Saturday, November 5, 2011

Should Alabama still be #2?

LSU beat Alabama 9-6 in OT in the "game of the century", which I certainly hope wasn't the game of the century as if so, offensive football was taken back a few decades.  So who should be #2 now?

The obvious choice is Oklahoma State, and they played a game completely opposite, beating K-State 52-45 where K-State had several plays at the end to tie it.

Stanford may get a few #2 votes, although their game with Oregon State was closer than it should have been for too long even if they won by 25.

Boise State may even get a few votes, we know they are getting a #1 vote in the AP poll, but as I write this they are up only 21-14 over a bad UNLV team.

Oklahoma can't really make a case, ... yet at least, as they have a loss and the teams mentioned above don't,  but they beat Texas A&M by 16 while Oklahoma State had to eke out a 1 point win.

But what about Alabama?  Yes, they lost to LSU, and did so at home, but a 3 point loss in OT to the #1 team where making just 1 of 3 missed/blocked FGs in regulation or holding on to a catch in the 4th quarter could have been a game winner doesn't really mean they should drop that far.  If you expect a team to lose (many voters had LSU ahead of them) and they lose, should they drop in the polls?  In fact, if one believes they are still better than Oklahoma State, Stanford, or Boise State, shouldn't they be voted ahead of them?

As expected, my computer is going to have Alabama #2 still, albeit farther back of LSU, but those two teams had such a lead over the other teams that a close loss by either would have kept them #2.  My computer is simply saying that were Alabama to play any team other than LSU on a neutral field, they would be favored.  And if they'd be favored in such a game, shouldn't they be higher in the polls and computer ratings?

I'm confident it won't happen, but perhaps it should?

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