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The Time for BCS Playoffs is NowThe current BCS format is the only system in the world where a team can go undefeated all season, and still not play in the championship game (Auburn in 2003, Utah in 2008). Any system which picks only 2 teams out of 100-plus is going to be inherently flawed. Too many fans have been disappointed to see their one-loss or undefeated team not have a chance at a national championship. This NEW forum was created to let fans discuss the different BCS playoff formats along with the current season. The leading BCS playoff candidates are a conference championship based system, a plus-one system, a top eight, and a top 16 based system. Other versions can be posted in the Suggestions Forum. Enjoy and please keep it civil! Forums
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Conference Championship Based SystemThere are a few ways a BCS playoff system can work. One of the candidates is a conference champion based system where the Pac-10, SEC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten and ACC champions are placed into a playoff pool. There would also be two BCS wild card teams to make it an even eight teams. The two wild card teams would be selected based on the two teams ranked highest in the BCS polls, but not conference champion teams. Conferences with more than one strong team would obviously benefit from a wild card playoff system. Also, teams not in one of the elite conferences such as Notre Dame or the undefeated Utah Utes of 2004 would have a chance at a national title. You might be asking, “Do we still need the BCS polls?” The answer is yes. The infamous BCS polls would still be needed for the two wild card slots as well as for the rest of the December bowl games. There are no reasons why a BCS playoff system should cancel the rest of the bowl games, and you would still need the BCS polls to rank which team goes to which bowl. Besides, polls show that Americans love polls! Fans don’t hate the BCS polls; they just hate how they are being used. Here is an example of the 2007 BCS Playoff games we will never see:
The reason why Pac-10, Big 12 and Big Ten are grouped together is to keep the location of the games close to fans. The same reason applies to why the Big East, ACC, and SEC are grouped together. The locations are up for debate, but keeping the current BCS bowl locations might entice the current BCS commissioners into a playoff system. After all, this is the group that decided to place the 5th BCS bowl game within the original four locations. The semi-final dates and national championship dates were easy to decide on since they fit within the current structure. The quarter final dates were chosen to be two weeks after the Dec 2nd conference championship date, and a week before the Christmas holidays. That would be one crazy college football weekend.
Advantages of a Champion Based BCS Playoff System:Reason #1 Crowns a True National Champion No more debate on which one loss team is better. No more debate on whether an undefeated Rutgers (before they lost two games!) should play in a national championship game. No more split championships such as LSU / USC in 2003. Just a true uncontroversial champion. Reason #2 Two wild card slots allow for Cinderella teams and one-loss teams a chance at a national title George Mason was all the talk in the 2006 NCAA basketball tournament. Wouldn’t it be nice to give a NCAA football team the same chance? If Rutgers remained undefeated this year, they still wouldn’t have a chance win the nation title. The same goes for the Utah Utes of 2004. Reason #3 Two wild card slots allow one-loss teams a chance at a national title Who is better a one-loss Michigan, or a one-loss Florida? Computers shouldn’t be deciding this. A BCS conference champion based system would allow all both of these teams a chance to prove themselves and win a title. The wild card slot gives the Big Ten conference runner-up Michigan a chance at the national title. Reason #4 Teams won’t be resting players The argument that teams would be resting their players at end-of-season games doesn’t hold up since there are only two wild card slots. There are no guarantees that a second place team would make it into the playoffs, and teams would have an extra incentive to win their conference championship. Reason #5 Keeps playoff games close to home A conference championship based system will keep playoff games close to the competing team homes. The SEC champion can always play in the Orange Bowl while the Pac-10 champion can always play in the Rose Bowl. Having games closer to home will do away with the argument that fans won’t travel to the games. Reason #6 No more two month layoffs Ohio State played their last game on November 18, 2006, and won’t play again until January 8, 2007. That’s almost a whole two months where Ohio State won’t play a game. To put this in perspective, the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup on June 19, 2006. They started next season’s training camp on September 14, 2006. The Carolina Hurricanes will only get a one month longer break between seasons than the Buckeyes get between games. With the current polling system, it will take the Buckeyes the whole first half just to get the rust out of their system. Having a quarter final game on December 14th will give them an intermediate game to play, and get rid of the long two month break. Reason #7 Say goodbye to style points, and hello to sportsmanship Florida had the ball on Florida State’s eight-yard line with 58 seconds to play and a 21-14 lead. The smart thing and the sportsmanship thing to do would be to take a knee and win the game. However, with the current BCS system, Urban Myer considered going for the touchdown to get some “style points.” In the end, Urban Myer was unhappy with himself for even thinking about going for the extra touchdown. To quote Urban, “The style points? That's what's wrong with it. [If] that's what making decisions, I want to stand by my comment a week ago. Implode it. It's over. If that's what making a decision, style points, which that's what I imagine it is, you got a problem. Let's call it winning and losing and playing a difficult schedule." Reason #8 Regular season games stay relevant One of the big arguments against a playoff system is that it will reduce the importance of regular season games. However, a conference championship based system will still require teams to win their conference in order to get a guaranteed spot into the playoffs. The likelihood of getting one out of two wild card slots is very small, which will make conference games even more important than they are today. Reason #9 Current December bowl games stay A conference championship based system will not get rid of the smaller December bowl games. However, having a quarter finals weekend will certainly improve TV ratings. Reason #10 “Season too long” and “too many games” arguments are now irrelevant By moving the national championship game to January 8th, the BCS has completely thrown away the “season too long” argument. Also, by adding an extra game this season and last season, the BCS has thrown away the “too many games” argument. By the way, what makes collegiate football players so special? Colligate basketball, baseball and hockey players play about a months worth of playoffs. The most famous of course is March Madness where a basketball team travels all over the country and has to win a total of 6 playoff games. Are collegiate basketball, baseball, and hockey players that much smarter than football players to the point where they don’t need the same amount of classroom time? Any more reasons? Post them in the forum. |
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