is better than:
Alabama
Oregon (and Oregon defeated Stanford)
West Virginia
Georgia
But I can't tell you, without doubt, that they are better than one of the best teams in the country: OSU.
Okie State lost one game, on the road, in Overtime, on the day of a terrible tragedy for their sports department, in a league that decimated nearly all the teams it played from the Pac-12, Big Ten, ACC and Big East.
Our conference played one game with the SEC. One.
Forget fairness. How about a little variety?
Let the two teams play. I'm fairly confident that LSU is going to win anyhow. I'd just rather be allowed to know for certain.
As it is, if OSU beats Stanford, I don't see any reason why there won't be at least some debate about there being "three" national champions this season, if Alabama happens to win as well.