The fallout to Alabama's dominating destruction of LSU was fast and immediate. Pundits on shows such as "First Take" and "Mike and Mike" set out in anger against the BCS system as being "unfair" and saying that the season ended "on an unsatisfactory" note. While praising perhaps the most dominant defensive performance in the history of college football - LSU gained but 92 yards and had only five first downs - the pundits sang a familiar song to Alabama fans that somehow disparaged their championship. Just two years earlier, the line was "if Colt hadn't gotten hurt." Now the mantra was "but if Oklahoma State" followed by an obligatory reference to an irrelevant plane crash that had no bearing on the outcome of the Iowa State game.
Bama's destruction of LSU finally shattered the last resistance to some form of a college football playoff. In June 2012, the NCAA presidents formally approved a four-team playoff that would begin at the conclusion of the 2014 season. This development meant that two more BCS championships would be awarded and ensured that the complaints about whoever won the BCS (or even just played for it) would be limited to "well, at least in 2014 we won't have this problem." Speaking of problems, it was a particular problem at Ohio State that would have more bearing on the determination of the 2012 national champion than any single game played that year.
All scandals have a seemingly tiny incident that sprouts them into major controversies. For example, the Iran-Contra scandal was brought to light when a C-123 cargo plane was shot down while supplying Nicaraguan contras in October 1986 and one of the crew survived and was interrogated. At "the" Ohio State University, a simple email to the office of Buckeyes Coach Jim Tressel set events into motion that would both destroy AND resurrect the Ohio State program - and help a team along its dynastic path to immortality.
On Friday, April 2, 2010, Tressel got an email from a Columbus, Ohio attorney and former Ohio State walk-on named Chris Cicero informing Tressel of rumors that several current Buckeyes players were selling signed memorabilia to a tattoo parlor owner under investigation from the U.S. attorney's office. Cicero further tells Tressel that the tattoo parlor owner is also suspected of drug trafficking. Tressel chooses to not inform his AD (Gene Smith), his compliance department, or any of his bosses. He does, however, forward the email to a businessman in Pennsylvania who also happens to be Terrelle Pryor's mentor, informing him that Cicero does a good job of watching over the Buckeyes to avoid NCAA problems. Tressel takes no further action and two weeks later, Cicero emails him again after a long conversation with the tattoo parlor owner uncovers some specific allegations: nine Big Ten championship rings, 15 pairs of cleats, four or five jerseys and one national championship ring have been offered for cash or trade by players at Ohio State, including some current ones. In this email, Cicero requests secrecy and that the players be told to NOT correspond with the tattoo parlor owner at all, particularly by phone. Over the course of the next two months, several emails are exchanged between Tressel and Cicero.
All of this was shady and certainly questionable but it wasn't until September 13 that Tressel signed his own death warrant when he signed the NCAA's annual certificate of compliance affirming that Ohio State had no known violations and that he had reported all violations he knew about to the proper authorities.
The 2010 season progressed without further developments until early December, when a raid on the tattoo parlor owner's home AND business forces the question of whether the items are stolen. The authorities inform the AD and two days later, Tressel stands before the world and says this is the first time he has heard about this potential scandal. Ironically, the Ohio State scandal is being pushed out of the news by the ongoing Cam Newton scandal. Two days after Tressel's announcement, Newton wins the Heisman Trophy as the nation's best player. In an amusing irony, ESPN chooses that evening to air a new "30 for 30" documentary for the very first time about the infamous SMU scandals from the 1980s that netted the death penalty for the school's athletic programs. Ohio State's problems remain somewhat on the back burner, although the next two weeks bring forth enough in interviews for Ohio State to declare six players ineligible for the upcoming Sugar Bowl against Arkansas. The NCAA, already viewed with suspicion because of their foot dragging in the Cam Newton fiasco, manages to draw all of the heat and anger of the sports viewing public on them by handing down five-game suspensions for five players that will begin in the 2011 season - but permits them to play in the Sugar Bowl!!! Indeed, all of the NCAA's actions regarding both Newton and Ohio State suggest an organization doing everything it can to ensure that bigger name teams play at full capacity in bigger name games (e.g. Auburn vs Oregon is a better draw than TCU-Oregon or a game with Boise St; Ohio State at full strength is a better Sugar Bowl to watch). The already low opinion of the NCAA sinks even lower.
