Five are Fighting

After their second loss to the Broncos in three weeks, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid took the podium for his post-game interview. In his statements, he talked about the need to look forward and focus on getting to the playoffs. He remarked that unlike in the BCS, one loss in the NFL regular season is not enough to tank a championship drive.

This was a particularly touchy subject in the state of Alabama this past weekend. With one second left in the Iron Bowl, Auburn took an Alabama missed field goal back 100 yards to stun the two-time defending champions. Not only was this an epic ending to a well-played football game, but it also shattered Alabama’s dreams of a third straight title.

When rankings were officially announced on Monday, Alabama had dropped to fourth with undefeated Florida State and Ohio State in the top two spots, and Auburn, for their 11-1 season, and unseating of the Crimson Tide, moved to third.

The challenge becomes analyzing teams with different records for ranking purposes. Should Ohio State, who went 12-0 and extended the longest winning streak in the BCS, play for a national championship instead of a one-loss SEC school who may have had a much tougher schedule?

Here’s what it comes down to (or, at the very least, should come down to): if team A and team B played one another on neutral turf, who would win? The rankings play such a significant role in the bowl selection process that it is unrealistic to go solely based on record.

Missouri was six inches to the left of a perfect season. Ohio State has one because one play went their way. Alabama and Auburn were separated by one second. Any of these teams could very well compete against Florida State, the fairly unquestionable top team right now. When considered in terms of head-to-head matchups, though, there seems to be a pretty clear way to sort through it all.

Ohio State has not played nearly the competition that the SEC deals with on any given Saturday. Michigan, Illinois, and Purdue do not stack up the same way as LSU, Texas A & M, and South Carolina. Within the context of conference difficulty, all of a sudden, a 12-0 Ohio State starts to look like a 12-0 Northern Illinois University, who find themselves ranked 14.

Within the SEC, teams cannot simply use single games to lead to a ranking. Realistically, if Alabama played Auburn again tomorrow, even in Auburn, my money would be rolling with the Tide. Same goes for Alabama and Mizzou, Ohio State, or anyone else, frankly.

The hope is that next year’s shift to a four team playoff will alleviate their challenges. That doesn’t bring any solace to the five legitimate championship contenders who are fighting for dear life in the hopes of earning one of the two spots.

There is plenty of football left to play before bowl selections are made, but if the last day of the regular season is any indication, the answers won’t get any easier.