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What a wacky weekend this turned out to be.
You could have given me a million dollars to bet on Pittsburgh and I would beg you to put it in a mutual fund instead. Now the national championship race seems to be up for grabs. However this may turn into a popularity contest like last year, when No. 4 Florida jumped No. 2 Michigan, and unfortunately for the Georgia Bulldogs, this may go against them.
In some degree it is Georgia’s fault that it didn’t play for the SEC Championship. Beat South Carolina at home and the embarrassing loss to Tennessee is a non-factor. However, only USC can compare with the Dogs right now as the nation’s hottest team.
LSU looked unimpressive last night and, honestly, got lucky on a poor read and throw from Erik Ainge that was returned for six. Keep in mind, this is a defense that couldn’t stop unranked Arkansas in the red zone a week before. However, LSU has what Georgia doesn’t and that’s an SEC Championship. And that holds a lot more weight in the pollsters minds.
So here we are. Hours away from the BCS Selection Show. Who is it going to play Ohio State in the national championship? Georgia or LSU (I’m assuming Virginia Tech is nixed from the conversation as it should be and that Oklahoma has too big of a hill to climb)? Here are the pros and cons for both:
Georgia: Pros: The Bulldogs are arguably the hottest team in the country. Georgia has won six in a row including wins over Florida, Auburn, Kentucky and Georgia Tech. Knowshon Moreno has turned himself into a potential Heisman candidate for next season and the offense is as balanced as I’ve seen since 1992. Georgia’s last loss was to Tennessee in Knoxville during the first week of October and the Vols had a bye the week before. Because of that loss, Georgia lost a tiebreaker in the SEC East, allowing the Vols to go to the SEC Championship instead. An argument can be made that if Georgia goes to the SEC Championship, it beats LSU. Also, why punish Georgia this late for climbing back this high into the rankings. If it were the middle of the season Georgia would be sitting at No. 2.
Cons: Georgia did not make it to the SEC Championship and doesn’t have the ring to show for it. The Bulldogs were embarrassed at Tennessee and lost at home to a South Carolina squad that finished 6-6. How can you put one team in the national championship when it didn’t win its conference, while another from the same conference has the same record? Fact is, you have to win when it counts and Georgia didn’t do it against two teams it should have beat. The entire season’s body of work must be taken into accountability and Georgia’s two losses are not good losses.
LSU: Pros: LSU is the SEC Champion. The Tigers may have two losses but both were in triple overtime in the best conference in football. LSU just won the SEC Championship with a backup quarterback that only started one game this year. LSU’s defense, while shaken at times this year, came through big. The reason its defense suffered in run support against Arkansas was because Glenn Dorsey was hurt. Defense wins championships and LSU’s defense - when healthy - is one of, if not the best, in the country. LSU also has a 48-7 win over Virginia Tech on its resume.
Cons: This team lost to an unranked Arkansas team the week before. In every sport, collegiate or pro, it’s about how you finish. LSU lost its regular season finale, but since LSU was the only team in the West to lose two games and clinched the spot before the Arkansas game. LSU needed an incredible pass from Matt Flynn as time ticked down against Auburn to beat them. Les Miles can be aggressive - too aggressive sometimes, and if the Tigers don’t score and time runs out, Les Miles and LSU look like a big joke.
Who do I take?: Georgia, and it’s not because I go to school here. If there is no SEC Championship game, like in the Pac 10, Big 10 and ACC, then Georgia is co-champions with Tennessee and LSU. There needs to be some consistency in this system - either all conferences have a championship game or all don’t. It’s not fair to Georgia that Ohio State doesn’t have the same opportunity LSU was blessed with.
It doesn’t matter who I would take, so who goes? LSU, and it will be the same way it played out last year. Georgia sat at home and had to wait while the nation got to see LSU win a conference title. That will be fresh on the voters minds and LSU will edge out Georgia and play Ohio State in the national championship.
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