On January 10, 2011, Newton leads Auburn to the national title. Just three days later, the Cam Newton scandal is blown off the front pages (everywhere except Alabama, of course) by the stunning revelation that Tressel had actually lied in December and had known about the memorabilia scandal going back to the previous April. As the faucet continues to drip information, it becomes clear that Tressel is sitting on a powder keg. On March 7, 2011, Yahoo sports - continuing the tradition that brought down Reggie Bush and the USC dynasty to an asterisk of history - reports publicly that Tressel knew about the violations and did nothing about them. Ohio State responds the following day by suspending Tressel for the first two games of the 2011 season. In light of the fact the Buckeyes open against Akron and Toledo, this suspension is seen as more of a joke than a punishment. As critics immediately not, Tressel will conveniently be back right before the Miami game. Ohio State President Gordon Gee then makes one of the most impolitic remarks ever by not only saying that he never considered Tressel's action a terminating offense but that Gee "is hopeful the coach doesn't dismiss me." On Memorial Day, Tressel throws himself overboard and resigns as the head coach of Ohio State. Assistant Luke Fickell, who has already been named the coach for the two games Tressel was to be suspended, is chosen as the one-season interim while Ohio State looks to find a replacement. On July 8, Ohio State plea bargains with the NCAA, offering to vacate the 2010 season, refuse the $339,000 bowl money payout from the Sugar Bowl, and serve two years of NCAA probation. In November, the Buckeyes choose accomplished former Florida coach (and former Ohio State assistant) Urban Meyer to lead them out of the probation. Ohio State ends the year at 6-7, losing to Florida in what some dubbed "the Urban Bowl."
As it turned out, Ohio State's choice of playing in the Gator Bowl in 2012 would have long-term consequences for multiple programs.
Two mornings after Alabama beat LSU in dominant fashion, Coach Nick Saban gathered the returning players together, having dismissed those heading to the NFL or ending their college eligibility. He notified the team sitting there that it was nothing, had done nothing, and had WON nothing at all - that this was a different team than the team less than 48 hours earlier. Having lived through what he called his most frustrating year as a head coach in 2004, when LSU was defending champions, and having also seen what happened to his talented bunch in 2010, Saban was now laying down a marker and challenging THIS team to win the championship.
If Alabama could do it, they would be the first team of the BCS era to win consecutive BCS national championships. Indeed, it the Tide could win the recognized championship (as opposed to the fading into insignificance AP version), they would be the first REAL undisputed champions to win consecutive titles since 1994-95 Nebraska and one of the few in history to pull it off. The Tide was losing a lot to the NFL, but they also had a lot coming back.
PRE-SEASON AP POLL
1) USC - led by Lane Kiffin
2) Alabama
3) LSU
4) Oklahoma
5) Oregon
6) Georgia
7) Florida St
8) Michigan
There was a delay in submission of the AP poll. LSU was the original pre-season number one but when star defensive player Tyrann Mathieu was kicked off the team in August, the AP extended the voting deadline and USC topped the first poll.
On opening day, Alabama ended the hopes of Michigan, blowing quickly out to a 31-0 lead en route to a 41-14 demolition of the Wolverines in Dallas. Although USC trounced Hawaii, the performance was so impressive that the Tide, having shown they lost very little of their overall talent from the LSU game in January, roared into the top spot with 45 out of 60 first-place votes.
USC, the pre-season number one, was the first contender to fall, losing a 21-14 dogfight on the road against #21 Stanford, who pole vaulted all the way to number nine. Oklahoma fell next, losing a five-point battle with #15 Kansas State, while the voters were unimpressed with LSU's uninspiring but effective 12-10 win over Auburn. So unimpressed were the voters that on the morning of September 23, it was all-world defense Alabama at number one and all-world offense Oregon at number two. This was the dream match, the game that everyone who loved college football wanted to see. Most SEC fans were understandably dismissive of Oregon's chances - mostly because Oregon's high-powered offense had only netted 19 points against one of the weakest defenses to ever win a national title, Auburn, just two years earlier. LSU had dominated the Ducks in 2011 as well. But CFB pundits are the equivalent of carnival barkers or professional wrestling promoters anyway, so the match-up was being discussed as early as September. And the general agreement was that Oregon was more likely to make the title game - not because they were better but because Alabama had to deal with the SEC meat grinder.
And when Stanford went down to Washington the last week of September, Oregon's path looked even easier than previously thought. When LSU struggled with Towson State, the Tide was perched atop the rankings with every single vote in the AP poll. That's when proof of the SEC parity once again presented itself and nearly took everyone out of the running in the first week of October.
It began with South Carolina's utter destruction of Georgia, 35-7. Florida beat LSU in a lackluster 14-6 game that saw the Gators still rise to number four, right behind former head coach Steve Spurrier's talented South Carolina crew. Two teams were quietly slipping up the polls - Notre Dame, who did nothing but win, and Ohio State, who was winning and yet had no prayer at winning it all. LSU then continued their Jekyll/Hyde act by topping South Carolina and moving right back into contention. Alabama welcomed Missouri to the SEC with a shellacking in the rain that was marred by an inexplicable body slam of a Mizzou player delivered by Tide backup defender LaMichael Fanning in the final minutes. Kansas State, led by quarterback Colin Klein, quietly was making a strong case on behalf of the Big 12, moving to number four although nobody seemed to notice.
