A little background: I am a Washington State fan, however, I like LSU and I was quite pleased with their victory over Oklahoma. I'm also a regular sports radio listener, and I'm tired of hearing how USC was robbed. I'm tired of hearing abou co-National Champions. Here's the bottom line, the problem is with the BCS. The NCAA has married itself to the BCS through 2006, with only minor adjustments afoot. I will not stand here and defend the BCS on bit, other than to say that it is the system that is in place. The BCS is how the college football national champion is crowned. Did it mess up? Yes. Is it a good system? No. Is it the standard by which a champion is crowned? Absolutely. Keep in mind the whole reason we have the BCS is because of the terrible job that the polsters have done in the past.
Now, that leaves another question: Is LSU, who is the national champion, the best team in NCAA football? I don't know. Furthermore, we won't ever know. Most members of the media feel that USC would defeat LSU on a nuetral field. That may be so, however, the very best team doesn't always win their championship in a lot of sports. Here are the champions in the four major sports over the last five years, along with the teams that were actually the best in the leagues that year:
MLB
1999 Champs: Yankees (98-64) - Best Team: Braves (103-59)
2000 Champs: Yankees (87-74) - Best Team: Giants (97-65)
2001 Champs: Diamondbacks (92-70) - Best Team: Mariners (116-46)
2002 Champs: Angels (99-63) - Best Team: Yankees (103-58)
2003 Champs: Marlins (91-71) - Best Teams: Braves, Yankees (101-61)
NBA
02-03 Champs: Spurs tied for best with Mavericks (60-22)
01-02 Champs: Lakers (58-24) - Best Team: Kings (61-21)
00-01 Champs: Lakers (56-26) - Best Team: Spurs (58-24)
99-00 Champs: Lakers (67-15) - They were the best
98-99 Champs: Spurs tied for best with Jazz (37-13)
NFL
2002 Champs: Buccaneers tied for best with Eagles and Packers (12-4)
2001 Champs: Patriots (11-5) - Best Team: Rams (14-2)
2000 Champs: Ravens (12-4) - Best Team: Titans (13-3)
1999 Champs: Rams (13-3) - Best Team: Jaguars (14-2)
1998 Champs: Broncos (14-2) - Best Team: Vikings (15-1)
NHL
02-03 Champs: Devils (46-20-10) - Best Team: Senators (52-21-8)
01-02 Champs: Red Wings (51-17-10) - They were the best
00-01 Champs: Avalanche (52-16-10) - They were the best
99-00 Champs: Devils (45-29-8) - Best Team: Blues (51-20-11)
98-99 Champs: Stars (51-19-12) - They were the best
In only four cases out of twenty has the best team in the league won their leagues championship (3 NHL, 1 NBA), and in three more cases a team tied for the best record won (2 NBA, 1 NFL). What does this prove? For one thing, it shows that 65% of the time, the team with the best record is not crowned champion - and these a leagues with playoff systems.
Let's look at the most extreme case: MLB 2001. The Mariners were undisputably the best team in baseball - 14 games better than the next closest team (Oakland), and a whopping 24 games better than the eventual champions (Arizona). However, and I'm a Mariner fan, the M's do have a claim on the World Series title for 2001. Not any claim whatsoever - they don't share the title, they don't get a quarter of the title, they don't get anything but the best regular season record and another chance next year. And the same is true for 17 of the best teams listed above.
Clearly most of the time a lesser team is crowned champion, and a playoff system, something that many NCAA football experts and fans advocate, does not assure the best team of a trophy at the end of the year. So, is LSU the national champion? It is beyond doubt. Are they the best team? We'll never know.
Posted by at January 9, 2004 07:23 PMI promise I won't bug you too often, but you did say you were a Washington State fan, I like you...I like you a lot. Too bad they choked this year again(ND, UW, and USC(though in this one at least they were beaten). I'm thinking Doba will remove the last shreds of Price's mentality this off season. You're also right on the BCS, I still think the that because the "U" in USC comes after the "L" in LSU, that the computer ranked them alphabetically. Think about it, this suggestion fits with at least 1-3. I don't think they could defeat that assumption with facts. Their black little box really is black.
Posted by: Mike Aman at January 10, 2004 11:11 AMGreat Post, Booth. I think that's the single most compelling argument I've heard from either side yet.
Posted by: Robbie at January 12, 2004 12:01 PMWho can argue with that? Excellent post.
"Who is the best team?" and "Who is the champion?" are two different questions entirely.
War Cardinals winning the pennant in '04
War Rams firing Mike Martz
War Peyton Manning winning some Super Bowl bling bling
I'm out Romey.
Uh.
Boothy.
Posted by: Duane at January 12, 2004 01:59 PMDuane,
Now that I'm at least half a clone, I have to confess I don't know what that "War" thing means. Obviously, I've noticed it, but I want to know if there's something behind it.
Posted by: the booth at January 12, 2004 06:33 PMWell said.
Amen.