Jon Chait weighs in on moving the Game to midseason

jj

Had I written it, I think I might have been more voluble and less generous to the stupid alternatives.

If the SEC has taught us anything (I shudder to think of the SEC teaching us anything), it is that the SEC championship is a big, splashy made-for-tv interlude that is the next step to a bowl game, which is itself a bag, splashy made-for-tv event.  It's "Dr. Pepper," after all.

What SEC fans continue to care about, in their hearts, is "the World's Largest Cocktail Party" between Florida and Georgia.  And the Iron Bowl between Auburn and Alabama.  And night games in Baton Rouge.

It is pure, unimaginable madness to play the Michigan-Ohio State football game any time other than each and every year as the last game of the regular season.  I don't care if they get Fielding H. Yost and Herbert O. Crisler sign on to any change in that schedule.  I'll oppose it.

Without a playoff to determine the winner, the biggest games in college football have always been the rivalries.  There have been years where Michigan lost to OSU and I haven't even cared about the bowl game.  It is the end all be all of college football and with each change made to the system it gets sadly worse.

The SEC model of getting teams to the bcs title game is what the bigten is going for.  Think about this.  Michigan and Ohio st has essentially had 3 games since the 70's where the winner of the game had a shot at winning a national title.  I mean actual winner, not going into the game.

1997, 2002 and 2006.  All 3 yrs the winner was undefeated for the entire season....  Other then that what yrs did a bigten team have a legit shot at the national title?  1996 where florida lost the last game of the yr vs fsu and osu lost the last game of the yr vs michigan, florida was dominated osu was not, yet florida gets a second chance game, osu beats arizona st undefeted as florida beat fsu undefeted and florida wins the national title?  Help me make sense out of this one....     1985 michigan 1 loss 1 tie oklahoma 1 tie, oklahoma overwhelmingly wins the polls while michigan's 1loss was missed fg at the end of the game...1998 was a perfect example....osu 1 loss to msu by a couple points..., fsu by at least 14 to ncst, and fsu gets the nod to play in the bcs title game..... 

Basically the bigten wants the sec model of get the biggest games over by november build up a head of steam going into the last few games with wins and votes...   that way the title game launches one of your teams to the bcs title....

What big sec rivalries are played in november now?  Auburn alabama is the biggest and that had it's meaning whipped out from a national care level the last 20yrs as nearly every single yr 1 team was under ncaa penalty.....  what other games?

Will say florida plays florida st (ooc though) as does usc/clemson, uga and gatech all ooc games...    so sec is what, ole miss and miss st, that huge tennessee vandy game....

that the annual Michigan-Ohio State game be moved to Labor Day, at night.

I.  Rest.  My.  Case.

threw out tradition for a spot in the BCS rotation (one must assume for more $) is appropriate.  The Rose Bowl isn't the Rose Bowl anymore, and I fear that The Game will no longer be The Game.

Dammit.

...FTW:

bobwojnowski I don't care what anyone says. I don't care if Michigan has lost 37 straight times to the Vest. Michigan-OSU should remain on the last Sat.!