The first BCS poll was released on October 14:
1) Alabama
2) Florida
3) Oregon
4) Kansas State
5) Notre Dame
All these teams were undefeated and one-loss LSU was right below the Irish, capable of making another title run if they could just beat Alabama - and this year's game was at home.
The following week, Florida entered the national picture by ending South Carolina's hopes in a 44-11 demolition. LSU also demonstrated that the quickly being hyped as the greatest freshman every Johnny Manziel had limitations in a 24-19 win. LSU's win quieted thoughts that A/M might possibly win the SEC West or more despite Manziel's obvious talent. The rankings were producing excitement at the possibilities: Alabama might well have to play Florida for the SEC and Oregon for the national title. Or LSU could still make it. My goodness, at this point Kansas St had gotten through the bulk of their actual challenges and unlike Oregon or Alabama, they would not have to play a national title game. And, of course, there was the predictable media fixation on Notre Dame, whose talented defender Manti Teo had become a sympathetic figure due to the tragic of his girlfriend early in the season. Like so much of the 2012 college football season, this story, too, would be turned on its head.
On October 27, the Tide blasted unbeaten Mississippi State (note: in my first-ever trip to BDS). The entire day was marred, however, by the horrific injury to South Carolina's talented RB Marcus Lattimore, one of the most nauseating every witnessed on television (right up there with Tyrone Prothro or Joe Theismann). Notre Dame thumped Oklahoma that day and in a stunning reversal of the usual Mark Richt formula, Georgia took down Florida, setting the Bulldogs up for a potential championship run. Indeed, so close were the SEC teams - with the possible exception of Alabama - that the hope of other conferences rested on the SEC eliminating themselves from the title picture. A few more upsets and it would happen. Entering November, the rankings were as follows:
1) Alabama
2) K-State
3) Notre Dame
4) Oregon
5) LSU
6) Georgia
7) Florida
8) South Carolina
Carolina was out of the hunt and enough of the other teams had to play each other that just the right combo would land two of the three teams among Notre Dame, K-State, and Oregon in the Miami national title game. After all, Alabama and LSU were capable of taking each other out via the winner losing a later game because of the sheer toughness of what was fast becoming the sport's greatest rivalry.
Not only did it damn near happen, it DID happen. The SEC eliminated themselves from the title hunt albeit temporarily. It started in the madhouse known as Tiger Stadium, where Alabama and LSU lined up for yet another classic. Alabama dominated the second and most of the third quarter yet they got the ball back only after Drew Allman missed a 45-yard field goal that would have given the Tigers a six-point lead. Alabama's second half was the stuff of horror movies: three three and outs that totaled only 15 yards in 19 plays and one well-executed rushing drive by Yeldon that ended in a fumble at the LSU ten. Needing a touchdown with 94 seconds left, Alabama would now have to do something they had not managed to do since the 2010 Arkansas game - actually WIN a close game. Since that comeback over Ryan Mallett, the Tide was 26-4 but had not won a single game during that incredible run that was decided by one score. The Tide was building a reputation as a team - like Oklahoma or Nebraska in years of yore - that could blow a team right off the field but couldn't win a close game if they absolutely had to. But McCarron and Kevin Norwood put the team on their backs and went right down the field, finishing with a perfectly executed screen to TJ Yeldon that permitted him the redemptive touchdown and the Tide led, 21-17. The Tide defense did a phenomenal job, holding LSU to -1 yard on their last three plays thanks to a sack of QB Zach Mettenberger, and disappointed fans coast to coast now had to face the possibility that Alabama was going to go back to back.
As it turned out, the Tide's tough game against LSU cost them an unbeaten season just a week later. With all manner of hype and emotion, Texas A/M wandered into Tuscaloosa and caught a Tide team no doubt tired from the LSU game early, pounding in three lightning quick touchdowns to take a 20-0 lead. McCarron and the backs fought back enough to trail only 20-14 at the half. Multiple times it appeared either team might take control of the game, but A/M had just enough it seemed to win. Trailing by 12 with six minutes left, McCarron unloaded a 54-yard bomb to Amari Cooper that brought the crowd into the game that now was within reach at 29-24. After the defense did its job with a three and out that netted zero yards, McCarron violated all manner of normal approach by uncorking yet another 54-yard strike, this one to Kenny Bell, that gave the Tide first and goal at the Aggies six. But a set of somewhat bizarre play calls saw McCarron throw an interception into the end zone on fourth down and after a later Tide penalty on a punt formation, Alabama fell from the ranks of the unbeaten. By all odds, the SEC had committed fratricide and taken everyone out of the running.
