After Saturday, after nine weeks of straight wins, the Bulldogs are no longer on top. The University of Alabama Crimson Tide trampled MSU 25-20 and moved to the No. 2 spot in the polls, while the Bulldogs fell to No. 4.
I was at the game, and frankly I was astonished, not at the score, or the way our boys were playing. I was astonished that at halftime, I, as a band member, had to give a pep talk our fans. They had lost hope. They sat there looking defeated as we trailed the Tide. Not cheering. Not smiling. I understand their disappointment. After weeks at the top, our fans realized we would no longer be No. 1 the next day.
After the loss, Twitter was flooded with love for the Bulldogs as well as declarations they would still be ranked and still deserve a spot in the College Football Playoff. And honestly, they do. I’m not sure exactly how the playoff selection works. In fact, I’m not sure anyone knows. I do know it was created basically to prove the SEC is not the best conference in the nation.
The playoff selection committee is comprised of athletic directors, sports reporters and former coaches. It includes Lt. Gen. Mike Gould and Condoleeza Rice. Why Condoleeza Rice, you ask? The world may never know.
The rankings are based on data who receive from SportSource Analytics each week. The data includes video, statistics and factors such as win-loss records, strength of schedule, conference championships, head-to-head results and results against common opponents.
Statistically speaking, the Bulldogs outplayed the Crimson Tide in every aspect except scoring on Saturday. Our offense totaled 428 yards – 138 of which were rushing. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind this was truly a top-5 matchup.
Ironically, although the playoff system was created in an effort to remove conference bias in the post-game season, the SEC has been prominent in the playoff rankings every week since the first rankings were released. There are only six teams with 9-1 records, and two of those teams are in the SEC West. The only 10-0 team left ranked higher than an SEC team is Florida State.
In Jan. 2015, the four best teams in the nation will enter a playoff to determine the college football national champion, and I wholeheartedly believe if two of those teams are not SEC teams, it will not be because the SEC doesn’t have the best teams.
The Bulldogs have heart and passion, and even though the Crimson Tide won on Saturday, MSU will always win in my heart. As far as I’m concerned, we have a national championship team.
