If UGA lost to GT, then won the SEC, most likely case is they wouldnt play for a NC in the first place. Now, if GT was that highly ranked, and won the ACC, it is possible they would themselves go onto a NC game, which would have rematch possibilities, and I am not for a post season rematch and GT should get a shot at somone else.

This is all out in GT purple rainbow land though.

there is no “state champion” title.

. . . by assuming you’re being serious rather than snarky. I say that because (a) we’ve had a serious problem with Alabama trolling this week, and (b) I would hope it would be clear that your comparison is, frankly, silly.

There is no “state championship” per se. We play Georgia Tech every year, and the winner may call itself the “state champs,” and there’s even a Big Ten-style trophy associated with the game, but there is no formal “state championship.” The silliness of that concept becomes even more clear when you look at the Iron Bowl, the winner of which may not have played UAB, or at the Florida-Florida State rivalry, which frequently has been won by Gator clubs that did not also play Miami. Conference expansion has ended or is ending several in-state series (Texas-Texas A&M, Penn State-Pitt, Boise State-Idaho); should the Longhorns, the Nittany Lions, and the Broncos automatically be disqualified from national championship consideration because they did not even play “state championship” games?

The fundamental problem underlying your question, and underlying the assumptions of those who say, simply and simplistically, “Alabama won Monday; therefore, no other team has a claim to the national title” is that it places much too much emphasis on one game. I am interested in what a team does over the course of a season. If Georgia finishes the regular season 11-1, loses to Georgia Tech, wins the SEC Championship Game, and wins the BCS National Championship Game, I won’t concede that the Yellow Jackets had the better season just because the played the better game on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Much like tankertoad, though, I would, while celebrating the national title (and the legitimacy thereof), lament the one that got away most of all. That’s not hypothetical, by the way; the 1942 loss to Auburn still burns me. I hate Auburn.

I value the conference championship over the BCS title as well, but I have no problem accepting the latter without the former.

The problem with voting Alabama #3 is that all conference championships are not created equal. Alabama didn’t win its division, and neither did Oklahoma State. If Alabama were in the SEC East, they could’ve righted the situation in Atlanta.

I’m the one who’s looking at the whole season. That’s why I ranked Louisiana State and Oklahoma State ahead of Alabama; LSU and OSU beat more good teams than ’Bama did, plain and simple.