It was a disappointing end to a disappointing season. IF you're an Ohio State fan, a Big 10 fan, it has to be extremely disappointing.
That being said, IMO I don't see how the BCS could have chosen other than LSU - 'bama. LSU had already beaten Oregon, Stanford was no match for Oregon, much less LSU. The dominant powers of the Big 12, Texas and Oklahoma, were MOR teams this year. Alabama's schedule was not unlike most college football powers, one big ooc game- booked several years in advance and that may or may not pan out- at least 2 tough conference games and the rest filled in with cupcakes and the conference also-rans. The one game they lost was to an undefeated team whose ooc game with an established college power did pan out, Oregon did prove to be an interesting 2 loss team- The Big 10 spent the season beating up on each other, producing no dominant team, and not showing well in bowl games. Can't blame the SEC for that -- or ESPN, they're going to go where the story is, and this year the story was not in the Big 10 - or the Big East or the PAC 12, or the Greater Texas conference.
If I have complaint, it would be that any division system I have seen - pro or college - is bound to produce bad match ups - the SEC CCG should have been Alabama - LSU. Give Georgia a trophy of some kind and a pat on the head and then tell them, sorry, but you're only the third best team in the conference. (and maybe not even that) Likewise the PAC 12 game was a shot gun marriage because the divisions weren't even? - anyone not expecting this to happen in the Big 10 in the not so distant future? Maybe if the SEC CCG had been the right 2 teams then TV would have had reason to put Okie State opposite the winner, but that opportunity never came up.
The Okie State football program did not lose two coaches, and I find it hard to imagine that anyone connected to the football program knew someone from the women's b-ball program that closely that they were genuinely torn by the loss. A distraction? Maybe, but the simple truth is the cowpokes lost to a ho hum Iowa State team in a game they should have won in a blow out. Not unlike recent Buckeye loses to Purdue (twice) and Illinois, better team fails to concentrate in minor game... it happens every season.
The decision to place two SEC teams opposite each other may have failed as a TV option -- college football TV is very driven by local fan base and this game lacked appeal outside SEC country. But I think there were other causes too - saturation of the TV market with college and pro football throughout the 2.5. week long holiday season. Playing the game at 9:30 on a work night -especially since it took place a week after a two three day weekends. Even being on ESPN instead of a standard channel may have been a factor too.
TV faces the same thing when the World Series ends up with Kansas City and St. Louis, or Milwaukee and anybody else other than the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers. I'm sure the same thing would apply if the NBA finals ended up with Oklahoma City and Indy, or Cleveland, or Milwaukee --
