The dancing on the grave had begun in June 2012, when the NCAA presidents approved a four-team playoff to determine the national champion of college football. It promised to grow ever louder through the last BCS season, but it was also deemed a formality: powerful and reloaded Alabama figured to become the first team to ever actually earn a college football three-peat. The only question was whether the sport would finally get the long cherished Oregon-Alabama national title game or would reborn Ohio State renew the ended much too soon coaching rivalry between Urban Meyer and Nick Saban?
The opening poll had Alabama as an overwhelming favorite to win it all, with the Tide taking home 58 out of 60 first-place votes and one each going to number two Ohio State and the other to number five Georgia.
PRESEASON AP COLLEGE FOOTBALL POLL
1) Alabama
2) Ohio St
3) Oregon
4) Stanford
5) Georgia
6) S Carolina
7) Texas A/M
An early season marquee matchup between A/M and Alabama - this time in the brutal Texas heat at Kyle Field - promised to give and early edge to whoever could win the game. The pending rematch was marred, however, by reports of possible NCAA violations by Aggies star QB Johnny Manziel. Manziel was slapped on the wrist for selling autographs, and the extra rest would come in handy when he faced the Tide.
Ohio State began the year with their 13th win in a row, a lackluster 20-point victory over Buffalo. Alabama struggled with offensive line troubles but had enough to beat Virginia Tech, while Oregon unloaded a deluge of points on Nicholls State to impress the voters and climb ahead of the Buckeyes in the second poll of the season. Georgia lost to Clemson in the opener, an event that lifted the Tigers all the way to number four and may have served as their coming out game for future success in Death Valley. LSU's impressive win over TCU served two positive distinctions, eliminating early talk of the annual TCU national title challenge and lifting the Tigers into the top ten.
Georgia managed to avoid going "0 for the state of South Carolina" by knocking off the Gamecocks. Ohio State, despite an impressive win over San Diego State, dropped yet another spot in the polls, an egregious breach of protocol in light of the fact Clemson's win was against overmatched South Carolina State. And Michigan vaulted into the top fifteen with an impressive win over the post-title game version of Notre Dame.
The next week's marquee matchup was the Alabama revenge game against Texas A/M. Just as he had ten months earlier, Johnny Manziel dazzled Alabama early, scoring two quick touchdowns and completing a ridiculous 'he never should have thrown that ball' pass. But Alabama didn't leave much to chance, pumping in five quick touchdowns to seemingly get the game under control. Tide mistakes in ball handling and secondary coverage let the Aggies make a game of it, but the Tide trudged off the baked turf a winner with a pound of flesh for revenge and the acknowledgment they were in it for the long haul. LSU continued its quiet ascent in the polls, landing at number six, while Florida State ws gradually moving as well. The Aggies were not punished too badly for a seven-point loss, dropping four spots but hanging in the top ten just with a chance. Meanwhile, Oregon's demolition of Tennessee began (somewhat preposterous) chants of "We Want Bama" in the Pacific Northwest.
A week later, Alabama and Oregon were 1-2 with all 60 votes between them. The always popular LSU-Auburn game was seemingly meaningless at this point in time, with LSU prevailing by a 35-21 score. Although nobody could have known it at the time, it would serve Auburn the positive purpose of keeping them below the nation's radar right up until it was important.
But the SEC's habit of fratricide continued just a week later. Redeeming themselves from their poor game against Clemson, the Georgia Bulldogs knocked LSU off, 44-41, in a thriller that brought the Dawgs right back into the thick of the national title hunt. Seven of the other top eight ranked teams stayed put as September ended.
Florida State began October with an impressive 63-0 drilling of Maryland, a dominant enough win to bring the Noles to number six. A week later, Stanford bit the dust in an upset loss to Utah. LSU's win over the rapidly imploding Florida Gators gave the Tigers new life. After a series of SEC upsets on October 19 - including one that saw Ole Miss stun LSU and Auburn win a Barn-burner against A/M, the first BCS poll of the last year of the BCS was released on October 20
1) Alabama
2) Florida St
3) Oregon
4) Ohio St
5) Missouri
6) Stanford
Surely the most surprising entrant was Missouri. Just two weeks earlier, the Tigers were not even ranked in the top 25. But impressive back-to-back wins over both highly ranked Georgia and rapidly losing altitude Florida pole vaulted Mizzou from no ranking all the way to number five in the BCS.
