It is nearly impossible to overlook the fact that the method by which college football chooses a national champion is about to change once again in response to a Crimson Tide related event. Historians of the program will note that in 1964, both the AP and UPI picked Alabama as national champion, before the bowl games, then Alabama went on to lose to Texas in the Orange Bowl. By the rules then in place, Alabama still won the NC. This annoyed the national sports press and so they changed the rules for 1965 so that the national championship voting would happen after the bowl games. Following the 1965 regular season, an improbable string of bowl losses by teams ranked ahead of Alabama resulted in Alabama winning the 1965 AP NC, despite their having lost one game (Georgia) and tied another (Tennessee) during the regular season. Of course, in 1966 the voters decided that they weren't going to pick the Tide #1 regardless. (For details, see "The Missing Ring" by Keith Dunnavant.)
Now, some 47 years later, the key decision makers in college football - primarily the conference commissioners, egged on by the national sports media - are about to make another significant change in the way that the college football national championship is awarded - the adoption of a "plus-one" style playoff system to augment the existing BCS bowl system. Money has something to do with this impending change, but the main driver is the embarrassment and irritation experienced by high profile sportswriters and commentators, such as Dennis Dodd, Gregg Doyel, Matt Hayes, and Steve Greenberg over Alabama's defeat of LSU. The supercilious pundits had the narrative all written in advance. LSU was supposed to win the 2011 BCS NC game. LSU had the Mad Hatter/Riverboat Gambler as coach; the most athletic speed; the most wins over top ten teams; the resilience to overcome off-the-field distractions, and, of course, the invincible "honey badger." What a farce all of this turned out to be. But, the malcontents had to do something with their residual "rematch" angst and with the dramatic undoing of their aborted LSU coronation, so they used their influence to support a modification to the NC selection method that is ostensibly for the purpose of promoting greater fairness in the crowning of a college football champion but is actually directed at thwarting a continuation of Alabama's epic dominance of the sport.
Now, some 47 years later, the key decision makers in college football - primarily the conference commissioners, egged on by the national sports media - are about to make another significant change in the way that the college football national championship is awarded - the adoption of a "plus-one" style playoff system to augment the existing BCS bowl system. Money has something to do with this impending change, but the main driver is the embarrassment and irritation experienced by high profile sportswriters and commentators, such as Dennis Dodd, Gregg Doyel, Matt Hayes, and Steve Greenberg over Alabama's defeat of LSU. The supercilious pundits had the narrative all written in advance. LSU was supposed to win the 2011 BCS NC game. LSU had the Mad Hatter/Riverboat Gambler as coach; the most athletic speed; the most wins over top ten teams; the resilience to overcome off-the-field distractions, and, of course, the invincible "honey badger." What a farce all of this turned out to be. But, the malcontents had to do something with their residual "rematch" angst and with the dramatic undoing of their aborted LSU coronation, so they used their influence to support a modification to the NC selection method that is ostensibly for the purpose of promoting greater fairness in the crowning of a college football champion but is actually directed at thwarting a continuation of Alabama's epic dominance of the sport.
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