It was decided long ago by men on high horses that the Bowl Championship Series is a sham. Reporters, columnists, analysts, anchors, you, me — we pretty much all agree. From the moment the computers churned out the rankings that stuck Nebraska in the national championship a few years back, we had a travesty on our hands.
Since then, BCS bashing has become an annual event. And that's fair. The system has major flaws.
But the thing is, it's kind of a good idea.
Well, maybe not the BCS itself. It has too many problems to mention. But the general idea — that of not having any playoffs and just putting two teams in the national title game — sits better with me than I thought it did. Maybe college football has had it right all along.
For as long as I can remember staring at box scores and reading sports pages, I've wondered why the concept of playoffs is the modus operandi for every major sport. I've never really understood.
It's not that I don't like playoff atmospheres. March Madness is like a holiday for me. Baseball playoffs define the fall season.
But just because I enjoy watching it doesn't mean I understand it.
See, I don't get how a baseball team can play 162 games and then have their entire season come down to a five-game series. I don't get how a college basketball team can go 27-4 and then see their season end in horrible disappointment with a first-round upset.
That's the way it is, though, and apparently the way it's supposed to be, if you listen to the advocates of a playoff in college football. But, while I would love to see a playoff, maybe it isn't the best option.
In college football, the regular season means more than postseason positioning. It means everything. And I kind of like that.
Of course, the BCS throws a major kink in the works. It's about a million times worse to see a team denied the chance at a national championship because of a computer than to see a team denied the chance at a title because of a postseason loss.
But, man, if the BCS actually worked, if it guarantee the two best teams would meet in the championship, then I think I'd really like that system.
Unfortunately, no system can make those kinds of guarantees. If there are three undefeated teams, who's to decide which two will make it? And I guess that's why playoffs exist.
So maybe I'm way off base here. Maybe college football does need a playoff.
But I don't know. There's something special about a season that matters. And that's what we have in college football.
Maybe it should stay that way.
November 23, 2005
james golden:
I think that we should have playoffs because what about the teams that could beat teams like USC but cant prove it because they play teams better than Washington or Hawaii.
November 25, 2005
Joe:
We need a platoff so that the few can’t dominate the majotity as they have to date. This would help conferences like the ACC, SEC and big 12 who are so good they beat one another each year and are left out at the end of every year.
Teams like USC and Notre Dame would no longer dominate the polls.
November 25, 2005
Joseph:
Someday, maybe not this year or next year, people will learn the value the Bowl Championship Series has on the unique setting that is College Football. Sure, you can argue for a clean and simple (and repetitive) playoff system, but take into account what the BCS has done for NCAAF. Since its debut, interest has increased greatly and it sure has given sports analysts something to talk about! As for the computers, the fan must decide whether bias or statistics will rule.
November 26, 2005
john:
Thank God above, you’ve never been to Auburn, Alabama. It looks like two years in a row, the BCS will sham us. We have people like you to thank for the ignorance of the BCS. Congratulations on screwing conferences that beat up on each other over.
and to Joseph….are you kidding me buddy. We should keep it because “interest has increased greatly and it sure has given sports analysts something to talk about!” Oh, THAT’S what the BCS is supposed to be about? Talk, not a true national champion? Actually, you ARE right. The BCS really is just to give old men something to talk about. How about letting the talking show on the field, not in a media booth, with a playoff?
November 26, 2005
David:
Analysis suggests that a Div 1-A playoff would increase the chances of crowning the best team. See chapter titled “What’s the best number of playoff teams?” starting on page 40 of the following analysis of the BCS:
www.krowsoftware.net/BCSAnalysis.doc
December 27, 2005
Ron Walter:
Does anyone know, or care, whether Duke beat North Carolina during the regular season in basketball?
A full blown playoff system will ruin the regular season. Teams will blow off stronger non conference teams so they don’t hurt their chance of qualifying for a playoff spot.