It’s time for a new college football bowl system, because the Bowl Championship Series just isn’t working.
Over the past couple of years, national titles have been split, teams have been snubbed of major bowl bids and schools have been selected to bowls they were undeserving of attending. The BCS has become so complicated that even Albert Einstein would be in a corner crying like a little girl trying to figure this one out.
The scene of collegiate football has been downright scary over the past couple of years, as avid fans have watched the computerized mammoth known as the Bowl Championship Series destroy every ounce of goodness left in the sport. Teams now run up the score on opponents because it looks good to the computers, and schools pick their football schedule based on how easy or tough their opponents’ scheduled are – all in the name of strength of schedule.
Just Sunday, the two human polls, The Associated Press and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll came out with their weekly rankings. Over the weekend, the University of Auburn managed to catch Oklahoma University in the polls for second place in the national rankings. Now, ties are nothing new to the BCS (see LSU and USC last season national title split); however, it’s the way that the tie came about.
This past year, the BCS decided to go away from its computer-heavy formula for figuring out the national title and put more of an emphasis back on the two human polls. It just so happens that the media members and coaches are the ones who have decided to make the BCS complicated this year.
If Oklahoma and Auburn win their remaining games, there will be a tie in the rankings for second place in both human polls, meaning that the tie goes to the third part of the BCS formula – the computers. This is why the BCS is so complicated; just when you think they have the computer formula fixed, something goes wrong.
While the madness will continue, there is a way to get rid of the BCS and put the spotlight back on the sport instead of the polls. The new idea would consist of one media poll and an eight-team playoff.
Imagine watching No. 7 Michigan and No. 2 Oklahoma play for the chance to advance to play Utah in the “Final Four.” The thought of a college football playoff is something that fans only dream of. It would be college football’s version of “March Madness” on steroids.
By going to a playoff system, fans could get away from the BCS and rely on one poll. The media poll seems the most logical since the media is who usually covers the games and views these top teams on a weekly basis. The one-poll system also leaves out the chance of a tie between conflicting human polls, and it leaves out the chance for the computers to decide on the national champion.
The games would be played on neutral sites, and the bowl payout for winning teams would increase the farther you advanced in the playoffs. The opportunity for a “Cinderella” school such as Utah to win an outright national title and get a large school payout is something that a playoff can do that the BCS cannot.
The current BCS accounts for too many things, while the playoff system is simple and easy to comprehend. What it all boils down to is, the average sports fan doesn’t understand the first thing about BCS politics and most, if given the chance, wouldn’t want to. They all want a simple system that gives them an honest winner – a playoff would do just that.