Naturally, they lost their next game against South Carolina. Alabama sandblasted Tennessee, 45-10, and held the top spot again. Oregon's impressive win over UCLA moved the Ducks back up to number two, and Stanford crept back into the top five. A win over Miami by the Seminoles moved FSU back up to the number two spot.
At this point, it was generally agreed that Alabama and Oregon were very likely to meet one another in the final BCS title game. Florida State's finishing schedule was weak while Oregon not only had a potential Pac 12 title game, they still had to play Stanford.
Unfortunately, playing Stanford was not enough to keep them highly ranked. The Cardinal roared out to a 20-0 lead and then held on for dear life as they took down the Ducks, 26-20, in a Thursday night showdown broadcast nationally. If Alabama needed a warning rocket to keep them focused, they'd just gotten one. It worked, too. With the score tied at 17 in the third quarter, the notoriously conservative Nick Saban gave Les Miles a dose of his own medicine, dialing up a perfectly executed (and daring) fake punt at his own 41-yard line, resulting in a six-yard gain and ultimately a 14-play drive that netted a go ahead touchdown for a lead the Tide would never relinquish. The final 38-17 score showed an Alabama team that had hit its peak.
Too soon for the Tide faithful, it would turn out.
Quietly below the surface, here came Auburn, creeping up to number seven in the polls. Lucky seven it turned out.
A week after Alabama thumped LSU, the Tide was preparing to take the field against Mississippi State as the Auburn-Georgia game wound down. After blowing out to a huge lead and dominating for much of the day, Auburn collapsed (or Georgia came back, depending on your point of view) and faced a 38-37 deficit with the ball at their own 27, facing a fourth and 18 with a timeout left. As it turned out, they wouldn't need that timeout. Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall stepped back and unloaded a bomb, a prayer if you will, that two Georgia defenders misplayed but Auburn receiver Ricardo Louis didn't, hauling it in and racing the final yards for an unbelievable back-breaking touchdown that brought Auburn into the thick of the national title hunt.
And the Tigers suddenly starting getting every break they needed. Stanford lost to USC by a field goal that evening, eliminating them from contention. Alabama struggled with its seemingly annual 'post-LSU hangover' but prevailed over Mississippi State later that evening.
Auburn got another lucky break in that they had an off week between the Georgia and Alabama games. Given the emotional high engendered by the Georgia win, it was to Auburn's advantage to not have a game between two big rivals, not only because of the rest but also to avoid the inevitable letdown. Alabama thumped UTC, 49-0, and Auburn's good luck continued when Baylor lost on the road to Oklahoma State. All of a sudden, the SEC had the divisional showdown and ratings draw they could only have dreamed about:
1) Alabama
2) Florida St
3) Ohio St
4) Auburn
5) Missouri
6) Clemson
This made the Iron Bowl a "sort of" playoff elimination game....perhaps. If Alabama won, that was true because Auburn would be dead. But if Auburn won, they might need help and would still have to beat Missouri. In fact, with just the right amount of breaks in other games, the Iron Bowl might deliver TWO teams to the national championship, and who would bet against Alabama taking a path to the BCS title game that nobody knew existed? They'd already done it in each of the last two years. Auburn, of course, had delivered the most memorable play of the year with the Georgia Hail Mary.
As it turned out, it wasn't even the most memorable play by Auburn in November 2013.
The game was a classic. Alabama mistakes - most notably missed points via the field goal - and Auburn's excellent rushing game kept it a contest into the fourth quarter. In fact, every single time it appeared Alabama was going to blow the game open, they either messed up or Auburn made a play to keep it close. Auburn tied the game with 31 seconds left on a perfectly executed pass from Nick Marshall to Sammie Coates. Alabama began a run-oriented drive - seemingly defying logic - and got the ball close enough with one second left to try to a game-winning field goal. Tide fans coast to coast alternately fantasized about a second Van Tiffin-like kick to beat Auburn (coincidentally, on the 28th anniversary of Tiffin's memorable boot) and had flashbacks to Georgia's blocked field goal in the 2012 SEC title game. Those worries seemed tame when Adam Griffith - then the backup kicker - launched his kick into the night. Griffith hit it well, but it came down just short of the goalposts.
