I’ve already speculated the on the chances of a split title earlier this week. He’s CFN.com addressing the issue in its weekly Q&A:
For the sake of argument, let’s say that Michigan comes out and trounces USC in the Rose Bowl, and Florida barely/controversially/soundly/however beats OSU. Do you see a scenario in which the AP voters, who don’t have to answer to the BCS honks, vote Michigan as the #1 team? I know it’s WAY out there, but I was wondering if you guys had thought about it. Thanks. -PJ Kendall
A: I got a bunch of e-mails from desperate Michigan fans asking the same thing, and I’ll ask you the same thing I told Auburn fans in 2004; would it make you feel better? Would that fill the void in your life left empty after Shawn Crable cranked Troy Smith on the helmet-to-helmet hit? The AP poll is meaningless now that it’s out of the BCS, but if it would help you sleep better at night being the AP champion, or anyone else’s champion, then good luck, and hope you get it. Of course the denial can only last for so long, and eventually you’ll realize that unless you’re the BCS champion, it just doesn’t mean much.
Fine, let’s say Florida beats Ohio State in a sloppy, ugly 9-7 game with a ton of turnovers and the Buckeyes playing disinterested and dead. Michigan beats USC 45-3 in the Rose Bowl. There might be some picking the Wolverines first, but so what?
So what? The whole thing is ridiculous anyway so how far off is it to accept the national title from the AP voters, as opposed to the BCS system? I understand the argument, and agree that the BCS system is the accepted method of determining the champion. But especially now that the AP isn’t a part of the BCS I actually think it is more relevant than when it was part of the BCS. Agree or not, everyone seems to acknowledge USC’s title in 2003 after they beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl and was voted #1 in the AP poll.
One Comment
Lewey Popoff
The fact is, if Florida beats Ohio State, they will have beaten the clear-cut #1 team in the country, and I don’t care how sloppy the game might be. They will have won it on the field and, in my mind, that beats the heck out of being “voted” national champion by a bunch of writers, most of whom have probably never played a game of organized tackle football in their lives (sorry, those games of ‘smear the queer’ during recess in second grade don’t count).
I think the best thing for Michigan would be to trounce USC in the Rose Bowl and then have Ohio State trounce Florida in the “national championship” game. That would have people saying “Florida blows” (as most already do, deep down inside, I’m sure) and Michigan really should have been voted #2 ahead of them and should have gotten to play for the national title as the second best team in the country. Sure, that would leave us no chance of being voted #1 in any poll, but it would make me feel a whole lot better than if I have to hear a bunch of whiny SEC fans talking about the strength of their conference for another year.