The BCS poll on the morning of November 11, 2012 was:
1) Kansas State
2) Oregon
3) Notre Dame
4) Alabama
5) Georgia
6) Florida
7) LSU
8) Texas A/M
9) South Carolina
10) Florida State
The rankings attested to the fact of SEC parity. Of the three unbeatens remaining, only two at most could meet for the championship. And then occurred something so head-scratching that fans coast to coast who had celebrated the demise of a king only a week earlier now had to confront the reality that Alabama might well win it all again.
Playing the nation's worst defensive team on the road in Waco, Kansas State now experienced all the pressure that goes with being number one. They didn't handle it well, either, getting blown out, 52-24, and watching Colin Klein's possible Heisman Trophy vanish into the cool night air in Waco. Moments later, yet another missed kick sent yet another contender sprawling. Oregon's overtime field goal miss combined with Stanford's successful attempt knocked the Ducks out of the number two spot just one week after they'd arisen. And just like that, Alabama was back in line to play for the championship. Even better for the SEC, Georgia was ranked third, meaning that if they could somehow upset Alabama, the SEC still had a chance at winning yet another national championship.
And now began the carping similar to 2011. Why did Oregon's loss count against them so much more than Alabama's or Georgia's did. After all, Oregon lost in overtime while Alabama trailed huge and Georgia got beat pretty easily. The problem, however was that Alabama had played a SUBSTANTIALLY tougher schedule than Oregon and they had the same record. In fact, if any team had a legitimate complaint it was Florida, who was emulating Alabama's 2011 season by losing one game to an arch rival but was now doomed to miss the SEC title game. Florida had played a tougher schedule than any other team in the SEC - despite not even playing Alabama - and they had only one loss. What these rankings set into motion when all three SEC contenders won their big games was precisely the type of argument that could be used by either BCS OR four-team playoff advocates. Alabama and Georgia would meet in a "winner goes to the championship" de facto semi-final while Notre Dame sat at home and mourned the loss of Manti Teo's girlfriend, drawing inspiration for the upcoming game. The Irish had NOT looked very impressive at all, but they were unbeaten, and they had taken down Stanford, Oklahoma, and Michigan St. While they were escaping by the skin of their teeth, the Irish were, in fact, the only unbeaten contender. Plus, they were Notre Dame, a team to whom the regular rules never seem to apply.
And what about Ohio State? This was an unbeaten team looking pretty good but because of the sequence noted above, they had no say in the outcome.
Alabama and Georgia played a classic, perhaps the most exciting SEC championship game ever. Both teams gave their all in a game that serves as a microcosm of the eras of both coaches at both schools. Alabama's conservative Saban played old-style run the ball down their throats and then hit them with the zinger with little time left to take a four-point lead. Georgia once again played a decent game and had a talented team and yet served as a reminder of Mark Richt's persistent failure to win big games. And in typical Richt fashion, Georgia lost by failing to pay close attention to the details of the closing seconds, when a receiver who should have slammed a ball into the ground out in the field of play caught it - and the clock ran out. Indeed, this failure of fundamental coaching would rear its ugly head again less than a year later, when Georgia botched a game they had won against Auburn that also wound up affecting the BCS title hunt. Alabama survived Georgia and prepared for the unbelievable: a chance to beat Notre Dame in a national championship showdown.
And it didn't take long, either. When TJ Yeldon scored to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter, even the most diehard Irish fans knew the game was over. AJ McCarron had more trouble from his offensive lineman Barrett Jones than he did from the Notre Dame defense. The Tide won, 42-14, and longtime Tide watchers who had waited forty years for vengeance had it. Not only was it yet another destruction of an unbeaten team in the BCS title game, but the Tide was now the first to go back-to-back. They had also won three titles in four years just like the old Nebraska dynasty, and much of this team was coming back yet again with a legitimate shot at the first-ever college footballl three-peat.
In the days following the game, stories broke that Manti Teo's girlfriend had been a figment of someone's active imagination. While such a scandal was obviously not on par with the Sandusky nonsense at Penn State or even the Ohio State memorabilia scandal, it was an embarrassment to Notre Dame right on top of their embarrassing performance against Alabama. Teo left for the NFL and Notre Dame reverted back to being an annual mediocrity with a soft schedule.
DID THE BCS GET IT RIGHT?
Of course they did, and this year in particular serves as an argument in favor of the BCS over a four-team playoff. Suppose there was no SEC title game. The final four teams would likely have been the two BCS title teams, Georgia, and Florida. Florida would have trounced Notre Dame and then lost to Alabama, and the entire time before the game would have been filled with cries of "injustice" because Georgia had beaten Florida and got punished for winning the game just as happened with Alabama in 2011. Assuming the SEC title game served to eliminate Georgia, the final four would have probably been: N Dame, Alabama, Florida, Oregon. Once again, Georgia has a complaint and the SEC is used to eliminate yet another SEC team. 2012 might well have been the most justified year for use of the BCS in history, but it was already going to be history after one more year. That year would be Alabama's attempt at a three-peat, a venture that would end in the most shocking finish to a game in the history of college football.
