(Mythical) National Championship Poll: ND or Bama

Who are you pulling for in the Championship this year? The Golden Domers or the Mobile Homers?



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Sick of the SEC nonsense and the preseason polls skewing everything. I'm rooting for ND even though I don't think they'll win.

Rooting for Notre Dame.

Notre Dame all the way. Tired of the SEC bias.

Roll Tide y'all



But here's a question: How much would a Bama win convince you the SEC media love is more deserved (and less of a bias) than you previously believed?

mjk5 wrote:
Roll Tide y'all



But here's a question: How much would a Bama win convince you the SEC media love is more deserved (and less of a bias) than you previously believed?

Word. I get sick of hearing people whine about the bias towards the SEC in the polls and rankings. SEC gets has gotten it done 6 years in a row, this year looks to be about the same. If the BCS championship were decided based on fan support, the SEC's winning streak would be a LOT longer, nothing else compares.



I don't cheer for any SEC teams but I do enjoy seeing the other BCS conferences seeing what life is like as second-class citizens.

Both have solid teams and excellent coaches. ND eventually found a QB and improved after we played them. Should me memorable. I hate ND the least. Go Domers.



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A win by ND makes BYU look better, so I hope the Domers win. It won't happen though. My boss is an ND MBA, and he calls Alabama the 33rd best team in all of football, maybe 32nd (that includes NFL teams).

mjk5 wrote:
Roll Tide y'all



But here's a question: How much would a Bama win convince you the SEC media love is more deserved (and less of a bias) than you previously believed?

It wouldn't matter, because it's too over the top. To have people saying that Bama could beat NFL teams and that they have six of the top ten teams in the country is pure nonsense (LSU vs. Clemson anyone?). And what? Did aTm suddenly get head and shoulders better because they moved to the SEC? No! Bama lost to a Big XII team this year, uh-oh! Looks like they're not that great after all. Even if Bama blows ND away (which is a possibility I'll concede), it doesn't mean anything about the rest of the conference and all of the nonsense that is said every preseason about them.

Schmoe wrote:

Roll Tide y'all



But here's a question: How much would a Bama win convince you the SEC media love is more deserved (and less of a bias) than you previously believed?

It wouldn't matter, because it's too over the top. To have people saying that Bama could beat NFL teams and that they have six of the top ten teams in the country is pure nonsense (LSU vs. Clemson anyone?). And what? Did aTm suddenly get head and shoulders better because they moved to the SEC? No! Bama lost to a Big XII team this year, uh-oh! Looks like they're not that great after all. Even if Bama blows ND away (which is a possibility I'll concede), it doesn't mean anything about the rest of the conference and all of the nonsense that is said every preseason about them.

I have not bothered to look up the venue - but generally speaking the venues favor SEC teams in most match-ups they find themselves in. It is nearly impossible to think of a venue that would favor ND. In this case Pasadena, Phoenix, or Dallas might be neutral, but Orange or Sugar would not be.



But, Utah went into Sugarland and crap kicked Alabama when nobody, including Alabama, thought it was possible. That humbled the Tide for a minute or two.



Go Irish



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Okay, but overstatements aside, and regardless of what you want to happen, would a Bama win (by a team which is clearly not as good as last year's) convince you that the top of the SEC might actually be the best in the country?



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Cougarbib wrote:

I have not bothered to look up the venue - but generally speaking the venues favor SEC teams in most match-ups they find themselves in. It is nearly impossible to think of a venue that would favor ND. In this case Pasadena, Phoenix, or Dallas might be neutral, but Orange or Sugar would not be.



But, Utah went into Sugarland and crap kicked Alabama when nobody, including Alabama, thought it was possible. That humbled the Tide for a minute or two.



Go Irish



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You're probably right about the venue, but I can't see ND not filling up half the seats for a NC game. Last year's game was in LSU's backyard, but Bama didn't leave a single one of their seats unfilled.



Bama may have lost to a top ten Utah in 09, a #1 LSU in 11, or a top ten aTm in 12, but when was the last time they lost to an unranked Iowa St (for example)? And I know Ute fans love to brag about how their single best team in history beat Bama in a consolation BCS bowl, but which team is working on their 3rd mNC since then? To claim Bama is not possibly the best team in the country because they lost to a top 5 Utah team four years ago only makes the Utes look bad.



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mjk5 wrote:
Okay, but overstatements aside, and regardless of what you want to happen, would a Bama win (by a team which is clearly not as good as last year's) convince you that the top of the SEC might actually be the best in the country?



