History will note that the final straw leading to the end of the BCS was an intra-conference matchup. When LSU and Alabama faced off in New Orleans on January 9th, they weren’t merely playing for a national championship; they were playing in the most controversial game in BCS history. I can’t think of any game that divided college football fans more than the rematch of LSU and Alabama. Yet, if you were to ask the BCS power brokers, they would tell you that the 2011 Championship was one of the times that the BCS got it right. Their argument was simple. The BCS was designed to pit the two best teams in the country against each other and even if you didn’t like the circumstances, the majority belief, however slim, was that on January 9th, 2012, the two best teams in the country faced off. It’s an endless debate that can run college football fans in circles. Both sides bring up great points, however, leaving that debate for another day, it was the intra-conference rematch in 2006 that, if it had taken place, might have been the darkest day in the history of the BCS.
The debate began in the waning seconds of the annual Ohio State/Michigan football game on November 18th, 2006. Ohio State had not yet beaten Michigan but was closing their grasp the Wolverines. For the last three plus hours, Michigan struggled to keep up with Ohio State but every time OSU pulled away, Michigan clawed back with an answer. This matchup had been building all season. These were two of the most successful programs in college football history. They hailed from, what was perceived at the time, as the best conference in college football. Ohio State entered the game undefeated and ranked #1; Michigan came in undefeated and ranked #2. On the line was simply . . . everything. The prize on that November night was the outright championship to the Big Ten conference and a guaranteed spot in the national championship game. In the history of one of college football’s greatest rivalries, this was the first time the two had met as the two top teams in the nation. Waiting in the wings was the #3 USC Trojans and to a lesser extent, was SEC upstart #4 Florida, hoping that all the chips could fall into place to launch them into a matchup with Ohio State.
At 1:37 to go in the game, a Michigan injury created a pause for announcers Kirk Herbstreit, Brent Musberger, and Bob Davie to talk about the national championship scenarios. Davie,
Well, first of all, I think the two best teams should play and I think these are the two best teams. . . . Tonight’s the national championship for me.
Even with this talk of a rematch between Ohio State and Michigan, most believed that USC, if they could win out, would be the Buckeyes’ opponent in Glendale. USC needed to beat Notre Dame and then follow it up against its recently dwarfed archrival UCLA. If USC was going to stumble, then it would be against the Irish who, despite a lopsided, early season loss to Michigan, had managed a 10-1 record and a #6 ranking. The hopes of the fans in Ann Arbor and Gainesville were crushed when USC battered the Irish in a 44-24 victory. All that was left on USC’s schedule was an unranked 6-5 UCLA whose last win in the series was in 1998. For all intents and purposes, the national championship game was set. As we who have followed college football know all too often, November and early December have a way of rewriting the national championship script.
After USC’s twenty point rout of Notre Dame, the polls, not surprisingly, bumped USC to #2, Michigan remained at #3 which is where they had dropped the week before after their loss to Ohio State, and Florida sat uncomfortably at #4. It appeared that the national championship game dust had finally settled. On December 2nd however, all BCS Hades broke loose. USC inexplicably lost to UCLA. In a field of one loss teams, two losses was simply too much. USC had gracelessly bowed out of the national championship picture. On that same night, Florida captured their first SEC Championship in the post Spurrier era. The prevailing belief on the night of December 2nd, 2006 was that Michigan was going to keep ahead of the Gators and get its chance at a rematch. The logic made sense. Michigan’s loss was a three point loss to the #1 team and Florida’s loss was a ten point loss to #15 Auburn.
In the BCS era, pollsters weren’t as married to their previous week’s poll. Between Urban Meyer’s politicking and a general feeling that the Ohio State/Michigan game had been decided, the final BCS standings moved Florida past Michigan into the #2 spot and a matchup with Ohio State. Without knowing what happened next, we could debate whether Florida deserved to jump Michigan. However, it was exactly what lay ahead that showed us just how close we came to a BCS nightmare. Instead of a Michigan/Ohio State rematch, Michigan was relegated to the Rose Bowl to play USC and Florida moved on to Glendale.
The media lead up to the national championship game was to expect a blowout. Ohio State was a seven point favorite and the pre-game press treated this matchup as a college football letdown. On January 1st, reality started to shift.
Though the championship game was supposed to be a snoozer, all eyes focused on the Rose Bowl where two previous national championship hopefuls squared off. Most expected a classic and for two quarters it looked that way. The first half played out like a couple of savvy boxers feeling each other out. By halftime, the game was knotted up at three. The third quarter was owned by USC. USC scored 16 unanswered points and never looked back. By the time it was time to turn the lights out in Pasadena, the Trojans had handily beat the Wolverines 32-18. Any thoughts Michigan had of claiming that they were cheated out of their spot in the championship game were quickly quashed.
A week later on January 8th, Ohio State started off as expected by fans and Vegas bookies alike. The Buckeyes took a quick seven point lead and it appeared that the rout was on. However, Florida answered back and then continued their own barrage. After the Buckeyes’ first touchdown, Florida scored the next three. Midway through the second, OSU would get on the board again making it a seven point game. No one knew it at the time but that second touchdown would be the Buckeyes’ last. By the time the half came around, OSU was down by twenty. Between Ohio State adjustments and Florida protecting a lead, the second half only resulted in one more touchdown; it was another Florida score. The game ended with Ohio State looking at the wrong end of 41-14. After the game, Florida defensive end, Jarvis Moss was interviewed. Moss stated that he thought there were four or five other SEC teams that could have competed with the Buckeyes. It would sound a little like post game trash talk if history didn’t seem to prove Moss’ comments out.
It is the results of the Rose Bowl and the BCS National Championship game that diminished the 2006 matchup between Ohio State and Michigan. On November 18th, the game seemed like a matchup of titans destined to be placed in the pantheon of greatest teams of all time. Less than two months later, the nation questioned just how good those two teams really were. The “what if” came into play. What if these two had played in the national championship? Their reputations and that of the Big 10 would have stayed intact. The fallout from those two games redefined the roles of the SEC and the Big Ten. Prior to January 8th, 2007, the SEC’s dominance was seen as the overly excited views of a rabid, southern fan base. Counter that to the Big Ten, which was widely perceived to be the the premier college football conference. Florida’s national championship would start a SEC run of seven straight national championships that included, not just the Gators but featured LSU, Alabama and Auburn among its champs, Florida would claim another championship in 2008 and the Crimson Tide were just a few years away from an incredible run of winning three national championships in a four year period.
The fortunes of the Big Ten went ironically south. Michigan’s next game would be an opening season loss to FCS Appalachian State; the game that many consider to be the worst upset in the history of the BCS. By the end of the 2007 season, Ohio State had clawed back to the national championship. Unlike 2006, OSU faced a season of criticism in 2007. There seemed to be a collective national groan when the Buckeyes won their spot in the 2007 championship game. College football irony had placed Ohio State in Florida’s role of the year before. They were disrespected and maligned. Ahead of them though was a chance to reverse it all. A victory over the latest SEC bully would revalidate Ohio State and the Big Ten. Redemption wasn’t there for Ohio State. It was another great start and another disastrous second quarter that did them in. Instead of reversing the damage of the year before, Ohio State reaffirmed that there was a definitive gap with their southern cousins.
Who knows what our college football landscape would look like right now if Michigan and Ohio State had played for it all on that January 8th night? It’s not too hard to believe that the BCS might still be alive and well if perceptions hadn’t been so drastically changed. We can and will continue to debate whether the BCS really got it right in 2011 but there is no doubt that the BCS worked the way it was intended in 2007 and regardless of our team loyalties, a dark day in college football nightmare was avoided.
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