slcoach;1208880 wrote:Do you not comprehend what he is saying? Your argument is why are we worrying about the #4 team? The #1 team is all that matters. He is saying that if that is the only thing that matters, then just scrap the playoffs and bowls and name the champ via polls.
The process to determine the 'champion' is a season-long process. It doesn't just start the second week of December. Alabama had their chance last year when they played LSU in the regular season game in an attempt to win their division. They failed. LSU won it. They moved on. Alabama, no matter how good, lost. The season is a playoff. IN EVERY LEAGUE where not all teams qualify for the playoffs.
Alabama knew the setup when they started play. To get to the SEC title game, they had to win their division. To win it last year, they had to be better than five other teams who they played head-to-head. No polls, ratings, etc. They came in second. We know that as an irrefutable fact. They were, at best, second to LSU. The problem is how certain people were that Alabama was better than OSU, Oregon, etc. I mean, if you anoint LSU as the best, and Alabama's only loss was to 'The Best', then obviously their loss is better than any other loss by a one-loss team. It smacks in the face of credibility. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. We will never know of OSU could've beaten LSU. Or even Alabama. They never got a chance to play. Alabama did get a chance to play. One chance. They lost.
The season is a playoff. Every game factors into you advancing or not to the 'next round'. Alabama lost in the first round, the 12-game regular season. LSU made it to the second round (conference title game) and third round (title game). They should've been able to play another team making that same sort of advancement. Instead, Alabama got to take a round off and play them again.
Usually getting time off while other teams are playing is reserved to the best team in the form of a bye. Not a losing team getting a rematch with the team that beat them.