If it can be said that Nick Saban gave Les Miles a dose of his own medicine in the LSU game then it's fair to say that Gus Malzahn did the same to Saban. What followed was the kind of play Saban would have normally had one of his players make. Chris Davis hauled in the short kick, cut left, and tore 109 yards down the field for a game-winning, division title-winning, three-peat killing touchdown that set off competing celebrations of ecstasy for the Tigers and agony for the Tide. Alabama's pain no doubt was compounded by the cheering from coast to coast - in Tallahassee, Columbus, Columbia, and maybe even Clemson.
How great was the game for the viewing audience? It was so phenomenal that the next morning there were discussions about how Alabama and Auburn were 'really' the two best teams and should meet again in the BCS title game. News outlets went a little crazy with competing stories: 1) the two best teams are Alabama and Auburn; and 2) why can't we have the four-team playoff this year?
The irony of the Iron Bowl was apparently lost on all of the usual suspects. Those condemning the BCS while praising the four-team playoff were actually engaging in an inconsistent hypocrisy. The reason the Iron Bowl result was so devastating is that Alabama was dead and not coming back in 2013. The very same people who condemned Alabama's rematch with LSU in 2011 were now falling all over themselves to say this game deserved a rematch, either as a semi-final or a final. Furthermore, look a little closer at the final BCS standings that gave us the Florida St-Auburn title game:
1) Florida St
2) Auburn
3) Alabama
4) Michigan St
5) Stanford
6) Baylor
7) Ohio St
8) Missouri
9) South Carolina
10) Oregon
Now......come up with a scenario where Alabama does NOT make a four-team playoff, particularly in light of the selection of Ohio St in 2016 proving that conference titles do not really matter. Three teams are easy to choose: FSU, Auburn, and Michigan State.
HOW do you NOT pick Alabama as one of the four teams? The only other choice that might conceivably knock out the Tide is Baylor, and the Tide had both a tougher SOS and a 3-1 record vs the top 30 (Baylor was 3-2). Stanford had two losses and Ohio State was Alabama (did not win division) with a weaker schedule and a 1-1 record against the top 30.
And the other teams all had two losses. But as it turned out, even the Iron Bowl didn't end everything.
The following week, Florida St and Ohio St were predicted contestants for the national title if they could just win their conference title games. Florida St upheld their end but Ohio State folded in the second half and Michigan State won the Big Ten. Auburn routed Missouri, and the Tigers were in the national title game for the second time in four years.
And speaking of irony, it is perhaps fitting that it was Auburn and Florida State that brought the controversial end to the BCS. FSU had played in what many felt was an undeserved title game in 2000 after losing to Miami. In addition, the Noles had on the 1999 title with a Heisman contender suspended for stealing from Dillard's department store while their 2013 title would be marred by a quarterback accused of rape. Even Auburn's entire BCS contention years had been marked with controversy, including their non-selection in 2004 and the Cam Newton scandal that engulfed the final weeks of the 2010 season.
The BCS was dead and buried, never to be resurrected. The BCS system DID have its flaws. However, as I've demonstrated through this series, the BCS DID try to rectify any perceived injustices, which wound up costing the BCS its very existence. A review of each year shows that possibly only ONCE - in 2003 - could it be argued that the BCS put the wrong team in the title game when Oklahoma was selected. Forgotten in this argument is the fact that the BCS changed it's formula AFTER THAT HAPPENED to try and prevent it from ever happening again. And since it never occurred again, the BCS did accomplish what it was supposed to do. Only once in the 16-year history of the BCS did an unbeaten Big Five team NOT make the championship game, the 2004 Auburn Tigers. And it's difficult to call that an injustice if one considers SOS. All other 'controversies' involved teams that had at least one loss. Such controversies can be easily handled with an old BCS mantra: every game counts - plus my addendum: win your games.
