It started already, Mark Packer's dumbass on Sirius XM today was incredulous...
... that State was ranked #12 because "they haven't played anybody" and he started listing off our schedule and their records. We were the only team he did this to. He said #15 would be ok, but #12 was too high.
No problem with Alabama's current body of work, despite containing one "quality win", Michigan, who isn't even in the top 25.
No problem with Georgia's current body of work, whose only "quality win" was over the same UT bunch that State beat on Saturday and has a loss to a 1-loss South Carolina.
No problem with USC's current body of work, which includes a loss to Stanford, a team that was beaten by a 3-3 Washington team, who was embarassed by LSU.
In fact, by his logic, at #15, Florida State would be ranked higher, despite a loss to NC State, a team that was beaten by UT, who, again, State beat on Saturday.
Brand names get the benefit of the doubt because they're name brands. Nothing you can do about it, but keep winning.
The big fear, from a fan's perspective is that, if somehow lightning were to strike against Bama, LSU, and Florida, and assuming we play tough against A&M, and assuming we don't lay eggs against MTSU, Arkansas, and Mississippi, this is the narrative going in:
1. Even though they ran the table in the SEC, Mississippi State doesn't have the body of work that <fill USC="" OU,="" Oregon,="" Dame,="" Notre="" the="" in=""> have. Kansas State, IMHO, is in the same boat we are. Despite the win over OU, they'll get passed over by, say, Notre Dame when it comes down to it.
2. The SEC is weaker this year than it has been in previous years. Want proof? Mississippi State beat Alabama and LSU. A league is always looked at as weak when a name brand team gets beat by a 'weaker' conference member.
3. It's time we put another conference (or ND) in the championship game.
Of course, if our guys run the table this season, then it's probably a sign that the Mayan prophecy is for real and the BCSNG will be cancelled anyway, so it may not matter.
Look, there's nothing we can do about it as fans but ***** and complain, but "tradition" always seems to win out in these cases, especially when the media is in the tank for (fill in the blank: Bama, Florida, OU, Texas, USC, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, and to a lesser extent, Miami, Georgia, Auburn, and Tennesse) <fill OU,="" Dame,="" Notre="" the="" in="" Miami="" and="" Georgia,="" Auburn,="" Tennesse,="" extent="" lesser="" a="" to="" LSU="" State,="" Florida="" USC,="" Texas,="" Florida,="" Bama,="" Ohio="" Michigan,=""> and are constantly looking for some glimmer of hope or reason to rank them highly.</fill></fill>