A first time for everything
While the game wasn't necessarily the most exciting, the outcome certainly was. If you aren't sure what I am talking about, this past weekend was championship weekend for many of the power conferences in the NCAA. While folks down south were likely more interested in Alabama vs. Georgia, the biggest ticket on Saturday was most definitely number 1 vs. number 2 as Ohio State rolled into Indianapolis to take on Indiana.
First, let's get the other stuff out of the way. Number 24 James Madison took down Troy 31 to 14 to win the Sun Belt Championship. Number 20 Tulane bested number 25 North Texas 34 to 21 to take the AAC Championship, and number 4 Texas Tech hammered number 12 BYU 34 to 7 to take the Big 12 Championship.
As for that number 9 Alabama vs number 3 Georgia game, Georgia handily won that game 28 to 7 for the SEC crown. As you can see from the opening photo, Duke was also playing number 19 Virginia at the same time Ohio State and Indiana were playing. That game went into overtime and Duke got the upset victory 27 to 20 cementing the ACC Championship.
Finally, we have the Big Ten Championship. It was honestly a kind of boring game. There wasn't a lot of scoring as both defenses were on point. I actually went to bed just a little after halftime with the score sitting at Ohio State 10 and Indiana 6. What I think is amazing about the second half is the fact that Indiana held Ohio State scoreless. That's not an easy thing to do against the defending national champions.
The final score was 13 to 10 with Indiana gaining their first Big Ten Championship in program history. Pretty impressive!
That sets us up for the playoffs that happen early next year.
Which honestly is an absolute joke. I understand the committee had to include some of the teams that won their conference championship, but the exclusion of other teams is just a travesty.
So we have Tulane, and JMU in the running when teams like Notre Dame, Texas, Vandy, USC, Arizona, are on the outside looking in. That almost sends the message to schools that if you are in a competitive conference, you should switch to an easier one so you can get a guaranteed spot in the playoffs.
Of course there are other things to consider, but it's still kind of stupid that they are constantly struggling to get this right.
I get it, you can't let everyone in. There is always going to be a team that is upset they didn't make it, but when you use such arbitrary guides to make your decisions, then act like you did the best you could with the information, you just end up looking dumb.
Make no mistake, there will be some good games this post season, but it's hard to see it as anything less than fair. Then again, we all know the power conference teams will likely dominate like they usually do.
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