BB73;616168; said:
Sorry, Clarity, but I don't completely buy this.
While it's true that if we win out, we'll make the BCS Championship game, the other stuff does matter, because it's very possible there will be only 1 undefeated team this year. If that end up being the case, being the highest rated 1-loss team in the polls is huge.
I don't think being #2 instead of #1 will play any role, really, in determining how far we fall if we lose a game. I don't think we'll slip a spot in the polls because of today's game. Don't think we should. I think we
could, though. I do think we will see the divide between ourselves and the next 2 teams narrow considerably.
Four games in, I continue to maintain that the difference between #1 and #2 has no relevance.
To be fair, I don't (at this point in time) see us getting much love as a 1-loss team. If we want to play for the title, we better keep the W's going. Pretty or ugly doesn't matter.
Are there scenarios in which it somehow does come down to a razor-thin margin in terms of a fight between 2 or 3 one-loss teams to get in the game? Sure. Are they worth considering 4 games in? No, not really. Does it matter what we think as fans, since we're talking about something we have absolutely no control over whatsover? Nope.
If we drop to 2, it will be because Troy/Ginn/Gonzo actually looked human today, and because we struggled with a team that ND slapped hard. ND of course, was stomped by Michigan, and is looking flat bad against MSU. Which is to say, that since these early polls are all blind guesswork, maybe the current consensus will be that we're not the best team in the nation -- I don't know, nor do I particularly care.
If I could have my way, polls wouldn't appear until about this point in the season. 4 games in, about a 1/3rd of the way through the season.
Perhaps my perspective is fueled by the site. Am I proactively reducing the importance of the poll in an effort to reduce outrage on the site if and when we slip? Maybe. But the truth is that our guys control their own destiny. In as much as they haven't lost, and started the season #1, if they continue to win, there will be no possible way to keep us out of the game. 1 loss? We're playing for the conference championship at that point, and will need help for an opportunity for something greater. I'm definitely not ready yet to start playing "what if" over a loss that hasn't happened yet.