I hope you have enjoyed this review of this memorable period in college football history. I do think the four-team playoff is the way to go, but I would have preferred the BCS top four. If three teams in the SEC are the three best teams - as was probably the case in 2011 - then so be it.
The opening poll had Alabama as an overwhelming favorite to win it all, with the Tide taking home 58 out of 60 first-place votes and one each going to number two Ohio State and the other to number five Georgia.
PRESEASON AP COLLEGE FOOTBALL POLL
1) Alabama
2) Ohio St
3) Oregon
4) Stanford
5) Georgia
6) S Carolina
7) Texas A/M
An early season marquee matchup between A/M and Alabama - this time in the brutal Texas heat at Kyle Field - promised to give and early edge to whoever could win the game. The pending rematch was marred, however, by reports of possible NCAA violations by Aggies star QB Johnny Manziel. Manziel was slapped on the wrist for selling autographs, and the extra rest would come in handy when he faced the Tide.
Ohio State began the year with their 13th win in a row, a lackluster 20-point victory over Buffalo. Alabama struggled with offensive line troubles but had enough to beat Virginia Tech, while Oregon unloaded a deluge of points on Nicholls State to impress the voters and climb ahead of the Buckeyes in the second poll of the season. Georgia lost to Clemson in the opener, an event that lifted the Tigers all the way to number four and may have served as their coming out game for future success in Death Valley. LSU's impressive win over TCU served two positive distinctions, eliminating early talk of the annual TCU national title challenge and lifting the Tigers into the top ten.
Georgia managed to avoid going "0 for the state of South Carolina" by knocking off the Gamecocks. Ohio State, despite an impressive win over San Diego State, dropped yet another spot in the polls, an egregious breach of protocol in light of the fact Clemson's win was against overmatched South Carolina State. And Michigan vaulted into the top fifteen with an impressive win over the post-title game version of Notre Dame.
The next week's marquee matchup was the Alabama revenge game against Texas A/M. Just as he had ten months earlier, Johnny Manziel dazzled Alabama early, scoring two quick touchdowns and completing a ridiculous 'he never should have thrown that ball' pass. But Alabama didn't leave much to chance, pumping in five quick touchdowns to seemingly get the game under control. Tide mistakes in ball handling and secondary coverage let the Aggies make a game of it, but the Tide trudged off the baked turf a winner with a pound of flesh for revenge and the acknowledgment they were in it for the long haul. LSU continued its quiet ascent in the polls, landing at number six, while Florida State ws gradually moving as well. The Aggies were not punished too badly for a seven-point loss, dropping four spots but hanging in the top ten just with a chance. Meanwhile, Oregon's demolition of Tennessee began (somewhat preposterous) chants of "We Want Bama" in the Pacific Northwest.
A week later, Alabama and Oregon were 1-2 with all 60 votes between them. The always popular LSU-Auburn game was seemingly meaningless at this point in time, with LSU prevailing by a 35-21 score. Although nobody could have known it at the time, it would serve Auburn the positive purpose of keeping them below the nation's radar right up until it was important.
But the SEC's habit of fratricide continued just a week later. Redeeming themselves from their poor game against Clemson, the Georgia Bulldogs knocked LSU off, 44-41, in a thriller that brought the Dawgs right back into the thick of the national title hunt. Seven of the other top eight ranked teams stayed put as September ended.
Florida State began October with an impressive 63-0 drilling of Maryland, a dominant enough win to bring the Noles to number six. A week later, Stanford bit the dust in an upset loss to Utah. LSU's win over the rapidly imploding Florida Gators gave the Tigers new life. After a series of SEC upsets on October 19 - including one that saw Ole Miss stun LSU and Auburn win a Barn-burner against A/M, the first BCS poll of the last year of the BCS was released on October 20
1) Alabama
2) Florida St
3) Oregon
4) Ohio St
5) Missouri
6) Stanford
Surely the most surprising entrant was Missouri. Just two weeks earlier, the Tigers were not even ranked in the top 25. But impressive back-to-back wins over both highly ranked Georgia and rapidly losing altitude Florida pole vaulted Mizzou from no ranking all the way to number five in the BCS.
