The best is supposed to be what we want, right?
I mean, no one would settle for Detroit when he could have Paris. Only a fool (or a world-class miser) would hold on to his Chevy Metro when he could afford to plunk down $1.7 million for a Bugatti Veyron. And before today I had never heard of Noma, but a lot of people swear this Danish restaurant is the finest in the world and if I had the opportunity to dine there for free, I certainly wouldn’t say, sorry, I’m full.
So why are so many college football fans so darn upset over the LSU vs. Alabama rematch that will conclude the 2011 season on Jan. 9 in the National Championship Game?
Okay, on a very obvious level I get the rancor. Their first meeting – Nov. 5’s breathlessly overhyped «Game of the Century» that ended in a 9-6 LSU win – did not exactly deliver pulse-pounding action, unless you consider the punting game to be the height of athletic thrills.
And there’s no denying that SEC fatigue is a very real condition in non-red states. The conference is guaranteed a sixth straight national champion and, depending on the outcome, LSU will win its third or Alabama will capture its second title in the last eight years. The good ol’ boys have become monotonously monstrous, and their fans love nothing more than reminding the rest of the country of how superior their brand of football is.
Despite all that, there is no escaping this simple fact: LSU and Alabama are the two best teams in college football right now. They have proven that conclusively over the course of the last four months. In short, they have earned the right to play for the crystal football.
The bitter complainers out there – namely Oklahoma State and Stanford – simply don’t have a case. Either could have earned a spot in New Orleans on Jan. 9 but they failed at key moments. Oklahoma State inexplicably lost to Iowa State while Stanford was handled easily by Oregon at home. Sure, Bama lost too – to the best team in the nation, in overtime, by a measly three points, in a game it would have won if their field goal kicker didn’t have the aim of Helen Keller.
Yes, you’re probably thinking, but what about a playoff? If our goal is to have the best, surely that would top having some computers and human voters decide who plays for the crown, right? Well, not necessarily. A four-team playoff would be great. Stanford vs. LSU and Oklahoma State vs. Alabama in the semifinals, with the winners to meet for all the glory – sign me up for that. Any playoff setup larger than that, however, would really start to lessen the importance of the regular season.
Do we really need Arkansas, which got reamed by both LSU and Alabama, competing for the right to say it’s the best team in the land? Or Kansas State, which lost by 41 points to Oklahoma and barely escaped Eastern Kentucky – EASTERN KENTUCKY?! – by three points? Or Boise State, which faced fewer quality teams in an entire season than LSU or Alabama did in a couple of weeks?