Bama's destruction of LSU finally shattered the last resistance to some form of a college football playoff. In June 2012, the NCAA presidents formally approved a four-team playoff that would begin at the conclusion of the 2014 season. This development meant that two more BCS championships would be awarded and ensured that the complaints about whoever won the BCS (or even just played for it) would be limited to "well, at least in 2014 we won't have this problem." Speaking of problems, it was a particular problem at Ohio State that would have more bearing on the determination of the 2012 national champion than any single game played that year.
All scandals have a seemingly tiny incident that sprouts them into major controversies. For example, the Iran-Contra scandal was brought to light when a C-123 cargo plane was shot down while supplying Nicaraguan contras in October 1986 and one of the crew survived and was interrogated. At "the" Ohio State University, a simple email to the office of Buckeyes Coach Jim Tressel set events into motion that would both destroy AND resurrect the Ohio State program - and help a team along its dynastic path to immortality.
On Friday, April 2, 2010, Tressel got an email from a Columbus, Ohio attorney and former Ohio State walk-on named Chris Cicero informing Tressel of rumors that several current Buckeyes players were selling signed memorabilia to a tattoo parlor owner under investigation from the U.S. attorney's office. Cicero further tells Tressel that the tattoo parlor owner is also suspected of drug trafficking. Tressel chooses to not inform his AD (Gene Smith), his compliance department, or any of his bosses. He does, however, forward the email to a businessman in Pennsylvania who also happens to be Terrelle Pryor's mentor, informing him that Cicero does a good job of watching over the Buckeyes to avoid NCAA problems. Tressel takes no further action and two weeks later, Cicero emails him again after a long conversation with the tattoo parlor owner uncovers some specific allegations: nine Big Ten championship rings, 15 pairs of cleats, four or five jerseys and one national championship ring have been offered for cash or trade by players at Ohio State, including some current ones. In this email, Cicero requests secrecy and that the players be told to NOT correspond with the tattoo parlor owner at all, particularly by phone. Over the course of the next two months, several emails are exchanged between Tressel and Cicero.
All of this was shady and certainly questionable but it wasn't until September 13 that Tressel signed his own death warrant when he signed the NCAA's annual certificate of compliance affirming that Ohio State had no known violations and that he had reported all violations he knew about to the proper authorities.
The 2010 season progressed without further developments until early December, when a raid on the tattoo parlor owner's home AND business forces the question of whether the items are stolen. The authorities inform the AD and two days later, Tressel stands before the world and says this is the first time he has heard about this potential scandal. Ironically, the Ohio State scandal is being pushed out of the news by the ongoing Cam Newton scandal. Two days after Tressel's announcement, Newton wins the Heisman Trophy as the nation's best player. In an amusing irony, ESPN chooses that evening to air a new "30 for 30" documentary for the very first time about the infamous SMU scandals from the 1980s that netted the death penalty for the school's athletic programs. Ohio State's problems remain somewhat on the back burner, although the next two weeks bring forth enough in interviews for Ohio State to declare six players ineligible for the upcoming Sugar Bowl against Arkansas. The NCAA, already viewed with suspicion because of their foot dragging in the Cam Newton fiasco, manages to draw all of the heat and anger of the sports viewing public on them by handing down five-game suspensions for five players that will begin in the 2011 season - but permits them to play in the Sugar Bowl!!! Indeed, all of the NCAA's actions regarding both Newton and Ohio State suggest an organization doing everything it can to ensure that bigger name teams play at full capacity in bigger name games (e.g. Auburn vs Oregon is a better draw than TCU-Oregon or a game with Boise St; Ohio State at full strength is a better Sugar Bowl to watch). The already low opinion of the NCAA sinks even lower.