Naturally, they lost their next game against South Carolina. Alabama sandblasted Tennessee, 45-10, and held the top spot again. Oregon's impressive win over UCLA moved the Ducks back up to number two, and Stanford crept back into the top five. A win over Miami by the Seminoles moved FSU back up to the number two spot.
At this point, it was generally agreed that Alabama and Oregon were very likely to meet one another in the final BCS title game. Florida State's finishing schedule was weak while Oregon not only had a potential Pac 12 title game, they still had to play Stanford.
Unfortunately, playing Stanford was not enough to keep them highly ranked. The Cardinal roared out to a 20-0 lead and then held on for dear life as they took down the Ducks, 26-20, in a Thursday night showdown broadcast nationally. If Alabama needed a warning rocket to keep them focused, they'd just gotten one. It worked, too. With the score tied at 17 in the third quarter, the notoriously conservative Nick Saban gave Les Miles a dose of his own medicine, dialing up a perfectly executed (and daring) fake punt at his own 41-yard line, resulting in a six-yard gain and ultimately a 14-play drive that netted a go ahead touchdown for a lead the Tide would never relinquish. The final 38-17 score showed an Alabama team that had hit its peak.
Too soon for the Tide faithful, it would turn out.
Quietly below the surface, here came Auburn, creeping up to number seven in the polls. Lucky seven it turned out.
A week after Alabama thumped LSU, the Tide was preparing to take the field against Mississippi State as the Auburn-Georgia game wound down. After blowing out to a huge lead and dominating for much of the day, Auburn collapsed (or Georgia came back, depending on your point of view) and faced a 38-37 deficit with the ball at their own 27, facing a fourth and 18 with a timeout left. As it turned out, they wouldn't need that timeout. Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall stepped back and unloaded a bomb, a prayer if you will, that two Georgia defenders misplayed but Auburn receiver Ricardo Louis didn't, hauling it in and racing the final yards for an unbelievable back-breaking touchdown that brought Auburn into the thick of the national title hunt.
And the Tigers suddenly starting getting every break they needed. Stanford lost to USC by a field goal that evening, eliminating them from contention. Alabama struggled with its seemingly annual 'post-LSU hangover' but prevailed over Mississippi State later that evening.
Auburn got another lucky break in that they had an off week between the Georgia and Alabama games. Given the emotional high engendered by the Georgia win, it was to Auburn's advantage to not have a game between two big rivals, not only because of the rest but also to avoid the inevitable letdown. Alabama thumped UTC, 49-0, and Auburn's good luck continued when Baylor lost on the road to Oklahoma State. All of a sudden, the SEC had the divisional showdown and ratings draw they could only have dreamed about:
1) Alabama
2) Florida St
3) Ohio St
4) Auburn
5) Missouri
6) Clemson
This made the Iron Bowl a "sort of" playoff elimination game....perhaps. If Alabama won, that was true because Auburn would be dead. But if Auburn won, they might need help and would still have to beat Missouri. In fact, with just the right amount of breaks in other games, the Iron Bowl might deliver TWO teams to the national championship, and who would bet against Alabama taking a path to the BCS title game that nobody knew existed? They'd already done it in each of the last two years. Auburn, of course, had delivered the most memorable play of the year with the Georgia Hail Mary.
As it turned out, it wasn't even the most memorable play by Auburn in November 2013.
The game was a classic. Alabama mistakes - most notably missed points via the field goal - and Auburn's excellent rushing game kept it a contest into the fourth quarter. In fact, every single time it appeared Alabama was going to blow the game open, they either messed up or Auburn made a play to keep it close. Auburn tied the game with 31 seconds left on a perfectly executed pass from Nick Marshall to Sammie Coates. Alabama began a run-oriented drive - seemingly defying logic - and got the ball close enough with one second left to try to a game-winning field goal. Tide fans coast to coast alternately fantasized about a second Van Tiffin-like kick to beat Auburn (coincidentally, on the 28th anniversary of Tiffin's memorable boot) and had flashbacks to Georgia's blocked field goal in the 2012 SEC title game. Those worries seemed tame when Adam Griffith - then the backup kicker - launched his kick into the night. Griffith hit it well, but it came down just short of the goalposts.
