shellacking

Moments ago, Brent Musburger, the announcer for what is, inappropriately, called the college championship game said that Alabama is now a dynasty in college football. "And" he said, "they did it on the field, not by a vote.""

Alabama is drubbing Notre Dame.  There are now eleven minutes left in the fourth quarter and Alabama leads 42-7.  If it is possible given the score, the game is not even that close.

This is the third "championship" Alabama has "won" in four years. Why not call them a dynasty?

Simple. The championship games they have won, they have won because a computer and a committee decided that they would be able to compete in the championship game. And the same computer and committee determined the opponent.  So, Alabama was invited to play each of the years when they "won."  There was no tournament to determine who would get to play.

Oregon, in each of the last two years has lost, like Alabama, only one game. Oregon was not invited to compete to play for the championship in either 2012 or 2013.  A team cannot "win" a championship if they cannot participate in the championship game.

Last year Boise State as well as Oregon lost only one game.  Boise State was not invited to compete for the championship. One loss Alabama was.

In the 2011-2012 season, Alabama, in fact, had lost earlier in the year to the very team they defeated in the "championship" game.  A computer and a committee determined they should have a rematch and prevailed in it.

There is no dynasty in college football, because there is no tournament or playoff system. If there had been this year, for example, Notre Dame would have lost in the first round. It is clear tonight that they are not a top flight team.  Texas A & M and Oregon would have as likely played in the championship game as Alabama and Notre Dame if there was a bona fide method for determining a champ.

In every other sport, the team that is a champion is the team that went through a playoff system and had won the right to compete for a championship.  I have written before here that the current BCS system is meaningless and the crown could easily have gone to one of several other teams this year and in each of the years Alabama has "won."