On January 10, 2011, Newton leads Auburn to the national title. Just three days later, the Cam Newton scandal is blown off the front pages (everywhere except Alabama, of course) by the stunning revelation that Tressel had actually lied in December and had known about the memorabilia scandal going back to the previous April. As the faucet continues to drip information, it becomes clear that Tressel is sitting on a powder keg. On March 7, 2011, Yahoo sports - continuing the tradition that brought down Reggie Bush and the USC dynasty to an asterisk of history - reports publicly that Tressel knew about the violations and did nothing about them. Ohio State responds the following day by suspending Tressel for the first two games of the 2011 season. In light of the fact the Buckeyes open against Akron and Toledo, this suspension is seen as more of a joke than a punishment. As critics immediately not, Tressel will conveniently be back right before the Miami game. Ohio State President Gordon Gee then makes one of the most impolitic remarks ever by not only saying that he never considered Tressel's action a terminating offense but that Gee "is hopeful the coach doesn't dismiss me." On Memorial Day, Tressel throws himself overboard and resigns as the head coach of Ohio State. Assistant Luke Fickell, who has already been named the coach for the two games Tressel was to be suspended, is chosen as the one-season interim while Ohio State looks to find a replacement. On July 8, Ohio State plea bargains with the NCAA, offering to vacate the 2010 season, refuse the $339,000 bowl money payout from the Sugar Bowl, and serve two years of NCAA probation. In November, the Buckeyes choose accomplished former Florida coach (and former Ohio State assistant) Urban Meyer to lead them out of the probation. Ohio State ends the year at 6-7, losing to Florida in what some dubbed "the Urban Bowl."
As it turned out, Ohio State's choice of playing in the Gator Bowl in 2012 would have long-term consequences for multiple programs.
Two mornings after Alabama beat LSU in dominant fashion, Coach Nick Saban gathered the returning players together, having dismissed those heading to the NFL or ending their college eligibility. He notified the team sitting there that it was nothing, had done nothing, and had WON nothing at all - that this was a different team than the team less than 48 hours earlier. Having lived through what he called his most frustrating year as a head coach in 2004, when LSU was defending champions, and having also seen what happened to his talented bunch in 2010, Saban was now laying down a marker and challenging THIS team to win the championship.
If Alabama could do it, they would be the first team of the BCS era to win consecutive BCS national championships. Indeed, it the Tide could win the recognized championship (as opposed to the fading into insignificance AP version), they would be the first REAL undisputed champions to win consecutive titles since 1994-95 Nebraska and one of the few in history to pull it off. The Tide was losing a lot to the NFL, but they also had a lot coming back.
PRE-SEASON AP POLL
1) USC - led by Lane Kiffin
2) Alabama
3) LSU
4) Oklahoma
5) Oregon
6) Georgia
7) Florida St
8) Michigan
There was a delay in submission of the AP poll. LSU was the original pre-season number one but when star defensive player Tyrann Mathieu was kicked off the team in August, the AP extended the voting deadline and USC topped the first poll.
On opening day, Alabama ended the hopes of Michigan, blowing quickly out to a 31-0 lead en route to a 41-14 demolition of the Wolverines in Dallas. Although USC trounced Hawaii, the performance was so impressive that the Tide, having shown they lost very little of their overall talent from the LSU game in January, roared into the top spot with 45 out of 60 first-place votes.
USC, the pre-season number one, was the first contender to fall, losing a 21-14 dogfight on the road against #21 Stanford, who pole vaulted all the way to number nine. Oklahoma fell next, losing a five-point battle with #15 Kansas State, while the voters were unimpressed with LSU's uninspiring but effective 12-10 win over Auburn. So unimpressed were the voters that on the morning of September 23, it was all-world defense Alabama at number one and all-world offense Oregon at number two. This was the dream match, the game that everyone who loved college football wanted to see. Most SEC fans were understandably dismissive of Oregon's chances - mostly because Oregon's high-powered offense had only netted 19 points against one of the weakest defenses to ever win a national title, Auburn, just two years earlier. LSU had dominated the Ducks in 2011 as well. But CFB pundits are the equivalent of carnival barkers or professional wrestling promoters anyway, so the match-up was being discussed as early as September. And the general agreement was that Oregon was more likely to make the title game - not because they were better but because Alabama had to deal with the SEC meat grinder.
And when Stanford went down to Washington the last week of September, Oregon's path looked even easier than previously thought. When LSU struggled with Towson State, the Tide was perched atop the rankings with every single vote in the AP poll. That's when proof of the SEC parity once again presented itself and nearly took everyone out of the running in the first week of October.
It began with South Carolina's utter destruction of Georgia, 35-7. Florida beat LSU in a lackluster 14-6 game that saw the Gators still rise to number four, right behind former head coach Steve Spurrier's talented South Carolina crew. Two teams were quietly slipping up the polls - Notre Dame, who did nothing but win, and Ohio State, who was winning and yet had no prayer at winning it all. LSU then continued their Jekyll/Hyde act by topping South Carolina and moving right back into contention. Alabama welcomed Missouri to the SEC with a shellacking in the rain that was marred by an inexplicable body slam of a Mizzou player delivered by Tide backup defender LaMichael Fanning in the final minutes. Kansas State, led by quarterback Colin Klein, quietly was making a strong case on behalf of the Big 12, moving to number four although nobody seemed to notice.
The first BCS poll was released on October 14:
1) Alabama
2) Florida
3) Oregon
4) Kansas State
5) Notre Dame
All these teams were undefeated and one-loss LSU was right below the Irish, capable of making another title run if they could just beat Alabama - and this year's game was at home.