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I already think the top of the SEC is AS GOOD as any conference. But I do not think Bama is necessarily any better than Ohio State, Top of Big 12, or Oregon this year. There are at least 4 teams that would be worthy of a playoff - maybe more.



SEC is a great conference. No doubt. But the entire conference inflates its records by playing cupcakes at home and by tilting the field in their favor at every turn. They are very smart and very crafty.



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Schmoe wrote:

Roll Tide y'all



But here's a question: How much would a Bama win convince you the SEC media love is more deserved (and less of a bias) than you previously believed?

It wouldn't matter, because it's too over the top. To have people saying that Bama could beat NFL teams and that they have six of the top ten teams in the country is pure nonsense (LSU vs. Clemson anyone?). And what? Did aTm suddenly get head and shoulders better because they moved to the SEC? No! Bama lost to a Big XII team this year, uh-oh! Looks like they're not that great after all. Even if Bama blows ND away (which is a possibility I'll concede), it doesn't mean anything about the rest of the conference and all of the nonsense that is said every preseason about them.

FWIW, I do believe the middle of the BIG12 is better than the middle of the SEC. And clearly some media is over the top in their SEC bias, but that doesn't mean the top of the SEC isn't the best in the country.



So I should have phrased my question like this, would a Bama win be evidence that they are the best team this year?



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Cougarbib wrote:



I already think the top of the SEC is AS GOOD as any conference. But I do not think Bama is necessarily any better than Ohio State, Top of Big 12, or Oregon this year. There are at least 4 teams that would be worthy of a playoff - maybe more.



SEC is a great conference. No doubt. But the entire conference inflates its records by playing cupcakes at home and by tilting the field in their favor at every turn. They are very smart and very crafty.



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Fair enough, I'm really looking forward to the new format; and hopefully this is a stepping stone to an 8 team format. It will be better for everyone, including the SEC, even though some in that conference don't realize it yet.



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All it would convince me of is that Bama was a better team than ND that day. I think there are a handful of very good teams this year and that one is not obviously better than the others. I think K-state and Oregon would both give Bama a better game than ND, and that if both teams played their best ball, K-state would probably be the best team in the country this year. The fact that Bama gets a shot because of the sad obsession with the SEC and K-state and Oregon do not is everything that's wrong with college football.

I think Alabama is the deeper, more talented team. I would like to see ND win. I will be pulling for ND. When the dust settles, I think Alabama wins decisively. We shall see.

I'm conflicted. Right now, my son is a Bama fan first and a BYU fan second--and I think it is a distant second. It is not that I haven't done my parental duties. I took him to the really windy Las Vegas bowl, the Ole Miss game last year, and Georgia Tech this year. But alas, the stupid peers he goes to school with have all influenced my chameleon of a son to be a die hard Bama fan.



So, since my son is such a front runner, I want Bama to lose and become the mediocre team they were before Saban arrived. At the same time, I want BYU to take off on the national scene. So part of me is rooting for Notre Dame, but the other part of me still says that it is my son and he would be sorely disappointed with a Bama loss. I guess it is my fault for moving to Alabama. :roll: I tried to get him to be a Gator fan since he was practically born on UF's campus, but it wouldn't take.



All that being said, you can't argue with six BCS titles in a row, and a very good bowl winning percentage. Let's not hate them because they do what we would love to do if we could get away with it. If BYU could have seven or eight home games, tune up the year with cupcakes, and still have the strength of schedule to be in national title contention at the end of the year, and be paid handsomely for it, I would be ecstatic. I think all of us would. We certainly wouldn't take less money or do one for ones where we could get two for ones just to be more fair (just ask USU). So, pointing those things out as reasons to dislike the SEC is an irrational, emotional act. Now, if you are sick of hearing about how dominant they are, I can totally understand why that gets annoying. I like an SEC team, and even I get sick of hearing about the SEC sometimes. It really burned me in the Ole Miss game after they chanted SEC when Ole Miss pick sixed Jake Heaps. Of course, I chanted SEC when Van Noy caused the fumble and then scooped and scored a touchdown off of it.



In sum, the SEC's top end is extremely good. Their middle teams and bottom teams are like the middle and bottom teams in other leagues--no better, no worse. If someone wants to really shut them up, they just have to beat them. Maybe it will be the luck of the Irish to do it. I will be secretly cheering if that happens, but feel very sorry for my son.

Not many dispute that the top of the sec is often the best. but we dispute the preseason top ten filled with 9 sec teams every year. it is ridiculous. Just look at the sec bowl games. they have all been close. this doesn't suggest they deserve the hype they constantly get in the preseason polls.