If it can be said that Nick Saban gave Les Miles a dose of his own medicine in the LSU game then it's fair to say that Gus Malzahn did the same to Saban. What followed was the kind of play Saban would have normally had one of his players make. Chris Davis hauled in the short kick, cut left, and tore 109 yards down the field for a game-winning, division title-winning, three-peat killing touchdown that set off competing celebrations of ecstasy for the Tigers and agony for the Tide. Alabama's pain no doubt was compounded by the cheering from coast to coast - in Tallahassee, Columbus, Columbia, and maybe even Clemson.
How great was the game for the viewing audience? It was so phenomenal that the next morning there were discussions about how Alabama and Auburn were 'really' the two best teams and should meet again in the BCS title game. News outlets went a little crazy with competing stories: 1) the two best teams are Alabama and Auburn; and 2) why can't we have the four-team playoff this year?
The irony of the Iron Bowl was apparently lost on all of the usual suspects. Those condemning the BCS while praising the four-team playoff were actually engaging in an inconsistent hypocrisy. The reason the Iron Bowl result was so devastating is that Alabama was dead and not coming back in 2013. The very same people who condemned Alabama's rematch with LSU in 2011 were now falling all over themselves to say this game deserved a rematch, either as a semi-final or a final. Furthermore, look a little closer at the final BCS standings that gave us the Florida St-Auburn title game:
1) Florida St
2) Auburn
3) Alabama
4) Michigan St
5) Stanford
6) Baylor
7) Ohio St
8) Missouri
9) South Carolina
10) Oregon
Now......come up with a scenario where Alabama does NOT make a four-team playoff, particularly in light of the selection of Ohio St in 2016 proving that conference titles do not really matter. Three teams are easy to choose: FSU, Auburn, and Michigan State.
HOW do you NOT pick Alabama as one of the four teams? The only other choice that might conceivably knock out the Tide is Baylor, and the Tide had both a tougher SOS and a 3-1 record vs the top 30 (Baylor was 3-2). Stanford had two losses and Ohio State was Alabama (did not win division) with a weaker schedule and a 1-1 record against the top 30.
And the other teams all had two losses. But as it turned out, even the Iron Bowl didn't end everything.
The following week, Florida St and Ohio St were predicted contestants for the national title if they could just win their conference title games. Florida St upheld their end but Ohio State folded in the second half and Michigan State won the Big Ten. Auburn routed Missouri, and the Tigers were in the national title game for the second time in four years.
And speaking of irony, it is perhaps fitting that it was Auburn and Florida State that brought the controversial end to the BCS. FSU had played in what many felt was an undeserved title game in 2000 after losing to Miami. In addition, the Noles had on the 1999 title with a Heisman contender suspended for stealing from Dillard's department store while their 2013 title would be marred by a quarterback accused of rape. Even Auburn's entire BCS contention years had been marked with controversy, including their non-selection in 2004 and the Cam Newton scandal that engulfed the final weeks of the 2010 season.
The BCS was dead and buried, never to be resurrected. The BCS system DID have its flaws. However, as I've demonstrated through this series, the BCS DID try to rectify any perceived injustices, which wound up costing the BCS its very existence. A review of each year shows that possibly only ONCE - in 2003 - could it be argued that the BCS put the wrong team in the title game when Oklahoma was selected. Forgotten in this argument is the fact that the BCS changed it's formula AFTER THAT HAPPENED to try and prevent it from ever happening again. And since it never occurred again, the BCS did accomplish what it was supposed to do. Only once in the 16-year history of the BCS did an unbeaten Big Five team NOT make the championship game, the 2004 Auburn Tigers. And it's difficult to call that an injustice if one considers SOS. All other 'controversies' involved teams that had at least one loss. Such controversies can be easily handled with an old BCS mantra: every game counts - plus my addendum: win your games.
I hope you have enjoyed this review of this memorable period in college football history. I do think the four-team playoff is the way to go, but I would have preferred the BCS top four. If three teams in the SEC are the three best teams - as was probably the case in 2011 - then so be it.
