ScottVib
10-23-2003, 03:25 PM
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/football/ncaa/10/22/bc.fbc.secnotebook.ap/index.html
And we thought the BCS was screwed up... this could be the most interesting election in awhile if it came to pass.
Start the campaign
If Florida beats Georgia, SEC East champ could be decided by vote
Posted: Wednesday October 22, 2003 8:10PM; Updated: Wednesday October 22, 2003 8:54PM
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- The SEC could be involved in a vote every bit as intriguing as the 2000 presidential election or the California recall.
If Florida, Tennessee and Georgia wind up in a three-way tie for first in the SEC East, the tie might have to be broken by going to the seventh, and final, entry on the list of tiebreakers: a vote of athletic directors.
If such a vote is necessary, the ADs from Kentucky, South Carolina and the second- through sixth-place finishers in the SEC West would be joined by a representative from Vanderbilt (which no longer has an athletic director, per se) to determine the SEC East champion. The SEC West champion would be excluded from voting so it wouldn't have a say in determining who it plays in the title game.
The scenario, once viewed as farfetched, would become more likely if the 25th-ranked Gators (5-3, 3-2), who are idle this week, defeat No. 4 Georgia (6-1, 4-1) next week in Jacksonville. From there, Florida, Georgia and No. 22 Tennessee (4-2, 2-2) would have to win the rest of their conference games and finish 6-2 in conference.
If that happens, the first tiebreaker -- head-to-head -- wouldn't resolve anything since Florida would have defeated Georgia, Georgia has defeated Tennessee and Tennessee has defeated Florida.
The teams would tie with 4-1 records in the division, the second tiebreaker.
The third -- records against the fourth, fifth and sixth-place finishers in the East -- would also be a wash.
Tiebreakers 4 through 6 all involved results against teams in the other division, and none would break the tie, either because the teams all had the same record against the West (2-1), or because all three don't have games against a common opponent from the West.
That would lead to the seventh tiebreaker, which is a vote of the ADs. Other conferences give preference to teams with a higher ranking, or to teams that have the longest absence from the title game or a top bowl game. But there are no such guidelines in the SEC.
Rather, it would be a free-for-all, likely decided over a conference call on Sunday, Nov. 30, the day after the last regular-season game is played.
SEC spokesman Charles Bloom said changing the tiebreaker has never been a hot-button issue, possibly because a vote of athletic directors has never been needed.
"In a perfect world, this is not the most favorable of outcomes," Bloom said.
What if the vote comes out with a tie for first?
Bloom promised that the ADs would "come out of the meeting with a consensus."
And we thought the BCS was screwed up... this could be the most interesting election in awhile if it came to pass.
Start the campaign
If Florida beats Georgia, SEC East champ could be decided by vote
Posted: Wednesday October 22, 2003 8:10PM; Updated: Wednesday October 22, 2003 8:54PM
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- The SEC could be involved in a vote every bit as intriguing as the 2000 presidential election or the California recall.
If Florida, Tennessee and Georgia wind up in a three-way tie for first in the SEC East, the tie might have to be broken by going to the seventh, and final, entry on the list of tiebreakers: a vote of athletic directors.
If such a vote is necessary, the ADs from Kentucky, South Carolina and the second- through sixth-place finishers in the SEC West would be joined by a representative from Vanderbilt (which no longer has an athletic director, per se) to determine the SEC East champion. The SEC West champion would be excluded from voting so it wouldn't have a say in determining who it plays in the title game.
The scenario, once viewed as farfetched, would become more likely if the 25th-ranked Gators (5-3, 3-2), who are idle this week, defeat No. 4 Georgia (6-1, 4-1) next week in Jacksonville. From there, Florida, Georgia and No. 22 Tennessee (4-2, 2-2) would have to win the rest of their conference games and finish 6-2 in conference.
If that happens, the first tiebreaker -- head-to-head -- wouldn't resolve anything since Florida would have defeated Georgia, Georgia has defeated Tennessee and Tennessee has defeated Florida.
The teams would tie with 4-1 records in the division, the second tiebreaker.
The third -- records against the fourth, fifth and sixth-place finishers in the East -- would also be a wash.
Tiebreakers 4 through 6 all involved results against teams in the other division, and none would break the tie, either because the teams all had the same record against the West (2-1), or because all three don't have games against a common opponent from the West.
That would lead to the seventh tiebreaker, which is a vote of the ADs. Other conferences give preference to teams with a higher ranking, or to teams that have the longest absence from the title game or a top bowl game. But there are no such guidelines in the SEC.
Rather, it would be a free-for-all, likely decided over a conference call on Sunday, Nov. 30, the day after the last regular-season game is played.
SEC spokesman Charles Bloom said changing the tiebreaker has never been a hot-button issue, possibly because a vote of athletic directors has never been needed.
"In a perfect world, this is not the most favorable of outcomes," Bloom said.
What if the vote comes out with a tie for first?
Bloom promised that the ADs would "come out of the meeting with a consensus."