The seemingly impossible has happened. Alabama has lost, and barring an incredible turn of events, will not have an opportunity to win three straight National Championships to close out the BCS-era. However, a new situation has arisen, who moves to #2 in the BCS. Will it be Ohio State, the 3rd ranked, undefeated team that has not lost in two seasons? Or will it be Auburn, the 4th ranked team from the SEC who just knocked off the Crimson Tide on Saturday? Obviously, the slot would go to the undefeated team, right? Wrong. That would be too simple. There are way too many factors to hand the spot out that easily.
The BCS takes a lot of things into account, one thing in particular: Strength of Schedule (SOS). Right now, Ohio State is ranked 60th according to teamrankings.com, where Auburn is 25th. However, naturally, Auburn will have a stronger SOS because they are in the SEC, the unanimously best conference in college football.
Auburn is sitting at 11-1 and has now defeated Alabama (#1 at the time the two teams played), Texas A&M (#7) Ole Miss (#24) and Georgia (#25), and their only loss was to LSU (#6). Meanwhile, Ohio State’s wins against ranked teams have been against Wisconsin (#23) and Northwestern (#16). Looking at it like this, Auburn has played and beaten much tougher opponents.
However, is it fair to punish Ohio State for not playing in the SEC? They went out and played the teams they had scheduled and they beat everyone. And while the B1G may not be the best conference in college football, they certainly aren’t a pushover. They are a BCS conference with three teams ranked in the Top-15.
Looking at it that way, though, then you have to explain why a team like Northern Illinois isn’t ranked in the Top-5. They’re undefeated, shouldn’t they be ranked higher? People will argue no. Why? Because they play in the MAC, so they have a weak SOS, or “they don’t play any real good teams.” While, Ohio State is on a 24-game winning streak, they have not beaten teams worthy of being ranked as high as they are. If preseason polls did not exist and they did not start as a Top-5 team, it is unlikely that they would be ranked as high as they are. While they have won 24-straight games, last season’s play should not influence how this season’s team is ranked. Again though, the question still stands: Is a one-loss BCS team more deserving than an undefeated BCS team?
At the end of the day, there is a strong case for both sides to move to the #2 spot in the BCS, but right now, signs point towards Auburn taking over the ranking. However, this entire debate could be null and void after next week, as both teams have conference championships to play. The Buckeyes play Michigan State (currently ranked #11), and the Tigers play Missouri (#5). If either of these teams were to lose, it is safe to assume the other would lock up the national title appearance against Florida State, who also has a conference championship to play. Although, Missouri winning would potentially open another whole can of worms and a new debate would ensue about whether they deserve the spot over Ohio State.