Some thoughts on the present BCS discontents.
ESPN wants a playoff. Brian at MgoBlog wants a playoff. Actually, it seems that most people want a playoff. Most people agree that almost anything would be better than what we have now. I will say this: There are good plans out there—notably Brian Cook’s plan—that are fairly good, because they take into account many of the things that any postseason scheme has to take into account.
I write this because of the plan RightMichigan.com’s “jdee” placed into the ether. I want to note a few errors there before plunging into my own discourse. “Undefeated Ball State, Utah, and Boise St would NOT have vied for a national title under the previous system either…” This isn’t true; BYU, for example, won the national title in 1984 by going undefeated and beating Bo Schembechler’s worst down-year Michigan team in the Holiday Bowl. “This year, most major teams will play 12 or 13 games, plus several will play an extra game for the conference championship.” I’m not aware of any team playing 13 regular-season games, apart from conference championships. The NCAA extended the regular season by a week, I believe, a few years ago, so that teams could play twelve games instead of eleven. “who really watches the Motor City Bowl anyway? So lets give some of the games some importance.....” Small-school programs like, say, Central Michigan, benefit greatly from these bowl games, in terms of money, fan-base loyalty, and recruiting. “Really, who ever complains about the team that didn't make the March Madness tournament?” Hmm. “Quarterfinals will be played as part of four minor bowls around Christmas time. Semifinals will be two major New Years Day bowl games and the Championship game a week or two later at another major bowl.” I will tell you how to make the bowl games meaningless; make them first stops for big schools on the way to games you actually want to play in. “Bowl games can rotate the way they do now in the BCS system.” Nope. There is a BCS Championship Game, and then the four “traditional” (ahem) BCS bowls: the Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta. No rotation.
There are something over 125 teams in Division IA football, and they each play, usually, 12 games. In the NFL, 32 teams play 16 games; the NBA, (I think) 32 teams play 82 games each—playoffs make sense in these two, not so much for college football. Even in NCAA basketball, around 350 teams play 30 or so games, excluding conference tournaments. A bit under 20% of teams go to the NCAA Tournament. College football can neither have conference tournaments nor send a fifth of its teams to a post-season playoff.
We need to realize there is no “solution” for college football postseason. Any conceivable plan will offend someone’s wishes. Putting a lot of emphasis on crowning a national champion will, like it or not, make a uniquely regional sport into even more of a national one. Incorporating human polls in a major way will anger anyone who wants it all to be decided on the field—which is, of course, impossible anyway. A small playoff will offend people who want to include small-conference undefeateds, and a large playoff will irreparably damage the bowl system that everyone loves.
I think, anyway, that people looking for a way to crown a “legitimate champion” (whatever that means in college football) might very well find themselves giving up much of what made college football unique. Part of what has been great about college football is its craziness—independent bowls, bowl tie-ins negotiated by conferences, entire stadiums basically dedicated to one massive game a year. Choosing national champions based on human polls. How much less would we have to talk about in college football if we started getting rid of those things?
I’ve said it before: we should go back to the old system. Yes, I know it will never happen. But that is the best “solution.” I’ll stick with that. Next time you demand a change be made to college football in the interest of choosing a national champion fairly, ask yourself, “Why?” I’ve never found a good answer to that.
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