The better team doesn't always win, but the better team that day wins nearly 100% of the time, barring disastrous refereeing or something like that.
Syracuse certainly doesn't seem to be better than Clemson, but neither was that game fluky, either. I don't know why and I don't know how, but the Syracuse front 7 flat out whipped the Clemson front 5 most all game, to the point I found myself thinking I don't think it would've made much difference if Kelly Bryant had played the 2nd half. On the other side, the Syracuse O-line held their own well enough against the vaunted Clemson front 7. There were no crazy bounces of the ball, no 1-in-100 crazy plays and not an excessive amount of chunk plays. Just Syracuse outplaying Clemson, straight up. The trenches were the most unbelievable part of that game.
I know several who are major believers in Dino Babers....coaching accounts for a lot.
I think coaching decisions and plans are often overlooked in games. People tend to think the best team winning simply means the team with the most 4 and 5 stars. That will get you a long way, but if you're even in the ballpark, game management factors in hugely. I was a genuine X's and O's noob when I joined this board 11 years ago. I'm still not advanced, but the more I've studied the game over the years the more I've realized how much mental work goes into each play. And not just the players, the offensive and defensive play each coordinator calls is really big. If one coach is on fire that day and his opponent is not, look out.
In the first quarter when Auburn was blowing us out, they had a tunnel screen go 52 yards for a TD. Fantastic play-call by Malzahn--or Chip Lindsey, whatever--where they spread the field and motion a back out of the backfield. LSU's Tyler Taylor follows him, LSU still sends pressure, but Stidham spots it for the big screen. Perfect call for what DC Dave Aranda was sending. The LSU players didn't do anything "wrong" there, and they weren't suddenly slower, weaker, or less highly rated than Auburn. The coordinators were playing rock/paper/scissors and Auburn's guy read Aranda like a book.
A coach can get really dialed in like that, maybe for a few plays, maybe for a game, and suddenly a "lesser" team is the better team. That day, anyway. Talent is well worth paying attention to, but I think many people stop there when figuring out who the good teams are, and what that means. It doesn't just go up and down by the week, it's a constant variance from play to play. Coaching is HUGE.