This is the final entry of our MNC Wednesday miniseries on the mythical national championship, and what better way to end a charade with the Covid-ravaged, uneven season of 2020? Only the schools in the greater South forged ahead despite the danger to student athletes, because they needed to make money in an attempt to strengthen their grip on the fixed sport. But it didn’t work: TV ratings were the worst ever for the College Football Playoff, and now there’s impending change again. See a pattern here?

With teams from different conferences playing different numbers of games and without real SOS/SRS ratings, this is mostly futile … but we will give it a go, anyway.

The 2020 MNC: Stupid season that never should have been played, but the money needed to be made!

Here is the Associated Press Top 10, including final record with key bowl results:

1. Alabama (13-0): Won CFP Bowl, 52-24
2. Ohio State (7-1): Lost CFP Bowl, 24-52
3. Clemson (10-2): Lost Sugar Bowl, 28-49
4. Texas A&M (9-1): Won Orange Bowl, 41-27
5. Notre Dame (10-2): Lost Rose Bowl, 14-31
6. Oklahoma (9-2): Won Cotton Bowl, 55-20
7. Georgia (8-2): Won Peach Bowl, 24-21
8. Cincinnati (9-1): Lost Peach Bowl, 21-24
9. Iowa State (9-3): Won Fiesta Bowl, 34-17
10. Northwestern (7-2): Won Citrus Bowl, 35-19

The ACC, the Big XII, and the SEC started their seasons earlier than everyone else, and it created an uneven playing field, all to those conferences’ advantage. With two months’ extra practice, the Crimson Tide won the “title” game, so Alabama probably will cheese its way to a title here, although we hardly view it as legitimate. The Aggies lost to the Crimson Tide by 28 points, and they obviously didn’t win the SEC. Thank goodness they weren’t allowed into the CFP, however.

The Sooners were shut out of the CFP, after losing twice early in their season while adjusting to Covid. They then ran the table to finish with 8 straight victories, so we can advance them. The Bearcats, undefeated at the end of the regular season, were kept out of the CFP, which contributed to the above ratings drop, as everyone outside the Confederacy just rolled their eyes again at the usual suspects being picked for the Final Four. The Bulldogs spared the CFP some egg on the face by winning the Peach Bowl.

BYU posted an 11-1 record, with the loss being to a Top 15 team on the road. The Cougars were shunted off to the Boca Raton Bowl, whatever the fuck that is, to beat a non-Power 5 team there, but we see through the CFP bullshit—even if we know BYU will never have the SOS to top Alabama. This is just another example of the CFP trying to fix things for profit. Meanwhile, the Liberty Flames went 10-1, with a Cure Bowl (?) victory. We know their SOS will be even worse than BYU’s mark.

San Jose State went 7-0 in the regular season before losing the Arizona Bowl. The University of Louisiana, not LSU, went 10-1 with a bowl win, so we can advance the Ragin’ Cajuns, right? No, as they did not win the Sun Belt Conference. Ball State won the MAC and a bowl game, so the Cardinals (7-1) get advanced. We’re digging deep here.

So, we have 5 teams to consider in this charade, somehow. Never let anyone tell you the 2020 season “counts” for anything, please, because they’d be lying through their teeth. Regardless, these are the respective SOS ratings for our “top” teams, after the wasted time above:

  • Alabama: 13 Division I-A opponents, 9.72 SOS rating, 3rd of 128
  • Oklahoma: 10 Division I-A opponents, 3.71 SOS rating, 39th
  • BYU: 11 Division I-A opponents, -3.89 SOS rating, 96th
  • Liberty: 9 Division I-A opponents, -12.22 SOS rating, 127th
  • Ball State: 8 Division I-A opponents, 8.91 SOS rating, 8th

This is worthless, since if the Cardinals played a comparable schedule to Alabama, they should have been in the CFP’s Final Four. We knew this would be a worthless exercise, making any declaration here absolutely pointless. The Flames, if these numbers are to be believed, played the second-easiest schedule in the sport—and still rode that schedule to No. 17 ranking in the final AP poll. Does that make sense to anyone? Nope.

Any way you dice it, the attempt to legitimize the Covid pandemic season with an MNC declaration here would be a disgrace to the sport. We won’t do it. And again, the public didn’t buy into the scam, either, as the CFP garnered the lowest TV ratings of its short life. So, in our minds, this was just an exhibition season to collect money, and it has no legitimacy in our eyes, period.

Sorry, but we’re not the fraudsters here.

Congratulations to the Coronavirus, the 2020 mythical national champion …