The last year of the BCS has finally
come and gone. Finally. Yes, many are raving about the great game last night
that saw a Florida State comeback and several late lead changes (it was a great
game). Still, few can truly praise what the Bowl Championship Series has done
for college football. It is the only college sport that one can think of that
has not had a playoff system. It is the only level of football that has not had
a playoff system. Instead, it takes whatever two teams are at the top of a
messed-up ranking system and pits them against each other. This takes strength
of schedule as less of a consideration compared to how well-known a team is.
I can recollect several years
back when Boise State and Texas Christian finished undefeated along with two
other teams. Yet they were both passed over for the national championship game
(this has happened to Boise State twice, I believe) because they did not have
quite the schedules the other two teams did. And yet this year, Ohio State
would have been given a spot above a one-loss Auburn team (had OSU not lost in
the Big Ten championship game) although Auburn’s schedule was far-and-above
more difficult than OSU’s. (Proving how overrated Ohio State was, they were
beaten by the only two top 20 teams they faced- but that’s another story.) The
rankings are open to individual bias by writers, as they are in any sport, and
really should be based on a more logical computer ranking, such as can be seen
in the formula in high school football. But the difference has been, even if a
team doesn’t make it into the rankings, they still have a chance in other
sports due to a playoff.
Now college football has
“compromised” on its bowl system by adding a four team playoff and still
sending every team with a .500 record to a bowl game. This still only puts the
top four teams to the playoff, which will likely make the outcry from much
worse: normally there are about 8-10 one-loss teams, and only two or three of
them will be included in this playoff. And probably two or three will be SEC
teams, being those with the toughest schedules (among one-loss teams, hence why
Auburn got in to the national championship over all the other one-loss teams);
but who is to say others cannot beat them? Who is to say Boise St. and TCU could
not have beaten #1 and #2?
This playoff is a step in the
right direction. But a four team playoff is not the answer. This highly favors “tough”
conferences. Eight teams would be better, possibly sixteen. But there is
something that could satisfy those who want an advantage given to teams that
have good regular seasons, as well as include more deserving teams and
traditional bowls.
How about a 24 team playoff?
Yes, 24 teams. No, it doesn’t
make a straight bracket. But it could be similar to the way the NFL operates.
The teams ranked 1-24 (sorry #25, but you are often a team placed in the
rankings that will play a higher-ranked team and be replaced the next week)
will go into this playoff. Those ranked 1-8 will get a bye. Hence, #9 will play
#24, #10 plays #23, and so on. After the first round of games, there will be 16
teams left. Then the #1 ranked team will play the lowest ranked team, #2 plays
the second-lowest ranked team, all the way until the #8 team, who plays the
highest ranked team left from the first round.
With eight teams left, the same
rules will apply; the lowest seed will play the highest seed, etc. It is just
as it is in the NFL, except more rounds. With the round of eight, the
traditional BCS bowls in place now (Cotton, Orange, Fiesta, Sugar) that so many
do not want to get rid of can be used.
Again the same rules apply with
the semifinals. Stadiums or cites could make bids for both it and the
championship game, or it could be put into a rotation.
I
believe this to be a fairer playoff, as well as a better compromise of the
differing opinions of college football fans and “experts” all around. For now,
we are stuck with the continual bad decisions of the powers that be in college
football.
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