The following week, Florida entered the national picture by ending South Carolina's hopes in a 44-11 demolition. LSU also demonstrated that the quickly being hyped as the greatest freshman every Johnny Manziel had limitations in a 24-19 win. LSU's win quieted thoughts that A/M might possibly win the SEC West or more despite Manziel's obvious talent. The rankings were producing excitement at the possibilities: Alabama might well have to play Florida for the SEC and Oregon for the national title. Or LSU could still make it. My goodness, at this point Kansas St had gotten through the bulk of their actual challenges and unlike Oregon or Alabama, they would not have to play a national title game. And, of course, there was the predictable media fixation on Notre Dame, whose talented defender Manti Teo had become a sympathetic figure due to the tragic of his girlfriend early in the season. Like so much of the 2012 college football season, this story, too, would be turned on its head.
On October 27, the Tide blasted unbeaten Mississippi State (note: in my first-ever trip to BDS). The entire day was marred, however, by the horrific injury to South Carolina's talented RB Marcus Lattimore, one of the most nauseating every witnessed on television (right up there with Tyrone Prothro or Joe Theismann). Notre Dame thumped Oklahoma that day and in a stunning reversal of the usual Mark Richt formula, Georgia took down Florida, setting the Bulldogs up for a potential championship run. Indeed, so close were the SEC teams - with the possible exception of Alabama - that the hope of other conferences rested on the SEC eliminating themselves from the title picture. A few more upsets and it would happen. Entering November, the rankings were as follows:
1) Alabama
2) K-State
3) Notre Dame
4) Oregon
5) LSU
6) Georgia
7) Florida
8) South Carolina
Carolina was out of the hunt and enough of the other teams had to play each other that just the right combo would land two of the three teams among Notre Dame, K-State, and Oregon in the Miami national title game. After all, Alabama and LSU were capable of taking each other out via the winner losing a later game because of the sheer toughness of what was fast becoming the sport's greatest rivalry.
Not only did it damn near happen, it DID happen. The SEC eliminated themselves from the title hunt albeit temporarily. It started in the madhouse known as Tiger Stadium, where Alabama and LSU lined up for yet another classic. Alabama dominated the second and most of the third quarter yet they got the ball back only after Drew Allman missed a 45-yard field goal that would have given the Tigers a six-point lead. Alabama's second half was the stuff of horror movies: three three and outs that totaled only 15 yards in 19 plays and one well-executed rushing drive by Yeldon that ended in a fumble at the LSU ten. Needing a touchdown with 94 seconds left, Alabama would now have to do something they had not managed to do since the 2010 Arkansas game - actually WIN a close game. Since that comeback over Ryan Mallett, the Tide was 26-4 but had not won a single game during that incredible run that was decided by one score. The Tide was building a reputation as a team - like Oklahoma or Nebraska in years of yore - that could blow a team right off the field but couldn't win a close game if they absolutely had to. But McCarron and Kevin Norwood put the team on their backs and went right down the field, finishing with a perfectly executed screen to TJ Yeldon that permitted him the redemptive touchdown and the Tide led, 21-17. The Tide defense did a phenomenal job, holding LSU to -1 yard on their last three plays thanks to a sack of QB Zach Mettenberger, and disappointed fans coast to coast now had to face the possibility that Alabama was going to go back to back.
As it turned out, the Tide's tough game against LSU cost them an unbeaten season just a week later. With all manner of hype and emotion, Texas A/M wandered into Tuscaloosa and caught a Tide team no doubt tired from the LSU game early, pounding in three lightning quick touchdowns to take a 20-0 lead. McCarron and the backs fought back enough to trail only 20-14 at the half. Multiple times it appeared either team might take control of the game, but A/M had just enough it seemed to win. Trailing by 12 with six minutes left, McCarron unloaded a 54-yard bomb to Amari Cooper that brought the crowd into the game that now was within reach at 29-24. After the defense did its job with a three and out that netted zero yards, McCarron violated all manner of normal approach by uncorking yet another 54-yard strike, this one to Kenny Bell, that gave the Tide first and goal at the Aggies six. But a set of somewhat bizarre play calls saw McCarron throw an interception into the end zone on fourth down and after a later Tide penalty on a punt formation, Alabama fell from the ranks of the unbeaten. By all odds, the SEC had committed fratricide and taken everyone out of the running.
The BCS poll on the morning of November 11, 2012 was:
1) Kansas State
2) Oregon
3) Notre Dame
4) Alabama
5) Georgia
6) Florida
7) LSU
8) Texas A/M
9) South Carolina
10) Florida State
The rankings attested to the fact of SEC parity. Of the three unbeatens remaining, only two at most could meet for the championship. And then occurred something so head-scratching that fans coast to coast who had celebrated the demise of a king only a week earlier now had to confront the reality that Alabama might well win it all again.
