To campaign or not to campaign?

Much ado was made about Urban Meyer's alleged campaigning to get into the BCS Championship game. He was roundly criticized for his perceived lack of modesty.

Let's assume that Meyer's "campaigning" did, in fact, influence the poll voters (a premise I don't accept, but will concede here just to make a point). Can anyone argue now, in retrospect, that he was wrong in his assessment that the Gators deserved to be playing in Glendale? Of course not. Many columnists have already written that of the two teams that squared off a week ago it was OSU that looked like it didn't belong.

So let's go back in time and pretend that Urban Meyer had ignored the questions from the media about the Gators possibly playing in the BCS title game. Let's pretend he had kept his mouth shut and been the good boy that his critics claim that he wasn't. So what would have happened?

Michigan would have been selected to play OSU in a rematch, and the Buckeyes would have probably won because Jim Tressel owns Lloyd Carr. But even if Michigan had won, it would have been the biggest fraud perpetuated on college football fans since, well since a couple of years ago when Auburn got passed over.

So if you believe a coach can influence the voters then you should thank Urban Meyer for "campaigning". Because of him at least we know one of the teams that played in that game deserved to be there.

The idea that campaigning under the current system is somehow wrong doesn't make sense to me. In honestly answering questions from the media about possibly being left out of the Championship Meyer asked the voters to look at Florida's resume closely. In saying that Michigan had already had its chance, Meyer appealed to common sense. Is that so wrong?

Would we prefer that the voters make their decisions based on the opinions of so-called pundits at Disney/ABC/ESPN that, in addition to having a lot more influence in the game of college football than they should, also have a vested interest in pumping up the Big Ten while shunning the SEC? No, I think it's the American way to let people speak their minds and make their case. If what they say is garbage then we have to trust that those who have been given the responsibility to make the decisions will see it the arguments for what they are worth.

If we, as a college football watching public, don't want coaches to "lower themselves" by "campaigning" for their teams then perhaps we should try to make winning a championship less of a political process. There's no need to campaign in any other sport because you must simply win your way in.