This is completely off topic for this blog, but please indulge me. Let’s talk sports, specifically college football. I’m a former sports reporter, so I have always loved sports debates, and this one’s a doozy. I want to weigh in with my two cents, and leave comments about your opinion!
Why we need a college football championship
Right now, few schools actually make money off of their football programs. Basically, the BCS schools, and that’s about it. There is REAL big money involved here, as evidenced by the multimillion coaches’ salaries. The crime is that these millions are locked up in the hands of only a handful of schools. Those programs who have established themselves as football powers soak up the BCS millions and turn around and use the BCS to entice the best high school athletes and college coaches. Then the best programs get better and the others grow more and more less likely to ever get a slice of the pie. Because conferences get payouts from BCS bowls too, a low-tier school lucky enough to be in the SEC, for example, might net $1 million dollars for not even playing in the post season! Just because they are lucky enough to be in a BCS conference.
That’s just not right. Besides, without a playoff, a BCS championship is hollow because you don’t really know if the champ really is the best team—or just the one that convinced the most voters.
A Proposed Solution
I think every conference needs a potential path to the championship and the BCS. There should be the vision, that if you play hard enough as a team, you can go all the way. That option does not exist now. Yes, non-BCS schools can “bust” a BCS bowl game, but only one a year (what about poor undefeated Ball State this year, stuck behind Utah and Boise State?), and with zero chance of playing for the championship (how come Utah is not being considered for the championship game if Texas Tech loses today?). No! Every team needs to have the goal that if they play hard enough, they could go all the way. It makes for good sports movies. It makes for high interest among fans. It’s the American way.
So I think they should go with a 16-team playoff. Each of the 11 Division 1 conferences gets an automatic berth (so winning your conference matters), and 5 at-large teams can earn their way in through a combination of human polls/computer rankings. This adds four games to the schedule, which is a lot, so teams will have their preseasons shortened by one game. Then only 8 teams in the end really have to play extra games (and I’m sure they’re not going to complain). The first round will be played at lower-tier bowl sites, while the final three rounds would be played in BCS bowls.
That’s my choice, but if some argue that it adds too many games to the schedule, you could also do a 12-team playoff with 11 automatic berths and 1 at-large berth. The top four teams according to the rankings earn a bye (since they’ll most likely have to play to the end anyway). The remaining 8 play the first round for the right to join the top 4 in the quarterfinals. This would also mercifully eliminate the patsy teams before they get embarrassed by the elite teams, but it still gives the opportunity for a solid, well-coached, mid-major school to go all the way.
Why this would work
This system would benefit the mid-majors by giving them something to play for. If they win their conference, they get the chance to play for the national championship. They can’t ask for or expect more. It benefits the current BCS schools by allowing 11 of their teams to get berths (6 conference champions + 5 likely at-large berths). It also benefits them because each of their teams has the chance to win the championship without argument. That will make them happy.
This also benefits the NCAA and the television executives. Basketball is not nearly (not even close!) as popular as college football, and yet March Madness draws in legions of television and live-ticketed fans. College football would rake in the dough through a playoff system. And the bowls would be unharmed.
This is so obvious, why don’t they do it? And now especially with ESPN’s new contract with BCS, we have no chance of changing this soon. Unless Barak Obama is serious about making this a presidential issue, although I don’t agree that 8 teams is enough for a playoff because the same inequalities would exist and some conferences would still be left out.