Playing the nation's worst defensive team on the road in Waco, Kansas State now experienced all the pressure that goes with being number one. They didn't handle it well, either, getting blown out, 52-24, and watching Colin Klein's possible Heisman Trophy vanish into the cool night air in Waco. Moments later, yet another missed kick sent yet another contender sprawling. Oregon's overtime field goal miss combined with Stanford's successful attempt knocked the Ducks out of the number two spot just one week after they'd arisen. And just like that, Alabama was back in line to play for the championship. Even better for the SEC, Georgia was ranked third, meaning that if they could somehow upset Alabama, the SEC still had a chance at winning yet another national championship.
And now began the carping similar to 2011. Why did Oregon's loss count against them so much more than Alabama's or Georgia's did. After all, Oregon lost in overtime while Alabama trailed huge and Georgia got beat pretty easily. The problem, however was that Alabama had played a SUBSTANTIALLY tougher schedule than Oregon and they had the same record. In fact, if any team had a legitimate complaint it was Florida, who was emulating Alabama's 2011 season by losing one game to an arch rival but was now doomed to miss the SEC title game. Florida had played a tougher schedule than any other team in the SEC - despite not even playing Alabama - and they had only one loss. What these rankings set into motion when all three SEC contenders won their big games was precisely the type of argument that could be used by either BCS OR four-team playoff advocates. Alabama and Georgia would meet in a "winner goes to the championship" de facto semi-final while Notre Dame sat at home and mourned the loss of Manti Teo's girlfriend, drawing inspiration for the upcoming game. The Irish had NOT looked very impressive at all, but they were unbeaten, and they had taken down Stanford, Oklahoma, and Michigan St. While they were escaping by the skin of their teeth, the Irish were, in fact, the only unbeaten contender. Plus, they were Notre Dame, a team to whom the regular rules never seem to apply.
And what about Ohio State? This was an unbeaten team looking pretty good but because of the sequence noted above, they had no say in the outcome.
Alabama and Georgia played a classic, perhaps the most exciting SEC championship game ever. Both teams gave their all in a game that serves as a microcosm of the eras of both coaches at both schools. Alabama's conservative Saban played old-style run the ball down their throats and then hit them with the zinger with little time left to take a four-point lead. Georgia once again played a decent game and had a talented team and yet served as a reminder of Mark Richt's persistent failure to win big games. And in typical Richt fashion, Georgia lost by failing to pay close attention to the details of the closing seconds, when a receiver who should have slammed a ball into the ground out in the field of play caught it - and the clock ran out. Indeed, this failure of fundamental coaching would rear its ugly head again less than a year later, when Georgia botched a game they had won against Auburn that also wound up affecting the BCS title hunt. Alabama survived Georgia and prepared for the unbelievable: a chance to beat Notre Dame in a national championship showdown.
And it didn't take long, either. When TJ Yeldon scored to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter, even the most diehard Irish fans knew the game was over. AJ McCarron had more trouble from his offensive lineman Barrett Jones than he did from the Notre Dame defense. The Tide won, 42-14, and longtime Tide watchers who had waited forty years for vengeance had it. Not only was it yet another destruction of an unbeaten team in the BCS title game, but the Tide was now the first to go back-to-back. They had also won three titles in four years just like the old Nebraska dynasty, and much of this team was coming back yet again with a legitimate shot at the first-ever college footballl three-peat.
In the days following the game, stories broke that Manti Teo's girlfriend had been a figment of someone's active imagination. While such a scandal was obviously not on par with the Sandusky nonsense at Penn State or even the Ohio State memorabilia scandal, it was an embarrassment to Notre Dame right on top of their embarrassing performance against Alabama. Teo left for the NFL and Notre Dame reverted back to being an annual mediocrity with a soft schedule.
DID THE BCS GET IT RIGHT?
Of course they did, and this year in particular serves as an argument in favor of the BCS over a four-team playoff. Suppose there was no SEC title game. The final four teams would likely have been the two BCS title teams, Georgia, and Florida. Florida would have trounced Notre Dame and then lost to Alabama, and the entire time before the game would have been filled with cries of "injustice" because Georgia had beaten Florida and got punished for winning the game just as happened with Alabama in 2011. Assuming the SEC title game served to eliminate Georgia, the final four would have probably been: N Dame, Alabama, Florida, Oregon. Once again, Georgia has a complaint and the SEC is used to eliminate yet another SEC team. 2012 might well have been the most justified year for use of the BCS in history, but it was already going to be history after one more year. That year would be Alabama's attempt at a three-peat, a venture that would end in the most shocking finish to a game in the history of college football.
