A Split National Champion?

Irony is a funny thing.

Almost immediately after Oklahoma State beat Stanford in overtime last night the talking heads started throwing out the idea of a split national champion IF Alabama beats LSU. ESPN has to have lively debate and programming to fill 24 hours worth of airtime but come on, seriously? There is no way that Oklahoma State is worthy of any national championship designation under the system we have now.

You can make the argument all you want that under a playoff system they are worthy of the crown. Under a playoff system ANY team is worthy of it. Unfortunately we have the BCS and this isn't 2003. That's where the irony comes in.

The BCS was designed to pit the 2 best teams against one another for the title of best team in college football. We have all theorized that the system is flawed and so on and so forth. However we never quite had that smoking gun to blow the conspiracy sky high. Then 2003 came. The regular season came to an end and it was time to pick who goes where. USC won the Pac10 with their only loss coming against Cal in triple OT. LSU won the SEC with its only loss coming in a blowout to Florida. Oklahoma was undefeated entering the Big12 title game against lowly Kansas State. K-State surprised everyone and annihilated Oklahoma. USC and LSU finished their seasons strong while Oklahoma failed to win their conference championship. The BCS picked Oklahoma and LSU to play for it all while USC was sent to the Rose Bowl.

USC beat a very good Michigan team convincingly while LSU defeated Oklahoma. LSU won the BCS title but for the first time in the BCS era the AP gave its vote to USC. The title was split which is funny because thats what the BCS was designed to prevent.

Now return to 2011/2012. LSU is back in the mix and again is the SEC champion and this time is undefeated. Oklahoma State won the Big12 with one loss. Alabama did not win their division with one loss. Oklahoma State just beat a good Stanford team. Now you can see the connection to 2003. Take a step back though....

LSU and Alabama are the two best teams period. Their defenses are phenomenally good. Oklahoma States defense is non existent really, and has been all year. Stanford was the first elite offense they have faced all year and they put up a lot of points. But they played Baylor... No. Stanford has multiple weapons, Baylor has RGIII. Oklahoma State is a good team but they are in no way deserving of a split anything.

If Alabama beats LSU in what I think will be a close game, the Tigers deserve a share of the crown over Oklahoma State. Call me a homer, but NO league compares to the SEC.

If only we had a playoff to sort this all out...